You'll find what you want in Portobello Road

Although Adam and I had both enjoyed Bedknobs and Broomsticks as children, it turned out that neither of us had ever been to Portobello Road. ("Street where the riches of ages are stowed.")

On Saturday, we met in London, ate fake prawns and then visited Cybercandy for some Tab and Vanilla Coke. After that, we headed to Portobello Road. We wandered around the market stalls, searching for the Star of Astoroth, although did not find it. We did see "Anything and everything a chap can unload", such as old cameras, t-shirts that said "Everybody loves mushrooms", door knobs (but no bed knobs), spoons, a shop full of sewing machines. No soldiers seemed to be dancing, but there was at least occasional music, played by buskers.

It was cold in London that day, so we sipped hot chocolate before going for a walk along the South Bank. The London Eye glowed purple, and trees were glowing with blue lights. We wandered into the Royal Festival Hall to keep warm and listened to some jazz and tried not to look at the photos that had parental advisory signs by them.

We then ended up in the Tate Modern, where we saw the mass of sunflower seeds lining the Turbine Hall, and we sat there, looking at the uneven surface that looked almost like the moon.

Turning into a tree and french-kissing your dead grandmother

Sunday involved meeting up with a few novelists at a NaNoWriMo meet up and drinking crème brûlée coffee. I also went to see an exhibition about people turning into trees.

I then attempted shopping and bought a mouse mat with a happy looking cloud on it, and despite the warnings, I also bought a packet of durian fruit wafers. I took one bite and then was ill. I wanted to like the durian fruit, wanted to experience its custard/almond taste, but maybe it is like Anthony Bourdain said: "Its taste can only be described as...indescribable, something you will either love or despise. ...Your breath will smell as if you'd been French-kissing your dead grandmother." No wonder eating it in public places is banned in some countries.

I watched far too much TV that evening, while writing my novel, as I still felt a bit ill - Wristcutters: a love story (which I had seen before, at the cinema), the new Peep Show episode, the latest Big Bang Theory episode, and Mean Girls.