Wandering around London like a neko (cat)

After having a satisfying brunch at Foxcroft & Ginger, we went to St.Paul's Cathedral since we haven't really been to all tourist attractions in London.

   

         

Directly opposite to St. Paul's Cathedral, we found this newly opened shopping mall, 'One New Change' where they have a rooftop terrace that is open to public, free of charge.

Took the lift up to the rooftop and got to see panoramic views of the London skyline... It's gorgeous.

A laid-back afternoon

Exams ended last week(finally!) and I'm proud to say that it went well. Perhaps not as excellent as what I expected it to be, I can still be sure that I definitely worked harder and did better than last term. After all it's all about improvements.

We're now in 'Reading Week' where I 'should' be preparing for the new term next week. But I just came back from the bloody battlefield and I absolutely deserve some quality rest.

Lunch/Afternoon tea with Ika after Malaysian Society's meeting. We went to Glutton & Glee near Tunsgate despite the gloomy weather (which started pouring soon after) and stayed for some time inside the warm, cosy cafe.  

I had Americano again. Not exactly sure since when this addiction started but I really enjoy the bittersweet aftertaste of this milkless drink; especially those with a tinge of sourness (due to the technique they used to roast their coffee beans.. according to Jia Huey). 

The cakes were good but I prefer the savoury ones- steak pie was amazing. 

Paris: Famous landmarks

Helloooo I finally have the mood to blog again! Yay? :) I know I owe you guys a lot of travel posts! So I shall settle my blog debts before the next trip's photos come in. 

Anyway let's continue with Paris:

After our breakfast at Rue Mouffetard, we navigated our way to the iconic gothic cathedral, Notre Dame de Paris.

As a huge fan of Disney, this is definitely one of my favourite historical sites ever. 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' was one of my favourites (actually I watched & loved all Disney films haha) since young, and I remember myself watching it over and over again. To be able to set foot on this famous architecture, I couldn't hide my excitement at all.

First glimpse!

  

This view definitely gave me a strong 'picture-came-into-real-life' feeling. You could see gargoyles vividly up there from below. It was absolutely stunning!

Paris: Breakfast at Rue Mouffetard

We didn't do much on our first night in Paris. After meeting our host and passing over the keys, we went out to explore the neighbourhood (near Poissoniere metro station). At first we wanted to go for dinner at Chatier (along Rue du Faubourg Montmartre) which is famous for their cheap French cuisine. Unfortunately, we were a little late so by the time we wanted to queue for it the manager said they are done for the night. Oh well. We decided to save it on our list and come back to try our luck the following night. (alas we made it! talk about it next time)

I don't know why but every single time I go for vacation, the first dinner is always super simple and spontaneous. Guess what, we ended up tapao-ing Kebab and Falafel back to our apartment HAHA. The reason was that we saw Glacier Amorino nearby and I think all of us were like..

 

"Screw dinner. Let's just eat this" 

It's takeaway day

Throughout the week I have been catching up with all the episodes I missed in The Big Bang theory TV series. I watched a few episodes long time ago but for some obscure reasons I wasn't interested to continue. I started watching again last week and since then it has become my past time killer.

Since the characters in the drama always have Thai/Chinese takeaway together I was so tempted to get myself one too. (Fyi I don't usually do takeaways, except during exam times when I tapao kebab as a treat for myself)

 

Throwback Macau trip Summer 2012

This is really way overdue. But I thought I should still post these up before the upcoming Europe trip's photos start flooding in my iPhoto.

So as you know I went to Hong Kong last August for summer vacation with two of my aunts. While trying to cover as many attractions as possible in such a short period, we still managed to allocate one whole day for Macau. Not that I was interested in gambling at the casinos but because I really wanted to try the famous Portuguese egg tart there.

The Tea Terrace, Guildford

We had been planning long ago to go for an afternoon high tea session. The last time we went shopping at House of Fraser, Guildford, Ika and me discovered this cute English tea house situated on the building's rooftop.

 

 

What intrigued us most was obviously, its beautiful, cosy interior tinged with a little rather posh ambiance. They have got a lot of colourful well-cushioned chairs, pastel colours painted wall with framed paintings and quotes on it. There are even some comfy sofas provided, which is perfect after a long day of shopping. (House of Fraser just downstairs)

It's Friday

Curry Rice

Finally woke up before 9am today and I am pretty proud of myself for not snoozing the alarms one after one like I used to do for the past few days.

I find that whenever I say something it'll always get jinxed. Like for instance, I just mentioned in my previous post that the weather here had been quite warm at this time of Winter and suddenly there has been a drastic temperature drop.

Apparently everywhere across the country will be blanketed with either sleet or snow this weekend, according to the weather forecast. There will be no more luxury of having 6-10 degrees during the day. The negatives are hitting in again soon.

Headed to the student union this morning in hope to stock up some bubble milk tea but sadly the stall wasn't set up today! You won't understand my pain here because it's not that easy to find bubble milk tea outside London (whereas you can even have Chatime there!) so when I first found out that there will be a pop up stall outside my uni's student union every Thursday, I was so so so excited.

Anyway since I came out already I thought of getting some fresh vegetables and fruits from the union market. Stocked up a little and decided to cook myself a good dinner. I just have to feed my demanding stomach well.

 

Dinner tonight わ カレー ライス! (Japanese Style Curry Rice)

I thought I cooked quite a small portion but it seems enough for tomorrow's breakfast too! Yummy :)

The texture is almost the same as my mother's home-cooked Kurma Ayam but this is the Japanese version heh. A bit sweeter and less spicy I would say.

Other than that I've been progressing well i guess for my papers next week, keep it up Grace!

Sunday afternoon

This was a month ago, on a perfect Sunday morning when me and Ika decided to have our 'tai-tai' shopping and afternoon tea session again.

Went to Woking, a nearby town which is just a stone throw away from Guildford. Apparently, there are larger shopping malls there. And we even discovered a five-storey Toys 'R' us! Lucky kids.

Was planning to shop some nice apparels at Dorothy Perkins (coz there isn't any in Guildford) but guess what, they closed down the branch already. hmmmm.

So we went for food at Muffin Break. 

Back in Penang, our so-called 'Sunday tea time' are always filled with trendy desserts like Hui Lau Shan, Tong Pak Fu, MooCow, Meet Fresh, Chatime etc. Oh or better still, our authentic Penang hawker food. *Sniffs* Man, you don't even want me to start listing down.

 Ika happily looking at her tickets to Warwick the following week to meet *coughs* her man. lol. and we did not take the cab haha.

Here in England however, people tend to have a thing for coffee and cakes. There are so many nice coffee house everywhere. Be it those large coffeehouse chains or some unique ones.. People can just order a cup and sit there for the whole afternoon.

They chillax like that.

And then I wondered why such 'sophisticated' & somehow romantic coffee culture can never flourish in Malaysia? You know, the culture of sitting outside of the shop, reading a good book, sipping a cup of mocha...you get what i mean.

We do have nice coffee houses but it's not THAT popular right. Do you know the reason?

Simple. Just think about it: Would you prefer a bowl of Ais Kacang (shaved ice with syrup) or a cup of hot chocolate under the scorching sun and weather in Malaysia?

Ah. Despite enjoying the so-called luxurious tea session here very much,  I miss going to some old Kopitiam and order my RM1.20 Kopi Peng.

Me and my 2.30 pounds Cappuccino 
#shallnotcomplainaboutexpensivefoodinmsiaanymore 

Dinner at La Casita

Quick post on an authentic Spanish dinner I had recently.

It was just another mediocre Tuesday.. but these days are the best kind of days to have. Especially after the marathon of tests, assignments, presentation and coursework which has (for the moment) come to an end.

Only one tutorial for the whole day and then you are free to spend the rest of the afternoon like a boss. What's more it's my favourite class of the week!

Soupy dinner

Weather had been bad these few days. I guess Autumn's starting to show its dark side where you just have to temporarily scrape off your perfect impression of this romantic season.

Today especially.

The sky was covered by ominous-looking thunderclouds throughout the day. I had no choice but to walk in the rain (under my umbrella of course; even though it didn't really help much) to-and-fro twice from my house to the school building.

The crisp air when the wind blew, so cold that it seared through my chest as I breathed deeply. I just didn't feel like going out anymore but snuggle under the comfy duvet and call it a day.

清汤牛肉丸面线;  bak wuan meesua t'ng ; Rice noodles soup with meatballs

(honestly I don't know how to name it but as long as you get it..)

My first time cooking soupy meals ^^ and hot soup's really great for this especially cold fall!

Unfortunately, it wasn't boiled long enough (because I was impatient and hungry already heh) so the soup base could have been better.  In spite of that I still finished everything happily (not even one drop left) so I guess I passed my own test haha. Way way way beyond the word 'edible', really. 



Let's see if I can find cheap Chinese herbs here so that next time I can try to bo leng tong/cook herbal soup.


Till then!

U know there're still 8 months to go

I woke up this morning and the first thing that came into my mind was "it's been a month!" (that was just a blatant lie so as to make things sound dramatic)

Truth was I woke up so late this morning the first thing I did was jumping out of my bed like a ninja *hiya!*

Well, I thought I was late for lecture ;P


So it has been a month since I came to Surrey, and I still find it quite hard to believe that this is my life right now. I know it's really annoying to say something cliche in a blog post, but cliche things like 'time truly flies' really, really, really deserve to be mentioned at this point.

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Anyway, Japanese language class just started and I was so excited about it.

You might wonder why did I choose to learn Japanese in a Western country? Shouldn't I take the opportunity to learn things like French, Italian, Spanish or Russian?

I wanted to, actually.

But then this free language class doesn't just come like that. After all there's no free lunch in this world isn't it? (sometimes there could be haha) Anyway, the reason is because there are going to be exams set for the languages taken and the results will be printed on my end-of-year transcript together with my other grades.

So basically if I fail, they will really record it down to embarrass people even if you don't want to show.

That's why I don't dare to take French etc.
I  attended free French classes last time in KTJ too but I definitely had a hard time trying to pronounce the words and memorise the numbers. It's just difficult for Asian I think? Or maybe just me.

I guess people tend to perform better at things that interest them more.

Here in UK, I am still trying very hard to follow the Tokyo A/W fashion and I am always trying to cook Japanese meals. Plus my heart always melt whenever the character in the movies/anime speaks Japanese in a nostalgic tone. It's just beautiful.

Since I love Japan and everything related to Japanese, and since I know mandarin so there should be at least some advantage in learning Japanese, so why not right? ;)

Cheese baked Beef rice with Vegetables.

╰（￣▽￣）╭   World's happiest meal haha

This kind of 'rojak' dish would always appear once every week. Why?
Simply because I have to get rid of everything left in the fridge asap so that I can go for another grocery shopping.



Oh one thing I realised. I have been eating more carrots since I came UK. I don't really enjoy eating carrots to be honest. But for the sake of making my eyes pretty...heh

 Deep down in my heart, I never thought that carrots are delicious at all though. I don't understand why rabbits and hamsters love them so much.

So I decided to try and sprinkle some cheddar cheese over the vege (inspired by KTJ dining hall's menu last time hahaha) and bake them together with my beef & rice.

For a moment, the world suddenly becomes so..... heavenly.
*opens eyes widely*
AM I EATING CARROT OR CHEESEBALL?

Hah!
I will probably use this technique in the future to force  encourage my kids to eat more veges ;)



Till then, I have to study for tomorrow's lab tutorial.
(Because my TA is a cute Italian phd student \(≧▽≦)/ hehehehhe )

Why I haven't been blogging?

I give you my top 3 excuses.

1) I have discovered a new hobby.

Yeah. I just realised that I have some passion too in cooking after coming to UK. Since the accommodation type in University of Surrey is self-catered, I share a kitchen with another 4 housemates (who don't really cook much). So basically it's like I own the kitchen! *evil laughs*

So far I have been eating my own home-cooked food everyday, and I had only had meals outside in Guildford town ONCE and the other times were during the weekend when I stayed over in London.
I'm quite amazed by myself to be honest, to actually cook everyday and more importantly, wash my used pots and crockery so many times a day.

But then I remembered when I was a little girl, my favourite toys were things like.....
the typical 'masak-masak' kitchen set, food toys which I loved to death, Play Dough set of different versions: sushi, dimsum, noodle stall, food plaza etc. 

Ouuuuu. No wonder.
So actually I have been imagining myself as a good cook since young.
which I might be!

I am always experimenting different recipes and I actually join the Surrey's culinary society!

 

Most memorable and epic meal. Because it's the first of every other meals cooked in UK! :')

And then I attempted my first own version of Chinese fried rice! Note that there are no stupid frozen green peas and carrots! coz I hate those very very much >:P

I added boiled corns though. But I totally forgot to add shrimps. Aiya.

Nevertheless it was good. My fried rice is getting better and better now so I guess I can enter some rice frying tournament soon LOL.

Saw Tesco selling Salmon at reasonable price (or rather cheap! if being compared to m'sia ) so I decided to make myself Japanese style dinner. Bought Kikkoman's Teriyaki sauce to marinade the Salmon before pan frying + baking. Awesome meal.

Also made pizza! Even the pizza base is homemade. My senior taught me how to make bread so everything here is from scratch I swear!
 I know I should have added more vege :P ah well, my cheesy meaty pizza.

but most of the time I would be stir-frying because I don't need to think when I'm hungry. Just throw anything available in my fridge into the wok and then add soy sauce. Stir stir fry fry...Teppanyaki style FTW! am also getting more pro day by day. Heh.

Sorry ah these photos are a bit unglamorous because firstly, they are all the first attempts.. (which I think is worth remembering though) Secondly, I didn't use my G12 to shoot these and there's no editing & no angle..so yeah.

but see the below:

Beef Bolognese pasta. NOT BAD right I KNOW THANK YOU. haha

you know why? because I used G12 to shoot this. Praise the magic of photography.

of course it tasted good too lah, duh ;)

2) I was being academically kiasu. 

I must be kidding. It's just the first month and I am already... studying. -.-

Despite the fact that I myself couldn't really 'tahan' this so-not-grace kind of behaviour, it is the sad fact unfortunately. hah! Even though the syllabus seems pretty easy for the first semester(and probably throughout my first year), I am constantly reminding myself to not be complacent at anytime.

What to do,  I've learned my lesson the hard way. There were so many if-onlys and regrets that I would probably drown myself in life's deep ocean next time if I still don't learn how to swim properly. I don't wish to repeat any of my mistakes ever again so I have been striving really hard to change and improve my own self.

 

Whenever I am standing at the Economics section, browsing through the racks in search of my reference books, I would feel invincible, utterly alone yet genuinely happy. I could even spend hours there alone surrounded by books and silence only. I don't wish for any particular person to be there with me, nor do I feel the need to include anyone in that moment. It's my own time and space. There's no rush and everything is being pleasantly unhurried.

 :')

well, one of the reason is also because I love walking to the dark areas of the library purposely just to play with the automatic lights.. That awesome moment when the lights were suddenly on when you entered the walkway. Heh.

It feels like harry potter or something.. like magic  *snaps*

Left: 4 modules for this Autumn semester: Quantitative Methods, Introductory Economics, Economic Data Analysis, Contemporary issues in Economics.

Right: Borrowed textbooks. Such a Chinese I actually 'sapu' the highly demanded books back since the first week and plan on renewing all the way. LOL. I will buy my own books eventually when I can get a good price. It's so frustrating lo sometimes as I can't highlight or scribble on the books :/

 

( ´ ▽ ` )

3) I was busy exploring.

Of course, I can't possibly nerd all day long right. That would be so sad.

The thing is I don't really enjoy drinking or partying so most of the time I would spend my time and money on shopping trips to the town or even worst, London. (because taking a train to London from Guildford only takes around 35 minutes!! just like from KTJ to MidValley last time)

Photos here are all from my Samsung Galaxy S3.
Please bear with me but from now onwards I will always remember to bring my G12 out so that I can post higher quality ones. Phone camera will never be better than a real camera.

  

Our very own lovely little town in Surrey, Guildford! :) Just 10 minutes walk from campus. (Yes I walk everywhere in Surrey because I wanna save bus fares for more shopping haha. Plus, it's healthier)

 There's a high street here too which is enough for me to shop even if I don't go up to London.

which reminds me of the Friary Centre's Student Shopping Night event next week. 

Oh no. I need to plan my budget!

Of one month in UK, my 2 weekends were spent in London. Heh. 

and gosh, why am I so proud of it? 

this means I'll have to allocate a certain amount of money for London shopping every month. OH GRACE GRACE CONTROL YOURSELF. 

 Oxford street and Trafalgar Square.

 M&M world in Leicester Square.

South Kesington and Hyde park.

I will upload more of these kind in my future posts don't worry. These are just teasers. heh.


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There are more excuses I can provide but all in all, I was just bullshitting coz the real reason behind is: I had been procrastinating, again.

Fret not, I am here to revive this poor little bloggie. Yay.

Shall be updating about my life pretty often from now on so, stay tuned people!