Aqua Kyoto - Reviewing The Go Zen Lunch Boxes

What a difference a year makes. Roughly 365.25 days ago I was sat in Aqua Kyoto, surrounded by my workmates in a job that wasn't challenging enough, hiding my blogging obsession and being teased about having a raging travel addiction. Funnily enough, our big group were seated at the very table that I took the below photo on. So many things have changed, though the raging travel obsession (obviously) hasn't subsided.

Disclaimer: We were invited guests of Aqua Kyoto but my (very many) thoughts are only ever mine and my repeat visits, I mean victory feasts attest to simply how much I enjoy their cuisine.

This time around, I'm becoming an established freelancer with clients who seem fairly happy, I've written articles for all kinds of places and I've been to New Zealand and back, but I still love to schedule in lunchtimes of indulgence and zen because goodness knows I'm only a human-bean. But, that's more than enough rambling about me.

When Friends Become Family: Expat Life

It doesn’t matter how long I live in the UK, how often I automatically order mushy peas with fish and chips or how British my accent gets, I’ll always be an expat. It affects how I see the world, decisions I make, the way that my life is lived and the wanderlust that infects my soul.

Deciding to leave behind years of memories, in-jokes and ties so deep that you know what your friends will do before they even do it - is a big decision to make - even if it’s slightly less hard to give up the embarrassing nicknames that you seem to pick up but never really shake off.

A Restaurant Review of Celeste at the Lanesborough.

This was a meal both of angelic delicacy and more earthly disappointment. Not the company, obviously, just read on.

After much to-ing and fro-ing, Aftab, Angie, Binny, Zoe and I managed to find a date that could all gather for my birthday (#bloggerproblems) we chose Celeste at the Lanesborough, excited to check off a restaurant that had been languishing on our spreadsheets (I wish I was kidding - but behind many hungry bloggers is an electronic hit list of tasty locations) for much too long. Chef Eric Frechon and Executive Chef Florian Favario hold five Michelin stars between them, so to say we were excited would be an understatement.

Spurred on by friends who had visited many times and loved the fare, we also managed to hook ourselves one of the London Restaurant Festival menus (allowing for less bank manager outrage and more champagne - my old maths teacher would be so proud). Unfortunately, it was a dark and rainy evening. We arrived shaking the rain from our coats and giggling at the rather late 21st birthday mug that arrived from Australian (thanks to my Aunty, who gave it to my Uncle who stored it between house moves.)

Spying Seal Pups at Donna Nook, Lincolnshire

It's a direct result of not being from this country, but I really love it with all of my wanderlusting heart. Sometimes I also hate it - which is part and parcel of a long-term relationship - sometimes misunderstanding of the culture and other times frustrations that you would get living absolutely any where rear their head. That's the joy and challenge of expat life in a nutshell - even for a long-termer like myself.



It's funny though, it means that I view the country with travel spectacles. A case in point? I was watching a documentary a couple of months ago that highlighted a seal colony that migrates to a certain cove once a year to have their babies in safety, away from predators of the ocean. To my husband, Donna Nook is a RAF base. To me, it's a seal slumber party spot.

My Ultimate List of Desserts in London

We all joke about bloggers having separate dessert stomachs - it's a necessary job prerequisite - but as I sat here thinking about my next blog post, I realised that a) we didn't have any dessert in the cupboards without getting my baking tins out,  b) I had a space in the blog calendar and c) I'd never actually thought about which of the London puddings have been my favourite.

These are the ones that we've gone back time and time again for - occasionally popping in late in the evening just for a sweet bite or planning a whole evening around that crowning pastry.

The most unfortunate side effect of writing this post is the realisation that it doesn't change the state of my cupboards....

Gambolling Through Ghent; A Wanderers Guide.

As a day trip from Brussels (only a half hour train),  I've found that either many people haven't heard of Ghent, preferring to explore the chocolate box streets of Bruges, or they adore Ghent so much that when a blogger (me) visits, they spam them via instastories with recollections of days spent there and memories made. True story.

Disclaimer: I was a press guest of VisitFlanders in Ghent, 

but all planning, mischief and thoughts are all mine.

We fell into the former camp on our trip to Brussels and explored Bruges, but genuinely regretted only being able to fit one city in, vowing to return one day.

A Salisbury City Break: Exploring the UK in a Meandering Manner

A medieval cathedral city in the southern English county of Wiltshire, 9 miles south of the iconic prehistoric stone circle at Stonehenge. The city’s ornate 13th-century cathedral has a 123m spire, a working 14th-century clock and an original copy of the Magna Carta (the Great Charter), a key document from 1215 A.D. And Fudgehenge (keep reading, it'll become clear.).

Salisbury.

A Two Michelin Star Lunch: Hélène Darroze at The Connaught Hotel, Mayfair

Approaching birthdays seem to strike terror into the hearts of many people that I know - for a huge variety of reasons - but I've always just seen it as an excuse to hang out with the people that I love and as a reminder that life is too short to drink bad coffee.

Last year I celebrated a milestone birthday, and managed to eke it out to 6 weeks of celebrations (which is ludicrous, I know - but we had to wait for Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel to finish their renovations. Honestly, Heston, really did you have to make us wait so long?) so this year as it wasn't a milestone, I managed to tamp things down to around a week - which I think is totally reasonable in the scheme of things.

Booking in a few lunches and dinners with a load of good people who helped me to celebrate, first up was a leisurely (ahem, four hour) lunch with Shikha (Why Waste Annual Leave) and Connie (Connie Consumes) at the luscious Connaught Hotel.

An Iconic Luxury Hotel Review: Raffles, Singapore

A raffia fan slowly spun as motes fell through the heavy sunshine. Seated in the gorgeous foyer, I was welcomed to the Raffles Hotel first by the immaculately liveried Sikh doorman and then checked in smoothly with a Singapore Sling in hand.

Disclaimer: As a guest of Raffles Hotel I paid a press rate for my suite,

but my swooning prose is very much original and unaffected.

After sitting for less than 5 minutes, she ushered me through the marble corridors to my very own suite, and welcomed by Li, my personal butler for the duration of my stay. She smiled from ear to ear,  welcoming me effusively to her home of Singapore.

The Bulford Kiwi - a 130m tall piece of Graffiti near Salisbury, Wiltshire.

High above the Salisbury Plains one of the biggest pieces of New Zealand graffiti in the world overlooks an army base. (It's to the left, out of shot.)

Forget the Westbury White Horse in Oxfordshire or the Cerne Abbas Giant over Dorset both cut into the hillsides by the Celts (possibly dating back to 500BC) as pagan worship to their gods; a giant Kiwi was dug into the rolling hills above Bulford Army base just after World War One and attracts curious locals and crazy visitors to this day.

Magical Train Journeys Around the World - A Few Of My Favourites.

It may be a cliche, but sometimes the journey can be just as astonishing as the destination.

I love catching trains. The ease, the ability to wander around whilst speeding through the countryside, the sweeping corners, the friendly people dispensing hot tea, staring out the windows for hours as the world chugs past, generous luggage allowances and the whistling engineers with grease smudges in their eye and rosy cheeks.