![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
douqiThere's a phenomenon in at least three major British cities where the gay district is located right next to Chinatown. I mused on this as I finished my breakfast at a Hong Kong-style cafe in Brick Lane and crossed the street to the queer bookshop.
But there, I'm getting ahead of myself.
So despite all my resolutions about not letting work take over my life, work unhinged its jaws wider than I thought them possible and swallowed me whole, and now I'm only just managing to briefly resurface because things have slowed down for Easter. I'm already dreading the return to work next week. Down with capitalism, etc.
ANYWAY I managed to get down to London last week to see Cynthia Erivo's one-woman performance of Dracula and also to eat things. Dracula was fun mostly as a spectacle. I'm not sure it really holds up without that element, especially given the odd decision to have Cynthia Erivo straight-up narrate the letters/diaries from the novel itself instead of adapting them as dialogue.
Perhaps equally (or more) interesting, food pictures (I was mostly hanging out in Brick Lane/Shoreditch, hence the selection).
Braised pork rice and smashed cucumber salad at One Rice, which bills itself as doing Teochew cuisine. They also do a seafood congee I'd like to try some other time.
Also bought some chocolate truffles from Dark Sugars. They sell them by weight — you fill a little bag with your chosen chocolates and take them to the counter, which made it even more difficult to exercise self-control.
Early dinner at Padella — spinach tagliarini with nettle and egg yolk plus almond tart (adhering to my eating out guideline of preferring desserts that have some structure/skill to the now-ubiquitous unstable creamy things on a plate.
I also had oyster omelette and cendol in Chinatown after the show, but forgot to take any pictures as I was with a friend and we were busy bemoaning the sad state of our industry. Also got a discounted slice of souffle cheesecake from Kova before they closed.
Aforementioned breakfast the next day: Hong Kong-style milk tea and French toast at Hoko. They also offer a 'Brick Lane char siu beigel', which felt wrong.
I also bought so many books at the queer bookshop that they gave me a free tote bag.
Lunch was shengjian bao at Old Spitalfields Market. These were good although my poor chopstick skills meant I lost quite a bit of soup.
I also hung out for a while at Whitechapel Gallery — cool space with a very chill common room to sit in — and tried, without much success, not to think about Current Events.
But there, I'm getting ahead of myself.
So despite all my resolutions about not letting work take over my life, work unhinged its jaws wider than I thought them possible and swallowed me whole, and now I'm only just managing to briefly resurface because things have slowed down for Easter. I'm already dreading the return to work next week. Down with capitalism, etc.
ANYWAY I managed to get down to London last week to see Cynthia Erivo's one-woman performance of Dracula and also to eat things. Dracula was fun mostly as a spectacle. I'm not sure it really holds up without that element, especially given the odd decision to have Cynthia Erivo straight-up narrate the letters/diaries from the novel itself instead of adapting them as dialogue.
Perhaps equally (or more) interesting, food pictures (I was mostly hanging out in Brick Lane/Shoreditch, hence the selection).
Braised pork rice and smashed cucumber salad at One Rice, which bills itself as doing Teochew cuisine. They also do a seafood congee I'd like to try some other time.
Also bought some chocolate truffles from Dark Sugars. They sell them by weight — you fill a little bag with your chosen chocolates and take them to the counter, which made it even more difficult to exercise self-control.
Early dinner at Padella — spinach tagliarini with nettle and egg yolk plus almond tart (adhering to my eating out guideline of preferring desserts that have some structure/skill to the now-ubiquitous unstable creamy things on a plate.
I also had oyster omelette and cendol in Chinatown after the show, but forgot to take any pictures as I was with a friend and we were busy bemoaning the sad state of our industry. Also got a discounted slice of souffle cheesecake from Kova before they closed.
Aforementioned breakfast the next day: Hong Kong-style milk tea and French toast at Hoko. They also offer a 'Brick Lane char siu beigel', which felt wrong.
I also bought so many books at the queer bookshop that they gave me a free tote bag.
Lunch was shengjian bao at Old Spitalfields Market. These were good although my poor chopstick skills meant I lost quite a bit of soup.
I also hung out for a while at Whitechapel Gallery — cool space with a very chill common room to sit in — and tried, without much success, not to think about Current Events.
no subject
Date: 2026-04-08 03:07 pm (UTC)