Beggars Can’t Be Choosers

Home made puff pastry pizzas ... DELISH!

My roommate and good friend, Madz - she's the keeping me sane here!

Since living by myself - or rather in a house with 10 other people who are not my caring, beautiful family - I have learnt to make do with what I have.  Especially in terms of food and friends.  Friends have now become my family, especially my roommate Madz.  We sort of have to hang on to each other in order to stay sane doing this whole by ourselves thing for the first time.  While my friends have become my family, my food is now my foe.  I battle with it almost every day trying to think of something delicious and lively to make up with the little I have in the cupboard.  This evening was a success however (after a distress call out to my mother for a little help on the subject).  I decided upon throwing some pizza paste, onion, garlic, spinach and cheddar cheese on some squares of puff pastry which ended up being the most delicious meal I have made since day one in London!

After all… it’s the friends, family and the food that we remember the most in our lives.

Honest Burgers

Honest Burgers' menu in their Market Place restaurant.

The Rib Man with the Honest Burger in the background and
home made lemonades alongside!

Home made lemonade in mason jars - YUM!



I’m going to reinforce the fact that London is the best city for FREE STUFF… if you keep an eye out for it.  Yesterday we headed on over to Oxford Circus and walked around a corner to a side street (Market Place), and found ourselves stopping by a little restaurant named Honest Burgers.  This little restaurant is inspired by fresh british produce and has a slightly Americanised feel to it (with the mayonnaise and ketchup bottles on the tables) yet it’s the perfect little lunch/dinner place to catch up with some friends.  This particular chain had a free burger day, so we decided to queue and wait for what would be the almost perfect burger I’ve ever eaten (nothing can beat Grill’d burgers back in Aus).  The clipboard menu was stuffed with delicious burgers to choose from and my choice became clear as soon as I saw it - the special!  The special was The Rib Man with honest-to-god BBQ sauce, mature cheddar, lettuce and pickles on a brioche bun… with it’s smokey taste and cheesy goodness, it was one delicious burger.

Definitely a recommended restaurant if anyone were to visit London!  But for those that are looking for a less smokey taste, their classic Honest Burger is also quite scrumptious!

Bright In Brighton

Seagulls sitting on the groyns of Hove Beach.

I found Herbie in the midst of 'The Lanes' in Brighton!

The Royal Pavillion in the centre of Brighton.

A shot of the sun setting over the Brighton Beach, from Brighton Pier. 

Brighton Pier all lit up at night.



I, along with a few other friends decided that we needed a city break for the Easter (extra) long weekend.  So we booked to head off to Brighton a week before Easter.  Once we arrived, we didn’t expect a 40 minute walk to the hostel however we made it in the end (eventually).  Over the entire weekend there were many adventures and cultural experiences.  These included: eating fish and chips on the pebbled beaches of Hove at 9pm one evening, walking throughout the busy “Lanes” in Brighton and visiting almost every shop/stall, drinking some of the most delicious milkshakes known to planet Earth (milkshake shop - Shakeaway), laying on the grass outside the Royal Pavilion watching the afternoon sun move in and out of the clouds, walking along the beach watching the sun set on Brighton Beach, singing at the only Karaoke bar on Brighton Pier and simply relaxing under the sun on the Brighton/Hove beaches.

However beautiful the weather was, nothing compares to the beaches back in Australia… ever.

Canals, Robins and Pimms!

Overlooking the canal towards Little Venice (London) whilst sipping on
English tea and eating a delicious orange flavoured cheesecake.

I tasted Pimm's for the first time at a wonderful pub/kitchen overlooking
the Camden Lock Markets.

Studying the flora and fauna of Regent's Park.  I came across a little  Robin
bird sitting in the branches watching people walking by.  Beautiful creatures.



Too much happened over the weekend - I’m going to try and give a quick re-cap because I don’t like to overload these little blurbs!  Over the weekend I caught up with my Aunt and Uncle who were in London for a work related event.  While my Aunty was speaking at the work event I strolled through Regent’s Park with my Uncle who showed me the nearby cafe, the beautiful robin birds and of course Britain’s colourful and native flora.  We caught up with my Aunty and headed over to Camden Lock Markets where I snacked on a Turkey Melt (delish!), then we wandered through the markets over to the water bus which took us through the canal to Little Venice.  We then proceeded to walk back down the canal and had coffee and a piece of cake (orange cheesecake - WOW) at a little cafe overlooking the canal (picture above).

Many other crazy things happened too - for instance, I saw a wedding double decker bus, I saw some interesting jewellery stores, intriguing people with colourful mohawks and many, many more things!

A Sneaky, Free, After-Work Treat

That’s right, our best friends Ben & Jerry were absolutely, completely FREE!  Today was free cone day at Ben & Jerry’s and with that in mind my friend Standie and I caught the tube straight from work to Leicester Square station and hopped in the queue (queuing is one of Britain’s favourite thing to do) at Ben & Jerry’s.  To be honest the queue wasn’t that long and we were licking at our delicious ice creams before we knew it.  I scooped up the S’Mores flavour and Standie had a taste of the Choc Fudge Brownie.  With no way of knowing that we had already had a free cone, we strolled over to the other Ben & Jerry’s store in Leicester Square (yes, there’s two) and waited in that queue to get our second free cone.  This time, I had a scoop of the Strawberry Cheescake and Standie had some sort of cookie flavoured ice cream.

Ahhhhh free ice cream, how much better can you get London?

A Touch of Crazy, Muscle and Food

Moving the stolen couch up the stairs (a very difficult task).

Getting the braai up and running with some home made chicken skewers.

Shopping in the morning for clothes, food and other random stuff.

In summary, today was a little odd but mostly fun.  I was spoken to by a crazy, very short lady who simply wanted to know my name; weird (did I mention that she was crazy?!?).  My housemates and I found a couch on the corner of the road and decided it was worth the while to haul it all of the way up to the second floor of our house (through a very narrow staircase)… what an interesting process.  Lastly, the house had a braai (Afrikaans term for barbecue).  It was delicious and a whole heap of fun.  For dessert I made Nutella Truffle Brownies and Emma (another one of my 10 housemates) made the most delicious hot cross buns from scratch.  I’m now ready for another week of work, long chats and adventures.

All in all, it was an exceptionally good day.  Oh and to all of my housemates… if you’re reading this, then this is just a note to say THANKS for the wonderful evening.