Lately, very lately

I've been really busy (or at least, supposed to be) recently with writing my dissertation and catching up with tutorials, but I decided to take my time off today to update this space. It's been quite awhile since my last post, and looking back at old photos made me realise how much I did in this period - most of the time playing with (and eating) food, as you can see below.

Haven't been travelling much - going home for christmas holidays, Singapore, and visiting Yong Xuan in Dublin don't count here... what I mean is that I haven't been exploring places ever since I got back from America. I definitely want to go to new places, but I'll reserve those plans for summer. 

Brown french loaf with pandan kaya (from home) with berries

Left: Blended broccoli and leek, with balsamic vinegar and walnuts; Right: "Cream" of carrots with sesame oil

Left: Kaya and goats' butter on seeded toast; Right: First attempt at goats' cheese, spinach and sweet potato tart

Second attempt at gluten-free goats' cheese and spinach tart, and leftover dough turned to people biscuits by Ying Hui 

Left: Salmon, grapefruit and avocado salad & chocolate marble cake (note-to-self: you'll always need a hand mixer for baking...); Right: Pancakes with bacon and salted caramel sauce

CNY potluck with the housemates, and I made rice spring rolls with cervettes, basil, mint and corriander (prawns are so expensive here - bought 5 of these at £8! CNY the season to be jolly indeed)
Wendy prepared yee sang with raw sashimi-grade salmon
Our soup stock was the bomb 'cos we used salmon fish head and bones with ginger - yums!

Pasta, spinach and cheese for potluck at Alyssa's

Plum tomatoes, cheddar and dill pizza topped with walnuts and fresh kale

Left: Mung beans and sago hot dessert; Right: Raisins pancake with apple cooked in sugar, and salted caramel sauce

Potluck brunch at Raghavi's; I made red bean, longan and sago hot dessert
Raghavi made cous cous salad
Nishi made cooked oats with bananas and blueberries
San made pasta with bacon and cheese sauce

Chocolate muffins with salted caramel centres and sea salt flakes

Muffins sank in the middle 'cos I took them out of the oven too quickly (hee, impatient me), so I topped it up with more caramel sauce and sprinkled toasted almond slices to fix the look

If you're wondering why I'd used salted caramel in most of my food recently, it's 'cos I bought 2 jars meant for friends, when I planned to visit them in Ireland. Only later did I realise that I couldn't bring them on board with me as I didn't purchase any checked-luggage allowance. Silly me!

Going further back in time... I received the best present for my 22nd birthday (I still can't believe I'm already in my twenties), ever! I was struggling with my courseworks then, but it was very comforting to have my most favourite person in the world, by my side. Physically! Literally, by. my. side. HEE. Thank you, you.

Also I noticed myself wearing my blue, long-sleeved, light cotton top and the aztec dress a lot. But these are very comfy, so I can see why! It's soooo hard to find reasonably-priced tops that aren't t-shirts, or formal wear, so I can see why I dig this piece. Besides, I love wearing sleeves. Protects me from the sun, the cold, and- arms. Haha! As for the dress, I love how it can pull off the casual look, yet works fine for a dinner event.

Gotta love your guy when he happily agrees to have tea with you,

-cooks for you (just kidding), or even gets food for you!

And brings you out for brunches 'cos he knows how much you love having them!
BOTTOM LINE IS THAT HE HAS TO CONSTANTLY FEED YOU. YES.

We went to the zoo! My dress makes me look like a zebra! Rui Ling did my makeup (love it 'cos it's so natural)! 

Home is DEFINITELY comfort zone. If you have a mom like my mom, you'd hardly be tempted to dine out... unless you have cravings for roti canai. My mom is a classic home-maker, and I'd say that most of my meals are inspired by her. 

Homemade fried dumplings, even the dim sums. Stir-fried pumpkins, steamed fish, broth, veggies, and chocolate cake!

Being home for a month felt great - I got to catch up with Jasmine and Katherine, then Abi, Michelle and Shu Yee, and le papoy! I can't believe I'm a few months away from leaving this place, and I won't be seeing most of my friends I met here after this...

A date with piepoy

Till next time!

Poof!

Whoa. I know it's been long since my last post - so many things have happened and I guess that's prolly why I haven't had the chance to do any blogging at all!

The only social media site I can keep up with is Instagram, and I think I'm gonna put up a widget on the side of this blog just in case you'd like to follow me on my daily adventures!

Mom and I have been travelling a LOT since summer holidays started, and I'm not sure if I'm dedicated enough to type out the stuff that we saw and did, but I'll try my best to keep this updated with photos (at least).

Anyway, last weekend had been a good ketchup with Seow Wei and I fell in love with London and its happenings all over again. We ate a lot, talked a lot, saw a lot, heard a lot. Brunches have been trendy lately and I can absolutely see why! Who doesn't like a full, happy tummy at the start of your day? Not just food for the belly, but food for the eyes really!

We went to The Modern Pantry on Saturday where I had the curry leaves waffle and a matcha latte (which I loved), then Bea's of Bloomsbury where we had the awesomest red velvet cupcakes ever! Jin Wun is a crazy Lola's fan, but this is a self-note to bring that girl to Bea's for their cupcakes 'cos I think it's slightly better than Lola's. Not bad indeed, so thumbs up for you, Bea's! Sadly, they ran out of scones so we couldn't try any. Boo.

The last time I wanted to book for afternoon tea at Bea's, they were also out of slots, so it's advisable to book much in advance! I tried The Wolseley instead, and their cakes were so-so decent but the decor was grand. Very nice. So yes, I would bring a friend there again. ZX (who tried both Bea's and Wolseley) said Bea's scones are better... so yeah... have to go back.

Sunday morning with SW started out at Dishoom in Covent Garden, and we tried their famous bacon naan and chai. Hmm... I've had better mamak breakfast back in Malaysia but this ain't a bad place for a morning hangout. Pretty cool '20s-ish posters of Indian girls and women framed on walls, and their toilets were decorated with Indian ointment bottles and packagings. Quirky?

The initial plan was to visit the Science Museum and we were so close... we went to V&A Museum on the way, spent about an hour there, got distracted by the thought of Patty & Bun burgers and so we went back to Bond Street for more FOOD. YES. YAY.

Wait. What Science Museum?

So anyway. Smokey Robinson at Patty & Bun. Go for it man, seriously. Deliciously messy but so worth it! It's not even expensive, which is a huge factor for me when it comes to looking for good food! Because my mommy is such a good cook (and yes I'm bragging about her 'cos she's that awesome!), I sometimes find it difficult to choose a place where I can get good food that is also value-for-money. Patty & Bun... good juicy beef, properly grilled (I got pink elixir oozing out before I opened the wrapping), an okay bun, just the right taste - checked.

Fast forward, fast forward.

BBC Proms. Long story cut short: want cheap tickets? Queue. 5 quid. Not a great view of the orchestra if you're not tall. Excellent music. Gorgeous venue. Royal Albert Hall.

I'm not an orchestra music expert but I really enjoyed myself! All I can say is very nice! very nice! very, very nice! Here's a review I stumbled upon while trying to google the piece they played during the encores, so if you'd like to read someone else's more detailed review, there you go. Music is subjective I know, but you get a better description of the night from there than just "very nice".

Bank Holiday Monday, tadaa! Since SW doesn't have to go to work, we went for brunch at Ottolenghi. Prettiest spread of food, buffet style, but mostly for take-aways. We got our tables after a 30-minute wait and I had my frittata and hot choc. What did I like about that place... hmm. The feast for the eyes (or rather, the food I didn't get to try since I ordered my hot breakfast and was too full for anything else). Tempted to tapao the sourdough bread but I didn't. Tempted to tapao some cakes but I didn't. But I'll go back again to try them, definitely.

That's it I guess - well that's a long post. Thanks for the great company, SW! Can't wait to see you in London again!

Tata for now folks, Italy photos next time, hopefully!

p.s. Can't wait for my upcoming NYC trip AAAH!!!

Weekend in London, again

Nicole and I got a table booked at Duck & Waffle two weeks before as we knew that we were going to have to go through the hell week at uni and needed a good break after that. After our financial economics presentation on Friday, we hopped on the train and got ourselves in time for dinner. We went to The Little French Restaurant at Earls Court as the food was pretty decent and affordable, and I managed to bring Phanit away from his computer games to come join us! 

On Saturday, we started the day late with a full English breakfast, then went straight to Picadilly Circus for lunch with Seow Wei, Zhao Feng, Eunice and Alicia. Zedels had pretty interior and I loved the posters on the walls, but their 9 quid 2-course meal offer was a bit of a scam as you can't choose anything else besides their steak with a shredded carrots starter, or dessert (pear tart I think? or coffee and biscuits sort of thing). Instead I had rabbit and pasta and shared a lovely Gateau Opera (chocolate cake, basically) with Nicole for dessert.

We were stuffing ourselves so much, and even went on to Gelupo for more sweet treats. I had the mint chocolate flavour and it was yummy-mummy! I was starting to think that we wouldn't need to order so much for dinner since we had loads of goodies throughout the day, but I was wrong.

Our Duck & Waffle reservation was at 5 p.m., so Nicole and I headed to Camden market to walk around for a bit before heading over to Liverpool Street. The timing and day for such a dinner were absolutely perfect as we were blessed with a very beautiful sunset. To be honest I was screaming with excitement inside as we went up to the 40th floor, but had to remain composed and all that, y'know. Only when I saw others whipping out their cameras and phones, I took my little x20 out and meekly took a few shots of the beautiful London below.

Everything about Duck & Waffle was great that evening, and the service there was excellent. We went for a walk around Westminster before heading back, then met up with Nicole's friend and stayed up late chatting over drinks at Phanit's place. The plan for Sunday was to visit Borough Market but we decided to detour and went to Harrods instead. 

We had pastries for breakfast and I tried Gran Caffe's Mille Feuilles and a cup of moccacino. Despite their posh interior and prime location, the service was rather bad and the breakfast was too sweet for my liking... I expected way more from them and I'd say that I was disappointed! Should have just gone in to Harrods' food hall and get some of their lovely cakes instead!

It was one of the nicest, most relaxing weekend I've had since I got back to England after cny, and I'm definitely gonna do this again soon!

bristol on a sunny afternoon