Stuffing my face silly

When I first visited London in 2002, the food scene left a lot to be desired. What a difference a half a decade makes. While I’m still searching for the perfect Vietnamese restaurant over here, I’ve managed to find some regular spots that keep me and my tummy extremely happy. Here’s what I have so far:

Sakura

A Japanese restaurant near Regent Street that’s got its priorities straight — bad décor, terrible service, cheap prices and great food. The donburi and sashimi are not to be missed. Yes you have to wait in line. Yes they are impossibly rude. Yes they will give away your table if you’re late for your reservation. All is forgiven when you sit down to a bowl of that sweet, sweet deep fried pork.

Kiasu

Authentic Malaysian food on the Queensway, my favourite restaurant strip in London. I took our Finance Manager out for dinner here. She’s from Malaysia and has lived there on and off her whole life. She was impressed with the food. My faves include the roti pratha (impossibly flavourful curry), char kway teow (penang style) and beef rendang.

Nautilus

Fish and chips that happen to be a five-minute walk from my flat in West Hampstead. Matzo meal in the batter makes all the difference.

Gourmet Burger Kitchen

Burgers as big as your head, with the most pungent garlic mayo you’ve ever tasted. Yes it’s £15 for burgers and fries, but it’s SO worth it.

Magic Wok

After many, many, many bad Chinese meals, I finally got a recommendation from someone who knows Chinese food — a Chinese cab driver. He said the Queensway was where Chinese people went to eat in London and that Magic Wok was the best. Boy was he right. The fish hot pot, the jellyfish, the noodles, the brisket, the eggplant. I don’t miss you at all Rol San.

China Garden

Good, cheap dim sum that’s a 10 minute walk from my flat? I don’t care if I am 300 pounds by next year.

Chez Bruce

There is a reason why this place has a Michelin star. 3 courses for £35? More than worth it. The best duck confit I have ever tasted in my life and a cheese tray that features the best from Neal’s Yard. Where can you find a Michelin star restaurant that offers a 3 course meal for $70 in Toronto?

Little Italy

Located on my second-favourite restaurant strip (Frith Street) I had the most decadent client lunch here and I don’t regret it one bit. Three courses for £19.50 got me a proper potato timbale, great steak and fresh, wilted spinach that I actually liked! The cheese course was almost as good as Chez Bruce’s.

Barrafina

I thought that I had had the best that Spanish tapas had to offer after Cava in Toronto. Barrafina is just as good and relatively cheaper. Sardines and charcurterie were outstanding. And they do these cheese and ham filled tortillas that make you want to eat there every single day. Frith Street comes through again.

3D Me

The trials and tribulations of finding a flat

While finding a job here in London has proven to be a fairly painless experience, I cannot say the same for my experience with finding a flat. When I first got here, I was looking for a flat for two and determined to live in either one of the über-hip Shoreditch or Spitalfields neighbourhoods. After seeing a lot of duds, I manage to find a flat that was below our price range, located 2 minutes away from Spitalfields and a 2 minute walk from the Liverpool Street tube stop. No sooner had I put down an offer that had been accepted did my circumstances change. I was now looking for a flat for one.

As I was walking over to pay my deposit on the Spitalfields flat, I realized that I didn’t actually want to live there and started all over again. This time though, I only had to consider what I wanted and it turns out that what I want in a neighbourhood couldn’t be found in Shoreditch or Spitalfields. Instead I had fallen in love with West Hampstead and started searching for a flat there. Another 2 weeks of intense searching began and up until last Friday, I became so frustrated that I wanted to cry. Then I saw a flat on West End Lane this past Saturday. 10 minutes later I was at the estate agent’s office paying my deposit. I move in on December 22.

The last bit of my move over from Toronto is almost complete. I finally have my own flat!

For those of you who are planning to visit, West Hampstead is filled with bakeries, restaurants, wine bars, gourmet food shops and boutiques that will keep you more than occupied. It’s also a 15 minute walk to Hampstead and about 5 minutes away from Nautilus Fish, one of the best fish and chip shops in London. Best of all it’s 5 tubes stops away from Bond Street (one of the busiest bits of central London.)

Can’t wait to welcome some visitors!

I am officially employed

I do realize that I have not posted in a while. I have a good excuse though.

About a month ago, my contact from iVillage (I managed that relationship at Sympatico/MSN) sent me a work-related question. I directed her to the right people and informed her that I was already in London. She told me that I should consider the London branch of iVillage. I had nothing to lose, so I sent her my resume.

A day later I got a call. Two more interviews later I got an offer.

I am officially employed by NBC Universal (General Electric really) as the Business Development & Marketing Manager for iVIllage UK. Best part? They will be sponsoring me after my Working Holidaymaker is up.

Things I love about my new job already:
- The office is on New Oxford Street about 5 minutes away from TopShop and 5 minutes away from Soho.
- I get to work for an honest to goodness international media company.
- Five weeks holiday.
- iVillage actually produces it's own content.

I am very excited about this turn in events and start my new job on Monday, November 5.

Yikes!

I've died and gone to chip heaven

One thing the Brits really do well is snacking. My most favourite thing to do over the past few weeks has been to trawl the aisles of Sainsburys, Waitrose and of course, Marks & Spencer. I don’t think a grocery trip has gone by without me buying a bag of chips (crisps over here) of some sort. Those of you who have known me during a time when I’ve been dieting will know that chips are my weakness.

After three weeks of daily chip eating over here, I now consider myself quite a connoisseur. Here is a review of my two favourites.

Walkers Sensations Thai Sweet Chilli Flavour



I had these about a year ago and brought three bags back to Toronto last year. I thought I could do better than these, but I was utterly wrong. Salty with a slightly sweet finish and of course full of spice, it is the perfect crisp. Even better, it’s a formidable size and I defy you to find a crisp with better girth than this one. Surprisingly enough, a little goes a long way as I’ve not been able to finish a whole 175 gram bag in under five days. Scott Bradley, I’ve been stockpiling these to bring back to you in October.

Walkers Wotsits



Who doesn’t like a good cheesy puff? While my all-time favourite is still the Cheetos crunchy, they are sadly unavailable over here. Thank god for Wotsits. Just the right amount of puff and crispiness these little guys melt in your mouth. There is no skimping on that powdery, creamy, cheesy fakeness. The best part is they come in these little packets that are only 95 calories per serving.

Is it bad that I eat chips every day now?

I <3 Jonathan Ross

This guy is awesome. Makes Conan, Dave and Jay all look like hacks.

Here he is interviewing Simon Pegg who is equally awesome.

MSN.ca: the Lulu edition

Fashion History Nerd

I think I am in heaven. The Victoria and Albert Museum is London's answer to the Met's Costume Institute in New York. Not only do they have an amazing permanent collection of historical fashion, but they continually bring in amazing special collections.

One of my favourite moments in fashion history happened during post-war Paris and London. Dior's "new look" changed everything and really ushered a whole new era of fashion that evolved even further with Yves St. Laurent.

I think I will move into the V&A. I wonder how much rent is.

Whirlwind Weeks

All I have to say about the past few weeks is, DAY-AM. I also want to say that I probably have the best set of friends of family in the world.

Highlights included:

• My 31st birthday party at the Rhino.
• Doing the ugly cry during lunch on my last day of work.
• My going away party at the Groundhog. I did shots and cried uncontrollably all night. It was like first year university all over again.
• Doing the ugly and hysterical cry at the airport while saying goodbye to Chris.
• Upgrading my seat at the airport so that they’d waive my extra baggage fee.
• Lining up for over an hour at customs. I nearly got into a fight with a woman who tried to cut in front of me in line.
• The taxi ride from Gatwick. The guy was a hot 25-year-old Afghan who was engaged to his cousin. (Thanks Gina!)
• My first British grocery shop at Sainsbury, where I bought one of my fave wines for 4 pounds! Booze at the grocery store. I’m in big trouble.
• Playing in the backyard with Hannah and Ethan.
• Video chatting with Chris, Clarence and Nancy.
• Calling my parents at 2AM London time as there is now an 8 hour time difference between us.

Tomorrow, I think I’ll sleep in for a change. It’s only been three days and I feel as tired now as when I was working. Some habits die hard I guess.

Jobless and homeless at 31

So I will officially be 31 in exactly one week. I am about four sizes larger than I was at 25, homeless and in a few weeks, I'll be jobless. Despite it all, I am still very happy. 31 will be a fabulous year.

On the job front, things are looking promising. I had my first interview last week with MSN UK for the Homepage Content Manager job and am just waiting to hear about a second interview. In the meantime, my friend Stephanie hooked me up with a girl named Diana in London who then hooked me up with a recruiter in London named Lucie. We have a phone meeting tomorrow at 8AM.

Things are looking pretty good right now.

Belsize Park

A little background info on the neighbourhood I'll be living in, when I arrive in London:

Belsize Park is a suburb of North London in the London Borough of Camden, located 3.4 miles (5.5 km) north-west of Charing Cross. It borders on Hampstead to the north and west, Kentish Town to the east, and Primrose Hill to the south.

Although not specifically named on the Geographers' London Atlas, the area has many thoroughfares bearing the name: Belsize Avenue, Belsize Court, Belsize Crescent, Belsize Gardens, Belsize Grove, Belsize Lane, Belsize Mews, Belsize Park (the road itself), Belsize Park Gardens, Belsize Place, and Belsize Terrace. The name comes from the original 17th century manor house and parkland (built by Daniel O'Neill for his wife, the Countess of Chesterfield) which once stood on the site. The estate built up between 1852 and 1878, by which time it extended to Haverstock Hill. After World War I, the construction of blocks of flats began, and now a great many of the larger houses are also converted as such.

In World War II, one of the large underground air-raid shelters was located here.

It is an elegant area and property is in high-demand and hence very expensive (single-bedroom-flats cost from £275,000, and four-bedroom houses from £1,200,000, as of early 2006). There are many restaurants, pubs and cafés along Haverstock Hill and also England's Lane. It is more spacious than Hampstead Village, with wider roads. Hampstead Heath is a 10-12 minutes' walk. Primrose Hill Park is 2 minutes from England's Lane and provides some of the best views of London.

The area is a haunt for celebrities, including the actress Gwyneth Paltrow and her husband, Chris Martin, radio presenter Chris Moyles, and actor Sean Bean, who all live there.

Belsize Park is in the Hampstead and Highgate constituency for which the present MP is Glenda Jackson.

September 9 @ 8:45 PM

After thinking about it and talking about it for the past three years, I am finally doing it. I've quit my job, plan to do long distance with Chris, gotten rid of my apartment, gotten my visa, and bought my plane ticket.

At this point, I'm feeling a lot of different things about the pending move -- fear, excitement, sadness -- all of which are justified and I'm sure normal. Mostly though, I feel like I've made the right decision and I cannot wait for it to start.

September 9 at 8:45PM, my London adventure begins!