Purple Sky Over Parliament

Bit of Photoshop fun. From Southbank.

Khan’s Camden Stall

This is Khan. He’s from Afghanistan. 

Khan sells pretty lapis lazuli and turquoise jewellery, jangling belly dancing belts and clothes from his home country. He is studying business management in London and putting his skills to use with a shop under the bridge of the new section in Camden Market. I bought some Christmas presents from him yesterday.

He’s very friendly and sells nice things, so stop and say hello if you’re around.

Listen to a Londoner: Dave Sadd

Listen to a Londoner. This is a weekly post where people who live (or have lived for a while) in London answer a few questions about the Big Smoke. If you fit the bill and want to be interviewed, give me a shout at littlelondonobservationist@hotmail.com. Always looking for new victims volunteers….

Dave Sadd, 23

Dave is currently a student in his 2nd year at Cardiff University, studying Journalism, Film and Media.
He enjoys films, music, new media and fine wine.

LLO: How long have you lived in London?
DS: Well, I don’t live in London anymore unfortunately. When I left home to come to university, my mum moved into Hertfordshire. But until then, I’d been living in London for 20 years. Long time!

LLO: Best thing about London?
DS: Feeling like you’re part of something massive.

LLO: Best shop?
DS: I’m a bit of a media fanatic, so HMV on Oxford Street does it for me.

LLO: Best place to catch a gig?
DS: Before it closed, I was a big, big, big fan of The Mean Fiddler. These days…Brixton Academy.

LLO: Best local band?
DS: Am I allowed to say The Kinks?

LLO: Best place to escape the city?
DS: I always lived on the outskirts, so it was never a big thing to escape – I spent a lot of time in Herts.

LLO: 2012 Olympics – stay or go?
DS: I honestly couldn’t care less about the 2012 Olympics. I’m apathetic all the way.

LLO: How do you spend your time on the tube?
DS: I listen to music and worry about getting lost, so spend a lot of time looking at the maps and counting how many stops there are until I need to get off. This makes it sound like I really don’t enjoy the tube, but I do!

LLO: Favourite book, song or film about London?
DS: My favourite film about London would have to be Dirty Pretty Things. It’s a wonderful look at how London is for immigrants.

LLO: Most interesting recent news story?
DS: This is actually my favourite news story of the past week in general – Boris helping a girl from thugs. Whilst on a bicycle. He used the word ‘oiks’! Who woulda thunk that a politician would be a decent human being too?! I loved it.

Thanks Dave!

Bundle Box

With Christmas shopping on the agenda, postal strikes forever looming and London shops charging the same in ££s as their American counterparts do in $$s, BundleBox could be an interesting alternative.

They give UK shoppers a US address which is useful when shopping on sites that only accept American credit cards. Then they bundle purchases from different shops to save on international shipping costs. According to their site, purchases arrive in the UK in five working days.

Sounds good anyway. Haven’t tested it out, but may be worth exploring?

http://www.dailycandy.com/london/article/77135/Bundle-Box-Delivery-Service-Launches

London Links: Spotted by Locals

Spotted by Locals gives a unique perspective on a city that sometimes seems as if it’s been made for tourists. Posts are written by five 20-30 somethings who live in London and explore the bits that are off the beaten path as well as a few of those respected by locals and tourists alike.

Though it’s not updated as often as some London blogs, they’ve built up a nice collection of reviews and recommendations for sipping tea, having a drink, stopping for a bite, catching a gig, chilling out or checking out what’s on around town.  

Great place to discover something a bit different.

Leake Street Graffiti: Paintbrush Girl

Norwegian stencil artist Dolk (meaning “knife” in his native language) made some great contributions to the Leake Street graffiti tunnel. His hobbies include “stencils, painting, exploring and sex.”

Sunday Stroll on Hampstead Heath

Oxford Circus Crossing

Loving the new Oxford Circus crossing area unveiled yesterday after a £5 million makeover. It’s modelled on a crossing system used in Tokyo where traffic is stopped in all directions so people can cross diagonally. Bit scary with the madness of London traffic, but considering the usual congestion, especially around the holidays, a welcome change.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/nov/02/x-oxford-circus-crossing
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8337000/8337673.stm

Photo Scavengers: November

Photo Scavengers Project: keywords for November:

NOVEMBER KEYWORDS
1. A journey
2. An empty Space
3. An opportunity
4. Larger than life
5. The memory of a smell
6. A new direction
7. Flirtation
8. Someone who doesn’t fit in
9. Someone new
10. A childhood memory

11. Your favourite place
12. Tension
13. Something scary
14. Something tasty

15. The oldest thing you can find
16. The most colourful thing you can find
17. A crime
18. Something used
19. Something wasteful
20. Entertainment

Expat’s World Blog Surf Day

I’ve decided to participate in this year’s event where expat bloggers link entries so that readers can “travel” around the world on one theme from various countries. This year’s theme: “Holidays and Celebrations”. We are meant to answer the question, “What is your favorite new holiday and how it is celebrated?”

Seeing as I come from America and have moved to the UK, the holidays are not as drastically different as they would be if I, say, moved to India. So, I will say that I do not have a favourite new holiday exactly (besides Guy Fawkes Day because I love fireworks), but living in London means that I get to experience so many holidays and cultural celebrations I had never even heard of when I lived in the States. And that is quite incredible. London is accomodating to pockets of people from all over the world who celebrate as if they were back home.

The most recent example of a holiday I enjoyed that I wouldn’t have experienced back home is Dwali, the Festival of Light, which I posted on few weeks ago. K and I ventured down to Southall, an Asian community where fireworks exploded across the night sky in every direction, little diyas and tea light candles were placed on front steps of houses and families and friends gathered outside to socialise.

If you choose a country, likely there is a celebration in London to acknowledge it. Chinese New Year falls on Valentine’s Day in 2010,  the year of the tiger. The city will be alive with an alternative to the forced romance with fireworks, dancing, Chinese food and festive fun.

Beyond set holidays, the city is teeming with culture and film festivals that reach the significant proportion of London’s population who are expats and anyone else who is interested. There is the chaotic Notting Hill Carnival in August every year which celebrates Caribbean culture with a massive costume parade, sound systems, jerk chicken and plenty of partying all around. There’s Canada Day which offers music and relaxation around Nelson’s Column. Other weeks bring Russia and Japan and Brazil out into the spotlight.

I can even have a taste of home if I like with American expats who organise events in celebration of Thanksgiving and even the 4th of July – independence from a nation we crazy expats have turned back to embrace.

 

Zuzanna, also in London, is up next at Success Abroad so be sure to check out her post and her awesome site as well.

And a thanks to Twitter Reporter, Karen, who blogs at ”Empty Nest Expat.” Karen is an American expat blogger last seen in Prague. The Wall Street Journal said, “Her blog makes a fun read for anyone looking for reassurance that change can be a wonderful thing–and also for anyone interested in visiting the Czech Republic.”