December wins!

I got a bit lucky this December :) [sorry the sizing and the positioning of the images come out funny - I can't figure out a way to make them the way I want them to be]

 

Japanese yums and Peter Pan

I managed to bag free tickets to see Peter Pan: The Never Ending Story at Wembley Arena yesterday. Was a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. Got the tickets early in the morning and the event was for the evening. My sister and I had planned to visit Winter Wonderland down in Hyde Park but that had to be postponed. I wonder if I'll ever find the time to go down there as plans have a way of changing!

We did a little shopping and browsing down Oxford Street. I was good - hardly spent a penny! Later on, I dragged my sister to this little Japanese bakery called Yaki Restaurant tucked away on a side road from Oxford Street. We wandered down Goodge Street and found my little gem I've been dying to meet for ages. Straightaway I ordered what I've been after: Taco-yaki!!

Taco-yaki are little soft dough balls with a piece of octopus inside. They were to die for! Delicious!! One of the best things I've ever sunk my teeth into! It came with brown sauce (wasn't too keen on it but could hardly taste it when you're too busy enjoying the deliciousness of the taco-yaki) and mayo sauce. Beautifully done and I'm definitely going back for more!

I finished it off with some salad and a yaki aloe drink. Bliss! One of my new year's resolutions must be to try new food all the time!

Fast forward our evening. We found our way to Wembley Arena for our dose of Peter Pan. I don't think I was expecting as many children as there were! Far too many for comfort (constant kicking of a small child behind where I was seated!)

I have to admit it was a good show and there were many parts of the show that I wasn't expecting - like the crazy dog on stage. A lot of dancing, singing, acrobatics and stunts. I particularly liked the crocodile (who wouldn't?!) But I think overall, theatre really isn't my kind of ideal enjoyment but well done to all the hard work they put towards a brilliant show for the kids - I know they loved it!

I've taken a few pictures for your pleasure ;)

 

Merry late Xmas everyone!

A tad bit late but as per usual, I'm pretty much late for everything. So ho ho ho, Merry Christmas!!

My christmas was good this year - plenty of food :) definitely most important! I wore my dinosaur onesie christmas day and boxing day - very cold in the house so I had something to warm me up. Family have come and gone so it feels like christmas this year didn't last very long. I'm very disappointed with the lack of a white christmas. One day it will happen (or so I say.....to myself.......every year........)

I won't be setting up an alarm in the morning. Feels like ages since I've slept in and I deserve a massive lie-in. No more half four in the morning wakes!

Turkey leftovers for tomorrow. So many leftovers. Though I'm quite happy knowing I won't have to cook for awhile. Won't last long!

Chocolate sticks

So...I tried those little chocolate sticks I got from Brussels. OMG - it was delicious!! It's so fun twirling the little stick in hot milk and watching all the chocolate melt from it. I really have to go and buy more of these. I heard they stock these in shops around here but I haven't seen any yet.

These really are lovely and great to have in time for winter. Mmmmm....melt in the mouth...

October wins!

I've slowed down a bit on my comping lately - mainly due to work. So any win is really a bonus :) and a nice surprise!

Here are my October wins:

 

I'm rather intrigued by the steamcream I received. It uses natural ingredients fused together by a shot of steam. It's very lightweight and excellent for hydration. It smells typical of cream but not in a bad way, and the consistency is not very thick with a nice creamy texture. I'm pretty happy with my little wins!

Milano cookies taste so gooooood

Pepperidge Farm describes its cookies as "deep rich chocolate, exquisite cookies".

They sure are exquisite.

I almost ravished the whole packet. I bought them while they were on offer. I'd just take one, nibble on it, then take another, nibble on that one, and then one more, nibble on it, just one more.............and soon I've devoured the whole lot. And I don't regret it one bit - just so satisfying!

Adventures in Brussels

I went to Brussels for a day trip yesterday. We started off badly and missed the eurostar. As we got towards the escalators leading towards the eurostar, the glass doors automatically shut. The lady tried to stop the doors and wanted us to run up there to catch it - which we most definitely would have done, but it was too late. We still had 5 minutes before the train left the platform but we were refused entry. Grr! Instead, we had to wait two hours for the next train. Therefore, we already lost our two hours of exploring. Double grr!

Eventually we were on our way. There wasn't much on my list of things to do: beer, chocolates, waffles (what else am I expecting of Belgium?) We wanted to take the Metro to reach different areas for exploring and so queued up in a long queue at the ticket office. Took a while and when it was our turn, the ticket machine decided to conveniently break down. We were already not impressed with the turn of events!

The day did get better and we managed some wandering. Visited Grand Place, saw Tintin lookalikes, couldn't find the Moof museum I had in mind, oohed and aahed over the teeny weeny buildings in mini-europe, and popped into a few shops. Time passed pretty quickly.

I tried Belgium fries - I assumed they were quite popular because of the crazy long queues. They were nice though. Unfortunately I had a little too much and my stomach was too full to fit any waffles in. I had to cross waffles off my list. Chocolates were far too expensive for me to buy any but they very pretty to browse. I did get a couple of those chocolate sticks. I first saw them in a Chinese drama I was watching and thought to myself, "Oooooh, that looks awesome. I want to try that!" So I'll give it a try at a later point.

I really wanted to try beer in a bar but it didn't work out as those I was with sadly do not drink alcohol. I need buy some though so I guess that'll make up for it!

Here's my tiny little haul I managed to bring back with me (tried to make the image bigger but it won't let me):