Posts from the “London” Category

Dim Sum Musings

Posted on February 3rd, 2008

Despite London’s large Chinese population, finding good authentic Chinese food at a reasonable price is somewhat difficult – China Town is OK but generally expensive and the quality/hygiene questionable. However, when you scratch beneath the surface, there is the odd gem to be found and sometimes in the most unassuming of places. One such place can be found south of the Thames not far from where I’ve been working and over the past year has become a popular haunt for Friday lunch of almost mythical proportions. One of my colleagues has kindly written a review which I thought I might share (complete with my iPhone photos) – An unassuming blue building at the Elephant end of Walworth Road – Indian Cafes, ropey B&Bs, the…

Otaku Culture

Posted on December 15th, 2007

I’ve noticed on recent trips outside London that being a “Londoner” tends to make you a bit of a snob towards the rest of the UK. A few weeks ago I visited a mid-sized town approximately 1.5 hours north of London. Upon arrival at the tiny railway station there could be seen a group of around 10 middle-aged men all looking rather dishevelled and bored. OK, I thought, they must be waiting for the next train out of this middle-of-nowhere hole. Two hours later when I returned to take the train back to London I was surprised to see that they were still there – upon closer inspection I noticed they were all carrying small notepads and some had cameras – this could only…

Mind The Gap

Posted on November 27th, 2007

It’s called the tube for a reason! Some hilarious news I came across tonight – Emma Clarke, the voice on the London Underground announcement system has been fired for recording and posting some spoofs on her own website. Although the site has been crippled by people trying to access it I found them elsewhere and here are a few I found particularly funny – “We’d like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almost certainly talking too loud.” “Passengers are reminded that a smile is actually a friendship signal, not a sign of weakness.” “Passengers should note that the bearded gentleman’s rucksack contains the following items only: Some sandwiches, a library card and a picture of a bare ankle and is no…

Twittering On

Posted on November 12th, 2007

I think others have already said enough about the iPhone but sufficed to say it’s living up to my expectations so far. Having phone/ email/ internet/ ipod/ calendar/ photos/ camera/ maps etc. all in one slick device is very very nice. Getting it on Friday evening was an interesting experience in itself. Surprisingly, having queued on Regents Street for about an hour and a half, it only took 15 mins to make the purchase from the time the doors opened amid the crowds of cheering Apple staff (perhaps a little much!). I quickly headed home, praying not to get mugged on the way, and activated it through iTunes – a process which was surprisingly simple (my old phone number transferred directly without any wait).…

Back to School

Posted on October 21st, 2007

It’s been a long time since I posted anything under the “University” category since I graduated over two years ago and whilst I may be a little older and wiser the learning never ends! Since visiting Korea twice this year I felt it was about time I learned a bit of the language so signed up for the Beginners Korean course at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Three lessons later and it’s not going to badly but I think I’m going to have to put a fair bit of effort in to be able to keep up with the work – somewhat reminiscent of when I studied Japanese! Korean is significantly easier to learn than Chinese or Japanese…

Red Deer in Richmond

Posted on October 8th, 2007

I had a pretty busy, but very enjoyable, weekend spent mostly in the leafy suburbs on Surrey (just outside London). On Saturday afternoon I visited Richmond Park, the largest of the Royal Parks in London (2500 acres), which is home to over 650 free roaming red deer. My uncle had brought with us his Nikon D200 and 300mm lens so it was the perfect opportunity for a bit of wildlife photography Ray Mears style! As they were in the middle of rutting season the male stags were in fighting mood so we made sure to keep down wind and a safe distance! Every so often when a stag strayed onto another’s territory they would bellow at each other but unfortunately we didn’t witness any…

Dongdaemun

Posted on September 30th, 2007

As my plane back to the UK wasn’t until midnight on Monday I decided to have a final explore of some of the things I hadn’t yet seen which included both Dongdaemun and Namdaemun markets, centred around the historic city walls. Dongdaemun means “Great East Gate” and was the major eastern gate in the wall that surrounded Seoul during the Joseon Dynasty. Today it’s marooned in the middle of a busy roundabout looking somewhat forlorn, no longer gatekeeper to a city which is grown way beyond its original boundaries. Surrounding the gate is Dongdaemun Market, consisting of over 26 shopping malls, mainly specialising in retail and wholesale fashion items. With over 30,000 shops you’re pretty spoilt for choice if you like that sort of…

South Bank

Posted on July 22nd, 2007

It’s been a bit of a slow weekend with some pretty terrible weather to compliment it. In between heavy rain and thunder storms I ventured out to the Global Cities exhibition at Tate Modern which despite not really being “art” per-say was actually quite good and informative. It looks at the changing faces of ten international cities, exploring each based on speed, size, density, diversity and form. Well worth a visit, if not in person then online. The magnificent London Millennium Bridge leading to St. Paul’s Cathedral, formally known as the “Wobbly Bridge” before the spoil-sports retrofitted energy dissipating dampers. Looks like the work of a certain Banksy (near Borough Market) – artist, vandal, or activist? I’ll let you decide! In the UK you…

Le Tour de Anglais

Posted on July 8th, 2007

This morning I went into town to watch the “Le Grand Depart” (the opening) of Le Tour de France which came to London this year for Stage 1 of the world’s best-known cycling race. Although it was predictably packed along the route in central London I managed to squeeze onto Tower Bridge and grab a few shots as the front pack went passed, somehow miraculously dodging each other and the hundreds of support vehicles. Considering the terrible weather the UK has had the passed month it’s been quite an amazing day with bright skies and only the odd cloud. That’s a lot of cyclists – how they manage to stay upright is beyond me! There was a huge media and support presence but how…

Re-design?

Posted on June 6th, 2007

You would have thought that designing the logo for the London Olympics would have been the easy bit but if this is the best they can come up with it’s a bit depressing. London may be a “cool and happening” city but this is just not doing it for me, nor most other people but the sound of things – in the papers, on the tube, and around the blogosphere the consensus seems to be that it’s pretty aweful. Personally I thought that the logo they used for the bid was a lot better, I guess we’ve got another 5 years for it to evolve. In tenuously related but possibly less high-profile news I’m looking to re-design the look of randomwire.com so expect to…

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