I also keep losing my shampoo. And I started feeling ill, so I wanted to get some Vitamin C. I needed a Wal-Mart. While I am no fan of big business, these people really need a Wal-Mart. Having to walk 3 miles to 4 different stores really sucks.
So, I asked someone from my room in the hostel, Peter (from Colorado), where I could go shopping. He told me there were some shops about 4 stops on the train (the hostel was right outside the Greenwich train station). He called it “Canary Wharf”.
“Like the bird?”
“Yeah, exactly.”
So, I've only met a few Americans here; a lot of Canadians, but few Americans. Peter was cool. He's a bartender from Brekenridge, CO. He was familiar with Monarch Mountain and Buena Vista (where Jason and I went snowboarding back in in March). Peter's basically backpacking Europe. He was leaving to fly to Munich to catch the tail end of Oktoberfest. Really cool guy.
So the next morning I got up, and went to check out this Canary Wharf place. In just a few days, I had quickly developed a grasp of the tubes. One of my strengths, I like to think, is the ability to figure out new systems quickly. Having never ridden a subway before, not only was a different country, but also a different transportation system. At least it was in an English speaking country. :) If only people would quit walking on the left...
So I got this this Canary Wharf place, and asked one of the officials, “So, I hear there are some shops around here?”
Giving me his best "you're an idiot" look, he replied, “You're in it! Look around, they're everywhere. Most of the shops are on the left, the more expensive shops on the right.”
With a smile and a “Thank you”, I marched to the left. :)
Ok, so Peter, if you're out there, “a few shops”, to me, doesn't mean, a massive 4-floor subterranean mall.
Oh yeah, it was huge. I suddenly felt closer to home than I had in two weeks. This place was awesome. Finally, I had found a one-stop shop. Well, it was a mall, so technically it wasn't, but anyway.
Ah, but Canary Wharf... The first place I walked past caught my eye immediately, sushi. Then it occurred to me how long it had been since I had enjoyed any sushi. (I miss our sushi Thursdays, Jason!). I was hungry, but I wanted to wait and find everything on my list first. So I grabbed a map (yeah, it needed it's own map) and began walking around.
Dude, this place was huge. But I've seen big malls. No, the thing that impressed me the most was some of the systems these stores employed.
Canary Wharf is almost completely underground, integrated into a couple different tube stations. Not only that, but it's directly under several skyscrapers. During my walking, I ventured topside. I suddenly understood why I was one of the most underdressed people in the entire mall. I don't know if this is “downtown” London, but the buildings seemed to give that impression.
To that end, most of the restaurants seemed to specifically cater for “to-go” orders. It actually cost more to dine in in most places. In some cases, twice as much. I should have taken a picture of the menu, because everything was listed with two prices, take-out and eat-in. There were a couple of shops that only seemed like 4 feet deep. Basically, it was just a kiosk for food. My guess was, the kitchen is either behind some hidden door, or they have people walk from one of the larger versions of the restaurants elsewhere in the mall (technically, malls. Apparently Canary Wharf is like 3 different malls. I don't know why.) and restock the shelves. The first sushi place I had seen (there turned out to be several different ones) actually had individually wrapped rolls of sushi. You grab a small carton, you fill it with the various pieces of your choice, and you go to check out. How cool...
Other than the obvious fact that it was sushi, it seemed to have a very Japanese feel to it. It seemed the model of efficiency.
I managed to find everything on my list. Probably spent a little too much on a towel, but it's so nice. :) I even picked up a really cheap BT headset so my phonecalls with my Mac home could be done a little easier. Done with shopping, I went and grabbed my sushi. Of course I accidentally ordered from the "to-go" section, so I wasn't allowed to sit down. Yeah, they actually stopped me. So I found a little bench. I had already observed other people doing the same, so I knew I could at least get away with it for a few minutes. I suppose it would have been a bit more conveneint had I been working at one of the massive office buildings upstairs. What an awesome resource they have. Take 10 minutes, walk to one of many different food options in the mall below, and walk back to your desk. We need one of these under Raleigh.
Bouncers. In London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, there were bouncers everywhere. Maybe "bouncer" isn't the appropriate term for all of them (some of them were), but there are quite a few well dressed, inconspicuous men standing around everywhere. You can see that they're clearly keeping a close eye on everything. I stood out quite a bit, so they seemed to pay a little extra attention to me. Sigh...
The sushi was good, tho. I've had better, but it didn't suck. It was quite fresh, and definitely a cut above “fast-food sushi” back home. I wish I could go back and try a few different rolls. It actually turned out to be a bad idea to wait. When I had first gotten there, the queues were reasonable, but at 1:30 when I went back hunting for food, most of the places I wanted to eat were packed.
Canary Wharf is definitely a place you should check out when you're in London. I spoke with someone a little later about how sad it is to me that I'm more comfortable in the unstable fast pace of London than some of the more laid back cities I've been in. London was very fast paced. To me, it felt like any large city in America, with accents. That's an obvious generalization, but I felt Edinburgh had a little more character.
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