The sceptred Isle 55bc-1901

This is a damn good book if you're into British history. Over 600 pages and I'm not even read 200 pages, now at the Stuart era and already renewed it once at the library. 

Restarted running

 After a gap of about 3 years, I have taken up running/jogging again. Since I’ve been running for at least 20 years on a regular basis, it was a fairly simple task to get into it.  

The old adage is true, running on the ground is better than running on a machine.

Portillo's hidden history of Britain

I am currently reading "Hidden history of Britain" by Michael Portillo. Based on a TV series of the same name, it provides a detailed and fascinating look at several iconic and not so well known structures in Britain.  These structures now join my to visit list.  I started off seeing Portillo as a smug, smarmy Tory when he was a minister.  But now I view him as a fine historian and writer. I also met him in person at the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London in the early 2010s, he signed an autograph for me. A great read.

The last London by Iain Sinclair - very brief review

 I’ve just read Iain Sinclair’s “The last London”. Great informative book by historian and friend of walking Youtuber John Rogers. Sinclair takes us on a journey across London in a series of walks, sharing personal anecdotes and history of the sites he came across. Much recommended.

City Hall Memorial Garden

As it is the last day of VE day celebrations in the UK today, I paid a visit to City Hall Memorial Garden in Central, Hong Kong. There are many plaques and monuments paying tribute to the sacrifice of the servicemen and women who fought in both world wars. In particular it focused on the bravery and the sacrifices made by those involved.

Recipes

 One of my biggest bugbears in life is seeing an interesting cooking recipe and then seeing that it serves four or sometimes six. It never serves one or in my current case two. One way I get around it is to divide the final result into four or six sealable containers, eat one serving and freeze the rest. For any on his or her on own I recommend “One is fun” by the legendary Delia Smith.

The last London by Iain Sinclair

 After finishing John Roger’s “This other London”, I went to Hong Kong’s city hall library for the first time to borrow Iain Sinclair’s “The last London”. I first heard of Sinclair from John Roger’s youtube videos where he sometimes joins John on his walks. Iain Sinclair offers a deep understanding of many places in London, so I decided to give one of his books a try.  I will write a review after finishing the book.

City Hall library, in a listed building in Hong Kong’s Central district that was built in 1962 during the British administration. The whole building reminds me of the schools I attended back in the UK with its brutalist facade.