See : The Imperial War Museum & the Saatchi Gallery

As many of you know, I have had the last few months off work as I recovered from a rather important operation. As soon as I got mobile again, I wanted to make sure that I got out as much as possible, partly to maintain a level of sanity but probably more importantly, see a bit of London. In the past few weeks, I have revisited the Tate Modern, eaten at loads of great restaurants, gone for walks round places I had previously neglected (such as the Southbank and Soho) as well as visiting various museums and caught up with lots of friends. And one takeaway from this, London is great!

Amongst some of my unblogged exploits are the Imperial War Museum and the Saatchi Gallery. Not only are they a great way to spend an afternoon, but perhaps more importantly, they are both free.

Imperial War Museum, Elephant and Castle




I had never gone to the Imperial War Museum before. To me, the thought was that it was a big dreary exhibition all about death. How wrong I was. This is all made clear as soon as you enter the light and airy main room filled with vehicles from the past, including, planes, tanks and missiles. It was genuinely exciting to walk amongst these beasts of the past and instead of ignoring the past, embracing it. The museums focus is definitely not just on death and hardship but of the people who partook in the war and what it meant to many of them. This interspersed with various bits of memorabilia and interesting artefacts led to a thoroughly interesting morning.




Current exhibitions include an exhibition on the holocaust (which I didn't get a chance to get to, will get there as soon as I have another free afternoon) as well as exhibitions on the Children's War and an interesting exhibition on the "Secret War", detailing exploits of MI5, MI6 and the SAS.

I really enjoyed walking through here and felt better with myself having re-educated myself on one of our darker passages of history.

The Saatchi Gallery, Kings Road


The Saatchi Gallery is also a free museum located at the top end of the Kings Road. When I visited, it was currently exhibiting modern artwork from the Middle East although most installations are temporary and rotate.



Split into 14 different galleries, the pieces were cleverly hung and positioned in a light and airy space and I never felt crowded, often a problem in more intimate galleries. Although busy, I had a chance to fully enjoy the pieces and walked around untroubled and unhurried.



As to the art, these varied from sculptures to some quite intricate paintings. A large part of the art expressed much of the hardship experienced by many in this part of the world as well as one room highlighting the development of the woman's role in these societies by replacing their heads with everyday utensils such as an iron and a sieve!



I often enjoy reading the little placards next to paintings telling me a little about the painting and the artist. At the end of the day, I'm not an art snob and need a bit of guidance. These were nowhere to be seen although you could purchase a guide from reception for a measly £1.50. This was a worthwhile investment; after all, the gallery is free! I guess they need to raise funds somehow.



All in all, another excellent place to visit in London. We really are spoilt.
For more pictures, please feel free to visit my Flickr here.

Details
Imperial War Museum London
Lambeth Road
London SE1 6HZ

THE SAATCHI GALLERY
Duke of York's HQ, King's Road
Chelsea, London, SW3 4SQ, U.K.

Eat Chinese : Dragon Castle, Elephant and Castle

Finding a good Dim Sum place is an essential part of being Chinese. The hunt had begun ever since the Teh family moved over to the UK from Germany and has been ongoing ever since. During this long and arduous journey, we have loved and left the New World in Chinatown (a shame as it used to be brilliant), stuck our noses up at Royal China (overrated and over priced), marvelled at Yauatcha's invention and got confused with the new Dim Sum fusion restaurants (yes you Ping Pong and Dim T).

To cut it short, we've been around a bit. So imagine my surprise when the ground floor off the monstrous blue building at the top of the Walworth road opened up to reveal Dragon Castle. Now this place is a mere ten minutes drive from my flat. This wasn't luck, this was fate.

I have been here many times, so I guess it's about time I wrote about why it's so great. And it is great. I have eaten here for dinner and for Dim Sum (traditional Chinese brunch comprising of dumplings and fried loveliness) many times, and with good reason. Put simply, the food is great. I'm guessing you want a bit more detail, so here it goes.



The Dim Sum menu is pretty straightforward. It's certainly not as fancy as something you would get in Royal China, but at the end of the day, it's all about the taste. The menu itself is quite clear with pictures of all its dim sum and brief descriptions of what they are. The steamed dim sum is of a decent standard. Their Har Gau is juicy and tender and full of prawn, their bean curd rolls are in a lovely sauce with good bit left to the bean curd skins, and their Shanghai soup dumplings full of lovely soup (a sure fire sign of good Dim Sum). Although it doesn't have normal spring rolls (although their prawn ones and Vietnamese ones certainly make up for this), its fried goods are not oily or greasy, and crispy. Definitely try their Wu Kok aka "Crispy Taro Croquette with Pork", absolutely delicious.




Another speciality of theirs is their noodles. Whenever I go there, we normally back up the Dim Sum with a plate of noodles. Personal favourites include their Seafood with crispy noodles and their Beef Ho Fun in black bean sauce.

So, to cut a long story short, this place rocks. The food is great, tastes fresh (I can't guarantee it, but I'm pretty sure they get all their ingredients shipped in daily), is very affordable (try as hard as you may, it's going to end up at about £15 a head) and is endorsed by my dad. Now that may not sound like much, but this is coming from the man where everything is "alright but too expensive". I take him to this place, and you won't hear a peep from him, even when the bill comes.