Bored? Get Twitter to choose excitement for you!

I woke up on Saturday morning...went to the gym and when I was finished, the day hadn't even begun yet and I was bored...really, really bored....
My flatmate was on his way to Porthcawl for a week and I had no plans...for a change....aside from tentative plans to meet some people in SW London that evening for a refreshing summery beverage!

So I decided to let my Twitter followers suggest what to do that day...I issued the #openbook challenge...

I, of course, had to leave the house first so I jumped on the tube to Covent Garden (had my second workout of the day when I decided to walk up the 192 stairs at Covent Garden Tube Station) and popped in to Forbidden Planet to buy some comics. By this point I had received my first suggestion from @CakeAndTequila which was to head down to the Tate Modern for the Miro Exhibition....

Now I had a destination...I popped in to Monmouth for a Flat White...declined the delicious looking/smelling baked goods (pictured above) and started my stroll down towards the South Bank.

I decided that I would need some fuel for my journey so headed into the Kowloon Bakery in ChinaTown for a bit of Pork Bun Action....as usual I was not disappointed by their selection (above)! The staff were as fantastically unfriendly as ever (this isn't a bad thing...it helps sort the wheat from the chaff in terms of serious clientèle vs tourists) and the prices still incredibly reasonable for a tasty snack. BBQ Pork Bun and Red Bean Cake in hand...I carried on my journey towards the South Bank.

It was a really nice day, so the walk down was extra special...I didn't pay any mind to the deluge of tourists, which in conjunction with the roadworks on Whitehall, would have really got me angry on any other day!
I was asked by a nice Eastern European couple to take a picture of them and their baby in front of Westminster...they were very grateful and that made me feel even happier!

A few weeks earlier I had mooched around the book market outside the BFI but not bought anything, on this day I wanted to pick up some new reading material and found a copy of this:

I've always wanted to learn more about Alec Guinness...legendary British actor that he is, so hopefully this is a starting point to some new knowledge for me...

I had made great time on my walk down, so went in to the BFI's cafe/bar for a couch based Mocha and comic reading session.

A short walk down the South Bank (past @CorkGourmetGuy's mecca, the Bulmers Enclosure) and I had arrived at the Tate Modern. Miro would not be someone who I immediately thought of if asked about my favourite artists...but thanks to lending a hand with my sister's A-Level Art Project on Salvador Dali when I was 16...it is something I have a certain level of appreciation for.

Like I said, I won't claim to know much about art, but I certainly know what I like to look at. Immediately I was show Miro's "Portrait of Viceus Nubiula" (below)

which I really liked the look of. From what I could see in the exhibition it was one of the only full body pieces he had created but the stoic look in the subject's eyes juxtaposed with the manic angles of his body and surroundings caught my eye.
I won't go on too much as my day certainly didn't end here, but there was one particular sculpture called "Femme" which I was quite enamoured with - sadly I can't find a picture of it online anywhere but if you get the chance to go and look, it is quite beautiful in its simplicity.

My next suggestion came courtesy of @AnnyBaxter who suggested I head down to Wimbledon to sample one of @CorkGourmetGuy's burgers at @TheAlexSW19. Another lovely walk to Waterloo, a short train journey and I was ready for my first trip across the threshold of a cracking boozer in the centre of Wimbledon.

I sat myself at the bar, took in a rather mediocre Newcastle vs Arsenal match (we drew 0-0...not a great start to the season) and was greeted by suggestions numbers 3 & 4 in quick suggestion. @CorkGourmetGuy suggested I try his ribs...which I did (above) and as you can see, I really didn't enjoy them ;-) Tasty sauce, good char on the meat and my fingers were suitably filthy afterwards!
Suggestion 4 came from Patrick the barman who recommended the new Bulmers Red Berries and Lime drink (below) which was nowhere near as sweet as I thought it would be...can't say I'm going to rush to drink lots of them, but it did the trick that day!

Suggestion 5 came from @aliceprocter who said I should wait there for her to join me so we could have a burger-fest together! I went for the Blue Cheese and Bacon Burger.....it delivered in a massive way - great size for the price, well cooked, very well presented and amazingly tasty. I am definitely looking forward to my next one...

So, a great day...did a lot of walking (so didn't feel too guilty about all the food and drink) learnt something new and made some new friends along the adventure too (for example, did you know @14thefrog is not "Fourteen The Frog" it is "One For The Frog"?)

Good chat, good company, good food, good drink and not a riot or looter in site...just what an SCGuy needs to keep himself entertained on a Saturday in London.