This time of year

Cologne 9 December 2011

At Christmas I no more desire a rose

Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth;

But like of each thing that in season grows.

~~~ Love's Labours Lost

Goodbye N1!

Guy Fawkes Night

Remember, Remember, the 5th of November

-V for Vendetta

 

Pipi and I trooped up to Primrose Hill last night with the hopes of catching the fireworks all around London. You see, Primrose Hill gives a panoramic view of London, from Battersea all the way to Victoria Park, the lights and fireworks were going off all around in the distance. With the aroma of mulled wine and the burning scent of sparklers, it was such a festive evening. However, the evening drew to an early close as it start spitting a little and it got foggy - bits of light and sparkle disappeared behind the red autumn sky. Nonetheless, I plodded on to the Speakeasy next door to our flat to see other friends and share some cocktails (Oh Gosh!).

Tonight, however, I was pottering about the flat watching last night's re-run of X Factor and I saw night sky light up from the City of London. I don't know whether these were the London Bridge fireworks (they probably were), but I admired the beautiful unobstructed display of colour, light and sparkle from our flat in Islington. With the City of London and St Peter's church in the background, and a mug of hot chocolate in my hand, I felt for the moment, truly content, and so very very lucky to be here.

A little festive spirit

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While my English colleagues moan about the early sunsets and nippy mornings, I'm revelling in my favourite seasons of the year - A / W - yes. You heard me! 4 autumns and 5 winter laters, I still can't get enough. Something about this festive season, lush, opulent, rich - pure magic. And Tiffany couldn't have put it any better with this stunning campaign.

:D

Autumn in Paris

:: En ce temps-là, la vie était plus belle :: 

Paris, 26-30 October 2011

 

Les feuilles mortes se ramassent à la pelle,
Les souvenirs et les regrets aussi

 Mais mon amour silencieux et fidèle

Sourit toujours et remercie la vie.

Midnight Trysts

Tonight, I had a mega craving for a sweet and savoury snack. Raiding the pantry, I realised I hadn't THAT much to play around with but found some basic bits to whip up some cupcakes with a peanut butter frosting. Not quite Martha Stewart, but a fantastic snack and gift (if your frosting skills are better than mine!! The best part, all you need is a whisk, a tablespoon, and a bowl

Classic Fairy Cakes (makes 6)

50 g Softened Butter

50 g Caster Sugar (or 4 table spoons)

50 g Self Raising Flour (or 4 table spoons)

1 large egg

1 table spoon of milk (or 1.5 table spoons)

1 tsp vanilla essence

Whisk softened butter with sugar until a creamy consistency. whisk in egg and vanilla, and fluff in sifted flour and milk. Mix the dough just until everything is incorporated. At this point, the mixture should hold relatively well on the whisk. No runny mixture here. Spoon into cupcake tins lined with colourful fairy cake liners and bake for 15-20 mins at 180 degrees until golden brown.

While you wait, make the peanut butter frosting with

80 g Softened Butter

100 g Icing Sugar (3.5 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon peanut butter
a few drops of vanilla essence or 1 satchet of vanilla sugar. If you use vanilla sugar, reduce icing sugar accordingly (about 10 g)

Whisk (with an electric hand mixer I have come to realise, or if you have awesome muscles) until you get a pale creamy mixture of a relatively fluffy consistency. Incorporate peanut butter and whisk for another 8 minutes. Scoop frosting into a piping bag or ziplock bag and place in fridge to set.

By now your cupcakes should be done. Let them cool on a baking rack for about 30 minutes and pipe frosting onto the top of these little gems. If you are using a ziplock bag, snip off just the tip and frost accordingly. Sprinkle with some hundreds and thousands and voila, happy home made cupcakes in under 45 mintues! 

:)

A little daily reminder

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We all have days when we go 'woe betide me', 'life sucks', 'why does this always happen to me?' If you have that luxury of time to browse the world wide web, here's a little mantra to keep in mind for days that are gloomy, when you wake up on the wrong side of bed, and everything seems to be going wrong, or that everyone else seems to be in a better place than you are. You may not have to make the best of EVERYTHING, but making the best of something out of everything, is a good enough place to start anyway :).

Happy midweek Wednesday.

Un weekend anglais

As we turn into autumn, and enjoy the last of 2011's flowers

....wispy reeds along the edge of lakes in Regent's Park

 

we make our way towards little antique markets admire vintage tea cups..

  

potter off to the market to acquire some sweet end of summer confiture...

to share home made Delia inspired mini scones over a pot of tea and natter with friends..

Here's a typical October weekend in our little neighbourhood in Angel Islington.

Camden Passage 2011

The last sunny Friday

Naxos, 2011

As I tap away at work on the first Friday afternoon of the month, I couldn't help but notice that the sun is absolutely blazing and with clear blue skies. Feels like summer, and it does put you in a 'holiday' mood. Think big white brollies, pink vespa, blue skies. For that, a little photo from the lush island of Naxos off Greece.

Looks are deceiving -- it's just 14 degrees outside, but it's my favourite kind of weather.

TGIF !

Somedays

 

Naxos 2011

You just feel like a little snooze. This little furry friend from Greece was absolutely handsome, and oh-so-lazy. Kitties and pups in this part of the world just nap all day long.

M'0'numental - Looking back

Naxos 2011

Today, I pondered about this thing about turning 30. People wax lyrical about how monumental it is, what they have achieved so far, what the seek to accumulate in the next 10 years, you know the drill. Today, I wondered about this big -0 thing. Right, get your minds out of the gutter What I meant was that I tried to dust out some old memories from that almost long forgotten bank of mine, and tried to recall me aged 10, and aged 20. Obviously i'd skip age 0, my mom will probably attest to her (then me) screaming our socks off. I was her first born you see, for her, as they say - the rest is history. She was 'gifted' with two more daughters after that. More recently, she acquired a four legged son, Mr Socks, aka Cobbey. Just for fun, I'd challenge you to think about what you remember of yourself, at each m'0'numental turn of the decade. As for me,

Aged 10

I joined a new primary school further away from my home, and I went sulking and begging that I didn't want to go because I had no friends. My first month at school was hell, I hated my teacher Mrs Bertha because she was so strict, I hated going to school because I was shy and everyone was cliquish. Playing five stones by yourself for the first two weeks was quite traumatic. I didn't have fancy hello kitty kit and was a bit of a awkward geek. But that year, I met my best friend whom I hold dear to my heart today. I have since lost touch with most other primary school classmates except for the odd acquaintence. I remember her well, straight fringe, glasses, neat pony tail with a black ribbon. That was the best thing that happened to me at age 10. Iris you rock my world. Here's to 20 years of friendship!

On a random recollection, I realised that my IC photo (which I still hold now) was taken that year. Whatever baby fat I lost in the last 20 years, I've put back on since I've moved to the UK!

That year was also my first memory of grief. My paternal grandfather whom I saw every week since I was born, passed away. It was my first attendance at a funeral, and the first time I saw my grandmother cry.

Aged 20

I met a boy earlier that year whom I thought was the love my life. It was my first 'serious' relationship and it was one that further along taught me many lessons in life, the most important of which was that my strict father who was a man of few words, whom I thought didn't love me and whom I struggled to get along with, was in his own quiet and stern ways my pillar of support through the very tumultous break up. It changed our relationship from there on.

It was also the year I started blogging at http://equinox-han.livejournal.com/ . I can't say I've kept a really good blogging record, but I should get round to downloading all my entries at some point.

It was also the year I made very dear friends from university, through handball, eusoff and law school. Friends whom I still am in touch with till today, and although we don't meet often (due to the sheer problem of geographical distance - Sydney, Singapore, New York, Hong Kong), it was the same 10 years ago, as it is today. We may have different lives presently, but the friendship hasn't changed one bit.

Age now

This year was a particularly difficult year for me. I am with Mr S, whom I should say I love dearly and with whom I spent the better part of my 20s with. We waded through some serious personal challenges this year, and we seem to have come out stronger. I hope this year will pass, and that we will see some positive moves towards our future together.

My best friend's daughter turned 1. It is a reminder to me that we are about to embark on a new era in life, an adult one, if you will, with commitments and responsibilities. I used to freak out at these two words, but am now coming to terms with, and welcoming the next decade of adulthood.

I have made some very dear friends in the course of my time in London, and it is my resolution to keep these people who matter to me a part of my life in the next decade, as the world grows a little smaller through more affordable airfares, whatsapp, skype, emails and what have yous, it is just a little easier to keep in touch. One just has to make the effort.

Lastly, following on from one of the anecdotes aged 20, my blogging life turns 10 in December. Happy birthday to that. :)

our children will never know...

Only a child born in the 80s and before can make the link. I think of my dad fondly when I see this photo as I think of the endless weekends of frustration when me and my sister's story teller cassette tapes used to get knotted up inside the tape player. What's your best memory from the 80s?

Q3 round ups

Oia

There's been a bit of a hiatus on my part recently, due to visiting friends, long weekends, and a bit of a holiday with all the sunshine we've been getting at this part of the world. It is 3rd October today and sun is blazing through the window - 30 degrees! No coat, no tights, no sign of autumn / winter acoming. That said, I wished that autumn would ease in a little more gently. I can't complain much about the very pleasant sun (it makes people smile on Mondays, believe me!) but I can't wait for my favourite season of the year to roll by.

A quick update on what i've been up to since the last post.

:: I turned 30.

:: I made no resolutions on turning 30.

:: It was non-eventful, but a simple life is good that way. :)

:: two my lovely friends Siew and Jas visited London. It's always so nice to catch up with girlfriends from home

:: visits from other friends Mun and the newly married E who is about to move to Perth

:: a birthday trip to Barcelona

:: two weeks of hiking in the Meteoras, and flopping about in the Aegean sea

:: the most awesome picnic ever in regent's park enjoying the last of the summer roses

:: my once-a-year tennis game in Islington

Now that Q3 is properly over, I should get round to planning life in the next few months. A topic of discussion came up yesterday: 'if you could press a button to make yourself non-existent (i.e. it would be as if you never existed, and people around you will be 'obliviated' (to use H. Potter's term)), would you do that?' Right now, I can't really think why I'd do that, I am curious to know what the next decade brings. :)

Sur La Loire

This summer has been long drawn out. I haven't been out of the city since June and have been in a little state of ennui, hence the lack of updates.

London, with its usual (un)ladylike temperant blowing hot and cold, sunny one day, and stormy the next, oh how I long for the sun!  On that note, I was really happy to spend a long weekend in sunny Tours.

The route to St Pierre des Corps was comfortable, serene and peaceful. No harrassed counter staff, no sprinting for airplanes, no turbulence. 

I managed to catch up on my reading and finally finished Fuschia Dunlop's Sharksfin and Szechuan Pepper, a travelogue of a british lady who made her way through China. Stepping out in Tours, a heatwave hit me. 32 degrees! Wow, I haven't had that since I was back in Singapore during CNY!

We took advantage of the lovely weather to hang out in the sun with family, having a picnic, taking a ride on the boat, and dipping our feet into the cold rushing stream of the Loire.

We were on Ile de Simon and there was small sand strip where people were sun bathing and a man fishing in his bathing suit admist the shallow waters.

There they are, mother and son having a little bonding time against the beautiful greenery of the Loire Valley.

Pont Wilson, the main bridge that connects the North and the South of the city, one that we've crossed a hundred times in the last 5 years.

The Loire Valley, very well known for their cheeses and in particular goat's cheese, as well as their charcuterie finds its best in a cave a vins in the centre of Tours which produces an impeccable list of wines, fabulous cheeses and home made rillet. The owners of the restaurant are friendly and patient as they help select an appropriate wine and take time to explain each cheese on your plate. I know Mr Mo has spent many an evening in this restaurant.

^^ Cheese to be consumed in a clockwise fashion.

We also spent time wandering about the streets of the old town, as we have done so, many times over. That said, I am constantly surprised by new sites, and structures that i've overlooked.

Tudor like structures...

Majestic old mansions....

All hidden in this gem of a city.

And my favourite bit of all, taking in abit of sunshine and the last of summer as the boat laps lazily across the river.

What you can buy with love

 

"i Cant buy too much with money, money can't buy me love" 

-- the Beatles

I spent the evening at a farewell party of an ex-colleague. She is embarking on a new life path -- Art Therapy. She's put on some weight, has a smile on her face, dyed her hair blonde, but she's never strayed from good old Jill.

Seeing old faces, old habits, reminiscing on old friendships--- There are some I'd like to keep, and some whom I wouldn't spend the time of day to cherish. People watch me closely, and wonder, why I return, whether I have regrets, why I keep friendships or kinships with friends of 40 or 50. Yes, they may not be fashionable, yes they may not be the most 'appropriate', we will one day all be but 40 or 50. Youth wastes no time on men. These friends, they are the ones with the best life lessons, and most dear to me. And for one, I will be heading up to Nottingham. To visit a friend who is close to my heart, and has been in a severe car accident. He remembers some people, he forget those most recent and dear to him. People tell me, he asks for a pint of beer, he asks to return back to S co, he asks to go home, he wants to go to the races, to see his horses.  He doesn't remember the accident, he doesn't remember what happened. Most of all, he doesn't remember Heather, nor her family.

I hope that when we meet one day, he'd remember his life, his past and the good and bad times that time we've shared, and most of all, that he'd remember our friendship.

Paul, Get well soon. We're rooting for you.

Focaccia madness

I should start this post by saying that someone asked me. 'why waste time making bread when it can be bought so cheaply?' My response -- the smell of bread in the oven gives me a warm fuzzy feeling but more importantly nothing can taste better than home made bread (done properly of course). Bread making also teaches one to be patient. Oh, so very patient.

Last Sunday I forayed into a long abandoned attempt to make focaccia, a flat baked italian bread. My last attempt in Spring garnered some rather encouraging comments, but goodness it was HARD. i mean, rock hard. Undetterred, I was determined to recreate the memory of that fabulous bite of home made ligurian focaccia  I shared with Mr Mo in Porto Venerre. 

That was a warm August day -- it was summer. Hot, sultry, with a gentle breeze of the sea. When someone told me that eating could actually be a sensory experience, I never knew what that meant until that day. Bread, hot from the oven, drizzled in olive oil so luscious, and sprinkled with salt that teased you with the scent of the Ligurian sea. All that intertwined together, oh my...I might have been in heaven.

All that from bread did you say? Yes. BREAD. 

So it was a rather dreary lazy Sunday, and I was slightly depressed that the summer sun had wandered off to greener pastures, and the memory of Liguria crept into my mind. So off i hopped to tescos to pick up some necessities -- Rosemary, Garlic, Bread Flour. You see, that, plus some good extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, yeast, a pair of hands, and oh -- patience!! Trust me. Anyone can make this :D

I picked out a recipe from the good folks at Rustico Cooking, tweaked the recipe a little and added some Rosemary and Garlic.

• 300 g white bread flour.
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing the bowl and pizza pan
• 1 tablespoon or 5g of baker's yeast.

Mix the flour, 1 tablespoon of the salt, and the sugar and yeast in a bowl. Add 3/4 cup of warm water and ¼ cup of the olive oil. Stir with wooden spoon until the dough starts to form into a clump. Fold the dough for about 2 more minutes until it comes together, and knead with your hands for about 3 minutes. I find that oiling your hand with olive oil helps prevent the dough from sticking to your fingers. Add a little more flour if the dough is sticky or a little more water if the dough is dry.

By now, the dough should be smooth and supple, and rather soft but not sticky and wet; adjust with a little flour or wtaer as needed. Transfer to an oiled bowl and shape into a ball. Cover with a cloth and let rise at room temperature until doubled, about 1 hour.

Transfer the dough to a generously oiled round baking pan and push with your fingers until it extends to the sides of the pan. Let rest 30 minutes, covered. This second rise is very important as it makes the bread light and fluffy. Uncover the dough and dimple it with your fingers, using the pads rather than the nails so you don’t tear the dough. This is the most important step in the focaccia-making process; dimple the dough deeply for best flavor. Scatter the Rosemary and chopped garlic over the dough. Let it rise at room temperature 30 minutes, covered with a cloth.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220degress celcius (preferably with a baking stone in it).

Combine the remaining ¼ cup of olive oil and the remaining teaspoon of salt with ¼ cup of room-temperature water in a bowl. Pour over the focaccia.

Bake the focaccia on the bottom rack of the oven (or place the baking pan on the baking stone) in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden on the top and bottom and lightly crisp. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Note that the bread does not keep for more than 1 day. To store, keep it wrapped in aluminium foil and in an airtight container. This prevents it from becoming hard too quickly.

Buono Appetito!

Simple suppers

 

whilst i'll never make it as a food stylist, I just wanted to note down one of my favourite suppers during the summer. Seared duck breast (medium done) on a bed of red onion couscous mixed in with spinach wilted in a pan of post-duck, topped with our own home grown chillis. 15 mins from pan to plate. weekday nights couldn't get easier!

Weekend sunshines

 

Sunshine streaming through the bedroom window, orchid petals fluttering in the soft breeze, post-Saturday party silence on the streets, and your loved one beside you -- one couldn't ask for more.

La fête nationale

In light of Bastille Day this coming Thursday, a little group of us trooped up to our local pub, the Charles Lamb for some french festivities.

Petanque, pastis, st germain, rillet, cassoulet and all things french but yummy, we lazed about in the sun with Masha the dog, and some very embarassing boules skills.

New words learnt:

To fanny (mettre fanny)

To beat one's opponents 13 to 0. The figure of a bare-bottomed lass named Fanny is ubiquitous in Provence wherever pétanque is played. It is traditional that when a player loses 13 to 0 it is said that “il est fanny” (he's fanny) or “il a fait fanny” (he made fanny), and that he has to kiss the bottom of a girl called Fanny. Since there is rarely an obliging Fanny's behind handy, there is usually a substitute picture, woodcarving or pottery so that Fanny’s bottom is available. More often, the team which made "fanny" has to offer a beverage to the winning team (see the French popular expression "Fanny paie à boire !").

Merci wikipedia. ;)

Have you found your beret yet?

How much is that doggy in the window ?

This is the cutest little jack russell i've seen in a long time basking in the afternoon sun. We dropped by the car to check some bits, and came back an hour later. There he was (still), lounging on the window sill.

Angel, 3 Jul 2011

Flat Schmat

Living in London meant one thing - lots of walking (read: comfortable shoes). In my initial months in the UK, a dreary January winter no less, I learnt some hard lessons on why heels are bad for you on a day to day basis. By the same token, I couldn't bring myself to run around in sneakers, or heaven forbit, trainers!! A very convenient and comfortable solution, mais je m'execuse, pas pour moi merci. Not when some form of work related outfit is involved. Now that summer's rolled around, I see pencil skirts + haivanas or some sort of beach flip flops. Why? Why do that when you've got your pick of beautiful flats to choose from in this city? Smart, chic, statement, neutral, bright, patterned, leather, patent, fabric! I've gone completely bananas for them this summer:

Photos from http://www.net-a-porter/ and http://www.newlook.com/



The end of Q2 183/365

 

May 2010

So today marks the end of the first half of the year. Every year, we ask ourselves, where has it gone? 

I've let the blog go quiet for the last month or so, I had been juggling exams and grappling with some personal issues.

I received, what some would deem as 'life changing' news about 6 weeks ago, the day before my last entry. The episode is finally over, and has been for over a week. Decisions were made, life went on, and here I am, quite the same - only with the hindsight realisation that perhaps in life,

....every issue is only as big as you make it out to be.
....every problem is only as insurmountable as you would believe it to be.
....every pang of guilt is only as painful as you allow it to be.

Most importantly, every day can only be as happy, as you would want it to be. With pleasure of time, all sorrows will pass, and all scars will heal. Shakespeare was right you see, 'to be or not to be', that really is the true question. I wish you all well in Q3.

When life throws some lemons at you...(J+1)

do you duck? or make lemonade? oh how i'd kill for an iced tea right now. zzzz

The stomach gets what the stomach wants - Fast Hainanese Beef Noodles a la Han

I've been having an immense craving for beef noodles from Singapore. no, not beef pho, not beef stir fry with noodles, but rice noodles with a thick herby sauce with tripe, beef balls and tender slivers of beef. Ang Mo Kio style.

Alas, I searched the aisles of the supermarket and peered at asian menus with a pang of longing. To no avail. To be honest, I am rather baffled that I have not seen this on any menu in London so if anyone's seen it. Please let me know!!

Anyhow, I did the next best thing (which was the first thing I should have done anyway) -- I trawled the internet for recipes. Strangely enough, they were few and far between, with one potential. Thank you so much kitchencapers, it was god send. Due to some pantry deficiencies, I didn't have all the ingredients, or my ideal bits of la vache. Nonetheless, I have to say, my stomach went to bed a very happy camper last night.

This recipe serves two.

Ingredients for stock

1. 400 g beef (I suggest a mix of shin + tripe but this requires a much longer cooking time. I didn't have either in my local supermarket so i bought beef mince - see below) + abt 600ml of beef stock (either from boiling the shin + tripe for 2 hrs, or for a quick fix, use an organic beef stock cube).

2. 1 large white onion and 2 cloves of garlic

3. 1/3 cup light soy sauce

4. 1/4 cup dark soy sauce

5. one cinammon stick

6. 5 cloves

7.5 spice powder. the recipe called for 2-3 aniseeds but again, my local was somewhat, deficient.

8. 1 tbps peppercorns (white or black)

9. a handful of wolfberries (about 15)

10. half a pack of salted mustard greens (rinsed and chopped)

11. one cup full of fresh coriander (chopped and as much as u like really)

12. bean sprouts.

13. vermicelli.

Ingredients for beef balls

1. 400g mince

2. half a thumb of fresh ginger (grated or pound)

3. a soup spoon of rice wine

4. 1 tsp of light soy sauce

5. white pepper

To do:

- Drizzle some oil in and sweat the chopped up onion and garlic in the stock pot over medium heat for about 8 minutes till translucent. chuck in wolfberries, cloves (and aniseed if u have them and if u don't, 1 tsp of five spice powder) and cinnamon stick. wait 20 seconds.

- pour in the soy sauce both light and dark, drop in the stock cube at this point and fill with 600 ml of water / pour in the beef stock. Once it is brought to a boil, bring it to a low simmer.

- to work the beef balls, mix in the ginger, rice wine, soy sauce and white pepper into the beef. Press with hands and shape into balls, 1 inch in diameter. this makes about 20 beef balls. cling wrap and pop it in the fridge. if you're not a fan of beef balls, you can use sliced beef. marinate in the same way but instead of using grated ginger, you can try using ginger juice. some people use bicarbonate of soda to tenderise the meat but i personally find that unnecessary.

- these will marinate for about 15mins.

- take the cinnamon stick out of the stock pot at this point.

While waiting.....

- chop up mustard greens, coriander, and some fresh chilli padi (I miss very much the tangy vinegery chilli sauce! i think vietnamese chilli sauce is probably the best substitute here).

- blanche rice vermicelli in boiling water and let it sit for 5 minutes (i used half a pack). Drain water.

- blanch beansprouts in boiling water for 90 secs (if you prefer you can have it uncooked. i'm not a big fan).

Clean kitchen.

By now, the soup would have cooked for about half an hour and ought to have reduced by a third. Drop in the beef balls and cook them till they all rise to the top of the pot. Remove immediately and set aside.

Bring it up to high heat to boil for another 10 minutes and drain through fine mesh sieve (lesson learnt from chewing on cloves). Place pot back on hob and if you'd like your sauce nice and thick, stir in some potato starch (pls add only tsp by tsp and stir in to break all the lump each time, until you achieve your desired consistency).

Assemble noodles, sprouts, beef balls, sauce, mustard greens, coriander and chilli.

Sounds like lots to do? believe me, it was a mere 45 min job! and it was well worth the work.

Fallen off the wagon

ah ok. so my little pet project of blogging daily hasn't worked out so well. I will still try to journal regularly for the rest of the year.

Work has been crazily busy and there's lots of things going on at the moment. Fingers crossed, we will be moving apartments shortly into a new hood which i'm really looking forward to, my exams are coming up in a month, assignment also due very shortly, and of course, the sun's been distracting me all week.

It has been a difficult weekend of sorts, with various people at work, at home, and Mr Mo. Ah, dwell not on sad things, and I shall not be bitter. I really hope that next week will be better. You know what old people say, there may be finite disappointment, but there's always infinite hope.

Ze essence of ze men

En route

Getting a tad bit too old for 530 am trains. Whilst everyone is gearing up for a grand soiree in London ( it is royal wedding day after all!), I'm pottering off to the Loire. It is mr mo's 30th birthday after all.

Mad Freddy decided to camp it out at the mall last night to catch a glimpse of the newly weds. The weather in the English countryside is a tad bleak today (even though there was a bird on speed tweeting away outside my window at 430 am). For the sake of all londoners (and visitors) trawling the streets in light of the monumental event, I hope the weather picks up so everyone can enjoy a spot of British sunshine.

And for me, it is cou cou la croissant for thé weekend.

Han

Sent from my IPhone

Du Bonheur 117/365

L-R Clockwise

White Dress: My-wardrobe

candles and candy jar: The Stylist

Just a few pretty things today that make me smile amidst the awful hay fever. It is a sunny spring day after all :) i've got a backlog of posts to put up. I am not great with the daily blogging discipline, but all in good time. For now, just going to bask in the sun for abit.

Little things in Iceland 116/365

The Reykjavik Art Museum

24 April 2011

Iceland

Royal wedding preparations 115/365

Oxford Street

To the rain and back 114/365

Blue Lagoon, Reykjavik

incommunuendo 103-109 /365

the internet has been dead for a week. a. full. week, and gmail had some difficulty feeding word posts in. well, that's alright, Iceland updates to come shortly.

Trevi fountain 102/365

You know what they say? Toss a coin, make a wish, and it will come true. My little sister dragged me all the way to the Trevi fountain, adament on throwing in some copper for me. To her disappointment, she found out that it was merely a myth -- spurred on by...quelle horreur - A MOVIE!

Nonetheless, I did make a little wish. Just for a laugh.

It was nice to watch people pass by, young lovers on dates, teenagers on a school trip, families munching on gelato from the countless ice cream vendors all round, and of course, us. the tourists with a million cameras.

St Peters basilica 101/365

Next Sunday, hundreds and thousands of people will gather at St Peter's square to receive the Pope's blessing. This weekend, there were hoards of tourists baking in the sun, admiring the Apostolic Palace, snaking queues all round, making their pilgrimage to this holy city.  I for one, was happy to sit amidst this magnificence, and marvel at its wonder.