Half Term Holidays: Majorca Escape

This last week we have been enjoying perhaps the most relaxed holiday I’ve ever had (certainly it has been the most relaxed since I got married) and it has been such a pleasant time. I was going to do a daily blog post, but then I was also too busy relaxing - plus, we haven’t been doing enough stuff to warrant a post every day.

We got up Sunday morning and took the long route to Heathrow (the district line trains weren’t running last weekend, which was a pain). With a lunchtime flight, we didn’t have to get to the airport too early which makes a nice change to previous trips. The flight was fine - we had been warned that it might be bumpy, but that didn’t really eventuate which was good. We landed around 4pm local time and then went straight to the coach for the transfer to the hotel. It took us about an hour to get to the hotel. We were in a 4 star, adults only hotel which I requested after the last half term of business at school! Our room was small but there are lots of communal spaces which we certainly used.

Every day we went to the beach, which is only a few minutes walk away from the hotel. The weather certainly wasn’t great early on in the week, with lots of threatening clouds and rain on and off, but when it was clear we tried to make the best of it. A typical day looked like this: sleep in until 9-9:30, breakfast buffet, the Husband going for a ride and me crafting/relaxing/going for a walk/having lunch, then us going together to the beach, then resting in the room, before a shower and going out for dinner. Then it was time to sleep and do it all over again.

In terms of dinners, most were fine. We had 2 tapas, one italian, but the highlights were the seafood restaurant we went to (Las Sirenas) and the burger place (my personal favourite - called New Cacao). They were great! 

I have to say that was so great. Even when on holidays at home, I feel the pressure to do things - whether it is washing, sewing, or other busy things. Here I only had the things I brought, so I could be much more relaxed. I read a whole book (Carrie Hope Fletcher’s newest novel, In the Time We Lost), finished a cross stitch, and generally had a lovely time.

Now today is Friday and it’s going home day. And the weather is great today! Luckily out flight isn’t until 10:20pm, and our coach pickup is 6:40pm outside the hotel. So we basically get another whole day! The downside is that now we might not get back until 2am from the airport, but at least we don’t have any plans until Saturday afternoon. On the plus side, we are already intending to make this a yearly October half term trip - for the Husband to cycle, and me to relax!!!

Besties in Barcelona: Day 2

We were able to have a bit of a sleep in this morning, which was much appreciated after the long day yesterday! We got up around 9 and our first stop for the day was Casa Batllo, which is my favourite of the Gaudi houses. It is absolutely gorgeous, inspired by the ocean and filled with warm woods, beautiful stained glass, and a gorgeous internal light well. As always, it's beautifully designed and so clever. I love it!

By the time we finished, it was time for lunch. We found a place along the way which served single sized tapas on slices of bread. I had 2 with calamari, one with salmon tataki, and one with Iberico ham. Delicious, and it was highly air conditioned which also was good. Every day here is around 32 Celsius and very sunny!

We were then on our way to the nearby La Pedrera (or Casa Mila, which is it's real name). It's interesting because it's still got working apartments in it - you can only access a few floors because the rest are actual apartments. It's a little more traditional than Casa Batllo, but still lovely and also has a cool rooftop terrace. Plus, La Pedrera has the best attic!

On our way back to the hotel (we walked both ways), we stopped on La Rambla for icecream to take on the walk home with us. I got delicious passionfruit and blackberry which was great!

We had another siesta in the hotel (very quickly adapting to Spanish customs) for a few hours before deciding that we were too tired to venture far, but that we wanted something other than tapas for dinner. So we went to a nearby noodle bar called Asian Ways. It was amazing! Great gyoza, and chicken teriyaki udon which was lovely as well. A very pleasant surprise and a delicious close by dinner.

Hong Kong Holiday: Day Two

For Day 2, Richard was working, so I had a lazy morning in, sleeping in, chilling in the hotel, and putting in some laundry of Richard’s for him. Richard and I were having lunch with Frankie at a dim sum restaurant of her recommendation, and it had an app with a digital queue. We were number 30, but the numbers went up quickly. It got to 20 about 12:15, so I headed down towards their work, however they had to run over to the restaurant (if you’re not physically there when they call your number you miss out) so I met them there instead. I think I’m getting the hang of these walkways!

Lunch was super delicious (food quality is clearly high in HK) - we had prawn dumplings, crab roe dumplings, bbq pork buns (love them!), spring rolls with prawn, and there was even more. Green tea to accompany, of course. Definitely worth the rushing.

After lunch Richard and Frankie had to return to work, so I decided to walk slowly back to the hotel and explore along the way. Frankie suggested Hong Kong Park, so I headed through the Paradise Place shopping centre to the Park. It is beautiful with lots of lovely lanscaping and fountains. I wandered through all of it, including the bird enclosures. Unfortunately the Aviary was closed, but it is due to reopen soon so I might try and go back later in the week. Then I wandered to its nearest neighbour, which is just across the road from out hotel... the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Park. It is bigger than HK Park but not quite as nice, although it does have quite a few kinds of monkeys and some meerkats you can visit!

On the way back to the hotel I found a supermarket, where I picked up some Pocky to snack on and a drink, then back to the hotel to chill for an hour or so until Richard finished work.

I met Richard back at his work just before 7, and we headed into one of the shopping malls to get me my belated birthday present - an Apple watch! So exciting, although I couldn't open it for hours while we went out afterwards. Then we caught the ferry across the harbour to Kowloon to watch the light show. Unfortunately we were too late to get access to the upstairs area where most of the speakers were, and there were lots of people talking downstairs so we couldn't hear the music very well at all, but the lights were very pretty regardless.

We wandered around the waterfront area for a while looking for somewhere to eat, but couldn't find anywhere that wasn't too fancy and/or too expensive, so we decided to head back into HK central and Richard suggested we go to a burger place he found when he had first arrived. When we arrived, Richard was greeted by the owner/chef, who remembered Richard from earlier in the week and seemed really pleased to see him again. The burgers were incredible (I had Frying Nemo, a catfish burger), and I also had garlic fries which came with truffle mayo and were so delicious! The owner and his wife were so chatty and friendly, they offered us recommendations for our time here, gave us a free drink, and even wanted our pictures for their Instagram! It was so lovely to chat to them and they looked after us so well.

Then it was time to head back to the hotel and set up my shiny new watch before going to bed. Up early to head to Macau for the day tomorrow!

Hong Kong Holiday: Day One

As a part of our crazy visa stuff, I needed to be out of the UK on the 30th Jan. So instead of coming straight back to Australia, we decided I would stay for a week in Hong Kong with El Husbando, who is currently working from there. So I had a chilled day on Wednesday getting ready, leaving the house spotless, and hanging out with Katya before I left. I was flying out of Terminal 5 at Heathrow which I had never done before, but with my boarding pass on my phone it was a super fast process and I was through security with a full 2 hours before my flight. I grabbed a Pret and a couple HP souvenirs (they have a Harry Potter shop there!) before getting the transit train to the C gates where I was due to depart from.

The flight itself was a bit disappointing, actually. After flying Qantas last time London - Perth, on a brand new plane, flying BA was a bit of a let down. The food wasn’t great (and there was no menu, leading me to choose pasta when the chicken looked much nicer - but the only choice we were given was “chicken” or “pasta”), the screen was tiny so I didn’t use it, and the plane itself was freezing the whole time! I did at least sleep pretty much the whole time between meals though, so that was something.

I landed in HK about 2:30pm, and easily made my way to the transit train to central (QR code ticket - so convenient). It was there I got very, very, VERY confused. I was supposed to be walking to Richard’s work to meet him (at the Hong Kong Club Building), which was only supposed to be 15 minutes away... But there were exits A through F, plus multiple malls, and when I got outside I couldn’t work out how to get where I needed to go! There are a lot of raised walkways above the road, it turns out, that I should have taken, but I only knew that after the fact. So I took one exit, then went back in, then out again, then back in, then found a helpful exit, then missed the pedestrian subway, then found it, then took the least convenient exit, then overshot the building by a block, then finally got to the right place! And all of this in humid 22 degrees in a sweater and long leggings... Fun.

Richard gave me the hotel key and directions - oh, it’s just up that road. Great - only that road is super uphill, and I have about 20kgs of stuff! I had to stop about 6 times and was extremely sweaty by the time I arrived at the hotel at 5pm. I unpacked a little, chilled (literally), and got ready to head back into Central to meet Richard for dinner. Downhill is much better than up. And by the time I got back outside it was perfectly pleasant and I was appropriately dressed which made everything much better.

I met Richard and we went for a wander around the quay area. HK is really pretty at night, lighting everywhere and a rabbit warren of paths and small staircases. We wandered around a while, just catching up, before walking past a place Richard had looked at online, called Wah Fung. They specialised in roast meat (pork and duck in particular), and was very reasonably priced so we headed in. We had a platter of pork and duck, some stir fry veg and bbq pork with noodles, all of which was super delicious and cost us just under 300hkd!

Then we wandered back to the hotel the long way (through the staircases and botanical gardens), where Richard was supposed to have a 10:30pm phone meeting, which luckily got cancelled so we could go straight to bed.

Short Sojourn: Solo Paris Day 0.5

While we were holidaying in Barcelona back at Easter time, I happened to look online at Eurostar train tickets to Paris, as we had mentioned that I might like to go to Paris over the summer. And lo and behold, on the Eurostar website I found those fabled £29 each way tickets to Paris while I was on summer break! So yesterday, after taking Katya to her first vet appointment (she did brilliantly!) and settling her in for her first afternoon solo, I headed out to St Pancras station with a very large backpack ready for the train. I got to St Pancras with plenty of time to spare so had time for a sandwich and drink before we had to board the train.

Security was super easy and very fast which was such a relief, and the train itself was uneventful. I had a window seat and basically knitted and watched Netflix the whole way (it is only just over 2 hours). I have to admit, I am a bit nervous about this trip, as I haven't travelled on my own basically since I was 18 (on my gap year - since then I travelled with family, friends, or Richard). I was nervous about a few things, including finding my way around and how I would look to others (young, vulnerable and alone). But I think this trip will be important for boosting my confidence.

I didn't get into Paris until 6:47pm because of the time difference, so I headed straight to my hotel on Rue de Cygne near Chatelet-Les Halles. It's very close actually to the AirBnB where Richard and I stayed last time we were in Paris so I do know the area a little. I have a single room, right off the staircase, with just a teeny bed and a sink. I share a bathroom which is directly above me with the room above that, but so far I haven't seen them at all. After I checked in and unpacked a bit, I decided it was time for a walk, so I walked down to the Seine to have a look at the river. It was all looking lovely as usual as I headed over the river to the only bakery I could find that was still open. Smith's Bakery sold delicious baguette, so I got a brie one and a palmier for dessert and decided that I was quite tired and wanted to head back to the room to eat dinner.

I ate dinner in the room, watched some bedtime Netflix and then tried to sleep. It was very hot though, and I found it difficult, plus the sore throat I had been nursing for a couple of days has migrated up into my head to become a full cold so safe to say it wasn't the best night.

Amazing Experience: Wimbledon (again)

On Friday, I got a phone call. I had entered a competition a few weeks back by downloading an HSBC app to my phone. What had I won? Oh, only Centre Court seats at Wimbledon for the Women's Final!!!

So we got all dressed up (because it's guaranteed Centre Court seats on a final day, so who knows how many famous people you might see?), and headed to Wimbledon station all leisurely like around 10:30. There was a special HSBC shuttle (a Jaguar) to drive us over to Gate 9, which is where the entrance to the VIP Village is with all the hospitality chalets (their phrase, not mine) is. We were greeted with Pimms and champagne, which we drank on the deck as we chatted about the day and waited for lunchtime. There were cameras around filming people as they chatted, including us, which was a bit of a strange experience.

Lunch was served at 12pm, and it was amazing! We got to pick which and starter we wanted (Richard and I both had king prawns with mayonnaise and cucumber) which was totally delicious, and then luckily instead of having 7 mains and 4 salads to choose from, we had the main course buffet style! I had some poached salmon, pulled ham hock, kung pao duck and a few savoury tarts as well as bread. Everything was delicious. It was then almost 1pm, and with the men's semi final set to resume at 1, we got our goodie bags (with seat cushion, Wimbledon radio and pockets for snacks) as well as cold water, Pimms and Haagen Daaz and headed to the court.

Our seats were in section 317, which is actually quite close to the Royal Box. We could see Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton and even Emma Watson in the box! We did miss the first point though, so we had to wait until the end of the first three games before we could go to our seats. The tennis was amazing - they both clearly wanted it so much and there was some amazing rallying going on! As I'm sure you know, Djokovic won but it was a close thing and some amazing tennis got played. We were so pleased and feel so lucky to have been able to see that as well as what was to come.

The men finished playing at 3:35, so they announced a half hour delay before the start of the women's. So we returned to the hospitality area for some afternoon tea of little sandwiches, cakes and scones. Then, armed with fresh Pimms and cold water, was returned to our seats. Again we missed the first three games (although 3 games in the ladies is much faster than 3 games in the mens) but it was a very interesting match to watch after the men's. Serena didn't seem to move around very much and barely ran at all- but she didn't look injured, only tired. Kerber had some strange footwork which meant some of her shots she had to crouch to hit because her feet weren't in the right position, and she seemed to be the queen of getting back shots she shouldn't have been able to return! In the end, it was a straight sets win to Kerber for her first Wimbledon win. It was really cool to be able to watch that experience for her.

We stayed to watch the presentation of the awards, then headed back to the hospitality area to pick up our gifts - personalised Championship towels for each of us! A very cool memory and an amazing experience! Definitely once in a lifetime... Although I hope not.

Tasty Treats: Borough Markets

(Written on 13/4, somehow forgotten to post!)

(Since this was written, I have returned for more tasty cheese, nommy brownies, and definitely more fish finger buttys!!! It's even only 10 minutes by bicycle... So bad, but so good!)

Yesterday, completely on a whim, I decided I needed to break up my working day by going out to lunch... But where to? Well, after a quick Google, I realised that Borough Market is not only open 6 days a week (every day but Sunday), but is only a 30 minute walk from our building! Decision made.

 

Last time we went to Borough Market, we bought lunch (amazing pies), fancy oil, bread and lots of delicious cheese! This time around, I didn't want to spend quite so much money, so I started with lunch. I braved the long (but very fast moving) queue at fish!kitchen. Best fish finger butty ever! Proper fish fingers (none of this processed stuff), loads of tartare sauce, and fresh sourdough. So yummy.

 

I also picked up some truffle honey as a present for Husbando, and a brownie from one of the bakery stalls. The quality of the food there is top notch, and there's a great selection.

 

I was very tempted by these, but managed to resist. Then I headed for a short walk to London's most useful boat...

 

 

So handy.

Cultural Experience: Wimbledon!

Today has been the longest, most exhilarating day. Today I ticked something major off my bucket list. Today, I went to Wimbledon.

My day started at the delightful hour of 3:30am, as I had organised to meet my friends for The Queue at 5am. I got onto my first bus, only to find that I had no credit and couldn't actually travel as far as I had intended. I jumped off the bus early at a tube station to recharge, except it wasn't open, so I couldn't top up. And I still had to get to Wimbledon somehow... So I downloaded and called myself an Uber, getting there just in time! Thank goodness.

I met my friends and we joined the queue. I was the first in the group to get a ticket, and I got number 2745... at 5am. Wow. The time actually passed really quickly, what with chatting and playing cards and snacking and complaining about how long we'd been up already (so many British people drinking at around 7am). We started to move around 9, I think, and by about 10:30 we were through security and buying tickets. When we got to the front of the queue, we were all set to buy our general admission tickets (a very reasonable 25 pounds!), until we heard that there was a single centre court ticket still available. We persuaded Jess and Matt to buy it, so that they could share it and get the full centre court Wimbledon experience. The rest of us bought our general admission tickets, and we were finally in!

We headed straight to Court 16, for the mens doubles, featuring Aussies Kokkinakis and Thompson. It was really cool to watch Aussies play here in London, although unfortunately they didn't win. Jess and Matt are the best people, and they let a few of us take turns to go into centre court to watch the game there! So I got to spend about half an hour watching Azarenka play against Brit Heather Watson, who was excellent, but Azarenka won in the end.

After giving someone else a turn on centre court, we headed to the gift shop for souvenirs! I got a few things for me (a cute mug with the Championship logo and strawberries on, and a fan which was super practical), and a few things as gifts. Not even super expensive. I even got a program, which I can fill in with the other results as they come in! Then we grabbed some food and headed to the lawn to watch the end of Azarenka/Watson on the big screen.

By this time, most of my friends had headed off, so the few of us remaining wandered the courts to see what we could find. And what we could find, was another pair of Aussies playing doubles! This time, it was Barty and Dellacqua playing ladies doubles. It was an incredible match. They lost the first set, won the second, and the third? It was game for game, practically. There were trick shots, there was surprises, and we were gasping and cheering. There was even three first serve lets in a row, which left all the players smiling at the chances. In the end, the Aussies came from 2-5 down, to 5-5, to finally win the final set 10 games to 8! We were cheering so so loudly, so proud of our Aussie girls.

By this time, I was left on my own with my remaining friends in centre court, so I grabbed a snack (strawberries and cream popcorn, yum!) and sat to watch the final centre court match on the big screen, which featured Andy Murray. But it was 7:30pm already, and it looked like a long game (turns out that was the beginning of set 2 of 4), so I caught a bus/train home, picking up dinner on the way.

A long day (from 3:30am to, well, I'm still up...), but an incredibly satisfying one. Wimbledon crossed of the bucket list - although I will return next year! Just, I need to catch up on my sleep first...

Tasty Treats: Cereal Killer Cafe

Cereal Killer Cafe

Camden Town

I found this cafe completely by chance online one day, and I so regret taking almost 2 weeks to actually get there. This cafe is hiding in a small shopfront on Brick Lane, but once you go in, it's 90s child sleepover heaven! The main counter is small, but the walls behind them are packed with boxes and boxes of all kinds of cereal! Yep, this is a cafe that serves mostly cereal (also poptarts), and it is a joyful place. I spent about 10 minutes trying to decide what I wanted...

  

In the end I ordered my Double Rainbow cereal cocktail (Froot Loops, Fruity Pebbles, Marshmallows and Strawberry Milk), a take-home pack of Cinnabon cereal, and a badge, and headed downstairs. Here, more exclusive cereal boxes are on display, along with merchandise from cereal companies. Multiple old-school TVs were showing VHS tapes of Friends, Seinfeld, Care Bears and TMNT, and larger tables had single beds with 90s TV show quilts instead of benches.

 

Now, I wouldn't recommend my choice to everyone (it was amazing, but super super sweet!), but they have a selection of cereal cocktails to suit many people, or you can choose your own cereal/milk/topping combination. I was so happy with my selection, I went and bought some of the cereal marshmallows (I think they're freeze-dried) as well to take home!

 

I didn't eat the Cinnabon cereal at the time - I've been snacking on it dry while at home on the holidays. It's delicious! Next time I have a cereal craving, I know where I'm going!!!