Saturday, December 24, 2016

I'm Alive!!

Currently in York now to celebrate Christmas with the Littlewoods! Just spent the entire afternoon cooking and peeling vegetables for Christmas lunch tomorrow and I am so tired :( But I love being here and just chilling and also can't be happier that exams are finally over!! I honestly felt like such a slave, I even forgot what day it was just because everyday was the same routine - wake up, breakfast, study, lunch, study, dinner, study, sleep, repeat :( and especially when I had to study for 2 days even after Justina had arrived, that was tough. But yeah, so glad they are over now and I think they went rather well! SO YAY can finally relax now till school starts on the 16th! 

Basically what happened since I last posted:


Arthur's Seat !!



Street of Light event! There was a live choir which was really nice 



Christmas market after!! Love the atmosphere here :') 





Party like Gatsby!! This was a Gatsby themed party and though it was not worth it (£25?!), it was so fun to dress up and the music was really good and retro, my feet were dying from dancing in heels all night but then we got McDonald's after and I tried their veggie burger which was actually not bad?! All in all it was such a great night :) 





Bfasts!!


Tried Juice Warrior for the first time and it was not bad, I'd try their smoothie bowls next time rather than a juice (cos I feel I could easily make them myself) 


Princes street was absolutely gorgeous this evening! Was right after I picked up Justina at the train station :')



Met Elaine and Shermaine who came up from London! and it was right after my last exam (felt sooooo good to finally be free!) We went to the Street of Light show and then headed to the Christmas market :) Was so nice chatting to them!



The next morning we had breakfast at the Printing Press, which was part of the hotel they were staying at (Principal) and it was so yummy and the hotel had such a homy vibe, if I ever wanted to do a staycation, would definitely have it there!! After breakfast, we headed over to Calton Hill :)


After Calton Hill, we headed to Black Medicine for Coffee and then to Hendersons for lunch! We were just chatting for hours and hours till it was time for them to leave, it was hailing just as they were about to leave which was not fun, but after dropping them off at the bus stop, I met up with Justina (she had left to meet a friend) and we headed back home to get warm! 



The next morning we had the most relaxed afternoon, I hung up pictures on my wall and we were watching sunbeamjess's vlogmas simultaneously, and then headed to the Grassmarket at 12 for lunch and vintage shopping! I got a coat and this oversized jumper (for just £12!!) which I absolutely love and cannot wait to wear!


Justina brought me into the loveliest book store ever! and then because the weather was so bad - it was raining and so windy, we decided to have tea in Lovecrumbs and so we shared a carrot cake and I got a tea, and we just sat there till the rain died down a little before heading back out to Princes Street! 


After shopping around, we headed back home for a bit and then met Topo for dinner at a Korean Restaurant!


Had one of the best Jap Chae ever! also one of the biggest portions ever but it was sooo yummy and I finished it all! Headed back to the flat after to chat and then impromptu-ly booked tickets to Liverpool and Lake District in Jan - SOO EXCITED :) 

Thursday, November 24, 2016

♡Mid-November Mini-holiday!♡

Cousins from Singapore came up to London on holiday and I went down to stay with them for 3 days :) It was such a nice mid-month break (not that I necessarily needed a break from uni or rather even deserve a break, but nonetheless, it was much appreciated) I had such a great time bringing them around London, eating good food, having such lovely conversations and just being in the presence of family  


(just wanted to show breakfast that I had the day before I left)

I got up at 4:30am to catch my 7am flight to London and surprisingly I wasn't even cold walking to the bus stop in the morning! I then reached London at 8:25am and met my cousins at St.Paul's Cathedral at 10. When I saw them a distance away, I waved my arms probably looking like an idiot (but IDC), and ran over to give all of them a biiiiiiigggggggg hug! I felt over the moon being able to see family despite being miles away from home :)


Our first stop was to the Tate!




Had lunch at Pizza Express after and they had vegan pizza!! Which was alright, but I had it with that massive salad at the bottom of the picture 

After lunch, we walked to the Tower Bridge and then to Borough market - 2 of my favourite places to go to together in London :)


Headed to Harrods after that where my cousins got some souvenirs from the Harrods Gift Shop :) We were so full from lunch that we skipped dinner, and then headed to the Apollo Victoria Theatre to watch Wicked!! It was sooooooo good as one would imagine it to be, the singing was just phenomenal (though I think at some point they did have some technical issues with the sound). 



The next day, our first stop was to Westminster where the London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the House of Parliament are 


We then walked through St. James park to Buckingham Palace where we witnessed the guard changing ceremony! I've never seen it before but to be honest it wasn't that exciting of a spectacle



What's London without seeing guards on horses (jokes)


We then had lunch at Kanada-Ya where unfortunately they did not have any vegan ramen and so I settled for these 2 rice balls with a sour plum filling. Had truffled edamame as well and it actually made a pretty good meal! 


Passed China Town and had to get bubble tea!! Fun fact: The powder in making bubble tea is lactose-free - hence vegan friendly 


We then walked down Oxford Street for some shopping!





Lil' cuppa tea mid day - part of the whole British experience you see

After an afternoon of shopping, we headed back to the hotel to rest and later that night, we watched Mamma Mia the musical! I enjoyed it so very much and I was bobbing my head to the songs and was tempted to sing out loud, but the music was just so good cos you know the songs so it just makes the whole experience better!! My fav song is Super Trouper!


The next morning, we walked to the Natural History Museum from the hotel and boy were we lucky with the weather! The sun was shining perfectly down on the building and this photo just sums up how beautiful that morning was :')



After the museum, we headed to Portobello Market just to check out the little antiques and knick-knacks that they sold. I then bid goodbye to my Uncle and the 2 boys as they were going to watch the Book of Mormon (so jealousssssssss) and I would have left by the time they finished. So that was sad :(( But my aunt and my other younger cousin then headed to The Ledbury for a super fancy lunch! It was my first gourmet Vegan meal and it did not disappoint!!! 





This was a Turnip dish with seaweed oil and Horseradish 


This was glazed aubergine 


This was baked Celeriac with apples, hazelnuts and truffles


pre-dessert to cleanse the palette 


To finish off the amazing meal, I had a whipped chocolate with mint and vanilla ice cream! 

Boy was I stuffed after the meal and so super satisfied! Not only was the food amazing, but I had such a nice chat with my aunt over so many things that we don't often have the chance to talk about - this is just because when we meet up for family dinners monthly, the adults would sit at one end of the table and the kids on the other end and therefore there is not much mingling in conversations. So yes, it was so nice being able to talk to my aunt about so many things! She even gave me some good life advice :) 

After the meal, we headed to Selfridges just for a quick look around and the festive Christmas lights were all up and pretty! Got some food in the food halls (beetroot chips for 50p instead of £1.50 - what a steal!!) and then headed back to the hotel as I had to leave for my flight in the evening! 

After sadly bidding goodbye to my Aunt and cousin, I took the tube to Liverpool Street to get the Standsted Express train to Standsted airport. SHIT GOT REAL. Firstly, the express train which was supposed to come every 15 mins got delayed and therefore instead of the train coming at 6pm, it came at 6:10pm (10 mins does not sound like much but I timed my travel such that I would get to the airport just in time for me to meet the boarding gate time). Secondly, instead of taking just 47 mins (as the train prides themselves in), the bloody train took 1hr 20 mins meaning I got to the airport at 7:20pm when my gate closes at 7:35pm! I was panicking so much inside and was contemplating whether I should be running to my gate or just accept my fate, but as the train doors opened at the airport station, it was like a mad rush and I had to contain my laughter despite the urgency of the situation because everyone literally was running for their lives, coat in one hand and suitcase in the other, to get to the airport. I then found myself running as well but what I did not mentally or physically prepare for, was the two 30m ramps at about a 25 degrees incline that you had to go up to get to the airport. I went from a resting heartbeat to one that caused my chest to burn like crazy in just seconds because I myself was running for my life. It was so chaotic at the security check as well as people were shouting and pushing and demanding that they be allowed to get their bags checked first as they were going to miss their flight. The airport staff refused and there was a huge commotion but I was relatively calm and just waited in line. So blah blah blah, I managed to make it to my gate (running still even after the back checks to get to the gate) to then find out that my flight got delayed. Well Done Ryanair. But anyway, it was such an amazing experience and though my chest hurt for a good 15 minutes after I had stopped running, it was so worth it!! 

So that was one of my most exciting airport experiences ever and I was so happy to be back in Edinburgh :)