London Weekend

When I looked at my previous posts, it's quite interesting to see that around this time last year, we went up to London for a show and spent a nice foody weekend up there.

For months, Fely and I have been planning our trip to the Stitch and Knit Show at the Alexandra Palace in London and it finally took place three weeks ago (Yes, I know... I am a bit slow these days)

We (Steve and I) thought that it would be nice to also take the opportunity to spend sometime in London, watch a show and eat some nice food. So we went up to London the day before and Steve's brother kindly arranged and bought us tickets to a show in London, Avenue Q as a belated birthday present for me and it was entertaining, light and quite funny. I wouldn't say that it was of the same standard and quality as The Lion King, but for a two-hour entertainment, they didn't do a bad job. Singing and dancing muppets - can't go wrong with that. After the show, we were treated to a really posh Italian restaurant meal in which I enjoyed a really nice Fresh crab Fedelini and got to taste Steve's Seafood Stew as well.

Because I was having my foot problem, we couldn't walk very much and I felt quite guilty most of the times for wanting to take the easiest form of transport which requires the minimum amount of walking. Worst of all, after the meal I insisted that we took a cab back to Steve's brother's place.

The next day, Fely and I had a scrumptious meal of dim sum at Leicester Square before heading to the show. Due to maintenance work at tube stations, it took us FOREVER just to get to the show but when we finally got there, it was all worth the effort and we were hypnotized and mesmerized by the multitude of gorgeous and wonderful things surrounding us. The only regret we had was that there wasn't enough time to spend together at the show because Steve was waiting to take me home after the show, I didn't really want to let him wait for too long and I had to leave quite early, leaving Fely behind at the show (which thankfully she didn't mind too much because she got to 'play' with a sewing machine).  All in all, a fantastic and wonderful weekend spent in London, watching a show, having lovely food and catching up with my dear, dear friend.

As usual a weekend in London is not complete without some nice pictures to show you. So I'll let these pictures tell you the story.

I got told off after taking this picture as there was NO PHOTOGRAPHY allowed in the theatre (the lady screamed). To be fair, I didn't see a sign and also the show hasn't even started yet !!

 After the show, we went for cocktails and Steve ordered something with passionfruit and it came out in flame.

While waiting for Fely outside the Four Season's restaurant in China Town at 10am, I took this unusually quiet and chaos-free scene of China Town.

 The happy lady.

Looking demure with her Chinese tea trying to pick a dish to order.

Pork puff. Yum...

 Roast pork Cheong Fun.

 Chicken's feet, of course.

 Siu Mai.

 As much as we would have loved to, we didn't stay all day at the dim sum place and we moved on to the show. I didn't take many pictures of the show as you can imagine that the last thing I wanted to be doing was taking pictures and not properly utilizing every minute I had there.

The gorgeous Amy Butler corner.

There you go, hope you've enjoyed looking at a few pictures from my lovely weekend.

Randoms...

Last weekend was an especially relaxing and enjoyable one for many reasons...

::I was not working at M&S (this is always good... it's especially hard having to go to work on a Saturday coming up to summer time as it gets dark a lot later and when I go into work at 6pm with glorious weather and sunshine outside, it's a real kill joy)

:: Steve managed to convince me to go on a really nice cycle ride and it felt really GREAT. I felt reserved at first because I honestly and truly hate cycling on the roads and the passing traffic really terrifies me a lot. So we came to a compromise and found a nice, traffic free route online and away we went. Halfway through, we decided to stop at ASDA to grab some lunch so that we can sit in the park overlooking the bay and enjoy a bite of lunch. I took some pictures while we were having lunch.

So on our way down towards the bay, it was really an easy cruise, and I hardly had to peddle at all. However, I was semi-conscious of the fact that when you go down, you've got to come up and the ride home won't be quite the same. True enough, coming back, the journey was never ending stretches of uphill and uphill and uphill and my poor heart which has not been pumping so hard for the past two years was coping as best as it could and by the end of the cycle ride, I was absolutely breathless and my legs felt like jelly !! That night, my muscles started to ache and every movement I made was not without effort.... Nevertheless, it was a fantastic cycle ride and I'd do it again anytime.

:: We finally went to the famous Koh Thai for some Thai Tapas after my colleague raved on and on about it. After much deliberation, we finally placed our order and after the waiter had left the table, Steve and I looked at each other and we burst out laughing, and we both knew that as usual, we had perhaps ordered a bit too much for ourselves. Ah well, we wanted to try as many things as possible...

The food was overall not bad... but a bit pricey I think.

We ordered prawn tempura, Thai fishcakes (4 on each plate), spicy thai duck salad, Koh special potato (which was extremely nice), Penang curry with sticky rice and the whole bill came to almost 40pounds. But it was a nice experience and the food was good so it's okay.

:: Saturday night, I finally cracked open my GIANT egg. Beatrice will know that from 10 years ago when I first came to the UK, one of my hobbies was to buy Kinder Egg surprise and collect the tiny toys inside. Steve knows this too and when we were in France last two weeks, he bought me a gigantic Kinder Surprise egg with of course a gigantic toy inside. I have some pictures to show you.

Can you see the difference between the usual Kinder Egg surprise and the giant next to it? haha

 Nice.....

So I forgot to take a picture of the toy inside so sorry can't show you that. But it was fun to assemble the toy and it was quite a cool toy as well.

So for the whole of this week, I'll be all on my own in this big office. Boss is outstation, and another colleague is on annual leave *yawn*.... can get a bit boring but I just get on with my stuff and soon it'll be 5pm. A couple of pictures to show you my space. 

My space, a bit messy but it's a lot better than my old desk where I used to teach in Miri.

Empty office. My space is the second computer screen. Notice the big fish hanging on my notice board. Cute?

Okay, time for a cup of tea I think. Catch you later.

Have a good week ahead and thanks for dropping by.

On the living and the dead

I don't see myself as the type with green fingers but that doesn't stop me from buying dying plants from waste after I've finished work in the evening.

I don't know if you recall from an entry I posted last year? I rescued a bonsai plant from being thrown away and felt extremely proud and noble about what I did because I had managed to turn the dying bonsai into a healthy looking and thriving plant. I even got her a little friend, and side by side they sit, happy and healthy looking. Okay, they (Big tree and Little tree) were doing great to start with. Then I went away on holiday to Turkey in August and it was after that, that things started to take a bad turn. I carried out all sorts of revival strategies --> watering them everyday; not watering them so often; putting them in direct sunlight; taking them away from direct sunlight........ still there was nothing I could do to help prevent what was coming. They started to lose their leaves and soon, they lost all their leaves and what was left was a skeleton of what used to be a healthy looking bonsai (both Big tree and Little tree together, sob sob)

They have been like this for a long long time and I refused to admit that they might be 'dead' and I continue to display them on my table, hoping for a miracle to happen one day, and also hoping that they are 'hibernating' during this winter period. (I found out through the internet that this is unlikely to be the case, sigh) So you can imagine my desk at work is not looking so great at the moment with two possibly dead bonsai plants sitting on it.

Things have changed this morning, however. 

Last night, again I was tempted into buying a dying plant in the illusion that I'll be able to nurse it back to health. This morning when I brought it in to work it looked very, very sad indeed but still I wasn't about to give up hope. 

You can see from the picture that the leaves and the flowers are really looking sad and droopy. So I wasted no time and quickly watered it. I must admit that the reason I was drawn to this plant at the first place was the extremely cute metal pot that it's sitting in. Don't you think that the pot is simply delightful?! Anyway, after I watered it, I left it and started doing some work. When I looked at it again after a while, I was amazed by the changes that have taken place.

Can you see that?? The flowers have 'come to live' and the leaves have perked up in that short period of time!!! I know it has been said many times but doesn't it show you how important 'water' is to living things??!!

I am absolutely delighted and excited beyond words but I do not want to give myself false hopes, not after what has happened to Big tree and Little tree. I shall keep very grounded with the development of this Polka Dotted Delight and see what happens next. But oh my can you sense my joy??!! I know I have probably not shown you very well the 'before' and 'after' comparison but I can tell you, the difference is definitely evident !!

It's Friday today and I am excited about the things that I might do over the weekend. I am feeling a bit more relaxed than usual this weekend because I have booked Saturday evening off as a holiday. Since the financial year is coming to an end and there is holiday to use up, Steve has sensibly suggested that I take two Saturday nights off which I thought was a brilliant idea!! So last weekend, and the weekend before that, I had attempted to bake some rasberry and white chocolate muffins but never got round to it (Steve said that it would never happen by the loooks of things). I have got all the ingredients that I need in the pantry (which Steve has kindly provided me with) so there is to be no excuse, really. So this weekend, might be the weekend that I'll make it happen. I bought some rasberries and strawberries last night and if they last long enough through the weekend, by the end of it, with a bit of luck, there might be some freshly baked muffins from the oven !! Woohooo !! The difficulty is I have got so many other things to distract me -- knitting, crocheting, designing my bespoke house on Sims 2, playing guitar hero on PS3, bugging Steve to take me on a car ride and hopefully stop for some ice cream and enjoying it while we're parked on the cliff overlooking the beautiful ocean)... So you can imagine that baking some silly muffins would come way way down the list of my priorities !!! But for you, I will give it a go because I would like to share the end result with you (if there are any successfully baked muffins, of course). If there aren't please don't ask me about them ... 

Right-T-Ho.... I think it's time for some lunch -- Thai Red Curry with Jasmine Rice from Marks N Spencer. 

Yummy (I hope).