I don't want to be one of those peopple who say "Well this is awkward", because a) I'm not one of those people and b) that usually implies something sexual in a situation.
So I'm gonna say that since I've been away from the blog for such a long time, you must be missing me, so why don't I write a really massive post that covers a whole week? (And in addition, why don't I spend a few weeks more writing it?)
Part one of this post could actually be a whole post by itself. It is the story of the British Airways flight from Changi to Heathrow. Firstly, who is a fan of British Airways? Lol. Because firstly, the flight was delayed until a quarter past midnight. And I was really regretting not packing an extra egg tart, as I was hungry. Oh, and and Changi Airport it is so cool how the workers ride around on segways - too Indie for words. This makes me feel really sad that QANTAS is no longer going to stop over in Singapore anymore. A real shame. They served some food when I got on the plane, but I went to sleep. I had to just keep sleeping the whole flight, which was 14:05 hours long. Because they kept the cabin lights off. So either I could be an arsehole and try to turn on my personal lamp then reach over all the people to swivel it around, or I could just sleep. Somehow I slept, even though I never sleep on the plane. I think because I had my winter coat on my lap so I was not freezing. I don't think there was any food one could go and get at any time in the kitchen. Drinks wise, the air hostesses would sometimes carry out a small tray with cups of juice and water. They never came to collect the empty cups. One hour and forty minutes before the end of the flight, the lights were switched on and breakfast was served some time after this. There was a choice between vegetarian (which was not really a choice since I had not requested it ahead of time), english breakfast and omelette. The omelette was this big hard yellow thing. The mushrooms were WEIRD (oh no! not in that way). I finished the potato wedges. I'm not sure whether I finished the croissant. There was also yoghurt from Japan.
Here are some photos, including a selfie, I took on the Heathrow Connect early in the morning on the way in to London.
My hair is looking a bit weird in the photo because it was put into a bun when it was wet. I woke up during the flight and let my hair down and it was still damp even though over twelve hours had passed since I washed it. It's good to know this kind of thing about me n ma life.
I can't give a day by day recount of the London trip because I simply cannot because it was too long ago and I probably need to take some vitamins for memory.
I do remember walking up and down Kings Road and this Sloane Square place for a few days. And it was raining. And sometimes it was only four thirty in the afternoon, but I thought it was seven thirty or later. Weird place.
The thing that I though was really weird about London was that every street one goes to, there are the same shops repeated over and over again. Actually, that's a thing about some cities which aren't Canberra. You just can't run away from a certain handful of shops.
There was this evening when I first went to Sloane Square and I was going to the Saatchi Gallery and stopped for lunch at four in the afternoon. I have not told you about my weird eating ways. I really dig the lack of pattern. It's the best thing. I find that routine is very tiring. One day I will do a post about why school is such a draining place. Anyway, not eating in a "regular" way could be a post on its own.
And then I ate at this cafe and you just never know about the service because cafes do things in different ways. So I went to the counter and asked to have what some dude was having. And the woman was like what the hell and told me that they actually have table service and to take a seat. So I did and then had to wait for the waiter because it was really busy. And then I got these four club sandwiches and was really excited because I had been craving a sandwich randomly. I nearly finished the four sandwiches, and I finished the salad and crisps on a plate. And then I was cool about not eating a sandwich again for a long time. But dude, that's not to say this wasn't a good experience.
I took this selfie. Unfortunately I didn't photograph the fashionable and hip British people in this hip cafe.
Then I really liked the Saatchi Gallery because it made me want to get into Art. Not as an artist, but a person who appreciates art. Because I hate that feeling when you go to a gallery and you look at stuff quickly and then you don't really take stuff in or just say "that's cool" and then it isn't really an enriching experience for you.
I super duper liked how the Saatchi Gallery was FREE.
And then I took pictures of some art. They had all these installations and these things about the Soviet Union (which, as I have said before, is a super Indie topic) and this piece where this artist had done a picture then got an axe and destroyed it and disappeared and then this critic guy said that that scene should be turned into art and then in the room they had all this stuff about whether or not installations are real art. So anyway, a couple of these pictures are not actually pieces of art. Wink wink.
I don't have anything funny to say about this picture but it's hilarious. Because you can be so Indie you turn into a reindeer.
Aeroplane jelly in Harvey Nichols! The cream of Australian upmarket products! One pound seventy-five a box!
I think this might have been High Street Kensington. I went there the day I arrived and I was hit with that feeling you get when you think everyone has a sense of style. And then you are kind of dazed because you're like in some places, people actually dress to a style. But then after a while I realised that the availability of clothes must be a factor in determining what people where. If you can buy cool clothes, and they are the style, you probably will. And then I remembered that anything you can buy is a ) commercial and b) mainstream.
The other thing I noticed on the most fashionably dressed street, High Street Kensington, where I spent some time inside WHOLE FOODS and now my life is complete, is that older/middle aged men were really getting into this pairing of maroon with yellow. I thought it was cool at first, but then I decided that the eye-catching and original pairing of these two colours was tiring and became too mainstream, like every middle aged Tom, Dick and Harry decided to try to look young and trendy by putting together an outfit like that. And then I'd also like to bring to your attention that TRENDY IS MAINSTREAM. That's what the government and society and all those people want you to be. And I say no.
Here are some photos of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens:
That colour wall is such a blank slate. I'm a fan. It has so much potential for meaning in a minimalist way. Just look at it. What does it mean to you? What could it mean to other people? Wow. There's so much potential. I just think it's really powerful.
There came a time in my walk when I realised I didn't have to walk on the path and then I as walking across the grass and remembering how I was a non-conformist. I felt so happy with myself. I felt like I'd come home when I walked through the grass. The grass where the children were playing soccer. Sometimes, being wise means being young. And I was having all these thoughts about being a non-conformist and I hd heaps to say, but now I've forgotten.
There were lots of squirrels flipping around and off the railings. Note the hiking boot I borrowed from my brother.
Then there was also this afternoon when I trekked out to Camden Town, but when I got out of the tube station, I got confused by the signs and I walked the the completely opposite direction and then decided to follow the sign to some market which happened to just be a town market which was packing up because it was late afternoon already. Or maybe it wasn't. I can't remember. It was dark. So I was trekking up this hill towards some place some Hampstead Heath. And then I decided to find my way through all these random streets in this random dodgy neighbourhood and there were all these children coming out of school. But somehow I found my way to the vintage market in these old stables. I don't know what to say about it apart from it was quite unIndie in that the people going there didn't seem very Indie at all and it was totes commercialised, which means that the place was actually trying to appeal to a certain audience and create a vibe. Which is kind of like being fake, but more like unnatural. Because I think the saying about liking people for who they are applies to everything. Because I go for things that don't TRY to appeal to a niche by joining the dudes who try to appeal to the niche. Because I'm like trying to fuck the system by going against those dorks who generalise about the world and try to make sense of it, and the market, and the economy, and what people are being forced to do by outside pressures, and whatever, and try to tell you how to appeal to people. Because I never want to be part of the mass. So I say, anything that's reached the status of a thing is passé and I'm not into it.
But apart from that, there were some cool shops. Especially this spectacle shop which was in a dark corner and they had the coolest vintage glasses. And then there was this bookshop where I bought the PERFECT Latin dictionary in perfect condition for five pounds, which the British bloke selling them called a "fiver". Oh wait, British people always call themselves "Brits" these days. It makes me feel like they want to look like they have grit. And then I walked into this stall to pay and he was talking to this young guy and girl and he was in this low arm chair and reading them some poetry and really enlightening them and then I walked in and he told them how I would know about Vergil because I'm a Latin student. And I smiled and kept trying to give him the five pound note and he kept telling me it was just a fiver until I pretty much shoved the money in his hand.
Apart from that, there were also those expensive asian fashion shops where one can expect to see tags for dodgy quality asian clothes saying over a hundred pounds. Camden Town is heaven if you want to buy clothing in marijuana colours. Also, there were all these food stalls and at the Chinese ones, where the food was in bain-maries, the people would stick a piece of food on a plastic fork and shove it at you as you walked past to entice you to try the food which would, without a doubt, be delicious.
Oh yeah, and here's a photo of the Stables markets at Camden Town:
But outside of the markets was random. It was a random suburb kind of town with this waterway and lads in boots.
The other thing I'd like to laugh about is the fact that apparently, Kings Road and Knightsbridge used to be like Camden Town, i.e. edgy. Some people might be all like weirded out about how much Kings Road has changed. They might even use the word gentrified. But I find that a confronting word because I just am unsure about how far the meaning of that word goes. But the thing is, Camden Town is even more "gentrified" because of what I have said above. It's quite ordinary, but strives to be the opposite. And you wouldn't see such a range of people hanging on Kings Road.
I didn't mention this time when I bought this really expensive piece of granola bar at a bakery and it was really good and I actually ate the whole thing over extended time but still felt ill. I think granola bars are Indie.
There was this other time when I went to visit the Hummingbird Bakery in Chelsea and I just don't understand what the hype is about small cupcakes. Without trying to say that I think I'm bad at making cupcakes by saying even I could do better or by saying that I am great by saying I could make better, I can tell you about how I have no respect for cupcakes. But I won't go into that now.
London is meant to be like the shopping capital because clothes are meant to be cheapish there. I suppose that's true, but I always think that the most overpriced clothes are lower and middle range clothing.
It's time to mention that I went to Oxford Street. And I realised that the weird thing about Orchard Road is that it is a succession of departmental stores and malls, rather than individual shops like on Oxford Street.
I went to Portobello Road twice. I went on a Friday then on the Saturday when it was raining.
Some places had less "vintage" and more "crap", but there was some terrific vintage lace clothing, as in old fashioned lace and also hippy lace. And then you get cool religious stuff against the backdrop of a London brick wall and street art. Brick walls are some of my favourite things about London and they really make it cool.
I laugh so much whenever I see anything to do with Lana Del Rey. Or anything influenced by Native American design. Because I think of people on RookieMag and portable.tv (which I kept reading in London) making a big deal and getting really stressed out about bad role models and "hipster rascism". And then people are scared of being ignorant so they wise up and say that you can't be perfect all the time.
The thing about London is that the place has vibes and I can definitely say that Portobello has this "vintage is cool it's ma life" vibe.
Also, as I was on my way into the shop that is photographed above, I got stopped by this guy called Wayne Tippetts. You may think that I am rude by calling him a "guy", but this is not the case. I like to talk about things in a natural progression. At first he was a guy who found my coat interesting and then he revealed his name was Wayne and he had a street style blog. He wasn't sure whether my picture would appear on his blog and it turns out it did. Then I lost the hat, which was given to me by my mate Alyce and is from this Melbourne company which is run by a family, like a small-scale Indie mafia but making good quality knitted hats, a few days later and was very sad, but oh well, it got its time to shine. And my glasses broke a few days later as well. Oh yeah, and I have to say thanks to my brother for letting me borrow his hiking boots because I had no winter shoes.
http://www.waynetippetts.com/?p=21352
After I was recorded myself saying my name, which I decided to spell out as well, my age and the brand of my coat, which is called Anatopik, the subject of my following the blogs passed.
After this experience, I was thinking a few things. I also feel I can pull out this experience whenever I feel the need to be Indie and/or full of experience. The big thing that I feel is that I have now experienced the blogging industry from both sides and should be in the VIP airport lounge for Indies.
I do remember walking up and down Kings Road and this Sloane Square place for a few days. And it was raining. And sometimes it was only four thirty in the afternoon, but I thought it was seven thirty or later. Weird place.
The thing that I though was really weird about London was that every street one goes to, there are the same shops repeated over and over again. Actually, that's a thing about some cities which aren't Canberra. You just can't run away from a certain handful of shops.
There was this evening when I first went to Sloane Square and I was going to the Saatchi Gallery and stopped for lunch at four in the afternoon. I have not told you about my weird eating ways. I really dig the lack of pattern. It's the best thing. I find that routine is very tiring. One day I will do a post about why school is such a draining place. Anyway, not eating in a "regular" way could be a post on its own.
And then I ate at this cafe and you just never know about the service because cafes do things in different ways. So I went to the counter and asked to have what some dude was having. And the woman was like what the hell and told me that they actually have table service and to take a seat. So I did and then had to wait for the waiter because it was really busy. And then I got these four club sandwiches and was really excited because I had been craving a sandwich randomly. I nearly finished the four sandwiches, and I finished the salad and crisps on a plate. And then I was cool about not eating a sandwich again for a long time. But dude, that's not to say this wasn't a good experience.
I took this selfie. Unfortunately I didn't photograph the fashionable and hip British people in this hip cafe.
Then I really liked the Saatchi Gallery because it made me want to get into Art. Not as an artist, but a person who appreciates art. Because I hate that feeling when you go to a gallery and you look at stuff quickly and then you don't really take stuff in or just say "that's cool" and then it isn't really an enriching experience for you.
I super duper liked how the Saatchi Gallery was FREE.
And then I took pictures of some art. They had all these installations and these things about the Soviet Union (which, as I have said before, is a super Indie topic) and this piece where this artist had done a picture then got an axe and destroyed it and disappeared and then this critic guy said that that scene should be turned into art and then in the room they had all this stuff about whether or not installations are real art. So anyway, a couple of these pictures are not actually pieces of art. Wink wink.
 |
| London rain at Saatchi Gallery |
And now we're moving on to some pictures I took in London.
I always get into the above type of window displays. Because I always wish I had these kind of dresses.
The other thing I noticed on the most fashionably dressed street, High Street Kensington, where I spent some time inside WHOLE FOODS and now my life is complete, is that older/middle aged men were really getting into this pairing of maroon with yellow. I thought it was cool at first, but then I decided that the eye-catching and original pairing of these two colours was tiring and became too mainstream, like every middle aged Tom, Dick and Harry decided to try to look young and trendy by putting together an outfit like that. And then I'd also like to bring to your attention that TRENDY IS MAINSTREAM. That's what the government and society and all those people want you to be. And I say no.
Here are some photos of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens:
Then there was also this afternoon when I trekked out to Camden Town, but when I got out of the tube station, I got confused by the signs and I walked the the completely opposite direction and then decided to follow the sign to some market which happened to just be a town market which was packing up because it was late afternoon already. Or maybe it wasn't. I can't remember. It was dark. So I was trekking up this hill towards some place some Hampstead Heath. And then I decided to find my way through all these random streets in this random dodgy neighbourhood and there were all these children coming out of school. But somehow I found my way to the vintage market in these old stables. I don't know what to say about it apart from it was quite unIndie in that the people going there didn't seem very Indie at all and it was totes commercialised, which means that the place was actually trying to appeal to a certain audience and create a vibe. Which is kind of like being fake, but more like unnatural. Because I think the saying about liking people for who they are applies to everything. Because I go for things that don't TRY to appeal to a niche by joining the dudes who try to appeal to the niche. Because I'm like trying to fuck the system by going against those dorks who generalise about the world and try to make sense of it, and the market, and the economy, and what people are being forced to do by outside pressures, and whatever, and try to tell you how to appeal to people. Because I never want to be part of the mass. So I say, anything that's reached the status of a thing is passé and I'm not into it.
But apart from that, there were some cool shops. Especially this spectacle shop which was in a dark corner and they had the coolest vintage glasses. And then there was this bookshop where I bought the PERFECT Latin dictionary in perfect condition for five pounds, which the British bloke selling them called a "fiver". Oh wait, British people always call themselves "Brits" these days. It makes me feel like they want to look like they have grit. And then I walked into this stall to pay and he was talking to this young guy and girl and he was in this low arm chair and reading them some poetry and really enlightening them and then I walked in and he told them how I would know about Vergil because I'm a Latin student. And I smiled and kept trying to give him the five pound note and he kept telling me it was just a fiver until I pretty much shoved the money in his hand.
Apart from that, there were also those expensive asian fashion shops where one can expect to see tags for dodgy quality asian clothes saying over a hundred pounds. Camden Town is heaven if you want to buy clothing in marijuana colours. Also, there were all these food stalls and at the Chinese ones, where the food was in bain-maries, the people would stick a piece of food on a plastic fork and shove it at you as you walked past to entice you to try the food which would, without a doubt, be delicious.
Oh yeah, and here's a photo of the Stables markets at Camden Town:
But outside of the markets was random. It was a random suburb kind of town with this waterway and lads in boots.
The other thing I'd like to laugh about is the fact that apparently, Kings Road and Knightsbridge used to be like Camden Town, i.e. edgy. Some people might be all like weirded out about how much Kings Road has changed. They might even use the word gentrified. But I find that a confronting word because I just am unsure about how far the meaning of that word goes. But the thing is, Camden Town is even more "gentrified" because of what I have said above. It's quite ordinary, but strives to be the opposite. And you wouldn't see such a range of people hanging on Kings Road.
I didn't mention this time when I bought this really expensive piece of granola bar at a bakery and it was really good and I actually ate the whole thing over extended time but still felt ill. I think granola bars are Indie.
There was this other time when I went to visit the Hummingbird Bakery in Chelsea and I just don't understand what the hype is about small cupcakes. Without trying to say that I think I'm bad at making cupcakes by saying even I could do better or by saying that I am great by saying I could make better, I can tell you about how I have no respect for cupcakes. But I won't go into that now.
London is meant to be like the shopping capital because clothes are meant to be cheapish there. I suppose that's true, but I always think that the most overpriced clothes are lower and middle range clothing.
It's time to mention that I went to Oxford Street. And I realised that the weird thing about Orchard Road is that it is a succession of departmental stores and malls, rather than individual shops like on Oxford Street.
I went to Portobello Road twice. I went on a Friday then on the Saturday when it was raining.
I laugh so much whenever I see anything to do with Lana Del Rey. Or anything influenced by Native American design. Because I think of people on RookieMag and portable.tv (which I kept reading in London) making a big deal and getting really stressed out about bad role models and "hipster rascism". And then people are scared of being ignorant so they wise up and say that you can't be perfect all the time.
The thing about London is that the place has vibes and I can definitely say that Portobello has this "vintage is cool it's ma life" vibe.
Also, as I was on my way into the shop that is photographed above, I got stopped by this guy called Wayne Tippetts. You may think that I am rude by calling him a "guy", but this is not the case. I like to talk about things in a natural progression. At first he was a guy who found my coat interesting and then he revealed his name was Wayne and he had a street style blog. He wasn't sure whether my picture would appear on his blog and it turns out it did. Then I lost the hat, which was given to me by my mate Alyce and is from this Melbourne company which is run by a family, like a small-scale Indie mafia but making good quality knitted hats, a few days later and was very sad, but oh well, it got its time to shine. And my glasses broke a few days later as well. Oh yeah, and I have to say thanks to my brother for letting me borrow his hiking boots because I had no winter shoes.
http://www.waynetippetts.com/?p=21352
After I was recorded myself saying my name, which I decided to spell out as well, my age and the brand of my coat, which is called Anatopik, the subject of my following the blogs passed.
After this experience, I was thinking a few things. I also feel I can pull out this experience whenever I feel the need to be Indie and/or full of experience. The big thing that I feel is that I have now experienced the blogging industry from both sides and should be in the VIP airport lounge for Indies.
