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London / Portobello Market

October 29, 2013 by Jonathan Chow in London

Picking up where we left off, we're still over in West London which we're starting to really, really enjoy. East London has its perks, but personally, I miss some of the little things, like trees. East London can be pretty grim at times, so it's nice being able to head out to the west to get a breath of fresh air. And great Defender right? Perfect base model in a lovely colbalt/grey. I'm sure the locals think its pretty odd I find such a mundane truck to be so fascinating. 

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Coffee, paninis, ice cream and waffles. Sounds like the perfect diet to me!

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So we're here in Portobello Market to check out all of the knick-knacks they have for sale. The weather had started to get pretty dark at this point, but against the colorful buildings, it still felt a lot more cheerful than Shoreditch. 

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If you ever need something a bit useless but at the same time a little fascinating, this is a great place to go. Opera binoculars? A set of tea spoons?

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Or maybe a vintage set of boxing gloves? You won't find what you think you need. Here, you'll find what you never thought of. 

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Despite the recent attention Banksy has been getting in NYC, he's still quite popular here in UK, which leads to a ton of people selling copies of his work... 

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I'm honestly not the biggest fan of R8's, but here in the London streets, they look outstanding. There's a white V10 model I've spotted several times that just looks amazing under the dark skies, but this black one looks just as sharp. Also, never seen one with the RS wheels on it before, I really like it. 

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Neat Samsung shop tucked among the shops, very welcoming and friendly vibe to it. Felt a lot less corporate than an Apple store, though whether the lower impression of professionalism could be a good or bad thing depends on your point of view. 

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This Milktea shop was still being built when we went by, we'll definitely need to check it out later on.  

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Ah the California...   One of those cars I secretly hope the car community continues to hate so that it'll drive down the residual value for me to pick up later in life. ;P

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Had to get at least one pic of these, the Honda HR-V. It's like the Honda version of the original 3 door RAV4. A little cool in the weird-Japanese-car-from-the-90s kind of way, but at the same time, really really dorky. 

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Oh yeah, since everyone has a mobile nowadays, they've cleverly started converting some of them into ATMs. And if you look closely, you'll see they still even kept the phone.  

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Never cared for the brand in the States, but they're actually kinda nice here in UK.  

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Started looking a little bit like SF here. Maybe that's why we grew so fond of the area... 

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Sort of strange seeing an old church converted into a modern art gallery.  

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Mmmm, that foliage. Seriously though, I cannot stress enough how refreshing all this has been since living in East London. I really, really miss nature. 

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This was more of what I was expecting while being here in UK. Looks more Spring than Autumn here.  

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And to end the day, how about some pizza in an original 500? Cute little car. 

October 29, 2013 /Jonathan Chow
Portobello Market, Land Rover, Defender, ferrari california, Audi R8 Spyder
London
1 Comment
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Entering London / Part 3

September 27, 2013 by Jonathan Chow in London

The 3rd and final part of the first full day of London. This one is going to be more images than talk, so here we go! 

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A certain someone would be pretty happy around here considering there are SIXTEEN store locations here in London. 

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It's weird seeing American cars here.  

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Heh, AZZ.... 

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We don't know how so many people can wear heavy coats riding the Underground considering how hot and humid it was. 

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Murica! Fuck yeah! Apparently the 49ers will play an exhibition game out here soon, if we can get the tickets, we would definitely want to support their visit! 

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My first Ford Capri spotting and what a find! I never knew of this car before this spotting, the Tickford Turbo. Tickford was a coachbuilder and took a couple of 2.8 Capris to turbocharge. The result was a very torque heavy and a unique (badass IMO) looking Capri. It may have been a bit of a failure due to a high pricepoint and (supposedly) an unreliable powertrain, but then again, many of the coolest cars out there are on paper failures. 

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For a moment, I first thought it was an Aston Martin I was unaware of. Kinda reminds me a bit of a V8 Vantage. Anyways, moving on...

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Great quote

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I was surprised to see Texaco was even still around, let alone in UK! 

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*whew!* Finally! End of day 1. From here on the posts should be more efficient. We're already a couple days in and I'm building up a decent stock to post now, so look forward for daily updates on the British travels of myself and Michelle!

September 27, 2013 /Jonathan Chow
city, london eye, big ben, london underground, ferrari california, Tickford Turbo, London
London
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