Lean cuisine
3/03/2008 10:02:54 AM
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Brixton is an amazing suburb in London. From what I've read it was like the Harlem of London for a time in the 70s and 80s with heavy duty crime, social problems and, most significantly, some spirited activism against racism.
These days it retains its gritty, urban scene on the streets while being increasingly popular with clubbers and noveu yuppies moving to the area.
It's still an alien world to me though. I live in leafy south west London. Brixton is hard-up south east. It's neigbhbours are Lambeth and Camberwell, some of the poorest and most disadvantaged neigbourhoods in the UK.
Anyway, I rode over there one recent early morning with the Nikon for a look around. Where strip malls and coffee chains are the norm in many 'burbs these days, Brixton's focal point is still the markets. You can get plantains, halal chicken, dried catfish, fresh vegies - you name they've got it down there. And reasonably priced too.
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Beer o'clock
24/02/2008 11:48:13 PM
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One of the great things about travel is that it creates so many great opportunities to enjoy a beer.
Whether it's to wash down a spicy curry for lunch, chilling in a cafe after a hard days sightseeing or with new friends at night, it just seems to enhance almost any occasion.
Beer is also great because it usually universally available, mostly good and often cheap the world over. You couldn't say the same about wine or spirits (try getting a decent glass of red in say, Thailand. Yuk).
In my opinion, Asia is the best place to kick back with an ice cold bottle. It's usually hot and humid and the food goes well with the kind of light, hoppy brew they do so well there. Some of my favourite times have been enjoying a bottle of Biere Larue in Hoi An, Vietnam, after a serious afternoon of photographing the enchanting riverside town. Larue is mid strength and quite light, perfect for a couple of quiet ones with a meal.
In contrast, Singha beer in Thailand kicked my arse on a couple of occasions. Who in their right mind brews beer at 6.5% in a country that hot? Chug a bottle or two to quench your thirst and you'll end up delirious. Actually, it kinda explains the behaviour along Khao San Road, doesn't it?
Then there's some countries where beer is integral to everyday life. The Czech Republic are the biggest guzzlers in the world (something like 156 litres per year per person apparently). After visiting Prague I don't blame them. The beer is wonderful. Great beers like Staropramen or Pilsener Urquell are on tap at virtually every bar and cafe.
The only disappointing country was France. Drinking overpriced demi glasses of Kronenburg in Paris was a bit of a let down. The bastards didn't even fill the glass to the top. Not surprising given their focus on wines I suppose.
Here in the UK the warmish, flat beers are starting to make a bit more sense to me. Drinking a frosty pint of lager in the middle of winter seems a bit silly. Those malty, hand pumped ales can be quite tasty, particularly with a hearty roast dinner or pie.
But you won't catch me drinking warm ale beyond the first day of spring.
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The great British caff
2/02/2008 9:48:38 AM
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Some friends at work took me to the Regency Cafe in Pimlico, just down the road from Big Ben and Parliament, for my first authentic British caff experience recently.
The Regency doesn't look like it's had a lick of paint or new decor since it was built in the 1950s. That's not to say its falling apart - it's spotlessly clean - it's just that it's a sort of timewarp into post-war England.
You've got to have your wits about you in the Regency. A little like the Soup Nazi, there's rules to follow. Line up in an orderly queue, pay for your meal, find a seat - in that order. When its ready, the sout Italian man running the counter calls it out in a hugely powerful baritone voice. Then you've got to scramble up there to get it. "You don't want to make him say it twice," my work mate warned.
I dunno what the consequences would be, but I didn't want to find out. "Omelette with cheese, chips!" He yelled, and I was up there in a flash, shoving past old ladies and elbowing people aside.
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Australia Day
2/02/2008 9:43:22 AM
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Celebrating Australia Day is all about hot weather, barbecues, swimming, backyard cricket and cold beer. Or at least, that's my idea of a perfect national day.
Trying to replicate that in London is near impossible. Even though we cranked up the barbecue, played Triple J's Hottest 100 over the net and walked around in thongs, it didn't feel right. Perhaps because it was 10C and dark by 3.30pm.
And maybe because our English neighbours looked at us strangely as we went about our business with Aussie flag capes tied around our shoulders.
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New Year, new places
22/01/2008 7:44:32 AM
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New Year's Day found me at a quintessential British greasy spoon caff for breakfast. Like the last couple of years, I spent the morning with my girl mapping out a rough travel plan for the year ahead.
London seems really conducive to this sort of planning. Flights can be quite cheap and within four hours flying (less than the time to go from Sydney to Perth, say) you can hit up the craziness of Africa, quirky Eastern Europe or high fash Mediteranean.
Everyone does it. Long weeends are enough to check out a big city like Rome. Even a two day weekend is time enough to squeeze in a Prague or a Tallin if you're keen.
This year I'm looking at getting down to Morocco. I've had enough of the city breaks. I want big blue skies, dirt cheap food and the sort of crazy traffic you can only find in the developing world - and Rome.
Also on the agenda is skiing in Italy (my first time ever), exploring Sweden, lazing through rural France and burning up memory cards on the grimy sights of Berlin. Stay tuned.
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2008
2/01/2008 9:34:41 AM
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This is what the New Year looked like from Vauxhall Bridge over the Thames as the London Eye went apeshit with a ten minute fireworks show.
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The old lady's house
27/12/2007 7:08:23 AM
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London is a really tough city to photograph. Or at least the famous landmarks are. Always a ton of tourists (like me, really) hovering around with their digital camera's, cluttering up the frame.
So the best time to pocket a bunch of snaps of the with no one in them is on Christmas Day. Public transport isn't running. And most of the population cleared out the day before to spend the day with family in the country. London is as close to being a ghost town as its ever going to get.
I jumped on the back of my mate's motorbike and we blatted through Westminster and surrounds for a few hours. Piccadilly Circus was deserted. There was not one tour group to be found at Trafalgar. And at Buck Palace it was just me and a dozen menacing, assault-rifle toting guards. Ah, the serenity.
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Christmas shopping in London
15/12/2007 10:28:42 AM
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Thursday night. 7.34pm. 2C. Just me and 10,000 or so other Londoners. All with the same idea to converge on the shopping square mile of London to buy Christmas presents.
From Tottenham Court Road tube station to Marble Arch near Hyde Park runs Oxford Street. It's the big daddy of all high streets. All the big brands have their stores here. In between are the fly by nighters selling Union Jack flags and offering to unlock your sim card for £5.
It's absolute madness at the Tottenham end with the Top Shops and H&Ms. But tonight I'm slightly more selective and I've emerged from the underground at Bond Street, home to Selfridges and a few other upmarket stores. I don't have money to burn, but there's slightly less people up this way among the expensive stores so I've got a a better chance of buying a few presents before going into melt down and running screaming from the crowds to the nearest pub for a bitter.
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Borough
26/11/2007 4:58:08 AM
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This is my English mate, Tommy. He works the grill at a stall in one of London's busiest markets, Borough, in south London.
Borough is foodie heaven. On display are enomous wheels of stinky cheese, dried meats, fresh vegies, seafood and just about anything else you can think of for the kitchen. A lot of the stalls give out free samples so often you can whet your appetite just walking down an aisle or two. It's all fresh, good quality stuff. Prices are a little bit steep, but hey, this ain't Tescos.
Only bummer about Borough is that it gets absolutely packed on the weekends. Lines in front of almost every food stall. Shuffle walking. Ten minutes just to go from one side of the markets to the other. Madness. Trick is to get there before 11am or late in the arvo.
At Tommy's stall they do a mean venison burger with your choice of sausage or steak as the filling. If he's got time he'll even give you a quick lesson about deer farming. Apparently when the farmer approaches the paddock to slaughter a deer or two, the herd know what's up and push the weakest one out towards the farmer. Survival of the fittest and all that.
It certainly game me something to ponder as I munched on my burger.
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London Eye
12/11/2007 2:29:31 AM
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Hot tip: If you go up on the London Eye (that oversized ferris wheel by the Thames), make sure its a sunny day. Or at the very least, not raining.
Otherwise, for your £12 the best photographs you can hope for will look something like this.
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