Friends

one can never have too many. but the ones who really love and stick up for you - they are few in number. i have to admit when i first went to london, i wasn't going to meet anyone. i was working 40 hours a week at my internship and didn't think i would have time to hang out with other people. but as usual, i was proven wrong. i met several people who are still having such a great impact on my life -- and i cherish them so much. it's interesting how people are put together, how some people are just drawn to one another by likes/dislikes, geography or something. chance meetings and than later deep friendships happen over night, unexpecetedly and then i wonder how i ever lived without knowing them. i looked forward to coming back from work, to eat dinner and catch up on the day's happenings and find ourselves at our usual pub, looking at the cute british men who strolled in. over a pint or my usual snakebite, i would wish that my four months would never end, that it could be like this for the rest of my life. i had nothing to complain about -- a fun job, nice coworkers, great place to live and wonderful friends to share it all with.
london -- it really was the best time of my life. and my friends are responsible for making it so. it's sad that i cannot see them everyday like i used to, but two years have passed and we can still call and email and occassionally visit and it doesn't feel like one day has gone by. distance separates us, but our memories and experiences together bring us back to that one place that we will call "home."

Wagamamma's

there is a chain of japanese restaurants called wagamamma's. waiters take your dishes on an electronic device which beams it straight back to the kitchen - which is in the back but you can see the cooks making your food. they have the best noodles and desserts -- and their dumplings are to die for. whenever we didn't want to eat in the dining hall, which was almost all the time, we would head up to high street and find ourselves sitting at wagamamma's, on the benches and usually sitting next to some complete strangers. i would order my usual miso soup with the sweet potato dish and water and listen to my friends oogle over the cute waiter, rueben, who worked there. and i would stare at the cooks who were quite busy but looking very cute being so. wagamamma's...i wish we had places like that here. bring a bit of london back to the states and visit it whenever i wanted to.
wagamamma's was more than food - it was almost like an escape from everything - school, work, life in general. it was on the third floor of a building and as i rode the elevator, it felt as if i was being taken away from the anxiety and stress of the day. i knew there would be good food and conversation waiting for me at the top. my stomach would grumble in anticipation, hoping there wasn't a long line in front of me. my week almost revolved around my next visit.
where are those kind of places here? i guess i just haven't found a restaurant that makes me feel completely at home or with friends that i will cherish forever.