I had been eyeing this one book for quite some time. It's the renowned bestselling book 'The Garden of Evening Mists' written by the much-celebrated Malaysian author, Tan Twan Eng. The setting of the story in the 1900s compelled me to get my eyes on it, and after finding out that the piece had won the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2012 I had no reason not to add it to my 'urgent' wishlist and to my delight, my Secret Santa wonderfully fulfilled that request of mine last Christmas.
I was reading the chapter where the main character started reading a translated version of Sakuteiki - the oldest collection of writings on Japanese garden-making - when my mind began to wander and seemed to be more interested in the world of its own; which led me to end up writing here instead of finishing the chapter. It wandered off to a place not at all foreign to me, and in fact, a place I've been missing a bit too much for the past few months.
Yugiri - a garden the author kept on mentioning in the book - constantly brought me back to my memories of London parks. The green spaces in London formed a huge part of my life for the past few years; each one of them holds a story that is so dear to me that it bugs me a lot not to be able to say proper goodbyes to them, like how I wasn't able to do so with friends and 'family' I've known in the city.
Back in 2016, when I first set my foot in London, it's not exaggerating to say that Hyde Park was my first love. I stayed for two weeks in Prince's Square near Bayswater and I couldn't recall a day that I didn't drop by the park for a visit ever since I found out about the largest park in central London. The dried leaves, the paths, the cyclists, the pedestrians, the dogs, the pigeons, the lake, the sky - I was in love with every single part of it. Together, they harmonised and complemented each other to make a beautiful scenery that had stolen my heart ever since. On my last day in London (December 11th, 2016), I posted a picture of the lake at the park on my Instagram with a note;
"I am falling in love with this place. Not only because I get the chance to stop and wonder about things happening in my past and present (or even future) life, but it simply made me realise that I'm not the only thing created by God on this tiny Earth. Thus be grateful for every single thing He had given to you, for there are a lot of people could have been chosen for His bounty instead of you."
Over the years I've come to realise that it's actually not the matter of whom He chooses to give as God is generous and He is capable to give without limits, but rather what He chooses to bless us with as He owns the knowledge of what's best for each and every one of us. And one of the greatest blessings He had given me includes the chance to appreciate the wonders of nature in London's parks and gardens; something I have not been able to do much ever since I am back in Malaysia.
Parks in Bloomsbury
Studying at UCL, I have been constantly surrounded by patches of green spaces. Although the tall buildings dominated the views of London, the parks actually covered almost 20% of the whole city. Gordon Square was like my compulsory daily view - if I wasn't walking along its gravel curvy paths, I was at least admiring its stunning views from the windows of my Institute's building which stood to the north side of the square. The square was prominent among us 'archaeologists' for being a site where a sarsen stone - believed to be the type of sandstone blocks used to build Stonehenge - had been installed there to commemorate the 75th anniversary of our Institute. It was the park I spent my first experience of snow with my roommate Adlina in my first year, and also the park where I met up with Nikki for a catch-up - which happened to also be the last time I saw him before I left London for good.
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| A picture of my Institute from Gordon Square I took back in January 2020! (I was walking alone consoling myself that I'll be fine with leaving UCL - not knowing I only had 3 months left to enjoy my time) |
Tavistock Square is another park in Bloomsbury that lies to the east of Gordon Square (they are literally less than 100 metres apart). This park is not only special for the fact that it was one of the places I used to have my outdoor lunches with my good friend, Melody, but also because I have spent a significant amount of time sitting here, on my own, observing people either for my assignment in my first year (where I had to examine the landscape of a public space) or just for my own pleasure. I've never really paid much attention to Mahatma Gandhi who has been sitting there unmoving since 1968, or even the famous English writer Virginia Woolf who has been faithfully staring at visitors from the southwest corner of the square, but I was very much more interested in the living people who constantly move around - sometimes walking so swiftly that they've probably missed the beauty and serenity around them, or sometimes I just spent time wondering how did the suicide bombing that took place at the northeast corner of the square back in 2005 look like, and how ironic that it happened so close to a place that's unofficially regarded by some as a 'peace park' due to the public arts furnishing the space.
To the south of Gordon Square is Woburn Square Gardens, the usually more quiet park - probably due to the fact that it's the smallest Bloomsbury square - with a children's playground that I am not quite sure if it's still of use. It's usually the path I used to get to the IoE (Institute of Education); I think I've had a couple of short lunch/brunch alone here and I've also spent some time in late spring here to admire the magnificent red roses and yellow flowers.
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| (I think it's not chrysanthemum but I also don't know what it actually is. Anyone?) |
If I walk further down heading south of IoE, I'll end up at another park where I've spent time walking, strolling, jogging, and even bird-watching with some UCL staffs and students - who eventually set up their own group called UCL Conservation Society, and they organised a bird-watching event every other week (as far as I can remember). Ah, Russell Square... Need I say more? It was also the place I hopped on the bus to Canterbury, Bath, and Stonehenge. A significant sight/landmark of this park is probably its central fountain - a feature unique to this space in comparison to other parks in Bloomsbury that I've also enjoyed watching for no specific reason. There's a cafe at the northeast part of the park that I've never really had the interest to check out, but I remember having my attention caught by an insect hotel at one corner of the park, and of course, the squirrels.
I have more to write about but can't be spending too much time here at the moment - I guess this calls for another episode of me reminiscing about my time in the city, although I am also not sure if it's a good or a bad thing, as I am learning to let go of things and encouraging myself to spend more time 'living in the present' rather than revisiting the past. Well, I guess we'll see how this goes. Some memories are not meant to be forgotten anyway, and while I'm not trying to wear them away, I hope this can somehow be of help to me in my process of letting go of things that are no longer within my reach.
As much as I miss spending time with nature, I've also been missing the UK quite a lot - and it's fact I couldn't hide from anyone (or even myself) anymore.
London, I miss you, I really do :')
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