Part 1
I wouldn't really say that I have a best friend or that I believe in that concept because I think people come into your life at different times for different reasons and may stay for a long while or just a bit. That being said, I do have some really great friends and 3 of them were here visiting this week. Typically we take a trip every year around the end of January/early February to celebrate my friend Margaret's birthday. We've had quite a few snowboarding related trips to places such as Whistler, British Columbia and Salt Lake City, Utah but this year Margaret decided to spend her birthday trip here in London with Bernice, Melissa, and me. The girls arrived last Saturday evening after a 10-hour flight from SFO that was delayed by 4 hours. They hopped onto the Heathrow Express and I collected them from the London Paddington Station around 5:30pm. We headed back to my flat where the girls rested up a bit, had a few bites to eat, and freshened up.
Margaret particularly wanted to arrive that evening because her cousin was having his 21st birthday party at a hall in East London. The party was being held from 6pm to 11pm and we didn't manage to leave my flat in West London until after 9pm. After a 30-minute tube ride and a short walk we were able to arrive at the party around 10pm. We went straight into the main room and what a huge surprise it was to find practically every Philipino in all of London at this party. There were at least 100 people between her relatives and their friends and I felt as though we were at a party back in Daly City or Vallejo. It was very interesting to see that regardless of what country you emmigrate to, culture doesn't change. We stayed through a few dances so that Margaret could catch up with her family but then decided to leave the hip hop to the youngters. We got back on the tube and went to find a bar in SoHo that would still serve us a drink. As much as London may consider itself a party town, the bars stop serving alcohol at midnight. My friend suggested that we go to Floridita since they stay open until 3am but unfortunately they were having a special event and we couldn't get in. We ended up just down the block at Refuel which was also full but we were able to sweet talk our way in for a final round (or two, or three) or drinks. Along with the bars, the tube also shuts down at midnight so the only options to get home are buses or taxis but the taxis are always full as everyone is trying to get home at the same time. We were near a bus stop that would take us directly to my flat so we waited for a double decker to get us home. And we waited, and waited, and waited in the cold. We were passed by 2 buses that were already full but after some time we jumped on a bus that would get us to my neighborhood.
Before the girls arrived in London we had discussed driving out into the country to visit Bath (Jane Austen country) or Stratford-Upon-Avon (Shakespeare country) instead of staying in the city since I could drive us out on Sunday and they would be in London for 3 days. From London it would be about a 2-hour drive to either city so after a long haul flight and a long night out, we decided to sleep in and spend the day in London instead. We started the day on the right foot with some pastries, coffee, and mimosas and went to see the Princess Diana dress collection at Kensington Palace. Margaret is a huge royal family buff (especially Princess Di) so our trip had to include at least one palace. We did somehow manage to get distracted along the way first stopping at the MAC store (no not the computer) in Kensington where I forced Melissa to sit down for a makeover. We were able to find some lovely lipstick colors for her and best of all we found the UK headquarters for Jimmy Choo just hiding behind the MAC store. Back on our way to Kensington Palace we again were distracted by another store, this time the magnificent Whole Foods store. Long time readers know how much I enjoy going to the Whole Foods store here in London so of course I had to share the its splendors with my friends. We popped in for a quick snack of gelato and finally made it to Kensington Palace. Kensington Palace was built in 1689 by King William III and Queen Mary II since the king had very bad asthma and could not stand the air in London. We were able to tour the state rooms where Queen Anne lived, Queen Victoria was born, and where Princess Di lived before she died. Kensington Palace isn't as grand as some of the other palace's but the gardens more than make up for anything that the building is lacking. It is one of my favorite palaces because it feels more like a home than any other palace (as much as a palace could feel like a family home). Following our tour I had arranged for us to have afternoon tea at the Tea Palace. What else would 4 girls do in London? The Tea Palace offers a great high tea in a warm, relaxed, and comfortable setting that doesn't feel like your grandmother's living room. It turned out to be a very productive visit since during tea we decided that the Tea Palace's purple would be Bernice's wedding color, not that she's getting married anytime soon as we apparently have jinxed her now. After a short rest at my flat we went back out to dinner at Roka Restaurant where I had the best hamachi I've tasted in London.
Sadly on Monday I had to return to work so the girls took off to see the tourist sites without me. From what I could gather, they packed their day full with a visit to the British Museum where they were able to see the sold Terracotta Army exhibit that I've been dying to see. They spent most of their day at the museum and then went over to the London Eye to see the 360 degree views of London. While in that area that went by Big Ben and Westminster Abbey as well. I joined them after work for dinner at the Salt House pub, currently my favorite gastropub in London.
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