London Festive Soirée | Sunday 1st December 2013

On Sunday 1st December, Kev and I and a group of friends got together before the year 2012 descends and before we all become engaged with all the chaotic-ness, the festive season brings.

We started off with a spot of lunch in Chinatown before heading to Somerset House Outdoor Ice-skating rink to watch the ice skaters in full swing before heading to the Christmas Arcade within Somerset House. We were graced with delightfully set up festive stalls, gendering and wondering into each room which were selling all different things before making our way towards the ‘The Southbank Centre’ at the Embankment, where there was a further Christmas Market to explore.

It was a traditional, beautifully lit, German style Christmas Market with authentic wooden chalets selling all things nice and Christmassy. Definitely giving us all that magical winter atmosphere, especially when there is the aroma of spiced mulled wine, roasted nuts and gingerbread amidst in the air….

I post a selection of photos taken throughout the day as I wanted to share the enchantment along the River Thames with you…

Michelin Starred Dim Sum | Bo London | Mayfair | 11th November 2013

When an opportunity arises to munch on Michelin Starred food …one is clearly bonkers not to say yes! Especially when it’s dim sum food Michelin-fied! My husband and I invited a another couple to join us for dim sum lunch and we rocked down to London to try out Hong Kong Chef Alvin Leung’s creative culinary cuisine that has tantalised other people’s taste buds, we knew we had to give it a go ourselves.

Especially as we wanted to sample the high cuisine version of the traditional dim sum served in your local Chinese restaurant. Some of dishes in the Michelin starred menu included Black Truffle Soy Chinese Cheung Fun, Fried Squid Ball with Kaffir Lime, Unami Noodles, Har Gau with Black Truffle XO and Classic Xiau Long Bao.

Though the food was beautifully presented, looked and tasted delightful, it was disappointing to be presented with extra-petit portions servings, especially the Cheung Fun. I literally had to place the camera a few millimetres in front of it in order to capture the food. Now, I am not jaded, I know Michelin food is often served in smaller portions (we have previously sampled a tasting menu in Florence in Four seasons Hotel, Il Palagio, one-starred Michelin Restaurant before and we left feeling completely satisfied). However, Bo London took the ‘nouvelle cuisine’ to a new level. Besides the dumplings, portion sizes was beyond ridiculous for some of the dishes. Some dishes tasted 'ok', nothing extraordinary or worthy of a 1-star Michelin, in my opinion. On a lighter note, I would still recommend Bo London on flavour, taste and texture combination of some of the other dishes we sampled.

As Bo London menu prices were slightly off-putting, I personally would not return again as the menu was too expensive for what it was. This calibre of fine dining is not something we do frequently, but when we do, it must be memorable for all the right reasons.

To read our experience at 1-Starred Michelin Restaurant, Il Palagio at the Four Seasons in Florence, please click here

Love Jen xoxo

Sunset in Brighton

I never really witnessed a beautiful sunset before until last week when some friends and I met up for the weekend in my birth town of Brighton. Truly beautiful to say the least and I wanted to capture the multiple hues of pink, blues and purple illuminating the sky that evening.

I miss living near the seaside. I spent the first 6 years of my childhood here before my parents moved us over to the city of London. I remember my mum and dad, on their days off, taking me and my sisters and brothers to the beach for an ice cream or two and being able to buy 10p crab meat (this was back in the 1980s) and throwing pebbles into the beach and feeling completely and utterly content…being back for the day, it feels nostalgic and brings back some very happy memories when my family and I used to live here.

London Fashion Week S/S14 Emilio de la Morena | 17th September 2013

I felt extremely lucky to had been invited to LFW 2013 held at Somerset House and was looking forward to spotting some of the most stylish show-goers in town. Usually, I go to London Fashion Weekend, which is a consumer event that follows London Fashion Week. Vodafone London Fashion Weekend is essentially a designer shopping event, where members of the public can shop from designers of London Fashion Week.

Anyhow, I felt privileged to be able to experience the whole sha-bang at London Fashion Week where I had show seats to the designer ‘Emilio de la Morena’ Catwalk show.

I shared the whole experience with my good friend, Sandy.

If you want to see my experience at London Fashion Weekend 2012, please click here









Ciao!

Jen xoxo