London – Page 4 – Yellywelly

The Cecil Brewer staircase

14 Aug 201618 Aug 2016 Yelly

I love it when a store has a photogenic feature. It makes for a great marketing opportunity! Heal’s on Tottenham Court Road has such a feature. Heal’s first opened its doors in 1810, at a different location. But as luck would have it, the Heal family produced an amazing architect, Cecil Brewer who designed their flagship store on Tottenham Court Road. The store is a large, open space filled with beautiful things. I am always tempted to take a bowl, or a mug or a plate or a set of place mats to the counter and take the beautiful thing home to my tiny flat! I haven’t succumbed to the urge yet, but I think it’s only a matter of time until I allow myself the indulgence.

Apart from being responsible for the architectural masterpiece that is the Heal’s flagship store, Cecil Brewer was responsible for creating the beautiful spiraling staircase that so many photo buffs have photographed. It’s a star feature on Instagram for people visiting London.

I visited Heal’s primarily to look for Duralex cups because I wanted to bring them back to the Philippines as it carries a line of clear glass cups and saucers that my dad loves. But apart from the Duralex cup hunt, I really did want to take a photo of the Cecil Brewer staircase. I took a photo before, but I wanted to take a better one. So after checking on the cups, I went to the back of the store and took my photo of the staircase from the foot of the spiral looking up at the beautiful light fixture.

I loved this latest photo. Mostly because it was very quiet at Heal’s on the day and I had the spiral staircase all to myself (for a while, anyway). After posting it on Instagram, a few days later, the picture got featured on Culture Trip London‘s (amazing) Instagram feed. To say that I was tickled pink is an understatement. The only word to describe how I felt was the Filipino word kilig. It’s nice to be recognised like that. Ha! I’m really pleased that I’m taking noteworthy photos because it’s so much fun learning how to use a camera, properly!

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Yelly Eats

Where chicken is not a laughing matter: Absurd Bird

7 Aug 20168 Aug 2017 Yelly

A version of this review was published on TripAdvisor and my other blog Panasian Kitchen.

I haven’t forgotten about my chicken bucket list. Alan and I have been working our way through the list, I just haven’t actually sat down to write my thoughts on the visit. Thankfully I have photos to remind me of the visit. With my memory, it would’ve have been difficult to write a review!

Absurd Bird is found on 54 Commercial Street, near Spitalfields Market, in London. The buses go through Commercial Street so the location is commutable. I’m not too certain about the parking, but I’m sure there is a way to find space for your vehicle.

You come into an interesting space with the bar in front. The seating spaces are interesting. There are interesting booths and long tables with homey upholstered benches. The space is great because one wall is made up of huge glass panels allowing the natural light to come in. The light fixtures are very interesting – gilded bird cages!

The food is definitely no laughing matter. I’m thankful Mr Hyde sent me a mailshot that featured a discount for Absurd Bird. It was the prompt Alan and I needed to go pay Absurd Bird a visit!

Alan ordered the fried chicken sliders with a side of sweet potato fries. The sliders have the same crispy on the outside and succulent on the inside chicken in them. Every crunchy bite of the chicken was amazing!

The sweet potato fries are yummy with a capital Y. They were so crispy! I very rarely find crispy sweet potato fries. It was heaven in every crunch!

I ordered the chicken and waffles with a side of coleslaw. The yummy sweet-sour coleslaw is more a salad sized serving instead of a side-sized serving and is a perfect side to the chicken.

You get 3 crispy on the outside and succulent on the inside pieces of chicken and 3 fluffy pieces of sweet waffle. You also get a small pot of maple syrup and (HURRAH!) a small pot of gravy!

It is excellent value for money and what we ordered was delicious! While we ordered on main meal and side each, I think what we ordered would have fed 4 people. The servings are generous and they are certainly worth every penny you pay for.

We didn’t order any alcoholic drinks but they serve lagers and cocktails I think. If you’re attempting to limit the amount of calories and keep hydration simple, you can opt to just have tap water for the table. They’re happy to do that for you as well.

The staff are amazing and very attentive without being helicopter servers (i.e. they don’t hover!)! I found it refreshing that they knew their product and our conversations with them were natural and they were very helpful with suggestions. I loved it that we got a chance to relax and enjoy the food that we ordered.

I am definitely going back for more of their chicken and waffles!

Yelly Eats

A gem off the beaten path: Coleman Coffee Roasters

14 Jun 20168 Aug 2017 Yelly

We came across this lovely café quite by accident. We were exploring Lower Marsh and the rain started to come down quite heavily. We were also looking for a place to have breakfast because our usual cheap eat favourite Marie’s on the same street was closed.

We took shelter and the smell of coffee wafting from the beautifully gleaming vintage espresso machine was amazing! We were greeted with a really welcome “Hello guys!” so we went further in and looked at the menu. We were intending to be polite and just have coffee and possibly cake. But they served Staffordshire oatcakes or “oaties” and there was quite a choice from sweet to savoury fillings for the oat pancakes. We’d never had oaties before so our curiousity was piqued! We chose to have bacon and stewed tomatoes. The aroma of cooking bacon was amazing, and boy were the oaties oh-so-fabulously good! It rated an “oh-my-God-this-is-amazing!” with my mouth full of oatie-bacon-tomato goodness! The oaties were light but surprisingly filling. I expected to feel full and bloated after, but I didn’t. It was heaven on a plate.

Now. let’s get to the lovely brew! I opted for drip coffee because it’s what I do when trying out a new coffee place (my better-safe-than-sorry coffee measure). I was offered a choice between the Guatemalan and another blend (I think it was Costa Rican blend) and I chose the Guatemalan. It was very nostalgic for me because it was served on a Duralex looking cup, which reminded me so much of the French coffee cups that my father favoured. At first I was worried because the drip coffee looked light and watery. But oh no, was I VERY wrong! The coffee was rich, comforting and oh-so-flavourful.

The staff are lovely, very friendly, so very helpful and they know their products. They’re happy to explain what they sell, what you’re options are and they give you lovely recommendations. They also love what they’re selling. That’s key!

This isn’t quite on the main road from Waterloo Station, but this is definitely worth a visit. The space is small and there are only a few seats, but that’s part of the charm. If you have the opportunity to wander around Lower Marsh, pay the lovely folks at Coleman Coffee Roasters a visit. It is DEFINITELY worth it!

Yelly Snaps

Monochrome

24 Mar 20169 Apr 2016 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!

Yelly Writes

Of passports and celebrity sightings

2 Feb 201621 Feb 2016 Yelly

I am now officially eligible to apply for British citizenship…but I am a proud carrier of a Philippine passport. I am planning on applying for UK citizenship though, if only for the ease that it presents when I do intend to travel to parts unknown because apparently you get visa-free access to 173 countries with a UK passport! Not that I’m a traveler but it would be good to take be able to take advantage of travel deals, to have the convenience of going on a mini-break to almost anywhere, if and when I can.

But until then, I shall have to renew my Philippine passport every 5 years.

I went to London today to renew my Philippine passport because my passport expires in June this year. I came armed with my tablet so that I could read my ebooks or work on work emails while I waited. Because there would be a wait. One thing that hasn’t changed much is the waiting in line in Philippine government institutions. The Philippine embassy in London isn’t any different. But as soon as I stepped through the double doors of the Philippine embassy in London on Suffolk Street it felt like being back home. You could hear conversations in Filipino and for some reason there was an aroma of steamed rice wafting all over the embassy!

I like to come prepared and I like to make sure that I prepare for every possibility (or at least, I like to think so!). Before I left for the embassy, I made sure I read and reread the instructions for passport renewal. Also, if you are applying to renew your passport, if you can, I suggest you print a copy of the application forms because, whilst there are forms that you can fill out at the embassy, it makes things move along quicker if you have all your forms filled out, your money ready, and your passport and other supporting documents available and in order according to the numbering on the forms.

You get to the embassy and take a name from the number thingmebob and wait for your number to be called. It was a bit of a wait because not everyone came with the right documents, or they didn’t have photos or they didn’t fill out the forms right, or they didn’t have the right forms. I guess, after filling out forms for my UK residency (there were pages and pages) I learned to prepare and pay attention to detail. Am not trying to say anything bad about my countrymen at all. I’m sure anyone who worked in an environment where I worked would make sure all the boxes that needed ticking would be ticked and all the i’s were dotted and the t’s crossed.

It took all of 5 minutes to submit my documents, get them inspected and me to make the payment. Then I was sent upstairs to wait to get my photo taken. They call you when your passport is ready for pick up so I had the rest of the day to spend in London.

I was horribly hungry so I went to my new favourite place to eat: Tokyo Diner in Chinatown. It’s a brilliant little space on the corner of Newport Street. The food is tasty and authentic and you get a small serving of Japanese rice crackers and bottomless genmaicha (brown rice tea) on the house. They don’t accept tips, by the way and prefer that you pay in cash. (They also give you extra rice if you ask for it…as much rice as you can manage!).

I ordered a tamago don from the lunch specials menu and waited for my food to arrive. And when it did, it was mmmm-mmmm good!

I did my usual people watching and noticed this beautiful and familiar blonde sitting in the corner of the restaurant. I thought she looked like Myanna Buring from Ripper Street and Downton Abbey. At one point, she moved to the table next to me. I noticed her looking at my food and when she ordered, she placed an order for the tamago don lunch special as well! I was certain she was Edna Braithwaite from Downton Abbey. I even did the creepy thing of taking a sneaky snapshot!

I sent her a message on Twitter to ask. And she confirmed that she was indeed Myanna Buring and that I should’ve said hi. Ah well! I didn’t want to interrupt what seemed to be me-time. One never knows whether you can interrupt celebrities these days.

And the celebrity sightings didn’t stop there. After having my late lunch, I headed back to Liverpool Street. I was early but all I had to do was hang around Liverpool Street Station for the direct to Harwich Town train that left 16:44.

I went to WH Smith to get myself a free drink (thank you O2 Priority!) and as I was walking back to the main central area of the station I heard a girl giggle heartily and the sound made me smile so I turned to look at where the sound was coming from. It was from a very pretty Filipina-looking girl in a black turtle neck paired with black palazzo trousers and chatting to someone animatedly on her phone. My jaw dropped. Two celebrity sightings in one day? I had to say hello to a fellow Filipino and one of the prettiest faces in country. So I turned on my heel and went to say hello to Dominique Cojuangco (Gretchen Barretto’s only child). Then I started to doubt myself. I may have just imagined that the girl was who she was. Also, I didn’t really want to act all stalkerish. Everyone deserves their alone time and I thought most celebrities enjoy time where they can be themselves and have time to their thoughts.

I did the usual and sent her a tweet and she did say that it her and I should’ve said hi.

Ah well! Next time, maybe?

Yelly Writes

Disconnected

23 Aug 201523 Aug 2015 Yelly

Yesterday was a bit of a shock to the system.

I forgot my mobile phone at home!

Quelle horreur!

Ever since I got a mobile phone (gawd! nearly 20 years ago now!), I’ve very rarely forgotten it. I can count on one hand the times that I’ve forgotten the phone, and each time, I felt like I lost a limb (and in some situations, sometimes more than one major limb!). There is this crippling sort of fear that encompassed me each time. I think it had something to do with my control issues. I didn’t feel on top of things when I didn’t have my phone. I felt like my most convenient (and comfortable) method of communication was snatched away. I remember feeling the same way when I moved back home in the Philippines. Mobile phone contracts are different in the Philippines and 3G access isn’t built into the mobile phone plans so I didn’t have access to the internet in the same way I do here (24/7 unlimited connection to 3G and a pocket mifi gizmo is a necessary creature comfort to me!).

Yesterday, I went to London and discovered whilst I was on the train that I’d forgotten my phone. I desperately wanted to get off at the next stop and go back to my flat and get my beloved phone. I didn’t. And for the rest of journey into the Big Smoke I felt utterly bereft. I could feel the familiar stirrings of a panic attack beginning. I was going to LONDON without my phone. How was I going to survive?!? Now bearing in mind that I had my handbag (which contained my emergency pouch – lippy, emergency meds, hand cream, pressed powder, hand wipes and tissues!), my purse (debit and credit cards) and my trusty bridge camera, I was panicking about the situations when I might have to use my phone. Also, Alan was with me (with HIS mobile phone).

But yesterday, despite the heat and humidity (it reached 31°C in London!), was the most fun I’d had. Alan and I had actual conversations and I was actually in the moment, enjoying each experience. Yesterday ended up being one of the best days ever. Sometimes, accidents turn out to be the best things. Going off the grid, albeit inadvertently, was a good thing to do. Maybe I will be brave enough to do this again!

Yelly Snaps

St Paul’s

23 Jul 201526 Jul 2015 Yelly

Sometimes you take a picture and you give yourself a pat on the back because you took a really good picture. Alan told me that this would be a great place to take a snapshot of St Paul’s Cathedral.

And he was right!

Yelly Snaps

Upwards and onwards

19 Jul 201526 Jul 2015 Yelly

In 1666 a great fire ravaged London for 3 days, devouring 13,200 houses, 87 parishes, St Paul’s Cathedral and most of the buildings of the city’s government. At the time, there were about 80,000 people living in London and it is estimated that 70,000 of that total number lost their homes. The fire, which apparently started on Pudding Lane, in the bakery of Thomas Farriner, very nearly reached Whitehall Palace where the current monarch of the day, Charles II, was in residence. Surprisingly, only 6 deaths were verified.

On the corner of Monument Street and Fish Street Hill stands a monument to the Great Fire commissioned by Charles II. Identified simply as “The Monument,” it is described as a fluted Doric column and stands 202 feet from where the Great Fire started. Until very recently, I didn’t know that you could go up the Monument.

On a bright, breezy and sunny Saturday morning, Alan and I went up the Monument. I approached this challenge with trepidation. I am not the fittest of people and have been known to huff and puff on some days when brisk walking from my flat into town to get groceries. I’d much rather read than walk these days. So this activity worried me a lot. I was afraid I’d embarrass Alan by wanting to stop in the middle of the trek up to the top of the Monument.

So we paid our £4 for the privilege (it’s £4 for each adult to go up but we had a 2 for 1 voucher, so it was only £4 for the 2 of us) and up we went. There are 311 steps. Yes. Three. HUNDRED. Eleven. Steps. At first, I wondered why there were hooky bits along the banister. Then I figured, about a third of the way up that you could use those hooky bits to pull yourself up the steps! There were these lovely little alcoves as you went up and boy, was I ever grateful they were there! You could sit down, catch your breath while not get in the way of the other people, more fit than you who trudged up that blessed spiral staircase!

But somehow, despite the huffing and puffing, screaming leg and thigh muscles, thinking in my head that I was going to die soon, I made it up the top! I had to catch my breath first. But after that, after I recovered from the jelly legs and shortness of breath and pounding heart, I looked around and marveled at the view. It was glorious!

The mesh cage at the top was added mid-19th century to prevent any other persons from leaping off the the platform. I think it was a good decision!

You get to see the Tower Bridge.

An unobstructed view of the Shard.

The BT Tower.

The The Cheese Grater (the Leaden Hall building), the Gherkin (30 St Mary Axe) and the Walkie-Talkie (20 Fenchurch Street) and the Lloyds Building.

So, if you want a challenge, a work out with a reward of a brilliant view of London, go up the Monument. Despite the palpitations, the hyperventilation, the jelly legs, the view is spectacular and very definitely worth it!

Yelly Eats

Eating at Yipin China

29 Jun 201520 Apr 2018 Yelly

I first heard about Yipin China while browsing through Time Out London’s website and finding about it there. While the Time Out rating gave it a 3 of of a possible 5 stars, the user reviews were much more favourable. I did some more research and found a review by Jay Rayner on the Guardian website and he loved it! As we love finding new places to eat (especially Chinese food) we thought we would give it a try.

The website for Yipin China features their menu along with all the pictures of the dishes in glorious technicolour which enticed us even more us go along to eat. The restaurant serves traditional Hunanese, Sichuan and Cantonese dishes so there is plenty of choice for everyone. Be warned that some of the dishes are very spicy as they contain a lot of chilli. Do not let this put you off though as there are still plenty of dishes there that contain no chilli at all.

The restaurant is located in Islington, London and is about 10 minutes walk from Angel underground station. We went along on a Friday lunchtime and were the first ones there. This was not a problem for us as we had a choice of seats and it also meant that we didn’t have to wait long for our food to arrive. We looked through the menu and all the dishes had a photograph of the dish next to it. This was both a blessing and a curse as we know what dishes looked good but the problem was that everything looked great. We finally settled on the Deep Fried Beef With Cumin, The Chairman Mao’s Red Braised Pork, Stir Fried Broccoli in Garlic, boiled rice for two and Chinese tea for two.

The Deep Fried Beef With Cumin was delicious even though we found the chilli to be quite hot for our tastes. The texture wasn’t too chewy and even though it had a lot of chilli, the burn didn’t last long and you could still enjoy the flavours of the cumin and beef.

The Chairman Mao’s Red Braised Pork was the star of the show. It is a slow cooked pork belly that has a subtle sweet aniseed taste and melts in the mouth. The colour of the pork is a glorious red that comes from caramelising rock sugar and then cooking the pork in it. It is one of the most tastiest dished I have ever eaten and I could quite easily eat this all day.

The portion sizes at Yipin China are quite generous so you would normally order one dish per person plus rice unless you are really hungry.

The service at Yipin China was friendly and not too obtrusive and our bill came to just under £40 including service charge. We will definitely be coming back for more of the Chairman Mao’s Pork and to sample some of their other mouth watering dishes.

Yelly Snaps

Leake Street

14 Jun 20158 Jul 2015 Yelly

I, like the rest of the human race, have a very active sense of self-preservation. I’d like to think I’m street smart (you wouldn’t think so by the way I now seem to always have my smartphone in my hand though!) and aware of my space. You wouldn’t see me walking down a dark alleyway…but that wasn’t what I did yesterday afternoon.

Alan and I have started paying attention to what we see on our London jaunts. We’ve looked up and down (and probably around) at the buildings, watching out for street art. But today, Alan convinced me to go down to the Leake Street Tunnel. There are 2 ways into the Tunnel, one is via one end that comes out on the side of the Waterloo Station, and the other end opens to York Road.

It was dark, damp in patchy places, a little smelly (mostly from paint fumes, to be honest) and very daunting. I had visions in my head of us being mugged by the shadowy figures moving in the tunnel. But boy was I ever wrong! Going down Leake Street was amazing. The shadowy figures I was afraid of were actually a couple of street artists working on their latest masterpieces, wielding their spray paint cans!

Artists at work

I got a couple of snapshots of street art by the artist called Dopeismdesigns.

I also found another Space Invader at the York Road end of Leake Street.

It just goes to show that sometimes, dark tunnels aren’t so bad! Leake Street is constantly changing because the street artists will inevitably have to paint over other artists’ work to create their canvas but I’m excited to go back to find out what new things have been created!

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