Sea Containers dinner

We surprised CC with a ladies dinner at Sea Containers in the recently-opened Mondrian Hotel. She was stunned as we walked in one by one, her closest friends in London all happening to congregate in one of a dozen hotspots along the Southbank. After a long dinner and much discussion (work, real estate, summer holidays, religious worship, marriage after children, parenting – the usual), we concluded the meal with an excessive spread of desserts where ice cream and chocolate were the dominant ingredients followed by a midnight stroll along the River.

1st birthday

This afternoon we celebrated AMS’s 1st birthday at a local restaurant in CW. M’s paternal side of the family joined us for a quintessentially English afternoon tea which included scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam, a variety of mini desserts and an assortment of finger sandwiches (lobster, egg & baby watercress, cucumber & creme cheese). AMS looked in wonderment as we all sang her “Happy Birthday” and I blew out the candle on her individualised birthday cupcake. It was a wonderful occasion to meet and catch up with family. Although M and I are expats, we’re lucky to have family nearby to celebrate the big milestones in life. I thanked our extended family for their interest in and generosity towards our daughter as well as their emotional support in our adventure in Parenthood.

Mayfair walks

On the back end of their Mediterranean cruise, my cousin VS, her kids and parents visited London – it was fun seeing more family so soon after VS’s bro RR and his family visited London only a few weeks ago. After packed days gallivanting around London (the Buckingham Palace tour, Changing the Guard, Westminster tour, etc.), we stayed local in the evenings. From their hotel on Park Lane, we strolled down Piccadilly,  window shopped on Bond Street, browsed in Burlington Arcade, checked out the Royal Academy of Art, admired the great packaging at Fortnum and Mason, explored St. James Park, and took photos at Piccadilly Circus.

It was my cousin’s children’s first time visiting Europe so they had a hundred questions for me. Both dinners I was assaulted with their queries – good ones, no, excellent ones – about Scotland’s push for independence, the purpose of the European Union, varied currencies among EU member countries, succession rules around the British throne, and why the monarchy is held in such high esteem in the UK. There were also more fun, frivolous questions about UK pop culture (Beckham and the Arsenal Football Club), the Royal Baby, and the Duchess of Cambridge’s status as a national fashion icon in addition to a group share on who is everyone’s favourite character on “Friends” and why (my choice of Chandler was met with quiet and slightly embarrassed for me bafflement). There was a bit too much pleading from my cousin’s eldest that I join FB so he can add me to his network of “friends”; personally, I prefer the label “Auntie” over “friend” – the age gap is wide as I distinctly remember the day he was born and found myself telling him the story as my cousin RR had told me his (again, for the upteenth time) a few weeks ago. As I entered my dorm room at NYU, my town-crier of a roommate loudly announced that my cousin had a baby and my father was driving to the city to pick me up so we could visit the new mother and her son. I spent a lot of time with VS during my time at NYU and thereafter when I worked downtown and she lived at Battery Park City. It was fun watching her parent her pre-teen and teenage sons (“no, we’re not eating at McDs” and “no, you’re not buying toy handcuffs”) years after watching her mommy her toddler and infant son.