Gosh, one downfall about going on a hiatus to shoot content for the new site is writing it up. I have procrastinated with the new job and site launch in getting some of the features written up. Forgive me, all will come in due time. Now when my main man Mikey over at River Island emailed me the day before their big Spring/Summer campaign shoot asking if I wanted to come drop by. I couldn’t say no, especially as a keen photographer and a style enthusiast. Excellent opportunity to learn more about the craft and what the brand has coming up. Read on my fellow padawans.

Earlier this year, I was invited by Donald Russell to their head quarters in Inverurie, Aberdeen. For those who aren’t sure, Donald Russell is one of the biggest mail order butcheries in the UK and having been in business for over 40 years- their product range keeps expanding, offering meat, poultry, fish, game, ready meals, pastas, the lot. Though they sell plenty of stock online, they also provide for some of the top hotels around the world; so if you’ve stayed in any luxury hotels, it’s likely you would have eaten some of their products. Check out what happened when the guys over at Donald Russell invited us down to see what goes on in the world of butchery.

The tower of Babylon, Sauron‘s Tower, some kind of Decepticon – that’s exactly what runs through my mind when I look at the Europe’s largest building towering over London’s skyline. The Shard certainly looked a little odd when it first started rising up in that area of London where there’s no real skyline. Does this new building warrant the extra £££ over the London Eye? Read on.

“What brought you to Brazil?” was the second most asked question I heard during my ten-day visit to Rio De Janeiro this month. I’d explain that the visit was mainly to kick off Y&Y Travels (and escape the SEVEN MONTH winter England had bestowed on us). However my answer – my true answer, anyway – was that I wasn’t quite sure. I just knew I felt drawn to the country, and more specifically, Rio, for a quite some time. I wasn’t sure where exactly the interest had stemmed from – I had no first-hand exposure to the culture, I’d never hit the samba spots with Elephant & Castle’s Brazilian contingent; in fact, I’d never even seen City of God (which is hardly a tourist-friendly representation of Rio, but still). The point is, I had no real, informed opinion of what I’d see, smell, hear, taste or feel in Rio De Janeiro, and this made this ten-day sensory overload even greater.

One of the plus points of the site being on hiatus during development was the free time, it opened up a whole world of opportunities to shoot new content and learn more about what we enjoyed. Whisky is definitely the drink of choice here at Yin&Yang, why? because of Mad Men. I kid, because of Yang – our very own whisky connoisseur but my own liking of the drink is down to the TV show and my family. For as long as I can remember, there has always been a bottle of Chivas Regal in my house. From my Grandaddy’s days till right now in my Dad’s drinks cabinet. More after the cut folks.

Cast your mind back to November 2012, I went on a secret mission on behalf of Heineken to Crack the Case- under code name 00Opoku some also called me Opoku, Ernest Opoku. *sigh* If there is going to be a black James Bond, holla! I’ll even do my own stunts.. Anywho, as part of the mission I was sent to get myself measured for a bespoke suit which was crafted by Roberto Revilla London. I briefly wrote about the experience last year and mentioned that I would write about the outcome in due course. You’re about to read the outcome after the break.

Dante’s Fried Chicken, goodness me. Derek and I headed down to the press brunch last Sunday and here I am almost a week later, still reminiscing the taste of that chicken. It’s another league to any fried chicken that I’ve had in London in the past. Perfect texture, moisture, crispyness – you name it. I’m dreaming about chicken.