carol service

this goes back a few weeks but i was organised enough to book tickets for a christmas carol service. was all nostalgic for the carol services i'd attended in the past and felt somewhat shortchanged that there were no carols (nor mulled wine and minced pie after!) at this one :( bumped into aunty D and she joined us for dins at the good earth opposite. had takeaway with another family friend before and my supervisor when i was at GOS kindly brought me there for chinese new year. was keen to go back but hadn't got round to it. did the lazy guai lo thing and ordered 2 set dinners for the 3 of us and there was more than enough to go round. in fact, with GOS supervisor we'd 4 set dinners among 5 of us and it was plenty! saves the hassle of having to think and i was just lazy and slightly grumpy. although in hindsight should we return, i'd order a la carte cos it'd have worked out cheaper.

autumn

 

was walking home from a boozy brunch in the 'hood when i chanced upon this pretty sight. there's no real point to it, really, except to say that introverted as i can be, it's nice to be selectively social. hadn't seen this bunch since summer ball at the natural history museum, and that night at maddox, so we were long overdue for a catch up.

sunday roast

trying to go easy on red meat after that scary NYT article but old habits die hard. also sometimes just hankering after a sunday roast, you know? while my favourite is still harwood*arms because they can do no wrong, the need for novelty is moderately high and we ventured a little further afield. wasn't terribly impressed and felt they could've been more generous with the meat. and for a pseudo-foody place opened by masterchef*professional finalist i thought they'd have a bit more pride than to serve rubbish cider. took a sip and returned it, and i'm usually not picky! the bartender was incredibly understanding and said he agreed wholeheartedly and has been asking the management to take said cider off the list for months but they insist on serving it!!! got a glass of house red that was slightly more drinkable but not much, and when the bill came it was nice they didn't charge for the cider even though i'd said it'd be fine to leave it on. but they did charge for a large glass of house red (which i'd left half of behind) because i didn't specify size of glass? cheeky! 

the butter with beef fat dripping was divine though, but insufficient to warrant a return any time soon.

oh come on, what a piddly portion of meat.

moseyed into town after to check out the fenwick's window! it didn't disappoint but i felt a little smug thinking of the orchard road decorations and how they're infinitely superior. can't compare, i guess.

sunday strolling

it's been pretty full on the last few weeks but did manage to squeeze in a stroll. one of the areas i want to be better in is exercise and discipline, something i was quite enthusiastic about after hepatology placement at st mary's earlier this year. the consultants were advising all their patients in fatty liver clinic to do 30min brisk exercise 5 times a week and yes while i like to think i'm far from fatty liver (hoho, one never knows!) it's a good rule of thumb. also met a senior reg with three young children who's working and doing her masters (!!!) who told me she gets an hour of exercise in every day if not she'd go crazy. now if someone like that who's juggling so many balls can find time to exercise, i've no excuses. again, easier said than done, but baby steps and i find brisk walking helps. it's nothing earth shattering but incorporating exercise into my daily routine seems easier than carving out time to pound the pavement. so i walk everywhere as far as possible. couldn't believe it when i could walk to work at the marsden for a few months this year, and then i got lazy and bought a travelcard for the other postings that were slightly further afield (GOS and st mary's) but oh well! 

there were cute stone lions by this that i took for my dear friend C who's just birthed the sweetest little spirit named leo

and some autumn colours - yaY!

indian summer

it's been one of the wettest summers and i feel like such a local obsessing over the weather. hadn't realised just how weather-dependent my mood and activities have become. am often reminded of the nice italian man at the deli down the road who told me not to stress about things beyond my control. easier said than done! love the cows (coos) on the moor and even though the poop everywhere and get in my way it feels like i'm the one imposing on their land. the swans are cute too and i find it adorable how they bury their heads in their feathers and sleep on dry land.

that's the bridge to the moor and i feel a sense of schaudenfreude every time i look over to the motorway and clock the traffic jam, when i'm on foot and not stuck behind a row of cars. 

island eating

there's something about eating from a tray that makes me think it should be kept for breakfast in bed. but what wouldn't i give for cute trays like this to serve food on at home, like it's so stepford wife-ish, just missing a gingham apron, no? perfectly sunny day and all the better for soaking up the last few rays of summer. that said, it's been a warm start to autumn and hope i don't jinx it by saying that! was never one to notice subtle temperature / daylight changes but living here has made me more aware of my surroundings and the changing seasons.

also, the mister knows the way to my heart is through good cheese and better wine. the wine was a bit of a let down ! random comp-ed bottle from the post*ranch*inn. tried to find it on vivino and the reviewers were ambivalent. seems like it's only available at the PRI and hm strikes me more as a rich person's hobby horse? being affluent with cash to throw after vines and vineyards does not a good wine make ! but i've it on good authority (winemaker friend ming) has whinged about the uhmurikan propensity for sweet wine, even wine that's not meant to be sweet. it was barely drinkable though and a bit of a waste of space seeing how it's been lovingly carted from big sur to london then to scotland. cheese was good though! yummy local cheese from mull, where else :)

chicken with bean and leek casserole

one of the best things about this half of fourth year is having wednesdays off, if i try not to think about how much tuition fees we're paying and the resulting cost per contact hour... also, after the weather turned i've been craving heavier, heartier fare but the problem with that is that stodgy feel as dinner sinks in my stomach. so this recipe really did it for me - warming and satisfying without the accompanying grease bomb. easy peasy - essentially fry four chicken thighs skin side down, sautee sliced leeks, add canneloni beans and chicken stock cube, simmer, plop fried chicken on top. at the same time i'd a tray of organic waxy potatoes roasting for a crispy side (not in photo) and you're feeling fancy, mix 5g of chopped tarragon into the casserole, and another 5g over the potatoes when they're done. so good! meant to keep half for tomorrow but ended up finishing the lot when the pre-bedtime munchies hit. oh well :)

frame of mind

so this has got to be my all time favourite part of the year. done with exams, thrilled with results, and at the very start of a nice long summer break. it's hard not to come across as smug and self-satisfied, apologies in advance. third year's the longest year of medsch and i'm just so relieved it's over. found out earlier this week and heaved a huge sigh of relief after my panic in NYC. grateful for a good mind, or a pseudo good mind at least, and that uni the second time round isn't too taxing. big believer in having my cake and eating it, and as a graduate, much as i love clinic and patients, i've other priorities. like a husband, and a marriage that i think being present for is very important. not that we have to travel as much as we do, but why not? also, always conscious that it's prudent to make the most of time together before any future babies come along. then again, the mister's insistent that we'll treat any future kiddos guai lo style and lug them everywhere with us. baby wearing and the like. but that's him, and his visions of the future. i'm a little less enamoured, a little less involved. it's no secret that i'm not fond of children, and pull a face every time some screaming kid disrupts my otherwise tranquil brunch experience. and pull a bigger face any time i think some entitled parent is, well, being entitled. biggest fear is becoming said entitled parent by virtue of popping out some mini-me. but we'll see how that goes. 

it's shaping up to be a good summer. off to aix tomorrow to visit one of my favourite girls. not seen her since our wedding two years ago, and last stayed at with her family four years ago on my grad trip. booked pretty last minute (while in the throes of revision last week and desperately needing some extrinsic motivation) and psyched to make it happen. we've lavender fields, vineyards and truffle farms to look forward to. plus a cellulite-busting walk one of the mornings.

briefly back to londontown then cruising quaint villages and small towns along the coast, followed by a couple of days in lisbon. a little riddicks to make two separate trips to france within the same week, albeit south then north. i hate the sentiment YOLO seems to encompass but can't describe it better? work hard, play harder? again, so gross and trader-esque. if nothing else, NYC taught me that finance types mess with my sense of perception. nothing against them flashing their cash, but my inner medic just cringes with self-loathing every time someone drops what's possibly my first year's salary on a night out. will be back in singers at some point then back to school! 

a little something i'm really happy about is not having to leave central london. fingers crossed i'll be able to connect the dots and it's not something i've spoken of much for fear of jinxing it but it's looking like i'm going to be at zone 1 hospitals for the next school year. can't begin to tell you how excited this makes me. being able to walk to clinics is the dream :) excited for the break, and excited to be back to work eventually. 

here's a photo of my celebratory fish&chips after the last paper. did have multiple celebrations, really. dimsum lunch, fish&chips tea, lebanese supper etc but it was all cautious celebration because results were only coming out the next day. and when those came out, pulled out the stops and celebrated proper with the grads over a blow out lunch where i broke out the wine i'd been saving. happiness is in the big and the small. thankful for a great group of friends who've gotten me through the year, and again, as always, grateful to be where i want to be, doing what i want to do :)

till then, the NYC series will continue and i might pop back with the odd holiday update. 

sunday history lessons

sunday is synonymous with dimsum. gone are the days when people had a sunday roast. oh no, all the cool kids regardless of ethnicity do dimsum now. i feel vaguely violated, like half of london and its mother has taken my thing and called it theirs. maybe i'm just sore because it's next to impossible to get a good reso on sunday unless you're incredibly organised (i'm not). but never fear, our secret weapon is using someone who speaks cantonese to make the booking for us. it's a bit like how i learnt basic french and japanese to converse with waiters in hope of getting some extra carrot. doesn't always work but my inner el cheapo is easily pleased by free food :)

blue skies and golden leaves aside, it was a lovely autumn day and the mister wanted to kick leaves and play catch in the park. somebody get that man a dog already!

carols by candlelight

 

there's something about christmas and carols that lure even my most hardened, antichrist friends to church. many of them were brought up church-going but lapsed as time passed. i think it's sad when life turns people away from church because what i've been through myself, the good and the bad, has made me realise that God is the only hope and explanation. what i particularly enjoyed about this carols by candlelight service was how it was a good mix of choir, readings and carols. there was a short talk that (to me) drew some ridiculous contrasts between Christ's birth and prince george's. i mean, not to be hating the royal baby, but, seriously?!! but they redeemed themselves by serving mulled apple juice and roasted chestnuts in a big marquee at the end :) and the thousand candles that illuminated the old stone church was quite a sight to behold.

first wurst of the season

it's that time of year when the first christmas market tentatively rears its cheery head before the others start mushrooming all around it. the smell of grilled wursts never fails to get me and i've long learnt that resistance is futile. the mister has a little more self-restraint but even he surrenders when the gentlemen running the stall are german. language barrier and miscommunication aside (they forgot our order and kept us waiting 10minutes longer than absolutely necessary in the spitting rain) all was forgiven and forgotten when we bit into our steaming hot currywurst. in spite of myself and valiant attempts to minimise nitrate intake, processed meat and curry powder make everything better.

pretty darn psyched to go on a christmas market stir-crazy in the next few weeks. there's supposed to be a good one in bath (next up on the trippin' uk hitlist!), and we're visiting friends in lucerne who're taking us "hiking to the valley floor to visit an alpine village and eat traditional food'.

flying solo

(interrupting the berwick posts for a real time weekend update!)

when the mister first decided to get married in iceland, my concern was that it was a lot to ask of our family and friends. iceland might've been a hop away for us, but oceans away from singers where most of our 20+ guests were coming from. to assuage my bride-guilt, we told everyone to please please please make a holiday of it i.e. stretch the trip out, and make the most of being in europe / scandinavia before and after. naturally, we were absolutely thrilled when his best man seized the moment and proposed in paris before they joined us in iceland. how awesome is that? about 17 months later, it's the mister's turn to cross the globe and return the favour. unforch i wasn't able to get time out (i also kind of have exams next week) so it was a solo weekend for me.

it was quite telling how everyone (ok, just my gran) presumed i was going to curl up and die with the mister away. um, do i really send out co-dependency vibes?! in fact, when i told her during our weekly chat that i was going walking in the country with friends, she seemed almost horrified that i was -gasps- doing something on my own (ish). maybe it's a generational thing but i think it's so important that we get time apart, and time with our respective friends. don't get me wrong, the mister's friends are great and incredibly inclusive when i join them, but dude time is good for him. leaving singers was a big change and the mister managed to catch up with a ton of friends over the week he's been home. it's not often that we see the lovely folks we've grown so fond of over the years, but it's always a bonus when we do. 

as you might've guessed by now, the mister has boundless energy and really packs our weekends in london. so it was quite nice to take things down a notch and meander through the weekend at a more leisurely pace. T of BFG fame is also the possessor of our grad group's solo car, so he's really the main man when it comes to making for the country. thankfully, he was ever so kind as to drive to a faraway town and then lead the walk. the colours are changing and the river flowing fast. we passed horses, sheep and the odd rabbit hutch. some of those country manors are absolutely stunning with gorgeous victorian conservatories. after the walk and while high on tea and cake, i was being all nosey along main street, eyeing the ads at the realtors and plotting my way to a stately country pile. one can dream, no? :)

after the day's exertions, i'd dinner with dear girlfriends and a +1! we'd been meaning to try a new restaurant under the railway arches, and accidentally stumbled on a pizzeria so hip it hurts that i've a feeling the mister would be keen to try upon his return. it was also over dinner that i learnt of the methadone clinic at the other end of the road (the brave +1 used to stay next to it) and how we were so close to renting an attic flat a few doors down. phew! relief doesn't being to describe how i feel.

autumn colours (with text this time!)

having grown up on the equator, i'm accustomed to a perennial summer. dislocating to the UK has been a lesson in the changing seasons, and that strange ambiguity as they merge from one into the other. it's my third autumn here (i hate the word 'fall'. so american and much less pretty...) and the colours never fail to amaze me. there's also that funky autumn smell that i'm less fond of, sort of like feet but no one else seems to think so. it's so british to be hung up on the weather, and i'll be the first to request rain over sunshine anytime, but on this one good saturday, it was me who lured the mister out with the prospect of massive burgers. having had more than enough of the grey muckiness, crisp autumn air, blue skies and unadulterated sunshine was reason to take the scenic route. we passed this gorgeous little bandstand en route, the mister was deliberately antagonistic by taking a waist-down photo when i deliberately requested one of the autumn colours. and he didn't even have the courtesy to tell me my waterproofs (you never know!) were half-off :( 

uncooperative photographer woes aside, we did eventually make it to the burger joint. because we'd dawdled through the park, we missed breakfast hour. boo. so much for planning to have a waffle / pancake starter and then burger / hotdog main. just as well! because the burger was big, and the tower of onion rings even bigger.

indian summer

it's been deliciously warm of late and i'm starting to think that london's at her best in october. the throngs of summer tourists (ugh) have thinned out, it's not swelteringly hot, because, goodness me, most of london and its non-existent air-conditiong is incapable of dealing with heat. in fact, the weather has been so amiable of late that we spent most of sunday soaking up some sun. something i'd never do in singers but somehow relish in london. green park wasn't too crowded and the mister has the foresight to keep our trusty picnic mat in the car. so after a truly satisfying lunch at matsuri, we ambled over to find ourselves a little patch of grass. and what's some pseudo-summer sunshine without the obligatory soft serve ice cream with chocolate flake :) we must've spent the whole afternoon in joyous food coma at the park, trying our darndest not to let the territorial pigeons poop on us (as you do!). all in all, a very good sort of sunday.

singers boleh

when we landed at heathrow a couple of days ago, i realised i don't know when i'll next be back in sg. the mister makes the odd foray to 'the far east' for work every now and again, but whenever i go, it's purely personal. i guess it's about time this endless summer draws to a close, seeing how it's my 6th (!!!) 3-4 month summer break. having spent at least 18 months on holiday (not counting the 8 month break before starting undergrad!) it's high time i start being more productive. i've heard from more than one acquaintance that i'm 'always on holiday' and have a hard time convincing them that i only travel during term breaks, or over the weekend. much as i wish i had thick-skin and wasn't affected by the subtext ("...and therefore you don't work hard enough") i am sometimes bothered by the presumption. 

medsch is something i take very seriously but don't see the point in making a big show about how much work i do, or not. if i was solely a childless housewife, dropping everything to care for my able-bodied spouse and twiddling my thumbs while he's at work, fine. go ahead and judge. in fact, i'd even join you! but who's to say i can't have my cake and eat it, doing all the housewifely things while being in medsch. i'm trying not to morph into a pinterest wife, taking photos of the dishes i cook and tidy state of our tiny flat, but it is something i take pride in. i want to be a great many things - interior designer, cook, handywoman, tailor, herb grower etc summer gives me the luxury of time to do all that. 

been going a little nuts with my herb garden (said tiny flat has a tinier window ledge where my pots reside) and been harvesting chillis for oil, jam, flakes and basil for pesto. i note with more than a hint of pride that my sister asked quite disbelievingly, "are you a doctor or a gardener?!" and while i'm neither, i find multi-faceted people interesting. being in london, with it's exorbitant labour costs has turned me into a handywoman out of necessity. shant bore you with the mundane details but the mister and i have basically had to do almost every fix-it thing around the flat, to save ourselves the GBP80 call out fee if we had called a plumber / electrician. lest you think we're naturally inclined, no. it's all trial and error and grace of God. alterations cost an arm and a leg (neighbourhood tailor quoted GBP25 to shorten my GBP10 h&m maxi!!!) and the plight of being 1.6m (don't laugh) is that i've been altering all my clothes myself. youtube is a godsend to the sartorially-challenged! singaporeans who complain don't know how lucky they are with domestic help a'plenty and cheap labour.

however, i miss the intellectual stimulation that uni provides and no number of books i read makes up for its lack. looking forward to clinicals (finally!) and enjoying the process. it's funny how people assume i'm in a hurry to graduate (different set of people from those who think i don't ever want to work) when the truth is, i'm blessed to be in a good place and taking things as them come. too often we rush through life, hurtling towards the next step and miss enjoying each stage for what it is. it's been a good summer, and we've been very lucky to travel as much as we had. from paris and barca in june, to bruges in july, and then singers, phuket and soon norway in august. 

and while i said i'm trying not to be a pinterest wife, here's the chilli oil from our first harvest!

petersham nursery

a lovely sydneysider we met in ecuador told us about petersham nursery. she's a horticulturalist and was going to be in london for the chelsea flower show. embarrassing as it was, we'd to admit that despite living in london (she was jetting back from sydney!) the show wasn't on our to-do list. we did meet up over l'atelier when she was in town, and heard even more good things about petersham nursery. so my ever-organised husband booked us in for the one weekend (!!!) this summer when we didn't have guests in town. 

apart from being next-to-impossible to find (poor directions, obscure signage) it was worth the hike. and as if to soothe our bruised egos, the affable waiter conspiratorially shared that getting lost is a rite of passage. there was a long table set up next to us for a wedding and the gorgeous settings made me want to have a wedding lunch too! maybe for our next anniversary...

after lunch we moseyed around the nursery and miraculously left laden with a sweetpea, basil and chilli plant. now to just keep them alive! and i'm half sure that even if they were to shrivel and die in my absence, the mister will replace 'em without my knowledge.

 

richmond is a beautiful area and i can't believe it took us  a year to finally venture out of london. we try to spend every weekend in a different park to make the most of summer and it was surprisingly empty for a saturday evening. doesn't it look almost like the serengeti in this photo? then again, i've never been and wouldn't know!

summer afternoons

sorry to bang on and on about summer in london. just that with the coldest winter in decades, this bit of sunshine has been some time coming. and this from a girl who rather darkness and rain any day. we've a sadly predictable summer weekend schedule. with or without guests, we find out way to a different patch of grass and plonk ourselves down on the mat. some times the mister contemplates playing tennis (above) but most times we fall asleep and only wake when it gets cold. also, because it's been too hot in london, the mister has so kindly organised a couple of weekend jaunts. was in dover a couple of weekends ago, wales in the week, took our ancient car for a spin to bruges last weekend and back to paris this weekend. so much for spending summer weekends in london!

forward planning

so in winter when it was dark, dreary and officially the coldest winter since 1962, i bought a picnic basket on sale. ever the optimist, i was sure i'd be able to use it soon. so desperate we were that we hazarded a picnic when the sun came out in march, albeit bundled in our winter woolies. 

hadn't realised i'd be waiting almost six months to finally break it out but when we did, oh what fun it is to ride in a no-horse open park! sorry, that's terrible improvisation. thankfully our picnic improvisation faired a little better and i've since come to realise that bubbles make everything better. in retrospect, was also quite silly to buy a two person basket because the mister is a social creature and we've yet to use our picnic basket just us two. the first time we were with my high school friends who were in london celebrating the end of their specialisation exams in edinburgh. and this time we'd houseguests and my oldest friend who was in london to watch her brother's admission to the cool club of surgeons. there's probably a more accurate name but cool surgeons' club sounds better :) but back to bubbles making everything better. ever the gracious guest, D brought good bubbles while N, his beautiful fiancee, brought a smooth brunello fresh from her tuscan holiday. and C bought half of pauls the patissiere. the mister and i rustled up some crisps (we've cupboards full of crisps!) and basil pesto for the cheese plate, with grapes and sourdough. it came together well and we brought a few litres of freshly squeezed fruit juice too because my dear C is allergic to alcohol. and there we go! picnic sorted :)

barca beaches

barca has a special place in my heart. the last time i was there, i was on my grad-trip and traveling by myself. however, i bumped into so many friends in barca (talk about good timing!) that i'd company when i wanted, and time out when i didn't. was spotted by family friends in the big zara (where else?!) and taken under their wings and fattened up. possibly my first meal in a nice restaurant with tablecloth in two months :) will always remember the kindness shown and i'm grateful for chance meetings in faraway cities. the mister had also been to barca with friends while he was on exchange in 2007. admittedly, we traveled very differently then and while i had read about the big names on the barca scene, my tuition-teacher budget extended to one hot meal a day. so we were really excited to finally eat our way through barca when we went back this summer. mind you, they weren't all big names and what i really enjoyed about barca was how haute cuisine was amazing, but the simpler (but not inexpensive :() stuff was even more amazing. it also helps that my (then) tuition kiddies' father is a prolific journo specialising in food so no prizes for guessing whose list i turned to when we re-visited barca on a slightly longer shoestring. i liked how the list wasn't all about m*stars, neither was it all tapas bars. but as this post is about the beaches, maybe more on the restaurants tomorrow.

so the mister and i moseyed to the beach, contemplated moving out of our apartment and into the W (i kid) and then plopped ourselves down by the water to watch the sun move across the sky as we played real vs fake (boobies). it was a hoot ;) sunny afternoons spent in the shade with my love, with sangria and good conversation is golden.