LONDON > SHOPPING
EATING / DRINKING / AFTERNOON TEA / SEEING / SLEEPING
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1. Fortnum and Masons
Casting my eyes of the grandiose food hall I think of the Georges Seurat I saw at the National Gallery as both scenes depict the complacentness of people in the pursuit of urban leisure.
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2. Burlington Arcade
19th-century shopping arcades need to come back into fashion. They’re gorgeous and possess the ability to slow shoppers down by enticing them to look around and take photos (actually welcomed in this case).
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3. Borough Market
At 1000 years old, this open air museum has no entry fee. I’d go out on a limb and say you’ll end up spending the sum of a museum ticket and then some.
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4. Harrods
Stood in the golden atrium, with escalators rising, the question to ask yourself is: “am I dead, and is this heaven?” Then you notice the beeline to the basement...
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5. Oxford Street
High and low end - everything looks like a million bucks. Maybe it was a good thing my wallet never made it to Selfridges.
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6. Penhaligons
There’s something rendering about stepping into a large display case full of little glass vessels. Break the tranquility with a spritz of perfume, if you dare.
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7. Portobello Market
What have you learned so far? Early to rise, beat the crowds. Forget that, as a full experience of Portobello Road Market involves a UN-approved amount of languages, crowds, and bartering... and you need at least a few people for that.
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8. Savile Row
I’ve got a feeling, a feeling that you’ll like getting back to where The Beatles played their last live performance at their office on Savile Row. But the buck doesn’t stop there pop culture fans. Costumes from 2001: Space Odyssey were made here.
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9. Columbia Road Flower Market
While I was picking flowers I noticed a student of sociology studying the market’s traders like they were bees. “What could possibly be so fascinating?” “Shush, you might disturb the natural rhythm of these third generations. Have you seen such beautiful multitasking?”
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10. Brick Lane
Reinvent yourself as a modern vintage, young, woman. Take heed however, once you go Brick Lane, there’s no going back.
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11. Kokon To Zai
Don’t pick your first Kokon To Zai piece, let it pick you. Like in meditation, when you welcome positive energy into your body, practice the “Kokon To Zai” asana and you’ll have your answer.
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12. Grays Antique Centre
You know ‘antique market day’ is marred with disappointment. And it’s all because you have no idea how to go about looking for diamonds in the roughand there’s a lot of rough. With dealers who’ve done the dirty work for you, sorting through the best of the rest at Grays Antique Centre will turn that frown upside down.