Monday, August 15, 2005
Leaving Night #4, in Edinburgh, and the across The Pond
After a quiet dinner at home with Mum, Dad & Karena, and an emotional goodbye, I flew up to Edinburgh on Saturday afternoon. I'm not the only one about to scoot into a different timezone this weekend, Karena heads out to NZ for at least a year. Today, as I write, somewhere over Greenland enroute to Toronto, London is a lonely town for my parents; for the first time all their kids are away from Europe, long term.
I got back to the flat, unpacked, and rushed over to have a goodbye coffee with Guiliana at Harvey Nicks. Fabulous views of Edinburgh, crap service, and the guy actually charged me full price plus tip for spilling iced mocha all over my jeans and shoes. Ironically, the last time I spoke to Guiliana at length was a year ago, upon return from Asia. And now I leave again. She is finally moving out of her current flat, and hopefully will never have to put up with the randoms scraped from ends of the barrel as flatmates, and live with Paolo & her sister. A huge smile on her face, although I fear that it is more for moving out, than moving in. An hour or so sitting in the biting cold on the balcony was comforted entirely by conversation. It made me reminisce of 2am herbal teas that lasted so long on those sofas – some of my finest memories. She accused me of being British primarily, and questioned what my Asian traits were, and how they differentiated me from the average fish and chip eating islander. Apart from the glaring obvious point (that fish and chips is a fantastic and underrated meal) I was really unable to articulate what made me different. The argument I will use now is that, being Italian, she was brought up with eerily parallel family values, and thus was unable to see what makes me different. I, of course, do not know what makes me different, apart from the perceived (inferiority complexes) and the imposed (London bomber comments, abuse in public environments).
Head back to the flat, stick on my makeup, meet up with Malcolm & Rury and head down to Leith.for the first and last Fringe Show of the month.
2 Leaving nights in london, 1 joint leaving night in edinburgh, and then.... The Rhythmn Inc down by the Shore at the Lighthouse. A trendy bar away from the crowds in Leith. A collage of people, from Rocco & Co to Sky & Co and Rury & Co. The first two social groups effortlessly cross communicated.
The show itself was surprisingly good, and then we headed down to Ocean Terminal for a live Salsa band, in which Jamie expertly humiliated me onstage, by making me dance, on my own, with a spotlight and one hundred onlookers. The favour will be returned. My last meal was a drunken fish supper, Guiliana must feel vindicated.
Next morning, head down to Romina’s flat to pickup my laptop, and say goodbye. Katya cooked Custard to die for {egg yolks, semi-skimmed milk, flour; steam. Lemon rind, chocolate}. I regret not learning Italian in my 9 months in Edinburgh; if I make it to Tokyo, I will endeavour to take more of the culture with me.
Pearson dropped me at the airport with less than 300 seconds to spare before the checkin desk closed, wooshed up to departures, forgetting to post a giant metal meat hook back to london, and successfully smuggling it through airport security. unable to spare the time to head back to the post box, i have boarded the plane with it.
At last, I travel economy. Which means the person sitting next to me is no longer A Suit, and thus has a story. His: "I gave up smoking and ever since I have been addicted to Trebor XXX mints. I need 2 packets per day. The consultant says that it is ok, but I have to watch the calories. However, tic-tacs dont do it for me, so I've stuck to these. I gave up smoking 12 years ago."
Landed at Toronto to a big hug. I hadn’t seen Anthea in nearly a year, and she was slowly being convinced that I was never coming out to visit. But here I am, sitting in a fantastic 18th floor luxury modern apartment in downtown Toronto. No wonder she doesn’t want to leave.
Fear now, for I am not certain that Japanese immigration will let me into the country. A standard 90 day visa will not suffice - the outbound flight I have for South Korea is 93 days after landing. And I have no proof on financial stability. Hmm.
Right, now i'm out to explore the city. Fear not, I have already seen a few Humvees. Photos soon, and maybe some of the city too.
- July 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- October 2009
- July 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- December 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004