I had a really eventful week! I had a birthday and have crossed over into a new decade, and I finally rode my bicycle! And I am not sure which is more exciting! My bicycle is a beautiful ridgeback rapide speed womens bike, that is three years old, and used to belong to a Newzealander in London who rode it for over 20 miles every day. I found her on gumtree, she was the first bike I looked at and it was love at first sight! I bought her immediately, and had a canny time getting her across London. The journey took over an hour (usually it is a 30 min journey) and included tubes, overgrounds and DLRs.
That was two months ago, and since then she has been snuggled into my spare room, and I have looked in on her daily to smile indulgently at her and ring her bell. I even bought a fancy solid bike lock, and a proper bike helmet. The only problem was that I was completely and utterly terrified of riding a bike on the streets of London. After a month Ramadan graced us, and I used the excuse of wanting to conserve energy so that I could make it through the day to avoid taking her out, but once that was over, I ran out of excuses.
So, last Sunday, I woke up early (pre-8 am!), and in a state of stupor that suppresses fear, I got dressed and took the bike out. I strapped the helmet to my head, ignored the muppet sensation, and hopped on the bike... from there it was easy, I guess with age comes a deeper appreciation of childhood pastimes, and the thrill of riding a bike overshadowed any fears I had of cars squishing me. I cycled all the way to Columbia flower market, a Sunday market on the Hackney/Bethnal green border dedicated to, well, flowers and house plants. This is one of my favourite places in London, to get to it from further East, you work your way past the Asian clothes shops on Bethnal green road, then turn right, away from Brick Lane with its famed curry houses and leather shops (v. random combination I think), and then through blocks of slightly run down council flats, and then ti li ling (the sound Disney plays when magic is afoot) columbia road flower market, a small street bursting with colour. On either side of the road, behind the flower and plant stands, are quirky little shops, selling fragrance, second hand china and cutlery, fabric, hand made greeting cards and various other knick knacks. Walking through the market, I feel that the greenery engulfs me. The flowers on offer are standard but abundant, and each tradesman seems to have his/her own favourite plant, and it seems they all sell for a fiver. So you can get a dozen roses or massive oriental flowers for £5. The quality is excellent, and the flowers last a week or two. I particularly like the pepper plant seller, he has these tiny little bushes which sprout tiny little green, yellow and orange peppers, which I am sure are cultivated by pixies. Through the market to your left you will find old style bakeries (Jones something), who make really nice Nicaraguan coffee, which you can enjoy while sitting on a bench outside listening to the busker. Even the buskers there are good, and definitely not annoying, and even I (a busker ingrate) tip (pay?) them in Columbia Road Flower Market.
Later in the week, I made the big transition from one decade to another. I heralded the dawn of this new age, and my new found penchant for dramatic statements, with dinner with some close friends in Gilgamesh, one of the most amazing restaurants in London. It is in the heart of the stable markets in Camden town, and is known for its unique and intricate decoration. Every wall is covered in wood and carved with babylonian art, apparently experts were brought in to create this artwork that tells the tale of Gilgamesh s’ quest for heroism. Everything in the place reflects this, pillars are inlaid with mother of pearl and lapis, the tables and chairs are unique pieces fit perfectly into the overall decor.
Everything about that evening was amazing, we arrived on time, found parking a short 3 min walk from the place. Upon arrival, the friendly hostess guided us through the throng of happy diners, to what we gleefully realised was the best seat in the house! It was a round table, with a curved seat going all the way round (a bit like a waltzer), a step lead up to the self-contained area, which was set in the corner of the restaurant overlooking everyone else. We felt like Queens! The menu is expensive, but funnily enough they had a special offer during October (its like they knew!) of 50% off the set menu. For £20 we got 3 mouth watering starters of Hoisin duck spring rolls, prawn dumplings and salmon salad, followed by a choice of Japanese stir fried beef with Thai green mash or fish curry, and finished off with heavenly (and it was heavenly) sorbet and lemon grass brule. Along with the usual alcoholic beverages, cocktails and soft drinks, Gilgamesh has a list of mocktails (non-alcoholic fruit cocktails) on offer!! As we listened in rapture as the best waiter in the world ticked off these options, he then presented us with the cherry for our ever burgeoning cake, it ... was ... all ... halal!!! We were there for three hours, and were having such a nice time that it was a shock to realise that it was 11 pm when we left.
All in all, this has been, and I insert a very sincere Alhamdulilallah here, one of those really ‘good’ weeks, and hence, dear reader, your subjection to a very smug post :)
Saturday 31 October 2009
Friday 2 October 2009
The Muslimah and the Pool
I want to talk about how a Muslim woman, upon reaching adulthood, and starting to abide by Islamic dress rules for her manages not to miss out on that wondrous hobby that is swimming. I love swimming, I adore it. I grew up in a hot sunny country in a swimming pool. Becoming a woman, and even though not yet a hijab wearing woman, meant that swimming was no longer such an easy activity. Swimming costumes for women fall short of the Islamic dress code to say the least, and if you wanted to even partially abide by these rules and still swim, your only option was women only swimming sessions. Luckily this was an option for me, as was the option of a womens only beach.
In London I discovered, that often even when the local pool advertises a womens only swimming session, this is often accompanied by male life guards, or is overlooked by a mixed-gender gym. A few pools do offer real(ish) womens only sessions, such as Highbury pool in North London, and the Mile End Leisure centre (East London). They both guarantee that only female life guards are used. I used to go swimming in the Highbury pool, but on one occasion a man walked through the swimming area during the session. I attempted the Mile End option, but I had to queue for an hour for the ‘chance’ of getting in!
Recently though there has been an upsurge in what have been termed the Islamic swimsuit. These arguably started in Turkey with the hasema range, then spread to Australia (home of the Burqini), the USA (home of the Splashgear suit), also to the United Arab Emirates (home of the mycozzie suit) and to Brazil (home of the AquaGym suit). None of them are cheap, you are looking to pay around £80 for any one of them. But the liberation they offer makes it worth it.
Admittedly, many women are uber-conservative, and consider the wearing of trousers or the swimming in mixed company to be sinful to women. I am not one of those women, and believe each of us are different and differ in some matters. I personally own the Splashgear swimsuit and the MyCozzie suit. The Splashgear is made of a loose fitting rashguard top and wide board-trousers (made of the same material as the Male board shorts), while the MyCozzie is loose fitting lycra trousers and a long lycra top.
I have used the Splashgear suit in the public pools here in the UK, with no problems, only once did a lifeguard question me on it, but once I let her feel the material and explained that it was a purpose made suit, she was happy with it. I have yet to try out the MyCozzie suit, but because of its more familiar style (it looks a bit like a loose wetsuit) I expect pools wont be as scared by it.
The next thing I want to try is to go to one of these water parks. The only problem is finding people to go with, the Burqini craze is not quite a craze and is yet to ‘arrive’ in the UK, so it is problematic finding other Muslim women to go with me. So if you are a London based burqini owner, and would like a day at one of the Souths water parks, why not pester Imaan networking for an event like that ;) On another note, if you happen to own a sports equipment shop, why not look into stocking up on these swimsuits? People are happier to part with £80 if they can try them on, and I want some burqini friends.
In London I discovered, that often even when the local pool advertises a womens only swimming session, this is often accompanied by male life guards, or is overlooked by a mixed-gender gym. A few pools do offer real(ish) womens only sessions, such as Highbury pool in North London, and the Mile End Leisure centre (East London). They both guarantee that only female life guards are used. I used to go swimming in the Highbury pool, but on one occasion a man walked through the swimming area during the session. I attempted the Mile End option, but I had to queue for an hour for the ‘chance’ of getting in!
Recently though there has been an upsurge in what have been termed the Islamic swimsuit. These arguably started in Turkey with the hasema range, then spread to Australia (home of the Burqini), the USA (home of the Splashgear suit), also to the United Arab Emirates (home of the mycozzie suit) and to Brazil (home of the AquaGym suit). None of them are cheap, you are looking to pay around £80 for any one of them. But the liberation they offer makes it worth it.
Admittedly, many women are uber-conservative, and consider the wearing of trousers or the swimming in mixed company to be sinful to women. I am not one of those women, and believe each of us are different and differ in some matters. I personally own the Splashgear swimsuit and the MyCozzie suit. The Splashgear is made of a loose fitting rashguard top and wide board-trousers (made of the same material as the Male board shorts), while the MyCozzie is loose fitting lycra trousers and a long lycra top.
I have used the Splashgear suit in the public pools here in the UK, with no problems, only once did a lifeguard question me on it, but once I let her feel the material and explained that it was a purpose made suit, she was happy with it. I have yet to try out the MyCozzie suit, but because of its more familiar style (it looks a bit like a loose wetsuit) I expect pools wont be as scared by it.
The next thing I want to try is to go to one of these water parks. The only problem is finding people to go with, the Burqini craze is not quite a craze and is yet to ‘arrive’ in the UK, so it is problematic finding other Muslim women to go with me. So if you are a London based burqini owner, and would like a day at one of the Souths water parks, why not pester Imaan networking for an event like that ;) On another note, if you happen to own a sports equipment shop, why not look into stocking up on these swimsuits? People are happier to part with £80 if they can try them on, and I want some burqini friends.
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