Skip to main content

Daily Writing Journal - My London Hood - Destination Dalston and Ridley Road Market.


Sometimes, more often than not I go to Dalston which is in Hackney. It has a vibrant market called Ridley Road Market where you can get fresh fish, and vegetables, clothes, shoes and bags. I used to be a regular to this market and Brough Market (now a very posh tourist joint). Not so much now.



You also get lots of tropical 'ethic' foods - basically African/Caribbean since that's where most settled. So yams, sweet potatoes, plantains, avocados, stock fish etc. Lots of fish mongers and butchers. There are a few markets I used to go to in London. There used to be an excellent fruit and veg market in the west end...but let's not digress. There is also a massive Pak hair - wigs, weaves, body creams. I would say it was mostly black women but now all women are into wearing hair extensions or wigs. I'll do a feature on the next time.


It's a rather fashionable place, now with a Marks & Spencers next to the station.

There are two overland train stations that service this part of London.


Inside the Kingsland Shopping Centre, there are a range of supermarkets, a big Sainsbury's, Iceland, Superdrug, Games, JD Sports and massive Matalan at the end. Basically the usual suspects with some cheaper stores.

When I last went one large clothes store had closed down, but then a major chain was also closing down due to rent hikes. However it seems to have been renegotiated because  if that big brand clothes shop had closed down, it would have been the demise of the shopping centre. Only because, it would look empty  then those cheap tacky stores with cheap clothing would have moved in. And the tone would have gone down - you know those cheap stores on short term rent deals where everything is still stored in boxes. So I'm happy the brand is still there.

The main reason I go there is for my spiced Caribbean bun. I'll do a feature on that like I do all my treats and I'll post it.

But for now, it's the Rainbow Bakery at the crossroad or junction on Kingsland Road.


It's an interesting place to visit, if you have the time.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Daily Writing Journal: Mo Money Challenge - week 8 which means £8 in the tin!

£8 in coins So I'm on my second week on saving and still not sure. I'm not feeling the pinch per se, but it's hard thinking how am I going to maintain this. So I managed to get a few coins out and gather some change, but at some point I'll really need to organise this. I've put in four fifty pence pieces with come up to two pounds sterling and the rest in pound coins.  Remember the money tin from last week. Well it all went inside that.... How am I feeling? Slightly bored but I still have a long way to go..... Saving money is boring, spending is more interesting.

My London Hood - The Tate Modern

Modern Gallery make you think of the world as it is today. I just wandered around the exhibitions in the Tate modern and  seemed focused on oppression of humanity - focusing on the poverty, wars, sexuality, violence, conflict, the underdog and gritty. This was a picture that captured my imagination because it looked so modern. This is a painting by German artist Christian Schad  called Agosta, the Pigeon-Chested Man, and Rasha, the Black Dove 1929 is a large portrait-orientated oil painting of two funfair performers.  https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/schad-agosta-the-pigeon-chested-man-and-rasha-the-black-dove-l02264  So in typically America-speak when I saw my people, I had to stop and take a picture, therefore homegirl, Rasha, the black dove is headlining my blog. In those days, I guess the only work she could get was as side-freak show but she is very beautiful, modernly so. It also made me think of what happened to all the black people or people of colour during Nazi Germ

Review of January 2018 - lost weight, socialised with others, completed my beta-read, doing my courses.

Hello everyone, Just checking in about my goals and life in general. It's all good. What went well. I took in packed lunches for at least four days a week. This was just hummus, sprouts, grated carrot sandwich. So very vegan.  I also cooked dinner a few times a night rather than eating junk food or takeaway. So a lot healthier. I finally have a social life of sorts. In my last job - it was work, home and see family on weekends. I was so drained and tired so this new job has made such a difference, that I can go out and meet people.  So I go out with some drinking mates once a week. It's a nice evening out of the house and away from social media or the internet. It's mostly small talk but its nice. I'm doing my photoshop course. That is coming along nicely, that picture is from one of my practice sessions. I'm doing a couple of writing courses which are intense. What hasn't gone well. I need to focus on having more routines, and breaking tasks