Portobello Market, London

Take your sleeping bag and some food if you're coming here.

It's about 10 miles long. OK, so that may not be a fact, but when I started at one end of the market, 2 hours later, I wasn't even 1/5 of the way to the other end.

How do I know this? Well well well my dear Watson. They have a map put up on the lamp posts telling you where you are in the 10(0) mile road, and I was at the top of the little 5-squared map.

How do I get there, I hear you ask?
Well, first, if you're somewhere in the middle of London, take the bus to Notting Hill.

try this bus, if you can't get on it, try the next bus

what about this bus?

or, what about this bus?

Once you're at Notting Hill station, there are signs to Portobello Market.

It looks like this.

you know you're there

You might also see this shop. If you do, and you don't like antiques, please, find the other end of the street.

so many people want to buy antiques

Some of the shops sold genuine antiques, like this one, selling antique globes, antique bowling balls, antique coat hangers, and all things antique. (Say 'antique' 20 times, it's a tongue twister)

how about a trophy? come on, you know you want this trophy

Now, call me a cynic, but I really doubt antique little decorations, little cute earring hangers and the like cost £3, and come in about 10 different colours?

£3 = US$5 = RM18 = S$ 9 = A$6

That might buy, on a conservative guess, 3 cocktail buns in the UK.

Thus: Antique earring hanger = 3 cocktail buns

My hasty conclusion here is that, these are not antiques. Which is fine by me, because I prefer them like this (mixing and matching colours is so much fun).

antiques sale

Going further down the road, you see more of these shops, some of them selling the same stuff.

Actually, on the way to the market (I know, I rushed to the good stuff) there was also this little shop selling lots and lots of metal signs, magnetic displays, just souvenir stuff. I wanted to get some, but there's only so much you can do with them (i.e. table mats, coasters, mousepads, somewhere for the cookie crumbs to fall).

no fridge? no worries, just use the frying pan

no place to put this? no worries, use it as a place mat

more people just wanting to buy antiques

The most interesting and I would say, important shop though, sells this.

cupcake

£2 for this little cuppy. It's worth it though.

Super duper awesome.