#25.20 - Londonium

-
Image may contain: outdoor, possible text that says 'EAST FINCHLEY'
Tube station

Well, London. I saw Josh. I saw Francoise. I ate Turkish food. I saw Blake. I sat in a pub and drank gin. I rode the Tube. London is definitely a lot grimier and grottier than when I last saw it three years ago. It was really not a pleasant place to be in. There were pockets of real wealth alongside such serious homelessness. We think we have a homeless problem... no, we do not. LONDON has a homeless problem. It is everywhere.

There is so much homelessness than it has become pervasive. It has actually become so ridiculous that I felt unsafe on the streets. How can they think of spending so much money on Big Ben? How could they just ignore what's going on, the media, the politicians. No wonder people want Brexit. I really worry what will happen to the UK come the 31st. 

Right. I don't know what to say. I have been at sixes and sevens the entire time in January. It has been hell really. I need to think about what is happening. I didn't get a chance to do that in London and also apparently my brain is full of holes. I think I have menopausal brain. No matter...

It has been a busy time. So many balls in the air... 

Well, I got up, did the laundry, washed dishes, cleared fridge, tidied the living room... and tomorrow... I am going to be honest with Alison I haven't done much and say I will have everything ready by the end of the week. It has been hell with the inspection and what not. These things are real. And then my trip to London... so everything seems to have crashed into each other.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Geylang sepaku Geylang

-
Image
Geylang Serai is the place i feel most at home in Singapore. Possibly because a vast majority of the population are still Singaporean and i speak the language they speak there - Malay. Also, it hasn't changed that much. OK, it has, but i'd like to think it hasn't. We ate at the new market there which used to be a little better than an open sewer. But it was our open sewer and we loved it. Geylang was heaving with people getting ready for Ramadan. On the table we have sup kambing, otak-otak, nasi padang and rojak. Drinkswise we have lime juice, Kickapoo and teh. It is hot - really hot. We are all pespiring and we can feel our clothes stick to our skin and bellies and thighs. Our hair is continuously in our faces, dripping and sticking too. The only thing that brings relief is a soak in the pool or a shower and an airconditioned room. No wonder when the boys came back, the first thing they said was, ah, it's great to be back in th cool weather again!. Singaporeans love th...
Read more

The Central Business District

-
Image
The Thinker in the OUE building Yesterday i attended a talk which was organised by some environmentalists here. It was held in the NTUC building which was in the middle of the business district. It has been years since i have been here, so i set out early to walk about the place. Everything is very very large  I arrived during rush hour and people were simply pouring out of the MRT. The crowds were swarming down escalators and out of offices - but they were not overground. No, they were underground, at the MRT. In fact thee was no one above ground. For the business district at rush hour, above ground was eerily quiet! There must be dozen of buildings which look like these To think that hundreds of thousands of people work in places like this. I used to work in a place like this. Admittedly these buildings are far more swishy and very sleek. It was like being in some espionage film set in the future. There were rehearsals for the National Day Parade and Sarah...
Read more

19.3.26 - 74 - Eulogy: What will survive of us is love

-
Image
I wrote and read this for Pa at the service. It was in long hand, but I have it here typed out now. It is peppered with verses from the New Testament, because I was asked by the priest to refer to Jesus occasionally, so I made that concession. Big shout out to Ben and the Christian Community whom I spent many a delighted evening reading and discussing the Bible during Bible study class. =========================== Thank you everybody for coming here to honour the life of husband, father and legend which is Eric Sim Chin Seng. Pa crossed over on the 16th of March at 7.30 am. He went peacefully and gently. He breathed his way slowly past this life and on to the new one, leaving his bark, his body, which carried him and his indomitable spirit and endless capacity to love, for 81 years, to say farewell to one last time. This tribute is to you, for you, Pa, who always walked in the sacred steps of Jesus Christ and lived the best life which could be lived. Part I: John 1:14 "The word be...
Read more