snapshots

here are some pretty random london pictures, most were taken using my handphone camera, during my last few weeks there.

this is lancer square, just off kensington church street. we pass by it on the number 70 every single sunday on the way to church and back, i’ve lost count of the number of times i’ve said to melissa that we should go there someday soon. it has a very very pretty entrance and facade, with a very red cafe rouge right by its main entrance. the arcade itself, in terms of shopping, leaves much to be desired. off the top of my head i can only remember starbucks as one of the tenants there. oh but i do love these uber-cute open-air shopping arcades so much! like this one on carnaby street, kingly court i think it’s called. it houses mainly independent labels, lots of vintage stuff too. very very charming.

strictly speaking the borough i live in is the royal borough of kensington and chelsea, but south ken happens to be on the border between the city of westminster borough and kensington borough. in the background, beyond the signboard, is the edge of hyde park. so we’re very central and yet it’s very green and leafy which i really like. i was feeling shutter-happy the day i took this picture.. was walking across the park to bayswater (something i very rarely do thanks to the aforementioned number 70) and it was such a gorgeously sunny day. london climate isn’t terribly generous with those, but when they do come, they come bedecked in their fullest glory. (=

the royal albert memorial. any more upclose and it won’t be so nice to look at anymore. the first thought that came to my mind when i saw it for the first time four years ago was, what is such a gaudy and awful looking thing doing amidst all these pretty red-bricked buildings (royal albert hall and its immediate surroundings). but i didn’t dare say so because i didn’t want to seem like i didn’t know how to appreciate a fine piece of art or something. haha.

and this is the very famous warwick avenue tube station!! haha. if you don’t know what i’m talking about, you probably haven’t heard the song by duffy (in which case you really should stop listening to whatever you’re listening to and start listening to the proper stuff! haha). a bunch of us made our way to east London on one of the weekday afternoons to see the canal and little venice. wes made us detour to warwick avenue tube station for this shot! sadly though, the spot wasn’t quite as poignant as the song had promised it would be, i think you can tell from the picture!

this is the millennium bridge across the river thames, i love the views from on the bridge. i also like that the bridge connects old london and new london, represented by st paul’s cathedral (which you can see in the background) and the tate modern on bankside, respectively. took this photo on the day i walked along the stretch of the river thames from the southbank centre to bankside. i am very very fond of this part of london. with its galleries, exhibition centres and theatres aplenty, there seems to always be a buzz of activity permeating the air, without being too busy or congested. there is no better way to wake up in the morning than to look out the window, see the lively crowds and feel like you can’t wait to go out there and begin the day yourself! there, it almost feels like it’s the weekend everyday.

we saw the remnants of 2007’s autumn in december, just outside beit hall. i love the changing of seasons, but unfortunately have never had the chance to experience summer mellowing into autumn. hopefully someday in the not-too-far future…

jun and i went to see a free performance at the royal festival hall during the london jazz festival. the name of the band is five funky fellas, they play a very upbeat and funky brand of jazz, with african influences. there was a tuba player too, now how often do you see a tuba player in a jazz ensemble! the london jazz festival was definitely one of the highlights of my fourth year in london, this gig was only one of the many free jazz performances i got to see throughout the two weeks.

well, by now i would perhaps be stating the obvious if i were to say i’m missing london. i’ll be moving to kl next weekend to start work on the 1st of august, and i do wonder if i could fall so much in love with kl like i have with london. just reminiscing about london makes me want to wax lyrical all over again. but i think i’ll save that for another day.

emotional constipation

in these my final weeks in london it seems i have at last come a little closer to living with the kind of abandon that has been absent from my life all along. i’m not too sure what it is a manifestation of - the need to prove myself to myself, the realisation of the irreversibility of age and time, or a quiet denial masquerading as something else.

and then i have shoved into a corner the things that truly matter. unlike with packing away my belongings into boxes to be shipped back home, i fail to compartmentalise and organise. and strangely enough i am deriving some sort of comfort from this haphazard scheme of things. i suppose it clouds out like a smoke screen the things i’d rather not face.

london in two weeks for the pseudo-londoner

tate modern to see the street art exhibition
gelato place in south ken which even gordon ramsay recommends
jamie oliver’s fifteen since i can’t afford gordon ramsay
karaoke at 113
htb big summer sunday!
window-shopping at carnaby street
spitalfields and a snapshot of east london
606 club for the tribute to tom jobim night!
a stroll around little venice in maida vale
watch the sound of music
and agatha christie’s mousetrap
sip good coffee at ray’s jazz at foyles, with a good book in hand
southbank

will be striking things off the list as i complete them!

london i miss you already..

one last peal of the bells

so this is it. the culmination of all our fears, expectations, hopes, frustrations. 17 years of academia and look what we’ve become today - experts at the art of examinations, cynical that this has been anything else but that. least of all the pure, untainted pursuit of knowledge and learning. perhaps. or i could be alone in my cynicism.

that being said, it is not at all an unemotional end. there’s infinitely more to it than simply not having to study for exams any longer. for so long one has been protected from it all by the belief that all you gotta do is work toward that one thing. so what do you do when you’ve done what you gotta do? who knows what’s out there in this big bad world. at that one last peal of the bells, it’s run and you’re on your own.

for a while.

days go by with no empty feelings
and i walk, i walk, i walk.. i forget
til i go home
and touch my hair
and feel my skin
and i remember
that you’re gone

Chega de Saudade

I’m going to put this video here although I know no one else will listen to it. Just because it saves me the trouble of going to Youtube to play it over and over again.

Incidentally, this song by Antonio Carlos “Tom” Jobim (the pianist in the video) and Vinicius de Moraes is considered to be the first bossa nova recording ever made. Tom Jobim, together with João Gilberto (the guitarist and vocalist in the video), was one of the creators of the bossa nova style, a style evolved from samba and whose name means “new trend”. Jobim, Gilberto, Gilberto’s then wife Astrud Gilberto and jazz saxophonist Stan Getz then went on to record the veryveryvery awesome Getz/Gilberto, which has since come to be regarded as the definitive bossa nova album of all time. The title of this song directly translates to “enough homesickness” or “enough longing”. There’s a literal translation of the lyrics into English on the web somewhere and it sounds a bit corny - “Cause there are fewer fish swimming in the sea Than the little kisses I shall give her on her mouth” … er? But I’m sure in the original Portuguese meaning it is really poetic and beautiful, haha.

Give it a listen, you will like it! I could be biased but I fail to see how anyone could not like music as accessible and pleasant to the ears as bossa nova!!

On another note- I will stop posting video after video and start writing properly again after my exams, hopefully!

Happy weather

Perhaps the one thing I will miss most when I leave this place (besides the people) is summer. Don’t tell me it’s sunny and hot all year round in Malaysia - there is simply no comparison to be made, and as much as I love Malaysia, the tropical climate does nothing for me. Summer here is when people are friendlier, children livelier and everyone’s just generally more good-looking and well.. happy. Which makes me happy too.

I’ve been sitting here at my desk for far too long. Believe me, time CRAWLS when you’re indoors and you can hear children’s laughter, chatter and reggae music blaring from cars with their tops down. I am longing to feel the burning sensation of the sun’s rays on my nape again. It’s time for my exams to stop distracting me from enjoying this gorgeous weather! Think I shall go down the road to Pret and get me an early dinner. Laters. (=

Tabir DiriMu - GMB

Here’s a beautiful worship song by Indonesian band GMB, hope it blesses you.

saat kudatang
kuhampiri singgahsanaMu
kuhanya mampu
tersungkur di bawah kakiMu
dan Kau naungi hidupku
dengan kekudusanMu
Kau buka jalan
melalui tabir diriMu
dengan darahMu
kumasuki tahta kudusMu
dan Kau curahkan semua isi hatiMu
kepadaKu
ku mengangkat hatiku
kumenyembahMu Yesus
pujian hormat, pengagungan bagiMu
jadikan aku saksi
penebusan darahMu
ini hidupku
hanyalah untukMu
s’lamanya

and my incompetent translation:

when i come
near to Your throne
i can only
fall at Your feet
and you protect my life
with Your holiness
You opened the way
through the veil
by Your blood
i approach Your holy throne
and You pour out Your heart
to me
i lift up my heart
i worship You Jesus
praise and majesty
to You
make me a witness
of Your redeeming blood
this is my life
only for You
always

N/B= Does anyone else think the lead singer kinda resembles Patrick Leong?

A note

I was going to delete my earlier post titled “mea culpa” because it has occurred to me that it could have invited misinterpretations on many levels. But of course, people who’ve read it have read it and removing it would not change a thing. So I just wanted to clarify that the thing I regretted was simply my inability to keep a tighter reign on my emotions which resulted in an outburst, and nothing more than that. I feel strongly the need to point this out because of the implications of misinterpreting it as something more profound.

Sorry for the confusion!

Choose Him, again and again

There comes a time when we have to choose who or what will control us. Will it be God, our own limited personality, or another imperfect substitute?
- excerpt from footnotes from The Life Application Study Bible

It struck me today that a big part of life really is about the continuous process of making choices. From the smallest to the largest. And in every choice if I could perceive how His will comes into play, then on paper the decision ought to be clear-cut enough. In which case it would then boil down to a question of conscious obedience, as well as faith to let go and let God.

mea culpa

there aren’t very many things i’ve done which i’ve instantly regretted. most of the time because i put a lot of thought - too much thought in fact - into something before i decide to do it. but as always there are exceptions. perhaps i read too much into your apparent nonchalance, and before i knew it this ugly automatic defense mechanism had set in. do you not know the feeling of wanting to lay claim to the very things which you yourself gave up the rights to? it’s crazy and it’s unreasonable and it’s wrong, but it’s true.

this one’s for you. because i thought it would fit in perfectly with that ‘collection’ you perhaps rather more thoughtlessly than i’d have liked to think, put together for me. if you still remember. (=

Waltz for Koop by Koop

x

[Author's note: Please read this]

Goodbye Storyteller - Brad Mehldau

Watching this video moved me almost to tears and I’ll burst if I don’t share it with someone.. The emotion is just so raw and the improvisation wild and bold, but not without structure. The more airy, atmospheric bits are excellent as well in a very understated kind of way. Many label this as a marriage between classical and jazz - think along the lines of Chopin/Debussy/Satie meets Bill Evans/Keith Jarrett sort of thing. Enjoy the video, the interview at the end is also very worth watching. There are 7 parts to this documentary which you can find on Youtube.

“I can be very involved in it, and also one part of my brain can be thinking about some really banal stupid shit, like I have to go the bathroom… or you know, did I leave my wallet in the hotel..”
- Brad Mehldau, on what happens in him when he plays

xoxo

means hugs and kisses

but have you ever wondered why? apparently the reason behind it is that when you hug someone, your arms cross to form an ‘x’ shape on their back. and when you kiss, you pout and your mouth forms an ‘o’. cool, right?

this post is courtesy of lance lim. haha.