1st day of #KimGarethEurotrip

This was taken in front of Tate Britain.

# – Not holding a phone.

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Dress, belt and shoes from Bangkok. Bag from Louis Vuitton. Scarf, origins unknown.

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We started our day at Regency Cafe, a famous greasy spoon in London. We came out of Plimco underground  station and took a pleasant 10 minute walk to the cafe.

# – Regency Cafe in the background.

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Our English breakfasts were good but while not mind-blowingly so, we were really there for the atmosphere.

It’s worth the trek as Regency Cafe is like a time capsule from the past.

# – Londoners queuing up for lunch.

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# – Art and advertisements related to the cafe through the years.

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Besides the English breakfast, you must absolutely order the chips. Easily the best chips I have ever had.

# – What is this sorcery?

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The unassuming bowl of deep fried potatoes were crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. I hoovered them up and I am not even a chips fan.

We then walked off breakfast by walking all the way to Tate Britain. Was nice till we reached the modern art section….there was a wall filled with some dude’s photographs of rubbish. Literally rubbish. Banana peels, KFC bones, empty food packages….

Sorry, can’t brain it.

After Tate, we went to The Houses of Parliament, hitting tourist central.

# – Hello Big Ben!

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Of course had a look at The London Eye too. Didn’t ride on it as we didn’t think we have the patience for it.

# – Just before the rain set in.

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It started raining soon after and I was forced to buy a crappy umbrella for 7 quid.

# – Me and my brollie.

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Then we moved on to Millennium Bridge. Crossed it and visited St. Paul’s Cathedral. We managed to catch the choral evensong, it was beautiful!

# – On the Millennium Bridge.

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We made our way to the West End as we were catching a musical at Dominion Theatre. Fueled up at one of the oldest fish & chips shop in London called “The Rock And Sole Plaice”. Pricey but pretty good.

# – Huge portions. Got my pickled egg fix too.

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After dinner, we watched “We Will Rock You” at Dominion Theatre. It was really entertaining with entire music from Queen. Audience were singing along and waving their hands.

# – Packed!

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After the musical, we went to Leicester Square. Went to M&Ms World.

So.many.colours!

# – OMG

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And then we went back to our home away from home. What a day!

Memorable food I’ve eaten while in UK.

Okay, I was looking through my blog drafts. I didn’t realise I have so many unfinished blog postings and some of those posts could have been fun to write if I just had not been so lazy :P So now if I posted also there’s no point as the topics have expired already…not relevant to this time and day.

But there’s always one topic that will never expire. Food!!! Here is the list of memorable food that I’ve eaten during my trip to UK. If you hadn’t eaten, be warned…….

1. Home-made Full English breakfast version one. Mostly grilled, the bf’s mom of course tried to make the dish as healthier as possible but it was still very tasty, hehehe.

2. Home-made Full English breakfast version two. We told the BF’s mom not to worry about our health so she made the full english for us again with a slight variation. With baked beans and the under-appreciated black pudding and bacon.fat.soaked.toasts…..nyahahahaha :D

3. Home-made Pork chop with apple sauce. BF’s mom did it again. The pork was juicy with really crunchy crackling. The steamed runner beans were fresh and crispy and the awesomesauce layer potatoes.

4. Homemade cucumber and pepper/hummus sandwich. We were picnicking at the foot of Malvern Hill. I still remember how blue and clear the sky was with fluffy white clouds. The sandwiches were fresh and refreshing, the company was wonderful, it was a very good day :)

5. Strawberry trifle. Oh..my..lard! Jelly, custard and cream..the English knows their dessert!

6. Chinese takeaway from Wing Sing. Wing Sing in Worcester is owned by the bf’s longtime buddy and also a very popular takeaway in the area, so of course I had to try it. Not to mention, at that point of time, I really badly needed rice in my system lol. True to my bf’s words, Wing Sing does serve fantastic chinese food. A little too greasy than Malaysian chinese food but who’s complaining?

7. Homemade beef steak with grilled tomatoes and mushrooms. A lovely and simple meal cooked with love :)

8. Scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam at Dunster. Orgasmic!!!

9. Summer pudding (pavlova with summer fruits). I can keep eating this. The juicy fruits and creme fraiche soaking into the meringue creating a sweet, crunchy & chewy but refreshing dessert all at the same time.

10. Baked Camembert on crusty baguette with onion marmalade and beetroot. Oh my lard….this dish makes me wish I had a garden overlooking the sea because that was exactly where we ate this lovely snack. Hot, delicious, gooey Camembert cheese spread all over a slice of warm baguette with some onion marmalade for a tinge of sweetness. It was heavenly! Then you clear your palette with a couple of slices of beetroot and start all over again :D

11. Roast duck. This was the 1st dish that BF’s aunt cooked for us when we visited her at the coastal town, Minehead. I felt very honoured as she roasted an entire duck just for us. Needless to say, the duck was delicious…the skin crispy and the flesh juicier at every bite. She served the duck with layer potatoes (see next item), possibly my favourite way of eating potatoes, EVER!

12. Layer potatoes. I worship this dish. I love it so much I intend to recreate it in my own kitchen next time. It’s impossible to fathom how some sliced potatoes, creme fraiche and salt & pepper could combine to become one of the most delicious potato dish I’ve ever had. It’s slightly crispy, slightly soft and very tasty.

13. Sunday carvery lunch (roast pork and Yorkshire pudding). We had this while visiting the garden centre. The garden centre is kind of like our plants nursery but with great food and a retail outlet for middle-aged people :P Anyway…man it was decadent! Best Yorkshire pudding I’ve ever had. It was fluffy and buttery and went so well with the gravy. I do miss it…

14. Venison patty and Mediterranean vegetables. Not my favourite cause the venison patty tasted more or less like Ramly burger patty but it was still a very fulfiling dinner.

15. Pickled eggs with crisps. I really loved this! I never had pickled egg in my life and thought it’d be nasty but the sourness of the egg went really well with the salty crisps, I couldn’t stop eating!

16.Pork scratchings. The number 1 snack in my life. I would rather kill a kitten then have no scratchings in my life ever again. Okay kidding. Okay, maybe not. It’s hard, very salty and very crunchy. I believe it’s an acquired taste and I certainly have acquired a passionate liking for it. Not the healthiest snack in the world either…but life is short :P

There were more food than the ones listed here that I found really delicious but most times I didn’t manage to take pictures because I was too pre-occupied with eating. I guess you can agree that the BF’s mom & aunt are very good cooks too :)

Really can’t wait for my new kitchen to finish so I could re-create some of those food!!

Will Honesty Stalls work here?

One interesting thing that I’ve come across in England was the concept of honesty stalls. I’ve seen one on the way to Minehead and another in the town of Watchet.

Honesty stall.
Honesty stall.

Honesty Stall.
Eggs for honest people.

Honesty stalls are basically stalls selling vegetables and other goodies. What differentiates an honesty stall from the conventional stall is that they’re no people manning the stalls. To pay for your goods, all you have to do is slip the money into the mailbox and that’s it.

Mailbox.
The cash register is the hole in the door.

To be honest, I just could not imagine such concept to ever take off in our country. Can you? The level of civility in England really amazed me, the way people give way while driving or walking and even something as basic as picking up their dogs’ poops from the street. Sure, the council estates are supposedly scary but seriously, it’s really nothing compared to our housing estates with its sky-rocketing snatch theft crimes.

Were they ringgits?
Were they ringgits?

It’s really funny hearing the Babi warning against chinese being jews and taking over the country. It’s like hello, you think we like to live in this shithole of a country? I’d much rather migrate to any of the Top 10 cities in the world. They welcome young, capable adults like us with open arms. The ONLY reason we’re staying here and take your stupid shit is because our parents and elder family members are here and are (unfortunately) sentimentally attached to this country for reasons unbeknownst to me.

BN. PKR. SAME SHIT DIFFERENT PARTIES. SAME DODGY CORRUPTIVE ASSHOLES. This country is heading for the shithole.

You people who are abroad now. Just stay there and be happy don’t come back to this hot, hopeless shit.