Gaya Street Sunday Market: Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

So I'd read mixed reviews of Kota Kinabalu, mainly saying that it doesn't appear great on the surface, but if you give it a chance, you'll actually have a good time there. One thing that they all agreed on though, was that the Gaya Street Sunday market was AMAZING! Well, amazing, if you want to go and see weird things, mixed in with the general tourist tat, fruit and veg, dvd's, plants - this was all sorts of market mixed into one. 

Now, as a regular market trader here in the UK, I love a good wander through a market abroad, and this one did not disappoint, from 6am every Sunday, the locals here are busy setting up some weird and wonderful stalls....here are some of my favourite photos....

Starting off normal looking, just like Colombia Road, just a little more exotic...

I'm not sure Pets at Home would agree with these cage sizes....

I love you love fruit. The label says it all. Definitely an essential at 6am on a Sunday morning!

Just in case you don't have an HD TV. Plus they are wrap around so if you have to squeeze onto the sofa sideways, you still get HD vision.

Goldfish anyone?

And finally, the weirdest thing possibly ever: a purse, made out of a genuine dead frog skin. Fit.

Milford on Sea

I LOVE the seaside. As soon as I smell the sea, I turn into a small child and get excited by everything. I also have to run into it at my first opportunity, despite the weather, as I just love it.

I have excitedly been to a few lovely English seaside towns this year, with the most frequently visited one being Milford on Sea. Milford is a very small, quiet and unspoiled place, near the New Forest, overlooking the Isle of Wight - I only heard about it as a friend of my auntie owns a flat there, and very kindly lent it to us a few years ago to stay in.

Milford has beautiful pebbly beaches, dotted with picture perfect multicoloured painted beach huts, and is just so quiet!!

I went at the beginning of July this year, with my boyfriends family, and we had whole chunks of the beach to ourselves. The sea was deliciously warm then, and quite rough so it was great fun to jump around in the waves and all act like small children. 

There are walks all along the coast, to Hurst Spit, where you can catch a small ferry back to Keyhaven (and maybe spot a seal in the harbour), as well as the other way towards Barton on Sea. 

I'd assumed it was so quiet as we were outside of school holidays, but I went back last week, with my Mum and Auntie, and it was still so peaceful. 

The sea sadly this time was freezing. Like ice. No wonder no one else was in the sea (although we still went in multiple times a day - yes we are nutters)

It is the perfect holiday location though. Beautiful, quiet, and loads to do. Oh and AMAZING fish & chips at Mr Pinks in the centre. 

Walking out on Hurst Spit, with the Isle of Wight in the background. We saw a great firework display there one night, with beautiful views out over the sea. 

Some early morning beach yoga, in my pyjamas. This was 7am though so I am not too surprised that we had the beach to ourselves at this hour!!

Sharing the sunset with quite a few seagulls but not many other souls! We had such a lovely time in Milford, I am sure I will be back there soon!

Nearest Train: New Milton (about 1 hour 45 mins from London)

Many Markets

I've been having a busy few summery months, testing out lots of new London markets. I've had some great days out! I've also had some baking hot indoor days, and some very wet and windy outdoor days, but there have been some great opportunities to meet lots of people and sell some of my crafts,

Here are some photos of various stalls:

Richmond Duck Pond Market - in Heron Square - such a delightful place - and so much bunting!!

Hampstead Sunday Craft Market - such a friendly place!

North Ealing Primary School Fair

Back at the Duck Pond in Richmond

St Margarets Fair - So beautifully sunny - a great day to be outside!

I am so lucky to have such a wide choice of lovely markets to go to and trade at. They are always lots of fun and great days out! I am off on holiday now for the rest of the summer (I can't wait) but am looking forward to more markets in September!

Book Review: Cloud Atlas versus The Bone Clocks

It's been a while since I've written about books. Mainly because I have been so busy recently, that I haven't had nearly as much time to read as I'd have liked to. As our house is very small, I've been very good in the last few years of not buying books, but borrowing them from my local library instead. This has lead to me reading a wide variety of books (some terrible, some gripping, some just a bit meh) which I probably wouldn't have ever bought.

When I was travelling in Argentina, back in 2010, I was staying in a hostel in Ushuaia, in Patagonia in Argentina.

I'd finished the book I was reading, and the only English book in the hostel book exchange, was David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. I did a quick skim of the inside (my usual test for whether I think I'll like a book - I have to like the font and the page layout, or a book will annoy me!) and wasn't convinced. I considered getting a book in Spanish instead, but that would have taken a lot of effort, and I wanted something to enjoy reading. 

So I took it, and on a series of long distance bus journeys - the perfect time to read uninterrupted - I started reading. Well it was a struggle. I thought it was utter rubbish. I skipped a fair few chapters at the start, only to realise that they had second halves and that I was quickly going to run out of book if I continued at this rate! So I went back and struggled through most of the book but I was seriously disappointed. I don't feel like I've read a book this bad for ages. Especially one that was supposed to be good!

Over lunch at school one day, I was speaking to our school librarian (who has literally read everything!!) about what to read, and she started telling me about David Mitchell's other books, saying she really liked Black Swan Green, and recommending that I read it. 

When passing my local library the next day, I saw that they had The Bone Clocks, which I'd seen advertised on the Tube as being Mitchell's latest book, and so thought that as every other person I've ever spoken to about Cloud Atlas seemed to love it and rave about it, I should give him a second chance. 

And well....The Bone Clocks is an entirely different story. I got into it straight away, as it seemed a fairly normal story about a teenager in the 80's in England - a story I could relate much more to that the 1850's in the South Pacific. It was a while before anything unusual slipped into the story, but it was slipped in in such a way that it was just a casual injection of something a little out of the ordinary, and then gone, back to a normal story. 

I don't want to say too much about the actual plot, as I don't want to ruin it but I will say READ IT!! It was incredibly gripping. I struggled to put it down at night to go to sleep, and even tried to drunk-read it on the tube on the way home from a night out (it didn't work - I had to re-read it all the next day as I remembered nothing!)

It was so addictively written, and really made me think about what our world is going to be like in 30 years time, and what we are doing to it. 

I'm tempted to read it again before returning it to the library, but instead, I think this will be a book I will buy as I know I could read it again and again. 

AXA Car Insurance Advert - Pink Baby Mobile

I was very excited to see one of my mobiles on TV!!! Back in May, I made a very special pink African animal felt baby mobile to be featured in the new AXA TV advert.

Here are some images:

It is so lovely to see it in use and on TV! Until recently, I'd only made my African mobiles in more traditional colours, so an orange giraffe, yellow lion and grey elephant, but I guess if my elephants can be all different colours then there is no reason why the other animals can't be too!

All of my mobiles can be custom made to order, and can be found here: www.fairlyamy.co.uk

Zig Zag Zig Zag

Another dress that I have recently made, from fabric from Goldbrick Fabrics, is this fabulous turquoise zig zag stripe fabric. Here are some photos:

It was quite hard to take photos of it here as it was very very windy!! But I think it gives an idea of the shape. It has a high neck, with elastic to gather it, a fitted bodice, and then quite a full skirt, with pockets! I love it!

I've also used some of the left over fabric to make some lovely grey and turquoise mobiles:

What To Do With A Lost Shoe?

Whilst swimming in the sea at the weekend in Milford on Sea (while, more like floundering whilst being battered by some pretty rough waves, and attempting to body surf) I lost one of my beloved Juju Jelly Shoes.

I bought them last summer after remembering how much I'd loved my Jelly Shoes as a child, and they were great! I wore them everywhere, and walked miles in them! Even when it started to turn autumnal, I still wore them with tights and they looked great.

They were also really practical for wearing in the sea when it is pebbly. Hence why I was waering them in the sea at the weekend, as Milford is very pebbly. I was diving though a wave and whumpf, gone. Only one jelly shoe left. :( I tried my best to look for it but the sea was so churning, and the current so strong that we had no chance.

The next morning, I went along the beach for a walk, half keeping an eye out, and whilst I sadly did not find my missing jelly, I did find a fair selection of other sad, lost shoes.

Whilst pondering what to do with my other jelly, it made me think about what people do with the other un-lost shoe. Do they just throw them away? Or is there some charity that collects shoes for one legged people? I shall have to do some research. 

Although, the eternal optimist in my is hoping that on one of my next 2 trips back to Milford this summer, I may just find it lurking, lonely somewhere, waiting to be rescued.....