Bath Abbey

Exploring HDR - my first.

If you plan to visit the abbey, be prepared to climb the narrow stairway - that's 212 steps. x

Off the rails

Staying awake till 3 a.m. and expecting yourself to be awake by 6 a.m. is a stupid thing to do but I went long with the idea anyway. Just the night before travelling, I was watching movie trailers on youtube, Wong Fu Productions' 'When It Counts', then later stumbled across korean drama clips. Probably because it was the start of holidays and I was in the mood for girly humour, I decided to make myself a big bowl of quick microwaved brownies (only 5 minutes including preparation time!) and watched a few episodes of Full House - before I realised that it was way past my bedtime. 

This sinful thing had a whole bar of chocolates in it. 

Not surprisingly, I woke up just in time to catch my train but didn't have the chance to make my mushroom omelette for breakfast as originally planned. Sigh.

I'm the kind of person who can't live through my day without breakfast, so I had to get mine on the train.

Quiet morning at the station

For lunch, Charmaine brought us to Hong Kong Bistro where I had the Szechuan soup and lamb with noodles. The food was decent and their portions were huge - definitely a place to go if you're on a budget. 

After that, we went to her place to put our luggage, then went out again since the weather was great (Its kindness only lasted for a day, unfortunately).

Sham Castle

Evening view of the city of Bath from up a hill

Dylan and Charmaine were the main chefs for the night. We didn't have many ingredients, but the pasta turned out quite delicious actually - tasted similar to mee mamak!

While I wait at the dining table

Fusion of spaghetti, crabmeat, mushrooms, and chillies 

Later in the night, we watched The Perks Of Being A Wallflower and snacked on Doritos until we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore. 

That must have been the sign of a good vacation when you're with friends! 

Up next: Photos of Bath Abbey

xxx

Saturday at Aunt Margaret's Kitchen

The visit to my uncle's place turned out to be a feast. After having a minced pork with spaghetti lunch, Aunt Margaret started preparing for dinner while I stood by to watch and learn a few things. She made stewed duck, roast crunchy pork, spare ribs soup, stir-fried beef, veggies and baked fish. I don't think that I'll be able to make these in my studio room because my bedsheets would stink for many days after, but I think I would dare myself to try them once I move into a flat with a larger kitchen.

D for delicious duck; this took approximately 3 hours to prepare

Just the right time when I was missing siew yok - nyomnyoms! 

Uncle showed me around in his backyard and summer house

3 days to Christmas!

Everyone was back for Christmas - Richard, Steven, Daniel and Chrisi. While dad whatsapped me showing pictures of everyone else back home having a good seafood steamboat dinner by the beach, I'm glad I still have family here to share Christmas with. Also, I've been fed with so much good food lately but I'm definitely not complaining! 'Tis the season to be jolly! xx

Winter solstice away from home

Alicia invited a few friends over for dinner, and these were what we had:

Course 1: Barley tong shui as a substitute for tong yuen

Course 2: Bruschetta with tomato and basil

Course 3: Baked chicken in tomato

Course 4: Lemony chicken and rice soup

Course 5: Sweet and sour chicken

Course 5: Cranberry, pear and ginger crisp

Course 7: Apple cake

Course 8: Mango and strawberry tart

Teehee. Lovely lovely dinner, thank you Alicia 'mommy'!

F word

 Home-cooked food away from home and other Japanese meals that my family used to have during weekends

Yesterday was a food day, because Jin Wun and I decided to spend a day out in the city indulging on whatever we can find. She suggested that we go for Sinatra, where we had eggs benedict with salmon, and beer-battered fish and chips. I must learn how to make poached eggs, but it seems quite difficult to make them a perfect shape. Jin Wun didn't like the mashed peas that came with the fish because they had a very strong 'green' taste to it - I'm not very sure how to explain it. I didn't mind the taste and I thought it was rather unique. Besides that, we both agreed that everything else tasted delicious, and I also loved the interior of the restaurant. Definitely a good place to chill out.

After lunch, we did some shopping (more window shopping than the actual), then walked around the market square. I've been going for other cities' christmas markets, but I didn't spare mine any chance until yesterday. They had fewer stalls, but there were also fewer repeats of food and crafts. We couldn't resist the temptation of good food around us so we ordered and shared a portion of Spanish seafood paella. Yummy!

Later, we wanted something to drink so we headed for Shakeaway where Jin Wun had Dave (Ferrero Rocher and Kinder Bueno) with extra nutella topping, and I had Dime and Maltesers. Jin Wun also said that she would try George next, haha!

So that's about it, that was my Sunday this week. How did yours go? x

Christmas Market 2012: Birmingham vs Lincoln

For two consecutive weekends, I visited the christmas markets at Birmingham and Lincoln. Since there are good reviews of both, I decided that I have to be present to judge them myself. On both occasions, the weather was good and I was there in the morning till late evening.

Very merry christmas Birmingham!

Anyone out there a fan of Clara and her nutcracker doll?

Reasons why I enjoyed Birmingham's christmas market:

1. The wooden booths gave a rustic feel and they were nicely decorated with pretty lights and christmas ornaments.
2. I had my first mulled cider and a half-metre Bratwurst in a baguette, which were delicious and perfect for a chilly day.
3. It was within the city centre, so there is the huge Bullring mall where I could do some window shopping, and Chinatown nearby.

Good morning Lincoln!

Biggest bubble I have ever seen

Reasons why I enjoyed Lincoln's Christmas Market:

1. They had a one-way system so it was easy to walk through the market despite the crowd.
2. The market place was massive! There were so many stalls, so it took some time exploring them all. 
3. It was at the surrounding areas of the castle and cathedral, up a hill from where the scenery of the city below was beautiful, and this gave a very good atmosphere for the season.

My experience of Birmingham vs Lincoln:

1. At Lincoln, I had a good hot turkey and cranberry pastry, but the cinnamon bun I had was cold and hard. Besides that, I tried shortbreads and brownies, but they were too cold for my liking as well. I had probably learnt my lesson, which was why I bought only hot food and drinks at Birmingham.
2. Lincoln was a nicer venue for such a market, compared to Birmingham in which I thought the surrounding modern city architecture became too dull for me.
3. Since Lincoln's market place was so huge and there was quite a lot to see, there wasn't much time to do anything else except having a warm treat at a local cafe before heading back. In Birmingham, we had so much time that we went for a lunch buffet, shopping, had cakes at a patisserie, more walking around the mall - before it was finally time to head back.

If I had to decide on which I liked better, I would say that I prefer the christmas market at Lincoln to Birmingham, but I would definitely choose to go to Birmingham again for the shopping and food! :) x

Revisiting school uniform days

If someone were to ask me how boarding school life was like, I wouldn't know where to start. My first roommates were Zhao Feng and Nawal, and I remember getting drilled by a house prefect after getting caught for cooking instant noodles down at the pantry at 2 a.m. We would stock up our supply of snacks whenever we get to go out or home during the weekends, because we convinced ourselves that dining hall meals became too boring.

I believe that the friends you meet at boarding school would be your friends for life, considering the amount of time you spend together and getting used to each other's similarities and differences. 

I just miss my girls! x

Fresh

Today marks the last day of my first semester at uni. While some of my friends head for home this winter break, most of us are either travelling to warmer regions of Europe or visiting each other within the UK. Looking back to September when I first arrived, I remember being excited over every little thing: blue skies, orange leaves, effective pedestrian crossings.

Living away from home also means having to learn how to manage your time and money properly, keeping a good balance between work and play.

We went to Alton Towers on the weekend of Freshers' Week.

Dinner at La Tasca on my birthday weekend.

The park surrounding Wollaton Hall is one of my favourite places for a stroll.

Since tonight is the last night before holidays, we decided to call for a takeout Dominos dinner. Hibah's birthday was just a few days ago and Kimmie had hers last week, so the rest of us planned a really last minute surprise for them since we were all caught up with course works and didn't have time for proper celebrations. Londis became a lifesaver, because that's where we got our blueberry muffins and Cadbury giant buttons. 

The trick is to heat up the muffins before decorating, so that the chocolate base would melt slightly and wouldn't fall off.  

All I can say is that I've had a great term, and I look forward to the next. For now, I'm just going to enjoy my holidays while they last! xx