Professional Photographer of the Year 2011 ceremony and London Trip in March 2012
August 17, 2012 Leave a comment
London Trip 29 March – 2 April
Pre Easter Weekend. Visiting due to Professional Photographer of the Year 2011 award Ceremony at The Printspace at Kingsland Road. High Fashion Winner followed by a big big surprise becoming the overall winner. A whirlwind evening that got the shy Jericho become open and quirky posing with his muse and model Monika Godlewska and Mavyreen Andres ( that lovely Asian Lady from Hasselblad ). Extremely enjoyable evening with Adam Scorey hosting the event with charm with zeal. Many Thanks to the good people at the UK Magazine for organizing the event.
The 5 day/4 night tour was a crazy one. The climate was chilling as average temperatures dropped from 22 Degrees a week before to single digits as low as 3 Degrees on the 30th . Totally unprepared Jericho was. Dry skin below the eyes , a extremely red right eye and a bleeding nose . It will take abit of getting used to if moving to Europe ever becomes an option.
London is an awesome city to be in. For those in the creative industry, this is a place where your talents are appreciated . Even the Financial times run features on Art related groups or events. Do feel free to pick up a free copy of The Evening Standard as it provides quite a lot of useful information. Museums like the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Nature History Museum needs at least a full day each to look through. The Big Ben and the St. Paul Cathedral , Traflgar Square are all fantastic places to visit.
Travel however is a pain. Taking the cab is extremely expensive even to the locals. The average ride on a London Cab is about 30 Pounds and I had to use it on at least 7 different occasions. The constant jams at times make it faster to go on foot if one knows their way around. The London Underground is cheaper in comparison but certain lines are under renovation thus one will always need to keep updated on which. My Makeup Artist suggested buying the Octopus card which is below 80 Pounds a month and allow you to travel on Zone 1 and 2 on the tube and also on buses. This compared to 4 plus Pounds for a single ride or 6 plus pounds for a day ticket.
My hotel the Corporthorne Tara London Kensington is a 4 star hotel that is set in High Street Kensington area. An ATAS area with Massimo Dutti and Esprit just round the corner. A 3 minute walk to the London Underground with buses connecting to various parts of London as well. Very centralized location that makes sightseeing a breeze. Had read a couple of complains on the internet but am rather satisfied with it’s service. The Room is moderately big . The Décor is classic and the room heating working well. The TV channels are rather limited with only about 6 channels but I am not here to watch TV so no complains there. For those on a budget, one can always pop out to The Muffin Man café and even McDonald’s nearby. Boots and Tesco are good places to get some snacks and drinks to stock up your mini bar which comes empty. Tesco is a great place to get bargains. 6 butter Croissants for 1 Pound. Internet is at 10 Pounds for 24 hours. Some might consider this expensive but coming from Singapore, I find this rather acceptable. Beds are soft and comfortable . The variety of teas and coffee bags comes in useful, getting your body warm again after spending some time outside in the cold. A nice experience overall.
Visiting the Dennis Severes House was an experience that one will truly remember. The Museum like house on Folgate Street is pure gold for those who like a walk in experience on how life is like in London in the 17th and 18th Century. The furniture is authentic and even the fruits are freshly arranged and cut for visits so it is like you happened to walk into the house after the family has just left. The building itself has so much history that changes from room to room… moving from the family’s boom to it’s downfall . Did a photoshoot here….. would love to come back just to visit and soak in the experience .
Shopping in London have been interesting experience. Tesco for instance has no cashier. It’s fully automated . You go to the checkout counter, scan your products, feed your money into the machine and off you go after collecting your change and dumping your stuff into a carrier. As a result, your groceries are cheaper as labor costs are reduced. More value for the average buyer.
MacDonald’s here seem to have a more health oriented approach as instead of prices, the numbers on the boards are about the calories of the food you are buying.
Shopping for branded products in London is quite an experience. Instead of having a shopping mall where all the major brands try to blind and seduce you with their marketing images, the designer brands are scattered over the place. Places like Bond Street, Regent Street, Davies Street, Oxford Street are just a few places that you will want to mark down in your list of places to see. The experience here is as authentic and surreal as some shops are the original ones that the designers started out with. The wooden plank floors , the huge persian carpets and chandeliers housed in 2,3 storey buildings with alot of charm and history are the norm here……
London is a nice place to visit overall but prices are rather on the high side. Gonna work on the numbers and see if it’s worth uprooting and moving here to further my career.
Megalomaniac Euphoria 