Singapore

The last stop on my Asia trip. Singapore was never a place I wanted to spend more than a few days, but upon working out my trip it just happened that it would easier to fly from this destination, and therefore stay for 6 nights. 3 nights possibly too long. It's an extremely clean country, with a great transport network and people have English as their first language, perfect for me! Not so perfect is the constant humidity all year round, the availability of mostly asian food and very expensive alcohol. Despite all that, I managed to have a lot of fun (even if there was a lot of hiding inside shopping malls for good air-con!)

I love asian culture and cuisine because of the sharing aspect, a little bit of everything! China town outside in the hot humid night time air, with free wi-fi so I guess it makes up for it.

Singapore has an abundance of awesome food, sights to see and places to shop. As a tourist it can become a little monotonous and samey-samey. 
Best $5 I spent in Singapore, ironically getting asian noodles and dumplings in "Little India". Little India sure is an experience, the floods of people makes it feel like I could possibly be in India, the heat and the staring, the constant staring. The food is plentiful and cheap here though, so I'm not complaining.

Gardens by the Bay. For an extremely young country that lies right next to the equator they create some beautiful attractions like these. Beautifully watered plants with some pretty amazing attractions.

Asia is best known for the night time scenery. Singapore does not disappoint when it comes to high rises and lights and shows, I was not disappointed. Marina Bay Sands has a light show every single night, that simply shows how many tourists they must bring in.

Somebody does not look impressed that I got the food before him. Meeting a fellow British person in a hostel is not hard, but one that you can totally rip the hell out of is another story. It's time like these where meeting people becomes a part of the experience, people who make it more fun than it probably would have been alone.

Italians, they love to ruin photos and they love to love themselves.

Gardens by the Bay, these lights are incredibly enchanting. Changing colours and dancing to the music at the light show every evening.

The humid air and blazing sunshine is something you cannot avoid here, so to make the most of it the Islands are easily accessible by ferry. St Johns Island full of party boats, family boats and rich people generally chilling. Rich people everywhere in Singapore.....

Hokkien, my favourite favourite dish in Singapore. Everytime I go back I get this dish, it just tastes delicious in every single restaurant, hawker centre, bloody of the street. Singapore cuisine is notorious for chilli sauce, and this chilli sauce just gave me sweats, but GOOD SWEATS all over.

Pie face.... an Australian company. Cute idea, cute pies, but cute does NOT mean tasty. Sorry, should have given this a miss and stuck to my Hokkien :(

Sentosa, the most famous island resort in Singapore, "entertainment island" for the local Singaporeans and a major tourist attraction. Trust me when I say you NEED an umbrella, you need 2litres of water and shade, lots and lots of shade when you come here; possibly a few towels too. I sweated my butt off. The island is a totally beautiful man-made place though, with so many activites that you could stay here for a while! (If you have tons of money to spare).

I spent a good half a day at Sentosa, but if you felt the heat I was feeling you'd want to leave too. I did go Segway-ing all the beachy area of Sentosa, but that was about all, it costs roughly $40SGD for a 30 min ride, and I'm not even sure that was worth it!

My 6 days in Singapore dragged on towards the end, people had gone, all the places were seen, but at least I managed to see old friends, make new ones and experience THAT heat. This drew Asia to an end, it was an extremely eye-opening and fulfilling trip. It gave me the freedom and experiences that would have been closed off to me if I hadn't have travelled solo, it opened my eyes to things and people I like and dislike, and I got completely immersed into just experiencing without limitations, just do and enjoy. I am thankful for all those I managed to meet on this trip, and all the things that I managed to do, mostly the experiences reveal your comfort zones, and the zones I was uncomfortable in (I am shy, trust me!). 

And from here, I guess it was goodbye Asia, goodbye to travelling.... until next time. Which came much sooner than I expected.

Abeno Too

I have returned from New York for a week now. It is not enough to say that I miss that place a lot. For somebody who was only out there for a week, I have fallen in love very quickly. The place, the people, the lights is just incredible. People always complain about the cold and windy weather in London, but it really does not compare to the brisk cold of New York. So when I went to London in this particular evening in a Leather Jacket I was especially happy that I did not have to wear the layers upon layers and thermals that I had on in New York.

I mean, this is no New York City Skyscrapper sight, but London financial district Canary Wharf doesn't do too bad of a job. The sunset makes it look slightly better.

It is nice to take time to see the sights you were once so bored of seeing. I used to walk past this so frequently and just glance, but this night and the other nights I have returned I just remind myself how pretty it really looks.

Generic Oxford Street Light pictures, with an additional of a man's head. Bet you don't see that head very often, so let's just say this is a new refreshing picture.

Selfridges does an impressive job with Christmas Lights I must admit, no shops in New York actually wowed me with their christmas displays or lights, but this looks elegant and not too "christmassy" which is probably why I like it.

Moving onto the food section. ABENO TOO. Some people hate this, *ahem* Maggie, but actually I really enjoy this place. It isn't the cheapest of places to go for Japanese food in London, but it is quite different. Sitting in front of a hot plate, it is mainly known for it's tepanyaki, meat cooked on the hot plate in front of you. Additionally they do dishes called okonomi-yaki which is pictured below, an egg dish mixed with whatever you want. Above is Om-Soba, this looks massive, but two of these shared between 6 people really isn't enough. (Well for me anyways, they all agreed they were full and I was secretly sobbing inside). If you don't like salty foods or noodles, avoid avoid avoid.

This is the okonomi-yaki. We went for a mix of pork, kimchi and prawn mix which yet again was quite salty, but that is asian cuisine for you. This was delicious, and the sauce on top is Mayonnaise, but this is optional with also a few extras that the cook asks you.

 After dinner I left these friends to go meet another friend, and guess what that means, ANOTHER LOCATION to eat. Typical. Above is just a little box of chocolates gifted.

Moving on to Muriel's Kitchen in Old Compton Street for dessert it was then. Carrot and Walnut cake, my favourite. Adults and kids who squirm at this because of the sight of the word carrot, fear not, it tastes nothing like a carrot. (Although carrots really don't taste that bad once you give them a chance). It was really good, £5 for a large slice isn't too bad, as it is a shareable size. The cream on the inside was so fresh and definitely made to a high quality. Recommended! It is also their "famous" cake so why wouldn't you want to give it a try? I ordered an Arizona Tea on the side, don't ask, it was the panicked first thing I saw on the menu so I'll order it drink.

The decor in Muriel's Kitchen is extremely nice too. It is homely, yet not too homely, it doesn't look old and dated, it's comfortable and outdoorsy. Definitely my kind of place, and free wi-fi. Can you complain?

Anyway, on my arrival back from New York, my love for cities has grown exponentially, and actually I feel I have missed out on what London city can offer. This evening gave me a refreshing set of eyes when looking at the beloved London town.

Life and Food Lately

Lately life has been quite busy, not that I'm complaining. Somehow I am still taking time out of my schedule to entertain myself and others and gorge on good food!

Asian food is definitely food for the soul. This is a place I come if I want something "authentically asian" but far enough off that I feel like I couldn't have it at home. Pompokos is somewhere I go where I fancy a katsu curry. They do two different types of chicken katsu here, different to anywhere I am used to. They do the breaded, which I almost always have, and the fried chicken katsu curry. Both, delicious. Pompokos is super cheap and super tasty, I return regularly and no doubt I will be back again soon. 

 The noodle bowl that all my friends seemed to get but me. I can't refuse anywhere that does katsu curry I'm afraid! The only place I will do this is Wagamama, I cannot stand that curry. It tastes completely different, it doesn't even taste like curry. (Sorry, not sorry, turning into a rant)

This made for an interesting picture, a graffitied wall in the cellar of my friend's house, which is actually quite creepy the more I think about it. And yet so cute! The journey down to the cellar was even more scary, the steepest wooden steps you could ever go down!

Party in the cellar? Sounds like a better idea than actually having one I'm afraid. The dark is too much for 3 girls and 1 guy to handle!

Girls night out in Brighton, as per usual we ended up in Pryzm, which seems to be the only place we are ever at nowadays! First off we started at Be At One, expensive cocktails, bit of an older crowd, music too loud, it just wasn't the dreamy bar I'd been thinking of. At least I have experienced it to know better now. 

 Here I am again at Viet Rest in Deptford, one of my favourite vietnamese restaurants. A chicken salad to begin. The flavours are so fresh and the vinegar makes everything a little tastier.

My main dish considered of the vietnamese style ham (dreamy), banh cuon the meat inside the rolls are just delicious. My favourite dish most definitely, piled on with vinegar. This dish over pho anyday, I'm sorry, controversial comment.

And again, I find myself in Foodilic on North Street in Brighton. For £6.99 buffet style you really can't hate it. The vegetables taste fresh enough, the seasoning and sauces that they place on them just make it even more yummy! This place secured my love for cous cous! For a vegan style restaurant they really know how to make their chicken and beef!

Brighton is fully of quirky little places and the people are even quirkier. Most people here are lovely though, and it's nice to see little graffiti like this around from time to time. In 2 years I had never driven up this road and I am so glad I did and manage to capture this.

 Selfie time, and James making new friends. Guess where? PRYZM again.