Thursday 29 August 2013

Duck in My Cherry Sauce

I think it was my last day in London when i decided to cut and color my hair. I just thought being in on of the stylish city in the world, they have to have some good stylist. I went to Windle & Moodie.

Just as any English establishment, people at Windle & Moodie are very nice. Sergei cut my hair and Jamie deepened my color. It was just a fair cut, but i know from experience great salons normally don't give you a great haircut right there. Gotta wait till it grew a little. The color on the other hand made me look healthier somehow. It's dark brown actually suits my complexion and in the next pictures, specially when i get to santorini, the color looked even prettier and prettier.


Ahh, posting that picture makes me miss London. The people's courtesy there made me feel ashamed. I mean, aren't we Asian should be the ones with the superior manner and courtesy? But i guess, this is the second city that took me by surprise by it's courteous citizen. When i was in Den Haag, people actually greeted each other as they pass by. Well, at least in the morning. One very chilly morning, My husband and i were entering a little cafe, and i was taken aback when everyone nodded and the ones standing closest and nearest to us actually said "morgen".

Anyway, that last day in London was me being me. So of course i gotta go to King's Cross. The closest thing a muggle like me can go to peek into the wizarding world. I tried to get through Platform 9 3/4 to no avail even though i had the Elder wand in my hand.



Oh well, i guess it was a long shot. I just have to be happy that, the only magic i can get would come in a form of dinner. 


So we walk to Trafalgar Square and made our way to Soho where rows of cool places to eat would tempt you with their aroma, interior design, or at least warmth. It was getting late and London was getting chillier. My mistake was, i did not bring any respectable autumn jacket. I thought London would be warm. I started  to feel the chill to my bones and i hurried up. But the places we passed were full. Some even have lines outside their door. People actually lining up neatly in the cold to eat. Much like sushi tei crowd, only they don't scramble. They stand like how people would get in line to get XXI tickets. 

Dayu pointed out across the street to what she said to be a famous italian restaurant. As i followed her fingers, i found the line were even longer. I rolled my eyes and she got it. Not far i felt a little warmth, and it came from COTÈ. I asked Dayu if it's any good, and she didn't know. So i suggested we tried the place. Immediately, i felt at ease. Warm warm warm! It's all i needed then. Tropical human like me can't stand the windy and chilly weather. Dayu in the other hand was just happy we found a place to eat. Both of us were hungryyy!

As soon as they gave us their menu, i was dishearten. It was a french restaurant and i was not familiar with any of their dishes. So i ordered the most "normal" one. It was duck, served in pink with cherry sauce. I don't like duck, i don't like anything less than overcooked, and i don't prefer cherry. But i thought, at least i know what each ingredient taste like, and unlike any other things on the menu, it would be predictable.

When it came, it came like this : 


Yuck! 

The duck looked raw. I swear i tried not to vomit

But through out this trip i really tried to try  new things, and so i swallowed. 

It was chewy, and then i tasted the cherry. How strange. It didn't taste bad. It actually is hmmm quite ok. I took another one, choosing what look like the less chewy one, dipped it in the sauce, and it was actually GREAT! I drank my wine and the meal became INCREDIBLE! It was insane! Dayu said her meal was extremely good too!

Lovely lovely London! One visit is so not enough. I will return to discover more ducks and more cherry sauce!








Friday 16 August 2013

Day 3 : Hittin' The High Street

My sister, Githa, had put me on a quest. To find the most wanted bag of this year : the Givenchy Antigona. Needless to say i no nothing about Antigona, but how hard could it be?



The bag, apparently is really that difficult to find. I went to Harrods, Harvey Nichols, etc to no avail. They have the other one, that got me thinking that my sister is either nuts or i just really have a bad fashion sense. 


This is Antigona. To me, this bag looks like a doctor from 1985 would carry everywhere. I just don't get it. She wanted this bag? That's just crayzieh. But, what do i know? She's the stylish one. So i sent this pic to her and just kept on looking. I'm on a mission my self.   I'm hunting for a pair of Christian Louboutin Pigalle patent, 120mm, in MY size. They are supposed to be £395, or about 6 mill rupiah but the one in my size is sold everywhere for 10 million. 

I found my "baby" in Harvey Nics, one last pair left! It was totally meant to be mine! Without any hesitation these pretties are in my shopping bag and i smiled for the rest of the entire day.



Feeling famished, we went up to the 5th floor of Harvey Nics to eat. A place where we found delightful meal, crazy delicious wine and we ate 2 portions each! Seriously! It was heaven! 


By the way, while in London i drank wine with every meal, and i didn't get drunk at all! Usually, i rarely drink wine, when i do i drink at home with my husband, while watching tv or discussing our day. Or maybe with very close friends only. The reason? I get drunk too easy, sometimes over a rumball or coffee with the tiniest portion of rum. So a glass of wine is a sure way to get totally wasted. But in London, i can drink 2 glasses and don't feel anything but warmth. London was cold, too cold and too windy. I guess all that wine was used up to warm my body. But they didn't help much, it was still too chilly for me.

Anyway, we continued our search for Antigona in Selfridges. There, i saw what sister saw. The Antigona, in lamb skin. 

It is truly a beauty. It's a head turner, even when i tried it on, it invited the nearest people to come to Givenchy corner and ask for their own piece. I sent the picture to my sister, and she was nearly hysterical. Well, as hysterical as she can be in whatsapp anyway. So i bought it, and it was a successful shopping day! 


I was pretty happy when we strolled down oxford street, since i got everything i had and wanted to buy. But it was not until i got the most perfect jeans i ever tried on, that i felt like i was walking on air. It was dark indigo, perfectly cut to my size and HEIGHT! It was, ladies and gents, the £7 jeans, from Primark.

Oh London, how i love thee!