Winter soup dinner diet & comfort homecooking
Posted on February 25, 2020 by Toothpicker
Autumn/winter vegetables bought from the organic farmers market
Last winter, I embarked on a 'soup dinner diet' for a few months during the autumn/winter period, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, so I did it again this year. Oddly enough, I don't actually believe in diets, and have only been on diets a few [...]
This post was posted in London, Food & dining, Cookery and was tagged with London, Food & dining, cookery, soup diet
'Just sitting' at the zazen weekend retreat
Posted on February 20, 2020 by Toothpicker
For the past few years, I would spend one February weekend attending an annual zazen retreat organised by my zazen group at a farm outside of London. Our zazen group is quite small, so most of us know each other quite well. People come and go, and there is no pressure to [...]
This post was posted in Nature, Buddhism & meditation, Anything Japanese, Britain and was tagged with meditation, nature, Buddhism, retreats, Zen Buddhism, zazen
Emmanuelle Moureaux's 'Slices of Time' exhibition at Now Gallery
Posted on February 10, 2020 by Toothpicker
I have been a fan of Tokyo-based French architect Emmanuelle Moureaux and her colour-driven architecture for some time. Since 1996, she has been living in Tokyo where she established Emmanuelle Moureaux architecture + design in 2003. I have never actually seen Moureaux's architecture and installations in real life, so I was really [...]
This post was posted in London, Exhibitions, Architecture, Paper art & craft, Graphics & illustrations, Art, Anything Japanese, Design, Contemporary, contemporary and was tagged with London, Japanese designs, art and design exhibitions, architecture, graphic design, contemporary art, contemporary architecture, Emmanuelle Moureaux, art, paper art
London's new street food halls & markets
Posted on January 25, 2020 by Toothpicker
Flat Iron Square in Southwark
Once upon a time, visitors to London used to tell me that London rarely changes, especially when you compare to cities in Asia. Well, you can't really compare London to cities like Beijing or Shanghai, but as a Londoner, I feel that London has changed immensely over the [...]
This post was posted in London, Food & dining, Architecture, Markets, Architectural conservation and was tagged with London, Food & dining, architecture, Architectural conservation, Food markets, street food, street food markets
"Floating worlds: Japanese woodcuts" exhibition at Brighton Museum
Posted on January 13, 2020 by Toothpicker
I have visited exhibitions on Ukiyo-e (Japanese Woodblock prints) in Japan, France and London before, but never in Brighton. After reading some positive reviews on the "Floating Worlds: Japanese Woodcuts" exhibition at the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, I decided to head to Brighton to see the exhibition before it ended.
Oddly enough [...]
This post was posted in Exhibitions, Architecture, Art, Traditional arts & crafts, Anything Japanese, Architectural conservation, Japanese art, British heritage, woodblock printing, Britain and was tagged with art and design exhibitions, architecture, museums, Japanese art, Brighton, woodblock printing, ukiyo-e, Brighton Museum and art gallery
One winter's day in Brighton
Posted on January 10, 2020 by Toothpicker
Not surprisingly, I have never visited Brighton in the winter, but an exhibition on my wish list brought me to the coastal city in January. Obviously, I had to check the weather forecast before booking my train ticket, and it was lucky that the forecast was correct for a change.
Sunshine and blue [...]
This post was posted in Food & dining, Shopping, Britain and was tagged with Food & dining, shopping, graffiti/ street art, Brighton, seaside, beach, Winter sun
"Olafur Eliasson: In real life" exhibition at Tate Mordern
Posted on December 22, 2019 by Toothpicker
Model room (2003), Olafur Eliasson in collaboration with Einar Thorsteinn
Although I have seen Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson's works before, I was still hesitant to visit his "Olafur Eliasson: In real life" exhibition at Tate Modern fearing that it has been overhyped. Then when I went with a friend on one Friday evening [...]
This post was posted in London, Exhibitions, Paper art & craft, Social issues, Art, Climate change, contemporary and was tagged with London, art and design exhibitions, origami, contemporary art, climate change, global crisis, Olafur Eliasson, Tate Modern
African Textiles - Karun Thakar Collection at Brunei Gallery
Posted on December 17, 2019 by Toothpicker
Often it is easy to miss many excellent exhibitions in a big city like London, especially after Timeout got rid of its exhibitions listing when it became a free magazine. Meanwhile, the few art listing apps don't seem to be comprehensive either. This is when Instagram can be useful sometimes... it was [...]
This post was posted in London, Exhibitions, weaving, Textiles, natural dyeing, indigo dyeing and was tagged with London, art and design exhibitions, textiles, weaving, natural dyeing, indigo dyeing, African textiles, African design
Festival of Natural Fibres & Saori weaving at Craft Central
Posted on December 12, 2019 by Toothpicker
Even though I live in London, I don't often venture away from my neighbourhood or the centre, and I had no idea where the Isle of Dogs is until I looked it up on google. I have not been to the Craft Central's new venue since they moved across town more [...]
This post was posted in London, Fashion, Eco living & sustainability, Anything Japanese, Contemporary craft, weaving, Textiles, natural dyeing and was tagged with London, textiles, weaving, natural dyeing, sustainability, Japanese textiles, Indian textiles, craft central, craft, SAORI weaving, Craft festival
Autumn/winter wild food foraging in Hampstead Heath
Posted on December 8, 2019 by Toothpicker
Although wild food foraging is nothing new, it has become quite popular in recent years. I think this is due to our growing interest in sustainability and back-to-basics lifestyle after decades of consumerism. As we know, endless purchase of consumer goods and fast fashion does not fulfil our lives, nor does it [...]
This post was posted in London, Food & dining, Nature, Eco living & sustainability, Hiking & walking, Gardens & parks and was tagged with London, Food & dining, walks, nature, eco living, Hampstead, trees, workshop, foraging, wild foods, plants