Brick Lane Market - Sunday secondhand market

Get to Brick Lane Market by taking the Overground to Shoreditch High Street, and walking out. Left on Sunday mornings take you to a fantastic second-hand market. 

My favourite time to go is Sunday morning because that is when all the stallholders come out with their wares in the morning - there are people who seem to put everything in their house on a table and try to sell them all... 

Sometimes you can find really interesting things - books, old vinyls or CDs, bicycle tires, little decorative trinkets - I bought a metal plate that predicts the date for 45 years. Also a ceramic horse.

My favourite sweater at the moment was also purchased from Brick Lane - there are so many fashion shops on the road itself, but I like looking at the used clothes section in the secondhand market. 

Also wanted to buy this old photo album, but I felt like I was violating those people's memories and decided on a philosophical level to not hoard the images of other people....

So many interesting shops. 

Sometimes the displays can be so beautiful you don't want to buy anything for fear that you spoil the delicate harmony of old timeless pieces working in unison. This looks straight out of a modernist interior design magazine - flowers and all. 

Camera aficionados can orgasm over this.  

This is one of the best markets in my opinion if you've got no idea what you're looking for and all you want is a bargain. Portobello is full of tourists but this place is so dirty and gritty....

Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park

Hyde Park Corner on the Picadilly Line, 1 minute away, leads you to Hyde Park where Winter Wonderland is taking place. According to my german flatmate, the winter festival is actually a german tradition, so there are tons of crazy germans and german signs. 

It's impossible not to feel festive once we stepped into the Winter Wonderland, it feels all lovely and warm and fuzzy, even though it was quite a cold autumn-winter night. The whole area is actually really big.

There were tons of stalls - food, games, pubs, games, haunted houses. Here is me with a large reindeer.

A bar on a carousel that spins around slowly - absolutely lovely, can't wait to go with someone who will get a drink with me. Who's up.

There were so many rides, all with people yapping and screaming away. This one was spewing snow too as a bonus. 

The ice skating rink is clearly sponsored by Samsung, and though no skaters were allowed yet, it looked gorgeous with the fairy lights reflected in streaks on the ice. 

Crazy german words and signs everywhere. It feels like... Disneyland. With the ferris wheel in the background and people drinking mulled wine everywhere it's an understatement to say it feels magical.

Bristol

Bristol is around 3 hours from London by a coach from Victoria.

They say Bristol is like London without the tourists - it's quieter, it's hilly, a landscape made up less like a wild tapestry than London, but more in little bits of collective memory. 

The Bristol Cathedral stays in my mind like an engraving. In many ways it is almost like one - its arches curl high along the ceiling, etched into the skyline. It's hard yet elegant, confident, and riddled with secrets. 

The streets are full of interesting shops and everyone walks everywhere. I suppose in London we take our streets for granted because the tube is always there - but there is a charm about walking. Of course. 

Out of Manor hall the road slants downwards and delivers you to the city centre. 

I believe this is the science museum... We took a walk to the harbour and walked past these modern, open spaces... Seemed a bit empty. I picked up a series of Sherlock Holmes novels which have been delighting me since. 

Is that a steam engine?

Bristol has good food, and good nightlife... and you enjoy it without thinking of the tourists around you, and worrying if you're sticking out. You still might, but it's laid back so who cares? 

Portobello Market

At Notting Hill Gate (District, Circle, Central lines) walk out and follow the crowd. There are not enough words and photos for Portobello, for it needs to be seen and felt, not through snapshots but through a long walk down. Bring £30. Save for the week, come on the weekends to enjoy. 

Food - the middle portion of the road is a farmer's market, and there are snacks too - paella, crepes (try mushroom and cheese) and even the hummingbird bakery for red velvet cupcakes. Food is but a small part of it all. 

There are a lot of people, especially on Saturdays. They are part of the deal too - nobody rushes, everyone mulls around because there's too much to take in. Saturday is the vintage and fashion market. Go then. 

The first portion (if going from Notting Hill Gate) is the vintage market on Saturdays. Many vendors bring in everything you can imagine - silverware, jewellery, ceramics, vinyls, old books, lace. 

And if you walk through to the very end, past the motorway, you find the clothes section. Vintage clothes are expensive, but walk on further and you will find a second-hand section, which sells for much cheaper - if you can find the right things, they'll make you smile for a long time. 

Kensington Gardens

Kensington Gardens is at High Street Kensington, a short walk. Right beside it is Hyde Park. The month of September is lovely weather. 

Kensington Palace is the first thing you'll see... I haven't gone to the exhibition inside but I've heard it is spectacular. How can it not be spectacular? It's inside a palace.

On a sunny day the light hits everything just right - and I do mean everything. It's all lively and calm and unwaveringly still, illuminated. 

The round pond is one of the most amazing places. You must imagine Sigur Ros playing in the background as the birds start flying over the waters, and then you know why we envy birds so much we make planes. 

I wonder how many varieties of flowers there are. 

The park is huge - don't walk through too fast. At the end it leads you to the Serpentine Gallery, and then you can truly slow down and be enamored by some more art.

Peter Zumthor's pavilion is still there I believe. An indoors garden, a mix of flowers. 

The point of any garden these days is to bring a friend and a camera. The grass isn't rough like Singapore, it's soft whispering against the skin. 

Weekday Borough Market

Borough Market is accessible by dropping at London Bridge tube station, and then walking out and seeing a large sign that says Borough Market. It is one of the most renowned food markets.

On a weekday there are far less people, but the market feel is still present - it has different sections, all with the same charm. 

There are so many varieties of vegetables it makes me feel guilty for shopping at Sainsbury's. Alas Borough is near enough, yet far enough to cease being a viable choice to do my grocery shopping. Also, a lot of the varieties are grown organically, making them pricier. 

A student is always constrained by money, but it is such a pity. Another section sells baked goods, egg tarts, cakes... Bring an appetite and around £8, more if you're getting groceries.

Sunset at Hampstead

The park is near to Hamstead on the Northern Line, further up from Camden. Get out of the station and walk up the slope. It gets cold, bring shoes for walking, bring a coat. Bring some snacks. Bring a camera. 

An apparently famous bakery - there were so many people queuing just to buy! The cakes looked absolutely delicious (and tasted divine too) I love patisseries. 

After getting our picnic goods we headed up the street to reach the park. The town as I later found out is quite a posh district, but I didn't realise because it was so... quaint, so down-to-earth. The best things never flaunt their status.

When the sun sets over bodies of water it creates a new world under the surface, slightly different, but you don't know how. It takes a while to realise that one is real and the other an illusion, because at that moment both seemed so tangible - How can it not be real? You can see it. 

An old man - he is leaning down to greet a white dog that ran towards him. Funny how I can see things in my mind's eye so clearly. 

After the sun sets it gets chilly, harshly cold all of a sudden. The sun snatches away life and we needed to get back. But it was a beautiful sunset anyway - I met up with Joscelin and Sarah finally, we had a great picnic, we saw the hills rolling downwards in such an English manner, with a mansion at the end of it all. In another life, perhaps.