london parks

one of my favourite things to do in london is walking in her many parks. i'm a little slow on the london is wonderful bandwagon. there are many things i dislike about the place but aim to remain grateful for the chance to live here while we do. it's easy to find fault, to be hypercritical (singapore training take some time un-learning) so i consciously slow down and take it all in. learning to be more chilled out when things don't work instead of having a fit and boycotting transport for london. the parks are great and i'm taking the time to discover them one by one, and then re-visit them in different weather, with different friends. 

that's another thing about being based in london and having a steady stream of guests. used to be better about it but now find myself saying no more often. it's tricky balancing a full day of work, with longer hours than most, and playing happy host to the hordes. had this discussion with F who lamented that friends in town just want to eat out, and why not, because they're on holiday. however i've neither the time nor limitless resources to eat out because i'm not on holiday, actually have things to do, and can't be having heston*blumenthal every single night. it's hard to say no without coming across as mean. but if you think about it, we've a handful of friends in town every week, more if it's summer, which literally means meeting different people for dinner in the week and lunch AND dinner on the weekend. much as i'm a fan of hedonism, it gets all too much and social anxiety creeps in. 

so my coping mechanism is building down-time into the equation, walking along the river and having time out to process and decompress. it's working, so far :) and trying to do activities with friends (like more walking) instead of meals seems to be a viable alternative, too.

  thames near battersea

battersea pond

albert bridge

hyde park

regents park broadway