Birthday Maurice

I had to get up early but couldn't because I was still tired from staying up half the night while I should've been in bed asleep. But I had more important things to do than sleep so the night owl in me decided to stay awake till 05.00 in the morning... I prepared the canapé for Maurice his party, took me longer than I expected but I was ready on time. I was supposed to meet up with them at their place but decided to meet up at the Tube station, it saved me some time actually. Maurice called me while I was on the Tube and I told him I would be on the next one coming in, in the front carriage.

It took us about 45 minutes to get to the other end of town and find our way to Holland Park where we were supposed to meet up with Maurice his other friends. I'd brought a blanket along so we looked for a spot to sit down and have a proper champagne picnic. At first it was just the three of us but after some time more and more people came and brought a variety of food, all very nice! We spent all day and evening eating, drinking and chatting [even in Dutch, there were three other Dutch people which was nice] until it was getting dark. We had to clean up our stuff, pack things and go to the other side of the park to watch the balloons...

We had a great time and it was quite a spectacle to watch, but I have to admit after a while it became slightly boring. Perhaps I wasn't drunk enough *hehe*. We decided to crash at some pub nearby. It wasn't that cold, I was wearing my new woolen dress and it kept me warm all evening. But I started to develop a serious headache so I quit drinking and ordered a latte instead. I also set fire to this fancy stainless steel pillar ashtray, guess I was slighlty pissed after all. I went in to ask for a glass of water, the girl didn't understand me I guess because she wasn't English, so I asked again and said: 'listen, I've set fire to your fancy ashtray, could I have a glass of water to put it out please?' God, she was thick, but I got my glass of water in the end, I guess she didn't believe me and thought I wanted a free glass of water, until she noticed the heavy smoke...

At 22.45 we took the Tube back home and I was wondering if I would come along with Maurice and Warren and order a cab at theirs or would stay on the Tube and take a cab from opposite the Tube station... I decided to stay on the Tube. It was getting late and I was worried about how to get home. Stubborn Tess decided to walk home from the station, which wasn't a clever thing to do in hindsight. I'm not easily scared and I know I can deal with certain situations but this was a bit silly to be honest. I got home safely but it will be the last time I ever walk home at that time of night [23.45], it's asking for problems. I was lucky because I managed to get away from three potential situations because I had my finely tuned antennae to help me detect anything dodgy. I promised myself not to do this ever again, it's not worth it. I either have to go home on time or take a cab nomatter what the expenses will be...

I need to understand that this is not Amsterdam and I don't know my way around here as I do in Amsterdam: I know all the dodgy areas and I also know what to do if something would get tricky as opposed to London. I'm happy this area isn't as rough as certain other parts of London but it made the frontpage not too long ago and I really need to realise that I have to adjust to the situation instead of trying to be the tough girl...