Today was one of those days where technically everything went wrong but somehow it became one of my favourite days in ages.

I woke up late and rushed out the house with Tofu because I booked tickets to see In the Mood for Love. An old Hong Kong film. Very aesthetic. Very yearning. Very emotionally repressed yet aesthetically pleasing and metaphoric films.

I invited K who I met at a mansion party through A. She got there THIRTY MINUTES EARLY because she’s actually a functioning mature adult unlike me who turned up FORTY FIVE MINUTES LATE stressed holding a barking dog in the rain 😅

I felt SO bad because she couldn’t stay long after due to needing to get back to her dog and it was the first time we had properly hung out together 1 on 1.

Anyways.

It starts raining like 15 minutes in. There is literally nobody there except us on the Rooftop cinema with no shade lmao. Tofu is barking at Pigeons. We are freezing cold. K has an umbrella up in the middle of the screening. We both slowly realise we have absolutely no idea what is going on in the film.

At one point we both just started whispering:
“Wait who is that?”
“No wait was that the husband?”
“No I think she’s a different actress, the dress is a different colour to earlier”
“Ohhhh.”

Meanwhile our friend A hyped this film up like no tomorrow xD

Afterwards we went for drinks and honestly I can see why A loves K so much. She’s one of those adulting women that feels incredibly calm and self assured. Very poised. Very emotionally mature. Yet she has a kazillion chaotic hilarious stories. The type of woman where you immediately understand she has LIVED.

Within about twenty minutes we were discussing dating, relationships, bizarre men, attachment styles, party lore and some man she dated in Bangkok in his 60s with cuckolding issues 😭🤣

As you do.

Then my friend E was meant to meet me in Peckham but accidentally went to Elephant and Castle because we didn’t solidify the logistics clearly enough. She had to travel OVER AN HOUR to get there which honestly again I felt bad about.

But alas my phone died at this point of her coming to meet me… because of course it did. She said to meet at this food truck mutlistory building outside at a specific time but…..becaues my phone died I ended up sitting opposite a gay couple with their dog while trying to charge my phone at a random bar.

We somehow got into a conversation about china, the economy, big brother, 1984 and niche gay slang and they started explaining terms like “rice queens” and “bagel queens” to me and I was crying laughing.

Then they casually told me they bought their Peckham house for £34,000 decades ago and it’s now worth half a million pounds. I genuinely think London elder gays hold secret economic knowledge.

I asked for their Instagram and he responded with “Honey I’m over 60 years old, do I look like I know how to use technology” in which I thought to myself but hes so stylish and I met them in a hipster cafe and so I replied… “Yes!” before they pointed me in the right direction….with no instagrams exchanged 🤣

Then E arrived and somehow instead of sitting down peacefully we ended up buying some samosas from this food market place and then turning up to this hot sauce festival that I saw on my way to her that was literally closing in thirty minutes.

We get to the door…

“Tickets are £5 please and we close in half an hour”

I was thinking da fuq… so I said

“Can you do a deal?”

And ofc they did 🙂 Buy one get one free babyyy (i mean we did miss the entire day of music, talks, fun hot sauce things lol)

So I paid and then me and E absolutely sprinted around trying hot sauces like lunatics. Panic testing each stall whilst they pack up and burning our mouths off.

Then we got chatting to this Malaysian guy running a chilli oil company Oily Bros with his brothers and somehow we switched into speaking Chinese together because he spoke Cantonese too. I told him I was impressed because loads of BBC – British born Chinese lose the language and he said he speaks it so he can talk to his relative properly kinda like me and my mum. He said he was a Dentist and has lots of spreadsheets for the ingredients and whatever stuff he was saying. I think he was doing his salesman thing. We tried it…. and their crispy chilli oil was delicious and reminded me much of LaoGanMa’s one!

Anyways the guy was super cute and friendly and offered us discount if we followed and messaged on instagram. I was like sweet. Then he put his arm around me and E and was like then we can go for beers! Our customers become our friends. I thought he was just being friendly but E afterwards was like:
“Becky. He was flirting. He mentioned that we should go for beers 3 times”

And I was like:
“Noo he’s just selling chilli oil.”

She said I should reach out and message him and I just thought…he’s just being nice?

Then after THAT we somehow stumbled into this random photography gallery event with DJs and creative people everywhere and it was packed and buzzing and cool and about identity, breaking cultural norms and belonging. The artwork was actually really eclectic and compelling.

And I just had one of those moments where I stopped and thought:

God life is actually so fun sometimes.

Not because everything is perfect.

Nothing today was efficient.

I was late.
It rained.
My dog barked through rooftop cinema.
Locations got mixed up.
My phone died.
I accidentally ended up in multiple social situations with strangers.

But I think the reason I love London and love life so much is because I somehow seem to accidentally wander directly into random serendipidous experiences constantly.

And honestly?
I kind of love that about life.

I love that it still feels surprising. Exciting. Novel. Even after 35 years.

I love that I can end up discussing Wong Kar Wai in the rain one minute and talking about hot sauce in Cantonese the next.

I love that people are weird and layered and funny.

I love that every person feels like a character with hidden lore.

I love connection.

Not even romantically necessarily.
Just humans.