Rosa's

A contender for the best Thai restaurant in London, I usually end up here at the end of a night, so to start here for a lazy late lunch was a nice change. It was also the quietest I've seen it. Being in the city, week nights are busy, the place usually has a nice buzz about it and a varied crowd.

The decor is simple and if you are a smaller party you could end up dining alongside some perfect strangers family style, just grab a stool and a menu and get stuck in. You won't regret it.

We opted to share calamari to start followed by mains. The coconut rice wasn't something I would have picked myself but it was absolutely delicious. Not over powering but fresh and fluffy, how rice should be. I needed a noodle fix so went for the chicken pad Thai. My date went for chicken and cashews in a black bean/oyster-y sauce. As ever the food was great. I couldn't finish mine at all, opting for more of the chicken in black bean and coconut rice.

Atmosphere: 3/5 (today was quiet but usually very good)
Food: 3/5 (consistent authentic Thai)
Drink: 3/5
Overall: 3/5 no muss, no fuss - just good food in a relaxed environment.

Find them here

Tweet Pin It Now!

A Very Country Wedding

Once we settled into Devon it was time to head to the village of Appledore for a very traditional British wedding.

After weeks of terrible weather and torrential rail (during the *ahem* drought) we were luckily blessed with a sunny but crisp day. The church was very nice, the west coast of the country is very hilly aka lots of nice views and houses precariously perched on banking countryside hills.

The vicar conducting the wedding was absolutely brilliant, I'm not sure he was supposed to have the congregation in stitches after quips such as FHB..."family hold back, stay out of their marriage if they want your help they'll ask", if your children are likely to cry/make a lot of noise please take them outside and leave them there, otherwise no one will be concentrating. He was a bit like a warm up guy, I'd quite like him for my wedding. We were surprised to not see him handing out business cards as we exited.

As we did exit the RNLI were on hand to provide a precession. The wedding 'car' was the best I've seen. The groom works with the RNLI and they didn't disappoint even providing a ladder to preserve the brides modesty...

Onto the reception we snuck in before everyone else to have a nose, all very British with Pimms and cream tea to be served first. The church hall had been decorated with bunting fairly lights and much more tasteful chintz than that awaiting us back at the hotel.

For dinner it was a hog roast, and it was delicious. I piled my plate with mozzarella avocado and rocket salad, coleslaw and lots and lots of pig. We went back for seconds and ate far too much, especially as we hadn't seen what was to come for desert. Being Devon it was local ice cream ad clotted cream with help yourself toppings, honeycomb, smarties, marshmallows, fruit, sauce, hundreds and thousands...a big kids dream. None of us could manage seconds of this.

Such is the way, we drank and ate into the small hours, dancing our little Loubie's off. It was a gorgeous day, followed by a reluctant trip back to the hotel and then 5 more hours with the joys of First Great Western.

Tweet Pin It Now!

Week in Pictures

Instagram is my best friend. I am also playing with a new photography app, should I manage to master it I will post some even more awesome pictures...(if I do say so myself). Here are some of the things I've seen this week - the world of iPhone, Instagram and my Canon collide...

Tweet Pin It Now!

A Dirty Weekend

Weddings and the seaside, pretty much a winning combination in my book. This weekend was a very traditional countryside wedding in possibly the furthest place from London I have been that is still in England. Appledore in Devon.

Devon is far. First great western trains are not the best so after a fairly uncomfortable hungover journey we arrived in the quaint seaside town. The proprietor of the guest house greeted us with what I would call apprehension. "you don't need breakfast?!" was completely baffling to him. What's the polite way of saying 'no were going to be hugely drunk and stay in bed til the minute before check out', turns out there isn't one.

His glamorous assistant V showed us to our room. The words 'challenge view' greeted us on the door I was intrigued. When the door was opened the first challenge that presented itself was how did they manage to fit quite so many clashing fabrics in one room? Trying to conceal raucous laughter until V had left was also a challenge.

Once she did leave the riot ensued. Identifying around 27 chintzy patterns I managed to snap one pic. I couldn't take any more in fear of breaking the camera. After around 10 more minutes of pointing out various 70s appliances we squealed 'we haven't seen the bathroom yet!' on approaching the door I could barely contain myself, nor have any idea what was inside. After the shock of the blue suite hit me (and the musty damp smell) I noticed the metal rail were the shower curtain should be hanging...
"there's no shower curtain" (realisation hits)
"there's no SHOWER!"
Something there was however - a carpet. Why would you ever want a carpet in the bathroom? It's beyond me. We shut the door in the hope it would go away...obviously it didn't

Bathing in the blue suite was novel, the smell did not subside despite our best attempts at masking it with deodorant, leaving a nail varnish open in there. It was also freezing. Good nights sleep was not on the agenda, especially due to the fact as soon as there was a moment of silence one of us would break it with another fit of uncontrollable laughter at the time warp. Quite the experience.

More on the wedding next...

Tweet Pin It Now!

I'm so good...until around 2pm

Since being so inspired by the marathon I have really got back into the swing of things with my running. Last week I ran 22 miles (Mon-Sat) as well as one swim. So far this week I am 9 miles and 1 30 minute swim.

Diet wise, I am so good until after lunch (you get the name of this post now right?!) Cereal at work post work out, sushi or something healthy for lunch then I get the munchies. A mid-afternoon chocolate fix leads to a couple of drinks, maybe some chocolate or pizza for dinner (or nachos last night...) Is this OK?

My 10k is in just over 6 weeks but I have yet to commit to a scheduled training plan and am just going on running when I can...hopefully this will work out. The training plans available on line don't really fit with my schedule as I am running to work, which is a set distance. If anyone can recommend me somewhere to get a personalised training plan - that would just be lovely...now must pack my bag for tomorrow's run.

Tweet Pin It Now!