20101031

20101030

Is this Narnia?






No, it is Regent's Park in London.

20101028

Street library


Take a seat, grab a book!

20101027

Hotel with one window



This hotel's facade near Russell Square does not look very inviting. It has only one window. It must be the presidential suite!

20101026

Christmas tree

20101025

Sunday details






20101024

Chocolate cuteness



My most avid readers must be aware of my soft spot for Hello Kitty. It all began when I moved to Asia. Even now in Europe Hello Kitty is haunting me. Last week I got a Hello Kitty baking mould as a present from a friend - thanks Emilia! Today I used the mould for the first time and made some chocolates filled with fudge. Cute, isn't it?

20101023

Golden city





20101021

Candy from the past



These legendary PAX pastilles by Fazer were first in production in the 1950s. I have heard that my granddad always used to have a box of them in his pocket. Now they are again for sale in Finland and online. I like their taste of tar and the simple and nationalistic box.

20101020

20/10/2010

20101019

20101017

Three wise men from Babylon

Piece of Ishtar Gate from Babylon at Berlin's Pergamon Museum.

20101016

Gingerbread house


I wonder if the evil witch from Hänsel und Gretel lives here?

20101015

Some bubbly



I love my drinks bubbly. On my recent Berlin visit I tasted Austrian sparkling water called Römerquelle. In addition to its nice texture, it has been nicely branded. The bottles are beautiful, not to mention their glasses. Their branded glasses have Roman soldiers as reliefs on their bottoms. I wonder can I find them in London?

20101013

Afternoon tea at Hyatt Regency Churchill

My jasmine tea flower opening.

20101012

Better the devil you know


Window display of a shoe shop in City of London.

20101011

Shoreditch


Streetview in Shoreditch

20101010

Pattern Lab



I saw this store window in Soho on Saturday evening. It seems I am not alone with my love of patterns.

20101009

£113,019,926.00



I had my hopes high this morning. There was a jackpot of £113,019,926.00 in EuroMillions lottery yesterday and I read in the news that there was only one winner. Sadly, it was not me.

20101006

Anniversary



There are coins and there are Coins. I discovered one of the nicest two pound coins last week. It has been made for the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth last year. I shall keep this beauty in my treasury.

20101004

Can one love patterns too much?

Sugar beans, cucumber and baby plum tomatoes in heavenly order.

20101003

Borjomi mineral water



I had my Saturday lunch at Maroush Express, my favorite Lebanese restaurant in London. I ordered sparkling water to drink with my usual houmous and tabouleh. I got a bottle of Borjomi mineral water which turned out to be excellent, just the right amount of bubbles.

After finishing my lunch I started examining the Borjomi bottle etiquette. It has the name Borjomi written with Roman and Georgian alphabet on it. The Georgian alphabet look so beautiful. They have an ancient feel to them although they were discovered only in 405AD, much later than their Roman cousins. It also turned out that Borjomi is a small but famous town in Georgia and renowned for its healing mineral water.

Now I am waiting my next encounter with Borjomi.

20101002

FT graphics


Graphics by Angus Greig for Financial Times

I have become a fan of Financial Times' graphics. They are simple yet informative and very Bauhaus, like the graph from the FT Money issue from last week.