Sorry peeps. One more Christmas post just before the year ends. I actually haven’t had the time this year to view any Christmas adverts.

This year as you know has been a bit wild and hectic, continuous Brexit fears, a pointless General Election, people go on protests and riots around the world, and me just being all over the place (I really needed all those breaks). Anyway, due to all those hectic things in life, I didn’t have a chance to go to any work parties this year. (More like I wasn’t invited to most of them, and there were a couple I just couldn’t go to but one of them got cancelled anyway). Boohoo.

So this year, I’ve ended up having my X’mas Dinner with the old gang of four. Miss Money, Mr Games and Mr Sensible. It was actually being with these three people than my gossipy work colleagues. Hahahahah!

I decided to have the Christmas-yaki since I wouldn’t be eating any other Christmas dinners. The Christmas-yaki consisted of turkey, stilton cheese, topped with brussel sprouts, cranberries and chestnuts. Interesting combo. I was quite hungry, as I kept eyeing it being made in front of me… Mr Games was probably smirking at me in the background because I wasn’t listening to him. Hah!

It had quite a savoury taste. Not sure about adding the cranberry sauce was going to make it great. But the okonomiyaki sauce sauce did it’s job to make it taste good.

Here’s all four of our okonomiyakis! Mr Sensible had his cooked elsewhere due to prawn allergies. Silly Miss Money ordered an okonomyaki with prawns…

Here’s again to another year of surprises, travelling and Brexit. Boooooo!!

Happy New Year Geeks!!! ^_^

It’s been a while since I’ve posted about a new restaurant in China Town. I feel as if I’m making a new comeback after starting my new new job. ✌️

Monga 艋舺雞排 is a chain brand, not sure where the original store came from, but from searching online there’s a store in Canada and another in Malaysia. 艋舺雞排 (Canto: maang gap gai pai; Mando: měng iá jī pái) literally means “small boat chicken breast/ribs”. Monga, according the website is also a place in Taiwan. Interesting. Honestly, not sure how they came up with the name.

As you enter, it actually feels like a takeaway store. I think they have an upstairs seating (I hadn’t asked) because you can eat in.

Anyway, it took a little long for my order and the queue already started building up as I was waiting. Wow!

I ordered the Chee-Z Signature, which is a chicken breast, (not flattened) topped with mozzarella cheese and ketchup or a spicy sauce. I chose the spicy sauce, but it didn’t taste spicy enough to me. Basically it wasn’t mega, spicy hot. As I started eating it, I realised how big this piece of chicken breast is! It felt like it was never-ending. The crispiness of the chicken was still there, and the cheese was overwhelming. Wow. Until I got to the end where I was met with a piece of bone. Just eating one of these will fill you up for the rest of the evening. 

On top of the above I also ordered the Taiwanese Style Popcorn Chicken. Gosh. I think they were marinate in some sweet soy sauce. The coating was incredibly crunchy. I had o save some of these for later… Too full!

And finally the last item were the Sweet Potato Chips… Woooow! I could eat these forever. The batter just made it hold all the flavourings of the sweet potato.

 

 

Fully stuffed. I think I need to go again and try something else. I think any fried chicken lovers need to try this place out.

My geeky rating (haven’t done this for a while!): 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Good points:

• The chicken keeps warm and the crunchiness is still there even when you buy take out
• Polite service

Bad points:

• A bit of a long wait
• A tiny bit on the expensive side (but well worth it)

Address: 12 Macclesfield St, London W1D 5BP

Tel: 0208 617 1870

Website: https://mongauk.com/

Did you all have a nice Christmas?! I had a very simple relaxing time, watching films, K-dramas, finishing up things… and the one thing I haven’t done yet is tidying up!

November 14th – 18th 2019

Recently I went on a trip to Marseille, not by plane this time. But by train. Wow. I spent almost 12 hours travelling from London to Port-de-Bouc, Marseille… It was so long, but it was such a relaxing experience.

I had booked an Uber to take me to St Pancras Station, my suitcase was fairly heavy (I’m sure you all know who I was going to be visiting).  As I had arrived a bit too early, I went and sat near the gates and saw this pretty version of the Eiffel Tower. A lot of people were taking pictures at the time.

I was half asleep at the station because I arrived too early and I couldn’t sleep much that night panicking that I would miss all the trains…

There was a little delay (and thankfully I didn’t book the earlier train as they were waiting for a long time!) but it didn’t matter. When I got on the train, I placed my luggage at the bottom. Make sure you yourself get on first before pulling your luggage into the carriage as the steps are really narrow.

I sat in a four-seater area as I kept checking if people were going to sit next to me, so I kept moving my seat on the Eurostar App. 😱 After two hours and a bit, we arrived in Paris!! Woohoo!!

I maneuvered to the next stage. Metro to Train 2, where I had to get from Garé de Nord to Garé de Lyon. Luckily I found a YouTube video that tells you how to get there. Pretty easy to follow the signs… I purchased two Metro single tickets, took the Metro (only two stops), then walked all the way to Hall 3 in Garé de Lyon (here you might get lost trying to find the correct exit).

I arrived at Garé de Lyon in good time, but I forgot to purchase some food for the next long journey! A French gentleman was going to sit next to me, but as I had my luggage there he spoke to me in English as said he would sit elsewhere unless someone came and sat there. Luckily no one came to sit in the seat he was sitting in… Couldn’t trust the luggage system as I read on the Internet that people steal luggage on the train.

It was going to be a 3.5 hour journey, however… I got delayed by a sudden gust of snow that came in through the east of France. Amazing! I never expected an early Christmas.

Apparently it had been raining in Marseille, but when I arrived it was all clouds and sunshine. Lucky me!

Well, my last train was from Marseille to Port-de-Bouc. Again this was delayed by about 15 minutes because of the sudden weather conditions… But it rained heavily when I arrived at my final destinatin!!! 😦

The main reason I went to Port-de-Bouc at this time of the year was to celebrate Mrs Travels’s birthday! It’s been a long time since I’ve celebrated with her. 

The next day, I avoided the school run with the Missy I, Missy S and Mr Travels. Heheheh. I was so tired from the train trip. But I did take Missy A to her pre-school with Mrs Travels.

Afterwards we did our shopping. France has one of the cheapest transport systems (and I don’t blame the public services for striking as their pension will be minimal when compared to current living costs – tell the rich to pay more taxes!!!!).

Missy I finished school, so we picked her up, and then looked at this 3D looking street art at a beach. Amazing!

The girls like drawing a lot… I drew this one evening thinking of the rain, sea and animé.

I have to mention, Mrs Travels made a lot of food during my stay! Wow!! Her lasagne, pizza and lamb chops were all so tasty (I liked the pizza the most!)!!

On my last day, I missed out on the school run again, but again took Missy A to the pre-school…

Then it was time to relax for a bit and head off to the station with Mrs Travels.

It felt like a long trip to Marseille from Port-de-Bouc, but I arrived in time before the next train. I even got searched by the station police as I was sitting among people who look like they were not French citizens. The policeman probably didn’t realise I’m British until I took my passport out. Heheheh.

Before boarding the next train, I had my early lunch of McDonald’s, then walked around the train station… I think Missy A started missing me, so she started sending me voice messages and funny pictures. Hahahahah. I think Mrs Travels wasn’t impressed!! Heheheh.

So I went on another 3 hour journey from Marseille to Garé de Lyon. There’s a small rack in between the seats of each carriage, and I was lucky to be sitting opposite it on my way back… There were a lot of Chinese tourists when I got off the train! Wow. Lots of Chinese people.

I think I may have sat in the wrong seat on the train, but the lady sitting next to me didn’t say anything…

There were still remnants of snow…

And then it was quite chilly and foggy in Paris…

When I got to Garé de Lyon, I had to take the same route going back to Garé de Nord – So I was going back on myself, and I’m grateful I purchased my single Metro ticket beforehand. Yay!

The check in system in Paris is quite quick and fast… although I had to look after my luggage a lot.

Arrived in London around 7.30pm, then it was like everyone was walking fast to get out of the station… So tired!!!

In France I bought some chocolate truffles, and they were wrapped with some French quotes… My colleagues seem to love these. Heheheh.

Thanks to the Travels Family! You have all been great hosts – apart from getting my toothbrush (from Japan) being used as part of an art project! 😉 It was a bit black and dusty, so I didn’t use it.

p.s. I have a few trips coming up in the new year. Yay! ✌️🤪 Can’t really say how many trips there will be – because I really don’t know! 🙂

😁✌️ It’s taken me a while to reach to this post. Sorry for the melted Kit Kat pictures. I started eating them on a very hot day during the summer. LOL!

I won’t describe each of them, I will leave that to your imagination…

The Mint Yogurt Kit Kat was bought in a Don Quixote store in Kyoto, and the rest were bought last minute in Osaka Airport…

Mint Yogurt flavour – not the best. But I gave the rest to the Travels Family to try out.

Kyoto Grape flavour… Hmmmm…

Hokkaido Melon and Mascarpone Cheese – this one I liked.

Peach flavour was so-so.

And one more flavour I forgot to add to the main picture – Uji Match flavour. A soft matcha flavoured Kit Kat!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures as much I enjoyed eating most of them. 😉

Well, it seems it’s about time I blogged about food. I’m hoping to eat out more next year. I think I had lost my mo-jo this year (and last year). My spending habits have slightly changed. Seem to be buying my lunches from M&S more – when I shouldn’t be!!

Here’s something I bought from Daiso, Japan in April. Purin (pudding) Mix. I tried to follow the instructions…

The instructions are in Japanese…

First, mix the main powder mix with a bit of hot water (I think I added a bit too much). Stir, then add a bit of cold water.

Refrigerate for about an hour or so.

In the mean time, there’s another packet of powdered syrup. Add water and again refrigerate.

Pour the syrup on top. And voila.

Hmmm. It was a little disappointing because I love purin!! Oh well. There must be another way or place to eat purin in London. Right?

Baby B wanted a holiday before she went back to pre-school. She wasn’t feeling the love from her parents much – Why? Miss Pinky had another baby this year. It’s a boy – Baby Bro, and I’m not the godmother! Yay! But I’ve just become Mummy Number 2. 😱😱😱

Baby B wanted alone time with Miss Pinky with no Baby Bro in the picture. But that wasn’t going to happen. Uh oh. She was three at the time and almost four… growing up too quick and thinking too much! It’s time for her to learn to share. Heheheheheh.

Not going to spend too much time on this post, but here’s a few pictures on our trip to St Leonard-on-Sea and Hastings.

We met Deadpool at Hastings Pier… We also spoke to its owner. Wow!!

Baby B is awesome in the arcades! We all won lots of tickets and exchanged a few things here and there. Miss Pinky was a bit obsessed but it was so much fun!!!

During our weekend, we had some expensive African food. They didn’t really give us a menu, and so we didn’t know the prices until our bill came. Scandalous!

It was a nice weekend with a few tantrums here and there, but that was expected. Guess we need to spend more time with Baby B to make her less jealous of Baby Bro. LOL!! 😰😰😰

Sunday 4th August 2019

It was time to return back to London after a week of running up and down in Morocco. It was a very nice and scary experience I will never forget.

I don’t think Morocco is a very strict Muslim country, but I’ve tried to respect the country as much as I could with the clothes and customs. Some areas are touristy but some areas are not.

My flight was early, so I had to get up early, check out and I had already booked a cab to the airport from the hotel… I had little money left, so I gave a tip to the cab driver.

Breakfast is definitely boring in Morocco. Take me back to Japan anytime! :p

Before boarding the flight, we had to go through extra security! Woah. Did they not trust their own security equipment? Why go through everything again? The security guy ended up seeing some cleaned and slightly wet underwear in my backpack – whoops! The guy behind me was laughing… This is what happens when men check my bags (it happened in France once – Hah!). Anyway, all was clear, and it was time to board another Ryanair flight.

I really wanted to sleep during this flight, but a couple of people just kept on talking… shush yourselves during flight time! I kept looking behind me to see who was talking and the people at the back saw my frustration. LOL!!!

I can’t function with irritating voices in the morning.

After arriving at Stansted I speedily checked out and took a coach back to Victoria – bought lunch at Wasabi and then headed home – to sleep. (^_^)v

End of Day 9.

Hotel Wassam is a four star hotel in Fez. It’s fairly close to the station, restaurants and other modes of transport.

You must enter through the door with a metal detector. Guessing they fear people with suspicious gear.

I was given a room that was in the quiet part of the hotel. People actually party in the middle of the night until the morning. I had two nights of ok sleep. I really needed it after the wedding.

The room is pretty spacious and quite neat!

My first disappointment was that they don’t provide hot water when you shower. It was all cold!!

My second disappointment was that there was no wifi in the room. You actually have to sit in the lobby area to get any wifi reception…

It was a nice hotel with nice staff but I think they could do something with the hot water and wifi. I know Morocco was hot at the time, but people like to shower in hot water.

Address: Rue Du Liban Av Hassan Ii, Fès 30000, Morocco

Saturday 3rd August 2019

I suddenly woke up on Saturday morning, I think my brain was telling me to look at the sunrise…

Breakfast at the hotel was a bit disappointing…

It was then time to explore the town of Fez…

I took a taxi to the medina, the taxi driver was really, really nice. Moroccans really drive a little crazy.

I arrived at the medina, and just went in and went down one way, I stopped at a shop and then one of the shopkeepers led me around the back alleys to look at the dye… Hmmm I forgot to listen to Mr Travels words to not be led by shopkeepers to places around the medina. What they want is money in the end. Well, luckily I had not much money, and I had to keep telling the person I was leaving the next day, so I have no money to buy things. 

I think I got too scared, so I ended up walking up, then out, then back into the medina again. Bought a few souvenirs, and then back out again…

Took another taxi back, but ended up in the wrong part of town, so I just used Google Maps to find the hotel area again.

I sat in a restaurant that wasn’t opened yet, but the workers were fine with it, they even let me use the wifi! ^_^

I couldn’t bear the heat any longer, so I went back to the hotel and sat and watched TV… It was time for dinner, so I went around and went to a street at the back of the hotel area. There was just a long street of restaurants. Wow.

In the end I chose a quiet place. The green lentil soup was amazing! I really want to make it one day. The Moroccans really love their bread too…

After dinner, I went walking around the area before returning back to the hotel…

I don’t think I did much but all I needed was rest.  Don’t think I would go back to Fez anytime soon.

End of Day 8.

Back to blogging! No time to sit, think and write these days unless you’re thinking I do have time when I sit on the train to go to work… Hmmm, my brain is thinking about work still.  

And now we continue with the rest of my trip in Morocco…

Thursday 1st August & Friday 2nd August

Straight after the wedding, we all slept till the afternoon. And then went back to to the bride’s home for late lunch/dinner… Then back to bed again. ^_^

On the Friday, we left the apartment quite early and returned the key back to the owner… Well Mr and Mrs Travels did.

Here’s a picture of a stork’s nest from the view of the apartment.

Then off we went to a family friend’s home of the bride… This family own an avocado farm. There were so many avocado trees!!

On our way back to the house we saw a couple of insects. Can you spot where the first one is?

Crickets are so beautiful!!!!!

Lunch was served. So filling! I think there was meat inside, or was there a dish I forgot to take pictures of…

It was time to leave. Everyone said there goodbyes… and it was time for me to leave the Travels Family and co. I took a train from Kenitra and sat in one of those private cabins. There were already some people inside and the view outside was amazing of fields and the sunset… It was too bad I couldn’t capture any of that.

I was suddenly sitting with two men. I had a feeling I had to be a bit careful… One spoke to me in English, and I think he wanted to know what I was doing in Morocco and where I was staying… Hmmm… Dodgy!! I had to keep diverting the conversation. Then they suddenly left the cabin. Dodgy again!!

In the spur of the moment, I was greeted by another person, two women. One lived in Fez and the other was a visitor. I think they felt the same… Dodgy people on the train.

In the end, I took a taxi to the hotel even though it was a 15 minute walk but faster by taxi. I’m sure I was cheated on, but it was better than being robbed by people on the train.

After checking in, I went out to find food… Found a cheap place. Although I got cheated again by 10Dh and a cat who was practically begging for food.

After a dodgy afternoon/evening affair it was time for bed!

End of Day 6 and 7.