Ode to Autumn

Autumn in London is amazing!
These were just taken from a short stroll through Hyde park.


Today is another Tube strike day.  Though I welcome the extra day indoors and not out braving the cold, I'm really hating the guilt that comes with taking so many days off :/

Also, every week I am excited by the prospect of snow!  But London doth disappoint.




Last week, I bought a pumpkin pie from whole foods!  It was delicious.   And also roasted some chicken drumsticks with gravy for a mock thanks giving dinner :D
Not being American or even living in the U.S I thought a mock dinner was enough effort :O.

Quad biking in Paros and Lake Como

 Greek Sweets

Whilst traveling in Greece, the best way to get around is to rent some quad bikes.  They are so fun!  Though my only experience of riding one lasted  around 2 mins and under 30k/h.  The rest I spent clenching Ed's back.  The best time was down the huge stretches of cliff-side highways along the ocean. 

OH can't believe I forgot about this!  I saw 4 shooting stars in the span of 30 mins in Santorini.  But it doesn't feel as special now, knowing they're so common.

In front of our pretty hotel in Lake como.

Tube strike...

In the span of 2 months, tomorrow will be the third London tube strike occurrence.  So I'll be taking tomorrow off work :D
Will possibly engage in some creative activities.  :D
Apart from having an excuse to stay home, these tube strikes are actually pretty annoying.  I really don't mind working, and getting paid for it D:  but it's definitely not worth catching 3 different buses, spending an extra hour in transit and sitting next to smelly/grumpy Brits.


Joglog! - So we are now on Greenwich meridian time in London.  This means that even on my early shift week, it's quite dark by the time I arrive home :(.  Yesterday I thought I'd skip going down to Hyde park and just running around the block so as to take advantage of the light.  I hated it D:
Though, I was able to run 4-5 mins each session I only lasted around 25 mins before it was too dark to continue.  Sigh
Will have to start running in the mornings.  Or sign up to the gym

Holiday retrospection- Baccarat!

 Left so much out on my initial Holiday post.  Really want to get some of these down before I forget them altogether!

Thanks to Wendys people skills, we were able to score a reservation at Bacarrat during our stint in Paris.
Formerly play house to socialite Marie-Laure de Noailles, now redeisgned by Stark, Baccarat is a massive piece of eye-candy :O!  Our delicious 3-course dinner was just icing on the cake.  Highlight of the night for me was the Museum.  In particular, the room full of glassware (bottles and vials! @_@)  and the ballroom.
Full length gilded mirrors all around and the ceilings dripping with crystal chandeliers, the ballroom resembled something out of a dark fairy tale.  Beautiful with a hint of goth.
The staff at Baccarat were also genuinely lovely and polite.  :D!

Running log

About a month ago, I started the couch to 5k program. It aims to get you from an absolute begginer runner to running 5k in one stretch. This is over a span of 9 weeks. So far, I can only run around 3mins before I have to catch my breath. I can only run during the weeks that I'm on early shift. :(
I really should still run in the mornings. But not enough will power to lose out on an extra hour of sleep. :x
It's doing wonders in shaving off a bit of flubbed :o

whoa

Much has happened since the last post!
Lack of updates due to finding a job in London :D  and also laziness.
We've been to the Mediterranean and back.  Also a weekend stint in Paris.
Santorini was everything we expected it to be.  Hot and amazing. 
Best food throughout our trip also.  Greek salad is mind blowing in Santorini.  Biting into a tomato was like, biting into a piece of watermelon  and so full of flavour yet not sour.
Moussaka was great throughout Greece.  And our love for the pita gyros blossomed in Paros.
Before the trip, I was expecting Italy to be more like Greece.  Hot and not so lush in flora.  Cinque terre was quite the opposite.  The lodge we stayed at was in the middle of the woods.  The man who owned the place was young and very energetic!  So inspiring to see people who love what they do :D
We didn't have as much good luck with food in Italy.  Still good though not as great as the food in Santorini.  Prosciutto is very delicious.  There are many space-stations called Auto-...something, suddenly can't recall the name.  But a cheap prosciutto, mozzarella foccacia there is better than the ones you pay good money for in a Sydney Cafe!
Spent a day in Florence, outlet shopping :D The prices are ridiculous.  Then a day in Milan.  Model city :O  everyone looks like models there.  Could be because we were there during fashion week :x
We also saw Chanel Imann
Then off to Lake como, George Clooney's neighbourhood.
Didn't do much there, but the lake side neighbourhood drive was beautiful.

Started my first week in Otis as soon as we got back!
Then we caught the Euro star to Paris.
I think I over-anticipated Paris, it didn't excite much as I thought it would.  But still beautiful.  Butter is VERY DELICIOUS in France.
Had a dinner at Baccarat!  That put a fairly large hole in our wallets but well worth it.
We missed the markets and didn't get to go to the Catacombs this time.  Hope we go there again soon.