May 2019 Archives

The weather has not quite warmed up this year, and it's already April, so I think a hot chocolate is still acceptable. Well, a couple weeks ago, I went to Melt Chocolates to get some chocolate for Easter. While I was there, I opted to have a small hot chocolate, which came in an espresso-sized cup. The weather was still cold but clear with perfect sun shining down onto the beautful white Georgian buildings on the road. I took my hot chocolate outside and had a quick rest and sipped it. It was divine. It's one of the best hot chocolates that I have had in London.

Melt Chocolates is a family-operated business located in Notting Hill, London. They make their chocolate in the shops, so when you do visit, you can smell the chocolate and talk to the people who are making it. Melt's first shop in Notting Hill opened in 2006, and it is a firm favourite with locals and also visitors.

Visitors can also attend chocolate-making workshops and other workshops and experiences. 

If you do not want to visit one of their two shops in Notting Hill, you can also buy their chocolate from Selfridges.

My visit to Leeds Castle this month was my second ever visit to Leeds Castle, having first visited it ninteen years ago when I was a student working in London. The weekend that I visited the castle earlier this month was also the weekend of Leeds Castle Motor Show, Motors by the Moat, a day filled with events and a car show on the grounds of the castle. Leeds Castle is a castle museum instead of a ruin; it has been set up with historical furniture and furnishings, and it also had additional attractions on site, such as a falconry, children's play area, gardens, a maze with grotto, and additional areas.

First up, I admired the views of the castle from the moat. It is one of the most picturesque castles and one of the remaining ones in the south of England that has not been destroyed.

First, to get into the castle, I walked through the gate above and then walked around the moat to the entrance through the cellar on the lower level.

The cellar is one of the oldest parts of the castle and dates from the 12th century. The cellar contained a large wine store at the back. It has a staircase to the now-demolished hall as the castle was renovated over the years. The cellar was used for storing food and drink in case of seige, and it was also used for storing wax.

All of the rooms were fit out in traditional period styles. You could only see some of the rooms, and there are tours on certain weekends to see some of the additional rooms at the top of the castle, but we just saw the standard rooms on the self-guided tour.

The Queen's Room is designed for 1422 as a royal room and contained wall tapestries to help keep in the heat. It was remodelled after an image in a book. Henrey VIII's widow Catherine stayed here.

A courtyard leads off from the room along with a bathroom for the queen.

Next up is the Queen's Gallery. The fireplace dates from Henry VIII's ownership of the castle with his and his first wife's initials carved into the stone. 

The next room is the Henry VIII Banqueting Hall, modelled in the 13th century. This hall is the largest room in the castle and looks over the moat with beautiful views. The ceilings contained carved details with wooden beams and figures in the windows.

In the hall outside the room is a view of the interior courtyard below.

This is the room used as a Boardroom and decorated for the mid-1900s. The rooms were decorated and used by the weathy in the 1920s, and some of the rooms are included below, including a huge bedroom with dressing room and restroom and other bedrooms and a seminar room, which was used for billiards.

This is one of the living rooms and one of my favourite rooms in the castle.

The library is also one of the favourite rooms but is located near the exit and tearooms today, so it's a busy area.

Outside, there are beautiful views over the castle.

After the castle visit, I walked up behind the castle to see the gardens on the other side along with the aviary and the maze. 

I had a wander through the maze, which I am sure that I did in my visit visit to the castle. I found the end with the grotto underground, decorated with a sea theme with audio.

Afterwards, I checked out part of the falconry show with a few large birds.

Tickets to Leeds Castle are good for visits throughout the year, hence the large upfront cost. So, my plan is to return to Leeds Castle a few times throughout the year in order to see the changing seasons and to attend other events in order to make the most use out of my ticket.

Last September, I invited a friend to walk along Camden's streets with me looking for street art. I have been wanting to get over to this area to check it out and to see the street art. I have seen a few walls but have not gone out to specifically look for it. Overall, there actually are not too many walls, so you can do a walk in a couple of hours with a quick stop at the market and lunch. I was expecting a little more than what there was, but it also does not change as much here. Anyway, for the street art trail, we started at Chalk Farm tube station. (At the time of publishing, some of this work may have been replaced.)

The first wall is around the corner from Chalf Farm Station at the corner of Regent's Park Road. This long wall had multiple street art here, and some of it was stunning. However, it has been tagged over so that you cannot see much at all of it. Eduardo Kobra painted the wall, which originally had a work by Banksy. Kobra is from Brazil, and he was commissioned to paint this wall with inspiration from The Roundhouse theatre, which used to be a railway building. This is why the artwork incorporated a steam train as well as performers, such as the one below being one of the only parts oft he wall to have not been tagged over. 

Further down Chalf Farm Road and toward Camden Market (walking south), is a stencil of Amy Winehouse by Pegasus. It is just inside the door of a cafe.

Further down the road and we come to Ferdinand Road on the left. This wall has been painted with giant parrots by Grafitti Life. It is a very colourful and summery wall.

Continue walking down toward Camden Market and we come to a face "Be Still". I am not sure who the artist is, but it reminds me of the work that French street artist Gregos creates with the three-dimensional faces.

A bit further down the road toward Camden Market and the next road on the left is Harmood Street, and this contains some great street art, including this beautiful girl with roses in her hair by Irony. Irony is a UK-based street artist who creates realistic murals. Normally, Irony teams up with fellow street artist Boe to collaborate on work; they normally paint realistic animals and birds. I recently covered some of their work on this blog at (Boe & Irony: Upfest in Bristol).

The next building on this road contains a colourful mural by Plim, a street artist duo from Brazil who paint very colourful fruits, plants, and animals. We will see more of their work later, but it is a very summery wall.

Go back to the main road and then head south and turn left at the next road (Hartland Road) to see the huge mural by Dan Kitchener. Dan Kitchener paints night time city street scenes with Tokyo featuring heavily in his work. (Check out the most recent blog post: Dan Kitchener's work on Pedley Street). This was painted last July.

Next to the Dan Kitchener mural is another huge wall (in two parts) with work by Carmen de Sozer featuring gold trophy men.

I also came across this stencil, which wasn't named but reminds me of the work by The Banker (Paul Don Smith). 

And I found this little owl on a wall further down the road.

Further down this road, turn right onto Hawley Road and then turn right again on Hawley Street. Here you will find a huge cluster of street art. At the corner of the road here is a small alleyway that is pedestrianised, with a mural by JRTL.

The alleyway is called Hawley Mews. I'm not sure who created the artwork below.

James Chuter (choots) created the one next to it with colourful organic orbs.

Word16 and another artist created some artwork next to that one.

Himbad (covered here: Early 2016 London Street Art Round-up), who paints cat-like creatures collaborated on this one with his cat on the left; Marina Zumi is who he collaborated with.

Airbourne Mark, who is from London, also created a new piece for his Origami Roots series; it is a rose. (See Airborne Mark Paints "Flower of Life" - Origami Riots for his most recent work that I have covered.)

Chinagirl Tile (lastly covered in Bristol Upfest 2018) also pasted up some three-dimensional china pieces here featuring a boy reaching for a pile of money.

On the side of the building here where the alleyway becomes more narrow, Batman and Robin scale the wall.

Next to this artwork are giant chrome bees and bugs by Fanakapan, a London-based street artist (Fanakapan Star Yard MagnaDonuts Mural).

On top of this building is a smaller mural by Italian-based abstract artist Hunto (Hunto and MisterThomas Collaborate on Connectivity Matters Mural).

This little peeking Batman is a different artist, and the artist of his one is Cranio, a Brazilian-based street artist who has painted in London a few years ago. (For more information, see Cranio - Collaborations with Himbad, Zadok, & Kazz or Collaboration Street Art: Cranio & Fanakapan). 

The below piece on the side of the wall was impossible to photograph, and the door was opened up so you could not see all of it, but it is by Pang and features her cowboy characters painting over the mural. You can see her last work that I covered here: Pang Paints "Carnival of the Weird" on Hanbury Street

On the end of the street, we have more colourful parrots by Grafitti Life. It was very hard to photograph, though.

Going back through Hawley Mews, the opposite wall here has a mural by Plim, who I covered above.

Now, head back out the way you came in on Hawley Street, and you will see some artwork by Otto Schade. Originally from Chile, Oschade lives in London and does paint quite a lot on London's streets. The most recent work I covered of his is here: Otto Schade Paints "The Lady Don't Protest Enough" Mural on Bateman's Row/ 

His work on the wall features Amy Winehouse.

He has also painted one of his standing females using the ribbon style of painting here, and on the same wall is a rhino using the same style and another female.

"Pussy Cat of Cameden" is part of Airbourne Mark's Origami Roots series and is located next to the work by Otto Schade.

Turn left and walk down Hawley Street, away form Camden Market. Then walk past a green space. You will see some more work by Carmen de Sozer by the railway line.

Go to Castlehaven Road, and then join Hawley Road and you will see "Burn" street art by Irony, which features a spray paint can shooting out flames. It has been here for awhile and is one of the most popular pieces in the area. 

Also in this area on the main road is a Himbad cat (Kentish Town Road).

And then a work by Hunto on the A40.

And then this mural by Onesto and Mort under a railway bridge when you head back to Castlehaven Road.

On Castlehaven Road, toward Camden Market and Camden Road, you will find a few pieces here, including paste-ups. Lost Hils often creates paste-ups, and you can see more of their work here: Losthills Jake Paste-Ups Appear in East London. 

Also is a piece by Urban Solid, a street art duo from Italy (Urban Solid New Work - Human Beings Are Connected). 

And here's some more artwork about protecting the bees.

One of the best murals here was the mural by Dale Grimshaw. He paints very realistic murals featuring people. At the moment, he is supporting to free West Papua, so this is one of the works in his series. You can see more work by the artist on this blog here: Dale Grimshaw Paints the Village Underground Wall, Part 2. Unfortunately, it has been painted over.

Also, there are a few other artworks on this road / Castlehaven Road.

This mural by Void is popular and has survived over two years.

Turn back and go to Camden Road and keep heading south. The next road you will take is Hawley Crescent. Turn immediately right onto Stuckey Place, a side road. You will see another Origami Roots painting of a rose by Airbourne Mark.

Further along, you will see a giant monkey by UK street artist Gnasher.

Then turn left onto Bucks streets and you will find a colourful mural by AeroArts.

There's also a few other pieces along here as you turn onto Buck Street.

Turn right on Buck Street and walk to the other end and you will see a colourful mural by Fabio Lopes.

And on a wall here is a plaque commemorating the singer Prince.

Turn left at the end of Buck Street onto Kentish Road Town, and there is a cluster of street art here in a little courtyard. Dan Kitchener has another mural here.

There's a paste up and a mask by Gregos.

Himbad created some cats here.

I could not get a decent photo because the gate was open, but Mark Airbourne created another mural here with an emoji in his series with folded "paper" style.

Street artist Sr X also painted a mural here (Sr. X (Señor X) "The Rapture" Street Art on the Village Underground).

On the side of this one is Ant Carver (Ant Carver Adds More Paste-ups to Sclater Street), who creates colourful portraits. Both of these are beautiful pieces.

Another beautiful one is by Stinkfish (Stinkfish Paints Hanbury Street Ahead of "Portraits in Transit"), a street artist from Columbia who has painted in London a couple of times before. 

UrbanSolid have also placed one of their audio pieces on the walls here.

And on another wall, I discovered a face by Gregos, which has since been painted over.

Now, that is all there is in this area, and to get to the next street art, you need to walk down Camden Road toward Mornington Crescent. On the right is Miller Street, and it has some art down this little alleyway. The first is from the film "The Goonies" by JXC.

On the opposite wall is a series of guns that spells out "LIFE". The artist of this piece is Urban Solid.

A flock of colourful birds here has been painted by Sarot.

Further down is another piece by Urban Solid.

A larger mural (but one that is also hard to photograph) is unknown, but it features a horse. There's quite a bit on this road and then around the corner.

Airbourne Mark painted an Origami Roots piece featuring "My Neighbour Totoro" film.

This little mouse and house was cute and may be a piece from ChinaGirl Tile.

This concludes the street art tour of Camden. I hope to go back to see what is new in the area sometime later this year.

On one of the days where we had the beautiful long holiday weekend in April, I paid a visit to Colchester Castle for the first time. The castle itself is a Norman castle and dates from the 1100s, but the history of this piece of land and the foundations date back much further and to the Roman times (about 60AD). Today, the castle is a museum that mainly showcases the history of Colchester with a large selection of Roman era artefacts, and visitors can also pay a separate fee to visit the older foundations and walk on the roof top of the castle for a view.

The castle itself is located in the beautiful grounds and park area, known as Castle Park. This is built on a hillside. The castle itself fell into ruin but was miraculously restored over the years. In more recent times, the restorer housed items discovered in or around Colchester, which later became the museum. Now, people know the importance of the town of Colchester in Roman times and the importance of the area before the Romans.

The museum in the castle keep mainly focuses on pre-history and Roman history of the town. Below are a couple of gravestones of Roman soldiers who died in battles with the locals.

The items below were some artefacts that were offerings. There were graves on display and contents of a doctor's grave, personal possessions, pottery, and so much more on display.

One of the other selections on display was a hoard of jewelry found hidden. These items most likely belonged to retired Roman soldier and his wife. They would have hidden their items and then fleed during the Boudicca uprising, when the town was burned. The owners never returned to claim their jewelry possibly because they were killed.

Roman glass and pottery, gladiators, coins, and urns made up of some of the exhibitions.

The below is a grave with charred bones in an urn. The coffin has a pipe going into it. The pipe is to accept offerings or coins.

After the museum, I had the tour of the castle. The tour started on the main floor near the well at the start of the keep. Then, the first part of the tour was of the old foundations, which were constructed by the Romans (or their slaves, which would have been the local populations most likely). The foundations were made using local stone, dug deep to sustain the largest Roman building/temple in Britain. 

The graves above were from just outside the city walls but moved here.

After learning about the Roman temple and how it came to be reused for the castle's foundations, I went to the rooftop to see the view over Colchester. 

After this, I had a walk around the beautiful gardens here.

I recommend a tour of the castle as well as a visit to the museum, which is really fascinating if you enjoy Roman and pre-Roman history. This part of Britain has come up with some amazing findings. The castle is located in the centre of Colchester, and it's also not far from St. Botolph's Priory ruins.

Now a ruin, the priory of St. Botolph and St. Julian was built in 1130. It was a Saxon location at the time, and these priests that founded it had been sent to study in France and then returned with Augustine beliefs, which is how the monastary here was made. Today, only the nave of the priory church survives, but the rest of the ruins have been outlined on the grass around it. Like all monastaries, it was dissolved in the 1500s due to Henry VIII. It was left to ruin from there and had been damaged in the Civil War.

The ruins of part of the church are all that remains of this monastary today. The monastary was built using some of the bricks from the old Roman walls, which is next to the priory building today. The wall can still be seen in places around the town, including at this location.

After the visit to the priory, I went to Sip & Tuck, a restaurant/cafe located near the castle. I had lunch and a cocktail. I opted for Teacher's Pet, a gin-based cocktail. I also had the ham, egg, and chips. It was very tasty.

Following lunch, I went to have a look around the castle. Be sure to come back to read about my visit to Colchester Castle.

Every year, Leeds Castle hosts Motors By the Moat, a day filled with a car show and car-related entertainment on the grounds of Leeds Castle in Kent. (Yes, Leeds Castle is located in Kent and not near Leeds in the midlands.) The car show had different types and ages of vehicles, including army vehicles, American cars, kit cars, super cars, vintage cars, and much more. There were also several timed events, including displays of jet packs on the moat and car-handling displays held throughout the day. Special food trucks selling a range of foods were also available on the day, and there were many car-related activities for children as well.

Entrance to the car show also gives entrance to the castle, and the admission is granted for a year after purchasing the ticket, so visitors can visit some of the other events at Leeds Castle throughout the year. To see some of the cars and photographs of the event, continue scrolling down.

I will be posting more photographs of my visit to Leeds Castle, so keep checking back. 

Glossybox is a make-up, beauty, and skin-care subscription box that sends a selection of up to five sample and full-size products each month. May's Glossybox theme is "Trendy Beauty", and subscribers receive five make-up items this month based on this theme with fifty golden tickets hidden in boxes to win a pair of straighteners. So, what have I received in the May box?

Beauty Kitchen Naturline Natural 0% Petroleum Lip Treatment: This is an alternative to vaseline and is a British brand. The product helps to hydrate lips. It is created using natural products, and the brand is environmentally-driven, so the tin itself is recycleable.

Mudmasky Aftermask Vitamin Serum: This is a face mask with multi-tasking properties, and it promises to add vitamins to the skin.

Nailberry nail polish in 'Love Me Tender': I've used Nailberry for the first time a few years ago, so the product was not a new one for me. The polish is a good brand, though it isn't too long-lasting, but it applies very well. However, I've got a few nail polishes of this same muted pink colour. I really didn't need another nail polish.

Barry M Chisel Cheeks Contour Cream Kit: This product from Barry M, a brand I have bought products from many times, offers a reusable cheek palette to help define and contour.

Annabelle Minerals Mineral Blush in 'Rose': This is a loose mineral-based blush in a pink-rose colour. It is natural ingredients that promise to be kinder to the skin.

That is all for this month's May Glossybox. Overall, I was not really very impressed with the box this month and would have preferred more skin-care items to make-up, especially two cheek-blush-highlighter items. I actually didn't want to subscribe this month, but there was a problem with my account, and the active description (from last month's box that I ordered mainly because I had points to use) did not display in my account, and I had to get Glossybox to cancel it.

On the first Bank Holiday in May, a vintage car show with some additional local crafts and information about transport and 1939 was hosted at the Ruislip Manor House and Old Barn. The cars were on display on the Sunday, the same day as the local foodie market Duck Pond Market, which takes place here on the first and third Sundays each month. The food and craft markets alternate, and it is always a treat to walk into Ruislip in order to visit it and buy some local food and grab some lunch from one of the street food vendors here.

I enjoyed seeing the vintage cars, and some of them had information about the model of car. The cars were mainly parked in front of the Manor House and then lined up down to the Old Barn.  

Of course, I stopped at the market to look around and bought a chicken burger.

To give you an idea of what is at the Ruislip foodies market, I bought a bottle of gin (Old Bakery Gin) that came with a couple of bottles of tonic in a set. 

I bought a loaf of bread and fudge.

I bought hot madras curry sauce, raspberry gin, and marmalade.

I also bought some pies and apple juice.

If you have never been to Ruislip Duck Pond markets, you need to go! They do not have the cars every week because it was a special event, but they do have a lot of little attractions for children, such as a petting zoo, a table of Lego to play with, and other entertainment for families.

I am a fan of the old "The Twilight Zone" CBS television series, and it's one of the few television series that I've seen all of the episodes of. So, when I heard that "The Twilight Zone" was being shown in the West End as a play, I had to get tickets to it. I saw the matinée performance of the show as a walk-up and got a decent seat four rows from the front in the stalls (the pricing band underneath premium) for a discount. 

So, why do I like "The Twilight Zone", and why should you like it? I actually don't actually watch much television, but I watched some of these episodes when I was younger and then bought the full DVD set when I was at university. What I enjoy about this series is that the writing is creative, and the film-making is actually done very well; the stories are engaging and the film-making is done correctly to add suspense. Some of the episodes are actually extremely disturbing and frightening, even though they are nearly 70 years old. I don't like all of the episodes, but some of them are actual classics. Some have actually had much impact in television and film-making as they have been referenced or re-used in modern films/television. How many films/television episodes today have this kind of exposure and status? People even known the show by name; even if they have not watched an episode, they know the meaning and use the term to define something as "strange".

"The Twilight Zone" got rave reviews when it was on at The Almeida theatre in Islington. It is adapted as a stage play by award-winning Anne Washburn, and eight of the original episodes by Rod Serling, Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson. Not all of the eight episodes were used entirely, but we had "Eye of the Beholder", "Little Girl Lost", "The Shelter", "And When The Sky Was Opened", "Perchance to Dream", "The Long Morrow", "Nightmare as a Child", and (I think) "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up"?  We also had one with a ventriloquist, but I am not sure if it was a particular episode, although living doll episodes and the living ventriloquist dummies are in a couple of episodes. And the alien from "To Serve Man" made an appearance too, with a credit to that episode.

And because I enjoy "The Twilight Zone", I thought that I'd list some of my personal favourite episodes (in no order). Of course, there are other episodes that are not great or have not dated well, but the below selection should help you find a good episode to watch. And, of course, everyone will have their favourite episodes too.

Quite a few of the episodes feature war; World War II had ended a little more than a decade before the first episode was shown, so this war and episodes about prisoners or victims played on the mind of writers. Also, Rod Serling was from a Jewish family, so some of these were personal for him. The 1950s/1960s were also a time when people were dreaming about space and exploring space, and aliens were in popular culture. Robots and technology and automating the life were also constant themes of this time when people feared they would be lesser important and machines would replace them. Cold war with nuclear weapons was also a fear, and some of the historical political and social events (JFK assassination, Martin Luther King civil rights issues and assassination) were explored. Some of the stories are ahead of their time.

"The After Hours": A shop mannequin comes to life and is on a mission to find a thimble for a gift during the day. She is transported up to the ninth floor, which is a back room. At the end of the episode and when the shop closes for the day, she realises that she is a mannequin as are the others. This idea was actually explored and used in a 1980s film. It's actually a really creative episode.

"Eye of the Beholder": Throughout the episode, we see a woman with a bandage over her face/head. They are trying to give her plastic surgery. It isn't until the end that we see what is happening. The woman looks like an average human, and the nurses/doctor look like aliens. She wants to look like one of them so she is not "ugly". This one is full of suspense because we don't know what is wrong with the woman, and we never see any faces until the end.

"Walking Distance": One of my most favourite episodes, this episode features a man who goes for a drive after a difficult adulthood; he somehow time travels to his childhood idealistic town, modelled after writer Rod Serling's hometown. He meets his childhood self but causes an accident, which does make him have a limp forever but also makes him happier as an adult because he had a fulfilling childhood. This episode is a sad one because who doesn't wish to go back to their childhood again and maybe give some advice?

"The Invaders": This episode has one of the best uses of suspense that I have seen used in a story. An old lady lives alone, and she hears UFO noises at night. The episode is of the old lady without much speaking through the duration on the episode, frightened by the invaders. The invaders do turn out to be aliens, but at the end, we find out that they are miniature. This is because they are humans, and she is a giant alien. 

"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet": One of the most iconic of the "Twilight Zone" episodes, this one features a young William Shatner. He is afraid to fly and believes he sees a "gremlin" on the wing, trying to tear it apart. It turns out he does see this. The idea is terrifying, especially the creepy scenes of the "gremlin" on the wing!

"Number 12 Looks Just Like You": This episode explores a loss of individuality in which people can decide to change their appearance to look like a selection of dolls. Everyone looks like a version of everyone else. It discovers what is seen to be attractive and unique and a loss of identity.

"A Stop at Willoughby": A harassed man on a train sees the stop Willoughby, an idyllic town. The next time he goes onto the train, he stops here, but we find out that he jumped off the train and died.  

"The Midnight Sun": A woman has a dream that the Earth's orbit has changed, and the Earth is heading toward the sun. They will eventually burn up. Then, she wakes up and realises that it's actually the opposite; the Earth is moving further from the sun, and it is getting colder. This is a very frightening episode because our only home is Earth, and we could easily be destroyed by the sun or lack of it if something catastrophic were to happen. This is a feeling of helplessness.

"The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street": The community is worried about aliens, and the paranoia makes them dangerous as a mob where they single out others. This idea was explored in later episodes and one of the stories that is used a lot outside of "The Twilight Zone".

"Come Wander With Me": Folk music singing leads a young man who loves music and wants to be a star into the woods to find a beautiful girl and to learn his fate. The song is used throughout the story, and I just thought it was a unique episode.

"An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge": This was a short story that I read in school, and we watched the episode after reading it. It is a story about a man who is about to be hanged during the Civil War. While he is being hanged, he believes the rope broke and he is free; however, it is just an illusion. It's honestly a great book and referenced in writing and has inspired other stories. I think the episode is mainly without voices, focusing just on the sounds and senses.

"Five Characters in Search of An Exit": Five unique characters (clown, ballerina, major, bagpiper, hobo) find themselves trapped in a pit. They all have an idea how they got there, but the events surrounding are foggy. The major tries to escape and falls outside the cylinder they are trapped in. It turns out that they are dolls in a box given away as gifts, and they soon realise this inevitability. They realise that they are not real and have no control over their fate.

"It's a Good Life": A little boy has alienated his home town, and if he does not get his own way or does not like someone, he will transform them and make them go away. The boy turns the man into a jack-in-the-box, which we see as a shadow on the wall. It is very disturbing and the thing of nightmares.

"Where is Everybody?": Originally, this episode was meant to be a story where people were killed after 60 because they were no longer any use. Instead, this story is about a man who finds himself alone in an abandoned village. He's actually preparing for a lonely trip to the moon. The episode explores loneliness and paranoia at being alone.

"Black Leather Jackets": A gang of teen boys wearing leather jackets enjoys life in a small town. One falls in love with a girl. They are actually aliens. Although this episode fell short, I feel that it could have done a lot more with the story.

"Stopover in a Quiet Town": A man and woman find themselves in an abandoned but picturesque town with plastic wildlife. Actually, it turns out that they are in a little girl's play town/railroad set/dollhouse.

"Long Distance Call": A little boy receives a telephone from his grandmother before his birthday, and she passes away. Yet, he is able to communicate with her over the phone, and there is an accident. Being able to communicate with the deceased is just disturbing. It's a good episode but not one of my ultimate favourites.

"To Serve Man": Aliens promise to help (serve) humans on Earth, but they actually have another agenda for humans, and that other agenda is a play on the word "to serve". The book "To Serve Man" is a cookbook. And we're all apparently next on the menu. I'm sure this one frightened a lot of children during the decade where space aliens were popular.

"The Hitch-Hiker": A woman was in an accident but does not know that she's actually dead. She keeps seeing a hitch-hiker and believes he is following her. The realisation comes at the end of the episode, and the hitch-hiker is also going her way to the afterlife.

"A Nice Place to Visit": The idea of this episode is classic. A criminal dies, and his punishment is to have everything he has ever wanted without a challenge. Of course, this turns out to be Hell.

"The Little People": Tiny astronauts find themselves on a distant land, and they find a tiny species of people that starts to worship them as gods. One of them is mean and destroys some of their village; a larger species comes along and does away with the mean one. This story was used in "The Simpsons".

Of course, there are other episodes that I am sure that I've forgotten that I have enjoyed or parts that have stuck with me, but the show produced six seasons originally (1959-1962) and over 150 episodes! It was then rebooted in the 1980s and again in the early 2000s, and it's also had a more recent reboot as well. Some of the stories in the reboots are original, and other ones are remakes of the popular original stories.

"The Twilight Zone" is on at Ambassadors Theatre near Seven Dials until June. 

Street artist AKSE is based in Manchester (originally from France), but he has previously painted murals in London in the past. His most recent London mural appeared early this spring with musician Prince. The mural was painted at the corner of Great Eastern Street and Old Street. AKSE's work always consists of realistic portraits of characters or people, and I always enjoy seeing his work.

Prince was a musician probably most famous or most remembered for the song "Purple Rain", and he passed away in 2016. He is considered a musical icon today. 

Additional work by AKSE on this blog can be seen below:

Manchester Street Art
Akse 19 Paints Tyrion Lannister from "Game of Thrones"
Street Art: Akse, Vhils, Bailon, Sliks, Grud, Drypnz, and Vinz

Street artist and poet Angry Dan has been painting colourful murals with limericks on them since last summer when I discovered "More drama than a banana" on a wall on Great Eastern Street. Angry Dan's murals are around Shoreditch (and also Camden), and I've been capturing them when I have seen them. Angry Dan is from London and started to draw his poems on the walls last year and has been enjoying it and increasing his profile. Below are some of the pieces that I have photographed from him.

"A cantankerous man from Carlisle sold loquorice lace by the mile; I said 'that's eccentric; why don't you go metric?' He said 'kilometres ain't worth my while.'"

"The limerick form so it's reckoned, has a first line that rhymes with the second. On the fourth and the third, something different is heard while the fifth returns to the beckoned."

"When trying to write from the heart, it's hard to know where to start. More easy, I find to write from my mind and trust that my feelings impact."

"The bumbling figure of eight was stumbling home rather late; he tripped in hi stride and fell on his side, succumed to his infinite fate."

"Imagine in your mind's eye the pool is pale blue sky; your beautiful limbs are magnificent wings and thus to swim is to fly."

"I met an old codger named Fred with a single grey hair on his head and said 'Just your luck, that why don't you pluck that?' He said 'f*** that, I'll dye it instead.'"

The poems get people to stop to read them, and most of them bring a smile to the face.

No Make No Life is a Japanese and Korean monthly beauty subscription box. The subscription box is sent with a few make-up and beauty-related products and comes with a small magazine that contains information on the items in the box, tips, horoscopes, and contests. This is my fourth No Make No Life beauty box. May's box is the "Natural Beauty" box, and the products in this box will help subscribers embrace their natural beauty. Read below to see what I received in this month's No Make No Life box.

Canmake lip tint jam in 'No.4 Espresso Jam': This is a Japanese brand of lip tint that is a jam-like texture and offers semi-matte finish. This product can be used on top of a lipstick or on its own and has a brown-orange colour. The colour can be intensified by adding additional layers.

Etude House Oh My Lash Mascara in 'Volume': Subscribers will receive either the volume or the curling product to enhance their natural lashes. This is a very dark mascara from the Korean beauty brand Etude.

Speed Off Brush Cleaning Sheets: Cleaning make-up brushes is often neglected, so this month, we receive a box of sheets to help us keep brushes clean. The sheets contain electrolyzed water to remove foundation, oils and dirts from make-up brushes. 

Fiancee Fragrance Body Sheets in 'pink grapefruit': These fragranced sheets smell like grapefruit and have a cooling effect, which is perfect for using in the summer. They help skin stay fresh and moisturised while out and on the go.

Japanese bath powder (daruma doll): Subscribers could receive cat, dog, or daruma doll (a Japanese male doll face) design for the bath powder. Bath powder is meant to bring good luck, and it is great for skin too. The daruma doll contains snake gourd plant extract; the cat contains orange oils, and the dog contains chrymanthesum extract. 

Berrisom horror mask in 'skull black rice': Subscribers will receive the skull mask, which contains rice extract to moisturise skin and improve elasticity or the green tea pierrot mask to moisturise and prevent wrinkles. The mask would be perfect for horror film night.

Patting Panda tool: This is a plastic wand-shaped plastic panda. Japanese and Korean women prefer to pat lotions on skin until it is absorbed instead of rubbing it in the skin. This tool helps to pat any lotion into the skin. A cotton pad soaked in the lotion should be attached to the panda, and the user should pat for thirty times.

A couple of weeks ago, I visited the So Soufflé Café. The So Soufflé Café is located on the Strand, near Covent Garden, in London. It is a very small cafe selling hot drinks, ready-made sandwiches and pastries for light bites, and soufflés. The company have perfected the soufflé dessert and are hoping to sell this into more cafes. Currently, there are two selling them in London.

The soufflé can be purchased along with a choice of toppings at an extra cost, and it can also be served with ice cream. I had marshmallows and chocolate hearts, but I wish they would have put the marshmallows separately instead of on top of the warmed soufflé melted chocolate hearts. Anyway, the soufflé was excellent. It was the perfect combination of melted chocolate with a sweet and rich taste. It was perfect with the marshmallows and the ice cream as well. My only issue was that it was not a larger pot of soufflé.

I also ordered the hot chocolate, which I received first and drank a bit of while I waited for the soufflé. The hot chocolate wasn't very good. It wasn't rich and chocolatey, and it tasted watered down. 

I can fully recommend the soufflés at So Soufflé Café. If you want to stop in, it is located at 418, the Strand and near Covent Garden. Another branch is located in Fulham, London, at 705 Fulham Road.

Firezza Pizza has a few branches throughout London, but none of them are exactly central, and by central, I mean close to the West End or the City. Most of them are in Zone 2 or beyond. But, there is one in Notting Hill, and I was in the area one day so thought that I would visit as I'd heard that they make a pretty decent pizza. They did used to have a Soho branch, but it is no more.

Unfortunately, I discovered that there aren't any seats in this Notting Hill branch of Firezza Pizza, even though there is a front room and it does offer plenty of room for a few tables. I think they are missing a trick. They are a takeaway-only pizza shop, and I am assuming that their other branches are the same way. This meant that I had to take my pizza away and try to find a place. But, I'd gone a little bit out of my way so was determined to make the most out of the situation. 

So, my pizza and I went to Portobello Road, a couple of blocks away. Now, seeing as this area has markets on Saturdays and gets extremely busy, I thought for sure that there would be some benches somewhere along the street or a quiet area just off one of the side streets. But, I was wrong. I walked to the top of the street, and there were not any benches or places to sit at all. I was disappointed. There should be benches to sit at along Portobello Road. The road gets so busy, so people need to sit down somewhere, especially older people and tired tourists. I think this is greatly over-looked.

I ended up having to sit on the step in a doorway half way down Portobello Road. This was not at all glamourous, and neither were the people that walked up begging me for coins and the others wandering past wondering why I was sitting there eating what was now a slightly chilled pizza. 

Overall, the pizza was good. it would have been better if it was warm. I think that they should give customers the option of eating inside the shop to avoid attracting unwanted attention outside, especially if you don't live in the area but are in the area and wanted a bite to eat and didn't want to go to one of the cafes (they do get busy in this area). I can imagine they'd do a fair amount of business on market days. So, they do have to lose points for the fact that they don't allow visitors to eat inside their shop. But, otherwise, it seemed like a good pizza with fresh ingredients and a thin Italian-style crust.

Olivogelo is based on Elizabeth Street, not far from Victoria station in London. The cafe sells ice cream based on Sardinian recipes and ice cream-based treats. The ice cream is super-creamy, and the real difference in this London ice cream shop is that several ice cream-related products are also sold. Customers can get the traditional ice cream and sorbet in a cup or a cone, but they can also buy ice cream profiteroles, gelo buns (ice cream served in a brioche bun), ice cream sandwiches, ice cream cakes, ice cream waffles, milkshake, and ice cream cupcakes with a chocolate casing.

I have never had ice cream in a brioche-style bun, so I opted to have this. The ice cream flavour can be selected, so I tasted the pistachio (one of my favourite ice cream flavours) and opted to have this one. The ice cream was really good and tasted nice in the brioche style bun, but I think I'll opt for the traditional waffle cone the next time I visit this ice cream shop. The novelty of this shop is, of course, the different selection of ice cream-based treats.

I recommend this ice cream cafe if you are looking for creamy ice cream or ice cream treats. Olivogelo are located at 28 Elizabeth Street in London, SW1W 9RB.

Portugese street artist Vhils has been asked to create a mural for the facade of a new restaurant Gold on Portobello Road in Notting Hill. This new celebrity restaurant is planning to serve fire-cooked food and have a late night bar on site over multiple floors. The location is the former pub named Portobello Gold, which is how this got its name. As part of the opening, street artist Vhils has created this new mural on the fascade, but it has raised concerns in the area and the neighbours are not happy.

The council and neighbours have raised issues because many of this buildings on this part of the road are in bright pastel colours, and this is the only one that sticks out. Notting Hill has had its share of grafitti over the years, so this isn't anything new for the area. However, the main issue seems to be the subject of the artwork. It features a face with two huge eyes that appear to watch you. Many have considered it creepy and not in line with the rest of the street. 

Vhils has painted in primarily east London many times with giant faces constructed by carving them out of the raw material, such as plaster and brickwork. While I do love the large face coming out of the brickwork and exposing it underneath, I do agree that I probably wouldn't like it opposite of where I live, though I probably would get used to it being there. Maybe it could have been a giant kitten or puppy eyes instead.

Previous work in this blog with work of Vhils is here:

Street Art: Akse, Vhils, Bailon, Sliks, Grud, Drypnz, and Vinz

One of London's most decorated pubs is the Churchill Arms, near Notting Hill Gate and Kensington. The pub is known for having ellaborate flower decorations. It's always covered in flowers, and I went to check it out last December when it was decorated for the holidays (Festive Pint at the Churchill Arms, Notting Hill/Kensington). I visited the pub in April, and it was covered with flowers, many of which have yet to bloom; many of them were spring flowers too.

Although there wasn't too much colour at this time of the year, be sure to check in the height of the summer when there are more blooms and more colour.

In case you are not aware, the Carnaby Street chocolate shop (London's flagship) of Choccywoccydoodah closed early last year. I actually did not know until I went to the area toward the end of last year and hoped to go in to see what they had, and the shop was no longer there. After looking online, I discovered that they had moved to Covent Garden (near Seven Dials). I did not even realise. Choccywoccydoodah started its life in Brighton in the early 2000s before creating a branch in Carnaby Street, which was open for several years. Sadly, for reasons unknown, that branch was shut and a new one was opened near Covent Garden. (This visit was made in mid-April, and the shop has since closed; Choccywoccydoodah are no longer operating in London but can still be found in Brighton.)

The new shop is a little bit out of the way. It has one window, though it's not exactly a feature window like the previous shop was. This street is down one of the side streets that does not get as much footfall, though there are a couple nice shops on this street. Unfortunately, all of the buildings here are in a row and do not stand out, so the shop is easily ignored.

The cafe is downstairs, painted blue and smaller than the Carnaby Street branch. There aren't any windows, so it's actually pretty dark down here, and phone signal (and WiFi) is non-existant. Service was friendly, and the cafe was busy during the week in the afternoon when I visited it. However, it didn't feel as nice; it paled in comparison to the Carnaby Street cafe.

I ordered a molten hot chocolate, and this could be milk, white, or dark chocolate. I had the dark chocolate version, and it was really nice. I enjoyed it more than the last time I visited the cafe. Unfortunately, they were out of whipped cream, but I had marshmallows on top.

I also ordered the dark chocolate chocolate cake. This came with vanilla ice cream with a dollop of cherry sauce and drizzled with chocolate sauce. The cake was delicious too and not too sweet like the last time I visited. Most of the cake actually went home with me. 

So, overall, I enjoyed the cake and the hot chocolate and found this better on this visit than on my previous visit. However, the new building is at least a couple of steps back. It isn't as presentable, and the cafe is not nearly as nice. I am hoping that this move is only temporary, but they have been based here for over a year, so I don't see them moving any time soon. 

(This visit was made in mid-April, and the shop has since closed; Choccywoccydoodah are no longer operating in London but can still be found in Brighton.)

Yard Sale Pizza is a small chain of pizza shops in north-east London. I visited the branch of the chain in Walthamstow, but there are also branches in Leytonstone, Clapton, and Finsbury Park. The pizza chain was created by two friends, and they believe in using the finest ingredients for their pizzas. The friends started creating stone-baked pizzas in their back yard in Clapton. Their first restaurant opened there in May 2014, and they had a live band with guest Macaulay Culkin of "Home Alone" fame.

When I arrived at Yard Sale in Walthamstow, I had to wait a while for a table because it was busy. Outside was available, but it was cold. When I finally got a seat, I ordered the cheese pizza (margherita), and the pizza tasted good and also fresh. I am picky with my pizza, so I was not keen on the dough/crust, but that was the only aspect that I felt could have been improved. 

The pizza restaurant also has a small selection of ice cream sandwiches called "Happy Endings" for desserts. I had the strawberry one. It was strawberry ice cream with a small layer of biscuit.

Yard Sale Pizza can be found on 17 Hoe Street in Walthamstow and are open seven days a week but with shorter hours on Mondays. For more information, check their website out at http://yardsalepizza.com