Great unexpectations....

....Simple pleasures. Sometimes I forget what wonderful resources London has - particularly in the vicinity of my home. I guess I just take it for granted. Today, Kelly and I stepped out, 'for a walk' and had a wonderful time. We mosied on up to Spitalfields, where, unbeknown to us, the second Japan Matsuri, (festival of culture), was in full swing. Music, demonstrations of traditional combat, rows and rows of food stalls. The lot. Our quest for lunch suddenly became a great deal easier as we settled on takoyaki, (dumplings with octopus in the middle), and then teriyaki chicken curry. Brilliant.



We then walked around the corner to see if we could find a new bike for Kelly to buy. This one seemed to be the answer, which she is test riding next week. Following a coffee and brownie at our favourite, Nude, we headed back home via the always brilliant, Labour & Wait, (at it's new location), where I got myself a great new 'cologne' - Musgo Real - a Portuguese brand founded in the 1920s. It's oaky, that's all I can say!


Collection of bags, (proudly, yet coincidentally none plastic), plus my new cologne.

We also visited the old Tea Rooms at the Truman Brewery, now an antiques / vintage market which was fantastic. There I was introduced to the work of Kitty Valentine, a burlesque lady who doctors Victorian portraits wonderfully.


c/o Kitty Valentine

Finally, we popped in to Le Grenier, a great flea market bunker right by my house. The owner, a super nice Frenchman, even gave Kelly a beautiful tan leather doctors bag for free. Sure, it was pretty knackered, but it having come back from a shoot in such a state, he was willing to offload it at no cost. Marvellous.


Free of charge

It sent us both home with a smile on our faces. Two hours spent within a few hundred metres radius of the house had suddenly become more fruitful than we had imagined - embracing everything from Japanese culture, antipodean coffee and English antiques, to a very, very nice Frenchman. And the weekend has only just begun. Wonderful.