Borough delights,

My wise friends often advise me to travel out of London as much as possible - posing as an excellent springboard to Europe. As much as I agreed with that, after my humble share of travelling during the first few months, I realized that the true beauty of London could only be experienced by living there like a true Londoner. Newspaper strewn neatly on the tube (sorely tempted to place a picture of the tube but I won't), friendly grocers, overly friendly Portuguese guys watching soccer at a nearby cafe or even that deranged woman at the back of the bus stabbing a chicken. There's certainly an unpredictable charm about the city that I would love to go back to one day ♥

 One of the many places which I returned to countless times during my stay there was Borough market, you can't go wrong treating those gastronomical taste buds of yours! Needless to say, I've been having huge cravings since I left because Singapore doesn't really have much food markets like such.

Good food to look out for: Banoffee pie, an English dessert pie with cream, bananas and caramel (sells out pretty fast in the day). The duck confit burger station has entertaining vendors who were ever ready for a picture when I whipped out my camera, love their burgers and their crispy bits within the meat. Another favourite of mine is the pulled pork burger, in which the meat is slow cooked for hours and full of flavour when served. R swears by the raclette...., unfortunately I'm not really a fan of the dish but it's an amazing dish if you adore cheese. A creature of habit especially when it comes to eating, I didn't dive into the oysters even though they are clearly quite famous amongst my friends - but these ones are fresh and the tobasco/lemon/onion dips by the side are starting to make me change my mind about oysters (to R's delight of course!) Other treats to look out for that were quite popular when bringing my friends around: owl biscuits, home grown tea flavours, exotic meat burgers (think kangaroo, camel, ostrich or crocodile meat), mulled wine and mushroom pâté. Stay away from the cold croissants, paella by the church steps and the Bristol chicken pies, they weren't worth the stomach capacity the last time I tried ^^

It's always such a joy to roam around food markets, have fun exploring - ciao!

Of veggies and spiders,

Spring is here and I've been gallivanting about London and nearby towns for the past week - a much appreciated sojourn from reading academic papers. My Anthropology paper is two weeks away so I'm pretty much out enjoying the wonderful weather ♥ I've also recently cultivated a habit of buying veggie groceries from the different places I visit, Asparagus from Portobello, Zucchini from Cambridge and Lady fingers from Coventry. The latter brings to mind how A brought her friends home yesterday and her Japanese course mate called it Okra....either an interesting cultural experience there or just a failed asian on my part. On the side note, independent living has seen me getting all jumpy over a ceiling spider (with whom I share a not-so-harmonious bathroom relationship with) and has since passed away due to suffocation from my dry shampoo spray, kitchen cleaning liquid and bathroom soap. RIP dear spider, may insect heaven be what you have always dreamed of.

Moving in,

The first week of moving is all about expectations and reality setting in - although my flatmates and I all come from different countries (and continents!), it's amazing how we can get along so well with each other and for that I'm truly thankful ♥ Administration wise, it was a huge headache. We had some trouble settling payments since all of us were international students and overseas transfers take time to get verified. Not surprisingly, it took a long while for us to get hold of our keys, which was such a pain for me and Yvonne as we arrived early January and had no place to crash. We also had problems with the heating system, and I remember that faithful night where we had to boil a pot of water to keep ourselves warm in the kitchen (winter woes). Later on, we also realized that our inventory report ridiculously states that the electricity gas meter was "too far high up to be read" which obviously warranted a lot of giggles from us! But such is the queer (and infectious) charm of Brit coolness, because here I am sitting by Mornington crescent station having a cuppa Earl grey tea at Costa coffee. Rewinding back, Yvonne meets me at the coffee place with her second hand pink bike she bought on Gumtree and we walk back to the apartment. As the other two girls arrived much later in London, we had to lug back an ambitious amount of cutlery, heavy kitchenware, pots and pans and whatnots back home in the winter cold all by ourselves - welcome to independent living.

But after all the hassle, the 'We finally got our house keys bitches!' moment was immensely satisfying, and the rest as we know it is history ♥

Captu(red),

Embracing the advent of summer with a new thrust of colour and the snip of my long locks, if you may call it long to begin with - you may not be able to see it clearly, but I redid my red subtle highlights. It feels like capturing summer blood on your hair, not necessarily wild. But free, yes free.

Christmas market,

I usually stay home for family gatherings during the december period and not travel out, hence it was my first time attending a Christmas market amidst the winter season. So, within the first few days of arriving in London, R brought me down to the Winter wonderland in Hyde park. Albeit the cold, the Christmas spirit was really heartwarming and the different cuisines were pretty alluring (not the prices though). While it sounds gimmicky, it was worth the trip down for the atmosphere and the mood in itself.

Tried mulled wine with Viking's blood and loved it - something tells me that warmth, wine and winter can never go wrong together. And amazingly after this shot, the angelic boy who posed for the photograph shoved a 'Tips' cup in front of us, nice one there lad.

Sauerkraut, German sausages and roasted potatoes for dinner, which was extremely filling if you ask me - cost us 7.50 pounds of yummy goodness. Our wonderful chocolate crepe cost about 4 pounds!

There were tons of games around like any good carnival should have - so we invested in this hoop game. Tried relentlessly to aim it into the bottle neck, it's harder than it seems really! Finally stopped after coming to terms on how we were just throwing pounds away, but it was quite fun seeing everyone's ialmostwonamillionbucks face (disclaimer: they were giving out reindeers)

Outdoor concerts and beer despite the cold, I'm loving it.

Tacky looking oriental pavillion that served chinese wok noodles

Soiled our shoes on our way out, but it was a night well spent even though it got really cold towards the end (the icy wind was just pushing it) Definitely worth a visit with your friends and family if you're into carnivals!

Winter wonderland 
Annual event 
Hyde Park, W2 2UH, London
More information here

Flower power,

The days are getting much warmer, for Spring has finally arrived! The peeks of sun rays are enough to make me sufficiently happy through the day, but I'm glad that the long winter is finally over ♥

Headed down to Portobello market today, as I'm having a short break in between my papers during exam season. Scored a few bargains as well as fresh vegetable shopping along Westbourne grove (such a dream). Gallivanting in Notting Hill was such a feast for the eyes, because the rows of terrace houses are simply gorgeous and there are plenty of retro vintage shops around to source out treasures. Riding on my Vitamin D high, I also brought home a pot of Begonia and she now sits happily on my window sill - love how her bright primrose pink petals matches my curtains! She also caught the eyes of tons of passer-bys enroute back to my apartment which sparked off a few interesting conversations on gardening, such a charmer for a plant really.

The start,

The beginning is always bittersweet, like saying good bye to 365 days of summer every year and the familiar orange city lights in the night skyline during take off. Yes, even though it's only 6 months. And it's hard to write a start because you just want to plunge into the middle bit, or so they say the real deal. Like in a dream, you're always thrown in the midst of nowhere before you grapple on to reality. But this is different because there were so many hiccups and arrangements that I had to overcome to get here, and of course I can't express my gratitude for how my family and some of my close friends could find time to send me off with a brilliant DIY apron they made me wear at the departure gate  ♥ 

But as soon as my transit plane from Dubai begins to touch down onto Heathrow, the bright foreign skies look heartwarming enough to make my heart skip a beat - surreal much.

New chapter,

Hello old friends, I've been on a long virtual hiatus and to that I give my sincere apologies! London has been treating me lovely under her warm (or not so warm, it's been a long winter) embrace, and it's been so amazing meeting people from all walks of life ♥ 

Spend the start of the week trying to catch up for the looming exams at Senate library (libraries here are gorgeous) and pigging out at Burger and Lobster, ...while the next two days saw me paralyzed in bed battling a cold; but I definitely got better and took a walk around Camden market for some munchies and headed down to Sigmund freud's house - where I saw the renowned reclining couch where he conducted therapies for his patient. Simply amazing for any Psychology student! Came back to finally change my halogen room lights so I'm no longer living in half darkness. Headed out again where Yuechin brought me to have, possibly the best, salmon donburi I've had in London and had good ole long chats before bringing her home and coming back to Lina asking me if I had any eggs. Obviously stared at her in awe because it sounded ambigious (hahaha) but it turns out that she and Ana used all the eggs in the fridge for a giant omelette - I love my housemates.

Ah, such is life.

I'll try to recapture my journey slowly, and hopefully catch up with my daily routine ♥ Ciao!

The dream begins,

Greetings from London...while I do my nails! It's currently subzero temperatures but I'm toasty indoors in bed with hot tea ♥  I've been settling in well, and enjoying most of the classes in school - especially the guest lecturers invited for their specialized field of study. Their passion is infectious and definitely reminds me of the beauty of Psychology and why I chose to major in the first place, so I'm thankful for this intellectual exploration. It has been nothing but a blessing these few weeks (except a few hiccups, like my apartment heater being as dead as a doornail no matter how many times we tried to ignite it) and meeting my fellow affiliate coursemates and housemates who turned out to be so incredibly nice and whom I've grown to love! And of course, having R around to help me out so much. Still finding my way around the city, it's hard not to wander aimlessly along the streets of London albeit the cold. The snow has started to accumulate on the sidewalks, and it's such a gorgeous white sight to behold from my room window. Truly the words spoken from a summer girl like myself! London has been beautiful by far, and I hope to be further charmed by her for my stay in the next 5 months ♥ Ciao!

London calling,

Happy 2013 to all! The past year has been blessed with the joyous and its fair share of downs, and for that it has really taught me that whilst God permits us trials, He also provides us with the comfort when we fall. I'm truly thankful, and for the Christmas miracles that unfolded one by one ♥ And it's even more surreal that in 24 hours I'll be setting off for the next 6 months, something so excruciatingly exciting....yet still bearing that cloud of apprehension. I'm honestly really thankful for my parents and friends who supported me through my affiliate application, and provided much needed support and advice. It's funny how I have (most probably) experienced the epitome of being a Singaporean in the past week than in the years of existence - Gardens by the bay, MBS, partying, char kway teow, old airport road, East coast park cycling, sunbathing, seafood dinner and homely family gatherings!

An unending list of to-dos, but for now - London is calling. Ciao, mes bons amis!