Marks and Spencer and Walker's Crisps

I was too busy to miss London until I passed by M & S at Centrepoint. Oh well, let's pop in for some biscuits and maybe grab a t-shirt or two.

M & S used to be just a five minute stroll from my old flat at Marylebone ; a corner shop of sorts. The place where I get some croissants, milk and eggs for breakfast. Maybe a pizza to pop in the oven if I was too lazy to cook. I passed it whenever I walked to and back from work. No biggie.

But my oh my, it's a different story here. There is a hush, rarified atmosphere with hardly anyone browsing through the clothes. No middle-aged auntie type riffling for drawers or cheap tshirts and certainly no harrassed mums chucking cartons of ready meals into the trolley

... and suddenly I miss London.

• I miss the sunlit trees at Hyde Park where little one will run wild and roll on the grass.
• I miss the slight jolt I feel whenever I see Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey.
• I miss the beautiful Natural History Museum with its gargantuan dinosaur skeleton.
• I miss flying kites on Primrose Hill, with London at your feet.
• I miss Walker's Cheese and Onion Crisps and the funny ads with Gary Lineker in them.
• I miss the TV where even the football commentary can be funny.

heck, I even miss the pushy free newspapers distributors.

9 years I lived and breathed London. Of course it will take more than good teh tarik and roti prata to rival the fond memories.