Some Sundays Ago

It was a normal Sunday. I wake up the usual time, ate my breakfast, and then get ready for Sunday mass. There was a usual railwork for the Jubilee line, thus I had to reroute my journey to the church. The only different thing that morning was the fact that I had to stop in Waterloo to get to Victoria. Which was totally fine with me, because it was still a normal Sunday.

Took the train and then continued by bus. I got off, made my way to the church as I was already almost late by a minute. Then there was this woman. She was pulling her pink suitcase, perhaps she just got back from somewhere, or perhaps she just got in to London.

She saw me. She stopped. Then, she spat on the ground.
"You see that? You see that?!" she said, while pointing to the ground. Her stare was full of disgust and hatred, I feel.
I looked at her, nothing on  my mind. I thought she was just another random passer-by that was kind of.. weird, I should say.

Three steps later, I realised that she spat on the ground because she saw me. Because I have oriental face. Because she was being racist.

I hope I assumed wrong. I really do. But I remembered I caught her looking in my direction in so much detest.

My very first reaction was anger. I was offended and a little bit hurt. Racism is really mean and I would never do that to anyone, because I believe everyone should be treated equally. Be nice to people as how you want to be treated.

I didn't do anything of course, because I realized what her negative action possibly mean after I walked 10 steps away but this incident just stuck on my mind throughout the day...

My naive conscious hoped that the woman spat because she chewed gum and it dropped.


xo,
N

Miss you, Mami

Seorang anak bertanya pada Tuhan,"Ya Tuhan knp bundaku suka menangis??"Tuhan menjawab,"Karena bundamu seorang wanita, Aku ciptakan ia sebagai makhluk yg sangat istimewa.Aku kuatkan bahunya utk menjaga anak2nya.Aku lembutkan hatinya utk memberi rasa aman.Aku kuatkan rahimnya utk menyimpan benih manusia.Aku teguhkan pribadinya utk terus berjuang saat orang lain menyerah.Aku beri dia rasa sensitif utk mencintai anak2nya dlm keadaan apapun.Aku kuatkan batinnya utk tetap menyayangi meski disakiti oleh anak2 & suaminya sekalipun.Aku beri dia kekuatan utk mendorong suaminya belajar dr kesalahan.Aku beri dia keindahan utk melindungi batin suaminya.Bundamu adalah makhluk yg sangat kuat.
Jika suatu saat kau melihatnya menangis, itu karena Aku beri dia air mata utk bs digunakan sewaktu2 membasuh luka batinnya sekaligus memberinya kekuatan baru."

Spring in Paris

I finally visited Paris again after 2 years and I'm still falling in love with this beautiful city.. 

The last time I visited Paris, it was Autumn and this time is Spring.. I didn't get the chance to enter le Louvre before but finally I visited the infamous museum. And it was probably the biggest museum I've ever seen so far it's overwhelming! 

Monalisa was rather small in size..

Napoleon's apartment's dining room

We also had brunch at Café de Flore in Saint Germaine. Apparently it's famous for Karl Lagerfeld's favorite spot in Paris

One of my favorite dine to indulge is L'atelier de Joël Robuchon in Champ Elysées. It may not be a cheap dining spot but it's worth every single penny. The food tastes super delicious! 

I accidentally found this restaurant during my last visit and I found out that Monsieur Robuchon is one of the top chef. No wonder the food tasted super amazingly delicious! 

One thing about spring in Paris is the beautiful cherry blossom trees that adds such fresh spring atmosphere to the city, especially for me. It's such a refreshing pick-me-up feeling after months of winter in London..

We might have missed the fully bloomed trees but we found one and that's good enough! Pretty picture snapped! ;)

xo, 

N

Barcelona

I finally visited Barcelona in early March after our assessment day. 

It was a lot warmer than London once we arrived, so despite lack of sleep we've got the night before to catch our (very) early morning flight, we just got so excited that we forgot we were exhausted. I guess this is just what happens if you live in a cold, windy, rainy, wet city.. 

We went sight seeing, absorbing the sun and of course, have too much Spanish food and wine!

 Barcelona view from MNAC

The hotel that we stayed in was located at Rambla Catalunya, which is in the heart of Barcelona. So, we had a super easy access and distance to go everywhere to explore the city. Our hotel was very Rococo-ish, but I forgot to take any picture of the interior. -___-

One late afternoon my friend and I sat in the dining room balcony to have some snack and the view is just so nice..

One of the highlight of this trip was the food. 
I have successfully trained myself to clean eat after years, but I always make the exception if I go on holiday, I can eat whatever I want because, hey, the happy tummy may not have the same meal after a very long time! :D

On our last night before flying back to London, we had tapas at Ciudad Condal Cerveceria in Rambla Catalunya. We always walk pass this tapas bar everytime we go out and it's always crowded! When we finally gave it a shot, I understand why. The food and wine were so good!!!

This might not be the best travel log yet because I forgot to take pictures most of the time. I promise next time I will! ;)

London Fashion Weekend

After London Fashion Week is over, there was an aftermath event open for public called London Fashion Weekend. 

What it is is basically an event for everyone to experience how it feels like to be in Fashion Week. There were fashion shows, talks and showcases of the catwalk clothing. Of course, it wasn't exactly the same duplicate and as elaborate as the real fashion week. But it's worth giving a shot if you were curious and you can feel like a fashionista.

I went there with my girls on the very last day, which on Sunday, and apparently the weather decided to blow wind everywhere and hid the sun somewhere :(

The catwalk that we attended was the trend catwalk and it was presented by theoutnet.com, which is a sister site of netaporter.com. 

xo, 

N

Corinthia Afternoon Tea

There are so many things to do here in London.

Being in London is such an amazing once in a lifetime experience I could ever ask for. Despite the unpredictable weather everyday or the annoying tube delays, this city never fail to make me fall in love over and over again. That, to me, is kind of beautiful.. :)

Afternoon tea is on top of among many things I want to do whilst I'm here. There are so many high tea places all over London, but the really good ones are apparently rare and always fully booked. The booking could take weeks or even months. Last Saturday, my friends and I decided that we have to start our very English habit, therefore we visited the Corinthia London for a proper high tea for the first time.

There were 3 different packages we can choose from, whether you fancy your tea along with a glass of champagne or traditionally with just tea.

My first choice of tea was Jasmine tea. It was very fragrant, light and very floral fresh. I could almost bottle the scent up and use it as my new favorite perfume, no kidding. ;)

The first finger bite was the savoury; sandwiches.

Left to right: 

Egg Mayonnaise and Watercress , Severn and Wye Smoked Trout and Cucumber, Roasted Buccluech Beef and Creamed Horseradish, Coronation Chicken, Loch Var Smoked Salmon and Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheese and Piccalilli.

The bread on each sandwich was different and they were so good we had to order them again! 

My second pot of tea was something fruity, Pomegranate tea. This time it was lighter than the first pot I had and it's a type of white tea. 

After we were done with our sandwiches, here comes the part where we were very much waiting for... the English Tea Fancies.

The sweet treats came in three plates, in three level. When the waiter came to brought them in, our eyes were literally glittering in sugar-coated beams! They look so yummy don't they!

They were:

Warm scones

Amarena

Layers of moist dark chocolate sponge, Kalingo chocolate 

cremeux, amarena cherry compote and chocolate ganache

Cappuccino

Crispy top round choux with a coffee infused 

Dulcey chocolate cream

Winter Sun

Vanilla mascarpone mousse, exotic fruit jelly, toasted passion 

fruit meringue and vanilla sable

Cassis

Blackcurrant and manjari chocolate macaroon

Jivara Spaghetti

Caramelized pecan tartlet with thick Greek yogurt, spicy candied 

ginger and jivara milk chocolate spaghetti

Marzimon

Lemon drizzle cake, lemon marzipan and coconut daquoise. 

Topped with Lemon and white chocolate feuillentine, 

lemon curd and almond streusel

Cranachan

Scotch Whisky and white chocolate mousse, 

honey roasted oats and raspberries

Savarin

Citrus soaked savarin, Kalamansi and lime curd, 

candied kumquat and clementine

Unfortunately, we ended up so full and stuffed we didn't manage to clean them all out into our tummy. On a side note, these sweet treats were not all yummy as I expected. Some of them I like, some I don't. But it was nice to try everything because they were unique and I have never tried any of them before (but the scones, obviously.)

Overall, my friends and I had an amazing time, and we are looking forward for our next afternoon tea experience soon!

xo,

N

Hakkasan

I went to Hakkasan for a late Chinese New Year dinner with my friends on Tuesday night. The restaurant is located in Mayfair, just off New Bond Street. I have been wanting to visit this restaurant for quite a while for the fab review and the posh atmosphere it seems to have.

The entrance was quiet discreet. It was just a black door with tiny sign next to it and a bouncer. We entered and greeted nicely with the receptionist, and we had to go downstairs to our table, through stairs with water reflection on it making me feel like walking on water.

Great first impression!

For starters, we ordered salt and pepper fried tofu and soft shell crab. They were good. To me, they tasted like a very posh fried tofu and soft shell crab, compared to the same usual I always have elsewhere. 

The fried tofu is garnished with crispy floss and they blend really well combined together.

Next, for main course we had scallop and prawn. It tasted like.. something new. My friend couldn't decide whether he should like it or not; whether it is yummy or not. My verdict was this is a fusion taste, and it was good. It didn't beat the similar ones in authentic Chinese restaurants but Hakkasan tried and did pretty good!

Truffle roasted duck. Must I say this. is. very. yummy.. Period.
I'm up for anything with truffle, so when I saw this on the menu, I just know I had to try it rightaway. I've never found roasted duck cooked with truffle anywhere else before, and this one didn't disappoint me at all.

We also had a deep fried seabass with mango sauce. It was decent.


Since there is always room for dessert, we each ordered one ourselves and shared them. The best part of this dining experience was the dessert (surprise, surprise!).

I forgot the name of all of them because they were quite complicated, but let the photos do the talking!

One thing about Hakkasan though, the service is.. meh. It's a Michelin-star restaurant, it's a fine dining, and too overpriced to be having their level of service right now. I had everything perfect when I first arrived, until a waitress came up and started taking our order. Her attitude wasn't very nice and it was a clear message she didn't care if we are satisfied with our experience that night but the food. Which is to me kinda rude?  :|

Other than that, it was a different experience I have in Chinese cuisine dining, as this was my first Chinese Michelin star restaurant. I'd come back for dessert and wine, since I won't be craving for the main dishes that much. :)


xo,

N

The Nutcracker

Recently I went to watch the Nutcracker ballet at the Royal Opera House.

I really wanted to go on a ballet show as I have never been to any, and I missed Romeo&Juliet when bf was here, so I just went ahead for one.

Turns out, I LOVE IT.

Somehow it felt like in the movies and kinda upper-class ish. :P

xo,

N

Wonder

When you have lost so many times,
it's perhaps you either never learn how to stop giving,
or you just simply never learn how to hold so tight..


xo,

N

2014

I'm gonna start this year with piling up my 2014 resolution.

2013 was harsh. Real harsh. It taught me A LOT and I learnt so much on things that I cannot see..

I learnt to be more patient, to be able to look at things in different perspective and in someone else's shoes, to be able to accept the things that I cannot change... the serenity that I could never see before.

My 2014 resolution: 
1. Explore London to the max
2. Visit Greece ..or see Aurora
3. Get an Internship
4. Save $$
5. Live healthily and eat cleaner
6. Excel in my course
7. Drink more water
8. and reduce coffee to just one cup per day..
9. Watch a fashion show at least one per day
10. Frequently updating blog

I have actually made up a list with my friends back home of what we are trying to achieve this year, read each other's once and hide it until the end of 2014 and see who could get the most crossed out. ;)

Bring it on 2014!

xo,

N