HTMW Recaps: September 2018
I normally add a quote to the beginning of each post that sums up or enhances my writing. However, I’m going to use my monthly recaps as an opportunity to sum up the month – be it the mood, the weather, my feelings… Anything really. This month has been quite quiet, really. There has been some beautiful light for photography (see the images in this post) and I’ve spent quite a lot of time seeing friends and enjoying the last vestiges of summer. As the seasons change, so too have some aspects in my personal life this month, so my quote reflects that.
‘New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.’ – Lao Tzu.
In January 2017, I announced I was going to start monthly recaps on my blog. If you missed last month’s recap, you can find it here.
I didn’t leave London once in September, and by the end of the month, I was starting to feel it! I crave getting out of the city from time to time, and usually manage an excursion at least once a month. However, I’m really trying to tighten my belt and be more sensible with money before I head off on my six week adventure in December, so a trip out of London fell by the wayside this month. Instead, I enjoyed a quiet month, catching up with friends and celebrating two birthdays.
The Highlights
Visiting the Sky Garden for drinks after dark.
I’d been to the Sky Garden before on a whim, when the day was kind of grey and the light flat. This time, we went after dark for drinks and to enjoy the views and the city lights. Whilst I didn’t stay long and didn’t drink much, it was a lovely way to end the week and it made a change to going to your bog-standard pub! It was also a fitting way to say goodbye to J before she flew to France the next day.
Catching up with friends I’ve not seen in a while!
A delicious vegan brunch with J one Sunday morning, catching up with Z and meeting L over home-cooked pho and wine and finally spending time with E again after a month where we didn’t see each other once! It’s been a great month for seeing friends – plenty of prosecco, vodka, food and fun with all of the important people in my life.
Celebrating two of my best friends’ birthdays.
Both P and A celebrate their birthdays in September. P kept his birthday kind of low-key this month, we headed for some awesome dumplings at Ugly Dumpling in Soho with some friends to celebrate but there was no wild partying. Later in the month, A turned the big 3-0 and her husband threw a wonderful party, gathering all of her closest friends at a gorgeous tapas bar in Deptford. We ate some amazing food, drank plenty of wine and indulged in a seriously good home-baked carrot cake! It was such a lovely evening, and great to catch up with so many of A’s friends, who I tend to only see once or twice a year, usually on special occasions…
A trip to Southend-on-Sea to see my friend in her play, Closer.
When N asked us to see her performing in her play, we all jumped at the chance! So, towards the end of the month, a group of us from work headed out of London to Southend to support N. Not only was the play excellent, but N’s performance was brilliant and I felt so proud of her! We enjoyed some drinks at the theatre bar afterwards, spied on Mat Horne who was drinking with some friends and then had the best McDonald’s before catching the last train back to London.
Eating all the dim sum!
I’m a sucker for dim sum, so when C and I met for lunch and I suggested we go eat at Ping Pong, I was really pleased that C agreed! We had a lovely afternoon catching up on all our news and gossip over some really delicious food – I literally could stuff my face with dumplings and sticky rice for hours on end! The only thing holding me back is my poor chopstick work…
The Lowlights
Spells of vertigo towards the end of the month.
Luckily, this seems to have worn off a bit now, but there were periods throughout the month when I even experienced vertigo whilst lying down. It’s very unpleasant, like the entire room is shifting and swaying. I went to the doctors who gave me some pills to take, and it has eased away now, so I’m hopefully that it may have gone now… Not fun!
A couple of personal things that have made me feel a bit shit.
I don’t like to go into some things on my blog, but the personal stuff does sometimes get me down and upset me, so I feel I should mention that some private stuff that happened this month was a bit of a lowlight. Thankfully I have some of the best friends you could ask for and they’ve been awesome at stepping up and being there when I needed them. What absolute dreams!
Saying goodbye to J for the foreseeable future!
I’m so pleased for J, and proud of her for following her dreams and going off to explore France and learn fluent French, but I really miss living down the road from her and saying goodbye was hard! We message regularly, but it’s not the same as seeing each other.
Posts This Month
A 24 Hour Edinburgh Escapade.
In which I take the Caledonian Sleeper to Edinburgh and spend the day exploring the Scottish capital – getting up high, eating a delicious breakfast and soaking up the atmosphere in this beautiful city.
My 2018 Reading Challenge Book of the Month – September.
NB: The list on my reading challenge post is constantly updated as I tick off books that I’ve read and add new books I want to read, so flick back to it from time to time to keep up to date with where I’m at!
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch.
Well – this book is certainly an interesting one.
This may be the first book I’ve ever read where I disliked most of the characters and yet still felt compelled to keep turning the pages. I suppose that says a lot for Murdoch’s writing – she can narrate a pretty good story and keep you interested even if you don’t feel any affection for the characters!
The story takes the form of a journal and begins innocuously enough, with the main character Charles Arrowby retiring to live in an isolated house by the sea. Indeed, to start with, the tale is even slightly tedious, with numerous descriptions of suppers he has eaten and activities he’s undertaken, such as swimming in the ocean every day. However, the novel quickly takes a turn and becomes a rollercoaster of passion when Charles discovers that his childhood love lives in the nearest village…
Throughout the book, Charles is beset by various visitors, who play a variety of interesting roles in the story and all, to a greater or lesser extent, are involved as he tries to regain his old love into his life. Ultimately, the book ends rather slowly, almost petering out rather than finishing with a bang. I think that’s the weakest quality – the fact that Murdoch seems to struggle with concluding the book, and drags the narrative out a good few hundred words more than she needed to.
However. I did enjoy this book. There were flashes and moments when I identified with things that Charles thought, although I did not end up liking his character after the first few chapters. And Murdoch does write beautifully, setting a very atmospheric stage for the story to play out upon.
I would give this book 3.5/5, a few points lower than GoodReads, who award it 3.9/5.
Next up in October: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari.
In September, I also read:
Trans-Siberian Adventures: Life on and off the rails from the UK to Asia and A Bridge Even Further: From the UK to Singapore by train, both by Matthew Woodward.
I will write briefly about these two books as though they are one and the same, for indeed, much of Woodward’s journey in the second book (A Bridge Even Further…) is similar to the journey in the first. He travels from Scotland on the ferry to Amsterdam, then proceeds to travel overland by sleeper train and the Trans-Siberian express to Beijing.
After Beijing, his books differ. In the first, he merely continues to Hong Kong before flying home. In the second, his journey takes him beyond China into Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and ultimately Singapore before he flies back. He basically travels almost as far as you possibly can by land, from Edinburgh to Singapore.
His observations are interesting and there’s no doubt he is an expert on all things train-related. He’s definitely a rail adventurer though – he does not disembark anywhere along the journey (bar a few key cities where one train ends and he must pick up another). So for the entire Trans-Siberian portion of the trip, he is train-bound and does not see much further beyond the window as the world slips past.
Having done the Trans-Siberian myself, and stopped along the way, I found this slightly frustrating. None the less, it was pleasant to be reminded of the experience and to be inspired into perhaps undertaking further Asian train travels in the future.
Instagram Pictures of the Month
My photos this month were all taken in London, bar one throwback shot to Edinburgh that I posted when I put up my new blog post about my trip there in June.
I choose these three images based on which got the most likes on Instagram and then tell the story behind the picture. Disclaimer: They are not necessarily my favourite photos!
Endless Summer, Southwark, London.
It feels like summer has been never ending this year. However, the roof terrace bar at our office has finally closed its doors and the temperatures are beginning to drop. This photo was taken on the last evening the terrace was open, and this is literally my favourite view in London. I can never get enough of it. The light was pretty beautiful that evening, as it tends to be as summer fades to autumn and the sun sinks lower in the sky, setting earlier and rising later.
When you go to eat dumplings…, South Bank, London.
I took this photo on my way to meet P for his birthday dumplings. I walked from work on South Bank to Soho as the weather was beautiful and the evening warm. Whenever possible I walk in London – I like to think and stroll while listening to music or a podcast. It gives me time to relax and enjoy the day after being holed up in an office for 6-8 hours. I turned back and took this photo of the OXO Tower as I walked.
Purple Sky at Night…, the City of London.
The light was fading as I walked to meet E for drinks. We’d agreed to meet at a cocktail bar near Moorgate, so I passed through the city on my way there. Glancing up, I noticed the distinct purple tinge in the sky and admired the jutting glass towers that make up the City. Near the Gherkin, I stopped and took this photo. Once upon a time, the Gherkin was one of the tallest buildings in London, but now it’s dwarfed by most, if not all of its neighbours. The high rises jostle for position on the skyline, but it’s not often you see them from this angle…
Coming Up in October
I’m kicking off the month with a visit from Mum for a few days, where we’re planning on going to Greenwich, seeing a performance of The Planets at the Royal Albert Hall and generally catching up. I also have plans to spend time with C when she comes to town for the weekend, and at the end of the month I am seeing Alt-J back at the Royal Albert Hall, which I’m super excited for. Aside from that, I’m aiming to cut back to drinking again in October so that I continue to save money and I really need to continue planning my trip to Australia and New Zealand… You can expect a post up very soon with my full itinerary!
