i was a field mouse hiding at the bottom shelf of the bookcase, clutching a tome that felt larger than life, shaking with fear. the world swiveled around me in curvy waves of pounding feet and harsh fingernails, and i felt like the whole of Selfridges was going to swallow me alive. Gerrard lay forgotten on the floor somewhere and i would probably never see him again. remember the day he came to me, delivered into my hands unsuspectingly in a little jewelry packet? all this time later, i lost him and didnt even realize it until i missed the familiar thud it would make against my heart. an hour ago i was running helter skelter through a park behind Bond Street and laughing with the taste of chilly London air on my tongue, but as i crouched there in Selfridges amongst the towering stacks of books, i felt truly alone. actually, i’m so sick of Selfridges. i’ve been there for days on end now. and tomorrow (actually, in three hours), i’m going to be meeting some friends there for the Boxing Day sales, but i am optimistically relegating the whole jostling, elbowing and snatching shindig to the category of spectator sports. i also cant do the queue thing. queues drive me up the wall; there’s just too much foot-tapping and fidgeting on my part to be had. and then there’s the dangerous thinking that is inevitable as one waits. right now, all i want to do is not think. coz i’m on holiday. this new-found aversion to thinking is precisely the reason why i’m even here. ah, life. ah, london. so full of pompous cupcakes and prickly christmas trees.
merry belated christmas, everyone :)
how did you guys spend christmas? please entertain me with lovely stories of hot chocolate, crazy xmas eve parties, kisses san mistletoe, church service, gift exchanges or turkey from Mr Ho’s Fine Foods .. :) or even lovely stories of none of the above.
as for me, i ushered in christmas day with a congregation of crazy malaysians cramped into a little enclave in Butler’s Wharf – we had pizza, played Pictionary and passed around a strange-looking thing called a beer bong. then i hibernated until 4pm and woke up to milk chocolate digestive biscuits. watched Before Sunrise in intervals. stuffed myself with turkey stuffing later on at night. talked all night long. took a long shower with my favorite papaya soap from Body Shop. quite perfect.
some pictures:
a stand at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park where i bought hot blackcurrant. Ribena :)
toffee apples, something i’d only ever read about in books up till this christmas. i’m still not exactly sure how to eat them though… i stupidly bit very hard into one and almost broke my jaw in the process. so i ended up sticking the apple into the oven to get a gooey sugary coating instead. that was a lot nicer.
my santa hat, which i later found out was actually a santa stocking. quite embarrassing.
a nice huge christmas eve bratwurst. happiness! this came with mulled wine, which is supposed to be a christmas favorite, but was kinda awful-tasting in my coarse and unrefined opinion :\
crazy malaysians! spot the beer bong
big floating snowman in Carnaby Street
outside Selfridges
