by Amber on March 25, 2009
Hello! How are you? I’m well, quite excellent in fact. That’s in part because today I had a good mail day, one of those fleeting moments where the universes of international postal services align and mail actually is delivered!
An example of a bad mail ‘day’: Once I ordered a book on zines from Amazon, which never showed up so I ordered a replacement, which did arrive. Seven months later, yes seven, the original package appeared, with postal marks declaring it had meandered around the world; from Portland, to India, via Australia and finally to New Zealand…
A fine example of good mail:
This package was from Pete – he’s quite handy with words (read his blog: Less Permanent) and an accomplished spoon hunter.
These are final pieces from London needed to complete my Alt Albion mission. Hurrah! Also enclosed was a copy of the magazine he edits, Art and Things. The rumours are true, send me silverware and I will pimp all of your publishing endeavours on CFS.
Item number two on this GMD was an exciting parcel from Moo:
My very own pint-sized name cards. Excellent! I love the ‘kit’ the cards come in – filled with friendly touches like discounts and a card declaring us best friends. It was a speedy delivery too, which is always pleasing. I think I ordered my cards about a week ago.
They’re so cute I almost don’t want to give them away…
My tax refund was also in the PO Box today, but it’s not so photogenic. Good Mail Day = smiles!
by Amber on March 1, 2009
London, baby. My initial expectations of London were quite low, to be perfectly, almost disturbingly, frank with you. I had always seen it as a low grey metropolis, soot and grumpy people. However it revealed (well more accurately threw off its coat and flashed) itself as a paradise, a land of beautifully groomed moustaches, well dressed denizens and fun. I love it so much I wore a white t-shirt to take a silly snapshot, and you know I NEVER wear white.
Poetic, yes. Marvelous, yes. Diverse, certainly. Scary, never. ❤
Selected moments of glorious warm fuzzy feelings:
- Brick Lane, beer and delicious beigels from a Jewish bakery.
- Shoreditch – my expanded thoughts on the holy hipster land are over at Alt Albion.
- Oxford Street shopping, especially Uniqlo, Selfridges and ‘losing my shit’ (that’s my composure, folks) in Topshop.
- Seeing some world class art – including Banksy and Blu, who I have written about previously.
- Meeting with my friends Miles and Alice for a drink in a pub. Good times!
- The London Eye, a perfectly clear day and a private pod.
- Finally visiting the Tate Modern and seeing the giant domestic cat.
- Staying at the Bloomsbury Radisson, aka Bloomsbury Radsville. It’s a fabulous hotel, if only they didn’t keep asking if I was sure I was in the right place!
- Wasabi Sushi – nom, nom, nom. Excellent vegetarian options.
- London A-Zed – I conducted a wee project, taking photos of London signage to create an alphabet. Please note the punctuating crown. Majestic.
I miss you London but I’ll be back soon. Seriously, we only managed to say hi to each other. Can’t wait. And you, have you been to London? What’s your favourite city? Where do you feel alive, connected with the human condition, or just your real self? I’d love to know.
by Amber on February 28, 2009
From Glasgow we drove south of the border to Liverpool. Home of Beatle mania and hot Liverpudlians. Trust me – I never thought I’d say that but it’s true. There were many gorgeous boys and girls to behold.
While visiting, the team stayed at the Hard Days Night Hotel – a Beatles themed pad, from the cocktails to the background lobby music. Every room was graced with a portrait of the fab four. I lucked out however, viz:
- Hear my plaintive pleas of ‘why?’
The Tate Liverpool was a mystical experience. A William Blake exhibition was being held and it was phenomenal. Other people can articulate the magic better than I, so I will leave it, only saying that it’s so good perhaps a post art exhibition cigarette would have be appropriate.
After a nice day out in Liverpool (I was sad to leave so soon) we drove to Manchester. I was the navigator for this part of the journey and truth be told, it was one of the most stressful experiences of my life. A cigarette was more than appropriate and I pretty much dropped the map book and ran for the nearest bar.
I enjoyed Manchester, it had a really good vibe and felt like somewhere I could live. Become a romantically poor writer, work in a cafe and drink hot tea all day before playing with my band at night. There is more to it than bohemian dreams however, Manchester has an amazing shopping precinct. I loved this prizewinning display by Mulberry:
Here’s the three posts I wrote for Alt Albion regarding these fine cities:
+ The Liver Bird – a mythology lesson.
+ March of The Spoons – the obsession grows, the experiences become odder.
+ Vintage Manchester – the best places to find clothes and drink tea in the Northern Quarter. A cute girl from Retro Rehab helped me out with the hot tips!
by Amber on February 25, 2009
This is the post in which I try to turn the somewhat classic tourist snap into a daily outfit. Whatever. It was a fun day and I looked alright. Liverpool was looking pretty good too! Joy.
+ OutdoorResearch down jacket that saved my bones from the cold.
+ Purple ruffle tunic by Max. Flounce!
+ Merino top to keep me snug.
+ Black Lee jeans.
+ New yet beloved Montana boots by Progetto. Handmade-Italian-sexy!
+ Kathmandu travel bag – it managed to hold my life and carry my laptop around all day with no problems.
The cause of my tourism glee? Urban Outfitters! My very first visit to one. Oh my. It was really good. You know that it’s going to be overpriced clone type stuff but it was still loads of fun. I bought a beautiful emerald sweater printed with a horse, but more on that later. My other bag was full o’ HMV goodies… This may surprise you but we have neither store in lil’ old New Zealand. Consumerism ahoy!
by Amber on February 25, 2009
England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales. This time Scotland! Post the Loch Lomond extravaganza, we nipped down to Edinburgh for a romantic Valentines Day with Bryan, a poor lad trying to carve out a career as a half-assed theatrical tour guide. He was to take us through the dungeons of Edinburgh and did so with not-entirely-positive panache. It got a bit chilly however and we we forced to flee into the night.
One thing I did get out of the experience was an understanding of just how ancient the settlements of Albion are. Such beautiful old buildings everywhere!
Other highlights of Edinburgh: the Hilton Club Suites and bar, eating cheese and chips, mildly enjoying a crepe from a street vendor (people kept pronouncing it “crap”, which I found hilarious).
The next morn we awoke and cruised to Glasgow in the Transit van. 62mph was our top speed at all times. Glasgow is a mixed land – a day of beautiful buildings and parks, special op-shops and of course, teaspoon adventures.
Glasgow University
Then conversely – a night of scandolously interesting people and glorious clubbing at Optimo until the wee hours (read Duncan’s take on our experience over at Alt Albion). Who knew?
by Amber on February 17, 2009
Hi! Long time no post. What a trip it’s been so far… Exhausting, moving, inspiring, hilarious, disgusting. To be honest, I’ve been experiencing the full spectrum of emotions.
To start with we strenuously checked out the fine lounges of Auckland and Hong Kong airports. From there it felt like we spent a day and night lost in a Heathrow vortex, as flights were cancelled due to snow. Eventually we made it to the (reputedly haunted) Drover’s Inn, Loch Lomond for a creepy-awesome Friday the 13th!
The Loch was gorgeous. If you ever do get a chance to explore a more rural part of Scotland it’s definitely worth the hike. I imagine the further north you go, the better it is.
It was pretty chilly out there! I had a lot of fun throwing rocks onto frozen sections of the river and listening to the amazingly alien noises that were produced.
If you’re in need of more Code For Something randomness – here’s a short piece I wrote on spoon collecting - my mission for the trip. Apologies to the rest of the Alt Albion crew, I’m getting way too geeky/passionate about it. Or take a peep at my UK flickr set.
More on Edinburgh and Glasgow soon! Miss you!
by Amber on February 5, 2009
Over the last few days I’ve been so excited most of my words have come out muddled and I have nearly developed my own language of squeaks. Why? Because I’m off to the United Kingdom next week! (Yup, that’s my secret – I only found out on Monday.)
A grand surprise, I’m lucky to be road tripping with the Alt Albion crew on a 12 day cultural voyage (does that mean beer?) of discovery.
We’re checking out Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester, Cardiff, London and Brighton. I must say, the “we” is a very cool bunch of people – I’m looking forward to getting to know them.
Some of the things that I might (and very likely will) do:
+ London Fashion Week + See Magazine in Manchester + High tea at the Ritz + Grouchos + London Eye + Eat Brighton Rock + Stay in a 17th century inn on Loch Lomond + Try some (vegetarian) haggis + Go to a chippery + See a fox + Party at Optimo in Glasgow + Drink a daily bucket of tea + Go to a football match + The Royal Pavilion in Brighton…
And a million other things I’m sure. The 9th largest island in the world is my oyster! If you’ve got any suggestions, please let me know – I need some starting points.
As this trip is so last minute (I hurriedly bought a down jacket yesterday, and am struggling to find boots!), I haven’t prepared any posts for while I’m away. I’ll definitely try and keep up but no promises. However, it looks like I will be blogging daily over at Alt Albion site however, so check it out. Yay all round!
