I got to admit that I am enjoying London in a way that I’ve never enjoyed it before. Now that I am coming back as an outsider, I can see and appreciate the vibe that London has, which was something I never fully appreciated whilst I was living there. You could say that what makes London so special is the fact that it seems to blend the dynamism of a big city with the quiet and cozy feeling of a small village.
The main reason is simple. London is not actually a “city”
in the way that New York is. Nobody set out to build the city called London. If
you travel by road, you’ll notice that they don’t have the order that New York’s
has – ie no. 5th Avenue or 10th street etc. London is
a collection of villages that melded together and merged into a huge entity
called London. Hence, you’ll notice that different parts of London feel
different and there’s no apparent logic. I take where I’m staying (at Baby
Brother’s flat). I’m staying in the Brough of Tower Hamlets, which doesn’t have
a reputation of being a nice place. Yet, I’m also five minutes-walk from Canary
Wharf, which is futuristic and fancy (or as Baby Brother says “Just like Singapore.”)
For me, London can be summed up by two contrasting culinary
experiences. My days have been spent with the boss. We’re meeting clients and
prospects over a meal. The meals that we’ve had are the meals that you write novels
about because everything from the quality of food to the service is that good.
I’m writing this piece after wonderful Indian food in a place called Bombay
Palace in the Hyde Park area.
Yet, when I start my day, the culinary experience is
rather different. Breakfast for the past three days has been in what you call a
“Greasy Spoon.” These places are known as “Greasy Spoons” for a good reason.
The menu is not what you’d call a gourmet paradise. The menu is filled with “greasy”
stuff – take the example of that wonderful classic of a good “full English
Breakfast” – fried bread. Décor is, well, not exactly the type of thing that
wins interior design awards and the people who enter greasy spoons aren’t
exactly the prettiest on the planet.
Yet, there’s something very comforting about having a
meal in a Greasy Spoon. It’s a strangely welcoming place and you’ll notice that
the relationship between the proprietor and customers has a familiar feel to
it.
Let’s think back to the Archie Comics, where life in a
small town evolved around a dinner. It’s the same thing in a Greasy Spoon. I
mean, everything about a Greasy Spoon is not what you could call award winning
but it’s as if you’re entering and becoming part of a community, which in its
own way becomes one of the richer experiences that one can have.
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