[Greece] The Island of Corfu

In Greek, Corfu Island is called Kerkyra.

It is located at the Northwest of Greece, while Mykonos and Santorini are at the Southeast.

Because it is so close to the heel of Italy, you could see much Italian influences on the Island.

There are many English, Russian and Italian tourists.

For once, I could count the amount of Asian tourists I saw on this trip with my 10 fingers.

The direct flight from London to Corfu is approximately two hours and 50 minutes.

I departed from Gatwick with my medium-sized backpack for a three-day and three-night trip.

Thanks to it being the summer, I managed to fit four outfits, two bikinis and all my toiletries in that backpack!

Truly travelling light!

[Greece] Foods of Corfu

Once again, I have skipped my June holiday blog and came straight to writing about Corfu.

First thing's first, I have to write about the food!

When I go on beach holidays, I usually don't gain weight because of all the walking and (some) swimming.

The first morning, we had breakfast in this beautiful hotel restaurant that cannot look any more like a painting!

A Beautiful Encounter: Hitchin Lavender Farm

I've always wanted to see a lavender field - an actual grand field with rows and rows of lavenders!

This year I won't make it to Southern France, so I found Mayfield, Cotswold and Hitchin lavender farms.

After some Googling, I settled with Hitchin because of proximity and some photos online.

Hitchin station is just 30 minutes away from London King's Cross.  The lavender farm is an £8 taxi ride from the station.

[France] Strasbourg - Part 1

Once again, I took the National Express bus to Stansted Airport.

My destination this time: Strasbourg in Eastern France.

It was 9pm in Strasbourg when I arrived. For some reason (I'm sure there was a legit reason), the train no longer ran so I had to take the bus.

Quite a lot of others and myself waited for 45 minutes for the bus to arrive.

No matter though, as we all saw this beautiful sunset.

Afternoon Tea at The InterContinental

My first afternoon tea since moving to London is at the Wellington Lounge of The InterContinental Park Lane.

The hotel decor is my favourite kind: not old-fashioned nor contemporary, but somewhere in between.

Nitro Ice Cream What?

Liquid nitrogen ice cream is ice cream that has been frozen using liquid nitrogen. The process takes less time than traditional ice cream manufacture.
(Source: Wikipedia)

 

I was Googling for the best ice cream in London (to replace my love: Earnest Ice Cream from Vancouver) and found Chin Chin Labs, which sells the liquid nitrogen ice cream!

Valrhona Chocolate flavour from their website totally attracted my undivided attention.

Just look at how content I looked (minus the tiredness).

My New Favourite: Duck & Waffle!

Even before my move to London, I've been wanting to try Duck & Waffle.

I find it to be one of the hardest restaurants to book in London for a full-time working Londoner!

Finally I called them up in late May and made this reservation for three weeks after.

It was truly worth my every effort.

Plus, my friend who's been staying with me this week got to try this too!

Jamie Oliver's Fifteen

One of my bestest friends is currently visiting me in London, so I've decided to take her to a nice rooftop bar.

 

Boundary Rooftop is a chic place I've found from Googling (Oh Google, what would I do without you?).

Happily Museum Overload

I know it's the weekend and sleeping in is totally acceptable.

But, I just can't, knowing there are so much to do in London!

9:45am - Met up with a friend on hunt for delicious doughnuts together.

Check St. John Bakery out! 

The Perfect Easter Sunday

Happy Easter!

How are you spending yours?

I spent mine at Regent's Park.

The choice was quite random since I hadn't visited any parks in London except for Greenwich Park.

(For some reason, I don't really see Greenwich Park as an official tourist park.)

One of the famous feature of Regent's Park is The Open Air Theatre.

It's not yet opened, but the first play looks to be in May.

A Pleasant Evening with the Montrealers

I've always heard of the Spitalfield Market, but never had a chance to visit yet.

I did, however, visited a restaurant near the area and it has such delicious Thai food there: Rosa's Thai Cafe.

My First Turkish Delight

My friend asked to meet at Chinatown/Soho area, so I was very prepared for a comforting Chinese meal.

Then she told me she did not want Chinese food because she was going back to Asia soon...

It was a cold and windy evening. 

Right before us was the new Babaji Pide (website coming soon) right by the exit of Chinatown.

We ran inside (literally) and got the last table immediately available!
 

Chicken Beyti £8.50

Minced chicken, bell pepper, parsley, Turkish red chilli flake 
The chicken was SOOO flavourful of all kinds of spcies (I'm confused by the good taste).
I love those beans and a mixed of vege on the side too.

Blueprint Cafe By the Thames

Right at the London Design Museum, there is the Blueprint Cafe. 

 

My friend googled with key words "best view" and this popped up.

 

I have to admit the view was pretty good.  I could see Tower Bridge while sipping my hot water...

 

Seriously, half of London's population is probably sick from the cold/flu going around..

 

The Wright Brothers in Borough Market

You know the restaurant is THAT good when I'm bothered to blog about it even without my iMacs.  I've been thinking (and drooling) about the seafood in the South of France since my last visit in 2012.  Then a couple days ago, I was brought to The Wright Brothers inside Borough Market after work for "seafood."  At first I thought it was going to be a lot of fish again, but I was in for a surprise!

 

Sometimes I really feel I fail at blogging food because I don't know what the name of this ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS dish is called.  This stuffed crab was mighty yummy!  It's all crab meat underneath the green oinions and cheese.  Running through the middle part is a thick layer of crab roe.  It's been a couple of days and I can't stop thinking about this...

The Spectacular Yauatchu 丘記茶苑

In London, people often refer to the West Side (where Soho is located) as "posh." The East Side is cool too, but it's more known as "hipster."  Last night, I had the opportunity to try out a classy dim sum place in Soho called Yauatcha.

 

Scallop Shui Mai 帶子釀燒賣 £8.00

I was a little hesitant about this order because almost all Chinese know this is one of the fattiest dish you could have in dim sum.  It turned out to be two layers of scallops and only a tiny bit of pork.  I approve!

The Forbidden City In Vancouver

I have never been to the Vancouver Art Gallery before this night.  I have walked by it many many times and been inside once (to wait for a friend), but never paid a proper visit.

It wasn't one of those typical nights where you just finish work and go home.  It was rather exciting to have something to look forward to!  Plus, I was glad to have done this with one of my lifelong friends.

Before Flying Too Far, I Want You And You

The other day we headed to Trattoria at Park Royal for birthday lunch celebrations.

Compared to the Trattoria on 4th, this one is much much better!

Gnocchi for $16.95
(Tomato cream sauce, vodka, roasted garlic, italian sausage)