Back with a Bang

Thoughts...
 Ok, so it's been a while. The past few weeks have been a busy mix of back to school revision, crazed baking, and flat hunting and I admit I have fallen behind in my blogging. For those of you still out there who haven't given up, thank you. Today has been a particularly happy one as not only have I completed my final essay of the academic year, but my boyfriend and I have finally managed to secure ourselves a flat. If everything goes to plan we move in next week, I cannot wait!

A lot has happened in the past month so rather than boring you with huge paragraphs of writing, here are a few choice pictures of what I've been up to.

I've discovered Snog frozen yogurts, which I love. My favourite toppings are strawberries and oats

My grandmother has lent me her car so that I can practice my driving with my dad. Longest drive so far: Reading to London - 3.5 hours!

My baking escapades have included a chocolate-nut cake, above, made using no flour, and a Dolly Varden cake which consists of a spiced fruit sponge sandwiched between two layers of plain sponge.

A Cream Tea at Café Concerto

Hunting for elephants on the Southbank, look out for these around London! For more info click here

Don't forget to go out and vote tomorrow!

April Showers

Thoughts on the Day...
Urgh, I'm feeling pretty rough after having too many drinks at lunch, followed by watching Arsenal lose horribly to Barcelona. So I will try and keep it brief. Driving lessons are going well, slightly terrifying at times but really good fun. The weather today was lovely and sunny and reminded me that eventually it will be hot again, I cannot wait for summer.

...Musings

Buns & Bread: For the first time in my life I gave up something for lent: bread. That's right no sandwiches, wraps, pastries, pancakes or waffles for me. It actually wasn't that bad but as a consequence I have gone on a bread eating frenzy since Sunday including tucking into Hot Cross Buns that I made myself. I forgot to take a picture of then so instead you can enjoy a picture of Easter Eggs.

 A Day Out in Kew: On Bank Holiday Monday I visited Kew Gardens for the first time in my life, and I absolutely loved it. We took a picnic lunch and it was just a great day out. Despite the price (£13, £11.50 concession) I highly recommend it, especially if you take a picnic and visit on a quite day.

 

 

Motors & Macaroons

Thoughts on the Day...
The Easter holidays are finally here and I have just a few pieces of work to do which leaves me loads of time to do whatever I want. On Sunday I baked a Dutch Ginger Cake for my dad which is still going down well and last night I upped my game and attempted Macaroons. It was actually relatively straight forward, although I did manage to make a huge mess. I made four flavours: banana with a rum cream filling, chocolate with a peanut butter cream filling, strawberry with a lemon cream filling, and pistachio with a plain cream filling.

Although they're not perfectly round, and some of the colours didn't come out properly I'm pretty proud of myself.

...Musings

 On the Road Again: When I was 17 I took one driving lesson and then didn't bother again. Now, thanks to my dad's constant pushing and kind donations from family, I have bought ten lessons, the first of which I had on Monday. It was really good fun! Who knows, in a month or so I could be taking my test.

 

A journey home: So I went to get the Bakerloo line home the other day and to my delight a train was pulling into the platform as I got there. I ran up to get on the front carriage and realised, all too late, that I had unwittingly run into a carriage full of drunken Southampton FC fans, who then started to dance, cheer, and bang on the windows until the train reached Marylebone where they got off. There then followed a period of blissful silence until, we pulled into Baker Street and this time we were ambushed by a group of schoolchildren who had no sense of personal space and fell and leant on those of us who were sitting down. The school children got off at Piccadilly Circus which meant there was enough room for a random supporter to come sit down next to me and ask me if his breathe smelt as he blew beer and onion scented fumes in my face. Of course I said he was fine and gave him a thumbs up before getting off at Charing Cross. I walked to the overground and got on my train thinking that the rest of my journey would be wonderully uneventful. That was, until, a woman decided to sit practically in my lap, squashing me against the window for the rest of the way home.

Work, Work, Work...

Thoughts on the Day...

I am trying hard not to get snowed under with work at the moment. Due to all the dramsa of the past few weeks I have gotten a bit behind with work, at the busiest part of term time. I've spent the whole day revising for my 期末試験 (end of term test) and I was meant to hand in an essay last Thursday which I am yet to write, and I have never missed a deadline before. Couple that with still not feeling 100% and you have my life at the moment. Roll on the Easter Holidays....

...Musings

Sport Relief: This Sunday I did my first sponsored run for Sports Relief and spent a lovely day running along the Thames in the sunshine with my dad and boyfriend. I was part of The Balfour Beatty London Youth Games team which even had it's own mascot - Foxy, who proved to be hugely popular!

I hope this will be the first run of many this year. Thanks to all those who sponsored me!

Pastry! I recently watched a program on BBC4 called 'Kings of Pastry' (watch it here on iPlayer till April 6th), it was amazing, I want to be a pastry chef! Ok, maybe not but I at least want to learn more about pastry work and cake decorating. I am struggling to find a course that won't break the bank, but I did pick up this great book at Anthropologie which is full of recipes that I want to try. 

 

Thankfully I have a month off at Easter to experiment in the kitchen so expect some pictures....

Goodbyes & Hellos...

Thoughts on the Day...

This is not the happiest way to commence this blog but the reason for my long absence is because my grandfather died last week. I won't go into detail except to say that he was a wonderful man, that lived a long & happy life, and if I can accomplish just a fraction of what he did I will be a very happy lady. 

...Musings

European Night: I was lucky enough to witness Arsenal's 5-0 victory over Porto last week; a thoroughly enjoyable game. Role on the quarter finals!

Presents: This weekend my boyfriend and I spent Saturday in Selfridges buying each others Birthday presents. He came away with 'Assassin's Creed II' and a new PS3 controller, whilst I selected a beautiful pair of shoes and Chloé perfume set; very happy!

  

It's been a while...

Thoughts on the Day...
I have let my blogging slip of late which means I am now left with a wealth of stuff to talk about and will, no doubt, forget to mention something. I went to the Royal Opera House last Tuesday to see the ballet. It was a performance of Romeo & Juliet; the costumes were gorgeous, the music was beautiful, and the surroundings were amazing. There's always such an interesting mix of people at ballet performances and we were surrounded by couples in tuxedos & ballgowns, and tourists in jeans & t-shirts. I came away feeling thoroughly cultured.

 

...Musings

Ladybird Cocktails: I have always been a fan of cocktails, but I have to admit I have never found one that I could drink over again without getting sick of it; they're either too strong on alcohol or too sickly sweet. But that was all until I went to Ladybird Bar for my birthday. We started off the evening with a strawberry & raspberry daiquiri and 'pornstar fluffer' both of which were served in giant martini glasses, and were extremely tasty.

However the highlight for me was the 'Alice in Wonderland', I couldn't even tell you what was in it, except to say that it was delicious. 

Chinatown Morning: I was running around town last Wednesday morning picking up a few bits for my mum's birthday (Happy Birthday mum!) and found myself in a weird place, Chinatown in the morning. Far from the usual gathering of tourists and locals bustling through, the place was empty except for a few shop owners and delivery vans, it was an oddly tranquil moment. The light was nice so I took a quick picture of the pretty lamps strung up to celebrate Chinese New Year. 

The Shard: I have been meaning to talk about this for ages. I am unreasonably excited by this construction project. I think this is mostly because I go through London Bridge every time I go home and so I have been watching the building spring up from literally nowhere. However it has gotten to the point where I make sure I sit on the side of the train that will give me optimum views of the tower. Whatever you feel about it, it will be an impressive structure, the tallest building in London. And most importantly of all it will be South of the river. For more information on the project click here. 

21 Years

Thoughts on the Day...

It was my 21st birthday on Tuesday which I celebrated by having a meal with friends and family at a Japanese restaurant. Inevitably in these situations you get people saying 'Wow, so you're really (insert age here) now' to which there is no other response than 'yes'. Of course the real reason behind this is because nothing makes us feel older than those around you aging. It's bizarre for me to sometimes look at my younger cousins or my niece or even people who were in the years below me at school and realise how much they have grown up. But for now I still don't mind celebrating Birthdays and will try my best never to say 'you're looking so grown up now!'

...Musings

Food & Drink: This week I have consumed enough food to feed a family of four, and enough drink to last a class of 15 year-olds a whole night. Highlights have been pizzas at Fire and Stone, cakes from Patisserie Valerie, beef stew and rice from Spinach & Agushi, and cocktails from Graphic Bar which were served in little paint tins.

Recipe of the Week: This weeks concoction was Coffee and Walnut cake, a favourite of mine. I altered the recipe I found slightly by using espresso rather than dissolved instant coffee, and using cream cheese icing rather than butter icing which I then flavored with more espresso, yum!

Cambridge for the Weekend

Thoughts on the Day...
Well really more thoughts on the weekend. My parents and I went to stay with my brother this weekend in Cambridge. In a few weeks he is moving to Kenya to work for VSO and will be gone for year, so we were helping him pack up the last of his stuff. So excited for him, and to go visit him out there! My mother and I did manage to squeeze in a quick trip into the town centre for some window shopping which led to me picking up a couple of blouses from a charity shop.

 

The picture doesn't really do it justice, but it fits nicely, has a great cut on 

the sleeves, and came with a black neck tie

The pattern close up

 

My mum spotted this one and made me buy it. You can't see it in the picture 

but the sleeves have tiny little pleats in them.

...Musings

2012: No, I'm not going to talk about the end of the world, but the Olympics. We drive past the Olympic site on the way to Cambridge and it is so impressive how far works have progressed already. It is all very exciting. Hopefully I can get my hands on some tickets for Gymnastic and Track events. That would be amazing.

Dear Mr Sandman: Please give me one night of descent sleep. I haven't slept properly for a good few days now which has left me feeling constantly spaced out and grumpy. Maybe tonight...

 

Cinnamon Rolls

Thoughts on the Day...
Spent this morning catching up on 30 Rock, House, and True Blood whilst analysing some Japanese texts. Then this afternoon attempted my 'new recipe for the week' - Cinnamon Rolls. The first batch came out a bit burnt, but if at first you don't succeed and all that...

Once the rolls are cut they are left to rise for a while and then glazed to give them a golden colour

 

The finished product! 

 And I have to say, they taste pretty good.

...Musings

No Connection:  I would have left writing this post until tomorrow so that I can actually get a decent nights sleep but I am going to spend the weekend at my brother's place in Cambridge. For some reason my brother, the IT manager, does not have internet in his home, so this was my only chance.

 

Back to being Lost

Thoughts on the Day...
Urgh, I have a ridiculous hangover, so expect a few mistakes in today's post. The sole of one of my boots decided to fall apart yesterday while I was out shopping and so I decided to pickup a cheap pair of pumps as I was spending the night at my friend's place. Of course I would end up buying the worlds most painful pair of shoes that proceeded to rip open the back of my feet and cover me in blisters. I ended up wearing the broken boots back home today with the sole flapping around each time I took a step. I felt very sorry for myself.

...Musings

It's Back! Yes that's right, I'm a Lost fan, and the first episode of it's sixth and final season aired this week, very good times. I'm sure some of you are now shaking your heads and saying something witty about 'getting off the island'. I was once like you. However last year my boyfriend ignored my complaints and made me watch the program from the beginning, and I saw the light. Quite simply, if you're not watching it then you're missing out. 

Sixty Years On: I was just flicking through The Guardian's G2 supplement today and saw this picture taken in Louisiana in 1950. It's nice to know that sixty years on a man with a black father and white mother is in The White House.

Photo Credits: Just so you know, all the pictures I post on here are taken by me on my trusty iPhone. It's an aim of mine to only upload photos that I have taken in an attempt to feel a bit more creative.

Bad Taste & Bad Manners

Thoughts on the Day...
I went to Edinburgh this weekend for a friend's 21st Birthday. Had lots of fun and got to see, albeit very briefly, Edinburgh which looks like a lovely city. I had never been further North than Manchester before this weekend, and so it was a great opportunity to check out some more of the UK. It was lovely going through cities like Newcastle, with all the neat streets of terraced houses still covered in show along side massive modern structures.

 

Anyway, to the party. The theme was that of bad taste, and when you give me a theme I will deliver. I think those of us that made the trip to Edinburgh put in a little more effort with costumes, but it was a great party and my friend had a fun night (at least the bits she can remember). 

 

...Musings

Use a tissue! I have ranted about this to a few people already but it happened again today and quite frankly I'm sick of it. Why do people insist on picking their noses in public?! My first recent experience happened on the Jubilee Line the other day when the man opposite me decided to have a good old pick deep into his nasal passages and then wipe it off on the seat next to him. The second occurred on a train into Charing Cross when a woman across the aisle thought she would have a dig and then inspect the finds in her hands for a while. And then today on the Bakerloo Line a man picked his nose and wiped it on his trousers, without even trying to hide what he was doing. Use a tissue or save it till you get home!

Fans? One of the nicest things that I found out this weekend was that several of my friends have actually been reading this page. Thank you guys so much, I look set to reach 100 hits tomorrow!

City Dusk

Thoughts on the Day...
Yes, it has been practically a week since I last posted anything on here, but I'm sure you were all able to get on with your lives. So a brief catch-up... Feeling much better about my course, far less red marks on my homework this week, and just wrote a composition that I think may have actually had a writing style. I have also decided that I want to cook more, and as such want to cook a new dish every week (we'll see how long that lasts). Also purchased my costume for an upcoming birthday party with the theme of 'bad taste', I promise a picture will follow. 

...Musings

Red Sky at Night: I came out of my lesson at 5pm on Tuesday and was greeted by the sight below, a beautiful pink sunset over Bloomsbury.

I walked my usual route round past the British Museum and, since I had 20 minutes to spare, I took a quick trip inside to browse the bookshop, and took some pictures on my way out.

Two Types of Eels: 1) I'm going for lunch tomorrow with a friend at one of my favourite Japanese Restaurants, The Hare & Tortoise (yes, I know it doesn't sound very Japanese.) It is my favourite because they serve Unagi Don, eel and rice, a dish that I haven't been able to find at another Japanese Restaurant in London.

2) I have now listened to the new Eels' Album and it is, of course, amazing. The track Walking Cloud is my song of the moment. This is their fifth consecutive album to receive rave reviews across the board, which you can see here.

Japanese Genders & LA Living

Thoughts on the Day...
Ok, so I failed to post anything yesterday but that's because I had nothing to report. The whole of yesterday was dedicated to getting that essay done. 

My 'Issues in Post-War Japanese Society' lecture today was particularly interesting. We had a long discussion on gender roles in Japan, which led to comparisons to the rest of the world. It brought up some really thought provoking issues about women in the workplace generally, and got me thinking about the choices that I will one day have to make in regards to being a mother/pursuing a career.

...Musings

Sun & Sand: I have been craving a beach and some sunshine recently. Usually the prospect of birthday presents in February is enough to get me through the post-Christmas winter season, but not this year. I was reading Vogue today and saw an article on LA living. Sure does seem appealing right now...

A Non-Croydon Ikea

Thoughts on the Day...
After sitting through another two-hour Japanese lesson that did little to reassure my feels of yesterday, I joined my boyfriend, his sister, and his brother-in-law for an evening trip to Ikea in Wembley. I, myself have only ever been a patron of the Croydon branch, and so I was wondering what Wembley had to offer. In truth they are pretty much exactly the same, only this time when I left, I had absolutely no idea where I was. Ikea has always been a treat for me, I can get lost walking through their room mock-ups and fantasizing about future properties I will one day own...

...Musings

Lost London: Again, apart from that glorious essay that I will dedicate tomorrow to, a book caught my eye today in The Guardian. Entitled 'Lost London' it is filled with unseen photographs of London taken between 1875 and 1945, and sounds right up my street, I shall be looking out for that in bookshops... Then I saw this fellow walking out of Charing Cross today and thought that he wouldn't look out of place in the pages of Lost London, I particularly like the bag in his right hand. I suspect it's an old doctors bag, but was in really good condition. 

Must Do Better

Thoughts on the Day...
Well today could have been better as far as academics are concerned. Despite having recently changed courses, and feeling much happier about my subject, I'm still only getting average results. Yes, average is better than failing, but I do really enjoy my subject and yet I still feel like I'm not moving up to the next level. Team that feeling along with receiving back homeworks covered in red ink and you'll understand why I'm feeling so disheartened. I think tomorrow I will pick up some Japanese language films and try to immerse myself in the language. I could also try to speak to the Japanese exchange students in my lectures rather than just shyly nodding and mumbling 'konnichiwa'. Hmmmm....

...Musings

Fashion: Aside from that essay that is still looming somewhere in the back of my mind, I have been thinking about what to wear more than usual of late. I think it's because of that whole 'New Year' feel and wanting everything to be fresh and new, not just in what I'm doing but also in my appearance. So I decided to go through my wardrobe to find some sort of inspiration heading into 2010. I was actually pleasantly suprised, some of my best finds are shown below.

  

 

I bought this at a secondhand shop in the 11th arrondissement in Paris. It's actually navy and white but looks black in the picture. It's handmade with boning in the skirt so that it stands out when worn. I actually haven't worn it out yet, I just feel too dressed up, maybe this Summer...

 

This is from a stall in a French market that sells off old theatre costumes, and I suspect is also handmade. The pearls are a mix of real and fake, either from flee-markets or inherited.  

 

My mother's old jumpsuit from the 80s complete with shoulder pads, I wish I could find a photo of her wearing it. She was much smaller than me but thankfully it just fits.

Cake & Books

Thoughts on the Day...
Went for my second run of 2010 this morning, last year one of my goals was to run a 10k which I never did. So this year I really plan to do one, and I have to say I'm making progress I can probably run 6k comfortably. Then off to The Duke of Wellington on Portobello Road to celebrate a family birthday. The cake was amazing, made to look like a stage, complete with ornate stage surround and curtains. This also meant a huge amount of thick royal icing, all of which I ate, while drinking a coffee. All that sugar + caffeine = headache & a massive sugar rush.

  

...Musings

Essay: Sadly most of my brain power has been used today thinking about an essay I have due on Thursday. 3000 words on the political and cultural relationship between Japan and The Philippines. My university, SOAS, has one of the best libraries in the country, with over 300 books just on Japanese-Filipino relations, and yet I have so far written only 375 words. Help.