Exploring East London (Bethnal Green)

Interior of V & A's Childhood Museum

Since London is a big city, most Londoners tend to hang out either in the centre or their own neighbourhood, venturing into an unknown territory is quite uncommon especially if you have lived in the city for a long time. It was only last year that I stepped foot into Bethnal Green for the first time and slowly I am discovering more about this part of the East end...

Over the past few years, Spitalfields and Shoreditch have become the trendy hot spots for Londoners and tourists alike, but personally, I dislike trendy places and can't stand going to these areas in the weekends (it's just too busy and touristy). Just beyond Shoreditch is Bethnal Green and luckily, it has kept its working class atmosphere, yet there are still interesting places without the 'see and be seen' crowd.

Bethnal Green used home to many poor Jewish immigrants at the end of the 19th and early 20th century. Subsequently, philanthropic companies like the East End Dwellings were formed to build blocks of flats to house the poor. Nowadays, the largest community here is no longer the Jewish but the Bangladeshis, however, there are still evidences of the past...



East End dwellings on Globe Road


The most famous landmark in the area is V & A's Childhood Museum which opened in 1872 as the Bethnal Green Museum. The museum re-opened as the Childhood Museum in 1974 but was closed from 2005 to 2006 for major refurbishment. I have never visited the museum until recently and was quite pleasantly surprised by it. I love the airy Victorian style building and to see some of my old toys behind the displays brought back fond memories for me. However, my favourite is the Home section, the details and craftsmanship of some of the the doll houses are quite incredible. My only complaint is that some of the displays could be arranged in a better way and with better lighting. But overall, this museum is fascinating for both adults and children, the cafe is also a popular hangout for young mums.



Exterior of the museum






Colin Booth's Institute of Play



Food Glorious Food exhibition


Not far from the museum is Back to basics, a cute non-profit venture for local artists, designers and craft makers to share ideas and create together. They have pop-up shops, regular crafts workshops and even offer free workshops every Wednesday mornings!

http://backtobasicsartsandcrafts.blogspot.com/



Back to basics


Further up the road from Back to basics is The Gallery Cafe, a charity-run vegetarian/ vegan cafe that is loved by locals. Housed in a Georgian building with a conservatory seating area, the atmosphere here is very relaxed and cosy. The food here is not bad, the portions are usually quite big and reasonably priced. There are also regular art exhibitions by local artists, as well as free music on Friday evenings.



The Gallery cafe


The Camel on Globe Road is a small and cosy gastropub that is popular with the locals. The atmosphere here is laid back and the staff are pretty friendly, it's a nice place to chill esp. if you want to be away from the huzzle and buzzle in Shoreditch.

However, my best find in this area has to be the famous E.Pellicci caff, which has been around for over 100 years. I have heard of this caff for years but have never made an effort to come and check the place out. After my visit, I realised why this caff has survived for so long and has attracted so many famous clienteles in the past. I love the art deco style decor and the atmosphere of this place. The friendly Italian staff (with Cockney accents) are warm and welcoming and they seem to know all the customers who walk through the door. Even with a new face like me, the staff were eager to make me feel at home. The food here is hearty, tasty and cheap, and the coffee is pretty good too. I couldn't eat any dessert then but was tempted when I overheard a customer complimenting on their bread and butter pudding... I ordered a portion (£1.20!) to take home and thoroughly enjoyed it later in the evening!! I absolutely love this place, it's so refreshing to see a place like this still surviving when the entire city is dominated by chained coffee shops. I hope this will stay in business for many years to come... we really need to support local independent shops, cafes and restaurants and not let them be pushed out of business by chained brand names that are impersonal and characterless.




E.Pellicci


Further down on Bethnal Green Road, there is a cool vintage and collectible book store called Interzone books. Apart from books, it also sells fashion items and has an expresso bar.



Interzone books


A few shops down is Le Grenier, a cute vintage store that stocks goods from furniture, homeware, toys to clothing and other fashion accessories. The stock here is really quite unique and interesting, it's really worth checking out if you are into vintage collectibles. If only I have more room at home, I would start collecting... and this would be a great starting point!


Le Grenier

Museum of everything

I wanted to visit James Brett's Museum of Everything in Primrose Hill back in 2009 but somehow by the time I got round to it, it had already closed! Finally, just a few days before the closing of the third exhibition, I managed to visit this super quirky and fascinating museum filled with distorted mirrors, taxidermic animals, photographs of midgets and a miniature fairground! It's hard to use words to describe this place, one has to come and experience it, so come before it closes again!

I didn't know what to expect before my visit and was quite surprised by the size of the museum because I was expecting it to be like a small town house! But what surprised me the most was its content: Sir Peter Blake's huge eye-opening art and curiosity collection! If you are someone into politically correctness, then you will be in for a shock. There are some disturbing displays here (i.e. Victorian taxidermist Walter Potter's collection), but they also reveal how times and societies have changed over the years. There are many extraordinary objects here but I am particularly fond of ex-serviceman Ted Willcox's tapestries esp. his version of Alice in Wonderland. However, I am sure like many others, my favourite part of the museum has to be ex-farmer and antique dealer, Arthur Windley's miniature fairground. It looks amazing as you enter the room but it's even more amazing when the show begins... everyone in the room just lit up and smiled as if they were children again... there is something magical here and it certainly brought some unexpected joy to a group of us on a rather grim and cold February afternoon...

Design fairs/expos in Seoul, Hong Kong and Taipei (Oct - Dec 2010)

Seoul design fair venue

Seoul design fair (Oct)

Instead of going to Tokyo design week, I opted for Seoul design fair this year esp. since it has been names as this year's World design capital. The fair took place at the former Olympic stadium, so the venue was massive, hence I had to make 2 trips there! Apart from local Korean designs, there were participants from many other countries like Germany, Taiwan, Italy and Japan etc. There were also exhibits of international design competition entries, works by design students, design mart and bicycle designs etc. Comprehensive, well-organised and interesting but perhaps lacked some surprises... I was so relieved to find a massage chair at the venue after walking around for 2 days, I almost didn't want to get off it!!





Design fair venue - Olympic Stadium



I love these post-it carts!



















Design competition entries

Business of Design week, Hong Kong (Dec)

I was quite excited when I found out that Japan is the partner of this year's Business of design week. Although I didn't attend the conference, I attended the East Forum talk which was very insightful because there were designers/ architects from South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan showcasing their work and exchanging ideas on Asian designs. The Inspiration hall at the HKCC was interesting because it featured design work from Japan, Hong Kong, award-winners from design competitions and a calligraphy exhibition. The free business seminars and Detour (see my previous entry) both exceeded my expectations, so I was quite impressed with the overall standard of this year's BODW. Honestly, I am not sure if it was because the Japanese were involved which lead to the huge improvement from previous years, but I hope that the standard will sustain in the future.


East gathering forum





Japanese designs at Hong Kong Convention Centre



Hong Kong honey by Studio Leung









INK & design exhibition

Taipei design expo (Dec)

The last stop of my Asia design tour brought me to Taipei, a city which I haven't visited for about 15 years! It has changed so much over the years and to my surprise, its design industry has also evolved beyond recognition. The Taipei design expo, held inside the former tobacco factory, showcased many of the local talents and from other parts of the world including Germany, France, Japan and England etc. Often been regarded as a shadow of Japan, Taiwanese designs seemed to have found a new identity of its own. I was particular impressed with its tableware, packaging and graphic designs. The bamboo-inspired scaffolding setting upstairs was also memorable and original. Like Seoul, a lot of effort and investment has been poured into making Taipei a world class cultural and design city which is very encouraging and exciting. At the moment, Tokyo is still the cultural and design hub of Asia but will Taipei and Seoul catch up over the next few years? We will have to wait and see...



Cool venue







Jia ceramics







Nipple glasses!!








Double happiness packaging