A summer date in London

I had a musical date in London with J; this is probably one of the most last minute trip I've ever been to, but I really enjoy it. So thank you J! 

Our first vacation (:

Lanka

9 Goldhurst Terrace, Finchley Road, London

Tuesday - Saturday 10:30am - 6:30pm

Sunday 11am - 5pm 

Breakfast at Lanka

The cakes looked so pretty! Felt like trying everything!!

Green Tea Panna Cotta with Adzuki Beans eating in £4.30 || out £3.60

Baked Cheese Cake eating in £3.80 || out £3.20

Green Tea Strawberry Cake eating in £4.50 || out £3.80

Yuzu Mousse eating in £4.50 || out £3.80

Green Tea tart eating in £4.10 || out £3.40

Strawberry Tart eating in £4.80 || out £4.00

We were satiated after 6 cakes! Since we opted for eating in, everything is slightly pricier. I highly recommend the Green tea strawberry cake and Baked cheese tart. I find the Yuzu mousse's citrus taste a bit too overwhelming. The green tea tart was very rich and flavourful, while the panna cotta is more light and refreshing.

Service     : ♥♥♥♥♥
Food         : ♥♥♥♥♥
Ambience : ♥♥♥♥♥
Price         : ♥♥♥♥♥

159 Knightsbridge Hotel 

Knightsbridge, London

Despite the pictures looking fine, the hotel was kinda run down and dusty. There were so bleach stains on the toilet floor, as we weren't provided any bath gels; only hand soaps. 

The elevator was quite quaint but felt really unstable. The receptionists were unprofessional; he lost the receipt and requested the original copy from us...

We were promised free breakfast before 8am as we had to catch the flight early..but the breakfast never arrived. 

After reading the reviews from TripAdvisor, I am actually grateful nothing major happened because other people had cockroaches in their rooms, and one of them got burgled and lost all their valuables, including passports. Despite situating in the high-end Knightsbridge, this hotel is quite dodgy. 

Please do not stay here =_= 

My best hotel experience so far is still Travelodge :) 

We were still quite full from our breakfast, so we headed to Reagent Street for window shopping~

Godiva chocolate coated strawberries 

£10

Totally regret drinking this. Taro milk tea but it was so diluted that I couldn't taste any taro flavour. There's also a powdery texture to it.. the only thing I liked about it was the chewy pearls. 

Never a fan of chatime. X_X

KOBA

11 Rathbone St, Fitzrovia, London

Opens daily 12 - 2:45pm, 5:30 - 10:45pm

Assorted kimchi 

£6.90

Korean seafood pancake 

£8.90

Hankook Bulgogi 

£12.50

Dolsot Bibimbap with bulgogi beef 

£10.50

La Galbi £12.50

Service     : ♥♥♥♥♥
Food         : ♥♥♥♥♥
Ambience : ♥♥♥♥♥
Price         : ♥♥♥♥♥

 Lyceum Theatre

My first musical :D

 Thank you ♥

The free hotel breakfast didn't happen, so we quickly cabbed to The Breakfast Club, but the queue was insanely long. So, we headed to Lantana Cafe instead (which happened to be J's initial choice, but he chose Breakfast Club due to its popularity). Guess everything happened for a reason eh?

Lantana Cafe

13 Charlotte Pl, Fitzrovia, London

Corn fritters stacked with streaky bacon, fresh spinach, roast tomatoes, smashed avocado & lemon creme fraiche, topped with a poached egg 

£13.50

Duck and sweet potato hash with a fried egg, kale, spring onion, crème fraiche and sriracha hot sauce 

£11

Service     : ♥♥♥♥♥

Food         : ♥♥♥♥♥

Ambience : ♥♥♥♥♥

Price         : ♥♥♥♥♥

Walking down the 2016 memory lane

Reading back on 2014's and 2015's recaps, I found that my life is kinda repetitive and boring...
but I still wanna do this because I want to remember my 2016 in 10 years' time.

Can't believe I'm only doing this in July.. procrastination level 9999

1. First CNY away from home

Was posted to Tralee on the first day of CNY, and I remembered vividly, it was a rainy day. First CNY reunion dinner in Cork and it wasn't too bad :p

2. 5 weeks of attachment at Tralee

Turns out to be an amazing 5 weeks. The student accommodation and teachings were great. Not to mention the whole course of indian free food every Wednesday and Friday, and free blueberry and banana muffins every Tuesday for grand rounds ;)

All rooms are ensuite and considered myself lucky, because UCC usually books Kings Court Apartment for their students and we have to bring our own duvets and pillows. However, it was fully booked at that time and they had to allocate us to Tralee Town Centre Apartments. Although it's slightly further away from the hospital, I don't mind it at all. After all, I need the extra walk for all the indian meals I've been glutting on :X

A surprised me on V-day and we had dinner at Cassidy's, where I had the best seafood chowder (to date). 

I was so stuffed that I felt nauseating after the three course meal. I didn't even finish my chocolate fudge cake, and this rarely happens because I'm a dessert lover. I probably have a small appetite back then..gosh, I can't believe how much food I could chuck into my belly now T_____T!!! 

Thank you for the memories, Tralee :)

3. Ring of Kerry & Dingle road trip

It was a rushed trip as we tried to cover as many places as we could..

Read about Ring of Kerry trip here & Dingle's here. 

4. St. Patrick's Day

My first St Patrick's in Ireland :) 

5. Easter getaway trip at Glendalough, Kilkenny & Wicklow

6. Summer holidays back in Asia

Things didn't go well for me back in 2016...

I was supposed to move into a new house, but the landlord decided to null the contract and use the house as his GP centre instead; A & I didn't work out; The gruelling uncertainty of ECFMG's decision on whether I could sit for the USMLE exams because they do not recognise UBD as a medical school...

Everything was just falling apart. I had a short trip to SG & Thailand to clear my mind. 

Everything happens for a reason and right now, I'm at the place where I'm supposed to be. 

Things may not have turned out the way I wanted it to, but I'm grateful for everything that I have and the experiences that I've been through. They made me who I am today; I've grown and learnt from past mistakes (I hope lol), and I'm thankful for the unceasing support from my family, friends and L through my bad times. 

船到桥头自然直 (: 

7. Raya in Brunei and Cork

Raya screams food, and weight gain. Irresistible Malay food. nomnomnomnom

Also, I've cut my hair before heading back to Cork. 

New semester, new start, new hair.

This was the shortest hair length that I have since...primary school. I know it's not that short, but my hair was always shoulder length or longer. 

Mum likes my hair short. She thinks I look younger, and cuter :p

(Please ma, I'm always cute.)

8. Bray getaway for W & T's birthday

A medic8ion get together (missing F tho).

It was great to see everyone else as half of the group missed Junjung Ziarah in December :(

9. Mooncake festival

2nd mooncake festival away from home!! This time, without J :( 

Thank you mama for feeding me HK mooncakes every year~ 

10. Kinsale

11. Halloween

We all went for the cool/goth look? Didn't plan any of our outfits but somehow, all of us ended up wearing navy blue/black. 

I was a vampire (no idea why I looked so tanned in the pictures tho) so yes, Asian tanned vampire =_= 

12. A's birthday

W came to Cork to surprise A~ It was a failed surprise because she went to lunch with AT and we were starving, waiting for her to come back. 

Rainbow theme party failed ;( Sorry A..I'll game up this year :D

Went to SoHo for a 2 course meal dinner after that because we were famished.

13. My Birthday

Favourite month, favourite occasion of the year. 

My friends know me well. A Fairy lights photoshoot = a dream came true. 

Thank you all!

14. Winter travels

My Morocco trip 

My London trip

Thank you 2016 for the good and the bad. 

It's mid-2017 now and I can't wait to see what's in store for me for the other half year. 

Fighting!!