Streets of London

You know I have really enjoyed my time in little London.

London is so small that you can 'literally' walk from one end to another. Of course I had never done that - no Malaysian worth their citizenship would ever walk if it is over 100 steps away ;-) And no, don't get me wrong. We are not lazy people, you know. We thought it is just a waste to leave the car at home while its value is depreciating.

Sorry, I digress.

London is a place I spent over a year in the early 90s. It was in London we (Arif and I) experienced our first snow in November 1992. I am not sure who was more excited - the dad or his little son. What do you expect since the dad spent 4 years in cold Melbourne, a city that would give you four different seasons in one day but never the snow. This is the city where the weather forecasters would be telling the listeners that there will be "little if any rain today" and within half an hour we had hailstones coming down upon us!

But never the snow.

Sorry, I digress again!

The office in London was just across the street of the apartment where we were staying. This is the time you would be thankful that you live in front of the office, since mid-winter here can be harsh and unwelcoming. At the depth of winter, you would practically dash out from the apartment lobby into the ofice lobby in 10 seconds or less, crossing a four-lane road.

I am sure Ben Johnson would have been proud!

You have to actually - you have no choice. The snow outside was two-foot deep - the temperature was a freezing 20 degree below.

Of course you have to watch for the snow mower or you'll risk being mowed down by them!

Earlier, we had visited a small village where the people lead a life that is free of the trapping of modern living. No, they were not Amish, but must be some kind of Amish's siblings, I guess.

Driving back to London, suddenly London was all white and snowy.

While we were excited at our first snow experience, I was apprehensive. I had never driven in the snow in my whole life. I can see a couple of cars sliding side to side - much like 'ketam berjalan', at times hitting the other cars parked on the kerb. "Oh no," I thought, "there goes all the monies I had saved from all my travels."

It will now be used to pay for a stranger's car dent.

Luckily we survived without a scratch.

London is dead by 5 pm. You would not find a soul outside at night, especially in the winter. There was no Harrods, there was no Soho for you to throw away your money.

Unlike the London everybody else knew.

When my then boss Jaafar asked the vendor of their office location during a meeting at the Japanese contractor's office in Yokohama, and was told that their office was in London, he nodded in anticipation, while stroking his beard. Afterall, he was a graduate from a univeristy in England, and as the project manager, this could be his chance to return to the scene of the crime. ;-)

Little did he know that the vendor was talking about London, Ontario (Canada)!

This is my London. That's a very young Arif - all wrapped up and his mum in the Ontario town of London in cold November of 1992, after a Christmas parade. Yes a Christmas parade in November to entice the people to start shopping and boost the economy. Or at least that's what I was told by the London citizens. That, in the background, is the only tall building in London.

EPILOGUE

I had interesting chat with a SACDA engineer while in London. I told them why did they have to pick up world famous cities as the name for their towns. They have London, Delhi (as in New Delhi India), Melbourne (as in Melbourne Australia; my second home then), Sydney and a few others that escaped me at this moment.

He responded with a smile, "Our Melbourne is actually pronounced Mel-born, and not as Mel-burn (Australia), Delhi is pronounced as Del-high and not as New Delhi in India."

He has a point. What can I say?

This London I am talking about is about two hour drive from Toronto, about 2 hour drive from Detroit, Michigan, may be 5 hour drive from Niagara, and about 8 hour drive to New York, if I am not mistaken. That should give you an idea of its location.

Well, do enjoy the Streets of London song by McTell. I love this song, and to me this is about the real London. When I first knew of this song in the 70s, I was imagining myself walking down the streets of London, and it did materialize more than 15 years later, albeit in the wrong London!

"Let me take you by the hand,

and lead you through the streets of London,

I'll show you something,

to make you change your mind"