Phreshly Squeezed

Amongst the flurry of fashion shows and presentations that kicked off New York Fashion Week on Thursday, the fashion industry was rocked to learn that edgy and bold designer Alexander McQueen committed suicide in his London apartment. Found hanged, it is said that it was to have been a result of his depression, which was only pushed further by the recent death of his mother with whom he was close. Even though I have not always been a fan of his designs, it is his courage to present designs that shock and provoke audiences that capture me and helped to revive the moribund fashion industry of Britain.

I did a double take when I saw on The F-List’s Twitter feed when I saw the words “Portobello market” several weeks ago. Clicking on the link provided, I wound up at a website in the making. Quickly, I dismissed the whole thing and went back to browsing RedFlagDeals and my Google Reader.

Just yesterday, the words “Portobello East” caught my eye in the F-List newsletter. I gave the little link a click and wound up on the website for a Toronto fashion and art market preparing for its first market this Saturday. You’re probably wondering what peaked my interest; well, when I was in London during my winter break, I had a delightful time at the famous Portobello market one Saturday afternoon. Okay, I have to admit: I love looking at antiques, indie jewelers, and unique things.

London's open-air Portobello Market, January 2009

Anyway, Portobello East is, in effect, a Canadian rendition on the idea with accessories, art, clothing, bags, and jewelry. Sounds exciting, but doesn’t seem to have the same ‘market feel’ like the British original. One thing about the market that I loved was that it was an open-air market that took over the streets. Here in Toronto, it will be held at The Fermenting Cellar, a great venue, but just not the same feel. Be reminded that if you do plan on checking Portobello East out this weekend that there will be a $5 CDN admission fee to the public (children 12 and under get in free), which is decent price for these type of things. With all that said, I’m sure it will still be tonnes of fun and will check it out when I’m back in Toronto in mid-August.

As a side note, Portobello East does in fact have counterparts in both Calgary and Vancouver. Wait, when was Toronto ever behind the west?

Given that I had a six week vacation from school, it would be a shame if I hadn’t done any traveling. After spending my week in Scotland and in the Canary Islands, I jetted off to London, England to spend my remaining week of vacation there.

In addition to doing the tourist activities, such as seeing Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and Tower Bridge, I also had the chance to attend the London premiere of a musical, Spring Awakening at the Lyric Theatre. Given that the musical’s preview performances were completely sold out, it was pure luck that we were able to get tickets to a showing (honestly, our friend just walked up to the cash and asked if there were any tickets that were not sold, and to our astonishment, there were tickets for our group of four for that night’s show).

My friend, who happens to be a die-hard Spring Awakening friend urged me to take a picture of some fellow that was sitting about two rows ahead of us. It turns out that she had good reason for asking me to take a picture, because it turned out to be Broadway star, Jonathan Groff, who played Melchior in the original Spring Awakening. During intermission, she was able to meet him and snap a picture!

Jonathan Groff of the original Spring Awakening cast with my friend, Sumrah!