March 2020 Archives

At the beginning of this month, before everything shut down, I visited Battersea Pie in Covent Garden for lunch. Battersea Pie is located inside Covent Garden market in the lower ground floor archway and sign-posted simply as "The Pie Shop". There is adequate seating inside, under the arches that were formerly used for storage in the market's past, and outside the cafe.

Battersea Pie opened its doors in 2007 and uses fresh ingredients and home-made pastry. A selection of smaller pies and take-away pies can be enjoyed as well as standard-sized pies. Some of the flavours include chicken and mushroom, steak and stout, mince beef and onion, steak and kidney, and butternut squash and goat's cheese. Sides include creamy mashed potato, green beans, cole slaw, baked beans, salad, and rosemary potatoes. 

I enjoyed a chicken and mushroom pie with creamy mash and baked beans. The pie and mash were delicious, but the green beans were a little over-cooked for my taste.

The pies are great quality, and as you can see in the photograph below, it was not short on meat and filling. 

Unfortunately, Battersea Pie do not appear to be delivering, so you will just have to wait to this virus blows over before you can visit their restaurant in Covent Garden.

Street artist F05H (fo5h) created several paste-ups in London and plastered them around the city and beyond. I am not sure who the street artist is, but the trademark paste-up is the "fo5h was here", a typical message in grafitti. Some of his artwork also contains artwork along the side of it. Have a look at some of the placements that I captured below.

I've previously covered the work of Nagel, a street artist from South Africa who is reponsible for the colourful mushrooms that appear on the tops of some of the buildings primarily in east London. The artist often adds a new mushroom to London's buildings, which can go unnoticed for awhile. He has also collaborated on some wall street art, such as the wall on Hanbury Street a few years ago with Pang: More Mushrooms by Nagel. Here are some mushrooms that I have captured over the years but never got around to posting until now.

For more of Nagel's mushrooms, see the posts on my blog below:

Street Art: London's Mushrooms
Open Day at the Street Art House, Dulwich Arts Festival: Part 1
Recent Street Art in Early 2014
Bristol Upfest 2018
More Mushrooms by Nagel

LdashD is a street artist who creates work using the cubist style, and most of his subjects are portraits. I have not been able to find out much about this street artist, but they have pasted up cubist paste-ups as well as a series of miniature sculptures, many of which resemble African masks. Some of them have been created out of wood, and other ones have been made from clay.

JAce and LdashD

MCLN, Sugar, LdashD and others

I was on a roll at using up a lot of the skin, hair, body, and beauty products that I have accumulated before the coronavirus came along. These products were ones that I used up this past winter, including ones that I'd used up after autumn. I'm not using up as much now, especially the make-up products. Now that spring has arrived, I thought I'd better post my empties.

Graffiti Life is a group of street artists who help to keep east London's street art scene and walls active. The most recent artwork is neon pink themed and a few of the walls appear near Shoreditch High Street station, some of them up high and difficult to photograph. Below is a selection of the work and contains some of their work over the past couple of years.   

'Game of Thrones'

I really do not know what to say here. The world is facing a crisis due to this COVID-19 coronavirus, and everything is pretty scary. People have been ordered to stay at home, and businesses have been shut. There's no vaccine or medication proven to work, and there's a limit on the number of tests to determine if you have it. There's a lack of hospital beds and respiratory equipment, and a lot of people are dying. This is why we have been ordered to stay at home and practice "physical distancing" ("social distancing") from everyone else.

No one knows what is going to happen, and some people are panic-buying. My life is in limbo again; everyone's life is in limbo. People have lost jobs. Everyone is feeling anxious. But, I am confident that together - if we all just listen to the professionals and obey the physical-distancing and hygiene - most of us will be ok.

I was hoping to put some of this in another post, a happier one, but that's not the situation at the moment. I started a new job at the beginning of February, and I am really enjoying it. When the virus news broke out, we were still being asked to go into work (I felt that I couldn't ask to work from home as I have only been there a short time). On Monday evening, we were told to work from home until "further notice". So, I am lucky that I have a job and have been working from home. However, I am still anxious about the virus and the economy. So far, I am not showing any symptoms although I did have a cold and sickness about a week ago. However, there is a chance of getting it from comuting on Monday and then it not showing up until fourteen days. I know people who have the symtpoms but who cannot get tested because of a lack of tests available.

Right now, I just want to cancel 2020. This weekend is the first time for weeks that we have had nice weather, and it would be lovely to go out and explore, but I don't want to pass it (if I have it) or risk getting it, so I have been indoors since Monday evening after I got home from work. I had better hopes for 2020, as you may remember from my review of 2019 and the past several years. I am sure everyone did. After years of hard work and no time off, I have a normal job and free time and had planned on going on at least four holidays this year. Maybe things will change in the summer. But, I think we will be self-isolating until the end of June. 

This also means that when it's all said and done, a re-scheduled birthday and other events will be taking place. I think that everyone in the country will be spending time going out, having parties, and returning to the cinema/pubs/restaurants/etc. I just hope they hurry with new testing kits, respiratory equipment, hospital and staff numbers, and research into vaccines, medicines, and other technology in order to defeat this virus. I also hope that government protect people. Maybe put delays in place to "pause" the world. I know rents and mortgages must be paid, and we have to buy essentials. Some are still having to go to work, and the health care was already under strain without this virus happening (no thanks to government spending cuts), so the system is even more stretched.

As I am not leaving my accommodation, I will be posting the posts that I have written before the lockdown. I'll also be posting photographs that I've taken for posts that I have not written. It will help to keep me sane.

Keep safe, everyone.

I visited the Nomadic Community Gardens off Brick Lane last weekend. It was always a place to see street art, and it was a popular place for people to hang out. There was a theatre there with other activities, vegetable gardens, and a little cafe known as the "Roving Cafe", selling fresh and home-made food. I'd eaten there in the make-shift picnic benches three springs ago with an ex-colleague. The Nomadic Community Gardens were a popular place to explore. Of coruse, it started as an unattractive and vacant lot of land between the rail lines before it became the community gardens. It thrived as these community gardens for nearly six years. Over those years, it quickly became a popular place and hosted many street art events. But, nearly four months ago now, it was taken over by developers. This meant that everything had to be moved out or simply abandoned. Some was left behind, and the walls still contain street art, especially the big wall with stairwell over the train line at the end.

The area is still popular for street art, and that street art has now transferred to rail bridge the walls opposite the Nomadic Community Gardens. It was not like that until the popularity of the gardens, but it's actually since the gardens have been closed and fenced off that it has become an even more popular place for street art. The increased gentrification has likely spread it to this new area whereas other walls have largely disappeared. 

Actually, it is a sad state to see the change here from a vacant and empty lot to a thriving community area and now again to an empty lot that will be developed on. I visited again this weekend, and since the original fences could easily be scaled and people could see in the gardens, new wooden fences have been erected so that people cannot see in. 

Here are some street art events and photos from the Nomadic Community Gardens in this blog:

Meeting of Styles 2018
Meeting of Styles Wall 2018
Street Art Round-Up (Lolie Darko, Envol, Fanakapan, and More)
Meeting of the Styles 2017

Street artist Dan Kitchener is one of my favourites; I always enjoy seeing his new art on London's walls. The latest piece was finished just a few days ago with a Tokyo street scene, titled "Tokyo Graffiti". The artist often paints bustling city scapes at dark with glowing street lights, and this new mural features that. Added into the mix this time is the presence of graffiti on the top of the artwork in Japanese and Latin-based characters. 

Upon closer inspection, all of the walking figures with umbrellas are wearing surgical masks, in what has become the reality recently. The wall is located in Shoreditch on Clifton Street.

At the beginning of this year, the artist painted on Pedley Street and Brick Lane. This street scene did not last long at all before it was painted over.

The last piece, located on Brick Lane, dates from mid-summer last year, and it was called "Hong Kong Puddles" and also did not last long. There were others as well, but they were all tagged over relatively quickly and before I could get a photograph of them. I do wish the taggers would leave them alone.

For more work by Dan Kitchener (DANK) featured in this blog, please read the following links:

Latest Street Art by Dan Kitchener
Dan Kitchener Paints 'Ghost Cities' on Pedley Street
Dank Paints 'Ghost Cities - Bristol' for Upfest 2018
Dan Kitchener Paints "Meeting of Styles"
'Future Tokyo and Tokyo Ghosts'
Dank "London Rush"
Dan Kitchener's Street Art on Sclater Street and More
Street Art: Dan Kitchener
"Downtown" Mural by Dan Kitchener
Goswell Road

Spanish-based street artist Sr. X is currently in the UK with some of his artwork exhibiting in the Delerium Art Exhibition in Dalston. The artist has painted several times in London previously and uses an illustration style with vintage characters and plays with showing their emotional states through art and also uses vintage advertising and graphic design styles. His most recent piece appeared over the weekend on scaffolding near "Bull in a China Shop" under the Shoreditch High Street bridge. It is titled "The Back of Your Mind."

The work shows a vintage-style illustration of a smiling man whose first layer of face has come off to reveal another man hidden inside. The man on the outside looks smiling, but the alter-ego inside has a somewhat sinister-looking expression hidden in the shadows of the mind. It's another wonderful piece from a street artist whose work I appreciate.

Other artwork by Sr. X (Senor X) on this blog can be seen in the below posts:

Camden Street Art Self-Guided Trail
Sr. X (Señor X) "The Rapture" Street Art on the Village Underground
Sr. X (Señor X) "The Itching" Street Art off Brick Lane
New Sr X Octopus on Hackney Road
Sr.X Paints Village Underground Wall
Sr.X "Buy Shit!" Sign on Village Underground
Sr X Collaborates with Zabou

Urquhart Castle is located on Loch Ness in Scotland and has amazing views over the lake, and amazing views of the castle can be seen on a boat ride on the lake. The castle is in a ruined state now with some of the buildings to explore; these ruins date from the 13th to 14th centuries, but there was a previous medieval castle on the same site. It saw a lot of action between some local disputes and English and Scottish conflicts. It is one of the largest and most-visited castles in this part of Scotland.

My first visit to the castle was in the spring of 2009, and you can read the post here: Urquhart Castle at Loch Ness. This visit to the castle was actually made in early December in 2017.

There are paths from the castle down to the lake, and I discovered the Loch Ness monster at the bottom. I even got a photograph of it below.

Urquhart Castle is a fun place to visit, and I would recommend the boat trip on the loch to the castle and then back again. That is what I did on my first visit, but we did not have much time on my second to do that. I visited with my parents.

Yaki Yaki is located on New Row between Leicester Square and Covent Garden, and they specialise in taiyaki fish sweet and savoury treats and ice creams. Taiyaki is a dessert or cone in the shape of a fish. The treats are filled with a sweet (red bean, custard, nutella, matcha) or a range of savoury fillings. This is the third cafe in London that I have discovered that serves this trendy Japanese treat, and both of the others are around the corner (maybe a five-minute walk away) in Chinatown.

Ice cream flavours range from coconut to vanilla to chocolate to matcha and can be mixed. I had the chocolate and coconut flavour. This isn't a creamy ice cream; it's a water-based ice one and probably suitable for vegans, but I am not sure. It was not my favourite ice cream because it was water-based instead of being creamy and decadent. The cone also was not good, and I felt that the combination did not work at all here. I ended up throwing half of it away; I actually did not enjoy it. It looks nice, but it was not edible.

The miniature taiyaki sweet fishes, however, were nice. They came in a selection of five, and visitors can mix and match flavours. I had one of each flavour: custard, vanilla, matcha, and red bean. The red bean reminded me of the taste of a fig, such as the little fig biscuits we were fed as children.

Inside the cafe was plenty of place to sit, including this wonderful little table surrounded by balloons. It is perfect for getting photographs of the taiyaki treats.

For more cafes in London offering taiyaki creations, visit one of these posts on my blog:

Unicorn and Mermaid Ice Cream and Fish Cones at Taiyakiya (Chinatown, London)
Fish Ice Cream Cones from Bake in London's Chinatown

Last summer, street artist Pez created a mural on Sclater Street, a high profile street for art near Shoreditch High Street station. The artwork is still in place at the time of writing because the street art doesn't change over as much as it used to here. Pez is a street artist from Barcelona and has often painted in London, sometimes collaborating with the other street artists. The mural "Smiling Since 1999" coincided with the Stolenspace Gallery exhibition by the artist, "PEZ: 20 Years Smiling with Friends". It features his colourful, smiling, fish-like characters. 

Pez has been painting since 1999 with his fish-like character making its way on walls around the world. The Stolenspace Gallery exhibit also featured the work of many other street artists, many of which were collaborators on Pez's work.

Additional work below appeared over the summer months in 2019, but I never posted them. None of these currently exist.

More street art by Pez can be seen by reading the posts on this blog below:

Street Art by Vova Zomb and Pez (Colour the Capital)

This week, I finally got to try Japanese restaurant Curry House CoCo Ichibanya. I've wanted to visit the Japanese curry restaurant for several months now, but I just never got to go because I did not often visit this part of London and actually avoided it at weekends because of the tourists and the vast number of people. Now that I am working on the Strand, a trip to Curry House CoCo Ichibanya near Leicester Square was finally possible. The restaurant is located around the corner from Leicester Square tube station and Chinatown, which is around a ten-minute walk for me.

The UK introduced Japan to curry and spices from India, and they used this to create their own curries. They have over 1400 restaurants in the world, and they are the largest curry restaurant chain in Japan. This is their first and only UK branch, and they opened at the end of 2018.

The concept is simple. Visitors can choose an item from the menu or select an item from the list of curries (including meat, vegetable, seafood, chicken). The spice level of the curry can be altered with a range of five options from very mild to very hot. I choose the 5th option with my chicken katsu because I love spice. The next option is to select the amount of rice, and I had a smaller portion. Extras can then be added from a list that ranged from cheese, vegetables, meat, corn, mushroom, and egg. I opted for the vegetables (a mixture of potato, carrot, and bean chunks), and the waitress mentioned that the cheese was also really good, so I had that option as well.

What's my verdict? I thought that the food was delicious, and the spice level suited me, though most people prefer more milder dishes to me. The chicken, rice, curry sauce, and vegetables were just perfectly cooked. It's the best chicken katsu that I have had, and I've had some decent chicken katsu. I fully recommend Curry House CoCo Ichibanya, and the staff were also very efficient and friendly.

I've always loved history, and the story of "The Iliad" was one of my favourite classic works that I read at university. Classic western history has always been a favourite of mine, and the stories of the Greeks and the Romans and mythology always fascinated me. This exhibition explores the story as told by Homer (but probably re-told through the ages by great story-tellers before being written down by Homer) to the war between Greece and Troy. It tries to separate myth from reality. The exhibition seem to be accept that Troy did exist but attempts to look into the aspects of the suspected location and archeological findings. 

Two of the items near the beginning of the exhibition were a bust of Homer (obviously, no one knows what he would have looked like or even if he did exist) and a decorative vase with Achilles killing an Amazonian woman.

Achilles defeats an Amazon; a bust of Homer

The Trojan war starts off with Discord tossing in a golden apple and Paris of Troy picking Aphrodite as the most beautiful between the goddesses (Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite). Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful women in the world, Helen of Sparta. This conflict between the gods caused the gods to choose their own sides in the war to help in the battle between the humans. 

Paris judges the goddesses

The story of the war is depicted on decorative vases, room murals/mosaics, and carvings. Stories or parts of stories are often illustrated or produced in artwork. Many of the decorative items featured the judgement of Paris and the removal of Helen. The relationship between Helen and Paris is told through the artwork. It's sometimes depicted that Helen was upset at being used as a bargaining chip and forced to board the boat to Troy. It's always the gods and their interference depicted in the artwork. In the image below, Paris falls in love with Helen who admirers herself in the mirror, with the gods playing a role in the relationship.

In the below vase, the two meet but Aphrodite is there to ensure success. An image of a dog chasing a goose at the bottom of the drawing probably depicts how the gods see humans as pets/playthings.

Other vases and artwork depicts scenes from the story, such as an upset Achilles who refuses to fight after he has to give his trophy girl Briseis (yes, these stories depict women as gifts) to Agamemnon, the commander of the Greek army, requests. Odysseus is sent in an attempt to get Achilles to fight by making promises of gifts and the return of Briseis, but it fails; the army are not doing too well without him.

Achilles returns to battle and is spurred by the death of his friend Petroculs. To prepare for battle, Achilles is fitted with new armour as depicted below. 

To avenge the death of his friend, Achilles kills the man who killed him, Hector. He then drags the body around the grounds, which causes a lot of anger with the gods. The body is undamaged, however. The below image depicts the chariot dragging the body, and the left image depicts King Priam pleading Achilles for his son's body.

The Trojan horse signals the downfall of Troy. The Greek warriors hide inside the horse as it is pulled into the city walls of Troy. 

Cassandra, a priestess and daughter of King Priam, warns of the danger but is not listened to (in another common theme of women not being listened to). When the soldiers exit the wooden horse, they open up the gates of Troy and the city is seiged. The below image shows Cassandra being attacked as she tries to hold onto a statue of the goddess Athena in the temple. King Priam is also killed, marking the end of Troy.

Spin-off story Aeneas is also shown in the exhibition as the family that flees the burning of the city of Troy. They flee to Italy and are the mythological founders of Rome and depicted where Rome was to be founded with the suckling wolf and Romulus and Remus.

Another part of the exhibition mentions "The Odyssey" and the adventures of Odysseus showing scenes from the journey, such as the sirens in the sea, the witch Circe, and the cyclops. "The Odyssey" is the story of the warrior who wishes to return to his home in Greece, but the gods are upset with the Greeks after the city of Troy is seiged and how they sacrificed Polyxena (youngest daughter of King Priam) like an animal, so the winds required to sail are made quiet by the gods due to this. This also means that many years pass before Odysseus can return to his family and be reuinted with them.

Another part of the exhibition showed some of the earlier books of the stories. After this, the exhibition explored the location of Troy, which is thought to be called Ilois (located near Bounarbashi). The map shows some of the key players of the war and where the Greeks sailed to Troy on the coast of modern-day Turkey.

The settlement at Ilois is escavated after finding some artefacts. There is also evidence that the city had burnt, but this was before the time frame mentioned in the Homer story. The discovered settlement was also thought to be smaller than Troy should have been, and some of the artefacts possibly came from other places to make the discovery have greater appeal, such as some gold items known as "Priam's treasure".

Some of the items found were double-handed cups and vases with three-legs. These date from the time that the Trojan war was said to have taken place. Some of the jars feature animals, and others are thought to feature the goddess Athena.

There were several different versions of the discovered settlement of Troy, and these were examined and given a time period. Earthquake and fire were though to have destroyed the city at some point, and the only time frame that the Trojan war could have happened with the height of Mycenae in Greece was from 1400-1200BC. This places the version of Troy from 1750-1180BC to be a likely period where the war was fought; 1300BC marked an earthquake in which the city was rebuilt, so it could have been before or after this occured. The next version of Troy follows from 1180-900BC and marked a new wave of people from Europe settling here and moving across the Mediterranian area; there is evidence of a fire and war that happened before this phase of the city.

The above images depict examples of pottery found at the Greek city of Mycennae, a very rich and war-like city. Tablets were found with information mentioning Wilusa, a kingdom in western Turkey, and a leader Alaksandu who ruled from 1295-1272BC. These name closely matches an alternative name for Paris. 

The Trojan Horse

The remainder of the exhibit depicts how the stories were told in more modern times and how they inspired other works, such as a story by Shakespeare and modern films. Parts of the story were also illustrated, painted, sculptued, and created. 

Helen of Troy by Antonio Canova

The Judgement of Paris by William Blake

Another section focuses on the women of the story, such as Cassandra and Helen.

The golden jewellery was said to have been found in Troy and is part of Priam's treasure.

The exhibition of Troy: Myth and Reality was held at the British Museum from the 21st of November until the 8th of March. I finally managed to see the exhibition on the last day of it because it seemed to be a very popular exhibition and was booked full on the weekends and other peak times.

Brazilian-based street artist Cranio returned to London last month and painted a few walls. Cranio's last major visit to London was a few years ago now, and his work is always fun as his blue indigenous people interact with the surroundings. Cranio is inspired by environmental and social concerns in his artwork, but his characters appeal to a sense of humor in their surroundings. During his visit, he collaborated with London-based street artist Fanakapan and also painted a few walls himself; all of these exist on or near Brick Lane. 

The first that I came across is located at the end of Pedley Street and near the community gardens. One of the blue men carries a bag of money with a placard "I want to buy trees" attached to his person.

Further down Brick Lane, one of Cranio's blue characters points an arrow across the street.

In Star Yard off Brick Lane, I caught this fun drawing (above) of the blue man appearing as a Lego head from the popular plastic toy brick.

However, the largest mural by Cranio during his London visit is a collaboration with street artist Fanakapan. Fanakapan and Cranio have collaborated before, and you can see that work from the link at the bottom of this post. In this mural, Fanakapan has painted a chrome heart in time for Valentine's Day. On either side of the heart, two of Cranio's blue characters point an arrow at it. Perhaps they are taking the place of Cupid.

Previous artwork by Cranio on this blog can be seen by following the below links:

Collaboration Street Art: Cranio & Fanakapan
Cranio - Collaborations with Himbad, Zadok, & Kazz
Cranio's Newest Mural on Pedley Street: Blue Natives 
Cranio Repaints His Wall on Brick Lane
Cranio's Mural on Great Eastern Street
Recent Street Art in Early 2014
Street Art: Cranio, Senna, HIN, and Mo
Street Art: Cranio

At the end of February, Leicester Square launched "Scenes in the Square", an interactive sculpture trail with statues of iconic film characters that come to life with lighting and a soundscape. Leicester Square has always been known for its cinemas and the film industry with many films premiering here. For many years when I first moved to the UK, the square, which was laid out completely differently then, was surrounded by trails of stars on the ground and handprints in concrete. This reminded me of Hollywood's handprint stars. I'm not sure where these are at now, but they were taken up several years ago when the groundwork was being prepared for the new square design. All of the sculptures represent an era of film and represent a diverse range of film: cartoons, super hero, comedy, musicals, action, and children's.

The film icons are a range of characters. First up is the animated Paddington Bear from the 2010s era, one of the UK's (and Peru's) favourite characters. The film "Paddington" and "Paddington 2" won BAFTAs, and the films premiered here in Leicester Square. Visitors can now have their lunch next to the marmalade sandwich-eating bear or post for photographs.

Starting with the 1920s (and ending in the 1940s) is Laurel and Hardy. They are atop the ticket kiosk on the southern part of the square. The scene they are depict is from 1929 "Liberty" where they are on top of a skyscraper. They starred in over 106 films.

Next up is the Looney Tunes' cartoon character Bugs Bunny. He is rising from a patch of carrots. Bugs Bunny dates from 1940 when he appeared in "A Wild Hare", and that makes him 80-years-old this year! 

Next up and the only one not really in or seen from the main square in the middle of Leicester Square is DC Super Hero Wonder Woman. She is the most recent and represents the 2020s in cinema, and she is located on the side of the cinema, bursting through the wall in a halo of light from her lasso. The character appeared in All Star Comics in 1941, and this image of her depicts her from the film released in 2017.

Gene Kelly is also featured swinging on a lamp post with a closed umbrella in the 1952 musical "Singin' in the Rain". This is an appropriate one for London.

Mary Poppins is also on the list with her trademark umbrella and cloth bag, ready to fly up into the sky. The original film was released in the 1960s and remains popular and captivating today as it did then. It's even on stage at the moment; it's on my list of shows to see.

Mr. Bean sits on a bench in Leicester Square, and this is the ultimate posing photograph. Everyone loves Mr. Bean because his silent comedy translates so well, and he's become a global phenomenon. The television shows dating from the 1990s were much better than the films, but he's certainly an icon.

Batman, standing atop the Odeon cinema with a projection in the evening, is the 1980s film icon from DC Super Heros. He was introduced in Detective Comics in 1939 and has become a hugely iconic character throughout the 1980s to the current day. A new film will be launched next year.

The only decades that seem to be missing (as Laurel and Hardy span 1920s and 1930s) are the 1970s and the 2000s. But, we have a great representation here and a wonderful activity for visitors in Leicester Square. Unfortunately, the sculptures are only on display until the end of July, so see them before they are removed. 

Old Chang Kee, located in Covent Garden, offers classic Singapore food; the signature item is the "curry puff". A curry puff is Singapore's answer to Britain's Cornish pasty. It is a curried meat and potato filling encased inside a wrapped pastry. In addition to the famous curry puff, the restaurant offers classic Singapore dishes, such as the nasi lemak and Singapore laksa. The restaurant chain sell at least 1.5 million curry puffs around the world and have locations in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia.

I visited Old Chang Kee for a lunch special and to try the curry puff. The first visit included a lunch menu, which included a main dish, curry puff, and drink of choice. I had the dry chicken curry, which was served with rice (located in a cool partitioned container) for the main meal. I had the classic chicken curry puff. On the second visit, I bought the spicy chicken curry puff. I appreciated the spice of the spicy chicken curry puff, but the flavour and texture of the classic was superior. 

Singapore was once a centre of the spice trade, and the colonialisation by the British was responsible for the creation of the pasty with Singapore flavours. 

Old Chang Kee is located on New Row, which is between Covent Garden and Leicester Square (just off Charing Cross Road). The curry puff and meals are definitely worth a try, and I don't think you will be disappointed. The curry puff is also a great light snack that can be taken away on the "go", similar to the pasty.

Last Sunday, I visited Desire Jewellery and Silversmithing Fair held in Chelsea Hall, a show that brings together jewellery designers and craftspeople under one roof. It is a place to meet designers and to buy from them directly. I expected to find some unique pieces, including bright gemstones that I love (I'm a bit of a magpie) including some nice designs using more than one colour of gemstone.

I found some favourites, including Fiona Hutchinson, a Brighton-based designer who has a collection of bright and colourful gemstones turned into jewellery and also specialises in creating coffee-inspired jewellery in the shape of coffee beans. Of course, there's so much more but I love the hammered "raw" look of the stones and jewellery. You can see some more of her work here: https://www.instagram.com/fionahutch1/

Chelsea Hall looks beautiful, and I could not resist a photograph while I was walking around, but I suppose many would not look up at the ceiling with all the wonderful jewellery around. 

Another jewellery designer I enjoyed the work of was Maria Frantzi. The work stood out again because I am drawn to the bright gemstones, and it's another rough/raw look using shape and colour, miniature artwork. I didn't photograph any, but here's her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariafrantzijewellery/

Above is one of the bracelts designed by Xuella Arnold Jewellery, a jewellery artist and craftsperson who is inspired by nature. Some of the items are hand-carved, such as a little fish necklace that I purchased. She also uses gemstones but uses a mixture of silver/gold in different colours. More photographs can be seen here: https://www.instagram.com/xuellajewellery/

Another jewellery designer worth a mention is Kate Lewis, who is inspired by the seaside to create a range of jewellery in calming sea-inspired colours. I liked the multi-gemstone ring in a range of blues and whites (top right). For more photographs, see: https://www.instagram.com/katelewisjewellery/

Tine Bladbjerg, had a range of jewellery with multiple gemstones, and I put one on order with my size of the pink and green ring in the image above top left. Some of her rings were stackers, but she had other styles too. For more photographs, see: https://www.instagram.com/tinebladbjergjewellery/

And last (although there were many other jewellers I liked at the show), I'd like to showcase Deborah Kelly Hopkins for a unique range of jewellery, including a wonderful hammered wide ring with bands of diamonds. This could be made in various colours of gold or silver. I didn't get a good photograph, but have a look here: https://www.instagram.com/deborahkellyhopkins/

I highly recommend this event if you're looking for some gifts or just wish to indulge yourself.