The Queen Has Landed

Dear ________,
Before I resume this missive on my Britannia sojourn, I'd be remiss if I fail to mention the following trivia: the cute, quaint cottage in Guildford - 100 years old and all - owned by my uncle and aunt was bought from one Ms. Sara Crowe, who played the bride in the first wedding for the runaway hit movie 'Four Weddings and a Funeral'.

Oh yes, also, during our stay at their lovely abode, we had our share of mouth-watering desserts (asides from coffee, that is - she knows how much I love coffee) comprising the English trifle (first night), moist chocolate cake (second night) and apple crumble ala mode before we left for the airport. And that's ONLY desserts! We might have put on the pounds (no pun intended) purely from her unremitting, gastronomical largesse. Hehe.

Ahh...London. We arrived in the super-busy International train station of Waterloo around 1pm and quickly filled our stomachs up at the instore Burger King. The Big Fish and fries were enough to tide us over before we joined other harried, frantic, composed, clueless, frail, boisterous, streetwise, and yuppie commuters on the tubes underground. Needless to say, the journey from Waterloo to our hotel around the London Bridge area gave me a slight headache. Being blissfully ensconced in my little world in Delft - devoid of traffic jams, honks blaring, double-decker buses hissing and drowning in a sea of pedestrians - I wasn't mentally and physically prepared for this rude awakening to my half-dormant senses. To make matters worse, I was feeling constantly tired due in part to a 'monthly visitation'.


So when my husband excitably summoned me to get up from our plush, 400-thread count cotton sheet of a bed, I begrudgingly obliged. Getting ready was such a laborious, slow effort that it really miffed my husband! Tick-tock, tick-tock! It's not everyday we're in London! Yeah, I hear you dearest!

First on the agenda is finding Abercrombie & Fitch's flagship store in Savile Row. We stopped at Bond Street, taking the Jubilee Line. Besides tourists, the throng of people, from all walks of life, were mainly attributed to the long two-week Easter holiday for university students and schools in general. And of course because the adjoining Oxford Street and Bond Street is one of London's famous shopping hubs. Thrilled by the long, festive pavements reminiscing of old times, I was more than ready to explore favourite haunts. Alas. our travelling itinerary nowadays is always dictated by the temperament of our one-year-old daughter. I'd be lying if I didn't say that Sadia's moodiness put a damper in our planned leisure saunter across the Rivercity. It's not easy to indulge in peregrination when a toddler keeps screaming in your ears! Our wide-eyed, listless Sadia is definitely no longer 'travel-sturdy' like before.

We counted our blessings when Sadia at last fell asleep while we tried figuring out how to get to A&F. Feeling peckish, we digged in on cheese nachos at an American 60's style Dee's Diner at Debenham's on Oxford Street. There, enjoying the quiet respite, we pored over the London map for the famous bespoke haven, Savile Row.

On foot, we traversed all the way down Oxford Street, past the Oxford Circus, into Regent Street, turn right into Conduit Street before turning left into Savile Row. We thought we're on the wrong footing, so to speak, hiking along the relatively deserted and silent Row. Turned out, A&F was situated at the end of Savile Row, across the street from The Royal Academy of Arts at Piccadily's Burlington House.




At its front door, two male models donning khaki shorts, t-shirt over windbreakers greeted would-be patrons. Overheard at the entrance as well were the squeals of some hormonally-charged teenage girls. We wondered what the commotion was and were amused to find a male model sans a top posing with some of A&F female clients against an A&F billboard background. The store was almost pitch-black if it were not for some strategic lightings on racks and shelves and a cluster of downlights. Since its opening on 22nd March, A&F pulled out all the stops to promote its casual merchandise - clubby theme, loud music and 'semi-naked' men! So it comes as no surprise that the hullabaloo A&F has thus far caused does not go down too well with the exclusive and long-standing tailor houses on Savile Row.


Half-way inside A&F's ground floor, we decided to retreat from the cacophony. Nestled inside her baby carrier, Sadia's kip is paramount if we wanted to turn her into a cooperative tot. To kill time, we went off Burlington House back into Regent Street and checked out an array of interesting shops like Japan-based UniQlo. Sadia came to as we were about to double back towards A&F for hubby to buy his summer shorts (his one and only was stolen when we were burgled last year). By this time, the topless model looked all lonely without anyone snapping pictures with him. We were more than happy to fill up his free time and took one hilarious shot where Sadia stared at his body-painted pectorally-buffed torso. Hehe!

After the purchase, we trekked all the way back to Oxford Street and stopped over Gap to buy some Spring essentials. By this time, evening rush hour had just commenced and Sadia was edgy again. We were pooped ourselves but hesitated in taking the sandwiched tube. Instead, we bought some foodstuff at Bond Street's Marks & Spencer's Simply Food. Considering the unnecessary protracted lethargy in waiting for the crowd to taper off, we subsequently hopped on the next tube for our London Bridge stop. After changing at Waterloo, the tube on our Jubilee Line was not as crowded. The walk from the tube station to our hotel took less than 10 minutes but we dropped by the neighbourhood Bagel Street and ordered out our bagel-laden dinner.

In no time at all, we scarfed our bagels within the soothing confines of our fragrant room. Thereafter, hubby went out to a Simply Food, only a few steps out of the hotel's lobby, to buy drinks, yogurt as well as to heat up the macaroni and cheese for Sadia at the hotel's Executive Lounge. When he didn't come back after half an hour, I was worried. He didn't bring his cellphone due to the close proximity and expected fast service. Unfortunately, the latter failed to live up to his expectations. He was livid when the hotel staff to whom he asked to zap the Mac & Cheese took 20 minutes to comply to his small 3-minute request. The lady attendant excused herself from fulfilling his wish to momentarily take care of one Executive hotel client checking in at the aforesaid Lounge. However, one after another came and eventually she left my husband in the lurch.

The hospitality maxim 'First Come, First Serve' must haven't been properly programmed in her addled brain. Else, she discriminated against my husband for NOT wearing a powersuit, unlike the other checking-in customers. Whatever it was, hubby plainly expressed his annoyance for others to hear "It took you 20 minutes to heat a 3-minute meal? I already told you this is not for me but my baby upstairs." Others gasped but she remained unremorseful. Adding insult to injury, the haughty young English lady didn't even apologise to him! What a *toot*!

Be forewarned, my husband is a stickler for great, efficient service. He recounted the story in a furious tone once he handed me the microwaved dinner. While waiting however, Sadia already had her fill of croissant. That first night, exhausted to the bones, we slept soundly against the din of passing boats on River Thames.

Until my next missive on London,
Theta

note: The first FOUR A&F-related photos are accredited to Reuters, taken during the opening of A&F