Transatlantic Foodie Penpals - Special Edition

The highlight of the end of the month for me is opening a carefully picked foodie package from a fellow Foodie somewhere in Europe (this month the East Midlands of England), so imagine my delight in addition this month, upon opening this baby, all the way from the United States of America (is it just me saying that in my head in an American drawl - no? Good).  I tried to resist even opening it until after Dinner the day it arrived, hoping to negate the damage we'd do to our waistlines whilst sampling the box. I managed...

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Tastes of the East Midlands - Foodie Penpal February

This month, not only did I receive an amazing Transatlantic parcel, but I was shamelessly spoilt by my lovely Penpal Jax, based in the East-Midlands. For a long time, Britain has had a bit of a dodgy reputation when it comes to the gourmand side of life, but I defy anyone to recieve a box such as this, and say that things haven't changed.Let me begin with the Salami. Made by the Suffolk Salami Co. it's made on their family farm from home reared pork. It's especially important with 'horsegate' going on at the moment to know...

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Xenophobes guides to Kiwis: Reading Recommendation

"Vowels sounds can be a trap" Oh how my husband laughed - he always asks me what happened - "Captain Cook went to Nuu Zullund with 5 vowels, but you all seem to have lost 3 of them..." the worst words seem to be six/sex and pin/pen.  Last week, I ran through the Xenophobes guide to the English, so for all intents in being fair (got to have Fair Play) may I present the Xenophobes guides to Kiwis. It touches on our relationship with Mother England, our Anti-nuclear stance, our joy of understatement, icons, and sense of humour.It's...

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"Kettles and pans" say the bells of St Anne's.

We're now three quarters of the throught the series (or to be more accurate nine fourteenths) and I kinda don't want to finish. It's just been so nice getting to know the East End much better, that I don't want it to end. You know, the way that you eat a meal so delicious that you don't want to finish it because then it'll be gone (here's looking at you Turkish Eggs))? Tucked near a very Parisian section of London...St Anne and St Agnes was built by Christopher Wren in 1680 after the Great Fire of London, and is rather unusual because...

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Manuka Kitchen: Restaurant Review

If you've been reading this humble blog for awhile (and if so, thank you), you'll have twigged that my friends and I are becoming serial weekend brunchers, and have been tending to check out Kiwi-esque brunch spots in the capital. The Manuka Kitchen is such a place.Opened in the last few months at time of writing, Manuka Kitchen in Fulham is a self-start up, run by Tyler Martin (the Chef, originating from New Plymouth, New Zealand) and Joseph Antippa (Tyler's Lebanese business partner). "DELICIOUS FOOD. GREAT WINE. FRIENDS.WE THINK THAT...

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Updating my 101 in 1001 Goals

Sometimes you need to shake things up, update and change the status quo. I'm not thinking anything life changing - don't worry, this Kiwi isn't giving up chocolate, moving to another country, or going to live on a house boat).Specifically I think my 101 in 1001 goals need a shakeup. Some of the goals were kinda place fillers, some I've completed and they weren't amazing and some I'm just plain bored of.Goals? Our wee cat certainly doesn't forward plan. Except when her bowl becomes a little emptier than she likes...To go into...

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(mostly) Wordless Friday

It's been a pretty full-on week, but a brilliant one for it.   Hope you have a lovely weeke...

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The Xenophobes Guide to the English: Book Review

"Heat waves bring out the beast in the English. Cold and drizzle calm them down"This was an amusing read about the stereotypes of English characters - it probably would have been quite good to read earlier in my travelling, but a page-turner nonetheless. It covers the importance of the cuppa (Tea), Cricket, stoicism (a much admired trait), how house-proud they are (especially oop north), how much they enjoy queueing, mentions their obsession with poo, and their sense of humour.Lucky for us Nuu Zulunders, "The English have a special...

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The London OE, a challenging but rewarding mistress

You can go to up to Charing Cross for a greasy full English Breakfast, to Paris for Lunch, the Ritz for dinner and hiking in the Lake District. You can live in 14th Century Castle, drink your way around Europe and attempt to find Loch Ness. The flipside is that the UK, and London in particular can be a demanding place to live. Oh, and in London Kiwis CAN fly...It can be hard setting up a new life in a new country, and it generally starts with finding a new job that ticks all of the boxes - satisfying, challenging, not...

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"Maids in white aprons" say the bells of St Katharines: Oranges and Lemons

A rather unusual Church, St Katharine Cree sits in the shadow of the iconic St Mary Axe and a stone's throw from the Leadenhall Market. A serious, shoe-horned exterior hides a very pretty interior.  The building dates from before the Great Fire, and is "known as the Guild Church to Finance, Commerce and Industry, the present building dates from 1630, although the tower dates from 1504 and was part of the previous church on the site, which itself originally formed part of the mediaeval Priory of the Holy Trinity (1108)."  The...

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The Worlds Biggest Egg-Hunt, v 2.0

Guess what's back, back again? Huge Eggs are back, tell a friend... Last year in the month leading up to Easter, London was overtaken by a strange phenomena - giant porcelain eggs popping up on street corners, in shop windows and hotel foyers. We became strangely obsessed with hunting down every single one of the 101 eggs. From the Sloan-ey market squares, to Mayfair and as far as the platinum towers of Canary Wharf, we were determined to, and managed to spot every one of them and take photographic proof.We also helped them collect...

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