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Visitors – Shoreditch, Skygarden, Marylebone…and…

Friday, 4 May, 2018

My friend, Virginia (Jinni), and her husband Dave are visiting London. This means a lot of guiding and walking.  Most of what I see is familiar but I do sometimes spot something new and that’s always a nice suprise!

On Monday, I met them for a local walk around for groceries. Instead of the fish and chip dinner I thought we might have we went to a pasta place close to their hotel. To my mind, the Italians tend to undercook ravioli. At least, I know that it’s supposed to be al dente and that’s fine but I think I prefer my ravioli and pasta a bit more tender than that. Doesn’t have to be soft but … yes, tender. It’s made me more determined to make a little of my own. After making it with a machine and with a rolling pin, I say the machine wins for the thinner, more tender, dough.

We started our walk near Arnold Circus (my usual route). The middle garden area was looking like Spring was taking hold. A nice oasis in busy Shoreditch.

Arnold Circus gazebo
Arnold Circus gazebo

We aren’t wimps but let’s say we are getting older. We stopped in The London Tea Exchange on Brick Lane. The server comes to your table and asks what you’re looking for and then choose a few options for you to smell and consider.  I chose the Green tea with Rose. It was very fragrant and refreshing. I was already starting to feel the warmer weather after the past several wet and cold ones. Five pounds well spent? Hmmm.

Rose green tea
Rose green tea at the Tea Exchange
Dave and Jin spotted this building name - I had never noticed it!
Dave and Jin spotted this building name – I had never noticed it!

I had booked three spaces at Ottolenghi so we arrived and ordered our dinner.  The prices have gone up – no surprise – my cold main and two salads was £18.80. I enjoyed it but thought I might have got the end of the roast since it wasn’t as rare as it used to be. Still, I made good choices – with Roasted butternut squash with nigella yoghurt, grilled spring onion and green chilli, Green beans, red endive with miso tahini and toasted sesame, and the fillet of beef.

Lunch at Ottolenghi
Lunch at Ottolenghi

I had been trying for over a week to get some spaces at Skygarden. It was definitely frustrating me. On Monday morning I was ready to grab spots for Tuesday and stupidly was waiting for something to show up while still on the April calendar. When I figured out what I was doing wrong, it was too late, no spots. Still, I knew that cancellation spots turned up if you keep checking and to my surprise as we left Ottolenghi, five spots showed for 3pm. I quickly selected three spots and prayed I’d been on time. I was! It was 2:20pm.

Every time I go to Skygarden now I think I don’t need to come back, but there I was and, despite the dull sky, I took a few photos for posterity!

The Tower,Tower Bridge, and City Hall
The Tower, Tower Bridge, and City Hall
The Shard and London Bridge Hospital
The Shard and London Bridge Hospital
Looking west with St Pauls, and the Eye around the bend in the river
Looking west with St Pauls 

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A wander in Stoke Newington, the high street, Old Church, Church Street, and Abney Park

Saturday, 21 April, 2018

My brother, John,  has been a keen genealogist for some time and keeps me honest on these pages. The amount of history my family has – on both sides – with this borough of Hackney and that of Tower Hamlets is quite astonishing. No wonder I feel completely at home on these streets. Although it’s not as prolific as the connection with Mile End, Bethnal Green, Spitalfields and Whitechapel, there is a pretty strong line in Hackney so I’ve chased some of the places up.

‘Birth cert of Kate Lees (Samuel Simmons’ – my paternal grandmother – mother) of 1865 shows she was born at 25 Wentworth St. Terrible reputation but maybe the street was not as bad at that time.
Also, her mother Hannah’s last address was 140 Imperial. The Willing great grandparents also lived on Imperial (#37), not sure if they overlapped.’

So on a walk up to Stoke Newington for bread and fabric, I looked for ‘Imperial.’ On a street called Victorian Road is a complex of flats that I immediately recognised as one of the Four Percent Industrial Dwellings that are still scattered around the east end of London.

And part way along, almost where the road becomes a much more modern housing estate, is a chained and padlocked gate. If you look through the bars, there is Imperial Avenue – like a row of mews houses – a hidden pocket of homes.

Imperial Avenue
Imperial Avenue, seen through the bars of a sturdy modern gate
A sad plaque
A sad plaque

I was interested and, as always, my own neighbourhood had surprised me with something I hadn’t seen before. And ‘victorian rd, imperial ave and coronation road. I sense a theme,’ I told John.

Stoke Newington (aka Stokey) can be a grim area along the high street. It’s somehow escaped the gentrification of neighbouring Dalston. However, its age also brings some treasures and I’m very fond of things tour guide Eleanor Blum calls ‘ghosts.’ These are remnants of past times. Still partially there but not in keeping with today.

ghost sign on Stoke Newington High Street
This ghost sign on Stoke Newington High Street was painted twice, one on top of the other

I often buy fresh burrata and newly baked ciabatta at Gallo Nero along the grubby high street. It’s not quite Italy but it’s packed with Italian goods.


Saturday, after a busy  morning, I set off again to Stoke Newington.  (The New Town in the Woods.) This time to Church Street (Stoke Newington Church Street) because I’d heard there were St George Day celebrations at the last remaining Elizabethan church in London, The Old Church. Contrary to the main high street, Church Street is charming, leafy and feels far different. Continue reading “A wander in Stoke Newington, the high street, Old Church, Church Street, and Abney Park”

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A visit to Haggerston

Friday, 20 April 2018

Summer heat has hit London. Temperatures are hitting as high as 28C for several days.

The difference this has made to the tree outside in the window in just a few days is remarkable!

The tree on Monday...
The tree on Monday….
...and on Thursday
…and on Thursday

Yesterday was an eventful day for me – unintentionally. Here follows a rambling account.

First I went to the doctor only to find out that my test results (expected two weeks ago) have still not arrived. sigh. But I had other things to do. I had to complete a sleepiness study to get back into the sleep clinic at St Barts hospital. and I asked about anxiety meds. Briefly – the doctors here have been refusing to give me Clonazepam despite my very good history with it. Every now and again I restate my case to get them. so I gave it another shot. He asked me questions and then said he was convinced that I should have it but needed to bring it up at the doctor meeting they had later that day. (He called me back to say the doctors said they also agreed but he had to now run it past the psychiatric arm of their practice. progress!)

Also I asked about the shingles shot and risks and benefits and they booked me in to see the practice nurse. she was one i’d seen before and really liked. so we chatted a bit and I got my shot, which instantly hurt like crazy – normal, she said. so far so good! feel OK. Arm a bit sore, was a bit tired but that’s not unusual these days.I then had to jump on a bus to get to my appointment at the volunteer office.

Chapter of accidents follows:

  • got in the bus
  • realised I was on the wrong one when it took the ‘wrong’ turn – got about three stops into the wrong route
  • walked the half mile to the road where I could get the right bus
    knees hurt so waited ten minutes for a connecting bus
  • arrived 45 mins late!
  • told that I was in the wrong location for my appointment
  • walked with the receptionist another 1/4 mile to the right location
  • arrived an hour late!

Stupid thing is that if i’d realised where I should have been, there would have been no need for that connecting bus or the wait for it. Duh.

Anyway, Jane (the woman I had to see) told me that Shahanaz was already there. Shahanaz is the Muslim woman I’ve become friends with – one of those things where you are in a new group of people and somehow you end up becoming friends with the one you would least have expected! And the three of us had a great chat, most of which arose from Jane seeing my birth certificate and being fascinated with all the details. (it was an ID checking session). Jane mentioned that she had been to the Princelet synagogue one year and fell in love with it. Shahanaz was really intrigued by Jane’s story and asked me if I could take her. then Jane said we *must* include her. this whole thing felt really warm and inclusive – and curious in that there we were, one Jew, one Muslim, and one (Irish) Catholic – and I felt like we were a new circle of friends. that would be really nice actually. Anyway, the next open house is 10 September so I may not be in London but…

After the ID session, Shahanaz asked if we could go next door to the Waterhouse cafe – the place that catered our volunteer training sessions. This turned out to be a lovely space with a patio overlooking the canal.

Waterhouse Restaurant, Haggerston
Waterhouse Restaurant, Haggerston

I really enjoyed the brunch (poached egg with smoked salmon and asparagus) and Shahanaz asked if we could try a new coffee – she is discovering the world of coffee (sheltered!) through me. We chatted about our lives and then left to get home. When we got to Dalston Shahanaz remembered she had left her bag (with passport etc) in the cafe so she had to turn back. I came home and had a restful day.

My cheese is a week or two away from being ready to eat and my new dollies are enjoying the sun!

Hoping the blue is the left one
Hoping the blue is the left one because that’s the one I pierced to encourage the blue veins
Four new dollies basking in the sun
Four new dollies basking in the sun
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Dim Sum adventures

Wednesday, 18 April, 2018

A return visit for dim sum at Shikumen was in store. We did a fair amount of walking and it was hot! Shikumen is having a four for £10 lunch. We’ll go back and try four different ones before the promotion ends.

A beautifully crafted vegetable dumpling
A beautifully crafted vegetable dumpling
The foru for £10 dim sum lunch. Missing are the chicken gyoza
The four for £10 dim sum lunch. Missing are the chicken gyoza

I wanted to check out the new bar that overlooks the city so we took the lift up to the fourteenth floor but were foiled. It goes as far as floor 13 and then you see a notice: You have to come up from the ground floor and be escorted. Are they keeping the riffraff out? I’m coming back at night when it’s open, to have a silly cocktail and take photos before the light fades.

A bit more walking in the heat followed. I wished I had on my summer clothes, which are packed away from last year.

At the south side of Bethnal Green Road time stands still
At the south side of Bethnal Green Road time stands still
Spotted off the Bethnal Green Road
Spotted off the Bethnal Green Road

Home to a nice cool shower!

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Hobbling into Spring, a lovely new mural, and Victoria Park

Friday, 23 March, 2018

Somehow I missed the Spring Equinox. So no photos from that day, sadly. This Spring in London reminds me more of a Toronto Spring – warm days  mixed with very cold, even snowy, days. A yoyo time and I’m so so ready for the day I can throw off the winter coat and boots.

My cheeses are worrying me. Yes, Philip and Keith both said leave them alone and they’ll be fine. They are now sitting in my fridge inside a cardboard box, on a trivet, with a cup of water to keep the humidity up. They are all covered in a grey fur (apparently normal) I have mixed up the blue and the white – was so careful to keep the labels close and then in the transfer got not-surprisingly confused. Now no idea which is which. The French cheese wouldn’t come out of the mould but when Philip suggested I turn it upside and let it fall out on its own, it did – almost immediately, ripping the bottom off. Now we just have to wait and see how it ends up!

My cheeses maturing - before the French one ripped
My cheeses maturing – before the French one (bottom left) ripped

On Wednesday I went to Leigh on Sea to see my aunt Ruth.  We ate our usual fish and chips and talked about family. It was a pleasant and mild day – the sun shone and all was right with the world.  I have yet to fix a date to see my other aunt, Kay – who is also my cousin, but that confuses everyone. My mum and dad officially met when mum’s cousin Kay married Dad’s older brother Ed. Couldn’t be easier but everyone looks stunned and mutters things like incest…um, no!

My aunt's suburban street and her usual seat
My aunt’s suburban street and her usual seat

Thursday, it was cooler again and quite grey. I put the finishing touches on another doll and I decided to take the bus to see a new mural that had been commissioned for the centenary of the vote for some UK women. But first, back to Green Papaya where I sat quietly and contemplated my life or my navel or perhaps the dish in front of me. My decision was that I prefer the Toronto version, which has the sauce served separately and uses a different type of pork – even a choice of grilled meats. However, these little breaks in my week are very important to me and it’s the best thing to eat in this neighbourhood!

Grilled belly pork at Green Papaya
Grilled belly pork at Green Papaya

The bus to Old Ford Road goes through Victoria Park, where I played as a child. There are a lot of memories but not many clear facts about this area. I don’t recall exploring as a child but instead treading the same streets many many times on the way to the market, to nursery school, to the sweet shop, going to the park, visiting my Aunt Kay’s dress factory (a treasure trove!) outside playing on the pavement, and walking down towards my maternal grandmother, Charlotte’s (Lottie’s) house (perhaps a mile away).

Today I was headed to see a mural, though. It’s on the Old Ford Road which runs adjacent to the park. A long time ago, as a child, my mother had a friend on this street. She lived in one of the tall houses, perhaps occupying one or two of the floors. She had a daughter my age and that daughter introduced me to the ‘interesting’ game of ‘doctor.’ The details are shameful and I hope no permanent damage was done! Other people’s children seemed far more experienced in such things. Always the ‘good girl,’ I’d follow along and wonder why. I still do.

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