London / Hyde Park

For the first free day we've had since we've been here, we decided to get out of our concrete and brick neighborhood and get some fresh air around some greens, so we went to Hyde Park, London's equivalent of Golden Gate Park.

The weather was cooperating with us for the first half of the day with blue sky and puffy clouds, though we were warned of some showers later in the afternoon. Like cities like Portland, the weather changes very quickly here so it's best to be prepared and keep a watchful eye on the weather reports. 

So many dogs here and not all of them were very good at staying out of the water. No regrets on this guy's face though. 

Hi Peter!

The Serpentine Pavilion is a metal structure shaped similar to a cloud with various seating and passages places throughout. Wish we came by at night where it is supposed to light up, but we were pressed on time to meet with someone.   

Oh yeah, London loves Granturismo's. Not uncommon to see several within a few blocks, I've seen more of these than M3/M5's combined. 

London / Chinatown

And we're back! After some time away from the blog, here's a little of what's been going on.

Somehow, despite traveling around the Holborn and Oxford areas often, we rarely find ourselves in the Soho district of London, which is a shame really. 

Here there are many great little restaurants and some well known shops, like Supreme, for those who care about that sort of thing... 

But tonight, we're more interested in seeing how this city's Chinatown compares with the others. 

First though, some ice cream! Or gelato, technically I guess. For the most part, London seems to have lot of good things going for them, like coffee and tea. But one thing we miss about SF was the great selection of ice cream parlors (Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous, Bi-Rite, Humphry, Mitchell's, Swensen's, I could go on and on). 

I never saw such nice ice cream toppings available in such well packaged boxes like this! But for more than £20 ($32) for just ice cream toppings, I think there may be a reason for it. 

Anyways, onto Chinatown! 

Yeah, this Chinatown checks out, unlike LA's sad little block (their real CT is Monterey Park anyways).

Duck anyone? 

Kowloon reminded me of the Kowloon Tong Cafe in SF. Unfortunately, we have yet to come across any HK style cafes yet. 

This isn't just any arcade. Apparently there's some degree of gambling allowed here in UK as we've seen betting centers and places like this one with slot machines inside. Heck, even some restaurants or pubs have them! It's like little pieces of Vegas scattered throughout the city. 

Red & gold everywhere.

As we got out from Chinatown, we started to wander around Soho for a little bit before heading home. Since we've been here, I've noticed theater (broadway style) is pretty popular compared to SF or LA. NY may be the top location for actors, but London couldn't be far off. 

Oh yeah, as expected, Defenders EVERYWHERE, which is perfectly fine by me.

As constricting as the city can feel at times, you can still find little neat places down the most random alleyways. This little restaurant was quietly bustling with activity while away from the activities packing the main streets. 

And of course, we already know where all of the milk tea places are, including Chatime! In London! Who knew? 

And right next door to this popular little place. Being from LA/SF, these places wouldn't normally grab my attention (other than the cool neon signs that is), but what did catch my attention was how many people, men and women, were going into the place. Must be one heck of a peep show!

#azntouristlife

Car Spotlight / Mercedes Benz C63 AMG Coupe

Just one image today, I'll post more tomorrow. 

It seems like the moment I mentioned higher end German cars aren't as common, I'm seeing them everywhere, so scratch that observation. They're just as popular as any other major city. That said, AMG/M/S models still seem uncommon to see, at least compared to SF/LA, so when I do spot something like this C63 AMG Coupe, they catch my eye. Certainly helps that I find the current MB lineup to be a very handsome (except for that mess of a car, the SL).  

London / Getting Darker

Weather is starting to cool down now here in London, with the skies getting a little darker. Still, nothing to keep us stuck indoors!

Old building everywhere. 

Personally I think the new Range Rover is a really elegant looking thing. The upcoming Sport looks "cooler" of course, but this car has that quiet class that I find really impressive. 

Such a great name.

Smart cars are a lot more popular here, but with these streets and parking, they almost make a good selling point. Only if you get the Brabus versions though, like this one. :P

Pretty cool flat.  

Michelle giving her best kitty impression. 

London / Food Break

Not much happening today, so food post! As mentioned before, many meals include drinks, so why not take the opportunity to explore? Never liked 'Murican Budweiser, too watered down, but the Czech version tastes very similar to Stella, which I thought was acceptable. But according to the locals, Stella is their equivalent of Budweiser/Miller, so I guess it's still crappy? Idk, I've had worse (looking at you John Smith). 

One of the nicer cafes we visit; Goswell Road Coffee. A funky little cafe, but a really lax, safe work area and free (albeit limited) wifi with power outlets everywhere. 

 "My heart is yours, do you want it?"

Btw, one thing we've noticed is there's a lot of good Vietnamese restaurants. This place Keu makes some bomb banh mi sandwiches at pretty low prices. 

And lastly, my favorite workspace so far, Timber Yard cafe. A quite, well-lit basement with strong free wifi, relaxed environment, plus great tea and baked goods. And best of all, those who work there and visit are very friendly and you never feel like your stuff might get knicked if you turn away for a moment. This is something that I have to be aware of 100% of the time here in London where theft is extremely high, so it's really nice to be able to relieve some of that stress. 

London / Look Mum No Hands!

It's strange seeing "Type R" badges on Hondas and realizing that it actually is a real Type R. This EP3 was especially weird to see as these weren't that popular in the States, despite being essentially a Honda version of the GTi at the time. I wasn't really a fan of these and not big on red Civics, but this actually looked pretty sharp. 

Not bad right? Fits well on the tight London streets.  

Some more Stik

Lots of little parks throughout the city.  

Actually woke up in time for some breakfast today. Scandinavian style anyone?

Or maybe Egg Benedict with smoked salmon?  

Found a little bakery that sold these monstrous strawberry meringues.

Yum! 

Seems like someone's prepared for the next heatwave...

Cool bike shop/cafe to swing by.  

Starting to get a little chilly... 

London / End of Week

Back in Brick Lane again, making our now regrettable visit to the property agency Crestons (When an agent says the property owner approved an offer, double check with the owner that they indeed approved the offer before putting down a deposit. - Life Lesson) when something shiny showed up. Like the Magpie I am, I had to capture it. 

I used to not be a fan of the Continental GT, at all, but over time I began to appreciate it's handsome proportions and feel the styling (especially the later updates) will age well over time. I'd still prefer mine in a British Racing Green or dark charcoal, but admittedly, I thought the Bentley shape wasn't too bad wearing the audacious chrome vinyl. Reminds me of something Koons would make. 

Some people were more excited about it than others.  

Heading to a food court, going by some trendy stores. 

Oh my... 

Cool Citroen H Van in a fittingly French color.

Marinated fried chicken sandwich, scarily good. Most of the food here is pretty healthy, but that's not to say tasty greasy food is hard to find. 

Coffee, coffee, coffee...

Rovers can look just as tough in the streets as they do in the Sahara. 

Remember what I said about premium British marques being so prominent? 

 Maybe it's because they just fit so well. 

Always pay attention to what's around you, you might miss something.  

Gotta love the rally lights.

Some, ummm, unique styling here. Reminds me of something out of the original Midnight Club Racing game.

Restaurant name was fitting. 

Heading towards Camden Market.

Some interesting seating arrangement here. 

London / Discovering Brick Lane

Nothing like a Porsche sighting to start the day eh? Today we began exploring around Shoreditch, the area which we will soon have residence in, starting with artsy Brick Lane.

Honestly, while automotive culture might have deep roots in UK, it appears to not apply to London itself. 4 days in and it is clear London is not car friendly, particularly for those who want to mod their cars, which is understandable considering how the city is. It's like being in NY or Paris, if you live here, a car is just impractical so not so many people care about them. 3rd day in, this was the first "modded" car I saw, a stark contrast to my SoCal roots. Still, at least it was a clean example. Can't go wrong with a Mk I!

Speaking of foxes, turns out there's still some that run about London at night. Didn't see them, but I sure as hell heard them. Did you know they shriek? Yeah, coyotes ain't got nothin' on how loud these bastards SCREAM in the middle of the night. 

As we neared Brick Lane, we began to see more evidence that London really does have some world-class street art. 

Spotted this beefy looking Abarth. 500's are pretty common, more so than MINI's, which is kinda strange.  

Back to the art, this is definitely an area where artists really put in lots of time and effort into their pieces. 

A "modified" piece by well known local artist Stik.

There's pop up shops, and there's Boxpark, a pop up mall. Created by simply dropping a couple of shipping containers together and hooking up some wiring, this clever layout had several neat shops, including Nike Sportswear, VANS, and...

Milk tea! You can be sure that with Michelle around, we'll be visiting this place quite often. 

These Barclays sponsored city bikes are really popular out here, though I think they're also available in some US cities like NY and Chicago. SF next?  

Making our way towards Brick Lane.  

Again, not your usual "street art" over here. And no, those bars aren't there because its covering a window. They're actually part of the installation. 

Cannot say enough about how great the pieces here are. 

"Don't pet them, they're not in the right mood!"- crazy shop lady.

I think this was the first time I've seen a 'Ring sticker on a car and would believe that it actually ran the 'Ring. 

I ain't afraid of no ghosts! 

This piece seemed to be quite popular with the street art tour visitors that went through here. 

Curry; it was going to happen sooner or later, might as well get it over with now. Brick Lane had a LOT of Indian restaurants, all of which had greeters out on the sidewalks who would try to persuade each person walking by to come in and eat at their place. Had to say though, I couldn't recall better Indian curry than what we had. 

This shop owner wasn't very pleased for my picture taking, which is why Michelle and Steph are giving me the "Put that damn thing away!" look. Even with the camera away and us trying to buy his pastries, it certainly didn't seem like he cared for non-locals being in his store and just wanted us to be out ASAP. 

Back to the wonderful cafes! We headed back to Broadway Market before the end of the night to get a quick coffee and drink. 

Before heading home, we stopped by a lovely bar/kitchen/cafe where Michelle discovered this strawberry flavored cider which tastes just like strawberry Fanta. Hopefully we'll be able to come back Tuesday night where they have live jazz playing!