Weekends For The 30-Somethings In London

London nightlife reminds me so much of how old I am right now. Going to the hip and happening places here on a weekend stresses me out if I’m being honest. The crowd, the noise and the drunk people trying to stand on their own two feet around me give me panic attacks.

Many moons ago, I could pull an all-nighter dancing like there’s no tomorrow in a club somewhere in the lively city of Dubai. We’ll finish a full bottle of vodka among 4 of us ladies, go home on auto-pilot and get up the next day to go to work with a mere 3 hours of sleep only to do the same thing over again that same night.

Last Thursday night (yes, during a weekday ladies and gentlemen), our office arranged a barbecue party. I had 4 glasses of rose and stayed up until midnight, 2 hours past my bedtime. I was so tired when I woke up the next day and required 2 glasses of coffee to function normally.

Age is just a number they say, a number that looms over you and reminds you of its existence the entire time. I thought to myself that I’m not that old to be feeling this way already, I’m probably not just looking at the right places. So this weekend, I challenged myself to find the places where my people go.

WHERE DO 30-SOMETHINGS GO TO FOR A WEEKEND IN LONDON?

There are many London apps to help you arrange a great weekend in this city, we found a few that fits us perfectly through Design My Night. We went to *drum roll please* Shoreditch last Friday to go to The Blues Kitchen for The Motown Revue. Loved the place and loved the live blues and soul music, you can never go wrong with a bit of Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson songs while you sip a cocktail perfectly prepared for you. They really do mean business with their cocktails here, 3 glasses of whiskey sour and I was hammered (lightweight, I know).

Tip: Don’t be a cheap ass, pay that GBP6 ticket so you don’t have to wait to get in.

The next day, we had some apartment viewings because that’s what you do here in London. You’re always in search for the perfect apartment which you will of course never find because life’s not fair. After being disappointed by the flat that we viewed, we went to one of my favorite places in London to seek comfort. We admired the stunning vista of the Thames River from Richmond Hill as we imagined our lives if we lived in an apartment in this very expensive postcode.

We then had coffee and some cakes in one of the cutest cafes in this area, the Hollyhock Cafe.

We had a walk around the Terrace Gardens afterwards and immediately went back to our car to avoid getting a ticket. Note to everyone reading this just in case you don’t know yet, parking in Richmond is freaking expensive!

On our way home, we decided to drive through Richmond Park – the largest Royal Park in London and is also one of my favorite places to go to as well. It made me realize that this park is one of the reasons why it would be hard for us to leave our current apartment since Richmond Park is practically right on our doorstep (well, 10 minutes walk away). I come here almost every afternoon for a walk and I am astounded by its beauty every single time.

We spent Saturday night watching the new season of OITNB on Netflix. A more relaxed night to prepare us for the next day. We don’t normally prefer to go out on a Sunday as we need to work the next day but we pulled through. I deserve a statue somewhere for being able to finish off this challenge.

We went to Hideaway, a bar in Streatham which we’ve been to before. We were there once for one of their Sunday Jazz sessions and we absolutely loved it (click here to read all about it: Sunday Jazz at Hideaway). This time though, we went there for their Sunday comedy night show which was a hoot! Even though I think I still need subtitles when watching live shows here in London, 80% of it was understandable for my foreign ears (I don’t think I’ve mastered the British accent just yet). I’d do it again, definitely.

Note: There is an entrance fee of GBP12 per person if you are to attend the comedy night at Hideaway. Food served for dinner was amazing, you’d know that if you’re following my instagram stories.

We arrived back home at around midnight and it was a painful struggle for me to go to work the next day. For the first time in what felt like so many years ago, I had a hangover 3 days in a row. I was feeling pretty proud of myself though because I think I did a pretty good job living like the young ones last weekend, don’t you think? 🙂