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!!!

Travelling

There was again a brief hiatus on this blog, and I only have unplugged holidays, uni exams and two new years in a month to blame. December went well with a trip to Southern Germany with Ying Hui, followed by a crazy few weeks of revision, then now, believe or not, I'm in Malaysia to celebrate Chinese New Year with the dearest people to me.

Didn't plan to come home until I graduate next summer, and wanted to travel somewhere in Europe for a treat after our exams (supposedly Netherlands, and ironically I did stop over at Amsterdam for transit on my way back). What changed my mind - I do not know - but what I'm certain of is that getting the flight ticket home was probably one of my best 500 quid spent on something. I kept it away from my family's knowledge for a month, and the expressions on their faces when they saw me at the restaurant last night was really, priceless. 

This also means that I would have to wait a little longer before I can get my 35mm 1.4. But that's okay. 

I want to show you how pretty Triberg was. I want to tell you about my fair share of sunsets, and brag more about the amount of lebkuchens we ate in Nurnberg. There is much to tell but as for now, I'm just gonna head down to the beach and read The Fault In Our Stars till it's time for lunch.

Life at home is good.

bristol on a sunny afternoon

Ahnyeonghaseyo!

**Note: I was gonna put this post up at the airport but the Wi-Fi connection wasn't strong enough! Anyway, here goes:

(14th of September) Greetings from Doha! I'm making my way back to London today and thought I should update this blog that I've been neglecting for some time now, while waiting for my next flight. 

My parents and I went on a trip to Korea two weeks ago; we started off at Busan and ended in Seoul. It was my second visit there as I went to Ulsan and Seoul with Zhao Feng and Eunice last summer (here are some photos of the trip on my old tumblog), but this year's vacation was an entirely different experience. For one, we didn't have a guide who could speak the language this time, whereas we had Bong and Jung Hwan to bring us around last year.

If I have to rate the level of difficulty of going around without knowing the language, I'd go for... 7/10 (10 being most difficult!) However, we were very fortunate 'cos we met some really nice people who patiently helped us get on the right public bus with the right amount of change and all that. Kudos to hand language! :)

We arrived at Busan just before noon, and after checking into our hotel rooms we headed for Taejongdae. It's quite a big place; nice sea view and a rocky beach (even had an auntie/ahjumma selling fresh sashimi but we didn't go for that 'cos my stomach wasn't feeling too good then), and I would recommend that you bring some food for picnic 'cos it's a perfect spot for that kinda thing (although as tourists we won't bother to do that).

Jagalchi market was absolutely fun. Seafood were sold fresh, and when I say fresh, I meant to say that they're still alive. Breathing, swimming, climbing. When the ahjumma wasn't looking, this silly octopus tried to escape its fate but my dad ruined it by picking it up and throwing it back into the basin (EEE!!!)

If you intend to try some of the seafood, and in this case I'll say that you MUST, go for the ones in the indoor market. The level of hygiene there is great and there's a better control of freshness. Also, Seoul's seafood are mostly from Busan so they're definitely cheaper here. 

There were sooo many kinds of weird-looking seafood but we went for the familiar ones. The idea is to pick your seafood, pay, then go upstairs and they'll cook them for you. They'll also charge you a small fee for the side dishes. 

Here's where I started disliking dishonest shopkeepers who try to take advantage of foreign tourists. Firstly, the shop lady picked out a skinny crab but my mom noticed that, so she requested to get a bigger one of her choice. Skinny crabs have no meat, we all know that. Secondly, my dad did his research online before our trip and found out that it costs 3,500 won per head for the side dishes, but we were charged 4,000 – well that's fine, not too much of a difference. The annoying part is that they gave us a miserable variety of dishes but we saw the next table having more choices, and I'm guessing that it's because they are local customers. Maybe I'm just being judgmental, or maybe it's just another disadvantage of not knowing how to order for more in Korean.

But of course, fresh seafood can never go wrong. Ever. 

Check out these babies!

After our meal, we walked around the dried fish market and saw lotsa interesting things. Dried whale meat too, ugh. And a whale is not even a fish?

Next post soon, byeee!