the wonder begins

Rossio Square fountain and a nice absence of tourists

I need to stop writing blog posts like half a year after I've been on holiday because I keep forgetting everything I did... Anyway, our 5-day getaway to Portugal (in the Autumn!) was full of sporadic sunshine, typical tourist ventures and Portugese tarts. It was a surprisingly quiet capital and a lot more vacant than I had expected, with a certain quaint vibe that European cities always have (and London is kinda devoid of). Lisbon was fashioned with cobbled sidewalks, grand and intricate landmarks and old buildings.

We stayed at the contrastingly modern Sheraton Lisboa, with its atmospheric lighting, dark, sleek rooms and very naked, glass-paned bathrooms. We also lived off Lidl baguettes and pâté in the mornings because who pays 30 Euros for hotel breakfast?


The best lobster bisque I've everrrrr had | The best bacauhal of the trip | Smoked salmon with capers and Charcuterie board at Artisan Wine Bar

Food is always the highlight and quest on a good holiday. Our ventures included Salsa Rosa Bistro, Artis Wine Bar, Pastéis de Belém, some amazing lobster bisque and bacalhau in I-can't-remember-the-name-of-the-restaurant (but it's on the same Belém road), Manteigaria and probably a few others that I might have remembered the name of if I had only bothered to write this post sooner. And my favourite dinner place Frade dos Mares, a little seafood restaurant tucked off a main street.


Belém | Lagareiro style octopus at Frade dos Mares | Manteigaria

And if there's a Pastéis de Belém vs. Manteigaria debate, Belém wins hands down. Manteigaria wasn't even close. Belém was the perfect amount of sweet. It is Portugal's number one after all. I remember the first time that I had a pastel de nata was in the Venetician Macau and it tasted so good that I'd been nostalgic ever since, and Belém satisfied that completely -throws confetti-


Praça do Comércio | Tram 28 | Jerónimos Monastery

Our checklist:

• Rossio Square - a huge, ornate fountain with Cirque de Sardine across the road (a tinned sardines emporium)
• Praça do Comércio - very picturesque, but I almost died from the heat and Attack of the Flies. One flew on my lip, FYI
• Castelo De São Jorge/St. George's Castle - also land of wild peacocks
• Jerónimos Monastery
• The aquarium Oceanário de Lisboa
• Tram 28
• Rua do Diario de Noticias - trekked around this ambient area for some restaurant hunting

And that concludes our relaxing, little city break. Next stop: Rome.


Sardines anyone? 

After two months of dedicated Friday Forty participation, the prospect of winning tickets for the sold out Cursed Child play seemed pretty bleak. But then after an overdose of Felix Felicis and a bout of luck, we won.

WE WON THE FRIDAY FORTY.

Now most of my friends assume that we got the tickets for free when I say that we won the Friday Forty, but winners actually just get the best seats at reduced rates. £130 seats for only £40! "Oh, wtf. That's not really winning though..." Yes. Yes it is. Bloody muggles.


Sneaky pic. This is how close I was to Voldemort.

We went to Saturday 5th November's showing at the luxe Palace Theatre. Sadly missed Matt Lewis by a day, but hey, can't complain when we got front row seats (and next ticket release is for December 2017, wut).

Without spoiling too much (because #keepthesecrets), I can only say that it was everything and more. Personally, I loved the story because J.K. Rowling is basically my hero and I love anything she writes. Think moving staircases, return of the time turner, flying dementors, spells shooting out of wands and 5 hours of pure magic.

Secretly, I would've liked a Goblet-of-Fire-sized novel and a movie, but after seeing it, a play format makes sense. Can she just keep making sequels forever? I'm just drowned in nostalgia anytime I read or watch HP. I need help.

Embarking on a new adventure and much-needed break, I finally visited one of the bucketlist ultimates: Santorini. As a hater of sunbathing and deep water, beach holidays kinda aren't my thing. But Pinterest is good marketing and an exception was made for the quest of white buildings with blue roofs.

To commemorate the day I saw Queen Bey slaying and basking in all her vocal/dancing/physical perfection. Seriously, she is so flawless is she even for real. Lemonade album favourites include Formation, Don't Hurt Yourself and Sorry because Queen Bey is just so cool and empowering when she's angry. Half the setlist were older songs like Yoncé, Partition, Diva plus a medley of old old songs and Destiny's Child.

Acapella version of Love On Top (Can we also note my very stable video-taking skills)


And whether the cheating rumours are true or not (Solange and elevator tho...) Dear Beyoncé, you don't need no man.

In light of my recent Kyoto post and backtracking the past year in order to complete my 2015 chronicles, Izzy helped and found these photos she took of me looking unprepared along the Kamogawa River. Next to Pontocho Alley and looking gloomy in all its quaintness, it is still a pretty scenic view. Shame it was starting to get murky and there was no photobomb from girls in kimonos (which there are plenty of in Gion). I'll be forever nostalgic for those Kyoto days.





Cardigan - Stradivarius
White jumper - Bershka
Jamie Jeans - Topshop
Trainers - Puma
Bag - Longchamp
Sunglasses - Rayban

And lastly, here's a photo of the river near the Gion-Shijo Station, Kawabatacho end giving me 1 Litre of Tears vibes.

There's (almost) nothing quite as satisfactory as a good shopping trip with a best pal. We spent a Saturday in the Shinsaibashi area when we visited Osaka. Shinsaibashi-suji Shopping Centre is a super long shopping arcade with a lot of Western brands. Guilty of buying a shearling coat from Stradivarius (which turned out to be cheaper in HK AND England), but Japan was getting pretty cold.

Our main indulgence was Japanese cosmetics. Who knew you could spend over an hour in a pharmacy. We came back the day of our flight and went crazy. Pretty sure I didn't even need half the stuff I chucked into my basket, but have to take advantage of the Yen whilst it's still cheap! There's also tax-free shopping in pharmacies and hoards of Mainlanders practically buying out everything. Ended up buying Lululun face masks as gifts, and then plenty of DHC, Dejavu, Dark Media, Suisai and Shiseido. And also mouth ulcer stickers. (Why don't they sell them anywhere else?!)



We also wandered to Kuromon Market (a bit too late). A lot of the stalls were starting to close as we got there, because we're always one step behind at life, but we managed to feast on some takoyaki and sashimi. And here's also a picture of Dotonburi Canal, which we went past in the daytime. Everything in Japan is just so picturesque.

Dōtonburi is pretty overwhelming at night when there's queues everywhere. The area is a hub of nightlife, restaurants, shops and neon lights, paying homage to 3D seafood plaques and the Glico man. We weren't on a food mission (although we should have been) because of our un-strategic holiday planning. We ended up going to a random restaurant overlooking the canal for the best grilled eel though, after a stint of souvenir shopping. I went overboard in a souvenir snacks shop with mochi and giant Meiji Apollo. In hindsight, I should've got the rainbow Pocky and retro Pretz. Next time, next time.



After dinner, me and Izzy decided to go karaoke. Just the two of us. Yup. Apparently, karaoke on your own is actually a thing in Japan and single karaoke booths actually exist, so we thought a 2-man karaoke room wouldn't be hard to find. And it wasn't. We picked a random one of many, and struggled with the pricing and room booking and free drinks and generally everything because of the general lack of English that Japanese speak. Our room was tiny, and literally just for 2 people, catered with 2 seats, a Japanese-only system (and pretty 'sick' reverb and bass) and some instruments. We were having technical issues with one mic and I kept on having to phone the reception with my limited Japanese of "Eigo o hanasemasuka?" (aka Do you speak English - which no, he didn't). But besides not understanding anything, we had a pretty amusing time and the English song choices were better than any karaoke place I've been to in England and Hong Kong.



The place, albeit pretty crowded, makes for a nice night-time stroll when the crowds start dying down. We also hit up the 300 yen store and also got hot milk tea in a plastic bottle from a vending machine. Which is essentially kinda the same as going to a Poundland and just getting a hot tea from a coffee machine, but everything is just cooler in Japan. And, for the lols, below is when my panorama was photobombed by a thousand nostrils.