“It’s summer, it’s hot, let’s BBQ!” That’s what I told my colleagues last week in the office and so we planned for the bbq in one day. The invites only went out the day before the BBQ. Luckily a colleague has a big place with a big backyard and 2 other female colleagues were willing to help putting the food together. I contributed by making Pimms of course… hahahahahaha. It was a very successful and good BBQ! Cant wait for another round before autumn/ winters come along.
Charles (from Trinidad & Tobago) was the cook for the day.
Suzy (Italian) and Cecile (La Reunion) helped prepared some Italian and French salads.
Starter while waiting for the bbq fire started. Great cheese!
A South African, English and a Brazilian enjoying their drinks.
The girls concentrating hard on a conversation.
Dav loving the BBQ.
Taking a break after cooking for a while.
Mike – I miss our aussie bbq… remember uncle herman’s plc with the swimming pool ??
I was very happy when I found out that Dav have asked me to be free on the weekend after my birthday for a surprise dinner. He was extremely secretive abt the restaurant and the location. He wont even allow me to use his iPhone the whole week leading to the dinner on Sunday, fearing that I would somehow check his phonebook/ recent calls/ emails/ etc etc for some clues. As we were taking the tube he wont even tell me which station to stop!!
I did suspect whether it would be one of those Michelin star restaurant like Nobu or Gordon Ramsay. We have been talking about Nobu for some time now. But it turn out to be a very good surprise.
We ate at St. John Restaurant at Spitalfield. This place was voted World’s 50 Best Restaurant, sitting at No. 16 even though they dont have a Michelin star!! The restaurant’s motto is very simple, they cook everything from the pig’s head to it’s tail… so you’ll find they offer very ‘interesting’ menu. But we enjoyed the food and the atmosphere a lot. Although it is a very popular place (Dav cant get a reservation on a Sat even though he called like one week in advance), the restaurant dont feel posh / upmarket / done up. It’s just like any other British restaurant with a pub feel as it adopts an open space dining concept.
If anyone asked, we would definitely recommend it! (except for the muslim of course)
Celebrating with a bottle of bubbles.
Tasty foie gras
Langoustine served with mayo
Pork… cant remember how it’s done. But very creamy and tasty.
Two of my girlfriends are in London for holiday and staying with us. We went walking around Richmond Park and Bricklane… what a hot and tiring day! The day ended with some good Indian food.
Ange busy taking pictures of our dinner.
Joyce loving her pub food… I think… hehehehe
I love this shot!! Taken by me using Dav’s camera with 50mm lens.
Looking around the market in Bricklane. Nice shots by Dav.
Nice shot of socks being hanged to promote a sock shop.
I took this shot. I like it!
Both came with SLR cameras, one Nikon and one Canon…
Cute graffiti on the floor. Bricklane is also famous for its graffiti by Banksy.
We cycled to Richmond Park again on Sat to soak in some sun while Dav do some studying. It wasn’t a very nice day but surprisingly the sun came out a few times. Funnily we were suppose to have lunch by the pond but Dav forgot to keep the food in his bag and instead we enjoyed a bottle of white wine.
There’s wild deers roaming around the whole park. This one was minding its own business having some food. It was very near where we were resting as well.
View of the pond from where the spot we rested.
Enjoying the day in the park with a glass of white wine and a book.
On our way back, Dav brought me to a new pub very near to our place. It’s called ‘The Telegraph’. The pub is hidden in the residential area. Am quite annoyed that we only found this place now!
Entrance to the pub. Very lovely with lots of flowers and plants.
There’s places to sit inside and outside.
Dav ordered pork chop with mushroom sauce and roasted potatoes. I love the sauce.
I ordered roasted duck with sweet sauce which is very nice as well.
First time in Bulgaria and didn’t know what to expect. It is an ex-communist country and was ruled by the Ottomans (Turks) once before. Was told that Sofia is the oldest city in Europe. Pictures taken using iPhone.
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a Bulgarian Orthodox Cathedral. One of the largest Orthodox churches in the world.
The Russian Church or the Church of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Maker.
The former royal palace at Battenberg Square, now the National Art Gallery.
Enjoying a nice Bulgarian beer after a long walk.
The Ivan Vazov National Theatre.
The Church of St George is a late Roman rotonda dated from 4th century situated in the courtyard of the Sheraton Sofia Hotel. It was constructed with red bricks and is considered the oldest building in Sofia. It is known for its Medieval frescoes in the central dome dating from 12-14th centuries.
St Nedelya is a medieval church.
Saw this in the shop from Coca-Cola. It taste funny… it’s actually coffee mixed with Coke. Dont really like the taste.
View of the mountains outside the hotel at sunrise (6am).