Ich Bin Eine Hamburger who also ventured to Dublin

For the month of April I went to two countries-- Germany and Ireland.

First I was off to Dublin for the weekend of the 10th to the 12th of April. It was a group of fifteen of us, but that young Chicagoan (see my mention of him here) was amongst the group.
Dublin is known for two things in the world of imbibing: Guinness and whiskey-- both of which I partook in.

It's basically like VitaMalt sans sugar-- a blasphemous statement,
but they are indeed my tastebuds.

Nothing like whiskey at 3pm

We also ventured to the Kilmainham Gaol where I had high tea and learned about the years leading up to Irish Independence. I knew it was a bloody fight, but I head no idea the extent. Antigua just signed a treaty for pete's sake. We had it easy.

On the night of the 11th, Ryan the Chicagoan and I made it our duty to venture to a "local" pub... one that wasn't overpriced and touristy. We found one called "The Tap Bar" where a pint of good beer was a measly €3 and the crowd was nonexistent. We were, however accosted by a friendly Dublin man with an accent as thick as over-floured cake batter who asked if we were on a date. When we failed to answer, he took us on a world wind ride-- buying is both pints, asking us about America, the details of our relationship, proceeded to try to chat me up and get us to dance with him. Safe to say he wasn't the most sober person in the quite empty pub. Despite it being quite harrowing at first, once we established his harmless nature it became quite fun. He did get a selfie with me-- but I didn't have the heart to ask him to send it to me.

That's the place!

 The following weekend, I was off to Germany-- Hamburg to be exact.
 I met up with an old Family friend and one of my mother's business contacts, Johannes. My mother has worked with his company for years, so it was my diplomatic duty to get a group photo with the staff.

That's Johannes to my left there!

Soon after he, his significant other, and I ventured around Hamburg. They were great tour guides and introduced me to the wonder of currywurst. I now want ketchup and curry powder on EVERYTHING and mayonnaise on all my chips (as if heart disease doesn't exist, right?).

My nomadic life for the past two weekends have come to an end as I am now at the mercy of final exams and have to come to terms with the fact that my six months in Europe is soon over-- sad but true. Ah well-- my passport is valid so I can return sometime.

My view of Hamburg from the hotel

Ann
xx

To a Time Where I mingled Amongst Elves.

On Monday I went to the Soho Theatre and saw a live recording of the QI podcast, No Such Thing As A Fish. The recording started at 7 but I got there a bit early and got to speak to Dan Schneider, the sort of MC elf. We bonded over our weird accents and abundance of passports.

The recording was excellent! Really funny and factual-- the main draw of the programme. It was very penis-heavy this time 'round, though...

After the recording I had drinks with 3/4 of the star elves-- James, Andrew and Dan-- and it was really and truly surreal. I had to pinch myself and force myself not to fangirl.

I was composed. I'm proud of myself.

I also met a fellow sort of 'nerd groupie' in the form of a girl called Molly.  Both of us couldn't believe our luck that we were there.

After a few glasses of wine and a gin and tonic bought with a tenner we all found on the bar floor (which turned out to be Dan's) we all walked to the tube station and said our goodbyes.

I got to hold the Chortle award! I voted for them so many times... I'm glad they won and ecstatic that I got to hold it...

It was truly a night I'll remember for a long time.

Hallo Again!

I haven't written in a while and that really is all my fault. I could say I've been wickedly busy (which is true), but I still found time do watch BBC iPlayer so...yeah.

But I'm back now and I'll fill you in on what's really been going on.

To start, I'm still in London and working well at school and at work--i.e. using work commitments to procrastinate on coursework. But that's still productive, right?

I've been to Brighton, and Bath. I've taken selfies with Elvis and Stonehenge. I've been a right ol' traveller, I have.

Chillin' with my druid friends.

That Elvis tho....

I've also consumed a fair bit of fermented drink, if you know what I mean. However, those are the pleasures of Blighty and they will sure be missed when I'm gone.

 I've also made friends, the best of whom has been a young Chicagoan (I really don't know what they call themselves... I must ask), called Ryan with whom I have embarked upon adventures during my time here.

I also was reunited with my cousin Dominique who I haven't seen for around 6 years. When we last saw each other, we were both under five foot tall and prepubescent. She's now 6 feet tall in heels and towers over me. I'm forever jealous of her ability to source things from high shelves and she envies my shoe size. Despite our vertical differences, we've clicked and have spent time giggling, taking selfies, and drinking Caramel Macchiatos-- so basic, but so good.

This gal has been frolicking around London and other parts of England for the past month, exploring, eating, and being terrified by pigeons. This weekend I shall be travelling to Northumbria to see an old friend-- a girl I haven't seen in nearly a decade. I'm nervous about if we'll click back like it was 2007 or if it'll be awkward. I'm also very excited. We've more or less stayed in constant contact over the years via e-mail and later FaceBook, Twitter, and even Skype; but this will be our first in person meeting and she has lovely green hair.

I'd love to end this blog post by promising to write something next week, but I know if I did I'd probably be a rotten liar.  I'll try, okay? I'll make something momentous worth writing about happen-- unless you'd like to read a type-off of my Tesco purchases. If the latter is the case, you can have your next post within a week, if I can find the receipts.

Until then!

Ann
xx

What Birthdays Are For

Thursday, Feb 5th was my birthday. Yay me!

I'm one year older (well numerically, technically I'm just one day older than I was on Feb 4th).

Either way the day was a fun one. I saw my cousin, Dom, who I have not seen since roundabout 2008. We were inseparable when we were little children and we clicked back automatically. It was like I never left.


I spent my day with my aunt, her husband, their children, and Dom.
What did I get for my birthday? Ohh not much...
I went to River Island to treat myself to a CAT BAG!

look at it.. just look at it.

I was way to excited about that.

My family and I went to a great Caribbean Restaurant near Walthamstow called Turtle Bay. The food was spicy, to my liking.

I also got the cutest little birthday cake to blow out the candles on and had an all around good time.

This last year has been monumental. I really believe I came out of my shell personally and professionally.  I've accepted opportunities and really jumped into the deep end to use my potential. I look forward to bigger and better things from this milestone and beyond.



Ann
xx

My Kind of Night Out

Last night I got home around 10:30pm which for me is near scandalous.

I had a great night visiting the London Eye and eating a scrumptious dinner at Strada.

The day started out with me waking up to listen to Absolute Radio's weekend breakfast hosted by Frank Skinner before switching to XFM's Saturday show hosted by John Robbins and Ellis James.


I then visited House of Fraser for some well needed retail therapy. I went to the Lancôme stand to peruse and came out with a mascara. C'est la vie.

After a quick lunch at Pret, I returned to the student barracks for a face mask and a cuppa until 4:30 when I would begin to get glammed up for a night out.

By 4:30, my clothes were on and my face was done up as I left for the Bakerloo line to take me to Charing Cross.

 I rode the eye, had my 4D video experience, and went to dinner. Despite my companion's pleas to go out and drink a little, it was approaching 11pm, and I really didn't want to be subjected to a night bus.

Whilst walking across the bridge to London Eye, I took many wonderful pictures. Whilst on the eye I took more. Here are a few of my favourites:

LONDON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In 36 hours I'll be on an aeroplane again. I'll be taking myself on a long-haul flight to Blighty!

That's right, England, the place where around  3/4 of my childhood took place. I can't wait to see family and friends that I have not seen for eons.

Wahey!



However, my mother has disseminated an awful flu to the entire family.  

I plan to get rid of it before I venture out into the cold. Really bad to change climates from tropical to icy. There's a risk of pneumonia, you know.

After being subjected to many weird teas and a cocktail of cough medicines, I do feel a little better; however I'm still wearing a fleece blanket as a toga in 30ºC heat. Not really a sign of optimum health, I assure you.

On the first night of the flu, I was cold and hot at the same time, shivering and too dizzy to get out of bed. I had hallucinations of Paul McCartney making a song with Kanye West. Wait... that actually happened.

I imagined that my dog turned into a centaur.

I further had weird cough syrup-induced dreams of me marrying someone who might be reading this. With that in mind, I'd rather not say for fear of professional status slipping and mental wellbeing being compromised. 

Let's just say it was a corporate wedding.


  However some good things have happened over the past week. I sat for six hours and got my hair braided, and I'm sure I've lost round about half a stone through being so sick I can only eat cucumber sandwiches and ginger ale.

I did, however, manage to make and ingest some baked rosemary potatoes for supper.
Every cloud...

Tuna and Chickpea Pasta Salad

One of My New Year's Resolutions is to make more packed lunches. Not only are they cheaper per serving, but they are often more nutritious and less calorific since you would be aware of what's actually going into your tuck.

Here is one packed lunch recipe I've loved for the past week or so:

 Tuna and Chickpea Pasta Salad

Makes 2 Servings

Ingredients

3 Cloves of Garlic
2 Cups of Pasta (I've been using the tri-colour spiral pasta but you can use what ever type you like)
1 Bell Pepper 
1/2  of an onion
1 cup of canned chickpeas
1 tin of tuna
Salt and Pepper

Directions

1. Boil pasta in 2 1/4 cups of salted water. This should take around 10 minutes

2. Whilst the pasta is boiling, finely dice your bell pepper, onion, and garlic (you may also grate the onion and use a garlic crusher if you don't want the texture and want an even distribution of flavour).

3. Drain the pasta once finished.

4. Add your tuna, peas, and seasoning to the pasta and combine thoroughly.

5. Season with salt and pepper

That's it! It is easy, below 500 calories, and very yummy!