Unboxing Day: A Sneak Peek at My Christmas Haul
Look, today I'm not even going to try to English - I know that most of you come, you see the pictures; you conquer or rather, close tab. Besides, I'm knackered. Perhaps it's the exhaustion of hauling ass from dawn to dusk volunteering at the local homeless shelter on Christmas Day. Maybe it's from attempting a 60 person-strong Mannequin Challenge during a boozy Christmas dinner. Possibly from running around London on Boxing Day to make the most of the Pokemon Go Christmas event (plot twist: Niantic makes Santa-hat-wearing-Pikachu the new norm. Trainers who transferred their hatless Pikachu to make room before hoarding festive 'Chus as collectibles weep en masse).
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Whatever it is, I've got a cold, which I'm sure is appropriate on some level because 2016 has been a real clustercuss of a year and that bitch just won't quit. Much like my favourite present this Christmas: a very loud, so terrible-it's-amazing Gucci Lilith handbag in a very limited edition - only 27 in the world, and only available in-store so if you fancy one head down to the flagship on Bond Street. I'm rather less taken by the Gucci loafers, but I've included them for posterity anyway before exchanging them for a Harrods Gift Card (see what I swapped them for on my Dayre microblog).
Fun little stocking stuffers - festive Yankee Candles that smell uncannily like Christmas trees and candy canes, a little Fendi purse, an Anya Hindmarch Rubik's Cube I forgot to actually take a photo of for this post (see, I told you I'm tired) - padded out an otherwise sparse Christmas present haul. You'll have no complain from me otherwise.
The bird-song outside my window (the poor buggers are confused by the city's light pollution, it's only three in the morn...) is my cue to turn in for the night. I'll do a proper 'What's In My Handbag' post to get you acquainted with Lilith, but for now I leave you with photos of my Christmas present haul, sans witty repertoire because a) I'm tired and ill and b) does anyone actually read this anyway? If you do, comment below: "I am the Loch Ness monster".
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How was your Christmas? What did you get up to? Were you naughty or nice?
What did Santa slip in your stocking, the dirty devil?
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December 27, 2016
Unboxing Day: A Sneak Peek at My Christmas Haul
Look, today I'm not even going to try to English - I know that most of you come, you see the pictures; you conquer or ra...
Christmas Menu at Pan Chai, Harrods
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My family are hard work. Don't get me wrong, I love muh crazy Asian fam and wouldn't swap them for any other brood in the
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I whetted my appetite, as one does, with an old favourite the BANZAI platter (lobster tempura, avocado, asparagus, spicy mayonnaise topped with orange and black caviar, unagi sauce) and the SNOW CRAB SALAD (shredded snow crab with avocado, caviar and seaweed salad).
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CHRISTMAS PLATTER
£188, SERVES 2 PEOPLE
Edamame
Selection of 6 pieces sashimi (salmon, fatty tuna, yellow tail)
Selection of 6 pieces nigiri (tuna, salmon, yellow tail) Whole grilled live Canadian lobster with Korean spicy sauce or
Japanese teriyaki sauce topped with gold leaf
Alaskan King Crab leg with spicy chilli sauce Skewered yaki scallops with sweetened soy sauce
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A bowl of edamame, delicately steamed and salted, served as a palate cleanser for the CHRISTMAS PLATTER; a cornucopia of delights whose stand-out attractions were the whole GRILLED CANADIAN LOBSTER with Japanese teriyaki sauce topped with gold leaf and the ALASKAN KING CRAB LEG with spicy chilli sauce. As decadent as the crustacean dishes were - as excessive as lobster brushed with gold may seem, in our gilded surroundings of Harrods Food Hall it made perfect sense - the rest of the Christmas Platter was no less rewarding. The SASHIMI selection of SALMON, FATTY TUNA, and YELLOW TAIL was predictably fresh, and YAKI SCALLOPS SKEWERED WITH ASPARAGUS, while deceptively informal-looking, enjoyed the same precision of its more elaborate companions.
The CHRISTMAS PLATTER is brilliant in its seemingly simple presentation; one begins from the bottom left and eats anti-clockwise - beginning with delicate sashimi then progressing to more complex, intense flavours before ending with rich lobster. Although it was the penultimate dish that made the greatest impression on me; the spicy chilli sauce, so perfectly imbued into the Alaskan King Crab legs reminded me of the similar flavour palate of my maternal grandmother's top secret chilli crab sauce.
All in all; the Christmas Platter is a stunning seasonal addition to Pan Chai's already excellent menu, sure to impress even the most time-starved of shoppers-diners into slowing down. Catch it while you can at Harrods.
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*I was invited to review Pan Chai and the meal was complimentary. |
December 21, 2016
Christmas Menu at Pan Chai, Harrods
Harrods, Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7XL WWW.PANCHAI.COM My family are hard work. Don't get me wrong, I...
Dealing with Depression During The Festive Season
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The flip side of festivity:
How do you cope with depression during 'the most wonderful time of the year'?
It's the most wonderful time of the year...is it though? The truth is, I've been battling the blues ever since I fractured my foot - read the gruesome story on my Dayre microblog. Now, I've always hesitated discussing mental health on this blog because, well, admitting to struggling with depression isn't terribly aspirational. Shiny it isn't but real it is, and while the causes of my current mental state may seem relatively 'first world problems' allow me to politely point out that I have the right to feel the way I do as much as anyone has the right to an opinion.
HO, HO, NO
Opinions aside, the facts are: I've had to take extremely strong painkillers for the good part of a month while recovering from a broken bone. I've just about managed to free myself from its side effects when I had to face a new set of chemical imbalances to my system (I'll explain below). Add to the mix a figurative 5 month prison sentence + not even the soothing salve of shopping to ease the pain, and I've found myself suffering episodes of insomnia, depression, and anxiety attacks. Add the aggravation of festivity forced down my throat and eventually the Christmas lights on Regent Street begin to look less like twinkling stars and more like mocking leers (top marks for mulled wine-scented toilet paper and prosecco crisps, though).
Anyway, that's a long enough introduction. It's time for my Christmas confessional...
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NO... TRAVELLING
Would you ask a bird not to sing? Or a fish not to swim? So why, in the name of all things sacred would you withhold a travelling blogger's passport for half a year while you deliberate on whether to hand her the keys to the country she's made her home in, paid taxes to, and provided employment to the nationals of for the past ten years? The decision to grant me with Indefinite Leave To Remain should be a no-brainer really, but I respect that there's a process. What I find perplexing is why I have to be grounded in the country during the process without any of my photo ID - I can't board a domestic flight let alone join my family's annual trip. Right now, they're chasing the Northern Lights in Iceland.  My despondence is not helped by the many photos they're spamming the family Whatsapp group chat. The glaciers aren't the only thing that's blue. My misery at not being able to travel abroad for another five months is only going to get worse, to say nothing of affecting my work as a huge part of my blog content is travel-related. It's safe to say that the time between now and when I get my passport back is so far the greatest personal and professional challenge I've ever faced in my life. |
NO... SHOPPING
The run up to Christmas is most profitable for peddlars of conspicuous consumption, including "social media influencers" (I shudder to use that phrase, but alas - a spade by any other name would sound just as twee) frantically going on Net-a-Porter shopping binges to shoot for their blogs (gotta get those 'Gift Guides' with affiliate links up in time for Christmas, amirite?) before quickly returning the loot to get their money back for spending on the things that really matter, like...gin. Or buying followers. Not naming names. You'll have none of that from me, because one: I can't be bothered with disguising money-grubbing as care for my readers, and two: gifting is too personal to simplify down to the lowest common denominator.
Besides, the only purchase on my mind right now is my new apartment in Phase 1 of Battersea Power Station. I bought the flat before it hit the public market (good job I did, too, because the units sold out in hours) back in 2013 and completely forgot about it even though I've apparently blogged about my Circus West pad. Unfortunately, my lapse of memory and blissful ignorance left me with the sudden prospects of having to renovate my current place (before I put it up for sale) and redecorating the new place. These things cost money, so I've had to prioritise practical over Prada. Save for a very versatile, sure to be 'hero piece' pair of black snakeskin Lucy Choi pointed pumps (above) and some books, all recent shopping has to be home-related...if any at all. The concept of saving vs shopping is as depressing as it is alien to me, but hey, what's the point of "having $40,000 of shoes and nowhere to live"?
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NO... SMOKING
...and here it is, the real reason why I'm as morose as I am. You didn't really think that lack of foreign travel and non-home-related-shopping was enough to tip me into a dark place? If yes, wow, give me some credit. Of course those two temporary lifestyle changes have contributed to me not feeling my best, but the straw or rather filter that broke this camel's back is the last cigarette I stubbed out, hopefully forever. That's right. I've quit smoking. Allow me to rephrase: I am becoming a non-smoker. Not "quitting" - I hate that word. I blogged in greater detail on my Dayre about how painful the withdrawal symptoms were during the first week (I'm on Day 11 now) which I expected... ...what I did not see coming was the clinical depression that followed when the nicotine left my system, taking with it the 'happy chemicals' of vasopressin, norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine. Yet I insisted on going cold turkey rather than wean myself gradually with a nicotine replacement therapy (vapes just look...pretentious). Despite the hell of painful cravings plus my mind and body being caught in a chemical-based storm as my system struggles to cope with the sudden, shocking expulsion of five years worth of ingested poison, I hold steadfast that I'm doing the right thing for my health both short and long term. Plus, every penny I save helps the 'new home cause'. I apparently used to spend £300 on cigarettes a month. Shocking. The true test of willpower was last Saturday, at my friend's star-studded birthday party. Literally star-studded (not just in the full of celebrities and Rich & Aristocratic Kids Of Instagram way): it was India's Cosmic Birthday, complete with its own sparkly unicorn Snapchat filter. I'm so proud of myself for resisting a cheeky puff despite being surrounded by dozens of London's more glamorous smokers. |
Now you understand the three greater causes that I'm fighting for: a good home, a good house, and good health. Spending Christmas alone, without friends or family, wouldn't usually be a big deal to me. But when faced with the chemical rollercoaster that supposedly is the worst during the first 21 days from when one stops smoking, and no travel + no company + no money + no drugs to ease the pain my situation quickly escalated into full-blown depression. On the plus side though, I started my 'Smoke Free Me' journey on the 3rd, which means that the worse of this clinical depression should be over by the end of the 24th. Just in time for Christmas then. This year, my present to myself is good health.
I may not be in a position to shower myself nor friends with lavish and decadent gifts this year, but I have something rather more special to give. As per my annual tradition, I'll be volunteering at my local homeless shelter on Christmas Day. If you'd like to do the same, you can find out from my posts below on how to make a difference this festive season.
I may not be in a position to shower myself nor friends with lavish and decadent gifts this year, but I have something rather more special to give. As per my annual tradition, I'll be volunteering at my local homeless shelter on Christmas Day. If you'd like to do the same, you can find out from my posts below on how to make a difference this festive season.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE. READ MY BLOG POSTS ABOUT CHARITY:
Do you or have you suffered from depression and/or other mental health issues during the festive season?
How did you cope?
December 13, 2016
Dealing with Depression During The Festive Season
The flip side of festivity: How do you cope with depression during 'the most wonderful time of t...
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