City Connect introduces “Walk Innovation” – an initiative by Adam Shaw: Thank you for investing your time in getting to know me better. I like to think that you will get to know yourself better. However, the only person that matters on this journey is you. For me, life is … Continue reading
A lot of people use the terms “bespoke” and “made-to-measure” interchangeably. They are mistaken. ‘Bespoke’ is actually a term which dates from the 17th century, when tailors held the full lengths of cloth in their premises. When a customer chose a length of material, it was said to have “been … Continue reading
I am convinced that a proper warm up is an essential part of any martial art session: I see around many clubs that are quite informal about this part of training and they resolve the issue by telling students to “warm up”. People therefore chat away for 10-20 minutes while … Continue reading
If you ask a person with no experience in martial arts to throw a punch or a kick you might get some kind of result that will be, in most cases, very inefficient and inconsistent. Having a foundation based on some kind of martial art ensures the application of a … Continue reading
Crispy Tunisian style stuffed semolina bread with a spicy vegetarian harissa filling. Preparation time 30 minutes Dough Resting time 1.5 hours Cooking time -25 minutes Makes 5 Ingredients: 240 g / 8 oz fine semolina 1 teaspoon fast acting yeast 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1 tablespoon oil 1/2 … Continue reading
Practicing martial arts, as well as any other physical activity and sport, can cause pain due to accidents or simple practice: this post discusses some of the aspects of pain and my view of dealing with it. What is pain? Wikipedia states that: Pain is the unpleasant feeling common to such … Continue reading
Whenever you a guy fighting in a movie one or more attackers armed with knives don’t believe what you are seeing: most of the times it is unrealistic. I have seen lots of knife defences that simply won’t work when, in the street, a random guy (or girl) pulls out … Continue reading
Car accidents are traumatic experiences that can cause permanent injuries and suffering. The silver lining to this is that you’re often eligible for compensation if another party caused the crash. A complication with this is if you get into an accident with a METRO bus. METRO buses and other public … Continue reading
These crispy bhajias are also called Maru’s bhajia. Maru is the name of a restaurant in Nairobi and Wembley and they make these crispy potato bhajias which once you eat them – you never stop talking about them. These bhajias taste much nicer than the huge doughy bhajias you see … Continue reading
These are the four points that are important to me when picking a bespoke tailor: Point 1 If you’re told it’s “bespoke”, make sure it is. Ask if he is the actual cutter. Will he cut you a personal pattern? Any company or individual should have a pile of individual … Continue reading
What is perfection to you? I think that the closest to perfect that I have seen is from children. They are curious, funny, cute, open and honest with their feelings. They are also full of love and joy. However, that is just an opinion based on my beliefs. Your beliefs … Continue reading
I meet a lot of people who love eating Indian food but don’t feel confident about making it at home. Most of them including my children used to end up buying curry, rice and naan bread from a take away. That’s when I decided to start sharing my … Continue reading
Keifer Derrin of food blog DonkeyFodder.com shares his recipe for a delicious Mexican inspired vegetarian dish. This is an extensive recipe that has four parts to it. First you need to create the vegetarian chilli, before you can stuff and cook the peppers and you need to have the beans … Continue reading
Penne pasta baked in a spicy tomato sauce with a delicious cheesy topping. Ingredients: Pasta: 240 grams / 8 oz uncooked pasta penne 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon olive oil 2 litres Water Arrabbiata Sauce: 60 grams / 2 oz pre cooked sweet corn kernels 60 grams / 2 oz … Continue reading
Flour is simply grain or seeds that are finely ground. Some flour is “whole grain,” which simply means that the entire grain is ground, including the outer hull or bran and the inner germ, which is the tiny shoot that grows out of the seed when it is planted. Other flour, which is … Continue reading
Now that the November Blues may have hit some of you, please take a minute out and watch these two fantastic boys talking about how to be happy. HOW TO BE HEALTHIER IN UNDER A MINUTE BY CONNOR AND KIAN HUGHES SPARROW Occasionally my nephews, Connor and Kian, come over … Continue reading
This post is discussing the importance of contact training in martial arts, particularly in view of their effectiveness in self defence situations. Once I welcomed a new student in my club: he stated to be nearly at Dan level in his club back home. He practiced a style of Korean … Continue reading
This is something I don’t get to cut on a regular basis – a classic morning suit. This is got to do with people dressing down at weddings to a certain degree, and the increased availability and quality of formal hire. Formal hire is a perfectly understandable option, still, you should … Continue reading
City Connect brings you another instalment of our popular cookery series, Taste of India with Mina Joshi. This time Mina shares her easy-to-follow recipe for gulab jamun with us. Gulab jamun is an Indian sweet traditionally made out of powdered or evaporated milk blended with plain flour, fried & soaked in sugar … Continue reading
There are all kinds of cloth material out there- wool, cashmere, vicuna etc. But for the moment I just want to let you know about the most widely-used cloth in the business, the classic “Wool Worsteds”. This is the main cloth bespoke customers need to know about. These are used … Continue reading
Crunchy cereal, dry fruits & coconut all coated in a golden syrup and scrumptious chocolate. Preparation time – 20 minutes Yields 24 Ingredients: 480 grams / 16 oz of Kellogg’s special fruit and nut cereal. 30 grams /1 oz butter 60 grams / 2oz desiccated coconut or coconut flakes 120 grams … Continue reading
I happen to believe that a bespoke suit is worth its high asking price, or else I wouldn’t bother selling them. They look better, they fit better, and they last years longer than their competition. It’s really that simple. Even so, £2000 is a lot of money, let’s not kid … Continue reading
This chutney is often referred to as the sweet chutney or Imbli/Ambli Chutney. It’s made using dates which are sweet and tamarind which is sharp and sour so I would say that this is a sweet and sour chutney. No Indian snack is complete without this chutney and the green … Continue reading
Decay and spoilage are necessary and natural parts of life. As an illustration, a tree grows leaves that are healthy and green. Those leaves soon turn brown and fall to the ground. They quickly decay and provide nourishment to the microorganisms in the soil. Such microorganisms feed the tree and allow it to grow more healthy … Continue reading
How the Mus musculus is furthering our understanding of human inherited diseases In 1907 Cuenot mated two yellow mice giving an unexpected, unmendelian 2:1 offspring ratio. 5 years later Castle and Little repeated the experiment, determining that 1 in every fourth offspring had died during embryonic development. Nearly a century … Continue reading
Renting a van when moving is a great way to avoid stress and hassle. It offers many benefits like convenience, affordability, and professionalism. In this article, we’ll talk about the reasons you should rent a van for your move. We will also provide some reminders for when you compare van … Continue reading