London (Part 2)

Day 1 : Borough Market – Oxford Circus – Tate Modern

• Borough Market - After settling in our friend’s flat in Southwark, we took a 15-min walk to Borough Market (Tube: Borough) and planned to have a traditional English breakfast at Roast. We arrived at 10:30am and the restaurant was empty but we sampled a few things in the market instead. The market isn’t big but all the food stalls sell quality stuff, no wonder this is where Jamie Olivers does his grocery shopping!
  

  

  [ Borough Market ]

  

  We followed the recommendations from my research and had fried scallops & bacon from Shellseekers. Two grilled scallops were plated on top of a scallop shell, the scallops were very fresh and tasty, I didn’t expect that! I think it could easily be the best scallops I have ever tried!
  
  Also we had raclette (melted Swiss cheese on top on boiled baby potatoes, gherkins and pearl onions) at Bill Oglethorpe's cart which was divine! Furness Fish & Game near the entrance of the market does seafood curry on big woks. It looked amazing but we didn’t have any. We also had a sausage bap but it wasn’t that nice. We didn’t buy anything from another famous Spanish shop/restaurant, Brindisa, but I had tried their olive oil which was rich and full of flavour. A big tin of 1000ml of oil is sold at £9.95 but I didn’t buy it cos’ it was very heavy. If you like cheese, Neal’s Yard, the famous cheese shop, also has a shop in the market.
  

  

  [ Bill Oglethorpe's ]
  

  

  [ Super delicious raclette ]

  To finish off our tour, we had a delicious cup of coffee from Monmouth and I also bought some white raw sugar from them as it gives the coffee a rich caramel flavour. It was a good start for our holiday as the sun started to come out in rainy London.
  

  

  [ Monmouth Coffee ]

  

  [ English summer ]

• Retro clothing – Second hand clothing shops are popular in Tokyo and London. Whenever I travel there, I will always try to sell my second hand clothes there. So this time, I brought a black gown by Viktor & Rolf and a top by Emma Cook.
  We took the tube to Oxford Circus. It was really warm travelling on the tube. The seats were filthy and the stations looked very tired. The sun came out when we were in Monmouth but by now, it started to rain again. I had two second hand shops in my mind. The first one was Bang Bang (9 Berwick Street) but they weren’t specialised in women’s clothing so I didn’t get an offer from them. The other swap shop on that street is Retro Clothing. This shop has both men and women sections. They offered to pay my black Victor & Rolf asymmetrical dress which I bought over ten years ago for £30 but £60 if I swapped. I had my eyes on a vintage brown Burberry leather shoulder bag but it was £200 so I settled with a new Preen black clutch for £80 instead. I thought I would be to able to sell it online as it’s a brand new item and hopefully getting more money for it. Unfortunately I have received zero offer on e-bay!
  
  
• After we had been to the shops, it started to pour heavily. So we went to HMV on Oxford Street briefly. Didn’t buy anything as the listening booth wasn’t working properly so I couldn’t listen to any new music. Honestly iTunes look much more interesting. Then we quickly had a look at H&M and Topshop. Both were a bit disappointing to be honest. Topshop’s clothes aren’t cheap and their accessories are a bit tacky. I vaguely remember I used to like shopping on the high street (ahem around a decade ago!). I think I must be getting old.
  Then we tried to walk to Covent Garden but ended up in Carnaby Street instead. By now, we were very tired because of jet-lag but we dared not rest as we wanted to acclimatise ASAP.
  

  

  [ See big switch on the wall - art installation in Carnaby Street ]

• Tate Modern - So our next destination was Tate Modern (Tube: London Bridge) – I like modern art and Tate Modern is one of the best museums for it. There used to be a Saatchi & Saatchi Gallery next to the London Eye but they have moved to Chelsea now. They used to have wicked exhibits by Damien Hirst and other great artists. Personally I am not a big art fan but when you are in Rome, do what the Romans do. You can admire the beauty of a classic art piece but I like to be surprised and engrossed sometimes by some of the modern art pieces.
  Our friend lent us his Tate Modern members card so we could sit down and had a rest in the Members Room. My husband had his third coffee of the day and I had a very nice pot of English tea. Not sure why the bar/café was so busy at that time of the day. Wasn’t it supposed to be the recession and everyone should be working? We found a seat on the sofa looking at the Thames and just slumped on it. The view was really brilliant and it was the first time I visited the bar. Maybe worthwhile to check if it opens for public too. 

  

  [ View from Tate Modern's Members Room ]

• After we recharged, we had a delightful walk back to our friend’s place. Dinner was at a gastropub nearby, food wasn’t great but price was reasonable. The sky stayed bright til 9pm so we got lots of daylight, I think it helped us acclimatised.
  

  

  [ Fish and chips with mushy peas ]

  * What I would have instead: Tapas Brindisa (18-20 Southwark Street). They were the Best Spanish Restaurant voted by Time Out in 2009. I already sampled their olive oil (fat is the essence of good food!) earlier in the afternoon so I would have loved to try their tapas!! Dinner service starts at 5:30pm til 11pm.