Tuesday 26 May 2009

The 90s come to East London

Yesterday I found myself sitting on the roof of a flat in Brick Lane with the smells of spicy food drifting up from the streets below, the sun shining down and the towering heights of Canary Wharf visible in the distance.

Three of us had crashed into the flat the night before on the way back from a 90s hip hop night in Shoreditch, where we'd raved hands in the air yelling 'OHHH NOOO!' to tracks we hadn't heard in years. Clutching the remains of cream cheese bagels, we'd tottered down a debris strewn Brick Lane and arrived at the flat, joining it's five male inhabitants and watching Fresh Prince of Bel Air on DVD until the sun came up. Before that we'd watched reruns of The Villa on Sky Three, a match making reality show from the late 90s where horrendous single men and "women" took their high waisted shorts and crop tops to a villa in Ibiza to try and find love. Or just a shag. Class all round.

And that's where we stayed. I caught up with people I hadn't seen since me and the ex broke up and did the only thing possible to do when you've had 2 hours sleep: chill, enjoy the silence of a battery-dead phone and talk incoherent nonsense with friends. Still in last night's clothes, with unbrushed hair, unwashed skin and my feet now covered in plasters from a bad choice of shoes, we finally left late Monday night and walked back through Spitalfields to the station. Three sleep deprived girls in short dresses and flat shoes, ambling through East London, the sun slowly going down on our perfect bank holiday weekend.

"Ehhh girls! You off out tonight? Where you partying?" came a leering male yell from across the concourse at Liverpool street station.

Tonight? We're not back from Sunday night yet. Gissa chance.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love Brick Lane. Yum. It sounds like you're having a fabulous time xx

Please Don't Eat With Your Mouth Open said...

It was a blummin good weekend. Brick Lane is cool, but after being on the receiving end of a few too many comments courtesy of the foriegn men who reside around the area...it wasn't somewhere we'd want to live. Just play. x

Ella said...

I was on Brick Lane this bank holiday too, checking out the Shoreditch festival :)

Lynx said...

Personally, I can't think of much worse than 90s hippidy-hop; except maybe 00s hippidy-hop!

But if that's what the kids of today want to listen to then it's fine with me; as long as it doesn't pop up on Radio 2 very often! :-)

The Unbearable Banishment said...

I am constantly amazed at what men yell at women in order to get their attention. So those sassy lines didn't appeal to you? It pays to have high standards.

Please Don't Eat With Your Mouth Open said...

Ella - Any good?

Lynx - You're nuts. Can't think of anything worse than Notorious BIG and Wu Tang? How about Lady Gaga doing a duet with James Blunt?

Unbearable - That wasn't the worst of it either. Should of heard the comments from a group of drunken men we encountered when leaving the flat. To give you a taster, lets just say the words "put it up your bum" were thrown our way. Classy.

Ella said...

Im not much of reggae person so I didn't enjoy it. I would much rather find a bit of pavement and drink and people watch :)

Anonymous said...

90's Hip Hop? Sounds like white noise to me!!!

 

Blog Template by YummyLolly.com - RSS icons by ComingUpForAir