13 December - A mixed bag

Essentially, I’m retired.  I have a couple of side hustles, though. I make jewelry, purses and clay animal ornaments.  I also do voiceovers for public TV station KBTC in Tacoma and Alaska Public Media. When I travel, I bring a microphone so that I can do voice-overs.  This works well as long as you have a quiet place to record.  The first time we stayed at Chelsea Cloisters, our flat was on the inside courtyard; this time we were on the Sloane Street side, so constant traffic noise, rowdy yobs on the street at night, street cleaner, garbage trucks and construction across the street.  I had gotten a request from both stations for VOs and planned to get up at 5:30am when the street was at its quietest. Bruce kindly agreed to get up at that time so I could turn on the lights, set up the mic, etc.  My little brain, however, must have thought that there was a chance that I would sleep through the alarm, so it decided to wake me up at 3:25. It also decided that it would not let me go back to sleep.  At about 5:00am the refrigerator started humming loudly and some sort of large vehicle started making a racket.  So much for recording.  I read for a while, then finally gave up and got up at 7:00.  Bruce got up around 8:00 and made coffee for us – in the interest of full disclosure, we drink instant (oh, no! how awful!) and I didn’t want to wake him by turning on the kettle. I was feeling pretty awful and was very frustrated that I couldn’t record.  The overtired mind comes up with a lot of strange solutions to problems.  Mine decided that I should travel an hour outside London to buy some foam sheeting to make a little sound booth.  Happily, I was too tired to do it.  We decided to go to Birley Bakery for breakfast, then to a couple of Christmas fairs. On the way out, we stopped to inquire of the hotel staff if there was a quiet room where I might record later.  To my astonishment, Kieran, who was working at the desk, said he would change our room.  He told us to pack up and leave our bags and when a room came available the staff would move our bags. So, because I’m the one who does the packing, I sent Bruce off to breakfast and I went to work.  By the time he got back I had us packed up and we had the key to the new room, so we moved ourselves.  I unpacked a few bits, then off we set for the Christmas fairs.

We’d seen some YouTube videos about the fabulous Christmas fairs.  We arrived at the South Bank Christmas Market to find that it’s a series of bars, restaurants and food trucks.  No art, no crafts, just food and virtually no decorations.  Boo!  Off we headed to the Borough Market Christmas Fair.  It was just the Borough Market, with a couple of wreaths hung up here and there.  Now, Borough Market is a fabulous place to pick up meat, vegetables and all manner of cheese, with some pubs and restaurants tucked in here and there. But again, no art, no crafts and not very festive.  I felt like I would collapse, so we headed back home. Along the way, we traversed the Waterloo Station and saw two Christmas trees. 

Christmas bauble tree:

Kate Spade tree:

Our evening was much more successful: we went to Chinatown.

Our destination: Opium.  If you didn’t know it was there, you wouldn’t spot it. There’s a blue door (amidst all the red of Chinatown) and a small brass plaque that says “Opium”.  Reservations are required because it’s quite small.  There are four separate bars, the Peony, the Apothecary , the Academy and the Attic.  The Peony and the Apothecary have one cocktail menu and the other two have a separate menu – and never the twain shall meet. Clearly, they’re looking for repeat business. I had hoped to go to the Peony bar because it’s described thusly “Popular for its intriguing maze-like skylight and dimmed, candle-lit ambience, our Peony Bar is perfect for those looking for a quiet drink in a more intimate setting.” Alas, it was not to be, and we ended up in the Apothecary; lots of red lights and a very loud house mix.

Choosing a cocktail proved difficult because they all have so many ingredients and there’s really no way to guess what the ultimate result will be.  I went with the waitress’ recommendation of the Luna Rosa which turned out to be a bit disappointing; overly sweet even though I had said I didn't like sweet drinks. It was topped with dehydrated raspberries.

Bruce had the Spict Sour which was very good, topped with a deydrated butterfly - no, not really, it was actually a rice paper butterfly.

We ordered four types of dim sum. I found the pork and shrimp dim sum tasty but quite chewy.

The lobster dim sum was quite tasty.

 The crab and samphire dumplings were quite tasty in spite of the fact that I couldn't identify either crab or samphire. It tasted more like fish and green onion.

Happily, the last dish was terrific: Barbecue Pork bao. Often they're mostly dough, but these were full of tasty barbecue.

For our second round, I chose a Donetello, which was delicious and, happily, not too sweet.

Bruce had the Opium No. 10, which was a bit sweet, but very entertaining.

All in all, I'd say the cocktails were a bit of style over substance, but generally enjoyable.

We then ventured on to the Leicester Square Christmas Market. Hurrah! Food and drink stands, yes, but also crafts, ornaments, hats, bags, all the usual Christmas suspects and lots of Christmas lights. A good end to a strange day.