market
Before I start sharing my love for food and Borough Market, let me try (yet again) to clear something up - you may skip the next chunk of text if you just want to read about food.
The most common phrase friends and family members from Singapore say to me when I meet them in London or talk to them via text/skype is "You have been traveling a lot!" To which I sheepishly smile and say "Hahaha really? Just a little!" I don't really know how/what to feel or respond sometimes, after hearing it from different people, I just accepted it, and stopped feeling bad for so doing. I gave up denying that I travel too much or justifying why I travel, I gave up telling people how I afford it, because some people just assume my family is rich (NO I don't take money from my parents to travel).
Anyway, I think the main reason why people tell me this is because I keep blogging about my travel adventures, and sharing images on Instagram of the places i've been to around Europe, and I barely mention about my life in London (apart from the outfit photos). But this is because I don't know what to say about my life in London. When I'm in London, I go to school, sometimes I eat out, other times I binge watch american dramas, and most of the time I'm hooked on instagram, youtube and pinterest. Apart from dressing up to school - my way of dabbling in something creative so that part of my brain doesn't rot from all the intense science and engineering - there really isn't much I do that is worth sharing (in my opinion!)
Honestly, compared to other exchange students, I must say I don't travel as much. When you get 1 year to stay and live in Europe, you MUST travel. If not, it is a colossal waste of opportunities. My friends visited 35 cities in their half a year of exchange, I doubt i've gone to 25 thus far. So, I will be traveling MORE. Just because I can, it makes me happy, and I WANT TO. There are many many MANY more places I would love to visit, explore and document my experiences. You're most definitely welcome to join me and hear about them.
Now that that is out of the way. We can go back to talking about London. You might think travel and clothes are my weakness, but my true weakness is actually food. It may not seem like it, but it is. I HAVE to eat out when I'm in a different city. It's as if it is a crime when I don't. And I get very upset when I miss out a chance for good food. In the same way, I get very excited when I do eat good food, and one of the places in London with AWESOME FOOD is Borough Market!
I went to Borough Market with my family, in December. They loved it so much they wanted to go back the next day! My impression of (and experience back home with) markets are that they are crowded, rowdy, noisy and in general just all over the place. I expected Borough Market to be a typical open air, street markets with pushcart like stalls being set up side by side. But no! It was one of those partially covered, considerably neat (I mean they had a map - of course I got lost anyway, but when there is food all around, I don't mind getting lost), each stall was beautifully set up and decorated, and they had sections for different types of food. Not to mention, the market is HUGE. I wished i had a super huge stomach so I could sample all the different food there.
For the first 10 minutes, I didn't get anything because I was afraid i'd be full from eating it and "Something better would come along". Eventually, I saw a stall selling Egyptian food, and decided to try it. My mum and siblings were hesitant because we had no clue what Egyptian food tasted like. But it was so good we finished up that bowl almost immediately after taking this photo!
*I realised the image of the roast hog is pretty... explicit for people who are against eating meat/pork, sorry for that!
After trying several different meat options, we proceeded to walk around to the other side of the market with the help of the map. When we saw this stall selling Fresh Oysters, my brother and sister insisted the HAD to try it. After we bought 3 oysters (my mum doesn't like seafood), the queue got long. An older couple in front of us bought 8! This young man was just busting open those oysters like it was a piece of cake. I doubt it is as easy as he made it seem to be.
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| A we-love-oysters-and-this-is-awesome shot taken by my mummy and suggested by my sister. |
Those oysters were really fresh and just so much juicy goodness. I don't even fancy seafood that much (with the exception of chilli crab), and I thought the oysters were so good. Zara and Isaac went for seconds, obviously.
After having lunch and so much savoury food, there is no way we would leave out deserts! There were so many different sweet treats available to choose from, my sister went for cookies, my brother said oysters were a good enough desert, and my mum and I decided to try the Thai Style Coconut Pancakes.
I was expecting it to have a mild artificial coconut flavouring, like most coconut cakes and sweets, but no it was completely authentic! The texture of the pancake was thin and crispy, and the coconut centre was soft, jelly-like, and exploded when bit into. I would highly HIGHLY recommend trying this if anyone is planning to visit Borough Market in London.
I think this was my mum's favourite dish of all the different food items we tried.
Generally, eating out in London can be pretty expensive. So a good way to not break the bank, but still have nice interesting food, is by visiting markets such as Borough Market. I have yet to hear a disappointing story from anyone who has been to Borough Market. I think there are so many options that it is hard to not find anything that you like. From fresh fruits and vegetables, to meat and cheese. Even bottles of honey, biscuits, cookies, and of course various savoury food from around the world. Paella, thai curry, african food, you name it, it probably can be found there! Having a meal in a market is definitely a great way to have a variety of food in one location - something I dearly miss from Singapore.
Even though the food prices aren't too cheap, and the portions may not be big, it is still cheaper than eating out at a café of restaurant. Plus the atmosphere and the aroma of food is just heavenly! I am getting hungry just talking about this.
Borough Market
8 Southwalk Street, London SE1 1TL
Opening Hours
Monday - Thursday: 10am - 5pm
Friday: 10am - 6pm
Saturday: 8am - 5pm
What do you love most about food markets? Are there other markets in London I should visit? Suggestions please :)
Awesome-st Food in Borough Market
5 March 2015
Leipzig, Germany - A lovely city just 150km away from Berlin.Stepping out of the Leipzig Central train station, I stepped right into a vibrant christmas market in the middle of the old town square. My first thought was "Oh my gosh it's so pretty!!" I spent the next 5 minutes looking up at the building and admiring its architecture, while Jerald beckons for me to follow him, and I apologise to people no the streets for constantly knocking into people with my hand luggage.
Leipzig has one of the most gorgeous looking Banks. Yes. BANKS. The architecture of the buildings were amazing. It reminded of how pretty banks in Paris with their huge gates. Cities like these with nice buildings even of common things like banks really get me.
Coming from Berlin, the architectural beauty was a fresh change. Streets were a lot narrower, but decorated with beautiful street lights and bursting with vibrance. Kids sipping on Kinderpunch (which I thought was mulled wine) and adults feasting on various german street food. Leipzig is less internationally acclaimed, not as well known, yet oozing with charm. It was a perfect transition city to spend a day or two in.
After leaving our bags in the hostel, we left to roam around the city (and get me my daily dose of bratwurst. When in Germany...) Instead of entering attractions, we spent our time walking around the streets, listening to children choirs (it was almost christmas!) visiting opened air shopping centres, discussed about the difference in the architecture in Leipzig and Berlin, wondering if Leipzig was part under capitalistic rule or the soviets, googling random information, eating various food items in the market, and trying not to be tempted to buy the lovely lamps and cute home decorative items that were being sold.
I know, its way past christmas, but can we just take a moment to look at these cute sheep? Of course they were protected by a barricade and could go in and hide in the "house" if they didn't want to be stared / photographed by the overly excited tourist and locals.
All in all, it was a lovely, laid-back day in Leipzig. I'll recommend it to visitors who will be spending lots of time in Germany, or like us, wanted to go to another intermediate city before heading off to Prague.
What I wore
Grey Sweater: H&M
Scarf: Fendi
Coat: Coldwear
Maroon Jeans: Primark
Boots: Timberlands
Lovely Laid-back Leipzig, Germany
31 January 2015 Leipzig, Germany
Being their first Christmas Market experience, the family was very excited, and ALOT OF food was consumed that evening.
Compared to Manchester Christmas Market, the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland has a lot more music and excitement. Probably because it is getting closer to Christmas and things are getting festive ;)
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland also seems bigger, and has all these games and rides - children and adults screamed as they are being swung high up into the air.
My siblings and I are always up for a rollercoaster ride, but when the temperature is 5degrees, we'd rather have our bratwurst sausage and just watch from the ground. Pretty sure our faces will freeze if we're up there.
As expected, the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland is a very popular Christmas season destination for both travelers and Londoners. The best time to go to avoid the crowd is about 5pm on a weekday. Never EVER go on a weekend. My family tried entering on a Saturday evening, and there was a horrifyingly long queue it was as if there would be a Taylor Swift concert performance in the market. Going on a weekday = less children + you can breathe while walking around + you get to stop and take some photographs. More importantly you get to have dinner at the market without having to deal with long queues and being shoved around!
The way they grill the salmon is just too cool!
The good thing about winter time is that it gets dark at 4pm. It feels like night time at 5pm and you get the feel of a Christmas Night! This is the only time I'm glad the sunsets early.
Have you gone to the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland? What is your favourite part about Christmas Markets?
Comment below!
Walkin' In A Winter Wonderland - Hyde Park, London
26 December 2014 Hyde Park, London, UK
This year is going to be my first christmas out of Singapore.Typically, christmases back home consist of my whole extended family gathering at one of my aunt's or uncle's house, having a big christmas dinner, blasting the AC, watching movies, eating chocolates and exchanging presents.
Since this is my first year abroad and away from my family during Christmas, I foresee a very different experience with this festive season.
First difference being: I WENT TO A CHRISTMAS MARKET!
Back home in sunny island Singapore, pre-christmas sales are abundant. Going down Orchard Road/any shopping mall anywhere, you'll be able to find sales on clothes, shoes, toys, everything. Hopping from mall to mall to buy christmas presents for my friends and family became a tradition. Unfortunately, there were no Christmas Markets around.
On the weekend I was in Manchester (visiting Jerald), he told me that Manchester has one of the best Christmas Markets in the UK. Coincidentally, the weather was amazing that saturday evening. We had every reason to visit Manchester's Christmas Market.
Needless to say, many seem to share our sentiments. Stepping into the christmas market was like walking into a human traffic jam - constantly bumping into people, and being shoved from side to side, all whilst slowly inching my way to the various food stalls for some food!
The market was huge and sold things from food, to home furnishings, mini christmas trees and lights, deserts, drinks, etc. Initially, I was more distracted by the flickering lights on the tree, the spinning windmill, and the huge red and white santa snowman on top of the city square. It was gorgeous! The contrast to the dark night sky just made the lights shine so much brighter.
After a couple of minutes spent looking up and being shoved around, the smell of food hit me. Sausages, Crepes, Burgers, I started repeating "I want some food" to Jerald every 5 steps we took.
There were so many different stalls to choose from, some selling the same type of food, others different. Eventually, we settled for a Spicy Hotdog Bun, Bacon and Potatoes, and a Pulled Pork Burger with Apple Sauce.
I was a little unsure about the apple sauce, but everyone seemed to like it - there was a queue in front of the sauce dispenser - so I relented and let Jerald have additional apple sauce in the bun. Turns out, the slight sweetness of the apple sauce complemented the pulled pork pretty well ;)
Almost everyone in the Christmas Market seemed to be either holding a bottle of beer or a mug with steam coming out. Somehow, my brain concluded that the mug contained hot chocolate. However, it was actually HOT WINE. Mulled Wine.
The Manchester Christmas Market served mostly german food, and Germany is known to have one of the BEST christmas markets in the world. This first christmas market experience has me dreaming of all the other christmas markets i'll go to during my winter trip to Berlin, and my Christmas in Prague!
I CAN'T WAIT! Winter Break PLEASE ARRIVE NOW.
Which is your favourite christmas market? Comment below!
Virgin Christmas Market Experience - Travel Linkup
3 December 2014 Manchester, UK
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