Bird Whispering, Gordon Ramsay, and Going With the Flow

By Daniel Mirakian

When I woke up on Wednesday morning, after three days of semi-regimented tourism, I set off to face the Swinging City alone. I decided to take a step back from planning and just let the day take me on an adventure. My first stop was Hyde Park, which held my personal favorite part of this day. A fenced nature walk led me to a neon-clad man with a bird in his hand. I took his picture then successfully followed suit. After some patience, one of the vibrant parakeets streaked down and perched on my outstretched hand for a little while. It eventually flew away, likely disappointed by my lack of birdseed, but it was nonetheless a thrilling experience. After this pleasantry, I spotted a ferocious pack of dogs attacking two women and snapped a quick pic. Once satisfied with Hyde Park’s lively scenery and greenery, I tried in vain to rent a Santander bike. Following roughly 30 minutes of struggle and disappointment, I left the bike rack and started walking to the nearest above-4-star Chinese restaurant–the Lucky Cat. I looked up the menu on my way there, only to discover that I was en route to a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. £39 for a 3-course lunch was too good of a deal for me to pass up, so I continued on my way. This was my first time ever dining at a restaurant by myself (let alone dining alone in London), and I’m sure that fact was painfully obvious to my patient host. The thick-accented man was incredibly kind. Unfortunately, I struggled to decipher what he was saying, nearly resulting in accidentally changing my dining location. Finally, the American successfully passed the first step of eating at a restaurant. I was seated in the middle of the room.

As I sat and waited for my waiter who politely (but quietly) assumed I was waiting for someone else to join me before ordering, I admired the Lucky Cat’s modern and brooding atmosphere. The chef had a circular center stage cooking space, allowing me to inspect my food’s preparation from a distance. At long last, my waiter realized the error of his understandable assumption that I was eating with another person and came to take my order. Feeling adventurous, I ordered blindly by telling him to surprise me with his favorite item from each of the three courses of the meal. I received a bowl of rice, a delicious salmon topped with roe and greens, followed by some kind of raw fish with what looked like a flower garnish, and ended with “chocolate tofu.” Out of both shame and an attempt to challenge myself, I ate everything with the provided chopsticks. Following my dinner, I went shopping around Trafalgar Square and picked out a distinctive LeBron James x Liverpool FC hoodie. I ended the day with dinner at Wagamama with the group. Everything from this day was fun and was accompanied by colorful challenges and excitement. My main takeaway from this day is that it is surprising and fun to deviate from my norms. Instead of living by a schedule, I woke up and decided to just do things as they came to me. (I do not recommend this philosophy for exam preparation, but it works great when you’ve freed up the rest of your day.)

Waking up early to a completely free day with the intention of going out into the world and rolling with whatever I faced meant catching a bird and lots of fresh air, an odd but unforgettable meal, and a cool hoodie.