North American Landscape

In 2011 the front of the British Museum was transformed into Australia.  This year Kew Gardens have designed a North American landscape for visitors to enjoy.

My quest for Laotian food takes me to the USA...

I've been struggling with some countries, one of which is Laos. However a colleague let me know about some food called laab which is eaten in Laos.  He even made some and brought it into the office and it was very tasty.  It's a kind of ground sour and spicy meat dish.

So, laab take 1 was at Hawksmoor near Brick Lane.  They serve it on their bar menu.  Unfortunately their bar is only open in evenings and I went during the day.

Laab take 2 was the Pitt Co. food truck under Hungerford Bridge.  Unfortunately they'd just run out when we arrived.

Laab take 3 was at Pitt Co's permanent restaurant in Soho.  We finally sat down only for the waitress to say they were all out of laab!

We had a very tasty southern US barbeque style pulled pork and 'slaw instead.

 

Pitt Co's restaurant is very small but the service is fast and the food tasty.

Laab 4 was another trip to Pitt Co's van, only to find they didn't have any laab that day.  Since I've tried 4 times to visit Laos I am going to add it to my blog, because I am annoyed.

Pop Up Design

Even though the London Evening Standard can be a pretentious piece of rubbish, I do have to thank it for telling me about some of the entries on this blog, in particular this pop up design shop on Great Titchfield Street that was open from 20th to 26th June 2012.

Alas, the Jordanian designer had to cancel at the last minute (something about the items being made of concrete and a bit expensive to get to London from Jordan) so I didn't get any new countries.  However there were some cool things there from a range of designers around the world.

By Puzz'le Design, Geneva

 By kubedesign, architetture in cartone, Milan

 By Slam London

 

The shop also featured designers from Hong Kong, USA, Poland and the Netherlands.

Balkan Beat Box

Balkan Beat Box are an American Israeli group playing Balkan inspired music.  Having listened to so much chalga it was interesting to hear some familiar sounds in a completely new context.

 

 

We got given quite a lot of flyers when we came out for other events that we might be interested in.  What I don't really understand is - why is this kind of Balkan music cool enough to merit more than one event in London but Balkans pop is not.  Would I still like gay Bulgarian chalga if I were a hipster? Probably not I guess, but then there is absolutely no chance of me being classified as a hipster.

A prince far from home

Prince Lee Boo of Palau is buried in St Mary's Church in Rotherhithe.

Back in 1782 a ship of the East India Company was shipwrecked off the islands that now make up the Republic of Palau.  The crew managed to make it to one of the islands, which happened to be uninhabited and soon met the leader of the archipelago Abba Thule.

Abba Thule helped the English men in exchange for their assistance in subduing some rival villagers.

When it was time for the crew to head back home Abba Thule requested that the crew take his second young Lee Boo back to England so that he could learn about England.  Lee Boo stayed with the captain of the expedition who was a resident of Rotherhithe and came to visit St Mary's church.

Sadly, less than 6 months after he arrived in London Prince Lee Boo died of smallpox and is buried here.

Also the Mayflower set sail to the US from Rotherhithe and a plaque at St Mary Church commemorates the event.

Cybercandy

Cybercandy has 4 shops (Covent Garden, Islington, Brighton and Birmingham) selling some crazy sounding sweets, chocolates and soft drinks from a range of countries: Australia, Austria, Canada France, Finland Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, USA.

Caribbean films at the Tabernacle

Not many posts back I was lamenting that I'd never find anything to do for Antigua and Barbuda. Luckily for me the Portobello Road film festival showcased a series of Caribbean Films at the Tabernacle between Ladbroke Grove and Westbourne Park.

I attended the event over 3 evenings and saw films from a number of countries, of which my favourite being from Antigua and Barbuda. It was called Memoirs of the Blue and was about the destructive relationship betwen a young couple told through a series of letters and flashbacks.

I also watched a harrowing film about child abuse from Barbados (a subject that you wouldn't have guessed from the summary in the programme), and a series of short films:

- Jesus TV from Venezuela about Jesus returning and getting his own reality TV show.
- The Village from Aruba, about a teenager getting hassled by gang members in his neighbourhood.
- 20 Years from Cuba about married life.
- Tree Fern Carver from Dominica / France, a short documentary.
- The Other Side of Carnival from Trinidad / USA, a documentary exploring the effect of carnival on Trindad.
- Raianbow Hill from Trinidad / Mexico a stop motion animation.

Supreme Courts of the World

There is currently a small display at the Supreme Court in Parliament Square about how Supreme Courts compare to each other and to the UK systems in 9 different countries around the world.

Head dress

This head dress is from North America.

Katsina Dolls

These Katsina (also kachina) dolls were created by Hopi people and these particular ones are from New Mexico. They are designed to teach children about Hopi mythology. I am going to borrow a quote here:

"The central theme of the kachina cult is the presence of life in all objects that fill the universe. Everything has an essence or a life force, and humans must interact with these or fail to survive." Barton, Wright (2008).  

Although the Katsina dolls have religious significance I think that they look brilliant from an artistic point of view and very contemporary.  The image below is from 1894:

Image from Jesse Walter Fewkes (1894) Dolls of the Tusayan Indians

American Power

Mitch Epstein's photograph series 'American Power' is currently on display at the Tate Modern.  His photos show the creation of energy and how the places that produce energy appear within the landscape of the United States of America.

Candy USA

A selection of American candy (that's sweets to us Brits) at a little shop in Charing Cross.

Lucky 7

After a party night my friends and I woke up craving an American breakfast.  Luck was on our side when we discovered that there is an American style diner called Lucky 7 within walking distance of where I live!

 It's certainly not cheap and no doubt a lot of the dishes you could get in most restaurants but the milkshakes are AMAZING! I had a chocolate milkshake with added peanut butter.  To be honest I was full just after drinking half the milkshake before I even started on my breakfast.

There are several posters around Lucky 7 including one of Obama. Not quite sure what Babe Rainbow is though.  A band?

My breakfast - Huevos Rancheros

Lizzy's breakfast - Eggs Florentine

Katie's breakfast - banana pancakes

www.lucky7london.co.uk/