Moving forward

Before I continue to a new blog post, let me apologise for not updating my blog consistently all these while.. I know I didn't really mention about this at all, but to those of you who follows me on my social media platforms like IG or Snapchat, you probably could have figured this out by now. 

So yeap, I actually flew back to KL from London around mid-September this year, shortly after my official submission of dissertation and then spent close to a month at home.. The entire time that I was at home during September up to October, I was basically just trying to get used to the idea of being/living in KL, adjusting myself to this whole transition.. It wasn't really that easy at first, because after all, I was really used to the life back in the UK – being really independent on my transportations and everything else. I didn't have to rely on anyone for getting myself from Point A to Point B, not like when I'm back home now. At the same time, the working/walking pace was really quick back in London especially, that I have already adapted to it long time ago... So, I feel that during that duration when I was back home, a lot of things had to be toned/slowed down and I had to calm myself down most of the time to remind myself that this is not the same as the UK anymore.. "The culture, working etiquette and probably people that you meet would be a tad different now".. 

Thereafter, I headed back to the UK again, to actually spend my end-October up till recently – 1st of December – only did I come back for good, in a way. The reason why I've decided to head back and forth to London like that was due to the amount of things that was still left unpacked and waiting for me at my apartment to be shipped all back home. Somehow, this entire arrangement was a rather intentional one. I needed a good reason to head back to the UK again, and knowing that leaving most of my things back at the apartment unpacked would certainly be a valid and more importantly, strong reason. :p Anyway, the first 2 to close to 3 weeks back in London was such a crazy period. Packing up is never an easy thing, especially when I've spent almost 6 years in the UK – seeing the collection of things I've managed to accumulate for all these time just gave me a big-WOW. 

Not only that, packing/shipping my things home wasn't the only reason that made me flew back to the UK. As you could have guessed, I think I really needed a good break from everything, and a chance to explore the city on my own again before I really bid my goodbyes to the friends, and city. I was just being so sentimental the whole time. It's no doubt the advancement of technology these days has made communication so much easier between friends around the world.. However, it is an undeniable fact that these technologies can never beat a simple face-to-face meeting in person with your friends no matter what. That's why, I feel that even though I'm back here in KL now, I somehow still have so many attachments with the city, and country that I just left not long ago... 

Oh well. I guess it's time for me to wrap up those sentimental feelings and put it aside, but no matter what, I will always treasure the friends, memories and times spent altogether in the UK: Shrewsbury, Manchester and London.. These will always hold a special place in my heart, always. Without any further delay, I actually have some pictures taken during my stay in London this time.. Will use most of them to do the talking and I hope you enjoy them :) 

Managed to catch up with this girl, Ellya, over a great lunch at Dishoom, Shoreditch. FYI, Dishoom is one of the best Indian chain restaurants in London. Please head to this restaurant if you haven't already done so! It's just something that you don't quite get elsewhere besides the heart of London or India itself. In case you guys don't already know this, Ellya's my childhood/dancing friend since I was four.. It is always just so good to see her even after such a long, long time! Really so proud of what she's achieved so far. And I dare say this, she's also my one and only friend to date that has such courage to take a leap of faith and follow her heart to chase her dreams in pursuit of her own happiness/love. This is just such a rare thing to see among young people these days... Just so proud of you and always your number one fan <3

Us playing with our phones... 

Softserve Society at Shoreditch.. Mama, me, Ellya & sissy. 

Trios. Mama looking young, eh? :p

Ellya & I again :) We've officially broken the record of meeting more than once this year! It was too difficult to meet this girl previously because she was always based in Australia previously.. 

Candid #1

Candid #2

The four of us.

Proudly presenting the vanilla softserve ice-cream that I had back then. The softserves at Soft Serve Society aren't too bad at all.. However, they weren't really my favourite.. So, I would certainly say that it's up to personal preference. But please, do give them a try if you haven't already done so! Who knows, you might like them :) 

Another day in London, where I was strolling along West Hampstead, close to Finchley Road after feasting over a Japanese meal with the mum and sister. 

Casually posing near the trees, with all the fallen leaves on the ground.. Don't you just love the autumn season? 

It was a day before I headed out with mama to Covent Garden area, before our afternoon tea session at The Savoy's Hotel with the sister after her lessons. Can't say my mama isn't good at taking photographs at all :p

Just a snapshot of our afternoon tea stand with the sandwiches spanning the photo. In my opinion, Savoy's afternoon tea was honestly one of the worsts in London. Do not visit this place if you haven't done so.. Service was frankly quite bad with the amount that we paid for. And on top of that, I wasn't really satisfied with their choice of savouries and desserts.. It felt like everything was totally overrated. If you ask me what would be my best afternoon tea experience in London to date, I would always choose Mandarin Oriental's one over & over again without fail.. Oh, but maybe you could even give the afternoon tea at The Lanesborough hotel a try because it's a Victorian style hotel that serves equally delicious choice of savouries and sweets as MO's for similar prices. 

A picture of the sweet stuffs apart from the savouries. They don't really look appealing to me, let alone the taste itself :O Haha.

A picture of myself taken by the sister at Savoy's. Sorry about the yellow lighting... 

During Halloween's afternoon, I went for lunch with mama and the sissy at Koffmann's Restaurant, in Berkeley Hotel. To those of you who don't know about this, the chef is one of the oldest chefs around – Pierre Koffmann – who has had so many famous celebrity chefs trained/worked under him previously, including Britain's most famous Gordon Ramsay himself. That explains the cute little cartoon portraits in the picture above. Also, if you are reading this and you do reside in the UK or would soon pay a visit to London itself before the year 2016 ends, I would suggest that you should try out this restaurant now before it closes permanently for refurbishment at the end of December. According to the staffs, the chef plans to relocate somewhere in London in future, with the intention of introducing a new concept to his restaurant next time. The following are among the few dishes that I managed to try again this time.

Pan seared scallops with squid ink sauce.

Buttersquash or pumpkin soup, if I'm not wrong. 

Salmon salad. 

Squid bolognese made in the form of tagliatelle.. Certainly something different, only from the Koffmann's.

The main course that I've chosen from the lunch menu: Pan seared lemon sole served with mussels. 

Forcing the sissy to take a picture for me as usual, teeheee. 

Another shot ;) 

Another gem in London, located around Soho area. Presenting to you one of the famous udon bar in London and also my favourite place to go every single time when I'm back – Koya Bar. Do check out this place if you ever have the time in London, after all, this place is always crowded so I would suggest going earlier to beat the queue. Another point to take note is that they won't let you have your seatings until you and your friends are all present :)

After udon, it was time for some macaron ice-creams! Presenting you another famous area to grab a quick dessert bite right after your meal over the weekend – Yolkin at Great Windmill street. It only starts selling at 12pm and during the weekend (Sat & Sun), and it used to have a long queue.. Their flavours change every week, so please go to their Instagram account at @yolkinmacice to find out more! Honestly, I used to be so crazy over these macaron ice-creams until a certain point I make it a habit to visit them every Sunday when I was in London right after my lunch.. And previously, due to the crazy queue, I would always rush/run to the place to ensure that my favourite flavours don't sell out. However, when I look back at these macaron ice-creams now, it was just all a hype and I don't think I would want to do that again because they are just okay and I wouldn't say extremely good. Forgive me if I say this, it's indeed a bit overrated. But for those who still haven't tried this if you're in the UK, please, definitely give it a try! 

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That's all for now guys! I'm going to update my blog again soon with more pictures coming up during my London's trip. Do check-in then~ Hope this blog post was quite informative with all the extra pointers for places to eat in London :D 

Have a great week ahead! 

Till then,

✗