Adventures with Kake

On Monday I had an East London adventure! I started off fairly centrally, with lunch at Rochelle Canteen in Shoreditch, then wandered eastwards, taking photos for RGL along the way. I'd intended to stop for a break at L'Oasis, but it was closed (I found out later that it's closed for good), so I went to the Wetherspoons instead for a 30p pint of lime and soda.

Next, I got the Tube up to Upton Park, where I wanted to hunt out the Quality Foods branch I'd heard about. I found what I thought was it (and later confirmed the address was right), but it really didn't look too brilliant so I didn't bother going in. Maybe next time. Instead, I wandered across to East Ham and had a decent enough dinner in Thattukada (RGL review coming soon) before getting the Overground to Leyton for choir.

I have forgotten what I did on Tuesday and Wednesday. Probably just work.

On Thursday I went on a Metroland adventure! First of all, I went to Willesden Green, intending to have lunch at Sushi-Say, but alas it was closed. So I went round the corner to check out Taste Malaysia, but it was also closed. I ended up having a not-entirely-satisfactory fishcake in the Queensbury. But then it was back on the Jubilee Line, to change to the Metropolitan Line at Wembley Park, to change to the Chesham shuttle at Chalfont & Latimer.

And then I was truly in Metroland. ewan has described Chesham on RGL as “a bucolic village in Buckinghamshire, far outside London and only connected by the Metropolitan Line”, which is a fair enough assessment. The main reason I was here was to visit the Queens Head, a Good Beer Guide pub which needed a proper RGL review, but my research had also revealed the presence of a bookshop (which I browsed around in but didn't buy anything from). Not only that, but on approaching the bookshop I spotted a couple of pubs, the Misty Moon and the Cock Tavern, which I of course had to try out. Then on the way to the Queens Head, I saw that the George and Dragon had reopened, so I had to go in there as well. By the time I reached the Queens Head, it was getting late, and a few sums revealed that there was no way I was going to get to Waterloo in time for the book group meeting I was supposed to be going on to — so I sent ewan a quick SMS and headed back to Willesden Green to meet him for dinner at Sushi-Say (who initially said they couldn't fit us in since we didn't have a booking, but relented and squeezed us in anyway when we made it clear we were prepared to wait).

On Friday I did some work and then cooked saag and prawn patia for dinner.

On Saturday I overslept and missed the Tube Walk (but I did really need the sleep). In the evening I made saag aloo with the leftover saag from last night, and also did baingan ka bhartha to go with it. Then I killed my laptop by knocking a glass of wine all over it. Argh.

On Sunday I mourned my laptop and ate pizza from Cucina.

On Monday I visited Upminster, the very end of the District Line! I had lunch at La Grolla, a decent enough Italian restaurant. I also popped into Swan Books, the Essex Yeoman, and the Crumpled Horn; and then I took a photo of the windmill. I'm still not certain what Upminster's hidden gem is; possibly it's Swan Books, which had a book about Romford pubs that I nearly bought for ewan.

The excitement did not end there! I headed back towards East Ham on the District Line, with the intention of trying another of the Indian cafes on the High Street, but realised en route that I could stop off at Barking and go to Chennai, a South Indian cafe/restaurant in the same chain as Lewisham's Madras. I enjoyed the food at Madras when we went there, so was expecting good things from Chennai. The food was just fine here, too, as it turned out, though the staff did seem quite bemused by the presence of an actual customer.

Then I went to choir. It was awesome, as choir always is. We're singing Bach's St Matthew Passion in March next year, apparently. It takes three hours to sing, but this is a nice, sensible, relaxed choir, so we'll be stopping for dinner in the middle. I approve.

On Tuesday I went to the Isle of Dogs! I visited the Pepper Saint Ontiod, in the company of ewan, and then headed around the dock for dinner at Byblos Harbour. On the way back to the Tube station, we popped into the North Pole to satisfy Ewan's curiosity. Or perhaps his completism. Or perhaps just to have some beer!

On Wednesday I took some photos in Hammersmith (and briefly popped into the Ruby Grande to shelter from the rain) before heading over to Richard's place to spend many hours playing Rock Band.

On Thursday I took advantage of being in West London, and went to London.pm sushi at Makoto, then headed down to Brentford to take a couple more photos and drink beer at the Magpie and Crown and O'Brien's. Finally I headed up to Northfields to meet aca and many others for tasty South Indian/Sri Lankan food at Papaya.

On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I did loads of bugfixing and stuff on the Discworld MUD. This might be considered slightly overdoing it — but on the Friday I moved from the Ramtops domain to the Guilds domain (where I will be working on witch stuff), and it was all very very exciting, and very hard to stop doing stuff. (superpitching — this is the geeky thing I mentioned.)