not-so-boozy brunch

it's no secret that i miss my sister and the next best thing is to meet with her bff. J's an absolute delight and was her +1 at our wedding almost three years ago. have passed PJ's countless times but somehow never ventured in until my former supervisor used to joke that i was returning from long lunches there when we'd pass in the corridor. it didn't disappoint! reminded me of the raffles for some reason, with the wood paneling and polo photos. brunch was great (tell a lie, we went at 2pm which felt more civilised but brunch is 10-6!) and we were greedy and split three mains two ways, and had coffee and cake aplenty. lovely catching up with J and he may or may not have sent a gloating snapchat to my sister to rub it in that we were hanging and having fun without her!

(food photo credits to J)

early bird

 

really shouldn't be complaining about long hours but adding 15min tube + 5min walk to my previous morning commute of 15min walk is taking its toll. appreciate how ridiculous it is to be whinging about a 40min commute in central london so shall just keep quiet now. and if i was particularly desperate i could always take the bus instead of walking 20min to the tube because with the student travelcard it's not like i'm saving anything by walking. but enjoy the walk most mornings, gets the circulation going and gives me some much needed exercise because i resolutely refuse to do anything else after being on my feet for most of the day. 

with this newfound, re-adjusted body clock, i sprung awake on sunday and couldn't get back to sleep so decided to be strategic and head to granger&co at notting hill. used to go with house guests (because the flight from sg arrives at 0555h, which means said guests would land on my doorstep by 7am...) but since discovering something better in the 'hood, we've not looked back. but thought to give granger another chance, seeing how if we weren't there by 9 (that's the inflection point, folks!) there'd be a queue. and we're too cool to queue unless it's kanada-ya. as an aside, that's probably the only thing i'd willingly jump in line for at this point. not bone daddies, not burger&lobster. so we went to granger and had a nice breakfast. company was great but i much prefer our local (where the inflection point is 930 so there's the extra 30min zz). to be fair, having watched notting hill the night before i was being a little suggestible by wanting to head that way. and notting hill, while pretty, is way to WASP-y for me. funny how almost every uhmurikan wants to live there after the film (who can blame them!) but the odd mix of council housing amidst these fancy period properties means that nice cars don't stay nice very long. in fact, being even more suggestible was watching notting hill because we'd brunch with lovely italian friends at manu*ka in fulham, where hugh*grant frequents. granger's pretty, love the gold and green accents, and the coffee's good but the menu's quite limited. i'm not a fan of corn fritters and was craving pancakes (?) which they didn't have. actually, might've been craving something else that wouldn't have been too out of place on a breakfast menu but they didn't have it. mumble grumble. swung by daylesford to pick up sundries (tea, softener) but the mister wouldn't let me buy more bubbly :(

brick lane

it was a funny sunday morning where quite unfortunately i sprung up at the crack of dawn, one of the occupational hazards of early starts in the week. seeing how i can sleep for singapore, this inability to have a lazy lie-in irks me no end. but ever the eternal optimist, figured i'd be strategic and do something that usually requires much planning and organising to score. hadn't been to gr*anger at notting hill in some time. it used to be our go-to when friends from sg arrived on the antisocial 0555h flight. and we'd drag our comatose bodies to breakfast, desperately trying to wake over bloodymarys. here's a little insider tip if you're wanting to try. the inflection point is about 9 so don't bother going after if you're not the sort who enjoys a good queue. another reason we've not been back in some time is because we've discovered somewhere better in the 'hood. granted it's under 10min to get to notting hill, but maybe 5 to get to our local. anyhoos, gr*anger was o-k? either the standard's dropped, i've become more demanding or just wasn't in the mood. it's good enough but meh, wouldn't make the trek nor queue another time. the selection is limited and there wasn't really anything i wanted. need to stop whinging. there were screaming children. perils of going so early is that you're cheek to jowl with the baby brigade and believe you me, after spending a long week with screaming babies, they're the last thing i want on the weekend. 

oh! but this post isn't about gr*anger but more about brick lane. because after the WASP-y overdose, i needed to re-equilibrate. thought it'd be funny to hazard brick lane (oh my it doesn't get more ethnic than that) and i feared for my handbag. twas a giggle nevertheless, the pop up market transported me back to the night markets in the far east, there were malaysian pancakes (?!) that were comforting and familiar, popcorn chicken with gangnam sauce and lots of other yummies to munch my way through.

bagel was good and worth the long but quick moving queue. love how we'd to get our new york hustle on cos once you're in the front row it's free for all and whoever shouts louder gets served first. take that, you clueless tourists! and the cab serving coffee was cute.

homeward bound after brick lane and it was truly such a lovely day. can't get over the houses of parliament, nor the fact that it's london-living for the foreseeable future. more than makes up for the breakfast remorse!

shabu shabu

after the blow out meal at yashin, we decided to do something more wallet-friendly. my supervisor had invited us to dinner to celebrate chinese new year and i took one look at the mister's shaggy head and decided it wouldn't do. fortuitously, tom, our mane man, is based near japan*centre. and the mister took one for the team while i napped that afternoon to pick up ingredients for shabu shabu after his haircut. we've been the grateful beneficiaries of many a monday night shabu shabu at our neighbours' in singers. their legendary hospitality knows no limit and we've been spoilt rotten by their shabu shabu with the best ingredients and bowl upon bowl of dipping sauce. but as we're eating for two, the mister was pragmatic and prioritised, throwing in some sashimi (finished before photo was taken) for good measure. that's also only half the beef he bought (ah the mister, he tries to ensure i don't go hungry) as my new year resolution is to not finish his food (for a change!) and i'm already failing miserably two months into 2015. the beauty of shabu shabu (as opposed to sukiyaki) lies in its simplicity, and how it's so clean and clean-tasting. will definitely be doing this again! also, as we didn't have steamboat on cny eve (went to ikeda with a spanish friend instead!) this was sort of steamboat-ish, at a pinch.

yashin ocean house

went with taitai friends to yashin south ken a few summers ago and enjoyed their novel take on japanese cuisine. also, the downstairs seating had no mobile reception. great when you're engrossed in conversation, not so great when waiting to hear back from waylaid husband. but connectivity woes aside, it's somewhere i've recommended friends who've also enjoyed it.  that said, it took us awhile to visit the new-ish branch in chelsea. used to walk past it every day on my way home from previous posting and would make mental notes to try it but managed to forget soon after. in fact, truth be told, it always struck me as quite chichi and i'm not a fan of pretentious places so the barrier to entry was quite high ;) but they didn't seem to be oversubscribed and we got a reso for friday night just an hour or so before we meant to go. refreshing not to have to be super organised to score a table, as with most other places in londontown. this city, love-hate, it can be so faddy i want to stay home in protest.

luiz also gave it a good review, so i was more keen to go after reading his vote of confidence. pretty much ordered what he did. only things to add was that we weren't bowled over by the miso cappuccino and we didn't like the sushi rolls. he wagyu beef roll reminded me of corned beef. now i love corned beef and could eat it all day every day, but not at wagyu price. and the ebi ten roll was uninspiring. regret not getting the sushi omakase as that would probably have been better. the cocktail we tried (kagurasaka) wasn't great but looked the best on the list, and i'd rather have had another starter / small sake instead. but the ikura was amazing, the head to tai-l stellar and the matcha sorbet pretty darn good. as was the warm junmai.

eel with truffle - the texture of the eel was so different from the usual braised sweet unagidon i'm used to and it went really well with the shaved truffle

we demolished every bit of the tai, right down (up?) to the eyeballs!

one of those mornings

when only a massive full english will help. in fact, it isn't really a full english (no tomatoes, no mushrooms, no (dare i say) haggis and the toast wasn't fried) but it's hospital food and how naughty can they get. oh fried toast, how i miss you. been ravenous of late, maybe it's the cold weather. sorry, don't mean to be one of those girls talking about food all the time. it's defo something on my mind alot, and most times i get to eat what i want. but gosh those humblebrags who talk about eating all day and don't look it? they just come across as smug and self-satisfied. it's unfair to womankind and i'm all for loving your fellow (wo)man. suppose haters are gonna hate and this little rant is triggered by a wag in the tabloids who said something like, "i really shouldn't be this thin because i eat soooo much! i must have a high metabolism but i'm sure it'll catch up when i hit thirty." vain attempt to normalise doesn't make it any better. and i don't believe her for a moment. agree some are genetically blessed and good for them, i don't begrudge them their cheeseburgers haha but i think women in general should be more aware / sensitive of what they say and how that can affect the vulnerable / less secure out there. in paeds, there are eating disorders aplenty and it's sad how girlies can be so easily triggered to self-harm. 

and maybe being smug / self-satisfied is something i'm slowly getting more uncomfortable with. guilty as charged and conscious not to rub my perceived happiness in other people's faces. made the mistake of looking at fb posts from about three years ago and ohmy i really don't like the girl who can't stop talking about her amazing husband. three years on, he's no less amazing but hm defo keen to tone the public adoration down a couple of notches. to each his own and it's nice when people are happy and proud of their +1s but i think the initial eagerness to remind the world we're newlywed has given way to a quiet contentment that isn't bolstered by fb / insta likes. in fact, i've become more zealous re: guarding our privacy and keeping more moments 'just us'. because, really, why would i want randoms to know where we go or what we get up to?

gosh, all that from a full english! but the wards have been a steep learning curve, as always. fascinated by the acute medicine as much as i am by the ethical minefield. child protection, organ donation, weekly morbidity&mortality meetings... my inner lawyer is elated to be in an environment that grapples with medicolegal law on an almost daily basis. it's such a geek moment to tease out legal issues and their ramifications. yes, it's always horrible when children die and you hope they're few and far between. but i'm of the view that the higher the toll the 'better' the unit's work because it reflects how they're taking the truly poorly kiddies who if they were to have a chance anywhere, it'd be here. and if even that's not enough, then nothing else humanly possible would've been. but easy for me to say. it's not my child and after spending sufficient time with the unit i have nothing but confidence in the team and their ability.

birthday bouquets

every year on my birthday, i surprise someone special with a bouquet. it's a sweet idea i chanced upon a couple of years ago and very much appreciated. am far from articulate and often guilty of not expressing how i feel, when a simple 'thank you' or 'i love you' can go so far. so i fall hook line and sinker for the flower industry and try to convey all that  sentiment with some blooms. also like how it's not something she takes for granted, and when there was a last minute trip over my birthday this year and too late to recall the flowers i'd arrangd to be sent to the office, some super sleuthing was required to get in touch with her hotel. and the concierge, bless them, were quick to arrange for a bouquet that turned out to be even prettier than the original. in fact, they even hand wrote the note i'd dictated. used to laugh when men would send their wives / lovers flowers through the seccie but now i'm sort of joining the club, in a different sort of way. remember one valentine's when i was working, a partners was asked if he'd sent his wife flowers, to which he scoffed and said, "that's what i pay the seccie for!" sure that's meant in jest (i hope) but machismo aside, i recognise that being oceans away it's sort of the next best thing to co-opting my probably unobliging sister to doing the deed. photo above of the classy swiss bouquet and the one below is the sg offering that she also sent a photo of when eventually back to her desk. glad it lasted a couple of days at the very least!