Intermission In London

Millions went to London for the Royal Wedding.  But we went the day after to visit this young lad who I knew from 31 years ago.

We got to his abode (which he shared with Charlie) at Finsbury Park late afternoon and were taken into the front room ......

..and then proceeded to the kitchen-cum-dining area where this awaited us.  Naughty but nice!!!

This was a pre-cursor of more treats to come.

Yuwrajh (YD) prepared a pasta dinner for us with his own hands!

Firstly he removed the fresh pasta from the package and boiled it to a frothing temperature.  Then he heated the sauce which came from another package and mixed it with the pasta.  Hmmm - very interesting.  He set the table and we all tucked in.  Not bad.  I'll give him  7 /10 - that's more than he got for his English Composition at Jurong Secondary School.

But to be fair, YD gave us a choice of his home-made dhall and rice but we opted for Italian food prepared by a Maratha warrior.

Came Sunday, we went for a walk just for this fabulous Turkish breakfast!

The coffee  had a real kick - like kopi kampung but thicker and sweeter.  Such was the impact of this breakfast that I forgot to pick up my jacket when we left the restaurant.  Hassan and Yuwrajh had to retrieve it 6 hours later!

Then came a whopping surprise.  Just round the corner was - lo and behold  ........

Bless you Yuwrajh.  This was my first (and may be the last ) car boot  this year.  And so I wandered round like Minnie the Minx in a sweet shop while Iain and YD looked at flowers. How exciting!

But we also noticed YD  raiding his bank for more dosh  .........

That can only mean there will be more goodies to come.  Indeed there was.

For lunch, or rather a late lunch we had to escape the din in the main restaurant because the customers were yelling their heads off watching Arsenal vs Man United on the big screen.  (The Emirates Stadium was just a stone's throw away).  We were taken to a grotty looking back room into a cubicle decorated with plastic flowers and leaves.  YD was apprehensive because this place was new to him  and the ambience did not look too encouraging.  But his fears were unfounded.

The fish and the salad , in fact all our choice of dishes were scrumptious. This was our first time with Ethiopian food and we loved it.  For Yuwrajh it was especially exotic because the waitress did not have a London accent!
 
Before we left for Leicester on Monday afternoon our host went on his bicycle to get us lamachun  (a sort of soft Turkish pizza) for lunch - and he also packed us more Turkish bread with filling for our coach trip.

So here's my Report Card for Yuwrajh.
1. Food &  Beverage  -  Excellent
2. Accommodation  -  Very Good and Comfortable.  Only one flaw - there was no tea in bed.
3.Transport  -  Good. Although Hassan was an excellent driver, the squabbles about direction between him
 and YD had a negative effect on the ratings.
4. Entertainment - Zilch because too much time was taken up by eating and chin-wagging.
5. Activities - 5 Star Rating because we enjoyed the morning sun in the cosy back garden.  The lavender in
    the front garden was heavenly.  And this and the roses were all planted by Yuwrajh!

Yuwrajh and Hassan, thank you very much for giving us this fantabulous break.  We are very, very touched by the welcome given to us.
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Well Yuwrajh, the boy from Jurong has done well.  You made it on your own steam , from teacher to nurse to speech therapist  and as your former teacher I am especially proud of you.  And by the way, we enjoy listening to stories of your travels and your insights into the world.

Is it so small a thing
To have enjoyed the sun,
To have lived light in the spring,
To have loved, to have thought, to have done.   (Matthew Arnold  1822-88)