Heh, okay so I don't know if any of you actually visit this site anymore, but since I am no longer in London (yes I'm back in the states...) I have created another blog. It's at tahleen.blogspot.com and it will chronicle my misadventures through senior year and most likely beyond.
I could write anything I wanted here and no one would see it. How sad.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
This is the end.
Yesterday I did my own thing in London, and it was great.
I had decided the night before that I was going to find this food place that was in my 1000 Things To Do in London book, and get a scotch egg there. There was a picture and it looked really good, a hard-boiled egg covered in some sort of batter with bread crumbs and I think meat. So first thing when I woke up, I went there. I met Shawn at the station completely randomly, and she decided to come along. So we found the place really easily, and we bought our scotch eggs and various other food items (Shawn got a "fairy cake," which is funny because I had tried to figure out what a fairy cake was before--turns out it's just a regular cupcake, it's what they call them here) and ate them in Regent's Park. And yes, they were as good as I was expecting them to be. After that we decided randomly to go to the London Zoo, as it was nearby. It was pretty cool, AND I got to see where Harry Potter was filmed in the first one, when Harry makes the glass disappear.
After that we parted ways, and I went over to this art exhibition which was actually a tunnel full of graffiti. The UK graffiti artist Banksy invited other graffiti artists from around the world to the tunnel to spray paint what they wanted as a kind of art project, and it was pretty incredible. When I got there, there must have been thousands of people waiting in line to see it. I got there after waiting maybe 45 minutes, and it was worth it. I don't think I'll ever see anything like that again. It was nuts.
Later on I had dinner at Tuk Tuk with Renee, and then went to a surprise party. Not a surprise party in that we threw it for someone who didn't know it was going to happen, but in the fact that none of us knew about the party until hours before. Whatever. I'm almost home. 15 hours.
It's weird to think about. Surreal, really. I can't believe I'm leaving this city, which I love, but I also can't wait to get the hell out of here. It's been a rough last few weeks and I think it's really time for me to go home. It was probably time two or three weeks ago, but that's the past and I'm ready for the future of a comfortable bed, real food and a car. And NEVER LIVING WITH FOUR OTHER GIRLS AGAIN.
After we were done eating and kicking at pigeons, Shawn mentioned the London Zoo was in the park. My response: "The zoo?? Let's go!" And after waiting in line for about 30 minutes, go we did. And it was fantastic. Gorillas, giraffes, zebras, you name it and we probably saw it. Except there were no elephants.
After three whole hours at the zoo,
I had decided the night before that I was going to find this food place that was in my 1000 Things To Do in London book, and get a scotch egg there. There was a picture and it looked really good, a hard-boiled egg covered in some sort of batter with bread crumbs and I think meat. So first thing when I woke up, I went there. I met Shawn at the station completely randomly, and she decided to come along. So we found the place really easily, and we bought our scotch eggs and various other food items (Shawn got a "fairy cake," which is funny because I had tried to figure out what a fairy cake was before--turns out it's just a regular cupcake, it's what they call them here) and ate them in Regent's Park. And yes, they were as good as I was expecting them to be. After that we decided randomly to go to the London Zoo, as it was nearby. It was pretty cool, AND I got to see where Harry Potter was filmed in the first one, when Harry makes the glass disappear.
After that we parted ways, and I went over to this art exhibition which was actually a tunnel full of graffiti. The UK graffiti artist Banksy invited other graffiti artists from around the world to the tunnel to spray paint what they wanted as a kind of art project, and it was pretty incredible. When I got there, there must have been thousands of people waiting in line to see it. I got there after waiting maybe 45 minutes, and it was worth it. I don't think I'll ever see anything like that again. It was nuts.
Later on I had dinner at Tuk Tuk with Renee, and then went to a surprise party. Not a surprise party in that we threw it for someone who didn't know it was going to happen, but in the fact that none of us knew about the party until hours before. Whatever. I'm almost home. 15 hours.
It's weird to think about. Surreal, really. I can't believe I'm leaving this city, which I love, but I also can't wait to get the hell out of here. It's been a rough last few weeks and I think it's really time for me to go home. It was probably time two or three weeks ago, but that's the past and I'm ready for the future of a comfortable bed, real food and a car. And NEVER LIVING WITH FOUR OTHER GIRLS AGAIN.
After we were done eating and kicking at pigeons, Shawn mentioned the London Zoo was in the park. My response: "The zoo?? Let's go!" And after waiting in line for about 30 minutes, go we did. And it was fantastic. Gorillas, giraffes, zebras, you name it and we probably saw it. Except there were no elephants.
After three whole hours at the zoo,
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Do you know the muffin man? I do.
Today was a nice relaxing day. Everyone but me and Nicki went to Brighton, so we decided to go do some other things in London. We went to Covent Garden, and to a place called the Tea House where I got some things for some people, and then we went on a mission: to find the muffin man.
Yes, Drury Lane is near Covent Garden. And what a mission it was. We went the entire length of the street, and there were no shops that sold muffins. None. That is, until Nicki thought to go to a news shop.
And there we met the muffin man.
He was a little Indian man, and he sold packaged muffins. And Gatorade and other various things. But we still got our muffins and took pictures with the Drury Lane sign.
They were also the worst muffins I'll probably ever eat. But they were on Drury Lane and that's all that matters!
Yes, Drury Lane is near Covent Garden. And what a mission it was. We went the entire length of the street, and there were no shops that sold muffins. None. That is, until Nicki thought to go to a news shop.
And there we met the muffin man.
He was a little Indian man, and he sold packaged muffins. And Gatorade and other various things. But we still got our muffins and took pictures with the Drury Lane sign.
They were also the worst muffins I'll probably ever eat. But they were on Drury Lane and that's all that matters!
Thursday, May 1, 2008
FINALLY!!!!
I'm flying high in the friendly sky. I'm walkin' on sunshine. I feel good. Celebrate good times, come on! I'M DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Okay, I'm sorry.
Hi everyone. I know I've really been slacking here lately, and I'm sorry. I just really didn't feel like writing anything for a while.
So here's what I'll do: I'll give you a condensed version of stuff that has happened in the past two and a half weeks. Let's call this a roundup.
Stratford-upon-Avon: Two weekends ago I went to Stratford-upon-Avon, birthplace and burial place of Shakespeare, with a large group from my school. It was a cute little town, and I enjoyed it very much, except perhaps for the show we all went to see (I was there for two classes for this precise reason). The Merchant of Venice is a good play, but the way the Royal Shakespeare Company did it was just plain weird, and also unexplainable, at least in my eyes. They tried to perform it in the style that David Mamet, another playwright (who I also mentioned earlier this semester--Kevin Spacey/Jeff Goldblum combo anyone?), but Mamet writes his plays so that the dialogue is the most important part and the actors are supposed to act it out without putting emotion or feeling into it, giving the characters no depth. I'm sorry? You don't do that with Shakespeare. Shylock is a pretty complex character if you ask me. And it began and ended with some Irish jig. It doesn't even end there. There was some ice motif, like the three casks were made of ice and there were icicles hanging over Portia's head during the choosing scenes. Don't ask me why because I don't know. And one more thing: they based the costumes on some obscure abstract painter. WHAT??? Why? What is the point of that?? Portia, a tiny lady, looked like a goddamn elephant in the second half, at least when she wasn't dressed up as a boy.
London Book Fair: For my internship last week, I went to the London Book Fair, which was actually pretty interesting, if boring for me. Really, you don't do anything unless you're buying or selling something. And I was doing neither as I have no idea about anything really. I frequently found myself saying "I'm just an intern" despite the nametag that said I was an executive editor, and also that my name was Deborah. That first day I really didn't do anything but read, and also go on this epic quest with Nina to find a ham sandwich for Peter (yep, he was there...), which ended only in failure and a salmon bagel. But hey, I was there and listened and absorbed, and scored some free books from Duckworth because I finally asked Nina if I could take some home. And they also paid for my lunch, which was cool. The second day was more of me doing nothing, but for most of it Nina wasn't around to do nothing with me. So I was forced to watch after Peter and make sure he had everything he needed, which luckily ended up being only a bottle of water (that I got reimbursed for). Nina and I had lunch and sat down for a while, and we talked about a bunch of things, including her wedding which is this Saturday. She invited me to the after-party but I am having some people over that night so I am not able to attend, which is sad. But oh well. I ended up staying at the table we were at for another hour and a half by myself just reading, because she didn't want me to have to stand outside the Duckworth booth (which was, by the way, the six of a slightly spacey broom closet). Then the two of us had to pack up the entire booth, which was fun. We were really pressed for time because they were closing the building since they needed to clear it for the next event, so here we are throwing books and things in boxes, taping them up and sending them off to the distributor. Except for three boxes and a few bags, which we had to bring to the office ourselves via a hired car. The driver was completely incompetant, by the way, as he didn't know where we were going and was just a terrible driver. I got carsick. I never get carsick. But that was the London Book Fair, and it wasn't half bad when all is said and done.
Dublin: This past weekend I went to Dublin, once again with the school. This trip was a little different, as I was hanging out with a completely different set of people--the theater kids. And I had a lot of fun with them. It was too bad I was completely sick, but whatever. We did a lot of James Joyce-related things--yes Jeff, all Ulysses stuff. I saw pretty much everything in Dublin that was in Ulysses, including the tower in which the book begins and the stretch of sand on which Stephen Dedalus walks up and down trying to figure out what to do. At least I think it was Dedalus. Maybe it was Bloom. Jeff will know. Other than that, I went to the Guiness Storehouse, which was pretty cool. It was a lot more like a museum than I thought it would be, but we still learned how they make the ale. We also learned a lot about the history of it all, and Arthur Guiness, etc. And we got a free pint at the end with our ticket stub! That was pretty cool. My friend Renee stole her pint glass haha, I smuggled it out for her in my purse. We drank quite a bit of Guiness that weekend, since it's best in Dublin. I also saw the Book of Kells at Trinity College, which I hadn't heard of until this trip, but I guess it's this really old book that tells scholars a lot about Celtic history and artwork or something, it's got the Gospels in it. That was pretty cool.
And that brings me to yesterday, which I like to call the Day of Free Food For Tahleen. It began at lunchtime when Suzannah and Nina brought me out to probably the most expensive lunch I've had to date, at a place that I think was called Smith's of London. It was around the corner from our office. We each got a glass of wine (Nina got a wine spritzer), and a three-course meal. I had mozzerella and tomato to start, then lamb shoulder for my main course, and chocolate mascarpone cake with a roasted plum for dessert. And also coffee after that. It was fantastic, and Suzannah used a company credit card. Hooray! Apparently Madonna has eaten there in the past, as it is quite a posh restaurant, according to Suzannah. And my free food day did not end there. Right after work I went straight to Bond Street (after wasting time and money in Waterstone's) to meet my friend Shannon from back home. We went to a Lebanese restaurant called Maroush, but I didn't eat much as I was still kind of full from lunch. But still, I had some really good hummus and lamb shawarma, and some jajegh (yogurt salad, whatever, it's all delicious). I was happy. And then James, Shannon's friend's husband, paid for everyone's meal! It must have been between 100 and 200 pounds, and it was so nice of him. It was great. And THEN we went out to a bar called Match, where Shannon bought me a pina colada. So I really had a great day. Everything I consumed was free, except for the oatmeal at my breakfast which I had previously purchased. How fantastic. :)
And now, as you're all caught up in the life of Tahleen, I thank you for reading and being patient. I'll try to update more often in the future, which not be that much anyway since I'm leaving two weeks from tomorrow. Crazy, huh? I'm really excited to come home though, as tensions are running high in my flat. But I'll have to do as much as I can while I'm still here and have a chance to. I still have to make it to the Absolut Ice Bar, after all!
So here's what I'll do: I'll give you a condensed version of stuff that has happened in the past two and a half weeks. Let's call this a roundup.
Stratford-upon-Avon: Two weekends ago I went to Stratford-upon-Avon, birthplace and burial place of Shakespeare, with a large group from my school. It was a cute little town, and I enjoyed it very much, except perhaps for the show we all went to see (I was there for two classes for this precise reason). The Merchant of Venice is a good play, but the way the Royal Shakespeare Company did it was just plain weird, and also unexplainable, at least in my eyes. They tried to perform it in the style that David Mamet, another playwright (who I also mentioned earlier this semester--Kevin Spacey/Jeff Goldblum combo anyone?), but Mamet writes his plays so that the dialogue is the most important part and the actors are supposed to act it out without putting emotion or feeling into it, giving the characters no depth. I'm sorry? You don't do that with Shakespeare. Shylock is a pretty complex character if you ask me. And it began and ended with some Irish jig. It doesn't even end there. There was some ice motif, like the three casks were made of ice and there were icicles hanging over Portia's head during the choosing scenes. Don't ask me why because I don't know. And one more thing: they based the costumes on some obscure abstract painter. WHAT??? Why? What is the point of that?? Portia, a tiny lady, looked like a goddamn elephant in the second half, at least when she wasn't dressed up as a boy.
London Book Fair: For my internship last week, I went to the London Book Fair, which was actually pretty interesting, if boring for me. Really, you don't do anything unless you're buying or selling something. And I was doing neither as I have no idea about anything really. I frequently found myself saying "I'm just an intern" despite the nametag that said I was an executive editor, and also that my name was Deborah. That first day I really didn't do anything but read, and also go on this epic quest with Nina to find a ham sandwich for Peter (yep, he was there...), which ended only in failure and a salmon bagel. But hey, I was there and listened and absorbed, and scored some free books from Duckworth because I finally asked Nina if I could take some home. And they also paid for my lunch, which was cool. The second day was more of me doing nothing, but for most of it Nina wasn't around to do nothing with me. So I was forced to watch after Peter and make sure he had everything he needed, which luckily ended up being only a bottle of water (that I got reimbursed for). Nina and I had lunch and sat down for a while, and we talked about a bunch of things, including her wedding which is this Saturday. She invited me to the after-party but I am having some people over that night so I am not able to attend, which is sad. But oh well. I ended up staying at the table we were at for another hour and a half by myself just reading, because she didn't want me to have to stand outside the Duckworth booth (which was, by the way, the six of a slightly spacey broom closet). Then the two of us had to pack up the entire booth, which was fun. We were really pressed for time because they were closing the building since they needed to clear it for the next event, so here we are throwing books and things in boxes, taping them up and sending them off to the distributor. Except for three boxes and a few bags, which we had to bring to the office ourselves via a hired car. The driver was completely incompetant, by the way, as he didn't know where we were going and was just a terrible driver. I got carsick. I never get carsick. But that was the London Book Fair, and it wasn't half bad when all is said and done.
Dublin: This past weekend I went to Dublin, once again with the school. This trip was a little different, as I was hanging out with a completely different set of people--the theater kids. And I had a lot of fun with them. It was too bad I was completely sick, but whatever. We did a lot of James Joyce-related things--yes Jeff, all Ulysses stuff. I saw pretty much everything in Dublin that was in Ulysses, including the tower in which the book begins and the stretch of sand on which Stephen Dedalus walks up and down trying to figure out what to do. At least I think it was Dedalus. Maybe it was Bloom. Jeff will know. Other than that, I went to the Guiness Storehouse, which was pretty cool. It was a lot more like a museum than I thought it would be, but we still learned how they make the ale. We also learned a lot about the history of it all, and Arthur Guiness, etc. And we got a free pint at the end with our ticket stub! That was pretty cool. My friend Renee stole her pint glass haha, I smuggled it out for her in my purse. We drank quite a bit of Guiness that weekend, since it's best in Dublin. I also saw the Book of Kells at Trinity College, which I hadn't heard of until this trip, but I guess it's this really old book that tells scholars a lot about Celtic history and artwork or something, it's got the Gospels in it. That was pretty cool.
And that brings me to yesterday, which I like to call the Day of Free Food For Tahleen. It began at lunchtime when Suzannah and Nina brought me out to probably the most expensive lunch I've had to date, at a place that I think was called Smith's of London. It was around the corner from our office. We each got a glass of wine (Nina got a wine spritzer), and a three-course meal. I had mozzerella and tomato to start, then lamb shoulder for my main course, and chocolate mascarpone cake with a roasted plum for dessert. And also coffee after that. It was fantastic, and Suzannah used a company credit card. Hooray! Apparently Madonna has eaten there in the past, as it is quite a posh restaurant, according to Suzannah. And my free food day did not end there. Right after work I went straight to Bond Street (after wasting time and money in Waterstone's) to meet my friend Shannon from back home. We went to a Lebanese restaurant called Maroush, but I didn't eat much as I was still kind of full from lunch. But still, I had some really good hummus and lamb shawarma, and some jajegh (yogurt salad, whatever, it's all delicious). I was happy. And then James, Shannon's friend's husband, paid for everyone's meal! It must have been between 100 and 200 pounds, and it was so nice of him. It was great. And THEN we went out to a bar called Match, where Shannon bought me a pina colada. So I really had a great day. Everything I consumed was free, except for the oatmeal at my breakfast which I had previously purchased. How fantastic. :)
And now, as you're all caught up in the life of Tahleen, I thank you for reading and being patient. I'll try to update more often in the future, which not be that much anyway since I'm leaving two weeks from tomorrow. Crazy, huh? I'm really excited to come home though, as tensions are running high in my flat. But I'll have to do as much as I can while I'm still here and have a chance to. I still have to make it to the Absolut Ice Bar, after all!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Chocolate can make you drunk.
Do I really not look old enough to buy Bailey's flavored chocolate truffles? Is it necessary to card me for those?
I wonder how many you would have to have in order to get drunk.
And a post about Stratford-upon-Avon is to come. Remember, I'm lazy.
I wonder how many you would have to have in order to get drunk.
And a post about Stratford-upon-Avon is to come. Remember, I'm lazy.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
I could be an Olympian.
This past Sunday, the Olympic torch passed through London. And yes, I did go. It was a five minute walk away from my flat, and it was probably one of the coolest things ever.
When I got there (I had gone alone since it was 11:20 and everyone was still in the pj's of course), people were lining the streets like we were gonna see a parade. People were all over the street, in the way of cars etc. I eventually got scared that I would miss the torch, like maybe I was in the wrong place or something, so I started to go farther down the street toward the Notting Hill Gate tube station. I got to a place where there were more people so I figured I'd stop, and sure enough not five minutes later a lady near me said, "Here it cooomes! All the police are going by." And come it did. Everyone was cheering, and I had my camera ready and aimed. And of COURSE in the picture I got a damn policeman was blocking the freaking torch.
So what to do in this predicament? Yes, that's right.
I outran the torch runner.
I pretty much sprinted down the street, trying to get far enough ahead to turn around and get a good shot. Finally I did, and boy was it worth it. My picture was GREAT.
See that guy? Yeah, that's right, he's carrying the freaking Olympic torch. Pretty sweet. I ran alongside him until I got to the street I had to take to get home, and that was about it really. But it was really awesome. How many times will I be able to see that again?
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