Bailey's Stardust

Bailey's Stardust is a show I was really looking forward to seeing because I had seen a few of David Bailey's pieces throughout my life. Along comes this beautiful show put together by the man himself including different collections of all of his work, so of course I had to go. Firstly, I have to say the staff at the National Portrait Gallery is always very nice and very friendly, it's always a pleasure to be there and interact with them. Secondly, somehow no matter which day of the week or what time of day, the temporary shows are always really crowded. But I guess that's good for business. Thirdly, you can't really take pictures inside the show. I was sneaky and sent a few snapchats but nothing I could keep. 

The space used for this particular show was a large variety of rooms that followed a pretty obvious sequence. Of course to avoid the crowds as much as possible I went round the opposite way. But there was a room for the Rolling Stones, another with mainly fashion photography, a collection of portraits and the list goes on. Every image I saw made me stop and catch my breath. Some more than others, but that's always the case. 

I left the show feeling I had learned something, not only about his life, but also about photography and how much the work of one individual person can change. I would love to see other photographers' bodies of work in such a large space, showing the transitions in their lives. I was just really taken by all these images and I still think about them every day. 

Here's the link to the show: http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/bailey/exhibition.php 

(it's on until the 1st of June) 

Photographer's Gallery

A few days ago I went to the Photographer's Gallery again. Andy Warhol, William S. Burroughs, and David Lynch all have a floor dedicated to each of them. I took the lift to the 5th floor and worked my way down. Most of the images were in black and white, which made their subject stand out even more. It was very interesting to see the transitions of their different perspectives during the 20th century. 

The gallery itself has very open spaces, lining the images along the walls and using the central space to display books or other prints in glass casing. The thing I like the least about photography exhibits is when they cover the images with glass, because you end up seeing a reflection of yourself in the image. This can be used well as an optical illusion but it's really frustrating when looking at a very dark image.

I went to the show especially to see Andy Warhol's work because I've seen so many of his other pieces so I though I would enjoy these too. However I was most impressed by David Lynch's work because it reminds me of the part of London in which I live. There were run down brick factories in most of the images, and I live in an old wool factory, so it was really interesting to see the decline of these buildings and how they have been reused now. 

Overall, the show made me reflect a lot on the past and how things evolve. I rarely have time to think so clearly and deeply on a subject so going to this show helped me clear my head and focus my thoughts. It was really interesting, and a good 3 GBP spent. 

Here's the website for the show: http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/current-exhibitions-2

Whitechapel Gallery

I’ve walked past Whitechapel Gallery about 500 times throughout my time in London. Finally when my friend Gabi was here we decided to go inside. We didn’t go to the main temporary exhibit that was going on because there was an entrance fee, but we did however walk around the rest of the gallery. We were able to admire the art work as well as building. 

On the lowest floor there was a huge room with a room inside it. The internal room was made out of books relating to history and anthropology. Inside this room made of books there was a little staircase that had a mirror at the top. This mirror allowed you to see yourself in the room as a sort of outsider. I really liked this. 

Upstairs there were a few rooms available to visit for free. One was a collection of historical pieces showing the history of the gallery and the events at the old gallery. The other room had a collection of older pieces showing a combination of mixed media. Overall, I really liked the gallery space, but I’m certain that next time I’m going to pay to see the temporary show. 

Here’s their website: http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/

Motown Desserts

Motown Desserts is a cute little ice-cream shop right off of Whitechapel High Street. My flatmate Emily and I went there one evening because we had an ice-cream craving and we didn’t want to get some from a supermarket. So I suggested we go to Motown. 

Sadly on the outside it doesn’t look particularly good because it’s covered in scaffolding. But the inside is quite quirky. The bar is covered in old vinyls, there are comfortable brown armchairs in the seating area and a huge light up sign showing the way to the seating downstairs. 

The ice-cream itself was really inviting. So I chose to get a combination of creamy, chocolatey flavours, and a separate mango sorbet. I tried their cookies and cream, honeycomb and a hazel-nutty flavour that I can’t remember the name of. My favourite was the hazelnut flavour because it had soft hazelnuts laced throughout the ice-cream. Their flavours are very thick and vanilla-y so I don’t recommend going crazy like we did by getting so many flavours. The mango sorbet was a perfect refresher after all that cream, its really worth trying. 

Here’s their website: http://www.motowndesserts.com/

Ziferblat

When my friends Gabi came to visit I wanted to take her somewhere new and exciting. I had originally planned to go to Love Shake (my favourite milkshake place ever) but then we stumbled upon Ziferblat, the "pay as long as you stay" cafe. After walking up the stairs and stepping inside a kind lady explained to us how the system works. You write the time you arrive and your name on a sheet and you hang it up, you take a clock with you too! After that you're free to use any of the tables, sitting comfortably with others, and get yourself something to drink.

Both Gabi and I chose to have some tea, and there was a huge selection of teas to choose from. There are cute tea cups as well as fun mugs and glasses. There's a box with cookies laid out next to the sugar that is a little too inviting. Next time I'll probably have coffee, if I feel like playing around with the coffee machine. All around the open space there are people chatting or typing away on laptops. But even if everyone is doing their own thing there is a huge sense of community. Sitting with people tends to make you feel more at home and relaxed. 

We ended up staying there for a little less than an hour, because I was getting hungry, so we paid 1.20 GBP each. Which is nothing for a cup of tea and a cookie in London. I really liked the place and will probably go there alone if they stay open (sadly, they're having some landlord issues).

Here's their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ZiferblatLondon

Broadway Bookshop

I love Broadway Market. It is one of the few roads in London that feels like home but feels new at the same time. Everyone is really friendly and on Saturdays this time of year they even tough it out in the rain. I wasn't used to facing the rain so I quickly walked into Broadway Bookshop to hide from the bad weather. I got a warm friendly greeting as I walked in and started browsing through the books. 

They have their books set up differently from every other bookshop I've been to. They place them by author, but firstly by country. So you'll find London guidebooks right next to literature about London or by Londoners. It was really calm and a happy atmosphere filled the rooms. There are several stairs you can go down to look at more and more books but there are also a few compelling photographs lining the staircase. 

I would have stayed longer if I had not just bought 5 books the previous week. I loved being there. Small bookshops motivate me to read more, to discover books I would never think of reading. And not only immerse myself in the book, but also into the culture around reading the book. That's why I like reading in cafés so much. 

Here's their website: http://www.broadwaybookshophackney.com/

Miss Chu

A cute little restaurant opened near Whitechapel Gallery a couple of months ago, and my flatmate Emily and I were finally able to try it out one Wednesday over lunch. You have the whole menu handed to you on a paper, and you tick the boxes of what you wish to eat. You then go to the desk where you make your order and pay. They then bring you your food where you're seated. They also do home deliveries!

We chose to sit outside and enjoy the food with a little glimmer of sun. Everything arrived really quickly, and all of a sudden our table was full. Iced coffee, jasmine tea, prawn dumplings, duck and rice rolls, crab rolls, spring rolls, you name it.

Sadly it was a little cold for the rice rolls, but we enjoyed everything else a lot. I wished I had gotten more prawn dumplings.

Everyone was really friendly, and they checked up on us quite often even if we were the only table outside. I enjoyed the food and I'll probably eat there again when I'm craving some dumplings. Which should be soon.

Here's their website: http://www.misschu.com.au/

Taylor Wessing Prize at the National Portrait Gallery

London has billions of museums, ok maybe not billions but it does have quite a few and they always seem to have amazing temporary exhibitions. Last Friday I wanted to do something more with my day and I decided to have a look at the Taylor Wessing Prize photographs at the National Portrait Gallery. All of the images are breath taking as well as thought provoking. Through the beautiful photographs you gain a tiny bit of insight into the people's lives, and the photographer as well. Some of the images can be scaring, but most of them just push you to try and understand the person in the image for a few minutes. 

Sadly it was really crowded when I went so I didn't get to enjoy it as much as I hoped. I would have loved to linger in front of every image at least twice. Once to soak in their story and the second to admire them. If I could see the show again I would probably go on a weekday morning where the number of people in the space is lower and it feels like it's just you and the person in the photograph. 

Overall, I loved it, I feel like it was the perfect way to end my week. The entrance to the show costs a mere £4 and you can probably stay in there and stare for hours. These portraits stood out to me so much that I didn't want to browse the rest of the gallery incase my memory started to lose the photos from the show. 

I'm very excited for their next temporary exhibition starting on the 6th of February, Bailey's Stardust. 

Here's the website for the National Portrait Gallery: http://www.npg.org.uk/

Rosa's

Rosa's is a cute little Thai restaurant tucked between some shops in between Spitalfields Market and Brick Lane. What makes it stand out from everything else?  It's painted bright red! After walking past it a few times and noticing the crazy queues outside I knew I had to eat there. So when my Friday classes got cancelled I knew exactly where I was going for lunch. 

Upon walking in you notice all of the beautiful wooden tables, and get seated at one of them. On the edges of the restaurants the tables are set up with one side sitting on a connected bench against the wall. The others however, do not get the chance to lean on a wall. The menu is very clear, describing the different dishes they offer for lunch and dinner and one stood out to me, the sweet and sour pork. It had been ages since I had anything that was labelled "sweet and sour" so I went with my gut, and ordered that. 

After taking my order the food was ready in 10 minutes, I didn't event have time to read much of the book I had brought with me. They serve most of their dishes with white and brown rice and a good mix of vegetables. I recommend that if there are a few of you, grab a few starters to share. Sadly, they include service tax on their bill, but we'll let that one slide because the service is actually pretty good. 

Here's their website: http://rosaslondon.com/

Hawker House

Similar to the Street Food Festival I went to in Dalston they set up an indoor food festival called Hawker House near Broadway Market. I'd been wanting to go for weeks, and finally I was able to drag someone along. We got there at about 7:30pm, and paid the 3 pound entry fee after queuing for less than 5 minutes. Once inside, it was warm and lively, the music was blasting and it was hard to choose where we wanted to get food first. We went for the jerk chicken wings, and they were really good. We got 8 chicken wings for 10 quid, and found a corner to stand and eat them. After the first bite, we realised how spicy they were, so of course we got some beer. 

While enjoying the last of my chicken wings, the power died. This wasn't really a problem at first, but then we noticed, there was no music, no heating, and most of the food couldn't be served. We queued for buns, but sadly after 20 minutes of queuing they told us they couldn't heat up the bun bread so they couldn't serve them. We drowned our sorrows in some ice-cream though. I chose salted caramel, but they had some other crazy flavours like chestnut or whiskey. 

Overall, it was a bit of a disappointment because of the power outage. It would have been nice if they had refunded us or given us a voucher for half off on their next event. I'll probably go to one of their events again because I know I'll always eat well. Its just sad that it got a bit ruined this time. 

Here's their website: http://www.streetfeastlondon.com/#!hawker-house/c4gh

Shake Shack

On a very cold evening my friends and I decided to treat ourselves to a little Shake Shack. I'd been wanting to go since they announced their opening in the UK (back in June). So we all went to Covent Garden to have a taste of the most talked about American food. Being handed the menus in the queue the anticipation was killing me, and I couldn't focus on what I wanted to order. I must have changed my mind between a hamburger and a hotdog about 15 times. One thing I was sure of, I wanted to taste one of their "concretes". 

Concretes are what Shake Shack calls ice-cream, and trust me, you want to get one. I think I went a little overboard on what I ordered, I got a hotdog, a double (large) concrete, cheesy fries and a true old school lemonade. Actually all of us got cheesy fries but thankfully the others got to try the burgers for me. The food was really yummy and I honestly didn't expect to be able to eat a hotdog so gracefully without getting half the sauce on me. 

Sadly, the biggest section of their seating area is outdoors and at this time of year its very hard to sit and enjoy a full meal outside. By the time I got to my concrete I was frozen. Trembling I ate spoonfuls of the stuff until I couldn't bare with the cold any longer. I hope that in the future they invest in some outdoor heaters because the coldest months are still to come. 

Overall I was happy with the service and the food, everyone was really nice, and I love tiny things like having your name put on your order so they don't just yell a number at you. I'm looking forward to enjoy some of that ice-cream in the warmer months, I'll have to go back for a milkshake sooner than that though. 

Here's the website for the Covent Garden "store" (the first in the UK):  http://www.shakeshack.com/location/london-covent-garden/