Tayyab's: The Return
I arrived into Gatwick airport at 6am with coffee on my mind. Disembarkation was quick and painless, and this time round I was ready for the customs official, instead of responding to the question 'Where in London are you staying?' with the phrase 'I don't know.'
Catching a train into the city proper, I wandered around with time to kill until I could check into my Airbnb. Crossing London Bridge, I circled around the Tower of London and up towards St. Paul's Cathedral. Despite its impressive size and grandeur, it appears that it is being slowly engulfed by the drab corporate office buildings surrounding it, towering edifices of brown and grey. The streets themselves were quiet, it being a Sunday, and with very few businesses open, this area of London was dull and lifeless. I've seriously enjoyed myself more during a sojourn through Frankston.
Finally, I checked into my accommodation and set about finding dinner. Due to some cosmic coincidence, my lodgings were literally around the corner from Indian cuisine institution Tayabb's, the first restaurant I went to on my previous trip with Julie. I eagerly grabbed myself a table and ordered their signature dish, the 'dry lamb', and some naan bread. While the naan is easily the best I've ever had, the curry itself I find tasty but lacking, as if the spices are toned down so as to appeal to the masses.
With no dining companions to engage with, my thoughts turned inward, remembering my first time here, with my then-fiancée across from me, Danny and Rowan seated beside us and making us laugh. A melancholic gloom settling over me, I ate in silence, watching through the window at a pigeon strutting self-importantly across the nearest rooftop.
Setting out early the following day, I visited the nerd paradise that is Forbidden Planet, a two storey sci-fi and fantasy merchandise shangri-la boasting an impressive and almost overwhelming array of books, clothing and assorted tidbits. Feeling positively energetic, I wandered over to Buckingham Palace, but skirted the gates and the attendant crowds that I had been part of on my previous visit, and instead walked into, and through, Hyde Park. The trees in Europe seem altogether greener and more lush than those back home, and I found it soothing to walk amongst them, watching people picnic and play. Towards the opposite side of the park, I encountered a group of 15 or so people, all huddled around a spiked fence, looking at the other side and pointing interestedly. An elderly lady called out to the people walking past, 'Anybody have long arms?'
Intrigued, I wandered over to see that the object of everyone's gaze was simply a tennis ball. 'The dog can't get his ball back!' said one bystander. Indeed, the brown Labrador next to the fence was staring forlornly at his ball, just out of arms reach, seeming to encourage the people reaching through.
'Well fuck this shit' I thought, crouching down next to the dog. He looked at me expectantly.
Straightening, I gingerly vaulted the spiked fence, and retrieved the tennis ball, handing it back through to the doggo. He grabbed it eagerly, trotting off happily as the same elderly lady said 'Well that's your good deed for the day!'
Yes. Yes it was.
Catching a train into the city proper, I wandered around with time to kill until I could check into my Airbnb. Crossing London Bridge, I circled around the Tower of London and up towards St. Paul's Cathedral. Despite its impressive size and grandeur, it appears that it is being slowly engulfed by the drab corporate office buildings surrounding it, towering edifices of brown and grey. The streets themselves were quiet, it being a Sunday, and with very few businesses open, this area of London was dull and lifeless. I've seriously enjoyed myself more during a sojourn through Frankston.
Finally, I checked into my accommodation and set about finding dinner. Due to some cosmic coincidence, my lodgings were literally around the corner from Indian cuisine institution Tayabb's, the first restaurant I went to on my previous trip with Julie. I eagerly grabbed myself a table and ordered their signature dish, the 'dry lamb', and some naan bread. While the naan is easily the best I've ever had, the curry itself I find tasty but lacking, as if the spices are toned down so as to appeal to the masses.
With no dining companions to engage with, my thoughts turned inward, remembering my first time here, with my then-fiancée across from me, Danny and Rowan seated beside us and making us laugh. A melancholic gloom settling over me, I ate in silence, watching through the window at a pigeon strutting self-importantly across the nearest rooftop.
Setting out early the following day, I visited the nerd paradise that is Forbidden Planet, a two storey sci-fi and fantasy merchandise shangri-la boasting an impressive and almost overwhelming array of books, clothing and assorted tidbits. Feeling positively energetic, I wandered over to Buckingham Palace, but skirted the gates and the attendant crowds that I had been part of on my previous visit, and instead walked into, and through, Hyde Park. The trees in Europe seem altogether greener and more lush than those back home, and I found it soothing to walk amongst them, watching people picnic and play. Towards the opposite side of the park, I encountered a group of 15 or so people, all huddled around a spiked fence, looking at the other side and pointing interestedly. An elderly lady called out to the people walking past, 'Anybody have long arms?'
Intrigued, I wandered over to see that the object of everyone's gaze was simply a tennis ball. 'The dog can't get his ball back!' said one bystander. Indeed, the brown Labrador next to the fence was staring forlornly at his ball, just out of arms reach, seeming to encourage the people reaching through.
'Well fuck this shit' I thought, crouching down next to the dog. He looked at me expectantly.
Straightening, I gingerly vaulted the spiked fence, and retrieved the tennis ball, handing it back through to the doggo. He grabbed it eagerly, trotting off happily as the same elderly lady said 'Well that's your good deed for the day!'
Yes. Yes it was.
posted by Elfin at 1:17 PM
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