Shooting on Manual at KERB Market Granary Square

Last weekend, I was invited to attend a photography workshop with Paul Hames. We met up bright and early on Saturday morning to learn all about the basics of manual photography. Paul took us through the three steps to a perfect photo: time, light and sensitivity. We learned all about aperture and shutter speed, ISO settings and how to capture star trails.

I’ve found manual photography a particularly hard skill to learn and after no less than six previous workshops, I still couldn’t get my head around all the settings. I like to joke with people that I might be an accountant who works with numbers for a living but try to get me to understand the Sunny 16 rule and my mind implodes.

But an interesting thing happened in the workshop with Paul. Not only was what he was saying finally starting to make sense but after I followed through each of the steps, I put my eye to the view finder for the photo below and was surprised to see that the exposure level indicator was exactly in the middle. Now the photo isn’t perfect, Paul suggested that I should have reduced the shutter speed slightly, but this is the first time that I have ‘made’ a photo as opposed to taking one. I’m really excited and confident about working more on my manual photography skills in future.

Once Paul had taught us the basics, we headed off to the nearby KERB Market in nearby Granary Square for some food, street photography and guidance on how to capture the perfect smile.

None of these photos have been touched up and all were taken in manual. I’m hoping that this will become my ‘before’ post so that I can look back in a couple of months to see how far my manual photography skills have come. I think many of them are overexposed but hopefully that is something I can correct in future.

We first gathered on the grassy steps of Granary Square to learn how to capture the perfect smile. Paul suggested we not say smile but rather something else to elicit a true smile from our subjects.As you can see from the photo below, Kat and I soon realised that saying “Michael Fassbender” elicits a true grin from me! I normally dislike photos of myself but this is one of my favourites. Thanks Kat!

We’d certainly worked up an appetite by the time the photography part of our day was over and soon it was time to eat!

KERB Market is a daily food market that takes place in locations across London. We went to the King’s Cross market but you can also find them at Spitalfields and Southbank amongst other locations. The markets usually run every weekday from 2 to 5pm and occasional weekends so be sure to check the KERB Food website for times and vendors.

Kat and I decided on a delicious slow braised ‘bulgogi’ ox cheek Korean burrito and while we were waiting for that to be made, I watched some children having the time of their lives skipping through the fountains.

We also opted for a Japanese Katsu curry rice.

Sadly we ran out of money before we could buy any lovely cakes but we managed to get an iced tea from the lovely, friendly people at the Good & Proper Tea Co.

Yeah, I SO need to work on my fast food in bright, direct sunlight photography! I know it doesn’t look very appealing but that burrito was spectacular and the chicken Katsu curry was so good that I honestly don’t think I’ll ever be able to return to Wagamama. The tea was fantastic too and was lovely and refreshing and not at all too sweet.

All in all it was a fantastic day out and I’m definitely going to try hunt down more KERB locations. Paul was telling me that he offers Photoshop courses too so I am hoping to join him on one of those soon.

KERB Market
Granary Square
London
N1C 4AA

Daily: 12pm – 2pm (check website for weekend opening times)

A Walk in Novi Sad’s Golden Hour

My recent trip to Serbia was incredible and everything I’d hoped for. I had wanted to return with Stephen since the moment I left four years ago and this time I wanted to explore the culture, history and food in the region as well as spend time with my friends. We spent 4 days in Novi Sad and I have so much to tell you but I’m going to do something unusual on this occasion – I’m going to start with some snapshots that I took on my iPhone on our final evening in Novi Sad. I left my camera at home so that I could stop being a tourist but as we took two dogs for a much needed long walk around the city centre, I tried to capture the atmosphere of a late summer afternoon in Novi Sad.

Our walk began where it ends in Trg Slobode, which translates as Freedom Square.

Novi Sad hosts the world famous Exit Festival each year and the whole town was ready for the July activities.

You know how I have a tendency to take photos of the same buildings over and over again? The Crkva Imena Marijinog is one of those buildings and is the Catholic Name of Mary Church in Trg Slobode.

In the background here you can see the Orthodox Saborna Crkva (Cathedral Church) as well as Vladičanski Dvor (the Bishop’s Palace).

This is Ulica Dunavska which translates as Danube Street. Novi Sad is located along the banks of the Danube river which is known locally at the Dunav.

We stopped for ice cream in a sidewalk cafe. During the golden hour in Novi Sad, locals flock down to the centre of Novi Sad and sit relaxing in such cafes until late in the night. It is a fantastic, festive culture.

Once we finished our ice creams, we continued on towards Dunavska Park, the big park in central Novi Sad. In English that would be Danube Park. We had to take a slight detour to get there because there was some sort of live performance happening at the end of Ulica Dunavska.  Which is great because I got to explore an alley way…

… and spot some local street art.

We got to walk past the old military garrison. Novi Sad was once an important army town and Yugoslavian youth travelled from all over the country to serve their compulsory service here.

We finally entered Dunavska Park and I was thrilled to see take a different route to the one I’d taken on previous occasions. We walked down long promenades…

… and past a tranquil wooded area.

Once we exited the path, we turned back towards the city centre but kept walking past the south entrance to Trg Slobode.

We chose instead to enter via the West entrance which offers a breathtaking view of the Crkva Imena Marijinog. By the time we arrived, the golden hour was up and dusk had officially fallen. Is it any surprise that I can’t stop taking photos of this church?

Thank you for joining me on this walk. I still have so much to tell you about monasteries, NATO bombs, World War II memorials and breakfast on the Danube River.

Linking to Our World Tuesday.

Afternoon Tea at Pantry 108 at the Marylebone Hotel

I love afternoon tea, so much so that it’s difficult to believe I had my first afternoon tea experience in 2011, the day after William and Kate’s wedding. I love the bite-sized delights and relaxed afternoons spent chatting and drinking tea. Over the past year, it has also become an experience I share with my mother. I don’t often blog about our teas – my mum and I are usually far too busy catching up – but this time I’ll make an exception because recently we had the pleasure of taking afternoon tea at Pantry at 108 at The Marylebone Hotel.

We were given the choice of either a Classic Afternoon Tea or the signature Pantry at 108 Healthy Afternoon Tea, a dairy-free and gluten-free option. Mum took the Classic Tea while I tried out the healthy option. Usually when I do reviews, they are based on my own experiences but on this occasion, I’m going to be able to tell you about both my own and my mother’s teas as I took careful notes on the day!

The afternoon tea began with our sandwiches being brought out on Burleigh Plum Asiatic Pheasant china which was then followed with a two-tier stand on which the scones and pastries were displayed. The sandwiches were filled with what has become standard afternoon tea fare: ham, egg mayonnaise, cucumber and cream cheese and salmon. Let me tell you, there was no hint that my bread was gluten-free and the brown gluten-free bread was spectacular. In fact, I’m a white bread lover but this was the first time I have had brown bread that tasted better than white bread. Mum ate my salmon sandwich (sadly, I am allergic to salmon) and I tasted her ham sandwich. We both agreed that the bread was virtually indistinguishable except for the added grain in the non-gluten free option.

Side by side at the Pantry at 108: the gluten-free and classic sandwiches

What set the Healthy Afternoon Tea apart from the Classic Afternoon Tea is that the sandwiches were presented with a side serving of lentils and fresh cream along with a super food salad. This was so delicious that my mother was quite jealous and suggested that perhaps this could be added to the Classic Afternoon Tea as well. Yes, you’ve guessed correctly, I wasn’t as generous with my sharing as I could have been.

Side by side at the Pantry at 108: the gluten-free and classic stands

Now I know that what you’re really waiting for is the sweet section. The Classic Afternoon Tea included a Fig & Strawberry custard tart, a Victoria sponge, a Carrot & Walnut loaf and a Champagne jelly and fruit. My mother had nothing but good things to say about the selection – she remarked that the shortbread pastry in the custard tart was really crumbly and crisp and that the Victoria sponge was nice with not a lot of dough. The carrot & Walnut loaf was her favourite. It was a proper miniature loaf and was lovely, soft and moist.

Side by side at the Pantry at 108: the Fig & Strawberry tart and the Carrot & Walnut loaf

I have to say that for my part, I was really impressed by the sweets. I am not a cake and tart person but I loved each and every one of my four sweets and was actually a little bit sad when I took my last bite. The Raspberry cake was simply stunning and the Banana loaf was moist and tasty. The Chocolate and Blueberry cake was very chocolaty and absolute delicious. Mum and I both agreed that the Champagne jelly with raspberry, blackberry, cream and chocolate mousse was simply sublime. I could certainly imagine eating an entire bucket of that stuff!

Side by side at the Pantry at 108: the gluten-free sweets and the Raspberry cake

Now, the more astute of you may have noticed that we ate our afternoon tea in the wrong order. Afternoon tea is normally served on a three-tier stand and you eat from the bottom to the top: sandwiches, scones, sweets. We left our scones until last because they are usually the best part but this was perhaps a bit of a mistake on this occasion as they weren’t as lovely as the cakes and tarts.

Side by side at the Pantry at 108: the classic and gluten-free scones

My mother was impressed with her scones and liked that they were light, not too dense and with a more cake-like, less bread-like consistency than other scones she has tried. I thought that the gluten-free scones were a little chewy and hope that they improve the recipe with time. They were certainly not the worst gluten-free scones I’ve had before but they weren’t the best. They were ­very tasty and went well with lashings of clotted cream and some jam. I was pleased with the generous portion of clotted cream.

Normally I would review the teas as I go along but have decided to leave this to last on this occasion. The only possible complaint I had about the day was the tea. My mother and I began with Rare Tea Company Darjeeling and Earl Grey Tea respectively and were surprised to see that the tea was served without tea bags or tea leaves. This can be a blessing in a way as both tea bags and tea leaves can prove messy but in our case, we discovered that the tea was too weak and was lukewarm too.

With our sweets my mother requested green tea which was served with fresh mint leaves which she said was a great improvement and I tried the Berry Hibiscus tea. My tea was delicious but once again, it was too cool and it did not prove as good a pallet cleanser as I had hoped.

We spoke to the very helpful staff and they confirmed that tea is prepared beforehand and served from a canister. We learned our lesson with the final course and I ordered Lemon Verbena tea but requested that they serve it piping hot. I received it hot and strong and was most pleased with this. The tea was absolutely delicious.

I have to commend the Pantry at 108 for serving unlimited tea and for being willing to serve a different tea with each course; not all establishments are willing to do this with afternoon tea and it is much appreciated. However, I think it would be best to serve tea hot and fresh and with either tea leaves or tea bags so that customers can control the strength of their tea if they wish.

Our experience at the Pantry at 108 at the Marylebone Hotel was a great experience to compare a classic and gluten-free afternoon tea side by side and I am pleased to say that they were both very good. This might sound strange to say, especially considering my remarks about the consistency of the scones but for once I did not look longingly at the classic afternoon tea and feel that I had somehow lost out.

There are seasonal fluctuations in the menu and prices of the afternoon tea at Pantry at 108 and currently they are offering special Wimbledon Afternoon Teas for two including a Pimms jelly and strawberry tarts. Priced at a fantastic £34 for two (or £44 for two with champagne) until Sunday, 6 July 2014.

The Pantry at 108 – The Marylebone
108 Marylebone Lane
London
W1U 2QE

Cost: Afternoon Tea £28, Champagne Afternoon Tea £38
Open: daily from 12pm to 6pm.

We were guests of Pantry at 108 and the Marylebone Hotel during our visit. As always, I promise to share sincere and honest opinions with my readers.

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By the way, I have another quirky English pronunciation alert for you! The term Marylebone is the subject of constant discussion with respect to pronunciation. The consensus appears to settle equally between “Marry-le-bon” and “Marly-bone”. Have you ever heard another way of saying this?

The Phone Call: An Expat’s Greatest Fear

It was the final day of a beautiful vacation in the tiny Cornish village of Polperro. The break had been everything we'd wished for with long coastal walks, afternoon Cornish cream teas and absolutely no mobile phone reception. We arrived back to our apartment at Crumplehorn Inn and as our phones began to connect to the hotel Wi-Fi, my husband Stephen realised he had a missed call from his mother.

As South African expats living in London, we never receive calls from my mother-in-law's mobile phone to ours. The majority of calls are made through Skype and any phone calls that are made are made between our land lines.

Stephen tried to phone his mother back - no mean feat with such a weak signal. There was no answer and we agreed that the most likely explanation was that one of our young nieces had dialled us by mistake.

Taking advantage of the Wi-Fi, I popped onto Twitter to post a snarky comment about something when a friend of mine direct messaged me and simply wrote, "call me. Immediately". I knew then. I knew that something was wrong.

I had met this friend through his wife, my sister-in-law Sandra's first cousin. Sandra was married to my husband's brother and this message told me that something was wrong with my husband's family.

It is The Call that all expats dread with every fibre of their soul. The call to tell us that something unspeakable has happened back home.

I called my friend and with the bare minimum of greetings I asked what was wrong. He broke the news to me. Sandra had died in a car accident that afternoon. I couldn't absorb it at first and had to ask him to repeat himself. He did so, using her full name and married surname, repeating what had happened. My whole world ground to a halt in that moment. Sandra, my beloved sister-in-law and friend, the mother of my nieces, was gone.

When considering all the things I never want to have to do again, I'd have to add breaking news of that nature to my husband. I ran to him in the next room where he'd been sitting and told him that I had very bad news and that he needed to sit down. At that point I knew that he must be frantic with worry as he'd heard me on the phone, heard my utterance of dread when I'd received the direct message from my friend.

I blurted it out, "it's Sandra. She's died in a car accident". The next hours of our life passed in a blur. The only salient moment I can recall is stumbling into the passage to find Stephen double over and crying his eyes out. As his sobs wracked his body, my heart broke into a million tiny pieces to see him in such distress.

Somehow, that evening, we both phoned our employers. It was a Friday evening and we were both expected back at work on Monday. In a haze of panic, we booked a one-way ticket back to Johannesburg for Stephen for the Saturday night and made plans to leave Cornwall for London first thing the next morning.

I don't really remember the drive home. I remember not being able to cry and then listening to "Old and Wise" by the Alan Parsons Project and not being able to stop crying. We stopped once on the five hour journey home for a 5 minute toilet break but other than that we kept going.

We arrived home to find my mother still at our house (she had been house sitting) and my brother was there to take Stephen to the airport. There was no way that I could drive at that moment. Stephen was barely able to put some clean clothes in his already packed bags before they rushed out the door and left. My mother asked if I wanted her to stay but I told her I was fine.

It had been less than 24 hours and our whole lives had changed irrevocably. I will never quite understand my need to be alone at that moment because it was possibly the worst decision I have ever made. Nevertheless, as waves of grief rolled over me in the following days, I was able to make arrangements with my work to take bereavement leave, arrangements with my mother to look after our house again, and finally, on the Tuesday, I was able to book a flight home to Johannesburg to attend the funeral.

Is receiving that phone call the worst thing that can happen to an expat? I don't think so, I think what would have been worse is if we couldn't afford to book tickets home for the funeral. Losing a close family member or friend is always going to be the worst thing that happens to you and your family at that moment and nothing will mitigate that loss.

What is difficult, as an expat, are the hours spent wondering if you made the right decision to live abroad when you could have spent time cherishing every moment with your family. There is the sense of powerlessness, of having no means to make this right and the uncontrollable urge to move back home in the face of this loss. We came very, very close to moving back to Johannesburg and had to dig deep into our souls to remember why living in London was so important to us.

Perhaps the most difficult aspect for us was returning home to our lives in London and not feeling the immediacy of our loss in our daily lives. An exaggerated feeling of unreality pervaded our lives and both my husband and I struggled to believe that any of this had actually happened.

This became almost intolerable for us and it was something that could only have been resolved by being around our family and processing our loss with them. I'll be perfectly honest and say that I don't know how people manage to process losses like this in isolation from their families. It must take so much longer and must be that much more painful.

We were fortunate in that we spent two weeks in Italy with my husband's parents in September. During that time we were able to talk about what had happened, how my brother-in-law and nieces were coping, and how everybody was coming to terms with their loss.

It has been a year since we lost Sandra and I have scheduled this post to run on the year anniversary of her passing. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her and miss her but I wanted to publish this in the hope that one day it might help another expat somehow. This post took a full year to write – I began it very soon after receiving that phone call and painstakingly completed it as the months went by. I wanted to share this because so many expats (myself included) live in fear of that phone call but ultimately, we can’t control any of these things and despite everything we went through in the past year, I would say that you have to pursue your dreams in spite of your fear.

A Saturday Morning in Maltby Street Market: Ropewalk

If you live in London, you will soon notice just how difficult it can be to catch up with friends. Spontaneity might work if there are just a couple of you at a loose end but generally speaking, meeting up with a group of people requires serious project management skills. I blame it on the sheer scale of London; it might only take me 45 minutes to get into the centre of London but a visit to my dear friends in Ealing will set me back 90 minutes in each direction! Not that it is a set back, you understand, I love my friends, but I can’t wake up on a Saturday morning and decide to visit them on the spur of the moment.

So it was that following months of careful planning and coordination, a group of expats, bloggers and friends met up at the Ropewalk at the Maltby Street Market for a morning of culinary delights.

The Ropewalk is a tiny stretch of road leading alongside the railway arches in Bermondsey from the corner of Maltby and Druid Streets to Millstream Road. It is primarily a food market although you will see below that there are other traders too. My best piece of advice to you? Go hungry, very hungry. And definitely don’t make the mistake that I made – I arrived a little late and flustered (I do not like being late!) and met up with the girls in the coffee shop at the end of the walk. I immediately ordered both a savoury and sweet pastry with coffee and was too full to sample the rest of the culinary delights along the way. It was an amateur mistake but one which I will gladly fix on future visits to the market!

In the photos above, you can see Scottish smoked salmon from Hansen & Lydersen and a stall offering incredible falafels and Middle Eastern delights. That would have been where I ordered from if I had a modicum of impulse control that morning. The gentlemen above were making hamburgers and sausages.

Being the good wife that I am, I made sure to order some of this speciality Vegan chocolate from Dark Sugars Chocolates. These chocolates are very tasty and very rich so I ordered one of each of the chilli, orange, ginger and apricot brandy chocolates for Stephen.

I spent some time chatting to Krystal about her handmade selection of soaps and bath bombs. Apparently she has the nicest smelling house ever and it is all down to the natural ingredients in her products.I bought a fresh apple bath bomb and it was divine! It smelled good enough to eat and turned my bath water a beautiful pale green.I would return to the market simply to buy some more of Krystal’s wares!

We all thought that the Little Bird gin bar sounded particularly inviting. I’m sure most of you know that I don’t really drink much but I’d definitely be interested in a late afternoon tasting one day.

Don’t these fruit juices sound amazing? I would love the Liza Mintelli!

As do these bespoke beers? And isn’t the word ‘bespoke’ peculiar? I had never encountered the word before moving the the UK but encountered it when i started at my company because we offer bespoke courses. It is basically a pretentious English word for custom-made.

We tried savoury crepes in France but I have never tried a savoury waffle before. I think this would be straight where Stephen would head if I ever brought him to the market. The promise of slow-roasted duck and fresh plum sauce would prove irresistible to him.

Tozino’s selection of cured meats and Spanish cheese had my mouth watering. I’m a fan of cured meat and cheese anyway but this looked so fresh and inviting.

Before our visit to Ropewalk, I had not heard of tamales before but that all changed when one of the girls ordered one I knew that this could become one of my favourite Mexican dishes. It looked just yummy and I’d love to try the quesadillas too.

 

We had a super morning at the Maltby Street Market Ropewalk and I will most certainly return. The market is open on Saturday from 9am to 4pm and Sunday from 11am to 4pm and lies within walking distance from London Bridge and Bermondsey stations. The best way to keep in touch with the market is on their frequently updated Facebook page.

I got very lost on the way to the market (which was the reason for my lateness) so the full address plus postcode (if you’re using the maps app) is:

Maltby Street Market: Ropewalk
40 Maltby Street
London
SE1 3PA

View Larger Map

All Saints' Tudeley: In Search of Chagall

I remember the first time Melissa told me about All Saints’ Church Tudeley. I could scarcely believe this fantastic story about how a world-renowned artist came to design and paint  the windows of a tiny church in Kent. Marc Chagall was commissioned by Sir Henry and Lady Rosemary d'Avigdor-Goldsmid to design a window in memoriam to their daughter Sarah who had died in a sailing accident off Rye at the age of 21.

The east window is the first thing you see when you enter All Saints’ Tudeley and it depicts the tragic events surrounding Sarah’s death. Although initially reluctant to go ahead with the commission, it is said that when Chagall arrived at the church for the installation of the window in 1967, he exclaimed “c'est magnifique! Je les ferai tous!” (It's beautiful! I will do all!) and thus insisted on decorating the remaining eleven windows.

Look! Chagall’s signature on the window! He signed all the windows!

There is something quite thrilling about seeing original pieces of art, especially if you view collected works or attend a retrospective, but this experience was especially awe-inspiring. Here we were in the very location where Chagall intended these works to be displayed, in the place that inspired him so, to witness his epic tale of creation; death and new life; and joy and hope. Chagall relied heavily on symbolism and we certainly took our time as we made our way around the church. These were some of my favourite windows.

Creation: whirls and spirals in blue, with the hint of a crescent moon	Creation again: pinks, golds, purples and green, you can see a blue fish in the quatrefoil above plus more fish and birds in the window itself. Can you spot the donkey? I couldn’t find it no matter how I tried!
Death and New Life: I loved the way the light fell from this window. It was really peaceful and beautiful.	Death and New Life: I definitely spotted the donkey in this one! I liked this one a lot and liked the design of the angel.
Death and New Life: the east window in more detail. You can see Sarah in the water with her mother grieving on the shore. A red horse carries her to the ladder of heaven.	Joy and Hope: this window is full of symbolism from the angel in a golden glow to the butterflies and candles. It was lovely to finish our tour with an inspiring break from the previous windows.

 

Chagall was a Hassidic Jew from the Russian town of Vitebsk which now lies in modern day Belarus. Many of his works focused on Old Testament stories but Chagall came to be fascinated with the process of painting on glass (or “painting in light” as he called it) and he decorated windows in synagogues, churches and museums across Europe, in the USA and in Israel. All Saints’ Tudeley proudly declares to be the only church in the world with all its windows decorated by Chagall but you can also find one of his decorated windows at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Chichester, Sussex.

And if the beautiful windows haven’t convinced you, then perhaps I can tempt you to visit All Saints’ Church, Tudeley with some photos of the churchyard and Kent, the Garden of England.

Kent has a rich hop farming heritage and in this area you will see oast houses, the distinctive Kentish buildings specifically designed for drying hops in the brewing of beer. Most oast houses have been converted into houses these days but hop farming still goes on in Kent.

I don’t think I’ll ever see a scene like this and not be thankful that I live in Kent.

Quirky English pronunciation alert! ‘Tudeley’ is pronounced Tood-lee which my American readers probably got right but I bet everyone else was saying “Choodlee”. All Saints Tudeley is open every day during daylight hours.

Getting there

It took me a long time to visit All Saints’ Tudeley and it is not easy to get to. The Transport for London Journey Planner site says it’s not possible to reach on public transport but that is not true. You can catch a train from central London to Tonbridge and then the 205 bus towards Paddock Wood. Honestly, it might be best to visit by car because there is so much to see in this fantastic area and we had a super lunch at nearby Hop Farm (let me just say, best pizza ever). 

I recently figured out that if more than two of you are travelling, it can actually be cheaper and easier to hire a car if you’d like to explore Kent, Surrey, Hertfordshire or any of the counties surrounding London. Simply plug your postcode into a site like Momondo and hire a car for a day.

All Saints’ Church
Tudeley
TN11 0NZ

Website: All Saints Tudeley