Greenwich Market

Markets in London, United Kingdom

Sundays are meant for over eating at breakfast while looking over the bits of the paper you never have time for in the week, afternoon naps and strolls though the markets and Greenwich Markets are just this kind of market. Covered, which is key in London, and with a section devoted to tasty foods which you can really only justify on Sundays, these markets have probably got a gift for everyone. Lots of jewellery, some of it handmade, most of it pretty unusual and unusually pretty, same goes for bags and hats, woolly things, photos, art, baby paraphernalia and even a stall selling sports memorabilia. You'll find the same stalls and stall holders most weeks so the pressure isn't on quite as much to make a decisions on the spot – which can be hard on Sundays...

Round the corner are the vintage markets, less dressy and with more varied stock, here you'll find your old records, circa 70's leather jackets, an eclectic range of chairs that look like they belong in one of those uber-cool cafés, more bakery goodness and flowers.

Greenwich has some interesting boutique-y shops as well, and a range of breakfast options, which deserve to be analysed. On top of the hill in the park there's a pavilion style café which is pretty good but attracts a lot of babies, so not good if you've been out the night before, Georges Café looks sleek and organised, and has good pastries and the lightest and creamiest of cheesecakes, but they've been know to take a while getting your coffee to you, so the Organic Café is probably a good bet. Or if the weather's warm roll up for one of those milkshakes where you can choose your ingredients and take a walk in the park – another ingredient to my perfect Sunday,

Shop for: Gifts

Arrive: Cutty Sark (now unfortunately under repair) DLR Station or Greenwich overground station. North Greenwich Underground Station sounds close but it's not.

Carnaby Street

Shopping in London, United Kingdom

In the 60's this street swang and grooved with the best of them. Girls wearing shoes with platforms with more vertical inches than their skirts tottered though between getting their hair bouffed by Vidal Sassoon or make up done by Mary Quant, passing generation peace-ers, wearing the asexual uniform of jeans, paisley shirts, love beads and long hair sifting though the stores wafting with incense at the other end of the street. So now it's famous. And people want to go there. But be warned – the days of free love and free lunches have passed and now the closest you're going to get to the 60's on Carnaby Street is the name of one of the stores, Miss Sixty...

New mods can shop at Ben Sherman and Lambretta, and Miss Sixty may have something for girls wanting to reference the hippy chick, but the selection of stores now is more about who can pay the premium rents asked for a piece of central London prime pedestrian only retail real estate, so you've got your Boss, your Diesel and your Pepe Jeans. Kingly Court, above Ben Sherman still sells clothing from the heyday of Carnaby Street, naturally it's all vintage now – but the prices would keep a 60's commune in substances for a year.

Liberty watches over the serious top end, just off Oxford Street while the Soho end is now the field of sports stores, so the variety's improved, but at the cost of the atmosphere. If you're looking for an authentic London 60's fashion shopping experience you're better off trying the markets, but as an extension of Oxford and Regent Street this is a quieter, safer corner due to the lack of traffic.

Shop for: Brand Fashion, Sports Fashion

Café Stop: The options are a bit bland – Pret, Starbucks...but luckily round the corner is Sacred, where they'll serve you loose leaf tea blended specially in mismatched teapots and coffee like they should – hold out for it – definitely one of the best things about shopping here!

Arrive: Oxford Circus Underground

Chion-in Temple

Temples in Kyoto, Japan

Older people in Japan seem to have a more gung-ho attitude than I’m used to – steep stairs don’t seem to stop them, neither do hills with unfriendly inclines or inclement weather – which is the attitude you need to have to enjoy Chion-in Temple. To get to the huge wooden gate – which looks like a temple in its own right – you have to walk up a steep set of stairs and then it’s up more stairs up a hill to get to the main temple.

Rather than the bright reds and colourfully painted carvings you see in many temples and shrines, this one is more austere in dark wood, with simple gold decorations. To get up into the main temple you have to climb the steepest set of stairs yet – yet I still saw hoards of tiny old ladies heading up them like mountain goats. The building has a pointed roof with a long slope and a verandah all around it. Inside there is golden tatami on the floor, but the walls are dark wood so it’s quite dim. As you enter in front of you you’ll see the alter laid out with the main relics and offerings – obviously very valuable, but again more austere than in other temples and shrines. Some people approach the alter to perform their clapping prayers, but it’s fine to sit up the back and watch – some of the mountain goats were eating their lunch inside, so despite being quite a sincerely serene place it’s also thought of as a public space.

It turned out that I was there for a special occasion, a singing performance which all the hundreds of older ladies there were part of and eventually I was gently squeezed out of the temple to make way for them all so they could perform the songs and ceremonies they had gathered for. That’s ok – I went back outside and a bit further up the hill to admire the largest bell in Japan – it’s pretty impressive too.

This temple is the headquarters of the Jodo Buddhist sect, a group with simple teachings. The temple was founded in 1294 on the site where the sect’s founder Honen fasted to death. Honen’s teaching were very inclusive, especially of women who were excluded from other serious Buddhist practices, which could be why there are so many women in the group today. The most important behaviour for followers of Jodo is the reciting of the nembutsu, which is a mantra praising Amida Buddha.

Maruyama Park

Parks in Kyoto, Japan

Maruyama Park, like much of Kyoto is compact and perfectly arranged, paths direct you politely towards the highlights, or the best places to view them, but there are artfully arranged smaller paths that offer solitude as well. There’s a tea house at the top and the main entrance, by the Yasaka Shrine, at the bottom, but there are east and west gates as well, leading towards other shrines.

Cherry blossom season is when this park comes into its own, but it was still beautiful on a wet, afternoon in mid autumn, bamboo fences keep you from trailing onto the gardens, with the same kind of obeyed politeness that signs in Japan, requesting people not to use their mobile phones on the train, are adhered to.

The loveliness is organised and shown in its best light, like the geishas who have walked the grounds, and this is a prime example of the Japanese love of the aesthetic and loveliness because why wouldn’t you?

Spitalfields Market

Markets in London, United Kingdom

When ever I come to Spitalfields I can't help remembering that this is where Jack the Ripper stomped around – or I imagine it was more of a skulk in his case. The church with it's clean, straight spire stands over the infamous Ten Bells, the pub where some of his unfortunate victims watered themselves, and sheds it's narrow shadow over the markets. These days the Ten Bells is a student hangout and the markets an eclectic mix of too cool for skool vintage, real vintage, imitation vintage, vintage style, and funky fashion and jewellery, art odds and ends and food – but the emphasis is on the fashion, but the church is the same and for some reason I can't help but be reminded that this market wasn't always squeaky clean city adjacent.

I didn't even realise how fashion-centric this market is until I began to describe the wares and didn't get much past vintage fashion, but I'm sure you caught that drift. I've made some classic purchases here – one of them, a near perfect handmade hat – is one of my all time favourite buys. Like a flat pill box it perches merrily on my head making me feel instantly cooler when wearing – which I think is a good metaphor for a lot of the market's wares – it's maybe not for everyday wear – maybe a little too fun or a little too vintage or a little too cool – unless you have the whole image going on – but a mood enhancing addition to your wardrobe. Most importantly this stuff is wearable and most of it decent quality. There's no use trying to describe what you can find here, it's refreshingly changeable, but while you're probably not going to find a killer bargain you may find a few choice and signature items to help you stand out from the high street crowds, at least where fashion is concerned.

Spitalfields is well organised, they've got a good set up and it's the same stallholders most weekends. The market crowd's stomachs are well catered for by market stalls but also by café, restaurants and pubs. Good value coffee can be found at Leon – which usually has the smallest queues for food as well, Canteen is good for ye olde English grub in a modern setting but across the road the Bangers and Mash store with it's boutique bangers is just as satisfying and has it's own brand of plastic table cloth chic. Funky stores hug the fringes, proving the market's brand, but it's not much fun during the week. The main concern at the weekend it coming with cash – there are always massive queues for the ATMs.