I made...

...cupcakes with strawberry icing

Watch & Listen to This

British model and wife of the White Stripes' Jack White, Karen Elson sings this haunting-yet-melodic bluesy piece which features a slight folksy twist. I love this song, I think it's got a certain sense of nonchalance to the tone and lyrics that I find appealing. But I must say it does certainly sound more like a song produced by a band than a solo artist. Nevertheless, take a listen:

Pretty Babies
by Karen Elson
from the album The Ghost Who Walks

Also, this song was featured in Tom Ford's Spring/Summer 2011 show. Karen Elson herself is one of the models at 0:38. And if you watch the entire video, you will find that amongst the models are actresses, Rita Wilson, Julianne Moore, Rinko Kikuchi and singer, Beyonce.

London | More of Borough Market

More shots from Borough Market. These were some of the shots that I took from my first few times to the market using my phone. Lately, it's like everytime I visit London in between Thursdays and Sundays, I tend to find myself somehow drawn back to this place to grab a bite. And the food, vegetables and meats are just so tempting. Visiting this market almost makes me feel a little healthier just by looking at the fresh produce.

| Green curry



| Lunch was carribean styled chicken with a side of rice



| Cooked meats



| Open truss roof structure



| Being located in between buildings give rise to awkwardly angled roofs (and with skylights)



| Meal number 2: free range chicken wrap



| Lots of natural lighting



| Tucked underneath the rail



| Stalls with food galore

Five Hundreth

5 days ago on the 15th of May would have marked the 5th Anniversary of this blog. I'm pleasantly surprised at that, as I wouldn't have guessed I would still be blogging after half a decade. And in fact, have been consistently doing so month after month with only the occasional absence during periods of heavy workloads. But even then, I sometimes schedule posts ahead when anticipating hectic times.

This post marks the 500th post. For that I'm actually surprised that it took such a long while to reach this amount of posts. I've a new found respect for people who have made it to this number with quality posts, because everyone knows that a lot of my posts are quite short. But to be completely honest, 500 is just a number. Sure I do look back every now and then to recall where I was at during this very moment one or two or three years ago. But I never try to revert myself to that person. Instead I have a tendency to be slightly horrified by the way I blogged, the language used, the pictures and the occasional cheesy phrases.

I like to look forward, trying to subtly tweak the way I present myself to the world. The style of writing. The way I present my pictures. The change of headers... I'd like to say all that is calculated and thought of beforehand. Because a blog, after all, is not a direct representation of who you are; It's a carefully selected, condensed and often modified version in which the blogger plays the role of the editor of his own life. So I guess that's what I'm doing here: Editing my life...

East End | Beyond Retro

So I found the place I've been meaning to hit in London for quite sometime. And during my last trip to London a week ago, I just figured out that it was actually really close to the site for my assignment; which is in Cheshire Street, just off Brick Lane. That's the thing about the Whitechapel/Shoreditch area: you never quite know what you may find during each visit.

Being one of the most famous vintage shops in London, it's no surprise that Beyond Retro has an extensive amount of vintage clothing. Racks after racks of mens and womens clothing and accessories which, compared to some other vintage shops in the area, have been neatly categorized. But hunting through shops like these take plenty of time if you want to score something you actually like in your size and in keeping to your budget.

So, naturally, I left empty handed. I really love these shops with their massive inventory of seemingly random pieces of clothing, each unique and different from the other. But for the most part, I go there just for browsing and perhaps to get some inspiration. For a second-hand item, it's surprisingly not cheap.

...and watch this video which was filmed just outside Beyond Retro and in the surrounding area.

F*ck Me Pumps
by Amy Winehouse
from the album Frank

London | Borough Market

I have a thing for markets, whether it's Pike Place market in Seattle, the Wednesday market in Oxford city center, or even back home in Malaysia like the SS2 night market on Mondays or good old Pulau Tikus market which is just a short walk from home. It's a fantastic place to go to for an insight into the real life and culture of any city. They feature the freshest local goods, the commerce and interaction between people of different cultures and the sights, and sounds and smells of great food.

Borough Market in London is one of my favourite places to visit in London at the moment. It's right by London Bridge and the river Thames and is open from Thursdays to Sundays. It's a gorgeous area with stalls upon stalls of vendors selling everything from freshly prepared meals to locally produced cheeses, fresh seafood, and vegetables. The fact that it's tucked in between buildings with paths winding around the nooks and crannies where the vendors set up stall makes it all the better. And being tucked under railway viaducts also contribute to its urban, gritty fabric.

And the food? Delicious. So far I've only managed to try the Caribbean chicken with rice dish, the free-range chicken wrap and the duck confit ciabbata bread sandwich. And also cubes and cubes of samples of cheeses. I am already looking forward to my next trip there.

Seven

gingham shirt | Seed
chinos | Topman

PS: tomorrow would mark the date when I first started blogging 5 years ago. Half a decade has gone by and I'm still amazed I'm still keeping this up whereas others have fell by the wayside. Let's give this a couple more years shall we?

Spot On: Espadrille Brogues

Who would have thought perfection would arise from a Frankenstein experiment involving a pair or brogues, a pair of espadrilles and a pair of sneakers. These Prada espadrille brogues from the Spring/Summer 2011 collection are pretty much of the moment shoes ever since they hit the runway and eventually went into production. I hear they're totally sold out.