HotChocSpoon!

Mi amiga super buena went to Brussels and Brugges a while ago and brought back some amazing chocolate for me. most interestingly perhaps, was a "HotChocSpoon" from the Chocolate Company


I didnt want to indulge in my hotchocspoon (mint edition) too soon, so i let it sit in the corner of my desk for some time. But today i had an urge to try it, after an intense weekend of studying (which is short for reading absolutely nothing at all!!) so i dunked my hotchocspoon in a mug of steaming milk, and stirred

and stirred some more
aha- a delicious cup of hot chocolate. I doubt i made it correctly as the label required "200 cc" of cream. huh? but whatevs, its still good to me!
back to intense studying mode...

Amsterdam!

had the most intense week of all nighters and finals, essays on parliament, lectures on insurance @ lloyd's, etc. i really needed a break sooo... i booked a trip to amsterdam last minute. crazy, right?

Anyhoo... Amsterdam is a stunningly beautiful city in the Netherlands. the center of the city is cut by canals, kind of forming a spiderweb of the city.

i arrived with 3 other friends at 9 AM we descended on the local outdoor marketsflower market! no tulips yet
the highlight for me- two hour bike tour of Amsterdam! it was an absolute thrill, Amsterdam has bike lanes pretty much for every major and minor street. it was so fun to breeze through most of the city by bike. the bumps and curbs were a pain though.. really painful!
i look like a pro! the bike was really heavy and difficult to maneuver on
but i managed to steer with my left hand and snap away with my right hand. almost smacked into a tree or two
nightlife at amsterdam. a ton to do, this is amsterdam after all... (but couldnt get photos of the red light district- its not allowed, and anyway something you should see in person. a picture would not do it justice!)
aha- dinner was at an indonesia restaurant (indonesia was a former colony of the Dutch) Its called Rijstaffel- a ten course sampler of indonesian cuisine. delicious

the city at night- absolutely glowing

playing in modern art piece "i amsterdam"
penelope cruz signed a deal with Mango clothing, her billboards were ALL OVER Amsterdam. you could see at least 3 from every street corner. and she was gorgeous!!
another nightscape shot. really tranquil city

some other things i did- Van Gogh museum- starry night is in amsterdam!!

diamond museum- it was free, and the stones were all super sparkly

and the house Anne Frank hid in during her stay in Amsterdam. it was really quite sad- we see and hear about war all the time today, but its relayed to us in numbers- $x billion budget, X number of casualties, X number refugees- thats terrible enough, but to actually get a personal story on what war does to a teen goes much deeper than numbers do.

Rugby and Richmond

Today i attended a rugby game @ twickenham stoop. Harlequins vs Gloucester!!

rugby is pretty intense, the saying goes: "rugby is a hooligan's sport played by gentleman"
home team (harlequins) win!! crowd went wild.
on our way back, we took a detour to Richmond, a quaint and beautiful town a few train stops out of central London.

definitely worth the detour =)
glowing around sunset... really tranquil

fashionably tiny portions in paris

these chicken skewers cost me 20 euro!!! it was not a satisfying meal. went for a big mac afterwards, im tasteless, i know


french onion soup. slightly more vinagery than im used to.

aha- a bag from Laduree, a beautiful and pricey confectioner boutique on champs-elysees. full of macarons!!!

Paris trip!

First trip outside of the UK- took a 2 hr 30 minute Eurostar ride to Paris! i'll also add wikipedia links for more info on some of the sights and such, in case you want more information. because wikipedia is always right...

Sacre-Coeur

Oscar Wilde's grave. He's still immensely popular and women leave kisses all over his tomb. graffiti included "el que no ha amado no ha vivido" meaning "he who has not loved has not lived" yes i still remember my spanish!
Catacombs of Paris. really shocking and unreal in the beginning. but after a dozen hallways of bones the shock wears off and you just want to get outta there!
Sunset from the Eiffel Tower. as my friend pointed out, its like a scene from Ratatouille!


The Eiffel Tower, massive when you get close. really stunning and beautiful

Hall of mirrors in Versailles. funny story: i purposely picked up an audioguide in Mandarin to one up all my other friends. but i could barely understand any of it and had to switch when i got to this room because the hall of mirrors is just that important!


Notre Dame, where quasimoto yells out SANCTUARY!! in the fantastic disney adaptation
nutella crepe. SO GOOD!!


do not know the name of this statue, but really romantic

outside the louvre.

I had to go to the moulin rouge (movie link- one of my favorites!) before i left. at the heart of the red light district in Marmont!

A path less traveled (becuase its blocked off to the public for safety reasons but we dont need to follow rules as art students)

Exciting class trip- we took a little detour from the Tower of London tour and jumped over a fence or two to get to Thames riverside.


London Bridge in the back! already forgot who designed it and in what year... *cringe*



Something very interesting: two shards of pottery, the white one being porcelain (likely from China in the 17th or 18th century) with oriental designs on it; exclusive to the elite due to rareness. the darker blue piece was mass produced around London, replicating the bowls shipped from China.


a close-up, kind of blurry...