Walthamstow Wetlands are London's largest urban wetland nature reserve, home to many wildlife species. Only 15min from central London. The cafe is open daily for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea. 

In terms of materials and form, these galleries offer so much. On an abstract and typographic level, so useful. This is a section of an altar frieze, from the Eye Temple at Tell Brak (N.E. Syria), dated 3300–3000BC. The Egyptian rooms take the tourist weight; these spaces are much quieter and amenable time spent drawing and thinking.

My favourite record shop in London. Old-school record store stocks eclectic blues, dance, soul, reggae and global music on vinyl and CD.

Leila McAlister's grocery shop and café off Arnold Circus, Shoreditch. You can find the best of everything, from jars of horseradish to eggs and croissants.

This painted of the shopping centre by my brother, Leo Verhoeven, shows a rather idyllic vision of the shopping centre we both share. Its pretty rough, full of budget shops and funny cafes and framed by a shanty town style open air market. I have a real soft spot for it as the classic under dog, thats so often slated and condemned but lives on.