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Published: July 23rd 2006
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Lyla and I
Lyla and I in traditional clothing for the mendhi and wedding. Prequel: The Marriage
I arrived here on Monday, June 5th, and I'm a bit frustrated because I haven't explored as much of the city as I had wanted by this time. Its not that I haven't been doing nothing; alot of my family is here in London because of my aunt's wedding. Everybody has been working so hard getting everything together, organizing things, getting decorations and presents and clothing set up and arranged. Having nothing catered for us has been a real experience.
Its real interesting now because Auntie F is marrying E which gives our family a large Jewish side. Now our family consists of Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Athiests (F's and E's marriage was just a civil marriage).
I have a ton of photos (and videos) from the pre-marriage celebration (mendhi) and the wedding itself. Both were far better than I had anticipated - under normal circumstances, weddings are celebrations I try to avoid at all costs. I tend to shy away from things too ceremonial or traditional; things with too much convention just never sit well with me.
Anyways, everyone is now a bit more relaxed now that the stress is gone. Now, finally, I
The Monitors
Me infront of Leon's goliath monitors. can set towards bigger and better things.
F vs. London
A few days ago (disregarding all advice from family to stay and help get things ready for the wedding) I hit the city with Shayan. We left at around 2pm and went to
Covent Garden to go bar hopping. At the first pub we went to, Punch & Judy, we met up with Shayan's friend, Mike, who was such a fucking funny guy. He stayed with us for the rest of the evening which was really great. We went all over
Strand going in and out of pubs until we finally settled down at this one random lively pub.
Random guy (name unknown) and random girl (name: DeeDee? D-D? Didi?) ask if they can sit next to us, both seem pretty hammered. Girl tells us that all she's interested in is some cock. Guy leaves to go to another pub (not sure why...). We all get really drunk and finish two packs of cigarettes. She gets obstinate and we send her off in a cab. Its about 11:30pm now, and Mike walks us to the bus station and heads off towards his home. Shayan calls up these girls
Holden Caulfield
A cool place to eat. and they agree to meet us at some tube station.
We all decide to go to this club
Fabric that we wait in line for for about 45 minutes to an hour. It was a ridiculously massive club several stories underground with different music in various rooms of the floors. Kept having more drinks and just enjoying the atmosphere. Had some stuff that really destroyed me. I ended up puking up my stomach in one of their dark bathrooom stalls for God knows how long.
It was strange walking out of the club and meeting direct sunlight. It was 6am. Shayan and I caught the train home. I walked in the door and collapsed on the nearest couch.
World Cup Chaos
Went out again with Shayan yesterday to this Australian pub,
Walkabout, to get something to eat and watch the
Australia vs. Japan game. Being in a pub during a World Cup game is something everyone has to experience at least once in their lifetime. The crowd was so into the game it was unbelievable. And when Australia won (during the last 7 minutes of the game, no less) the crowd went wild - beer splashed everywhere, hugs
The Kids
Uncle Steven and cousins. and high-fives were given to everyone, more drinks were ordered and everyone was shouting at the top of their lungs. Incredible.
London
Today I spent all day in Central London. Basically hours and hours of walking, window shopping, looking at such beautiful people that it makes me feel sick, etc. There really are too many gorgeous people in London.
Went all over
Soho, Chinatown, Strand, wallked all of Oxford St. Went to some Art exhibit that documented the exploitation of animals, went to Victoria Station, saw Buckingham Palace, then to
Regent's Park and spent a long time there walking and thinking. Regent's Park is really beautiful and serine. Had lunch at a really nice coffee shop in Soho, aswell.
No drinking today.
More London
Date: 22.6.2006; just adding to this post about London since I didn't want to make another one Prior leaving for Paris I headed out to soak in as much London as I could possibly get. I left to venture the city at around 9am and spent the day going to more of the touristy bits of the city - in all honesty, just to say I've been. What happened instead was
Elders
Grandaddy, Uncle Victor, Aunt Merle me actually enjoying this. Going to the palaces and castles and towers in London makes me feel the need to get more familiar with architecture since grand architecture seems so promiment. Anyways, day went as follows:
Get off at Westminister station and walk up to the
Palace of Westminister, eyes going along the building until they start to go higher and higher until you can comprehend the sheer brilliance of
Big Ben. Note the mile-long line to get into the actual Palace and decide to skip it.
See the
London Eye across the
River Thames and decide to pay the 13£ to climb on and see the city scape of London. It was worth it just for the few minutes of awe that I felt seeing how utterly fucking large London really was. The city just does not end.
Notice the London Aquarium. Notice the Salvador Dali & Picasso exhibition. Count money. Feel depressed for lack of cash. Decide. Enter Dali & Picasso exhibition. My brain hurt after coming out of that gallery, but it was well worth it. It has secured my feeling of Dali being my favorite artist.
Walk along East along the Thames, pass the
London Bridge spending half
an hour trying to find the
Tower of London when I was walking past it back and forth the entire time. Its only impressive once you realize the tower isn't as tall as you expect it to be after seeing structures like the Big Ben and the London Bridge.
Catch the Underground to get back to Soho. Realize
Chinatown in London has shrunk down to just a few streets and isn't very impressive at all. Got lost walking around the streets, end up finding myself in
Regent's Park which is really a wonderful park. Full of all types of people picnicing in the rare good weather that has blessed London the past two weeks. Decided to take a break from walking myself and sat under a nice tree for about half an hour just watching the people enjoy themselves.
Next stop: Shakespeare's
Globe Theatre. But on the way to the Globe Theatre I realize that I can hit two birds with one stone and swing by the
Tate Modern - I figured I was already in the artsy mood after absorbing so much Dali earlier in the day. The walk from Reagent Park was long but well worth it once I hit the
Tate Modern. I even felt it was even more worth it when I realized it was free to the public. I got distracted in their bookstore for a good hour reading one of
Banskey's books (I think titled
Wall and Piece).
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Ashleigh
non-member comment
Snazzy!
You look mighty sharp in your traditional clothing. I assume the wedding was beautiful and your new Uncle is glad to have you as his nephew. Sounds like you and Shayan hit the city hard. Your recall of nights reminds me of Bret Easton Ellis's style of writing (The Rules of Attraction) and it suits me just fine. Where are you now?