*dimsumdolly* - the different morsels of the life of a foodie

Snapshots from Sydney

I love this window display

Fashion for the punk baby

Smart signage for a bed shop

A retro Singapore Airlines bag

It's hard to guess what this is and I couldn't quite make it out when I saw it, but it's soap! It reminded me of a cinnamon bun. Haha.

Horse riding at Glenworth Valley, a place 1.5 hours north from city centre. It's really fun to go on horse back and being at one with nature. My horse's name was Mandray, a brown stallion. Once while cantering, he tripped and lost his footing and for a split second, I was hurled forward and I feared that I was going to be thrown off! Thankfully regained his footing in time and I managed to stay on. Phew.

That's me in the foreground paddling towards the ANZAC Bridge and out into the Sydney Harbour during a guest paddle with the Pacific Dragons team one Sunday morning.

Kirribilli Market

If you, like me, are fond of going to weekend bazaars and markets, Kirribilli Market is one of the markets you can head to if you happen to be in Sydney on the fourth Saturday of the month. I love it because there are many homemade handicrafts and clothes, bags, and fashion accessories designed by budding designers, home-baked confectionary, second hand vintage clothes etc. Often, you can come across many great finds at such places!

Here are some snapshots of the market when I was there recently.

The market is situated at a scenic spot that overlooks the beautiful Sydney Harbour and has the Harbour Bridge looming just ahead.

Aprons for those who want to look pretty in the kitchen.

These puppets, toys, and accessories are handsewn from a very thick felt material. The stall also sold bags and clothes. The material used were ethically sourced and it's one of the burgeoning number of retailers advocating fair trade these days. Good on them!

Earrings galore!

I wished I could strut down the street carrying this bag in confidence. Unfortunately, I'm not blessed with a killer bod and looks to match!

Nice bags to use for a casual weekend

Rings made from bits of ceramic tiles

Various kinds of jams and dips. I liked the passionfruit butter.

Mini quiches and pecan nut pies

Whale Watching

I had never gone whale watching before so I decided I had to do it during this trip to Sydney. So I paid A$69 and booked myself on a whale watching trip for two Friday afternoons ago. On the way out of the Sydney Harbour, we spotted a pod of dolphins who eagerly swam alongside the bow of the boat as they enjoy riding in the wake. There were about 10 of them and it was so nice to see so much marine life in ths harbour which is shared by ferries, speed boats, jet boats, yachts, kayaks, surfskis, dragon boats, sculls, and outrigger canoes alike. It's just amazing, isn't it?

Often the first sign of a humpback whale's presence is its 'blow', a cloud of vapour that it shoots into the air when it breaks the water surface to breath.

The tour operator gives a 100% guarantee that you'll spot whales - it's the time of the year when the whales are migrating from the south to the warmer waters in the north. The boat headed towards the heads (i.e. North Head and South Head) and turned right to go along the south coast. We were about 2 to 3km from the coast when we saw the first whale coming towards us. We knew it was a humpback whale because of the dorsal fin at the top which is unique to humpback whales.

The bottom of the humpback whales' tails is white and they will often roll forward to dive until only the tail sticks out of the water. This is called a fluke-up dive. Humpback whales are 14m to 18m in length as adults and can weigh up to 50 tonnes.

Humpback whales have a dark grey or black body, with white patches on its belly, pectoral fins and underside of the tail flukes. These markings are like fingerprints with no two dolphins having the same black and white markings. This fingerprint, or fluke identification (ID), helps researchers to identify individuals as they migrate along the coast.

I just found it incredibly fascinating and was extremely in awe of being in such close proximity to these wonderful and immensely powerful mammals. We spotted about 15 in total during the 3.5 hours out at sea and some of them swam very close to (about a metre or two away) the boat. It was as if they were checking us out instead of the other way around!

It's so wonderful that these sights are so easily accessible in Sydney. I just love the fact that humans and animals can co-exist so harmoniously in this city. Whale watching is definitely something worth doing once and I can now check something off my life's to-do list!

Red Lantern

If you're looking for Vietnamese fine dining in Sydney, you definitely have to head to Red Lantern, which is located in Surry Hills, a stone's throw away from Central. I first came to know of this restaurant after coming across the cookbook written by its owners in a friend's place in London. Titled Secrets of the Red Lantern, it's one of the prettiest cookbooks I've ever come across. Apart from recipes, it contains the story of the main author's (Pauline Nguyen) family journey as Vietnamese war refugees in Australia.

The book chronicles her parents' decision to smuggle themselves out of Vietnam because of the Vietnam war in the 1970s. People like them were known as the 'Boat People'. Their struggle and resilience in surviving and adapting to a foreign land is well documented by Nguyen. She also writes about her growing up years and trying to find the balance between being ethnically Vietnamese and culturally Australian.

The well written and beautiful book with its fantastic graphics and well-designed layouts made me want to pay the restaurant a visit during my next visit to Sydney. And I'm glad to say I wasn't disappointed. I was there with two other friends and here's what we ate.

Entrance of Red Lantern

Red Lantern is housed in one of the charming rows of terrace houses in the suburb of Surry Hills. On foot, it's about a ten-minute walk from Central Station. Surry Hills is a very quaint and charming suburb with nice bars and restaurants along Crown Street and Cleveland Street.

Red Lantern interior

Warm, red tones dominate with dim lighting, reminiscent of the old Asia.

Mussels with glass noodles and clear broth

Our entree was delicious with the mussels being fresh and the broth absolutely flavourful.

Vietnamese pancake with seafood filling. Loved the grilled smoky flavour!

What I love about Vietnamese food is the raw vegetables that accompany many of the dishes. It's so refreshing to eat them!

Beef brisket with warm French baguette

The baguette had been put over a grill, thus it possessed that smoky flavour which made that just that bit more delicious in addition to it being fresh.

Grilled pork with preserved vegetables

This tasted delicious with the pork being well marinated and grilled to perfection with a smoky flavour.

If you have a group of four persons or more, I'd suggest going for the tasting menu as it is good value for the amount of food you get which, according to the waiter, is 'a lot'. The restaurant has two seatings - the first at 6pm and the second at 8pm. Service was good and expect to spend about A$40 per person.

Red Lantern
545 Crown Street
Surry Hills
NSW 2010
Phone: +61 (0)2 9698 4355
(Closed on Mondays)

Taking It Slow in Hong Kong

So I jetted off to Hong Kong with my cousin and sister on a last-minute whim and spent a good six days there relaxing and eating my way around the city.

To me, the best way to enjoy Hong Kong is to take it slow and do it at a relaxed pace. This sounds like an oxymoron when it comes to the high energy that characterises the place, but you CAN detach yourself from the buzz and take a backseat which would then make a visit to Hong Kong even more enjoyable. Not that I've ever had a bad time in Hong Kong during all my visits. Perhaps it's because I speak and read Cantonese pretty fluently, I feel really at home there.

If you're not that into shopping like me (really, there's only so much of Causeway Bay 銅鑼灣 and Central 中環 I can take), one of the best things to do is to go on a hike or go kayaking. I didn't manage to do any of these this time as I was busy going from place to place to meet up and have meals with friends. And on the day I was supposed to go hiking at Shek O 石澳, the weather didn't permit. So that was a real bummer. I've paddled on the south side of Hong Kong island at Deep Water Bay 深水灣 and Stanley 赤柱 and I've heard that you can also go paddling in Sai Kung 西貢. Hong Kong has some amazing and beautiful scenery which many tourists never discover because they're so caught up in Causeway and Central.

For the more adventurous, hop onto any bus and see where you end up. Explore the suburbs and really get a feel of how the locals live. This time I explored a bit of Tsuen Wan 荃灣 which you can get to by taking the Tsuen Wan line on the MTR (the red line). I went to the Sam Tung Uk Museum 三棟屋博物館 while there and it was interesting to learn about the history of the area and the Hakka people who lived there about 220 years ago.

It's good fun exploring Hong Kong by bus and the mini-bus and it's something I'd highly recommend to people who have already been and done that when it comes to the more touristy parts of the Hong Kong.

Love Stones in Kiyomizudera (清水寺）

Since it's Valentine's Day today, I thought it apt to put up this blog entry about two love stones in Kiyomizudera (清水寺), a temple which is a Unesco World Heritage listed site located in the eastern Kyoto region of Higashiyama. The temple sits on a hill and it offers a gorgeous view of the city from up there.

There are many shrines in the temple, one of which is the Jishu-jinja, dedicated to the Okuninushino-Mikoto, a god of love. At Jishu-jinja there is a pair of 'love stones' which are placed 18 metres apart. It is said that if you are able to walk from one to the other with your eyes close, you will be able to find love. If you're only able to reach the other stone with someone's help, it follows that you'll require some help in finding love.

I'm not a superstitious person, so I didn't even bother trying it (moreover it was raining and the ground was slippery). With my hitherto (bad) luck with men, I doubt crossing from one stone to the other would do much help when I've already traversed continents – all in vain may I add!

One of the love stones

Ladies, hidden under their umbrellas, praying for their Prince Charming to appear in their lives soon. Just awhile before this photo was taken, one of the ladies in this photo was jumping with excitement and delight as she had probably picked an amulet which had indicated that she would meet the man of her dreams soon.

The other love stone

Explanation of the love stone

Amulets for 'Good Marriage', 'Deepen Love', 'More Chance For Love', 'Find Love', 'Bind Your Love Tightly', and 'For Conception'.

Or you could buy one of these wooden plaques and write your wish for your love life behind. The person in green holding the white sack with the word 緣 (meaning 'fate') is the god of love and the rabbit is his messenger. Hence in Japanese culture, the rabbit is usually associated with love.

No, I didn't add to the hundreds of wooden plaques already hanging up there.

Had no idea what the words at the side of this plaque meant, but I thought the drawing was so cute that I couldn't resist taking a photo of it.

Happy Valentine's!

Nikishi Food Market 錦市場

For anyone who proclaims to be a foodie, a visit to Kyoto wouldn't be complete without popping by Nikishi Food Market.

The market sits in a narrow street in downtown Kyoto. The narrow street is lined by shops selling fresh seafood and traditional Japanese eats like pickled vegetables, barbecued unagi, sweets, sushi, sashimi, etc.

The market is very crowded so be prepared to be squashed as you weave your way through! After you're done with the food, walk around the shopping arcade which has more than enough shops to cure any shopaholic of his/her addiction. And if you still haven't had enough of good food, walk to the Daimaru (大丸) or Takashimaya (高島屋) department stores not far from Nikishi Food Market and head for the basement. The basements of Japanese department stores are like food meccas!

OK, enough words from me...let the pictures of Nikishi Food Market speak for themselves!

An endless stream of people

Only the Japanese can be bothered to make fish cake in such pretty shapes and colours

Take your pick of seafood

Care for a sushi bento?

A mountain of miso paste

Heaps of unborn fish lie in this bright orange mound

Adventurous eaters will love this stall selling fugu (puffer fish)

The Japanese version of 'chai peng' - a stall that sells different dishes where you can pick and choose from

Steaming hot food was just the thing for a cold winter's day

The most expensive strawberries I've ever come across - 600¥ (S$8) per strawberry!

The piece of unagi on the bottom left landed in my stomach

Pickled vegetables

Getting there: It's a five-minute walk from Shijo Station on the Karasuma Subway Line and Karasuma or Kawaramachi Stations on the Hankyu Line.

Asakusa 浅草

My friends and I had gone to Asakusa (浅草) to visit Sensoji, a popular Buddhist temple built in the 7th century in Tokyo.

While the temple was beautiful, what caught my interest was the shopping street around the temple.

I was walking around the rows of shops when I came across this stall selling mochi. They were also getting the crowd involved in the process of making mochi.

Mochi is a sticky rice cake that's an important food in Japanese culture. The Japanese people decorate their houses with a special type of mochi called kagamimochi and eat zoni (rice cake soup) during the Japanese New Year which falls on 1 Jan.

More information about mochi from About.com:
"Steamed mochi rice (glutinous rice) is pounded to make mochi. Traditionally, wooden mortars and pestles are used to pound mochi rice. Fresh mochi is soft, but it becomes hard soon. Prepacked mochi, which are flattened and cut into pieces or shaped into rounds are available at grocery stores. Mochi turns moldy easily, so it's best to cook soon."

The children were having a go at pounding the mochi and the adults standing around were cheering them on. They were clearing enjoying themselves and it certainly looked like good fun!

The freshly made mochi was then sold to the long queue of people who were all waiting to get their hands on this traditional snack.

There were also other interesting stalls. This one was selling freshly made Japanese rice crackers.

A stall specialising in beans.

Japanese footwear

Canine fashion

A curious boy watching how Japanese pancakes are made

Asakusa is served by the Ginza Subway Line, Asakusa Subway Line, Tsukuba Express and Tobu Railways.

Tsukiji Fish Market 築地市場

No visit to Tokyo is complete without dropping by Tsukiji Fish Market 築地市場. The hard-core foodies will get there in the wee hours of the morning to catch the tuna auction, but I decided that my beauty sleep was more important. I am a woman after all. :p

My friends and I got to the market at around 8.30am and the market was still bustling with activity. I had never seen so much fresh seafood in one place in my life. I was in sashimi heaven. Bliss.

All sorts of shellfish, including razor clams at the bottom right

Giant scallops

A stall specialising in eels

Giant cockles

Uni!!!! I love uni (sea urchin). It was so cheap compared to what one would pay in Singapore or London. I promptly bought a box and devoured it together with my friends. Fresh uni is so sweet and it just slithers down your throat. Divine.

Fishmongers slicing tuna with a very lethal looking knife which has a thin and long blade.

Rows and rows of stall line the big market. Be very careful of the small motorised carts that the fishermen drive around the market. They're zipping by so fast that you'd think these people have a go-kart track in the market!

The Tsukiji fish market is located near the Tsukijishijō Station on the Oedo subway line and Tsukiji Station on the Hibiya subway line.

Go here to read more about the market.

Shiseido Parlour

I discovered that a Shiseido 'cake' could take on two meanings in Japan. Before going to Tokyo, a Shiseido 'cake' would have just meant a two-way cake to me. Two-way cakes, by the way, are fantastic for a lazy person like me who's too lazy to slap on foundation and powder separately, if at all.

But ah, I was to discover that the Japanese cosmetic giant has something else up its sleeve in way of 'cakes'. At Shiseido Parlour, feast your eyes and stomach on the exquisitely made cakes and chocolates. I was on my way to a sushi dinner so I didn't actually sample any of the delights. Seriously, there is too much good food in Japan for my stomach to handle!

That Mille Feuille au Chocolat looks devilishly good.

You can browse and buy cookbooks. You can also dine in and the seating area is upstairs.

Shiseido Buildingg 4-5F, Ginza 8-8-3, Tokyo

Travel Woes

Backtracking a little, but just thought I'd share a tale of my travel woes...

I left Germany on the morning of 22 Dec whereupon I boarded a train at Würzburg early in the morning at 06.37. That was the beginning of a 10-hour train ride which saw me stop at Stuttgart and Zürich to change trains to get to Milan. I like German trains best and the way Deutsch Bahn runs trains is top-class. The ICE (Intercity Express) German trains are the best! Fast, comfortable, clean and it has power sockets where you can plug your laptop into. Someone told me it also has wifi...but I didn't try 'cos usually I just like to look out of the window or read a book.

By the time I reached Milan, it was 17.00 and my legs were screaming for a stretch. I had actually booked a room at a budget hotel which was quite far from the central station, but decided to forgo that for a hotel that was nearer the station as I had to have a early start the next morning. Feeling in need of some pampering, I decided to splurge on a nice hotel that was near the station. I went to one of the hotels and splurged on a 120 euros per night room. Yes, it was pricey, but it was what I needed - a little bit of luxury.

The next morning, I woke up at 05.15 to get ready to leave for Milan Malpensa airport. After having breakfast at the hotel, I checked out and was out of the hotel by 06.30 intending to walk to the bus stop just two minutes away to catch the 06.40 coach to the airport. In Milan, you can't take a train to the airport from the Central Stazione. It's ridiculous. So most people take a coach from the station. The journey takes about an hour. There are two operators and the coaches are supposed to depart every 20 minutes. I was intending to catch the 06.40 bus, but I was soon to learn that Italian time is always flexible time. Instead of leaving at 06.40 sharp, the bus driver kept waiting till the coach was full before he decided to leave. That really frustrated me as come on, I have a flight to catch! Eventually, at about 07.00 the driver decides to leave as the coach was almost full. I'm every sure that if that was in Germany, the bus would have left at 06.40 sharp even if there was only one person on board! That's what I love about German reliability and efficiency.

But that was just the start of my travel woes for the day.

When I arrived at Milano Malpensa airport, it was only to find a horrendously long queue at the check-in counters for the AlItalia flights. They seriously need to do something about their queue control. I ended up waiting close to an hour before I got to the counter. Then I'm told by the woman serving me that I don't have a reservation. And I'm like "What do you mean I don't have a reservation? My travel agent emailed me the confirmed itinerary."

I guess the screw-up occurred when there was a change in flight. Originally I was supposed to fly direct from Milan to Tokyo. Then a few days before I left London, I was emailed a new flight itinerary by my travel agent. Apparently AlItalia cancelled that direct flight and now I would have to transit in Rome to get to Tokyo. Somehow that change didn't make it into AlItalia's system and I was left with no reservation. I was horrified!!! In the end, after standing for about 45min at the counter, all I was given was a stand-by ticket as the flight was overbooked. Then I was told to go to another queue to wait and see whether I could get a seat.

When I got to the other queue, there were probably about 20 other people before me and the queue wasn't moving at all. A Japanese couple in front of me was in the same situation as I was, except that the woman had confirmed seats but her husband didn't . Instead of waiting around (there were many others in front of us), he went to buy two tickets from Swissair each costing 1000 euros. I wrote that option off the moment I heard the price.

My flight was scheduled at 10.30. At 09.55 I was still standing at the counter. I was never so stressed out in my entire life. I mean, missing a short-haul flight sucks, but it's still not ssoooo bad. But this is a long-haul flight we're talking about. I was on the verge of texting my friend to say that I probably won't be able to meet her in Tokyo!

Just as I was going to resign myself to the fact that I would miss my flight, a massive stroke of luck and alertness on my part saw me dashing to a member of the ground staff who was calling for people on stand-by to Rome. I know there were others in front of me but they probably thought it was safer to remain in the original queue. However I thought there was nothing to lose and so I dashed to her. And as if I had struck lottery, she gave me a boarding pass with a confirmed seat number!

With my boarding pass in hand, I sprinted to through the departure gates, only to find myself faced with a long security clearance queue. Thankfully it moved along pretty fast, but my watch was already showing 10.15. After I cleared security, I dashed to the boarding gate and for once, I was thankful for a flight delay!!! They were still boarding passengers and you can't imagine the relief I felt when I finally sank my ass into the plane seat. Seriously, I've never been more stressed out and traumatised!!!

But that's not the end of it. When I arrived in Tokyo, I saw my name being held up on a piece of paper by a member of the ground staff as I was exiting the plane. And I'm thinking, "What now??? I'm not expecting any limo service so this can't be anything good."

As expected, it wasn't.

My luggage didn't arrive on the same flight as me because I had checked in really late. In the end, they sent it to my hotel the next day but with my combination lock missing! As a security measure, they had asked for the code because I think customs must have wanted to check to make sure I had no drugs, weapons or banned substances in it. But they forgot to put the lock back!!! Pissed off.

Anyway, with this sort of crap service, it's no wonder AlItalia is now being bought out by Air France-KLM. If I can help it at all, I'm never flying with them again!

Christkindlmarkt Snapshots

It's a bit late, but I thought I'd just put up some shots I took of the Christmas markets in Germany. As far as Christmas markets go, I don't think anyone does it better than the Germans.

The stalls sell lovely handcrafted Christmas ornaments and mingling with all the people out doing their Christmas shopping is quite a joy. Typical food being sold at the Christmas markets are caramalised nuts, Glühwein (hot spiced wine) in special Christmas cups which you can keep if you don't want to get back your deposit of 2.50 euros, crepes (sweet and savoury), sausages, Christmas cookies and chocolate-coated fruits like strawberries, bananas and grapes.

I went to the Christkindlmarkts in München (Munich), Nürnberg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Würzburg. The one in Nürnberg is biggest and most famous, but seriously after you see one, you see all.

Cookies galore

Handcrafted wooden toys

A stall selling Christmas ornaments

More Christmas decorations

Bratapfels (roasted apples)

One of many creperies

The crowds at the Christkindlmarkt at the Marienplatz, München.

Ice Skating at Somerset House

The photo above is that of Somerset House in London. For Christmas, an ice skating rink has been set up in the courtyard and a big Christmas tree stands in front of it. It's very pretty! (As you probably do realise, I'm not writing in chronological order. I'm still in Munich at point of writing this post - am holing myself up in a cafe to get away from the cold and typing away on my laptop as there's wifi here. Thank god for wifi!)

I'm getting ready to get on the ice! I hadn't skated in probably about 15 years and I was really wondering if I could still skate!

There's a special area for kids who are learning how to skate and they have little penguins to help them. It's so cute!

I discover, to my delight, that I can still skate. I guess it's just like cycling...once you learn it you don't forget it. I went skating with my cousin and we had a really good time at Somerset House.

London Favourite Eats

1) Leather Lane – this lane near my office in Holborn has cheap eateries lining it to cater to the lunch-time office crowd. My favourite stall there is the Mediterranean salad stall Sunny’s Olive Tree. They have the best mixed salad box for a cheap £2.50. A bigger box costs £3.20 but the small one is more than enough to fill you up. It comes with a slice of foccacia too. I love their fresh cherry tomatoes, cous cous and mixed beans. You can also choose to buy a range of olives and nuts that they sell.

2) Food For Thought – A vegetarian organic café in 31 Neal Street, Covent Garden. I’m usually not big on vegetarian, but this one serves really yummy vegetarian food. Everything’s good, but I especially love their quiche and stews. For dessert, try their crumbles.

3) Churreria Espanola – This Spanish eatery at 177-179 Queensway W2 5HL (nearest Tube: Bayswater) has hearty Spanish food at reasonable prices. Try the pork knuckle and meat balls. And if you like thick molten hot chocolate (Spanish chocolate caliente), this is the place to head to. It’s the only one I’ve found in London!

4) Carluccio’s – It may be a chain, but it serves up affordable and pretty good quality Italian food. They have several branches around London in South Kensington, Canary Wharf, Spitalfields etc. They recently opened one in Covent Garden.

5) Masala Zone – Good Indian food at reasonable prices. The Thali set is good value for money. They have several branches, but I've only been to the one near Oxford Circus.

6) Harlem – The service is crappy and slow but the pancakes there are fantastic. It's a great place to go to for a lazy Sunday brunch. Just be really patient. On a nice day, you can walk over to Kensington Park after eating to lounge around some more! They're at 78 Westbourne Grove W2 5RT (nearest Tube: Bayswater).

7) Kowloon Bakery on Gerrard Street, Chinatown. I go there to get my fix of Chinese breads and pastries. My Polo bun, Lo Por Bang (Wife’s Biscuit), Malay Cake (a steamed cake), Char Siew Bao, egg tarts etc. It's not fantastic, but it's good enough to satisfy those cravings for something Asian.

8) Maison Bertaux – a charming French patisserie with rather retro and quirky interiors on 27 Greek Street in Cambridge Circus. Try the chocolate mousse cake, St Honore and raspberry slice with fresh cream. I don't really like the rest, so just give it a miss. It's a nice place to go for tea or dessert after dinner.

9) Marks & Spencer’s Food Hall – love all the ready-made meals. I take ages to decide what to get! M&S is ubiquitous in the UK and their Bureau de Change (in the bigger stores) offer good exchange rates to buy or sell foreign currency. Actually I think they offer the best rates. I've done my homework.

10) Waitrose – love all the ready-made meals. Like M&S, I can never decide what to get. I only wished they had more stores around London!

11) Cornish Pasties – workman’s food which is somewhat like the British version of the Italian calzone. Or you could say it's the British version of the curry puffs in Singapore, except it's not curry. Anyway, it's hearty fare which I love for a snack.

12) Borough Market – In my opinion, the best farmer’s market in London. It's both a visual and gastronomical feast. A must-go for foodies.

13) Duchy Originals – the line of food products endorsed by Prince Charles. Profits from sales of Duchy’s food go to charity. Good for people into ethical eating. The chocolate tart, lemon tart, biscuits, basically everything is really yummy! It’s not cheap compared to M&S but it’s worth the money.

14) Four Seasons Chinese Restaurant - the roast duck and char siew look the best amongst the eateries along Gerrard Street. I think it's kinda the best among the worst. The Chinese food in Chinatown is actually pretty crappy but Four Seasons isn't too bad. They have a branch in Bayswater too. The Chinatown outlet is at 12 Gerrard Street and the Bayswater one is at 84 Queensway W2 3RL.

15) Lisboa Patisserie - a Portuguese cafe at 57 Golborne Road W10 5NR serving fantastic Portguese egg tarts and other pastries. It's always crowded and I think it's best to do take-away. It's near Portobello Market so if you're around the famous flea market, take a short detour and head to this cafe for a snack if you're feeling peckish.

16) Ben's Cookies - Really yummy freshly baked cookies sold by weight. It's the same price across the board. So for example, if you buy a dark chocolate with nuts, it'll cost slightly more than one that's a lemon-flavoured one. On average, each cookie costs £1.35. It's a big cookie but still expensive nonetheless. But it's worth the money especially when eaten fresh!

Cotswold

I spent the weekend in Cotswold, an area in England which is really lovely what with the undulating fields and its Cotswold villages which are very quaint and seem to take you back in time.

The village I went to in Cotswold was called Northleach and I stayed two nights in a house built in the 1760s and some of the original wooden ceiling beams are still intact. The sleepy village is so nice and quiet compared to busy London.

The view of the village from the elevated fields just behind it. I love the autumn colours of different shades of red, gold, yellow and orange. It's absolutely beautiful.

Locals call this tree 'The Lightning Tree' because they believe it was struck down by lightning. The children in the village prefer, however, to call it 'The Whomping Willow' which is the tree that features in the Harry Potter books. Whatever it is, both are very delightful names! I love how the children play around it and I'm glad that I managed to capture such a natural shot of how the locals interact with the tree.

Just behind the line of trees lies Helen's Ditch, a road that was used by the locals in medieval times. I love the silhouette of the trees and I love how the trees look so rooted to the ground. It's as if they are shouting 'This is home!'

The local church in Northleach is called Wool Church, because it was built with money donated by wool merchants. In olden days, having sheep was equivalent to having gold in modern times.

Quintessential English countryside with birch, beech and oak trees and a tiny river running through.

Fancy some me-time? Then head to All Alone Lane. I just love the charming names of the roads in the villages.

Saturday night I went to Cirencester for bonfire night and the fireworks display which was really lovely. That was to celebrate Guy Fawkes day. I'm glad I got to experience a really traditional English festival!

Do-Re-Mi

This flight of steps in Salzburg is affectionately known as the 'Do-Re-Mi steps' because it was where the Von Trapp children and Maria sang the Do-Re-Mi song in the Sound of Music!

And the fountain which they ran around!

Hampton Court Palace

Some snapshots I took of Hampton Court Palace yesterday. Its most famous resident is King Henry VIII - yes the one who had six wives and who formed the Church of England just 'cos the Pope didn't grant him a divorce!

Whitstable

On Sunday, my flatmate and I decided to not to stay in Canterbury but chose to go to a seaside town after checking out of Chaucer Lodge. We took a bus there and it took about 30min to get there.

For some reason, the UK is having better weather in September than she had for the whole of summer. We're officially into autumn now. But I'm not complaining! So we were blessed with perfect weather to be visting the seaside. Whitstable beach was at low tide when we got there. So low that you could walk along the sandbank which stretched far into the sea.

Like many other visitors, we, too, had to walk along the sand bank just for the fun of it.

Turning round as I walked, I took a shot of the beach huts that faced the sea. I love these multicoloured huts. They're so cute. They're really tiny and people use them only for the day to put their things when they spend the day at the beach. People don't normally spend the night in it.

And farther along the sandbank, I took another shot. You almost feel like you're walking straight into the horizon.

We walked back to shore and did a long walk along the coast. Along the way, we came across a Sunday open market. There was an old wooden canoe being displayed. It was very nicely polished too! Makes for a good display piece.

There was also a fish market, but it was really tiny! I was expecting something like Sydney's fish market when I saw the sign, and was full on anticipation...

...but this was all there was to it! So pathetic! Seriously, forget about the notion of good seafood in the UK.

Some cooked shellfish for sale in tiny little bowls. It didn't look very appetising at all.

Fresh fish for sale.

Catamarans begging to be taken out to sea.

A row of seaside terrace houses at Whitstable.

Walked past this house whose owner must have great artistic talent and a quirky sense of humour. He/She painted the dull green rubbish bin (bottom left of pic) to what are suppose to be flowers to blend in with the rest of the real flowers. Brilliant idea!

The lanes of Whitstable.

Did you think I would go on with the day without ice cream? Such days are perfect days for ice cream and I bought a double scoop cone from this ice cream shop called Sundae Sundae. They make their own ice cream and I went for the Stem Ginger and Butterscotch & Toffee. I really liked the former. Ginger ice cream is always good!

We later made our way to Herne Bay, another seaside town. Herne Bay was smaller and a lot quieter. We hung around for a short while and then made our way back to Canterbury where we caught our train back to London's Waterloo East station. But of course, not before I bought another Belgian waffle from Cafe St Pierre to munch on the train!

Canterbury Part II

We stayed over in Canterbury on Saturday night. We were really lucky to find a room at the last minute as we were prepared to head back to London if we couldn't find one.

We thought that it wouldn't be too difficult to get a room in Canterbury 'cos we didn't think it was that popular a place! But we were wrong! The youth hostel was full and so were the other B&Bs within our budget. Thankfully, we managed to get a twin room in Chaucer Lodge (62 New Dover Road) and the proprietor told us that Chaucer Lodge was the last B&B on that road! Had we walked farther (and we had walked very far already!), we wouldn't have found anything. So really lucky indeed! And isn't it fitting to stay at Chaucer Lodge when Canterbury's the home of the Canterbury Tales?

The room was small but clean and comfortable. Very cosy. We paid £65 for the room.

The traditional English breakfast which was served the next morning.

The end of the dining room extended into the garden and it was really nice to have sunlight streaming in and a nice view of the well-pruned garden.

This was a gate I walked past in some small lane in Canterbury. I don't know why, but I just thought it was very pretty with the ivy blanketing it and weaving its vines over the iron-wrought gates. There's just something very English about it!

This postbox embedded in the wall that surrounds St Augustine's Abbey is pretty unique – you seldom see such embedded postboxes around.

A cup of hot chocolate was my Saturday afternoon indulgence together with a Belgian waffle which was so buttery and so divine. Of course, it was so divine that I sank my teeth right into it and forgot to take a photo of it.

Cafe St Pierre, along High Street, is the maker of the divine waffle. They serve baguette, paninis, cakes and pastries as well. Look out for their 50p specials for pastries and cakes they want to clear from the shelves. It's a very good bargain! Though of course it doesn't do anything for your waistline. But who cares.

Canterbury

Went to Canterbury over the weekend - yes, to the home of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. It was a nice little city, the old town centre was bustling with tourists on a Saturday afternoon. The city still has a long stretch of its old city wall still intact and it was built when the Romans first came in the first century AD! Pretty cool.

The famous Canterbury Cathedral is a World Heritage site. Apparently costs £12,000 daily to run. It costs £6.50 (adult price) to enter. This Anglican cathedral is huge and has lots of high gothic ceilings and many stain glass windows.

Walked past this small public library on High Street, the main shopping street in the town centre. Though small and old, it is very quaint and charming.

After having a late lunch, my friend and I decided to go for a river punt ride. Us two lazy girls just wanted to take it easy.

Our Scottish punter punted us down the River Stour on a slow, relaxing and sleep-inducing ride.

We passed other boats and went past hanging willows which added a somewhat poetic touch to the scene.

Along the way, we stopped to feed some wild Polish that were grazing in the field. Some nettle stung my hand as I was going to pick it up to feed, thinking those leaves were harmless! But boy, do these nettle sting! Ouch ouch ouch.

One of several lanes in the old town centre.

Devil's Dyke

On Sunday, we decided to take it a little easier by going up to Devil’s Dyke for a picnic. This time it was just Olduvai and myself as Yukiko had a lunch appointment. So us two gourmets trotted off to the supermarket and got some food for our picnic.

Then we took Bus 77, an open top bus, to our destination! The open top buses are used only in summer and what a treat it was! I felt like I was going on a tour! I love feeling the wind in my face and the sun on my skin in such glorious weather!

For our picnic, we had a baguette, Stilton cheese, green grapes, roast chicken drumsticks, salad, two apples, and tuna pasta with butter beans (made by Olduvai). OK, we didn’t eat ALL of it – as much as we would have liked to, we couldn’t! And of course we didn’t dump the food – we had other uses for them, details of which will appear in the next post. Anyway, we also bought the Observer – the Sunday edition of the Guardian, a newspaper we both hold in high regard for its quality of writing – for our reading pleasure up on the Dyke.

The views we were accorded of the West Sussex countryside were gorgeous! Cows and sheep dotted the green open pastures that spread for miles below us. There were other holiday makers there as well to enjoy the fresh air and beautiful scenery. But there was enough space for everyone without it feeling too claustrophobic.

There were many people paragliding and Zorbing there as well. It was fun watching the paragliders take off and land. The one I photographed here was rather inexperienced, and once airborne, didn’t quite know how to catch the wind to stay high in the sky. He gradually went farther and farther down and ended up right smack in the middle of a farm down below. Poor guy. We wondered how he was going to make his way up again!

A herd of free-ranging black cows were grazing close by and two got up close and personal with some of the people. I had never come so close to cows before. But I didn’t really want to touch them as they were very dirty! Their faces were full of snot and there were so many flies buzzing around them! I’m not that into bovine creatures anyway, except when they're on the dinner table. Hee.

Anyway, a very lovely afternoon spent in quiet and soul-nourishing surroundings.

Beachy Head Coastal Walk

Got my fix of countryside and exercise! I hate not being to do much outdoor stuff in London. But thankfully last weekend I managed to get my fix at Beachy Head. Olduvai, her friend Yukiko and I did a long coastal walk from Beachy Head to South Downs. We walked for a good 12.8km along the towering chalk cliffs that hug the southeastern coast of the UK and were treated to fantastic views of the sea shimmering in the sunlight, undulating green fields, and open fields where cows and sheep grazed. LOVED IT.

Had a pub lunch before the long walk. The gigantic guiness, steak and mushroom pie was fantastic! I've been eating way too many pies in the UK for my own good. This pie was made with shortcrust pastry - that's the way I like my pies to be made!

Then one of the waitresses came round with a whole plethora of sauces and dips. I was very thrilled. Haha. I went for the mustard seeds, some mint sauce and some chutney. OK, doesn't really go but just felt like something sweet. I wished I could have tried a bit of everything though!

Beachy Head Lighthouse

Wind-swept flowers

Along the way at Birling Gap, I treated myself to ice cream. Heehee.

We started way beyond what you can see from this photo. We were dog tired at the end of the day, but what a fantastic day it was!

Finally we reach the South Downs where other walkers are heading to their cars and for us, the bus to take us back to Brighton.

Saw a green phone booth near the bus stop at South Downs. Was amused 'cos it's the only green one I've seen so far in the UK!

Greenwich Market Food Stalls

While at Greenwich on Saturday, I popped into Greenwich Market to have a look. The small market has stalls selling arts and craft, pottery, clothes, jewellery, bags, and other interesting knick-knacks. There is also a small food section where I'm always happen to stumble upon!

Bread from local bakeries

Caribbean cuisine

Homemade jams and vinegar

Brazilian desserts

Delicious cakes

Antipasti

Wild mushrooms

Portuguese delights

Reading

I haven’t had much to write about really, ‘cos I haven’t been doing anything much. Apart from work, I haven’t been up to much. Not much in terms of the eating front at all – I’m saving up to eat good meals in Paris, come next month! Nothing on the social front either – no money to go socialise.

OK, went for a pub quiz with my colleagues last Tuesday for a social nightout and another evening of drinking on Thursday night for a colleague’s last day in the company. I don’t understand how the English can drink on an empty stomach. These people don’t seem to need dinner before they start drinking. Worse – they drink throughout the night without food! I just can’t do it. I need to have food! So that also means I never end up staying into the wee hours of the night, which is a good thing really. Anyway, I always have to rush to get the last few trains, else I’ll have to end up taking a taxi home. That’s a total no-no as it’s so expensive!

There are no men in my social sphere either. I had promised some friends I’d date with abandon in London, but I guess I really am quite hopeless when it comes to that. Haha.

In any case, I spent the weekend paddling in Reading, a small city to the west of London and about 35min by the fast overland trains from Paddington station. My friend picked me up in an open canoe! How cool’s that? It’s the first time I’ve ever been picked up in a canoe! Then we paddled back to the canoe club. He said it was alright if I didn’t paddle, but the paddler in me just can’t bring myself to be a passenger and have someone carry my weight! So I took up the extra oar in the boat and started paddling as well.

Then at the boat house, I changed into my paddling gear and had a go at the kayak. This was a very lightweight, flat water kayak, and one would need to know how to balance in it to paddle in it. I used to paddle in such kayaks back in junior college, so that’s really quite a long time ago! But like cycling, one doesn’t really forget how to paddle. It took a couple of minutes to get used to the instability of the kayak, but I was off in a short while. On Sunday, I paddled again in this canoe and my friend took me farther down the Thames. It was so peaceful and tranquil as we paddled down the river lined with natural vegetation, with ducks, geese, swans, and grebes frolicking in the water. I was also lucky enough to see one kingfisher, which my friend says are now low in numbers.

We paddled through streams which ran through the back gardens of lovely houses that lined the banks. And it was just fantastic. I had a great time. Wouldn’t it be great if I could paddle my way around the world? I love paddling and being around water!

The canal runs through the back of the Oracle Shopping Centre, one of the main shopping centres along Broad Street.

I like the name of this gift shop.

One of the shopping streets in Reading

Getting a different perspective from the canoe

The canal opens into the Thames River. There were many yachts, canoes and kayaks going up and down the river.

Hove Farmers Market

Olduvai and I checked out the Farmers Market in Hove which takes place on the first Sunday of each month. I was expecting more stalls but nonetheless, still good fun with the trying out of different locally made cheeses.

Potted chilli plants and herbs like mint, oregano, thyme, rosemary etc were on sale. I want my own herb garden one day!

Locally made cheeses

Freshly made bread

Cakes and pastries

For all chilli fans

And the most lethal of all the chillis - dragon's blood. I tried it and my mouth was spewing fire after only a TINY (and I stress tiny) drop of it on my tongue. I love the name though...just reminds me of Harry Potter.

Borough Market

I LOVE Borough Market! I just want to eat everything there. It's a farmers' market, but an upmarket one. The food sold there isn't cheap. Lots of gourmet cheeses, cakes, meats, chocolate, biscuits, pies, etc. It's a foodie's paradise. The photos will speak for themselves. You can't leave London without visiting it!

Delicious cakes

And more sinful cakes at another stall

Chocolate truffles

A mountain of brownies

Breads, muffins, and tarts

Cheeses

Eat your veggies!

My favourites - blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries!

Fancy sodium chloride

Jams and honey

A wide variety of vinegar infused with different flavours

Turkish delights

Going nuts over nuts

Moroccan Market

When the tour guide led us into the market in the Casbah, I was thrilled! It's where the locals shop for their groceries and it was really interesting to see all the local food.

Local women selling bread that's one of their staples. Bread is usually served at every Moroccan meal.

Another one of their staples, olives! It's like olives galore. Too bad I'm not a big fan.

Poultry for sale!

The vegetables were so fresh!

Cadiz Cathedral

Went up the Torre de Poniente (a tower) and got a fantastic view of Cadiz, the Spanish coastal city where Christopher Columbus sailed off in search of the Americas. The famous cathedral in the city has a lovely yellow dome and faces the gorgeous Atlantic Ocean.

Gibraltar

I had originally wanted to go to Granada or Sevilla on a day-tour from Torremolinos, but because I was trying to book it at the last minute there were no places left. So I settled for Gibraltar instead. Not the most exciting place and the British supposedly like to go there to shop as it's tax-free. The little bit of land is also something that the British wrestled from the Spanish in 1713 and the place has remained British territory ever since. It is a naval base for the Royal Navy.

Anyway, the place is really small and not very exciting. Apart from some history about how it came into British hands, there's really not much to see there.

This passage is taken from Wikipedia.

"The Ibrahim-al-Ibrahim Mosque, also known as the King Fahd bin Abdulaziz al-Saud Mosque or the Mosque of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques is a mosque at Europa Point, at the southern tip of Gibraltar. The building was a gift from King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and took two years to build at a cost of around five million pounds. It was officially inaugurated on 8 August 1997. Around seven per cent of Gibraltar's population are Muslims; a total of approximately 2,000 people. The mosque complex also contains a school, library, and lecture hall."

Saw a group of riders on Harley-Davidsons...they were from the Netherlands. I was to see many other groups of riders in the other parts of Spain I visited. They were mostly from other EU countries like Germany and I even saw one from Latvia.

At the southern tip of Gibraltar, you are able to see the mountains of Morocco across the Strait of Gibraltar.

In this picture, the land on the left you see is Morocco and on the right, Spain.

This street is called "Main Street" and is the shopping district in Gibraltar. The streets in Gibraltar are very narrow. Another famous thing in Gibraltar are the Barbary Macaques, more commonly known as apes. But these wild monkeys are so used to humans that they are so audacious. My bus driver cum tour guide even took a bottle of mineral water and just held it up for two monkeys to drink. I have no special liking for monkeys so I wasn't particularly excited. And tourists are such idiots. There were so many signs telling them not to feed the monkeys but they still gave them food and nuts.

Personally I didn't even think the shops were that good and I really can't see why the British like to shop there. So overall, not a very memorable trip and not something I would recommend.

Charming Mijas

View of the houses in the village from the village centre.

View of the Mediterranean Sea from the village centre.

Donkey taxis taking a rest from the heat.

Plants and flowers being sold at the central plaza.

We were happily going to drink from it just for the fun of it until an old man told us "NO". Then we looked at the sign again and discovered someone had scraped off the "NO"! (see photo below) The old man was like our guardian angel! And to think this was just outside a church.

The damaged sign.

The little lane lined prettily with potted green plants. This old lady is making her way home after buying groceries.

Another flight of stairs lined with plants. Notice also the very intricately designed tiles at the side which add colour and interest to its surroundings. I really love all the cast-iron railings and balconies that all the old Spanish homes have.

A very interesting adornment for the top of the front door. Wonder who waters the plants there.

A map made up of tiles fashioned into the wall. The craftsmen in Spain are fantastic at making all these gorgeous tiles and piecing them together to make street signs, shop signs, maps etc.

Ceramic signs – most of the signs in the old town of the Spanish cities I went were made out of ceramic tiles. All fine works of art they are!

The balconies of many homes were also overflowing with potted plants, adding only beauty to what it is already a very beautiful place.

Recycle & Reuse

I was walking around a neighbourhood in a mountain village called Mijas and came across this brilliant alternative use for fused lightbulbs. Don't you just love it? :p

Mijas is a 1-hour bus ride away from Torremolinos. It costs 1.20 Euros for a single trip. I definitely recommend it as it's a very quaint village away from the hustle and bustle of the tourists milling around the beaches. As it's on elevated ground, it's also much cooler up there, so remember to bring a jacket!

Sucky South

I´m in Torremolinos, a small city in the south of Spain and this place really sucks...there are too many British tourists...it´s as if i never left the UK. Every single person is as roasted as a suckling pig. It´s quite a hilarious sight actually. So instead of seeing hot Spanish men, all I see are pot-bellied old British men looking like roasted lobsters.

I don´t mind if a place is touristy but yet has some local culture...I mean cities like Barcelona, Hong Kong, London etc are filled with tourists but they have character. Here there is NO local culture whatsoever.

The food is also terrible - my friend and i have walked all over in search of Spanish food but all we find are places selling fish & chips, pizza and spaghetti, roast chicken, steak. Like, KILL ME NOW. Thankfully, we found a gem of a restaurant last night thanks to the recommendation of a fellow traveller from South Africa whom I met on a day-trip to Gibraltar yesterday. He told me of this restaurant which he found...it has no English menu and is patronised mainly by locals. Only has one waitress who could speak some English and she recommended some really good food. And I figured I could trust his taste...he looked like the sort of person who knew what good food was.

We met him at the restaurant and he began to recommend food he had eaten for the past few days at the restaurant. True enough, the food was superb...nothing like the horrible Brit fare we had been having. I was really so happy after eating crap food for the past couple of meals. And after dinner, my friend and I went to a small cafe near our hostel and had the best hot chocolate. It was so rich and thick. Pure molten chocolate. Yums.

The beach itself isn´t that fantastic. Though the weather´s hot, the water´s glacial. It´s freaking cold. I´m not swimming in that kind of water! The sand isn´t that fantastic either. And I can only do so much lying on the sea. I love the sea, but I just can´t lie there all day like the Europeans love to do. I need to be paddling or doing something out there!

This morning, we went to Mijas, a village up in the hills. It was much quieter, had fewer tourists, and was really quite charming I must say. That I liked.

My friend and I are heading to Tarifa tomorrow, so hopefully it´ll be a little better there. Please, at least let there be better food!

Anyway, I won´t ever go on last-minute trips again without doing more research. I don´t think I´m that much of a go-with-the-flow person after all!

Columbia Road Flower Market

A ten-minute walk from Bricklane will take you to the Columbia Road Flower Market which opens on Sundays from 8am–2pm. But it's actually OK if you are there at 2pm...in fact it's better 'cos the flowers and potted plants are being sold at a discount as the stall owners prepare to pack up.

I think it's more of the locals who patronise the market. The market isn't that centrally located and it's unlikely that tourists would want to make their way here just to see this little lane when they are too busy going to London Bridge, Westminister, Trafalgar Square etc.

And while you're pushing your way through the crowd along Columbia Road, look out for a cafe called Treacle for its very lovely cupcakes or "fairy cakes" as they are called on the their website. I like the big cupcakes (above) better compared to the tiny ones (below). Tiny ones only tease but don't satisfy!

Cupcakes must really be becoming the next big thing. Check out this article in the New York Times.

">

But if you don't want something as fancy as the Treacle, pop into The Flea-Pit, a rather run-down cafe, but full of character and retro-looking furniture and crockery. It is a good place to rest your legs as it's casual and relaxed and has a great sense of fun about it.

After looking at the flowers, we went to have Vietnamese food at an eatery called Song Que. I didn't eat as I had a lot to eat at lunch but the food that my friends ordered looked really good. But I had a beverage I really miss – soy bean milk! The food's also cheap, by London's standards anyway. After eating we headed to the art studios along Cremer Street, Shoreditch, where some of the artists had opened their studios for an open house to the public. At one studio, visitors were allowed to paint on a palate which has seen better years. Nonetheless, it was fun and the orange face you see was drawn by the very talented Keith. The rest of us just scrawled colour.

One thing I really like about London is that there is so much creativity around. It seems to seep and vibrate from every pore of the city. The fashion and shopping's great and you can just about find any type of clothes you like. The markets and bazaars are filled with budding designers who peddle their uniquely designed clothes and fashion accessories. Design and lifestyle shops are filled with creatively designed homeware like lights, cushions, crockery, furniture etc.

For musical and theatre buffs, London is like the Mecca of theatre. I must admit I've been really bad about doing my pilgrimage to the theatres even though I'm currently staying right smack in the heart of the theatre district. I've yet to watch a musical. But hey, I need to put food in my stomach first and a roof over my head before I can think of paying homage to the theatre gods more regularly. I think they'll be understanding and merciful. But I did catch Shakespeare's A Mid-Summer's Night Dream at the Open-Air Theatre at Regent's Park on Thursday Night. More about that in another post.

Spitalfields and Bricklane

I know, I know, I've been rather slack with my updates. But there's good reason for this – I've been busy doing some freelance editing work which means some money coming in at some point. Hopefully soon, of course.

This week's weekend is already here and here I am going to blog about last weekend's activities. Anyway, last weekend I went to two weekend bazaars at London's East End – Spitalfields and Bricklane. The former is more upmarket and has individual stalls set up very prettily in neat rows. The clothes there are usually designed by budding designers who sew the clothes themselves so designs are usually very unique and quirky. As for food, you get stalls selling freshly baked brownies, quiches, Turkish desserts, olives, bread, cheeses etc. Just looking at it provides such a visual feast.

A short walk away from Spitalfields is Bricklane. It's a long lane lined with people selling stuff they don't want anymore. The place is filled with bric-a-brac, but there are also stalls and several bazaars at the side roads filled with budding fashion and jewellery designers, aspiring bakers selling cakes and upcakes, aspiring chefs selling delicious looking paellas and frittatas...anything and everything really!

Then I spotted a bakery which had people filing in and out. It looks like a very established bakery in this old neighbourhood and doesn't seem it has changed very much since the day it started. But therein lies its charm of course. Seeing it reminded me of those bakeries selling the pandan waffles I love at HDB blocks back in Singapore. It's like your friendly neighbourhood bakery, you know?

I found this little stall below so amusing. Emulating the Peanuts comic strip, the guy and girl on the left had an old typewriter in front on them and put a sign up that read "Advice £1". They were even dressed the part!

Overall, I thought Bricklane was more interesting and I would definitely go to again just to soak in the atmosphere and take a look at the interesting designs that people come up with for everyday things. The place is just bubbling with creativity and vibrancy!

Food Notes in London

I've found a cheap place to buy fresh ginger - Chinatown! I paid 99p for a kilogram the other day. It's much cheaper than Tesco and Sainsbury (the two big supermarket chains in the UK). Incidentally, both have now become my two best friends since I'm now cooking a lot more than I used to back in Singapore. It's the domestic goddess in training!

Repeat After Me

Oh, you can say that again! With "funds" naturally comes "fun"! :p
I spotted this cute little piggy bank in a shelf display at a gift shop in Covent Garden.

Give Me Some Sun

In view of the rather cold, rainy and dreary weather London's been experiencing in the past few days, the USP (unique selling point) of this gym becomes somewhat ironic. Like, WHAT sunlight????

Surrealist Ball

Last Thursday evening (24/5) there was a Surrealist Ball at the Victoria & Albert Museum which was held in line with the Surrealist exhibit that is on at the museum presently. It's a special exhibit so you have to pay £3 to view the exhibit.

I was there to meet a friend and also to see what it was all about. I didn't bother with the exhibition as the people at the ball were more interesting to look at. Many of the attendees dressed up in costume and in line with the theme, came up with all sorts of weird stuff.

I love this magnificent glass structure which hangs from the dome of the museum. There's such a fiery energy to it. I can't remember the name of the artist who did it, but I know some of his works hang in the Ritz Carlton hotel in Singapore.

The courtyard was filled with people hanging around and drinking lots of beer. It was so cold outside though. But I enjoyed looking at the different costumes that the people were donning. So many people dressed up and it does show that Londoners have a great sense of fun!

And here are some examples of the quirky get-ups people came in.

There were people dancing as well and it's at such times where I wished I didn't have two left feet! It's so lovely seeing people moving gracefully to the music.

This man's tribute to Rene Magritte. Love it!

Portobello Market

Wherever I am, I LOVE going to markets. I love the energy and the buzz that goes on at these markets, the hustle and bustle of people walking past the stalls, buying food, looking at local arts and crafts etc.

Portobello Market is one of many markets in London and this market which runs along the whole stretch of Portobello Road has three sections to it – fashion, food, antiques. The fashion is quirky and bohemian and there are many local designers there. There are also a lot of stuff from India and China which are sold for heaps cheaper back in Asia. Many of the clothes are very retro looking and they look really funky. The antiques end of the market is also very charming but of course my favourite is the part of the market which sells food!

My friend tells me it's much cheaper to buy from these markets than the supermarkets. Most of it is also locally produced which makes it more environmentally friendly.

The part of the market selling clothes and accessories.

A stall selling dried foods.

One of several stalls selling vegetables.

Ooh, several huge pans of paella simmering would have been perfect for the cold and rainy weather. But I had already had lunch so it was dessert time. And that was when I went for the Red Velvet cupcake at Hummingbird Bakery instead.

A stall selling fresh bread – my friend swears by the bread sold at this stall! Go in the late afternoon at around 4.30pm and you can buy the bread at discounted prices.

A stall called Betty's Cakes selling homemade cakes and cookies. Very charming.

I knew this had to be some Malaysian or Singaporean eatery when I saw the word "makan". I was right! But I didn't bother eating there.

Anyway, I'm planning to check out more markets in the time I'm in London. I think such markets are absolutely charming!

The Orangery at Kensington Gardens

It was a beautiful day in London yesterday and it also happened that Umami was in London and so we met up at a cafe called The Orangery situated in the heart of Kensington Gardens.

It's situated in this building facing immaculately pruned lawns.

The white, refreshing interiors of the cafe mirrored the lovely weather outside.

Some lovely spring flowers to brighten the place!



I felt that I needed some greens just to keep a more healthy diet and decided to go for the tomato, feta and basil salad. This costs £3.95...I don't even want to think about it in Singapore dollars anymore, 'cos that just gets depressing!!! It tasted OK...I mean, there's nothing much to it anyway. I had a cup of lemon & ginger tea to go with my food too. What's afternoon tea without tea?

Umami ordered the Orangery Cake which had some icing at the top and some orange bits in within the sponge cake. I thought it was a little dry for me and didn't really like it that much when I tried a bit of it.

She also ordered the fruit scone which came with full cream and jam. We were rather disappointed with this scone as they had reheated it by microwaving it, and so it didn't taste very good (we were placing high hopes of having some good English scones here).

Seeing that it was such a gorgeous day, we decided we couldn't just sit in and that we had to do the weather justice by taking a walk in the park. After all, such weather doesn't come all that often in UK!

We came across many squirrels nibbling on their food and these squirrels are so used to humans that they have no qualms about coming right up and sitting next to people. They were all very adorable!

Many people were out boating on the Serpentine, a lake within Kensington Gardens. That just made me itch to paddle. I miss paddling!!! Hordes of people were also out sunbathing on the lawns. All that's missing is a beach which will never ever materialise here!

Meanwhile I've been exploring the neighbourhood and I must say it's really very nice and charming! Many small and pretty shops! But I can't buy anything at the moment so that's pretty useless to me now.

I've also discovered that my two pals, Joe & Keith are very good cooks. I need to hone my cooking skills now. I bought blueberries and strawberries from Sainsbury yesterday and so I'm enjoying these seasonal fruits!

Anyway, back to the Orangery. My verdict is that the place scores higher on ambience than its food. But I think I'd rather do a picnic in the open...bring some food, a book and just lie on the grass and enjoy the sunshine!

Kensington Palace, Kensington Gardens, London, W8 4PX
Tel: +44 (0)871 3327927

Paddling Along Gold Coast

Just wanted to share a slice of the action from the Gold Coast Cup outrigger canoe race. This is the Singapore Paddle Club ladies crew paddling past the buildings in Surfers Paradise, which is about the 2/3 point of the 47km race along the whole stretch of the Gold Coast.

And I have to say it again - the race was heaps of fun!!!!!!

Surfer Babe

I had my first taste of surfing at Evans Head. Three of us rose early and made our way to the beach at 8.30am to meet our two surfing instructors. Go here to find out more about lessons.
They were two very young and hunky Aussie lads in their early 20s. One very blond, the other very tan, buff and bronze. He was later nicknamed the "hunk" by M, one of my closest teammates. Haha.

Before the practical part, we were given some theory lesson on how to look out for rips, waves, tides and currents.

And then we had to practice some technique on land. Of course, it was all very well and good on land. Haha. That's me on the extreme right.

I then headed into the waters and looked out for waves and rips with the hunk by my side. He really was quite gorgeous I must say. :p

And here I go!

I managed to stand a few times but not without first falling a million times! It definitely takes a lot of practice but nonetheless heaps of fun as you ride the waves!

Ooh, I LOVE the beaches in Australia!

MovieWorld

Six girls were out on a mission to have loads of fun at MovieWorld and here are the pictures to show for it.

We went on all the roller coasters and this is one named Lethal Weapon. We were twirled up and down and by the time we got off, it felt like I was suffering from vertigo. You can't see me, but I was sitting in the second last row.

Ooh, this roller coaster was called Superman Escape. The first time only three of us went as the other three didn't want to risk their hearts. I was really scared at the thought of going on it, but decided I had to do it just to get my money's worth! And also I wanted to say that I had gone on it!

I'm in the second row of the very first cart with my other two teammates. We screamed ourselves hoarse. Our teammate who was waiting below said of all the rides, ours was the loudest and our screaming was so high and piercing! Haha!

Only four of us went on Batwaing and two of them decided to sit out as they were scared. I was scared but I wanted to try it just to get that adrenalin rush and to say I've done it! Must try everything once! That's me on the extreme right.

And up we go! We were accorded a very nice view from up above and we descended after a few seconds. The ride was over in less than a minute. Back on earth! Phew!

I screamed so much that day that I ended up with a very hoarse (and somewhat sexy. haha.) voice for the next few days!

Germany Snapshots

My camera died on me while in Germany. It started acting weird. So I didn't take many pictures. Here are a few shots.

The inspiration for Cinderella's castle in Disneyland. Bavaria's King Ludwig II's castle in Fussen named Neuschwanstein. Not too far away is also another lovely little castle of his named Linderhof which is surrounded by a beautiful garden.

And what do you know? I managed to catch a dragonboat festival in Hamburg! It took place in the Inner Alster. The Alster (consisting of the Inner and Outer Alster) is the main lake in Hamburg.

I was so pleased to be able to catch the festival. If only I could have taken part! Hamburg's a lovely city in northern Germany filled with lots of canals and waterways. It's Germany's Venice. From Hamburg, I also took a day-trip to Berlin which is 3 hours away by bus. And Berlin's definitely worth a visit too!

Boston Snapshots

I didn't take many photos of the usual tourist spots 'cos I figured I could get those from websites. So here are three of the few I took.

The interior of the Boston Public Library is one of those places where I've always felt like what a real library should look like with its wooden shelves and tables, emerald green lamps and classical architecture. The feel is just so traditional and intellectual. Like a real place for learning.

I was just walking around when I spotted these people playing happily in the fountain. It was somewhere near the Prudential Center, a shopping center and office building not too far from the John Hancock Building. The day was hot so these people were cooling off and having fun. I almost felt like running in too, but decided on the wiser option of staying dry.

I did the touristy thing and went on the Boston Duck Tours. The weather was fantastic with the sun shining happily in the sky. We were driven around the city and were shown all the buildings significant to Boston's History and for the water bit, we took a ride around the Charles River. The tours are very popular so be sure to book early. My hotel concierge was great--they managed to snare some tickets for me even though I booked only the day before. For people with little time, it's a great way to get a quick introduction to the city.

If you have time, do drop by the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum over at Fenway Park. It's also next door to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts which I didn't bother going into because I didn't want to spend a lovely sunny day in museums. I wanted to walk around and soak in the gorgeous sunshine. Such lovely weather couldn't