SOAS university has a small gallery space dedicated to exhibitions about Asia, Africa and the Middle East. There's a small but beautiful Japanese zen garden on the rooftop (currently closed for refurbishment)

This is my favourite place to have a morning coffee in London. Its real chilled and the music is always perfectly set to welcome the day in, its usually something I have never heard before too. The coffee is good and the tip jar they have is the best tip jar in the world so make sure you bring a bag of pennies. Sit with your sketch book and have a lil think.

Also the Queens back garden, these beautiful grounds are great for a Sunday stroll to see the pelicans or to feed the squirrels. Duck Island Cottage is worth a look too, a idyllic little cottage situated in the grounds which was specially built as the bird keepers home.

The Greenwich Observatory with its green laser beam can transfigure any night sky. If you decide to cross the Thames via the foot tunnel, make sure you look out for the green ray. You can be on one side of the meridian in a minute, and cross to the other side on the next, without even realising it.

This is a completely unexpected scenario in the heart of Shoreditch. The entrance is seamless, a standard corner-shop-type with a narrow door, leading downstairs to a peculiar setting in the basement. The drinks are carefully selected and mixed. There is always something to experiment that doesn’t disappoint.