A Japanese breakfast or why I love London

September 11, 2014September 13, 2014 ~ hellorabea ~ 3 Comments

While I’m currently preparing for a big trip through Asia, I’ve recently also had very strong feelings about London. Positive feelings.

I love travelling but I love living in London as much. And I think one of the reason for it is that living in London is a bit like constant travelling. You meet people from all over the world, you can go to China Town and take in the smells of Asia (it stinks) and you can probably get relatively authentic food from almost any country in the world.

Which brings me to the lovely Japanese breakfast I had yesterday in Koya Bar in Soho.

See the breakfast menu?

my reflection in koya bar window

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Owl John gig at Oslo in Hackney

August 7, 2014September 14, 2014 ~ hellorabea ~ Leave a comment

Last night I saw Owl John (Scott Hutchison from Frightened Rabbit) play a solo show in a venue called Oslo in Hackney.

I have to admit – and I hardly dare say it – that I had never consciously heard a Frightened Rabbit song before but I just tagged along with a friend who’s music taste I largely trust. If he raves about them, then they must be good! Well shame on me, turns out that Frightened Rabbit are awesome.

And Owl John was absolutely brilliant! It was just him with a guitar but the music was captivating, exciting, dramatic, funny and just really good. I definitely didn’t feel short changed for not having other band members there because he is so engaging and really filled the stage with his presence.

I was also really impressed by how he dealt with the audience. You don’t often see a singer who calls his audience “c**ts” repeatedly, tells them off for singing along badly and yet there is a constant stream of drinks being bought for him. He drank various red cups with questionable contents – one turned out to be a Jägerbomb which he really struggled with.

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Broadway Market in Shoreditch

June 23, 2014June 23, 2014 ~ hellorabea ~ 1 Comment

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Broadway Market is definitely one of my favourite London markets. It takes place every Saturday in Shoreditch, just south of London Fields Park.

I went there a few weeks ago with some friends to taste the amazing foods and take photos.

This salmon was absolutely delicious. So soft and creamy! And the sourdough bread was very fresh.

The cheese and charcuterie stands are beautiful and you can smell the intense cheese aroma. I was particularly impressed with the cheese bunting that this stall had!

There was a cute Japanese street food stand. Unfortunately I had already tasted too many of the other foods by the time I got to it.

While we’re talking about cute – here’s a woman tickling a dog’s belly.

The fruit and vegetable guys…

…and look at that! A German bratwurst stand. I have noticed that this stand is never very busy, so I feel a little sorry for them. But they’re still there, so business can’t be too bad.

Some of the stands sell crafts, jewellery and vintage clothing.

And there are buskers playing some tunes.

A great market that I can definitely recommend checking out!

More information on the Broadway Market website.

All photos shot by me in June 2014 on my Canon EOS 5000 camera on 35mm film.

Field Day 2014 in Victoria Park

June 9, 2014September 13, 2014 ~ hellorabea ~ 3 Comments

On Sunday I spent the day at the Field Day in Victoria Park in East London.

The Field Day is an annual music festival which I’ve been to three or four times over the last years. It has grown significantly since the first time I went and this was the first year that it took place over two days rather than just one. On Sunday the festival was headlined by the Pixies, a band that I’ve been wanting to see play live for ages.

The festival also has some really good food stalls. I implemented a two meal strategy – I ate early, so that I could eat again later on and hence fit in two meals. The first was a Greek steak and halloumi sandwich. The second was Jamaican jerk chicken salad. Very tasty but very spicy.

We were also very lucky with the weather. It was a hot sunny day.

A London based band called Temples was playing in the afternoon. I really like them, so was happily dancing along when suddenly the man with the globe head appeared. Spot him in the photos below. Wow!

We also saw the Horrors and finally the Pixies. They played many of their famous song including ‘Where’s my mind’ as their last song. Really good!

I just had a look on YouTube and there’s already a video of the Pixies performing ‘Here comes your man’ at the Field Day. Credit: S Sunege

Also read my adventures at the End of the Road festival.

All photos taken by myself on my iPhone 5s. The video is from YouTube – credit as per above.

Bombay breakfast at Dishoom

May 27, 2014September 13, 2014 ~ hellorabea ~ 1 Comment

I do like a good breakfast and I recently had a couple of amazing breakfasts at Dishoom in Shoreditch. Dishoom describes itself as a “Bombay Café”. Persian and Iranian immigrants opened these cafés in Mumbai in the 19th century. It’s kind of a mix between Indian and Iranian food, I guess.

Indian food for breakfast, you may ask? Yes! Dishoom has developed a breakfast menu that seems exotic to your average European palate but it tastes divine.

The first time I went I had the bacon naan roll with chili tomato jam, cream cheese and herbs. The second time I had the Akuri, spicy scrambled eggs with fire toast. A coffee and a breakfast lassi to wash it down.