The annotated life

As I made my way to Holborn from Waterloo Bridge last night, I stumbled upon this deliciously cute candy shop, Hope and Greenwood, and knew instantly I had to enter the place. Small and cozy, the Covent Garden shop – they can also be found in Dulwich and in department stores to the likes of Selfridges, John Lewis, Liberty and even Harrods – offers colourful and, obsviously, delicious candy. I would’ve tried more, but, really, I’ve been having enough fattening and gastritis-inducing food for the last few weeks. So, here it is what I tried: the lovely Love Shake cup, full of tasty marshmallow. Can’t wait to try some of their gobstoppers!

Oh, and its name makes me think of B-52’s hit song, Love Shack. I love it and one of the best memories I have from childhood is of me and my brother insanely dancing to it. The video is great, check it out:

Saturday was quite an ugly day, cold and cloudy, but today things (=weather) are definitely looking up! A friend and I are going to Greenwich Market and I guess there are plans for a visit to an Irish pub in Camden Town later.

For those of you who are in London and still don’t know what to do on this lovely Sunday, check out THIS article on Time Out London, with a list of 40 things to do in the city! Junk shopping, religious services, Turkish baths, boat trips, oyster-eating and, of course, knitting, are some of the activities suggested. Fun-fun-fun!

# the title was inspired by that cute Easybeats’ song, Friday on my mind. Click on the name of the song to see the band playing it on YouTube.

* image from Getty Images

I guess I haven’t talked about my obsession with Korea in here, have I? Well, that’s pretty much it: ever since I came to London, I kind of fell in love with it, a country I had never given too much thought before. Yeah, I know it does sound bad, but I’m really trying to redeem myself: I’ve been reading about its culture and habits, as well as getting started on Korean literature. Of course, I’m also looking for a place that teaches the language and have already begun planning a trip to the place in July (more on that will follow, surely). I subscribed to many Korean-related blogs, too, and it was in one of them, Ask a Korean, that I found out that Seoul, the capital city, was selected as one of the 31 places to visit in 2010. Not only this, but they were voted #3! Pretty cool, huh? Here’s what the newspaper had to say:

“Forget Tokyo. Design aficionados are now heading to Seoul.
They have been drawn by the Korean capital’s glammed-up cafes and restaurants, immaculate art galleries and monumental fashion palaces like the sprawling outpost of Milan’s 10 Corso Como and the widely noted Ann Demeulemeester store — an avant-garde Chia Pet covered in vegetation.
And now Seoul, under its design-obsessed mayor, Oh Se-hoon, is the 2010 World Design Capital. The title, bestowed by a prominent council of industrial designers, means a year’s worth of design parties, exhibitions, conferences and other revelries. Most are still being planned (go to wdc2010.seoul.go.kr for updates). A highlight will no doubt be the third annual Seoul Design Fair (Sept. 17 to Oct. 7), the city’s answer to the design weeks in Milan and New York, which last year drew 2.5 million people and featured a cavalcade of events under two enormous inflatable structures set up at the city’s Olympic stadium. — Aric Chen”

True enough, I’m not a design aficionada at all, but I’m pretty sure I can find other interesting things to do and places to visit (which, in this case, means that I could actually go to Seoul in any year I feel like, not particularly this one).

Interesting fact: a comment on the post I mentioned above led me to discover that, for some people, Seoul is actually quite a bit disappointing. =( Sad, but I’ll just refer to a quote by Rainer Maria Rilke that I recently found: “If your everyday life seems poor, don’t blame it; blame yourself; admit to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth its riches; because for the creator there is no poverty and no indifferent place.”

Oh, and another list in which Korea appears: the world’s strangest festivals mentions Boryeong, a sort of mud party that happens every July.

Something extra: nice little Lonely Planet video on Korea: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/south-korea#video-ltv-369E92E845CA0F25. The ending is the best part, actually; “say hello to kimchi (…). You’ll get used to it”. Yay!

*All pictures in this post were definitely NOT taken from me (surprise, surprise), but come from the Lonely Planet website. Check their South Korea page by clicking HERE.