23 December 2016 - from 4 p.m. to about past 9:00 p.m.
My annual leave officially started on the 22nd but I was only truly free from office work on the 23rd.
Liza, one of the Filipina friends that I've met here in London, knew that I'm all game for anything about culture and the arts. She invited me to see the promenade performance called 'Christmas Carol' at the Victoria & Albert Museum. I met up with her at 4:00 p.m. The performance was actually about Queen Victoria's reminiscing of times with her late husband Prince Albert, injected with a bit of Christmas cheer - some singing and dancing, and the character of Sir Robert Peel playing a violin in Queen Victoria's imagination. As it was a promenade performance, the audience had to walk around the British Galleries along with the actors.
After the 35-minute performance, Liza and I decided to head to the National Gallery which was right across Trafalgar Square. I had a grand albeit brief time checking out the 18th century to early 20th century paintings (much shorter compared to my V&A museum visit weeks ago). I finally got to see some greats in the flesh - Van Goghs, Renoirs and Monets.
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| Van Goghs (The painting in the centre called 'Sunflowers' used to hang in Van Gogh's guest bedroom in anticipation of the arrival of his artist friend, Paul Gauguin.) |
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| Renoirs (The painting in the centre may have been painted at Chatou, a suburb on the Seine to the west of Paris which was associated with boating and frequented by Renoir.) |
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| Monets (These are not as they appear in the museum but is actually an edited collage of the 'The Water-Lily Pond' [above] and 'Irises' [bottom]) |
Liza and I had to think through our dinner choice since we wanted this pre-Christmas meal to be a special treat considering that we will spending our Christmases away from home. In my case, I'd have to spend it here in London until the New Year considering that I just moved here last September and going home is cost-prohibitive; in Liza's case, she will be going home to Iloilo on the 26th.
We finally decided on Caffe Concerto. It was drizzling when we made our way to the restaurant and while the service left much to be desired, the food more than made up for it. Liza and I ordered the two-course dinner set --- Liza ordered the lobster pasta while I ordered lamb shank plus our choices of desserts. We thought that the three-course sets seem too much for us although the price difference versus the two-course set was minimal. At the end of the filling meal, we were glad we chose the two-course sets.
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| Can't go wrong with lamb shank |
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| Ice cappuccino with lots of whipped cream!! |
For our desserts, we halved our portions so we both can try each others' desserts: strawberry cake and cherry frangipane.
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| Cherry Frangipane |
After our meal, we walked around Bond Street and was quite awed by the angel-inspired Christmas lights. We were also amazed with how the streets were less crowded compared to the usual weekends in the past (the reason why we've avoided this area and have settled on online shopping instead).After we both got tired of walking, we called it a night knowing that we had our Saturday itinerary already planned out.
24 December 2016 - 11:30 a.m. to about 5:00 p.m.
I usually buy my fresh meat on Saturdays and this Saturday should be no different. I met up with Liza again, this time at the Angel station. We were surprised though to see that there was a queue at the Turner & George butcher shop at St. John's / Islington. I guess we forgot that everyone else were ordering for the Christmas dinner later that night.
We found out that some were pre-orders and there were loads of paper bags and boxes (most of these packed with herbed turkeys) waiting to be picked up. Thankfully, even with the 'blockbuster' queue, there were enough meat for us walk-in customers. I ordered less than a kilo of pork belly and a little over one and a half kilo of sirloin steak. These will be enough to see me through until the 29th when my Turner & George orders (for the week into the New Year) are due for delivery. There will be no tube operations on the 25th (holiday) and thus the need to stock up on groceries and meat.
Liza and I originally planned to eat at the nearby Tenshi Japanese restaurant and for Liza to order a takeaway for her 'Christmas meal' at the Afghan Kitchen in the next block. I talked her into having something special for our respective Christmas meals to help ease away whatever homesickness we may feel. Sadly though, both restaurants were closed that Saturday. Maybe another time.
We remembered passing by an Asian restaurant on our way to Turner & George earlier, which we initially pegged in our to-eat-here-later list. Given the limited options in the nearby block, we decided to have our pre-Christmas lunch there instead. Lunch was at Banana Tree, Indochina Kitchen (islington@bananatree.co.uk). We weren't disappointed! What better way to cure Christmas blues than to eat something Asian --- the closest reminder to home cooking.
Liza and I shared our orders of the Legendary Rendang and a mini bowl of Laksa. We ordered those spicy prawn crackers as well, paired with lemon and ginger tea. Overall, it was a sumptuous lunch. I was really happy with my laksa which brought back good memories of Singapore. The servings may seem small at first but I think that the sauces that went with these were rich and filling. With the generous servings of jasmine rice, we were stuffed. Our plans for dessert had to be deferred to another time.
We took the bus (in lieu of the tube to better appreciate London on a less crowded day) and headed to Oxford and Bond Streets for a bit of walking and shopping - Boots for some foot care products for both of us as well as the discounted therapeutic body wash for me, Primark for Liza's bath mats and my hangers, and finally M&S for Liza's veggies and my honey in a bottle. Since we still had no room for desserts even after all the walking, we bought some for takeaway from Ben's Cookies which Liza swears make some of the best cookies in London :) I got four cookies for myself in the red tin while Liza ordered her favourite Triple Chocolate.
By about 5:00 p.m., we ended our food trip and walking Saturday agenda. I bade Liza goodbye, and wished her a happy and safe trip and merry Christmas.
Back in my flat, I prepared and sliced my pork belly and sirloin steak and put these away (except for my dinner slice) in the fridge. I rang Mama knowing that it was already past midnight in the Philippines (I got home a bit late) and we had our catch-up conversation - Mama woken up from her sleep at past 1:00 a.m., and I was trying to multi-task with pan-frying my dinner steak.
I didn't have to wait for midnight to enjoy my dinner steak. I ate at my usual dinner time, and enjoyed this with a cup of hot choco and a Praline cookie (yes, Ben's Cookies are indeed worth the hype!).
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| This is actually cookie no. 2 of 4 - macadamia. I didn't get to take a picture of my praline cookie. |
Before the blues got time to sink in me, Christmas was over in a few hours. Some greetings here and there. I skimmed through social media and left a simple 'Happy Christmas' to everyone.
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| Happy Christmas: The Nativity scene @ the V&A museum |
Was it just another Christmas eve?
I spent it away from home for the first time in a really long time. It's kind of sad, to be honest. Not really for me 'cause I can survive the homesickness and I have been used to living on my own for almost a third of my life. It's more of the thought that I did not get to spend it with Mama this time. I know that she is lonely more than she let on. It's sadder considering that December is also Papa's birth month and Uncle Costan's first death anniversary (21st), and she had to commemorate all of these on her own. I wish that I could have spent it with her. But for now, I only have prayers that my hugs will reach her and that God will continue to keep us together even though we are physically apart.
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| 'Dance with my Father' was playing in the background when I took this picture. |
Let's try, whenever we can, to spend our holidays and our quality time with the people who are dear to us. Life is short and we don't really know what lies ahead. We make plans and go on with our lives that sometimes we lose touch of the moments that matter. Moments are just that --- moments. They are meant to be cherished when we experience them right there and then. Or as they say, the moment will pass us by.
Happy Christmas to all!
XOXO,
Genefel
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