Yelly Reads

The Good Girl

Yelly

I cannot remember why I thought this would be a good idea.  I’ve signed up to do a reading challenge on Goodreads.  I’ve set my goal to reading 24 books this year.  2 books a month.  At the time I set my goal, I thought it was really doable.  My commute to work is an hour long each way and I thought, “Great, I’ll manage 2 books a month!”  It’s not as easy as it sounds though!  I’m always worried about goals that I set for myself.  I almost always start something and never finish it.  It’s an annoying trait.  I tend to procrastinate to death, until I just get to my set deadline to find out I didn’t even get to the halfway point of my goal!

I’m already a book behind.  It’s April and I’ve only just started reading my 6th book!  I bought two books of the same title.  I read the other, and it was good read.  It was by Fiona Neill.  But this book is quite the page turner.  I even read it with Alan around on the train.  I think he feels a bit ignored when I read on the train instead of talking to him.  The book, at the moment is unputdownable!

If you get the chance to, read Fiona Neill’s book too, but read this one first.  Particularly if you liked The Girl On The Train.

Oh sorry!  I meant to say, I’m reading Maria Kubica’s The Good Girl.

The Good Girl by Maria Kubica

Yelly Writes

Looking around

Yelly

I used to have a lot of time reading other blogs.  I miss it.  But as with everything, growing up has this really strange ways of changing one’s priorities.  I was quite the voracious blog reader and I used to visit blogs and put my two cents in (because I always thought one’s opinion was always welcome…I mean hello, why post a blog publicly and allow comments, right?).

Times have changed.  Sometimes I am saddened by the fact that I no longer seem to have the time to do the things I used to love doing.  But I did promise myself that I would make changes to my current behaviour patterns because I noticed that I wasn’t, really, very happy anymore.  I didn’t feel very creative anymore.  I became caught up in what I thought were more adult things to do (make dinner, clear up, laundry, ironing, vegetate on the sofa staring somnambulistically at the telly or whinge about how tired I was).  I think it affected my appetite for life…either in real life or online.  I was quite social.  I realise that now, I am making myself sound so old!

Anywho, the next Blogging 101 assignment was to visit the neighbours.  To read what people were writing, to get inspiration.  I laughed because the assignment gave me permission to be nosy!  And well, to look at other blogs so that my blog would know what it wanted to be when it grew up!

One of the blogs I came across (thank you Stylist!) was Sara Tasker’s blog Me & Orla.  I can’t remember how I came across the Stylist article.  She’s one of those amazingly creative people who have managed to quit the day job and do what she loves because of Instagram.

MeandOrlaThe blog layout is amazing in its simplicity.  It’s crisp and clean.  Because she takes amazing photos (hence her success on Instagram), the photos take priority.  I love “the voice” of her blog.  When you read the words, it’s like you’re included in this weirdly personal conversation.  I like it though.  I’ve also downloaded her pdf on her virtual Instagram retreat.  I love how some of the new internet creatives are so generous with their experiences.  Some people won’t share because they want to keep the niche they discovered on the great WWW their little secret monopoly.

If you have time, go and visit her website!

I might do this on a regular basis.  Look at blogs and write about them.  It’s good for content plus, it’s the perfect excuse to be nosy!  Not that I really need an excuse.

Yelly Writes

To long-distance friendships

Yelly

Che, one of my oldest and dearest friends, posted a photo of the four of us on Facebook.  Apparently, the photo was taken 10 years ago. But before that photo was taken, we had been firm friends for ages.

I am so proud of the four of us, Che, Joanne, Maries and me.  We hadn’t all grown up together.  Che and Joanne went to the United Methodist church my mom transplanted us to (I stuck it out at the church I grew up in for a few weeks and then finally moved too).  Maries and her family moved to Fairview and looked for a Methodist church and found ours.  We weren’t all immediately friends.  Che and Joanne and I were friendly, but I don’t think we became close until we all went to summer camp together.  I am however, very thankful for the time when we became “real” friends.  I don’t think I would’ve made it through my formative years if it hadn’t been for them.

Our friendship isn’t perfect, it’s got cracks.  We’ve had arguments, some unspoken and I’m sure there are heartaches we haven’t expressed.  But I think we overcame them because we grew up together in faith.  I don’t know how you define religious, but my faith is important to me.  I know their faiths are important to Che, Joanne and Maries too.  I believe that what makes our friendships strong is because the foundations of our friendships is our faith.  Our first, proper steps in our journey of faith were taken together.  I firmly believe that our friendships are stronger because we grew in the Lord together.

We’re all a lot older now…and on other sides of the globe!  I’m in England, Maries is in solicitor training in Australia, Joanne is mum to two darling babies in the Philippines and Che, well, Che is our resident jetsetter (I think she’s in Taiwan…at the moment!).  I haven’t seen Che in years (8 to be specific) because when I went home (2 years ago!) she was away.  I miss living so close to Maries (we lived on the same street in our little subdivision on Quezon City) and I miss Joanne being a text message and a quick 10 minute drive away (Che and Joanne are sisters by the way).

I wish my friends were with me.  Because they would find it significant that we were living in the UK, where the Methodist faith started.  I wish I were with my friends, because I miss THEM.  It’s easy enough to make friends, but you miss the friends who KNOW you.  I miss our Starbucks coffee dates (yes, there are other coffee chains available).  Our gossiping at each others’ houses.  I miss going out to movies with them. I just miss being with them.  I do find myself wishing that there wasn’t such a huge time difference between us.  Because there are times when I just want to share with them what I’ve seen, or something I saw on TV that I think they’d find funny too!

I suppose that is what happens when you follow your dreams.  This what happens when we all grown up.  You’ll need to expand your territory and you’ll have to leave the people that keep you grounded.  It’s not the best of situations.  In a perfect world, you grow up and live exactly where you were born, with the people you love and love you back.  But it’s not a perfect world, is it?  Not really.  So we all go away and find ourselves and stretch our wings.

What is comforting to me though, is the fact that when we are together, it’s like we all never left Quezon City, or Fairview Park United Methodist Church, it’s like our friendships were never paused or there aren’t several thousand miles between us.  Till we meet again girls!

friendship

Yelly Eats

Celebration plate!

Yelly

I love Southern food.  I think it’s because I did stay in Atlanta with my relatives for an extended period of time.  I loved it when I had my first taste of collard greens and ham hock.  I loved it when someone served sweet potato mash.  I loved the pies too…especially pecan pie.

So to me, Southern soul food, proper Southern fried chicken is a dish to be served when one is celebrating something.  So I decided that I needed to serve a very Southern plate on a very special day: Easter!

Celebration plate

For Easter lunch, I made Southern fried chicken, coleslaw, biscuits (they’re like savoury scones) and sausage gravy.

Yum!

Yelly Writes

Happy Easter!

Yelly

DaffodilsAmidst all the feasting, all the fun and games, all the time off, not to mention all the chocolate, remember the real reason for the season:

Easter celebrates true, unconditional and everlasting love.  God’s love for us.  He gave up his one and only Son for our salvation.

Yelly Snaps

Monochrome

Yelly

I find that this happens to me all the time whilst on a London jaunt.  You walk around this amazingly modern city, with all the sky scrapers built with metal and glass and then you turn a corner and find something that takes you back in time.

Verde & Company Ltd is a fine foods store just a hop, skip and jump (aka just across the street) from Spitalfields market.  It’s Georgian front is indicative of the Aladdin’s cave of food to be had inside!

Verde & Company Ltd

Yelly Snaps

Pretty Harwich Town

Yelly

I am guilty of complaining about the little seaside town that I live in.  I find myself complaining about how quiet it is, how dead it can be during the weekend and how annoying the dog owners are.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love dogs and think they make the most amazing pets BUT there seem to be a lot of irresponsible dog owners.  If you intend to walk your dog and you allow your dog to relieve themselves, PICK UP AFTER YOUR DOG!  Right.  That’s me off my soapbox.  This is, after all, a post about the unappreciated good things about Harwich, Essex, England.

2012-06-04 17.00.39Harwich is at the very northern end of the Mayflower Line.  It boasts a lot of historical snippets dating back to Roman Times.  There are a lot of notable names connected to Harwich: Captain Christopher Jones, the captain of the Mayflower, lives in Harwich; Samuel Pepys, the famous English diarist, was a member of Parliament for Harwich, Captain Charles Fryatt, who is a First World War lived and was buried in Harwich; and my personal fun fact favourite, apparently, Clive Owen lives near Harwich (haha!).

Captain Christopher Jones' houseThere are a suprising number of little historical corners in Harwich: Captain Christopher Jones’s house (apart from being captain of the Mayflower, he was a quarter owner of the Mayflower as well); several notable lighthouses dating back to the early 1800s, as Harwich was a notable port and it was where the Royal Navy Dockyard was established; the Harwich Redoubt Fort, which was a circular stronghold built to defend England against the Napoleonic invasion; it also has the old Electric Palace, one of England’s oldest purpose-built cinemas still surviving and functional.

Redoubt FortI’ve always loved my little seaside town, my home away from home.  I like to say it’s where I properly grew up, because I learned to live and depend on myself and not my parents.  I love the little interesting nooks and crannies of this little town and it breaks my heart that some of the people who live here don’t seem to care enough about their town to keep it pretty and clean.  We all have to have pride of place, to be proud of our quaint little town because it is significant and important historically.

Harwich sunsets

Yelly Eats

BIRD is not the word

Yelly

Given the choice between beef, poultry, pork and seafood, I would choose poultry over pork, then seafood then beef.  Beef is probably the best source of protein, but I would chicken over most meats any day.

In the last quarter of 2014, I wrote about my Chicken Bucket List.  It was a list of up-and-coming places to eat that specialised in chicken that I wanted to try (the London food scene is alive, well, vibrant and varied!).  I must admit, the underlying criteria was that the places needed to serve some sort of Southern fried chicken-style dish.

It was their claim that they “served the best free range fried chicken you’ve ever tasted” that drew me to wanting to try their food.  I mean it’s a very brave and bold claim certainly.  The people at Bird must trust their food that much to make that sweeping generalisation.

I went to the Shoreditch restaurant and got there fairly early (I had misjudged how quick it was to walk from Liverpool Street station to the Shoreditch location – clearly I did walk faster than I thought).  So anyway, I was cool with having to wait outside and sit on the benches situated outside the restaurant.  It was fine.  Besides, Shoreditch is a very interesting place and there will always be something to see.

Bird ShoreditchSo when the restaurant finally opened (nearly 45 minutes later than what was on the doors), my tummy was rumbling excitedly.  I love Southern fried chicken, and while I cannot claim to be an expert, my Spit and Roast-inspired buttermilk fried chicken is really good.  Bird was one of the very few places at the time that served chicken and waffles.  I was hoping to get gravy and maple syrup.

More Bird spaceThe space was okay.  Nothing too styled, it was clean and not cramped, if a little dimly lit (it was located right next to a bridge, almost under it, so I wasn’t expecting a space awash with light!).  The decor was kitschy but cute, with framed caricatures of chickens.

Bird SpaceThe staff were nice enough, seating us in one of the table-chairs-banquette spaces that was nearer the Bird doughnut hatch, on the left side of the restaurant.  It was quiet and I loved the fact that it was the quieter side of the room.  I was ready for a relatively spiritual experience.  After all, we were talking about chicken and waffles here!  So orders (from slightly smudged menus) were taken and I ordered what I came to order: fried chicken and waffles (I was disappointed that it didn’t come with gravy as I’d wished, but that was my fault because I didn’t check out the menu online before I went.  They didn’t have any gravy on the menu).

Bird menuThe service was friendly and efficient and soon, plates of chicken pieces and fresh waffles were slide in front of us.  I’m not sure whether it was just that it was the early hour or if it was just the location.  But my chicken looked wrong.  I know that they battered their chicken and they didn’t bread it, but I found it a bit awkward that the chicken piece I was given had a scaly bit exposed – don’t get me wrong, it didn’t affect the flavour, it was just not pleasant to see.  We do eat with our eyes as well.

It went downhill from there.  I visited their website that evening and it does say that their chicken isn’t Southern fried chicken.  It’s fried chicken.  Granted it is fried, but you do get succulent fried chicken.  My chicken was dry and overdone, painfully so.  I’m not too certain how the chicken is prepared, whether it’s brined or marinated in buttermilk, but my piece of chicken wasn’t battered very well.  The batter had a bitter aftertaste, probably signalling that it had been left a little too long in oil that was a little too hot.  Mind you, I’ve incinerated enough chicken so I wasn’t too fussed so much.  It was just that the chicken was so dry that it was quite a struggle to adequately make a dent in the two pieces of chicken that my two waffles were served with.

Bird chicken and wafflesThe waffles were really nice, if a little on the light and thin side.  I loved that it was more savoury than sweet with the addition of spring onions.  Usually the waffles, in my humble opinion, provides the sweet element, to the sweet-salty flavour combination (the salty element provided by the chicken).  It was a refreshing change to have a properly savoury waffle.  It was great to be able to drench it in proper maple syrup.  I must say that I would probably happier just having the savoury waffles and the maple syrup instead.  But the restaurant is meant to specialise in poultry (its name is Bird).

Bird wafflesI realise that everyone has their opinions and food is a relatively subjective experience.  But I was disappointed.  It wasn’t the chicken experience I was expecting, and for me, it wasn’t the best free range fried chicken experience.  I probably won’t go back to any of the other Bird locations.

Sadly, for me, BIRD was NOT the word.

Yelly Writes

Budget Day 2016

Yelly

Today, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announces his plans for Britain for the next 5 years.

This was a busy day for me because I work for an accounting firm and we always have a post-Budget Announcement presentation for all our clients, so our firm can let them know how the Budget Announcement can affect them.  Our tax team were busy preparing the materials for the e-shot which came out 6 hours after the Budget announcement with an analysis of how things would turn out.  There were figures to check, powerpoint slide presentations to proof read, and handouts to prep.

Needless to say it was a busy day and there was a lot to do.  I missed the train I usually get on by a mile (not that I was there on time by any stretch of the imagination – by the time the train doors shut and the train pulled away from the station I was still proofing the notes on the slides!).  I got home later than usual, nursing a pounding head and my cold has gotten worse (yes, I would like to have a little sympathy, thanks!).

Budget Red BoxAfter reading all the Budget analyses I could bear, and reading the statement from the Chancellor saying “This will be a Budget for the working people,” I think Gideon may have got it (very) wrong.