solo business lunch: té house of tea
When I gave notice at my last job, a lot of people naturally asked me what my plans were, and when I told them that I was planning on working for myself, they were incredulous.
"You?!" they would invariably respond. "I don't see it. You're such a social person. You're totally going to miss being around people every day. You're going to go completely mental."
Well, it's three years later, and I have to tell you: I don't miss going to an office at all. (Related: I don't think I'm as extraverted as most people believe.)
That said, every now and then I do get a bit of cabin fever. It's not that I miss being around coworkers so much as I need a change of scenery. So once a month or so, I take myself out for a business lunch. I grab my work and my journal, find a restaurant (preferably with wifi), and go to work there for 90 minutes or so. I don't talk to anyone, and get a surprising amount of work done. And the time away from my desk is enough for me to get back in my groove back home for another several weeks.
Yesterday was one of those cabin fever days, and I decided that I didn't want to go to any of my usual restaurants. So I did a little online research, grabbed my cameras and headed over to Té House of Tea, a place Marcus and I visited three years ago, and always meant to return. I'm so glad I did.
I love having meals by myself -- I always have, especially in places like this one, where people from all over and all walks of life walk in and out (in fact, I could identify at least 3 different languages in the hour and a half that I was there). As I sipped my jasmine tea and ate my very tasty Asian salad, I thought perhaps it might be fun to photograph a new "solo business lunch" venue every few weeks or so, whenever I get cabin fever.
So you know, fair warning.
Song: Go it alone by Beck