Valentine Park in East London

Having purchased a bike in England I am now free to roam around the city whenever the weather cooperates. The other day I visited Valentine Park in Ilford which must be one of the largest parks in East London as it took me ages to go through and around it. I can say without a doubt that this bike is the best purchase I've made this year and look forward to all the great places we'll travel together. It was nice to see the changing colour of the leaves, the bird, ducks, and swans around the lake, and the small lavender field in the garden area. Here are a few images from Valentine Park; one that I will definitely be visiting more from now on.

Read about the facilities and exciting interesting history of Valentine Park.

Hyde Park

Located in the heart of central London Hyde Park is the largest in the city. So far I have not found the time to explore all of its areas but from what I did see it's quite spectacular. This enormous park includes over 4,000 trees over 350 acres is one of the Royal Parks of London and apparently is famous for Serpentine Lake, the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, and something called Speaker's Corner. The latter being an area where public speaking, debates, and/or discussions are encouraged. As a result protests and demonstrations often start in that section and may or may not spread throughout the city.

Although it's getting colder by the day, general activities in the park include swimming, boating, cycling, and walking/running. In addition, there are tennis courts, fields for other ball games, and a large children's playground. In the winter ice skating is apparently available from November to January but am no so keen on that. There are two restaurants by the lake which I intend to visit soon enough. I'm realising week after week that there is so much to do/see in London and I'm getting worried that I'll run out of time.

For more info about Hyde Park and all its events, including the Winter Wonderland 2013.

The Little Prince's Flower

"For millions of years flowers have been producing thorns. For millions of years sheep have been eating them all the same. And it's not serious, trying to understand why flowers go to such trouble to produce thorns that are good for nothing? It's not important, the war between the sheep and the flowers? It's no more serious and more important than the numbers that fat red gentleman is adding up? Suppose I happen to know a unique flower, one that exists nowhere in the world except on my planet, one that a little sheep can wipe out in a single bite one morning, just like that, without even realising what he's doing - that isn't important? If someone loves a flower of which just one example exists among all millions and millions of stars, that's enough to make him happy when he looks at the stars. He tells himself 'My flower's up there somewhere...' But if the sheep eats the flower, then for him it's as if, suddenly, all the stars went out. And that isn't important?"

-Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince

Camping in Chigwell

A few weekends ago I took part in a Duke of Edinburgh camping trip with students from Year 10 and 11. The purpose of the Duke of Edinburgh Award is to develop self-confidence, self-reliance, teamwork, and leadership skills. It is given to students who fulfil a series of tasks which include volunteering in their community; improving in an area of sport, dance, and/or fitness; developing practical and social skills; and finally planning, training for, and completing a weekend hiking expedition either in England or abroad. Students do the D of E for different reasons, but it definitely looks good on a resume. 

The weekend included lots of activities, survival workshops (i.e. how to read maps, compasses, etc.), and several hours of hiking. It was a great opportunity to get loads of fresh air, something I find hard to come across in London. Overall it seemed like all the students had a good time and luckily the weather cooperated despite a rainy prediction. As much as I love camping, however, I'm not so sure I'll be able to cope with the anticipated weekend when the students do over 15km of hiking each day, and that's if they don't get lost!

For more on the award: Duke of Edinburgh

The Story of Stuff

Videos that go viral are generally funny, creative, but completely forgettable. Once in awhile, however, a video comes along that actually attempts to explain something about the world in a way that engages audiences. Fortunately some of those videos go viral. The Story of Stuff was created by Annie Leonard and a team of caring individuals in 2007 committed to making people aware of just how much waste was being manufactured on a daily basis. What started with one 20-minute animated video just over five years ago turned into a series of subject-specific videos with millions of followers including: 

• Story of Bottled Water
• Story of Cosmetics
• Story of Electronics
• Story of Change

The latest video, released last week, is titled The Story of Solutions and attempts to outline a strategy for getting people and corporations thinking in a new/better way. By shifting the economy in a more sustainable direction hopefully people can start to see that more is not necessarily better and that changing the game can be beneficial to each and every one of us. Below are two quotes taken from the website that sum up the ideas of the first and last video. 

"We have a problem with Stuff. We use too much, too much of it is toxic and we don't share it very well. But that's not the war things have to be. Together we can build a society based on better not more, sharing not selfishness, community not division."

"In the current "Game of More', we're told to cheer a growing economy - more roads, more malls, more Stuff! - even though our health indicators are worsening, income inequality is growing and polar icecaps are melting. But what if we changed the point of the game? What if the goal of our economy wasn't more, but better - better health, better jobs and a better chance to survive on the planet?"

 Read more: The Story of Stuff and watch all of the fantastic videos!

Soho Square Gardens

In my first few weeks exploring downtown London I stumbled upon a quaint little garden no bigger than some Canadian backyard. Soho Square Gardens dates back to 1681 and was originally called "King Square" after King Charles II whose statue can be found there to this day. It is located in Central London near Tottenham Court Road tube station, so I suppose that its small size is to be expected as space is a major commodity. There were quite a few people gathered there for lunch or simply relaxing even though there was nothing particularly special about this garden except perhaps for its small size. If you are seeking a better quality air than most of London has to offer, I would suggest heading to Hyde Park or Epping Forest instead.