Things to do in London - the non tourist options (1)

As the countdown has begun, together with friends, I am creating the list of my top 100 things to do before you leave.. Its funny, you never think that you will actually need to do this, but this time round, I don’t want to have any regrets.

Visit Ottolenghi Café. www.ottolenghi.co.uk
I have been here twice in one weekend – the one in Nottinghill.. First for breakfast with a business associate and then again on Sunday with Celeste for tea. The food is divine, the cappuccinos are really good (not that over burnt variety served at Starbucks these days, served up by folks who don’t understand English.) The chocolate tart will end all diets and the passion fruit meringue is fantastic.

So much so, that we skipped the Hummingbird in Nottinghill to indulge in this.. what’s the deal or fascination with cupcakes anyway.. even if they are made by sexy, soon to be divorced women in the TV show, What about Brian?


Car gazing.. No need to say anything else here the picture says it all.. Its been added to my ever expanding Christmas wish list.. I know what John will be getting me instead – a white Acura!! This guy's wife was driving the Porsche Cayenne.. I want her day job..
Asking complete strangers to take your photos outside your new No 1 hot spot.. This one is of Celeste, an old friend from my Brait days in South Africa, who moved to London this year and the person who invited me to Facebook..
People watching in Hyde Park… Its summer 2007 in London.. Smoking has been banned in all public places.. oops but in a culturally diverse city like London, the authorities forgot about the sheesha pipe..
Buying sesame bread at Paul.. and those deliciously light macaroons.. Paul, for the non-Londoners, is the French experience in a nut shell.. Its a bakery with the slogan, "made with butter".. How do the French stay so thin!!! Have you ever spotted a french woman with a muffin top???

more to follow..