Of the London Riot

Everyone sensed that something was not right in the social hierarchy in England for quite some time. The rising unemployment, recession, the opening of the borders both to the European Union allies and immigrants from South Asia and the Caribbean over the years has definitely spelt resentment amongst the local. The crumbling state of the Health Service - the beloved NHS - for instance is symptomatic of this decline.

The rise of the ultra Right - the British Nationalist Party in England for instance - across Europe stem from this uneasiness. This has culminated tragically recently with the killing spree in the peaceful capital of Norway. The shift in the ethnic content in Britain will over time take it toll. They had been tolerant in the past, in accepting refugees from the Commonwealth, maybe out of guilt on their Colonial past. But now, they have asylum seekers from North Africa, Yemen, from all over the world. One have to realise that Britain is a nation of limited internal resources. They overcame this by colonisation before. Unfortunately, that is one no longer an option. They will not be able to cope with immigrants in the long term.

Despite this thought, the extend of the rioting came as a surprise. What started as a contained protest, has I was sure being capitalised by other parties as an excuse to riot and raze. It was a mean to vent their anger and frustration. The majority of them joined in for a bit of fun, little did they realise that the gaze of the world is upon them. It was a major embarrassment to the Cameron cabinet especially this coming a couple of weeks before what was meant to be a celebration in counting down a year before the 2012 Summer Games starts. This unwanted publicity would have dented some of the preparation as well as the confidence of the World in London hosting the Games next year. Have the authority taken their eyes of the ball in dealing with the current riot? Whatever it is, I am sure they would be more than capable of making a success of the Olympics.

On a more serious note, I wish all my friends and fellow Malaysian in the UK to stay safe during this uncertain times. May Allah watch over them in this Holy Month of Ramadhan. InsyaAllah.

National Geography Store

On the last afternoon I was in London, while walking past Regent Street, this store caught my eye. I was glad that I ventured in as they actually sell outdoor gears and gadget, from GPS, clothing to camera bags. Unfortunately, as I was not planning to do much shopping that day, I had to exist the nice T shirt the sold there.

The store was bigger than I thought with a themed cafe right at one end. The basement floor basically housed the outdoor gears, while the main floor, the cafe, the main clothing as well as area for exhibits, where should you be interested, you can buy some stunning photographs there. Unfortunately, they do not come cheap! The First Floor housed more clothing as well as books and guides. The bags they had there ranged small small pouch, to full on knapsack. They were rugged enough for the desert, and the pouches were all water-proved. The material was really light but sturdy and looking at it, I understood why it cost so much.

I had some hot chocolate at the cafe, while waiting for the rain to stop. It was pouring all afternoon, and I was not talking about gentle drizzle I was used to. After a while, I decided to walk the 200 yards to the Piccadilly Circus station, which took me back to Canary Wharf. It was straight to the airport after that.

Cath Kidston

Not all of you might be familiar with the name. And so was I until Anita stumbled across some of their products while shopping at The Curve. It was from one of the stalls on the Sunday Market and it was a fake. Surfing the Net, Anita later found out that it was really a real brand, and she quickly fallen in love with it. I have to confess that it was not my cup of tea, but knowing Anita, she really liked the flowery stuff, so she insisted on me giving the main store a visit when I was in London. We later found out that the main branch was in Covent Garden, and courtesy of Google Map, I found the place. Damn you Google!

The shop was not very big, but oh my God, it was crowded. It was pretty clear that the brand had built up a big following especially amongst the Asian crowd. More than half the crowd in the shop that day were from Asia as far I could tell. Cath Kidston does many things and the shop has dresses - flowery ones of course - to bags, notepads, cups and mugs, books, and wallpapers even. After a 30 minute squeeze and a couple of phone calls to Malaysia, I managed to get what she wanted. And yes, Anita was happy with what I got for her.

There was also another Cath Kidston boutique at Heathrow Terminal 4 - where I got a bag for my Mum, but since I wanted to pack everything into the main luggage bag and travel light in the cabin, I decided to buy everything before I reached the airport. We have yet to find one of their outlets in Malaysia. I pray that one would be coming soon as I couldn't really afford regular trips abroad just to get their products for Anita!

Covent Garden

For the first couple of days in London, I had been trying to convince the others in my group to give Covent Garden a visit. Yes, some of them did ask if there was a garden there. Resisting to laugh, I explained to them that it was an old market, smack in the middle of town, right next to Chinatown. But on the first day, we were too tired to venture out, and on the third day, we went towards Bayswater instead. Finally, on the sunny Saturday afternoon, I got my wish.

I set out from Oxford Circus, taking on the crowd, walked through Carnaby Street and Soho towards Chinatown. I then took one of the back alley to the Cath Kidston Store - more on that later. Another turn, and I was right into the market. The bright sunny afternoon really lifted my mood - unfortunately the mood included shopping, after which I was broke. I spend a good couple of hours sat at the cafe, enjoying the scene as well as mingling with the crowd. There were many open cafes and beer gardens round there, and also street performers aplenty. On one side of the market, they had rows of stalls selling high quality artwork, which unfortunately did not come cheap. But if you actually have some extra cash, it was definitely worth spending there. I bought a few shirts for my boys at David and Goliath.

I topped off the afternoon by having some halal ramen at Chinatown. At the time, the West End crowd were building up for the evening show at the theaters. It was getting dark when I finally left. A nice day out indeed.

The Journey Home

A 12 hour flight used to be a doodle when I was a student. Now it was becoming a drag. I guess I was starting to show my age actually. But this flight being MAS were amongst the best as far as economy class was concerned. For business, take one of the Middle Eastern carriers, but with the drawback would be having to transit on the way rather than a direct one. And transit could be a pain.

The flight coming and out this time around was a bit too rocky for my liking, especially across the Andaman Sea. But the in flight service was good as usual, and I managed to catch some movies, a luxury really. On the flight back, I slept for about four hours, as it would be late afternoon at landing, and I didn't want to be wide awake tonight.

I also noticed that this being the flagship MAS flight - MH001 - the crew were also rather senior, but definitely offered great service. Experience counts I was sure. The flight landed on time, but as usual, it took nearly 45 minutes for my luggage to clear through. I didn't have a choice but to check in from the amount of shopping I did.

Unfortunately I had to work tomorrow. Now with unpacking done and the children in bed, I was chatting with Anita about the trip. She wished that she could come along. And so did I. Maybe in the next couple of years, as it would not be cheap to bring the two boys along. When I showed the photos from my trip last weekend, both of them were excited. So much so that Irfan actually slept in one of the T shirt I brought home for him.