Listen to a Londoner: Alberto “Pelos” Comesana and Xavier Izaguirre

Listen to a Londoner is a weekly interview with a Londoner – someone who lives in this city, born here or elsewhere. If you want to be interviewed, email littlelondonobservationist@hotmail.co.uk. Always looking for new volunteers.

Alberto “Pelos” Comesana, 29

Xavier Izaguirre, 26

These two Spanish guys came to London thinking they would have a great time, an easy life and maybe work a little bit. Instead, they had to work tons and combat their way through all the kinks London threw at them along the way. So they set up a  website called Combat London where they help fellow Londoners to survive in the city without sacrificing fun! 

LLO: Where are you guys from, how did you end up in London and how long have you been here?
PC & XI: We’re both from Vigo, a small city in North Spain, on the Atlantic coast. We got acquainted in our high school years and became good friends studying at the same uni. After graduating in summer 2006, we decided to come to London together, like everyone does to improve their basic English skills. Since that time, we’ve each spent a few years in the city, although during different periods of time.

LLO: Tell us a bit about your website Combat London.
PC & XI: Combat London was launched as a means to help all those people who are new in town and need advice, just like we needed it (and still do, in all fairness) when we had just arrived. We try to cover all aspects of living in London on a budget, such as money-managing, flatshare and job hunting, knowing London shows no mercy as the second most expensive city in the world. At the same time, we truly believe you can still have a lot of fun spending very little money, and do our best to find the best free things in town.

LLO: I hear you’re into the techno scene. Where are the best places in London to lose yourself in the music?
XI: Loads. Fabric does good nights from Friday to Sunday. Then I like the T-Bar. Some nights we just go from one place to another so you need to pay attention to flyers, blogs and word of mouth. Or ask us. Sundays are also great for dancing and you can’t go wrong with Secret Sundaze, HalfBaked, Looke, 93 or 1001.

LLO: Combat London is all about surviving on a budget. Give us a few of your top tips for saving money in this expensive city without sacrificing fun?
PC: Honestly, there’s a whole lot of cash to be saved if you are smart. You can free haircuts all over the city, attend awesome parties for free, get free coffees or samples of any kind in many places, spend half the money at the supermarket by buying wisely, try on clothes at any high-street retailer to later buy them online at lower prices…

XI: To me, it is all about organising yourself and knowing the tricks. You can eat very well in a thousand places for £5, so why would you pay £15? The problem is those places won’t advertise or be located on the main road. You have to go off the beaten track.

LLO: What’s the most unique or unusual experience you have had in London so far?
PC: I’ll tell a bad one. In our first flatshare back in 2006, we found out the cleaner we had coming once a week (who was in fact the landlord’s cousin) was stealing our checkbooks and trying to get money out of our accounts. Good for us our income was so crap that the amount asked for was too much and the payments never got through to our relief. (laughs) Things like these encouraged us to help other people survive in London by creating Combat London.

XI: And I will tell you a good one. One night I was at Fabric and I went to the loo for a wee (bear with me here). After 10 seconds I looked up and Richie Hawtin was next to me minding his own business. Richie Hawtin is for techno what Pele is for football or Lady Gaga for mainstreams. I did chat with him a minute (he was playing right that moment so he couldn’t spare more than two seconds). Pretty special.

LLO: Tell us about someone, somewhere or something really cool that you’ve discovered in London and think the rest of us should know about.
PC: I’d definitely go for Greenwich. I find it a one-of-a-kind place. Starting the afternoon in the flee market to buy unique marshmallows, carbing up to march up the hill to to the Observatory through the park and finishing off at that genuine pub on the river where Dickens used to write his novels, inspired by the great views. A winner.

XI: And I’d go for Shoreditch. Full of bars, pubs, clubs and cool shops. It also has great restaurants. It is very authentic and original. Just by walking the streets you feel yourself bemused with the art, the people, the places…

LLO: We want to go on a pub crawl. Suggest an itinerary?
PC & XI: You can start in the Wetherspoons of Liverpool Street station. It is roomy and cosy, they do cheap pints and you will easily manage a table. Next you can go to Comercial Tavern, with its wacky but stylish decoration. Further down Commercial Street you can check in The Light, for its beer garden and great atmosphere. You still alright? Adventuring in Shoreditch territory there’s Elbow Room with a pool table and also a ping pong table. Sofas are never too busy to lounge on them, which will be convenient taking into account your level of drunkness you have by now. A few places up towards Hoxton there is the Bar Music Hall, with rare live gigs and the brightest toilets I have ever seen. Marvel at how small your pupils look with lights that make you think you’re in the hospital. Relax, you’re not. Lastly, take a peek at 333. Any dizziness can be shaken off with a few wiggles to the tunes. 

LLO: You say yourself that “living in London can be considered a little war sometimes”. Give us an example of a time when you had to break out the combat skills.
PC: This one happened very recently. I had delivered a few lessons before the course I conducted got cancelled not having enough students to make it profitable. I still needed to get paid for them but my employer was AWOL and ignoring my emails. So we had to pretend we were teachers from a school in Italy interested in my employer’s language centre,  who wanted to meet him in London to discuss availability. We set him up in a Starbucks and got my money without ending in violence . I’m not a violent person, but I’m a hardcore action movie fan, which gave me the edge to sucessfully pull off such shakedown (laughs).

XI: I particularly remember how well we would blag our way to jobs with made-up experience. We would also lie about our long term plans, saying we were here for good, or that we weren’t gonna go home for Christmas. Until recently, I’ve always seen employers and HR people as enemies.

LLO: I need a break from the city rush but can’t afford a plane ticket to warmer climes. Any suggestions on how to escape the work-obsessed war zone without actually leaving the city?
PC & XI: Now that the weather isn’t that bad, we suggest going to any of the so green and lovely parks in the city. I’d say Primrose Hill for the amazing view when the sun sets and Hampstead Heath for its size and the chances to dip in the ponds.

LLO: If I only had one night in London, where would you send me to eat and drink?
PC & XI: It is your last night, so you deserve some luxury. Even the most combat people can afford (and should allow) one night of carefree-ness. Go to Tower 42 and order a sharing platter and lichee & champagne cocktail (you brought the debit card right?). The views are amazing, a great way to step aside and have a think. Top stuff!

Thanks Alberto and Xavier!

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Listen to a Londoner: Claire Watson

Listen to a Londoner is a weekly interview with a Londoner – someone who lives in this city, born here or elsewhere. If you want to be interviewed, email littlelondonobservationist@hotmail.co.uk. Always looking for new volunteers.

Claire Watson, 26

Claire works in social media strategy and lives in Islington. She wishes that running everywhere, and subsequently being able to go to the pub in your lycra, was socially acceptable. She’s currently working on the Boutique Run and training for the Guernsey marathon in August. She’s set up a JustGiving page if you’d like to support her efforts.

LLO: Give us the basics first: How long have you lived in London, where are you from originally and how did you end up here?
CW: I’ve been in London for 3.5 years. I lived in Clapham Junction for few years, and now been up in Islington for the past 9 months. I grew up in leafy north Hertfordshire so would often come into central London on the train at weekends and have always wanted to experience living and working here.

LLO: As a runner preparing for a marathon, where’s your favourite place in the city to train?
CW: I’m really lucky to live within a 15 minute run of Primrose Hill – it’s a great place to train… Not only is powering up the hill some of the best conditioning training you can do, it’s such a beautiful view when you reach the top.

LLO: Tell us a bit about the Boutique Run coming up in Battersea Park this July. What brought about the idea and what can we expect?
CW: All the stats show that women would exercise more if the facilities were of a better quality, if they could do it with friends and if the competition was friendly – not fierce. So Boutique Run is a new event concept which leaps these hurdles with style. Women can take part in a 5 or 10k run followed by a post race experience unlike any other. We’re talking free champagne, hot showers, massage, a fabulous after party and a special ‘Bouti’ bag full of goodies!

LLO: Favourite shop in London for sports gear?
CW: Sweaty Betty is fantastic – they do really great clothes that are really flattering and feminine. They normally have really good sales and if you sign up to the catalogue list you get another 10% off your sale items (as well as a nice catalogue in the post every few months)

LLO: Best place for pampering and massage after a long run
CW: I don’t tend to get massages in London, as they are so expensive! My boyfriend kindly got me (and him) a day’s introduction to massage course as a Christmas present this year, so we’re now pretty competent at getting each other’s knots out! It was a really nice activity to do together on a rainy Saturday in London and now we’re saving money not having to go out to get them. Although I’m yet to find a massage deal that I would like, I’d recommend signing up to Wahanda.com, as they have some great health and beauty offers across several really nice London spas and beauticians.  

LLO: And of course, the reward – favourite place to enjoy a night out in the capital?
CW: There are so many great places to go out that offer something completely different for whatever your mood. Is it really sappy if I say it’s more about the people than the place we go, as there are so many fun places? I have the best nights out with my girlfriends from school. We live all across London so tend to congregate in Covent Garden as a centre point. Cocktails at Sophie’s Steakhouse are great and you can’t go wrong with 1/2 price happy hours at Jewel.

LLO: Any advice for busy Londoners looking to stay fit but might not quite have the energy for all these marathons?
CW: Everyday activities. Instead of standing to the right on escalators on the tube, walk up them (really squeeze your buns as you do it to give them even more of a work out). There are loads of great parks in London, so just get out there and walk or jog around them.

I also took up softball a couple of years ago through work – there are loads of leagues taking off in London, predominantly based around companies. It’s more about socialising in the evening sun than anything else… And a great way to meet people. http://www.baseballsoftballuk.com/

LLO:  What’s the coolest thing about living in your postcode?
CW: Freightliners Farm – hearing cows mooing when we have the windows open, or being woken up by the cockerels.

LLO: Tell us about something, somewhere or someone that you’ve discovered in London and think the rest of us should know about.
CW: The Thai Green curry man who sets up his stall every lunch time in Goodge Place – thoroughly delicious. Also, if you have a friend who works for PWC, ask them to take you to the Turret meeting rooms in the Embankment office – one of the best views of London I’ve been lucky enough to see.

LLO: Is there somewhere in London you’ve love to explore on a long run but haven’t had a chance yet?
CW: The Thames path out in Richmond – I did a quick run down there a few weeks ago and will definitly be carrying out some of the hard 20 milers out past Richmond, towards Ham and Kingston- it’s really beautiful and you feel 1,000 miles away from a busy city.

Thanks Claire!

For more Listen to a Londoner posts, click here.

Listen to a Londoner: Abbey Stirling

Listen to a Londoner is a weekly interview with a Londoner – someone who lives in this city, born here or elsewhere. If you want to be interviewed, email littlelondonobservationist@hotmail.co.uk. Always looking for new volunteers.

Abbey Stirling, 32

Abbey is a freelance arts and entertainment journalist living and working in London and Ibiza. She is the editor of webzine The London Word.com, and dabbles in feline frolics and fancy dress.

LLO: How long have you lived in London?
AS: Twelve years almost to the day. I moved here from Australia (where I lived after leaving my native New Zealand) in the spring of ’98.

LLO: Tell us a bit about The London Word, what it’s all about and how it started.
AS: Like many great things it all began at the pub. A mate and I were letting off some steam over a pint back in 2007. We were both working for an American website at the time, and our contrasting cultures and clashing views with the US office caused no-end of conflict. So, feeling disheartened by our jobs and believing London was misrepresented, we branched off on our own, taking with us everything we’d learnt from that experience.

Now, three years later, we have a team of about 30 contributors who publish articles on a daily basis. Readers can absorb daily postings on culture, food, drink, fashion, shopping, health and wellbeing. We interview a variety of colourful Londoners, from DJs, actors and musicians to tattooists, chefs and sportsmen.

But what I find the most rewarding is when readers voice their views, either via our Speakers’ Corner section or by commenting on each other’s posts. It’s heartening that people make an effort to get some online banter and debate going on our little site. It shows they’re passionate and they care.

LLO: What sets it apart from other London sites?
AS: We never try to compete with other London sites like Time Out, although we’re certainly inspired by them. I think what sets us apart is that we provide a platform for ordinary Londoners to articulate their opinions, good or bad. We’re not a listings site, we’re an editorial-focused webzine where Londoners can express their experiences, whether it’s a nasty trip on the tube, or an amazing gig or restaurant they’ve been to. We encourage everyone to make themselves heard – in a colourful and eloquent fashion!

LLO: What’s the most unique London discovery you’ve made since the site started in 2007?
AS: Personally, after interviewing Cryptozoologist Neil Arnold, I’ve discovered some things about Highgate Cemetery that have both deterred and intrigued me.

LLO: Which Londoner would you most love to interview on the site and why?
AS: David Bowie would be my dream interviewee. He’s a London boy at heart and I’d just like to be in the same room as him. I think that’s a good enough reason!

LLO: What’s the best thing about living in your postcode?
AS: I can walk pretty much everywhere from N1. All of the places I like to go – Camden, Shoreditch, Dalston, Stoke Newington and the West End, are all within walking distance. Sometimes I walk along the canal to Camden, which is really therapeutic. And most of my friends live in the vicinity, which is a bonus.

LLO: If I only had one night in London, where would you send me to eat and drink?
AS: Mildreds, on Lexington Street in Soho, is my favourite place to eat in London. It’s vegetarian, which has put off a few of my carnivore friends, but they’re literally eating their words after the first course.

LLO: Is there somewhere in London you’d like to explore but haven’t had a chance yet?
AS: The Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons.

LLO: Favourite place or activity to pass a summer evening in the capital?
AS: Atop Primrose Hill with friends and wine.

LLO: Describe your perfect day in London.
AS: A market, any market. London’s markets are so vibrant and chaotic but relaxing at the same time. I love going to Borough Market and then popping over to the South Bank for a stroll. Going to Columbia Road market on a sunny day is London at its best.

Thanks Abbey!

For more Listen to a Londoner posts, click here.

London Art Spot: Fabienne Henry

 

Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Ireland, Canada and the UK. Sounds like a holiday wish list, but it’s actually all of the countries where this week’s featured artist Fabienne Henry has lived. Originally from Paris, she’s lived outside of France for most of her life.

After studying Law in Paris, Fabienne practised only for a few months. Law doesn’t travel very well. She lectured in Law for a while, spent some time as a French teacher and then a magazine editor (why not?) before settling into her current career as a freelance writer. As you can see from her creative images below, she is also a keen, self-taught photographer.

Living in London since last summer, Fabienne finds every stroll she takes and every event she attends a true delight. (It is London, after all.) However, she’s also very nostalgic of her time in Vancouver.  Ideally, the two cities would bump heads and Fabienne would live in Vancouver with the cultural aspect and the eccentricity of London.

For this week’s London Art Spot, she tells us about her blog “Lost & Found in London”, about the popularity of a certain piece of flour-less chocolate cake and shares photos of a woman eating ice cream in a burqa.

“Primrose Hill”  

LLO: Where are you from originally and how and when did you end up in London?
FH: I’m originally from France but I grew up in Africa. I went to university in Paris and then went to Dublin to improve my English. I ended up staying there for eight years since I met a lovely Irish man who became my husband. We moved to Vancouver in 2003 and came back to Europe after three great years in BBC (Beautiful British Columbia). We landed in Yorkshire first, which was a culture shock for a city slicker. Thankfully, a work opportunity came up in London and we moved to the city in the summer 2009. 

“Brompton Cemetery”  

LLO: How does living in London influence your creativity?
FH: There is always something happening in London. I think that Londoners are very creative in many aspects of their lives: in the way they dress, in their food, in their hobbies… Plus London is so cosmopolitan; there are many different influences everywhere you look. How can you not feel inspired or creative when you live in London? 

“Garlic”

LLO: Do you remember when you first fell in love with photography and how has your style evolved since then?
FH: I think I became obsessed with photography in my early teens. I was taking pictures mostly of family events and friends. I used to love that moment when I went to collect my film rolls at the photo shop. A moment of expectations that’s lost to digital nowadays. When I was 16 I bought a SLR Canon EOS with 2 different lenses and I started to take shots of almost everything. It was a costly hobby back then. Now I still photograph about everything and I mostly enjoy shooting unusual places or situations in London, Paris, Brittany, my daughter and food. 

“Field Game in Yorkshire Lavender, Terrington, North Yorkshire” 

LLO: Tell us about your blog, Lost & Found in London, and how you came up about the idea.
FH: I started blogging in 2004 when I was living in Canada. It was the beginning of the blog phenomenon back then and I loved this idea of endless possibilities. Plus there was so much to tell about life in Vancouver. Then I moved to Yorkshire and the blog became “Lost in Yorkshire”. I took a different angle: as you can imagine it wasn’t as fun or exotic to live in the middle of Yorkshire. For me anyway. My posts turned towards the cultural differences between France and England. A little bit like Stephen Clarke’s A year in the Merde reversed! Thankfully, Yorkshire is a beautiful place (no cynicism here) and I was able to illustrate my posts with nice shots of the Dales and the numerous National Trust Gardens (the English really love their gardens). When I moved to London, I needed a celebrating change so the blog became known as “Lost & Found in London” and I now enjoy writing and posting photos about my adventures in this great city. 

“Palisades, Brittany, France” 

LLO: What is your most popular “find” according to your blog or Flickr stats?
FH: My most popular picture on Flickr at the moment is a close-up on a flour less chocolate cake. Probably tagging with “chocolate” helped!

On my blog, the most popular posts are the ones where I speak about British clichés and also my twice monthly guessing game – “la devinette du mercredi”. I post a photo where one has to guess what it is or where it was taken.

LLO: With all of your travel, living in so many different countries and having multiple talents from photography to writing to teaching, what do you ultimately see yourself doing?
FH: Moving around makes it difficult to adapt to a steady professional life. Hopefully this time we’ll stay a bit longer in London so I would be able to develop my taste for freelance journalism. I would love to write regular articles for papers or internet sites as I’m doing right now, but not as frequently as I wish to.

“Amazing Light in Vancouver” 

LLO: Share a photo with a great story behind it and tell us about it?
FH: Last August, I was wandering in the Southbank when I captured this scene:

I found these shots amusing and interesting because in France at the time was the heated public debate about the possibility of the burqa ban. It was a way of speaking about it on a lighter note. When you think about it, eating ice cream with a burqa on is not the simplest task!

“Molly on the Beach” 

LLO: Where is your favourite place in London to take your camera?
FH: I always have my DSLR with me at the weekend, and a smaller camera anytime in my bag. Basically all of London is a playground paradise for photographers. If I had to choose a place I’d say may be the South Bank.

“Ballerina” 

LLO: Is there somewhere in London that you go to get a taste of Paris?
FH: Paris and London are really two different cities in many ways, especially from the architectural point of view. From that perspective it’s difficult to compare the two. Although sometimes when I take a walk on the riverbank or when I cross a bridge I can catch some kind of Paris feeling. If you refer to the French atmosphere, then head straight to South Ken: you’ll feel that sometimes that French is the primary language over there. This is definitely the French quarter with the Embassy, the lycée, the shops and the French Cultural Centre.

“Prison Break @ Borough Market” 

LLO: Show us you favourite London image you’ve captured so far.
FH: I like the colours and the few iconic London items on it.

Thanks Fabienne! 

For more London Art Spot interviews, click here. 

Listen to a Londoner: Mohammed A.

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.co.uk. Always looking for new victims volunteers….

Mohammed A., 30

Mohammed is working on finishing the editing of his debut novel, hastily recording a home-made album and trying to preach that sun avoidance is actually bad for you (but don’t get him into that or he won’t stop…)

LLO: How long have you lived in London?
MA: I was born here, so all my 30 years.

LLO: Where are you (or your family) from originally if not London?
MA: My parents are from Pakistan. And I went there (to Lahore and Islamabad) for the first time ever in early October.

LLO: Best thing about London?
MA: Has to be the diversity.

LLO: Worst thing about London?
MA: People being too self-absorbed.

LLO:  North, south, east or west?
MA: West.

LLO: Best restaurant?
MA: Gifto’s Lahore Karahi in Southall.

LLO: Best shop?
MA: I have had a fondness since childhood for the now gone Woolworths, especially my local one.

LLO:  Best place to escape the city?
MA: Primrose Hill…You don’t quite escape it, you just appreciate it from the outside.

LLO: 2012 Olympics – stay or go?
MA: I wasn’t fond of us hosting it, but I am now interested to see all the pomp we’ll get.

LLO:  How do you spend your time on the tube?
MA: Looking at my own reflection on the glass…There are better faces to see, but my own saves me from looking into others’ eyes (I suffer from ‘eyes down syndrome’ like most).

LLO: Most random thing you’ve seen in London.
MA: On Golborne Road there’s a series of pictures along a wall, of a life-sized doll laying on top of said wall and people looking up at it. Some sort of art experiment.

LLO: Best place to catch a gig?
MA: Shepherd’s Bush Empire, just for the intimacy.

LLO: Best local band?
MA: That surely has to be my own, though we won’t be gigging for quite a while yet (shameless plug: http://www.purevolume.com/Dishonesty).

LLO: Favourite book, song or film about London?
MA: The song ‘Forces Of Viktry’ on Linton Kwesi Johnson’s ‘Forces Of Victory’ album (a great one). It documents the Notting Hill Carnival. LKJ in general is an essential Londoner, a great poet.

LLO: Favourite London discovery?
MA: Hampton Court Palace. I thought it would be boring, but it was ace and the staff are really friendly and interactive in a non-patronising way. My ex-girlfriend made me go.

LLO: Best place to spend a Sunday afternoon?
MA: If it’s sunny, Holland Park is good to lounge around in.

LLO: Best museum or gallery?
MA: Natural History Museum.

LLO: Favourite market?
MA: Portobello.

LLO: Most influential Londoner?
MA: Michael Caine. For two reasons: Not only is he one of the finest British actors ever, his recent speech about alienated youth turning to crime in regards to his latest film Harry Brown was spot on.

LLO: Best London magazine, newspaper or website?
MA: Transport for London’s (tfl.gov.uk); sums up London, image-wise, the best.

LLO: If you were to dress up as one of the tube station names for a costume party, which would you be?
MA: Bank…Although in the current economic climate, maybe not such a good idea.

LLO: Best time of year in London?
MA: Autumn. Can’t beat the sight of fallen bronze leaves.

LLO: Best place for a first date?
MA: Oxford Circus at night once the Xmas lights are on. Loads of nice places to eat, and when you’re tongue tied you can suggest she looks in the shops.

LLO: First place to take a visitor?
MA: The London Eye seems the accepted cliche now.

LLO: Favourite place to be on a Saturday night?
MA: Catching a film at the Electric Cinema.

LLO: Best and worst things about tourists?
MA: Flattering most seem to ask me for directions in a big crowd, but am irritated at how slow they walk when I’m just trying to get my groceries home.

LLO: Boris is……
MA: … a good London mascot, as was Ken. I truly think the mayoral role in London is just about being a sort of teddy bear figure.

Thanks Mo!