The Brunette Division

1. Junkyard Golf (Brick Lane)
One of my favourite date spots on a weekday. Its a good place for a friend date too. Its affordable and you can get an additional 50% off with Unidays. They offer cute and instagrammable drinks that fits the crazy theme of the place. Its easy to feel relaxed due to the vibes of the place so its a good spot for a casual first date. Plus its strategic location in Shoreditch makes it convenient for dinner or drinks after. I recommend going here on week nights but not Friday or Saturday as it would be too crowded to have proper conversations.

2.Loves Company
This is one of my favourite spots in Shoreditch, not only because its so close to the train station (Old Street) but the design of the bar is pretty & laidback. I personally suggest going for junkyard golf and then having a little stroll over to this spot.

3. Rowans Bowling
This is probably my number one favourite date spot. Not for a first date but for the 3rd or 4th. I am bias towards Rowans Bowling as I played bowling professionally since I was 12 and Rowans is very close to mine making it accessible. Other than bowling, there are pool tables, karaoke booths, ping pong tables and an arcade. One of my favourite memory here was on my 3rd date with someone special.* We went there on Sunday evening which I think is the best time as its less crowded as compared to Fridays and Saturdays. We played a couple of games of bowling and then pool and ended the night with some arcade games. Do remember to withdraw cash before you go for the arcade and pool.

*(update: I'm no longer with this someone special but I still appreciate the memory)

4.Pasta Remoli
This restaurant has many branches here in London but I personally love stopping there after a nice night out at Rowans since its only a 5 min walk away.

North Greenwich Golf Peninsula
5. Despite being a bit further away from Central London, this place is so worth is since its so affordable and has amazing views of the London skyline. It costs roughly £3-£5 per person and you get your own little area to talk, have snacks and of course hit some golf balls.

6. Electric Cinema
If I'm being completely honest, this isn't my favourite date place as I find it a bit expensive and the theatre was a bit small. I would genuinely prefer a regular cinema but I do feel that Electric Cinema has a more mature and sensual vibe as compared to a regular cinema. I do recommend checking it out but remember to get tickets earlier so that you get good seats. It is also good for a first date as there is restaurant and bar to take the edge off and its a good environment to have a proper conversation as compared to a regular cinema.

8. Board Games Cafe (Draughts)
This is such a chill place to go on a date, especially when you're in a place in your relationship where you are comfortable to spend Sunday evening chilling at a board game cafe with some healthy competition. It is also a great place to go if you are both fans of games. I suggest reserving a place before going just to be sure that you get a spot. Like other places mentioned above, the board game cafe tends to gets crowded on Saturdays, so I suggest going on Sundays or weeknights for a more quiet and intimate vibe.

9. Sunday Roast
I've learnt recently (since moving to London) that Sunday roast is a traditional British meal. It would be a good date spot for a nice dinner and a good conversation.

10. Chinatown
Chinatown is generally a good place to go for a date since its close to central but not as crowded as places like Oxford Circus and also has an array of asian food to choose from. Moreover, for me (being Singaporean), I like taking someone there for dinner at the Singaporean restaurant to share my culture with my partner. You can learn so much about one's culture and language from food.

11. Picnic At Primrose Hill
A cheap but fun date where the focus is enjoying each other's company and having a good conversation. Perfect during summer time when the sun is blazing.

I was meant to document my life here in London with these posts, however I failed miserably. Maybe I shouldn't use the word fail, I procrastinated. Certain incidents that have been happening reminded me again how difficult it is at times to talk to people about being away from home. Its one of those things where people won't understand unless they are going through it as well. So I decided its time to go back to the only place I know where I can share my feelings with hope that at least one person will understand me - the internet. That sounded really sad but trust me its not. Here it is, my conscious effort at trying to keep this blog alive and me sane.

I don't know where to start, so I thought I will start somewhere general.

I moved to London on September 17, 2018. I've worked so hard to get to London. The countless fights I had with my parents. The internal dilemma I had for choosing the 'forbidden' path. The hours I put to get here. London to me was ( and still is) more than just a city or a place with Big Ben and afternoon tea and red buses. It represents an end of something. End of my childhood, innocence and ignorance that have been cushioning me the last 19 years. End of constantly watching my back and biting my tongue. It was the start of me taking care of myself, start of my actual life , start of a remarkable career that will take me to places I would never imagine of going to. It was the start of being me, unapologetically me. Something I will probably never be able to do in Singapore. I feel like my parents or aunts and uncles reading this think that this means going crazy with drinking and clubbing, that's not it. Thats not what I mean by being me. I mean going to Sainsbury's near mine and the people working there knowing me as me - 19 year old Law student from Singapore living in North London alone not someone's daughter or niece. I don't like that. I don't like belonging to someone. I don't like the idea of having a last name. I belong to me and no one else. Maybe this trait of my personality is what has given me the courage the last few years to get out the bubble (or maybe a padded cell) I've grown up in. To go wherever I want to whenever I want to.

I may or may not have gone off tangent but that's something I do often when I write. I just have so much to say but have had to bite my tongue for a long time.

Back to the day I moved to this magnificent city. I remember coming here telling myself not to be so smug. I knew this process was going to be hard. I knew I was prepared but not completely prepared at the same time. Just because I have travelled around Europe and flown to London 4 times in year does not mean I was ready to throw everything I was familiar with and move half way across the world. I kept reminding myself this because I knew there was going to be a moment where all this didn't matter so I did not want to fool myself and I'm glad I didn't. There are so many obstacles I've faced ever since I came here and I've tried to deal with them to the best of my abilities. Even after slightly more than a year, there are new challenges that come up every. single. day. but I know how hard I worked for this so nothing is going to stand in my way

xx
flyingkaar

Kaarthiga M

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