thames river path

continuing the series of being more active, i've family in putney and sort of wandered past their house without saying hello. oops. being avoidant for the win :/ but there was fulham palace near by and one thing led to another and before i knew it, i was wandering all over the grounds without a soul a sight. perks of being an early bird in search of worms! was a little unnerved by how preternaturally still it all was, although there was some activity in bishops park next door. lovely wisteria and drawing rooms, perfect picnic grounds for summer. will definitely be back with picnic basket and blanket in tow.

left fulham palace and spied a sign for the sunday farmers' market and made a mental note to check it out one sunday. usually at a loss for where to go on sundays (maltby and broadway, my two favourites are saturday places) and it'll be nice to be able to hit up a market on the river this weekend. also chanced upon this cute house and quiet backwater. hidden finds by the thames, loving it!

brompton cemetery

maybe it's fatty liver clinic but i've been overwhelmed by the urge to overhaul my lifestyle and get healthy. no more sitting around subsisting on frozen pizzas and ice cream when the mister is out of town. no siree, left to my own devices i'd be the first to admit rapid regression and degeneration. thankful for C, the best thing that came out of GOS elective, who sense checks my bad habits and tells me to start cooking for myself (i.e. no more take out despite living next to a chinese takeaway :( ) and gently encourages me to be more active. baby steps! nosey by nature, i'm inclined to explore new neighbourhoods and the brompton cemetery was in a pretty part of chelsea i couldn't resist. made the most of the jetlagged mornings (post sg i was waking at 6 for a spell) and go for brisk walks before work. thankful we're edging towards summer and longer day light hours. feel relatively safe and not pantang so the place made for a serene, contemplative walk.

and back to fatty liver clinic - i'm such a sucker for a deal that i took the coupon for two sausage mcmuffins with egg for £2 from the flyer distributor by the tube exit and stopped by maccas before clinic. thought to have one for breakfast and the other for lunch, but who am i trying to kid. obviously had both for breakfast then went to face an onslaught of morbidly obese types and tried to block visions of joining their ranks the whole morning. it's terrible, really, this gluttony has to stop. the fatty liver consultants were patient and encouraging, telling everyone to exercise at least 45min daily. and that put me to shame because i'd be lucky if i get in 45min in a month. this sloth is nothing to be proud of and i'm taking their advice to heart, trying to walk more and make form good habits. feel so much of it is about sustainability and not doing something overly restrictive (eg no sugar) only to regress and unleash the sugar vampire (oho she's there all right!) on a cheat day. that becomes a cheat week then cheat month.

more sg eats

every time i'm home, i try to sneak into aoki for chirashi. used to find it harder to score a reso but it's become less challenging of late. a sign of the fad-y dining scene and people constantly in search of the next big thing? call me a creature of habit but oldies are goldies and i could eat the same thing day in and out. although my lunch companion did sniff that the chirashi was better at shiro, or somewhere else, i forget. but there was no raining on my parade and i was more than thrilled to have chirashi goodness for my last lunch in sg. it's the #firstworldproblem of how to space out my meals, dynamically optimising (new favourite word, thanks rui!) the little time i've back home.

because, really, all i want to do is while the time away with grandma. we sit quietly at the small marble table that's been in the family for ages. love how there's a more formal dining table that we almost never use and the whole family crowds round the small table in the corner. i look at her weathered hands playing solitaire and watch her rhythmically laying out the cards. it's stolen moments like this that i wish i could freeze forever, savouring every second just being in her presence, watching her go about her day, because i'm ever conscious that time is in short supply.

weekend in sg

had friends in singers for the weekend en route to shanghai and jumped at the chance to join them. any excuse, really, and it was a whirlwind couple of days balancing facetime with the fambam and playing happy hostess to 20. most had never been to singers before and i sort of cringed at the white person colonial slant to things that these trips inevitably take. i mean, raffles for all its charm isn't exactly where i'd want them hanging out in lillywhites... what i like most about singers is how it's a country that can be enjoyed at various levels, and how there's something suited to every budget. for their first meal, did a deal with the two chefs laoban and booked a table for 12. minimal queue for dinner on friday night? sign me up! you should've seen their faces light up as plate after plate of local goodness landed with absolutely no fanfare on the table. it's no secret that i enjoy my food, and enjoy the company of like-minded folk. they were intrigued, and really, all the better to start singers on the right note before they were completely spoilt rotten by the consummate professionals at waku ghin the next night ;) but that's what i mean! dinner for the whole group at two chefs costs less than half what one person would pay at WG. without launching into social commentary and the widening gap between the have and have nots, this is sg's strength and weakness.

had lunch with gran and extended fam on saturday while friends braved china town. was incredibly proud that a splinter group made their way to maxwell for tian tian chicken rice. how wonderfully authentic an experience is that - while i was in a/c comfort slurping more local delights minus the oppressive humidity. 

was a little cheeky and checked into a massive room at the fullerton for the flying visit home. for some reason, the current tenants next door (we've lived there 20 years now!) are capable of superhuman sound. never ever have we had such noisy screaming children, and rowing parents, ALL IN CHINESE. so the last thing i want on a jetlagged morning is to be woken by yelling at 7am. thankful for mates' rates and parents who don't insist i remain under their roof. something i hadn't realised i'd be free from post-marriage. yay for independence :) three years in, it's still a new and novel concept. sleeping at the fullerton was also an exercise in schadenfreude because i got to wake to this view of the CBD, and wave at my friends who're still lawyers in those vertical prisons. jokes. wasn't that mean, and it was convenient for the legal eagles because C was in the office on saturday afternoon and swung by to catch up over drinks. and V came round for breakfast on monday before briefing her boss who was headed to court.

what would also turn out to be a strange twist of fate was how i had friends who just so happened to get married at the fullerton while i was staying there. singers is too small! managed to wish the happy couple, and even have a quick chat with an old friend who was a groomsman. sobering to realise it's been ten years since we were all in jc together, and how everyone has grown up and moved on with their lives. was told that i'm the same, and felt in some ways we change but in many others the fundamentals remain. wish i had been kinder back then but thankful for time and space to have sorted things out.

the last time the crew was in dubai, the ever-gracious host had chartered chauffered humvees. alas, no such extravagance in singers but this coach with karaoke had them entertained and in stitches for the short ride to sentosa. they'd so much fun singing along that they didn't want to alight at the golf club where we'd more local food on the terrace before heading to sea.

couldn't have asked for better weather. as always, was afraid our grand plans might be thwarted by a tropical storm but it was all blue skies and calm seas. singers is so pretty and i love watching visitors marvel her twinkling skyline from the water. the offshore islands aren't pristine, the water isn't azure, but for a busy commercial port it's pretty darn clean. used to be dismissive of the beaches but as i get older, i'm more cognisant of how much work goes into keeping the environs pristine.

had given everyone strict instructions to go crazy at dutyfree so we'd alcohol aplenty. some of the boys brought hard liquour. tequila and whiskey, clowns. but the bubbles went down easily enough. it was a sight spying V at customs and realising we'd all (J and i were on the same flight, yay for delightful girly company for 14h long haul) bought bottles of veuve rose. we're seasoned enough to know the boys can't be relied upon to bring what we'd like to drink, and as fiercely independent women (haha) it was almost like those parties i used to go to in stockholm where you bring a bottle and nurse said personal bottle through the night. thankfully we were a little less mercenary and the bubbles were pooled eventually.

and that's J looking like she belongs on the boat

all in all a whirlwind weekend in sg, they tend to be and i'm increasingly apologetic to friends who i don't get to see when i'm in town. it's family first, hosting duties second. am the first to admit to being a terribly correspondent and never organised enough to get round to catching up.

sunday stroll

had a lazy sunday morning in and by the time afternoon rolled round it felt like i'd cabin fever. must've been super keen and sprung awake bright and early, because when i exhaust all delaying tactics and still have oodles of time stretching out in front of me, i know i woke too soon. but it was a lovely afternoon for a stroll and was a little ambitious, figuring a walk to primrose hill would be a good idea. but remember what i was saying about delaying tactics earlier? doesn't help having the attention span of a gnat, and having to deal with a minefield of distractions en route, albeit distractions of the fun sort. like the natural history museum! despite living a stone's throw away, i haven't been since i was in london as a child. so you can imagine my delight to be back, wondered why had never done it sooner! 

and after moseying through the exhibits, i got thirsty and stopped for a few coffees. as london is so small, bumped into friends in the 'hood too and got carried away chatting, probably holding them up from their weekly shop, then kept heading north. there was a tempting deli along the way so i almost stopped for pastrami but exercised some self-restraint. and the roast dinner reward at primrose hill (left home after lunch, made it to primrose hill in time for dinner, in fact only a 90min stroll had i been more disciplined) was all the more well-deserved :)

TGIF

what i love about the neighbourhood japanese is that no reservation is needed, even for a friday night. then one day its popularity exploded and i was told there was only counter seating for walk-ins. not that i minded, really, because i'd choose the counter any day to watch the chefs at work. win-win.

always skeptical about the fish of the day , convinced its a marketing ploy to get me to pay good money for their borderline fishy on the brink of going off, but the scorpion fish "head to tail" was divine. i try not to convert to sgd because it makes me hear my mother-in-law's shock and disdain.

seafood haul

one of the biggest draws of living in london is the abundance of fresh produce on our doorsteps. while i'm partial to japanese uni and its preparation and presentation, their european counterparts weren't all that bad. lots of work though for what felt like minimal reward, but it was inexpensive from the local fishmonger. who is so techy he sends out texts / email alerts whenever he's got special stuff for sale. was also a little indulgent and treated ourselves to a lobster that was soon turned into bisque. tell a lie, the turning into bisque wasn't quite so fast as it was shaping up to be a social weekend with friends in town and dinner en masse. i had the heebie jeebies listening to mr. lobster scamper around in our spare sink, and felt perhaps he deserved some salt water in the bath tub to while out his last couple of hours. but that's just me being over-sentimental. and soon enough the scampering stopped :( i was just about to get emotionally attached! over dinner, told friends how we had a soon-to-be dead lobster running around the flat and we engaged in heated debated about the most humane way to put it out of its misery (spike through the head or pot o' boiling water, the jury is still out...) and we also talked about the best way to prepare sea urchin. one of my biggest regrets to date is not having had sea urchin pasta at lo scoglio, hands down my best meal of 2014 (even without said pasta) because the sea was choppy that morning and the fishing boats didn't return with uni. which means my new life mission is to return to the coast to finally taste their sea urchin pasta.

also scored some monster scallops that joined the sea urchin for pasta

and the short-lived lobster that was completely pulverised into bisque.

dukes

made the mistake of attempting to drive through the city the evening before the london marathon. it was complete mayhem with road closures and long lines of traffic. thankfully have since learnt to overestimate how long it takes to get around london because, really, nothing works when you want it to. so was still early for dinner at st. james' and swung by the best martini bar in the world. sinking into the plush chairs, admiring the fine oak paneling and painting made me feel instantly more elegant and refined (hey, one can dream!) and it was somewhere i wish i'd had more time to linger. am also not the most adept socially and do think i benefited from the liquid courage before meeting a huge group of crazy intelligent people for dinner. all the better to be less intimidated by, my dear.

edit: sorry just realise i've been terribly disorganised and the previous posts have been just photos. have gone over them and added a little blurb or two so do scroll down if you'd like to see!

more primrose

during easter break, had the pleasure of catching up with a few friends who all happened to be passing through london within a few days of each other. which meant repeated trips to primrose hill because the weather was great and i'm a one trick pony. often find i eat too much when i've friends in town because all we seem to do is feast to bursting point. not great. so this time round i tried a different approach - asking friends to join me on whatever i was going to do that day, be it a light lunch or walk around a park. again, no agenda, just wandering for the hours we have and i much preferred it to sitting at a coffee place and being idle while there was so much to see beyond its four walls. not a huge fan of the outdoors (sun, wind etc) but even i have fallen in love with this little hill and her environs.

and regents park in her spring glory was a feast for the senses.

after walking a friend back to her hotel, swung by this adorable speakeasy in mayfair for a cheeky monday drink. there was no occasion and we weren't celebrating anything, but sometimes no reason is reason enough :)

chicken dinner

lazy person's meal that lasts a week, given how i've a bad habit of eating out and forgetting i've half a neglected chicken in the fridge. leftovers are so yummy. and the skillet is really the best thing since sliced bread. something i've been working on this year is more home-cooking and less takeaway, a challenge seeing how i live next to a chinese take out and am the lucky beneficiary of a 20% frequent flier discount. which makes everything more affordable, and somewhat reduces the guilt i feel about paying for something i could easily re-create if i weren't so lazy. ah who am i kidding. but it's all about making healthy choices and lifestyle modification if i want to sustain the health burst.

fortunate to be in a borough with green grocers aplenty and fresh produce around every corner. love the weekend markets for the fresh seafood, massive scallops and lobster and sea urchin excite me :) squid and clams too.

morning commute

there's a hopper going between the different sites but i take the bus for the double decker seats. how else does one get a birds eye view (almost!) of london in the spring ? :) and blue skies! and blossoms! and me wanting to jump off the bus at every cute cafe stop but then remembering there are clinics to get to on the other end. so one weekend i went pseudo-adventuring, trying to find the cafes i passed en route. not as easy as it sounds as i had to re-trace the bus route (and it's a long one!) but success! and i think i've found a new go-to neighbourhood breakfast place. inordinate number of men without wedding rings and children. either giving mama a break or it's the weekly divorced dad access. joked with a friend that up north it's like all access meetings are doomed to happen at maccas, but at least here the cafe serves healthier fare?

richmond

had friends in town and what better excuse than to visit richmond park. L is a dear friend who hosted us during our day in sao paolo en route to santiago and we were only too happy to have more time with him when he was in london. C, a recent london transplant, was game and after an italian lunch in the 'hood (C's italian, L is italian brazilian) we headed south of the river. the sun was out and we had the first picnic of the year to christen C's newly acquired picnic mat, and some! lots of rose, music when my data plan cooperated and a post-prandial nap so necessary after a hearty lunch. we saw the deer, tried not to stalk them. L had the most success slowly creeping up to them. then again, he's been a boy scout his whole life so the playing field was far from even. C and i were trusted with the navigation, thank goodness she's much smarter than i am.

river walking

stayed put over easter and made the most of the downtime. it was truly restorative to be able to sleep in after a long placement in intensive care. the days flew by and when the weather was good, i tried to leave the house at least once. hermetic habits die hard! not one for vigorous exercise but do enjoy a leisurely stroll when the fancy takes me. being near the river is a plus and walking along it even better. went a'wandering on a couple of days and cobbled the photos together for this post. liked watching the row boats along the thames, the hidden pathways and general sense that summer was on its way.

and aren't these blooms gorgeous? went trigger happy taking them to send to my grandmother who inspires a love of all things arboreal in me. who needs to go to japan for sakura? ;)

at some point i also had tea with a dear friend. we met serendipitously when we both happened to be in dublin visiting my cousin, then somehow had our paths cross every few years. with T in singers for a fellowship at KK, me going to stockholm on exchange (T is swedish!) and even now with T doing a sports medicine masters in london. hankering for english tea, found a pretty place and caught up in the bird cage.