london

Notes of the morning

Posted on by Selectively Curious

Journeying my way through the mall every morning has become almost therapeutic. I love that I get to see the mall at its quietest in the mornings, before the shops have opened and arguably at its loudest in the evenings. I love how the tourists pop in around the time I make my way to the metro, all dressed up ready to explore this concrete jungle that is currently my home, until I move to the next place.

The weather has been delightful, cold and crisp in the mornings. The morning air is beautifully refreshing and it’s probably the first time in the UAE I’m enjoying every moment of it before the heat seeps in. We don’t get many “cold” days but the days we do get, having lived here most of my life, I don’t think I’ve ever savoured it as much as I am this year. There isn’t really a walking culture here, to get around, you need a car. Driving makes you miss out on the good weather and positive effects it can have on you. It’s one of the reasons I miss London and look forward to moving back.

One thing I’ve definitely noticed is that people are always on the rush or on their phones. There’s no interaction and God forbid there be any eye contact. They say a silent retreat is challenging because you can’t speak or communicate with anyone, not even with your eyes. Ironically it will probably be more challenging for those that are fixed on their phones not interacting with “real” humans around them than the ones that aren’t glued to their phones all the time. It’s a bit sad that no one makes eye contact anymore. Makes me curious why some people fear the zombie apocalypse, it’s already here and we’re surviving.

Stay curious, my loves. X

Selectively Curious©

If you could go back in time, what would you change?

Posted on by Selectively Curious

Nothing.

That’s a simple answer, I guess. I do not have regrets, especially in relation to the mistakes I have made, I would make those all over again if it would mean that it would bring me to where I am now. Don’t get me wrong, I am not in an ideal place in my life, I have a long way to go to be close to where I want to be; at the same time I really like who I have become and I truly have come a long way from where I was.

Going back to the beginning, I didn’t start speaking until I was about 4. I could say words but I did not formulate sentences very well. My mother has always been very intuitive, so she knew what I was trying to say to her and because she understood me so well, I guess on some level I didn’t feel the need to talk or formulate sentences. When I started school, the first memory I have is not being able to speak English. I remember speaking to the teacher and other kids in my mother tongue and being quite confused as to what was going on. It’s quite incredible the way the human mind works and the ability of teachers to teach children a whole new language. With time I learnt English. I was a very shy child. I was always hiding behind my mother, whenever we went out. I think I’d describe myself as Bambi if I could relate to any cartoon and at the time Bambi was my favourite. My shyness still remains, ever so slightly that it’s barely visible. I have “grown up” so to speak and even if I feel overwhelmed, I have gotten quite good at “fake it till you make it”

Speaking of mistakes, one I would like to mention is not doing well enough in my A levels, which lead to me having no offers from universities. (That’s a story for another time).

Fast forwarding till I moved to London for university, I had gotten my dorm room and my parents were there to make sure I settled in nicely. After they had left, I sat in my tiny room, looked outside the window and immediately missed home. I never felt more alone and at that moment self pity kicked in. I have always been capable of taking care of myself, but in that moment all I could think of is how much I wanted to be in the comfort of my home. After a few days of wallowing, I got bored of myself and decided to make the most of it and started socialising and just opening up. I decided that I did not want to be shy anymore and really went out of my way to get out of my comfort zone. I joined various societies and even ran for treasurer for a society (got elected twice). It did wonders for my confidence and it is then that I realised that I actually really like people. Everyone is interesting in one way or another and people tended to open up to me, which in the beginning I would find to be strange. I do not trust easily, yet I would find people opening up to me as if they have known me their whole lives. It made me feel nice to be peoples’ confidant and give them the encouragement they needed to overcome whatever obstacles they were facing. I learnt that at the end of the day, everyone just wants to be understood.

I have made a lot of mistakes along the way, taken some wrong turns, got hurt and I know that I will make new ones as I am still on this earth. With every mistake I come one step closer to my destiny, grow more confident and wise. I would not have it any other way. 🙂

Selectively Curious©

“I love living in London but I would like to buy a place in Dubai and spend a few months of the year out there” – Kevin Pietersen

Posted on by Selectively Curious

Well, Kevin Pietersen, I can relate to that feeling, except I’m in the opposite situation. I love living in Dubai and having lived in London, it’s a goal/dream of mine to buy a house in London and spend a few months of the year there (probably christmas so I can see the christmas lights and the summer there to escape the Dubai heat). It’s funny how when the day started I was going to write about something completely different and then this quote randomly caught my eye. It was just too good to pass on.

I can talk endlessly about my time spent in London. The featured image shows just how many hidden gems it contains. When you look at the image you do not think of London, it’s possible that nothing about the image would really catch your eye. Space invader fans anyone?

Whilst making my way to Covent Garden, from Piccadilly Circus, I noticed the art on the wall. The symbol reminded me of a game I used to play when I was younger. As all millennials would do I googled it. For the record “googled” was added to the oxford dictionary on June 15 2006. That’s a proud moment for any company in my opinion, so bravo to Google :). Anyway I googled “space ship invaders London” and discovered that it was a pretty big thing, though low key. I say low key because I did not know about it until I saw it and made the effort to find out about it. Since I saw this (which was around 2014, at some point date tbc) there have been posts about this, which tell you exactly where to go to find it. For example a fellow blogger has been kind enough to share the locations. Please click here to see. Additionally since the power of google has expanded beyond just the dictionary, you can find the complete guide here. 🙂

I found another photo in my archives, the one below, I stumbled across during one of my wandering walks in London. 20140925_153524.jpg

In a way it’s an artist’s revolution. They don’t want their art to be confined in just museums and galleries, thus they are “invading” cities. I found this to be very curious and it makes me smile every time I find a new one as I walk around London.

Unfortunately, I cannot remember where I read this but apparently the mission was initially to have so many of these mosaic space invaders around the world that if you were to connect the dots on the map, it would show a large space invader. I think this mission may have changed as the project is much larger than it was a few years ago, when I first stumbled upon it. Random, hidden gems such as “Space Invaders” in London, is what made me fall in love with City, it is filled with thought provoking wonders, which caters for everyone. 🙂

If you would like to know everything there is to know about “Space Invaders in London”, please click here.

Selectively Curious©