Miss Saigon

So for my 21st birthday, my wonderful Mummy took me to The Ritz for some sophisticated afternoon tea and also to see Miss Saigon which I have to say has topped my ultimate favourite musical: Phantom of the Opera as it was utterly amazing. 

It is held at the Prince Edward theatre in London West End with a whole new cast and an 18 year old who plays the main girl Kim! For just 18 years old and her first ever debut on a west end stage, Eva Nobelzada is phenomenal. 

Having performed many Miss Saigon songs at my University's Musical Theatre Society, I never actually knew what the story was about or listened to all the songs thoroughly, apart from the ones we performed but having watched the show, I must say that all the songs were really well written and sounded so nice. I thought it would be a musical with a lot of dialogue and the occasional song thrown in but it wasn't, in fact the whole show was presented through music and song, which I think a musical should be and works better that way as for me, it makes it more enjoyable!

It's a very touching performance as well as the story line. I did have a few tears in my eyes during some parts of it but I don't usually cry very easily, so this show must be good to bring a tear to my eye.

I really do recommend anyone who likes musicals to go watch this show and to those especially who are not keen on musicals as this will change your mind because it was so so good. It even had a helicopter!

        

Food and Coffee in Canterbury

As you probably all know through many of my posts that i'm a big food lover. I have tried some places in Canterbury but never wrote about any as I didn't think it was that great, however, this weekend for my boyfriends birthday we went to quite a few nice places and so if you're ever in Canterbury or is in Canterbury, you will have to try these two places!

Willows Secret Kitchen

This little corner coffee shop is tucked away, out of the high street down Stour Street. Living up to the name of it being a secret kitchen, it really is a very quiet, secretive place to open a coffee shop as I would probably never walk down this street if it wasn't rated 9th on TripAdvisor.

One of the smallest coffee shops I have ever been to but nevertheless one of the smoothest coffees I've had. My favourite type of coffee is cappuccino as I love the froth and chocolate on top but the cappuccino I had didn't taste much different to the flat white my boyfriend had, neither did it have any chocolate on top.

     

They also had quite a few selection of sandwiches/baguettes and we shared a ham and apple cider chutney baguette which was a nice size and came with a small side salad. The apple cider chutney also tasted a bit like apple pie! 

Altogether this place was very nice to relax in whilst enjoying a nice cuppa and talking to friends, read or do work. 

If you love your daily dose of coffee then this cute little secret kitchen is for you!

Rating: 7.5/10

Deeson's British Restaurant

Rated 6th in Canterbury and having walked past this place many times I have always wanted to try it as the menu always looks so yummy. The only downfall is that it's pretty pricey, especially for students, so I only went for a special occasion and it was so worth the money!

The service was quick and friendly, making the dining experience much better. There was a couple that sat beside us who were a bit annoying but in the end treated me and my boyfriend to a bottle of champagne! 

 To start I had the woody pigeon with onion tart, quails egg and parsnip puree and it was one of the best starters I've had as the balance between the sea salt sprinkled onto the just pink pigeon and sweet parsnip puree was just right. 

For main, I had a very posh roast that had roast pork, apple sauce, crispy roast potatoes and sweet roast vegetables, topped with a piece of crackling. The pork was nice and soft, going very well with the apple sauce and the roast potatoes seemed to have been cooked in duck fat making them fluffy on the inside and crispy on the out. However, what I didn't like too much was the gravy/jus as it was just a tad too sticky and sweet making the whole dish a tad on the sweet side. It would have been more perfect if it came with a more savoury jus and a bit more of it too!

Overall we had a nice experience and Deeson's definitely did serve up great fine dining British food.

Rating: 8.5/10

Corfu!

Being so busy in the summer, I haven't had the time to write since May and so I want to talk about the holiday I went to in June as it was a really nice experience and I urge those who have never been to Corfu (a small Greek island) to go at least once!

Me and my cousin stayed at a nice, small and friendly apartment in Sidari, which was around 2 hours away from the airport and the centre of Corfu town. It is only a 15 minute walk into town, the beach and a 2 minute walk to the nearest supermarket! Christina Apartments was reasonably priced and cost us only £370 (booked through Thomson) for flights, hotel and coach transfer. It is also ranked #1 on Tripadvisor!

It's owned by a small family and they are all very friendly and helped out a lot and the food was very cheap! You could get a full english for around €2-€3! The place was kept nice and clean as there was a cleaner that came everyday and every studio had their own balcony which was nice to sit and eat breakfast in with a lovely view! There was always enough sun beds and people wouldn't hog the space with a towel like they do at hotels which is good as it's very annoying when people do that! The only down fall was that you had to buy your own toilet roll and cannot flush it down the toilet and have to put it into the bin as the drainpipes are too small and can get clogged up easily!

Rating: 9/10

We went on a lot of excursions and my favourite was Paleokastritsa as it was such a beautiful place and we even got on a taxi boat and sailed around some of the island and into the blue caves. We also went to Paxos and Anti-paxos (a little beach island with amazing white sand and crystal clear blue sea), corfu town for a bit of souvenir shopping and also got on a local bus to Kassiopi which was situated only half an hour away from Sidari. 

I do not recommend booking any excursions via Thomson as it was overpriced and the excursion I booked was cancelled and they never told me about it until I asked them! There are many cheaper travel companies in the centre of Sidari and the best place is Valeros Travel where I booked mine!

Corfu Town

Anti-Paxos beach

Kassiopi

 So save up and go to this wonderful little Greek island! 

   

May Treasures

Time really does fly as we are already at the end of May which means we are getting closer to the summer holidays and summer itself! I did a few favourite things in April, so now, here are a few of my favourite things in May.

Cream Teas

A traditional English afternoon tea treat that includes of a plain/fruit scone, strawberry jam and clotted cream, and just to be extra 'healthy' I add butter to mine!

 The Tea Rooms I work at has finally launched their freshly baked cream teas last Saturday and I have had my third one in the space of six days which really I should feel guilty for doing so but I surprisingly don't as they are so yummy. 

Marc Jacobs 'Daisy' 

Having received this as a Christmas present last year, I haven't really had a chance to wear it as it's not a very wintery fragrance and because I don't want to use it all up as it is my favourite perfume, along with Prada 'Candy'. 

As Summer is approaching this Eau De Toilette is perfect for the season due to its fresh and sweet smell and to be honest, most girls would probably agree and already have this fragrance, and if you don't then I highly encourage you to go and get yourself a bottle for the summer!  

Boots 'Soltan': Protect and Tan

I brought this for my upcoming holiday to Greece and I don't usually use sun cream as I feel like I won't tan (which of course isn't the case). As UV is getting stronger nowadays I feel like I should start protecting my skin and having read the reviews for the best tan and protect products, Boots 'Soltan' is one of the best ones and is cheaper than the 'branded' products such as Piz Buin. 

I used this a couple of weeks ago when the it was really hot and I was laying in the garden for a good 2-4 hours and still got a nice even tan as well as knowing that this product is protecting my skin! It smells really good as well and soaks into the skin instead of leaving the skin feeling very sticky. I highly recommend this sun cream/spray to anyone who is going on holiday or just sunbathing in their garden!

The Maddermarket Kitchen

20 St John Maddermarket

Norwich

NR2 1DN

01603460558

Open Tuesday to Saturday

Lunch: 12:00-14.30

Dinner: 18.30-21.30

Tucked in the heart of Norwich, having seen the reviews on TripAdvisor, I thought I would try this place out as it had a rating of 4.5/5. It was a really nice peaceful environment to eat in and the service was really good too.

The food is sourced locally and freshly which means their menu changes regularly as explained on their website, yet you still have a good variety of choice providing you are not a fussy eater.

The prices aren't too bad seeing as it is a place of fine dining, three dinner courses only came to £24.95!

Sea bass fillet with brown shrimp beurre blanc, crushed new potatoes and asparagus

Lemon cheesecake with lemon curd, raspberry sauce and meringue

For starter I had a butternut squash soup topped with chives which had to be one of the best soups I have had and I drink a lot of soups! It was very smooth and creamy and although it was creamy it wasn't too rich and very moorish!

For main I had a pan fried sea bass with a perfect crispy skin and soft flesh. The beurre blanc was very nice as well, yet it was a little too rich for me however I cannot complain as it was truly delicious.

Lastly, the lemon cheesecake really topped off the whole three course meal as it was very light and not sickly at all and to make it even better they put popping candy on top of the cake too!

This is definitely a place to go! 

Rating: 8.5/10

Let's talk...Yoga!

Having started yoga last year my body feels much stronger and less stressed. Not only does it contribute to the wellness of the body but also the strength, balance, flexibility and many others, by opening  

the body and spine.

Yoga really helped with the wellness and health of my mind and body, some of which included:

Better sleep

Stress relief

Toned muscle

Weight loss

Bloating

Immunity boost

Example poses:

Stress relief and core: Cat and Cow

Asthma and digestion: Half Lord of the Fishes

Strength and stretch:  Bow

When I first started I used this YouTube video which is 50 minutes long but Tara Stiles leads the workout really well especially for beginners!

My life motto

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go. Things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right. You believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself. And sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."

Marilyn Monroe

April Treasures

It's only just the beginning of April but I thought I'd share with you a few of favourite things this month:

Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover

This is a wonderful book written by a wonderful author Colleen Hoover. She has never failed to impress me with her romance stories, all of which are page turners and are definitely different to the typical 'I love you' books out there. Many will know that I don't tend to cry at films or books but Hoover managed to make me cry with her other best-selling book 'Hopeless'. 

'Maybe Someday' is a very sweet and down to earth book, dealing with issues that are true to life rather than fanatical. Her characters are realistic and treat situations maturely and the outcome was pretty unexpected for me. After reading 'Hopeless', 'Slammed' and all her other books, I was really excited for this new release and although I did like the book, my favourite has still got to be 'Hopeless'.

Divergent

Divergent is a film adapted from the book written by Veronica Roth which I watched the other day with the Mother. As always, the books are better than the films and I'm not going to lie but yes the book was better. However, the film was pretty good and true to the book which personally I think is important.

It has been compared to the Hunger Games quite a lot because of the whole districts and factions malarkey but they are both different in many ways and need to be treated differently as they are both really good. I must admit that Divergent was quite slow in places but I know that-that is because they needed a introduction for the audience and I cannot wait for the next film 'Insurgent' to come out!

   Casting Crème Gloss: Blackcurrant

I recently decided to dye my hair again as I was getting bored of waiting for my original hair colour to grow out and only spending just over £6, this box of 'No Ammonia' hair dye did just the thing for my hair. I've used this hair dye a few times now and I've loved every outcome but this one is possibly my favourite even though I did like 'Cherry Red' too. 'Blackcurrant' is a really nice colour as it shines under the sun with natural undertones of reds and purples. This box comes with the crème gloss, colourant and conditioner and leaves your hair soft and smelling divine! 

Lola's Cupcakes

I love my desserts and cakes and absolutely adore cupcakes whether it is buying them to eat or baking them for others. I went to Bluewater one day and came across Lola's and thought I'd treat myself to a couple of cupcakes. They are pretty pricey at £3 for a normal size, but they taste so good! I have tried the 'Red Velvet' with the cream cheese frosting and the 'Ferrero Rocher' which was my favourite as it was a chocolate sponge filled with hazelnut and chocolate sauce, chocolate frosting topped with a whole Ferrero Rocher!

30 things about me...

So having done a few blogs on skincare, drama series, musicals and food, I thought I'd tell you some things you may or may not know about me so you have a brief idea of what kind of person is behind this blog!

Enjoy!

1. I can do this weird swirly thing with my tongue 

2. I LOVE crisps so much that I've been told that I fan girl over them because I get that excited

3. I have a crazy obsession with Iron Man that I even dressed my build-a-bear in his costume (he's so cool!)

4. When I first learnt to crawl, I would pick up anything off the floor to eat (even spiders)

5. I hate the cold with a passion and cannot function when it's cold

6. It's pretty official that my brain doesn't like to work and that me and my brain are separate from each other

7. When I was two and a half I could fit a ping pong ball in my mouth

8. I spend way too much time watching dramas

9. I changed my degree three times (I'm too indecisive with my life)

10. I love cake! (who doesn't?!) and desserts in general

11. I have been told many times that my mum looks like my sister and that when I was only 17 she got told she looks 23 and I look 21...

12. When I have my own house, I want a teacup cat, a tortoise, a sloth and a micro-pig

13. I have been named 'One sip Coco' as I'm that much of a light-weight (small people problems)

14. I am bilingual (english and cantonese) with the additonal knowledge of mandarin and korean 

15. Personally, I think that pulling faces makes me look better in photos

16. My girl crush is Nicole Scherzinger (I love her!)

17. One of my pet hates is lateness, it ruins everything planned!

18. I have a fear of clowns, thunder, lightening, heights, dirty toilets, vomit, the dark and spiders

19. I'm not ticklish! Jealous much?

20. I have a crazy obsession with cuddly toys and bears

21. I have over 50 pairs of shoes...one of my favourite things to buy (I'm a tad obsessed!)

22. I don't eat white doughy foods and pasta that other people cook

23. I text back pretty much straight away and find it frustrating when other people don't

24. I am an extreme clean freak (I bring hand sanitiser everywhere)

25. I want to be in an action film where I can fight the bad people and look cool!

26. I have the worse eyebrows ever, they never go the way I want it too!

27. I'm a pretty good cook (without sounding cocky) and don't understand it when people can't cook

28. I used to think there was more than one sun (#thingscocosays)

29. I can't run (I can't last a minute without needing a rest)

30. I have pulled a moony in public before but that was when I was a little girl (oops!)

Once Upon a Time

Many of my friends will and probably do think I'm a bit obsessed with this American TV drama series and I must admit that I am. For those who have watched it would most probably agree how amazing this series is, so what is there not to be obsessed about?!

For me, I think the directors from 'Lost' has definitely redeemed themselves with this incredible series. When I first introduced this to my friends, they were all like what? Fairytales? No no my friend... it's not just any fairytale series...

I have always wanted to watch something that combined all of my favourite fairytale princesses and other characters in and Disney never managed to make a film like that and when I saw this I had to watch it straight away without hesitation and three weeks later I had caught up to the third season! 

This is no ordinary fairytale drama series. It contains many twists within all the different story lines that cleverly interlinks into one another, and if you enjoyed 'Lost' then you'll enjoy this much more, especially with the way it is filmed. 

It includes many characters with the main ones being Snow White and Prince Charming, the Evil Queen, Rumplestiltskin, Captain Hook and of course Henry and Emma who are brought into this world of dark magic in Storybrooke, cursed by the Evil Queen. 

                          

The acting is absolutely incredible especially Lana Parrilla who acts as the Evil Queen, in which she plays flawlessly! The costume design for her are beautiful and makes me want dresses like that and Lana Parrilla definitely pulls the look off, as she too is stunningly beautiful. 

This series is definitely not one to miss and gets more and more exciting by the week!

Cafe no.33

33 Exchange Street

City Centre

Norwich

NR2 1DP

01603626097

Open 7 days a week

This little gem of a cafe is one of my favourite places to eat out for lunch in Norwich. Only a small place at the bottom of the high street, No.33 is always packed with people and queues, however it is all worth the wait.

The menu has many choices ranging from a full English breakfast, to  to fish fingers on sea salt focaccia which is all pretty amazing! Their menu changes from time to time but having been there many times, it's safe to say that everything tastes yummy!

What's more amazing is the generous amount of cake you get per slice and the wonderful flavours they provide as well ranging from the Classic Victoria sponge, to chocolate and banana, hazelnut and mocha to a refreshing lemon and poppyseed and many more including brownies! 

If you just fancy some afternoon tea and cake, this is definitely the place to come as a slice of cake and drink is only £3.50!

Berta Bridal

I randomly came across Berta Bridal and although I'm not planning to get married for another few years yet I thought I'd share a few of my favourites from the Winter 2014 collection as they're just too beautiful not to!

Berta is an Israeli bridal designer and has a certain uniqueness to her dresses. It seems her bridal fashion has taken a storm with many boutiques selling her dresses around the world. 

More dresses can be found here