Where Lunch Ends 12 Hours Later, Part I

Cat Power – You May Know Him

I am on the tube–the Northern Line. I need to get to Collindale–N22, if you can belive that! I am switching to the Edgware Branch at Camden and I am almost alone on the platform. An odd thing on a Saturday afternoon.

There is an attractive man sitting on the bench. A very attractive man. And he’s with a little girl of about 3. Maybe 4. She’s blond. Very blond.

I am looking at them and thinking how cute she is, how very very attractive he is. And what nice hands he has. And then it hits me.

It’s Chris Martin from Coldplay. And that’s Apple. As is Gwyneth Paltrow and Apple.

Before I was just looking at them. Now I’m staring them. He totally sees me staring at him. The train arrives. He puts his hood up and gets on the train. I follow them. I NEVER see anyone famous (except for Amy Winehouse once in a bar in Camden).

No one else on the train seems to know it’s them but me. I know if they get off at Belsize, it’s definitely them. But I’m pretty sure it’s them anyhow. They do get off at Belsize and the girl sitting closest to me looks at me and says "Was that who I think it was?"

Yes. It was.

My destination, as I mentioned, is, N22. I’m on my way to Oriental City–an Asian shopping mall–to meet Gerry & Ben for lunch. My heart still palpitating with lust for Mr. Martin–I never even thought he was cute until today–we three rendevous at the station and make the short walk to London’s largest Asian supermarket.

I like Oriental City. It’s a bit tatty. But it’s fun. There’s Hello Kitty paraphenalia and lots of Japanese pottery and chopsticks. I’m going back for the Japanese pottery alone.

We are really there for the food court. There are about 12 Asian food stalls gathered around a large number of picnic tables. You wander from one stall to the next, ordering food and getting a number. When they calll your number, you get your food.

We order dim sum from the two competing dim sum stands. I’ve heard that Dim Sum House is the better of the two and am proven right when we get through Battle of the Pork Buns. The pork buns from Dim Sum House are soft and airy, and the meat is plentiful and well-seasoned.  Not so from the competing house, whose offering is so inconsequential, I have forgotten the stall name.

We get a Korean pancake which is quite nice. And some California rolls and tuna rolls from the Japanese stall, which are only average. We wash this all down with a few Singhas before making our way to the Sake department of the supermarket, where we pick up three small bottles of different Sakes. We need some drinks for the fireworks in a few hours.

It’s a good day. And it’s only the beginning.