{Travel Tuesday} High Tea in London

Fancy a spot of Tea?

Fortnum & Mason. The Queen's tea store of choice.

Also the venue of our High Tea to celebrate my birthday. (I booked it the day before my birthday to celebrate my grandmothers birthday so that she could be there in spirit)

Mom & I

Being a traveller on a budget, we eat the cheapest food we can find.

Eating delicate sandwiches and a multitude of desserts while sipping tea out of ridiculously over-priced tea cups was a bit surreal.

The decor is simple and tasteful. 

There is a menu with your choice of over 80 teas! The tea choices are wider than the food choices. I really wished I was a tea drinker at that moment.

Our waiter placed a 3 tiered stand of food in front of us and assured us that we were welcome to order more should we like. (it looked so little, I was looking forward to ordering more)

I ordered a pot of tea (I don't drink tea... But when in London...) to accompany our glass of champagne and tower of eats; scones with clotted cream and homemade preserves, finger sandwiches - cucumber, salmon, chicken.
And Dessert - a whole variety!

Dessert

I was so stuffed by the time it came to dessert, but had to sample everything on offer. With just a bite from each I felt terribly wasteful, but I had to say I knew what they tasted like. 

As I was settling back in my chair to ease the pressure off my over-fed stomach, the waiter brought over a slice of cake topped with berries for my birthday. (noooo!) 

We politely thanked him and to not seem ungrateful I ate 2 mouthfuls of cake. I didn't touch cake for a long while after that trip!

Happy Birthday

After the meal we walked around the immensely impressive shop.

Shopping paradise

Complete with every possible flavour of tea you can imagine as well as Preserves (I highly recommend the Lemon Curd) and biscuits and fudge and toffee- it is British heaven!

The decorative tins of goodies make for a lovely souvenir for the special people back home (be careful though.... The pretty metal tins of tea are £12.50 -  more expensive than the standard boxes of tea)

I do recommend you buy yourself a box of the Butter Toffee. Worth it!

We took a few photos of the window displays and I snapped a quick selfie before returning to the real world... Of normal people.

But first - let me take a selfie

Clutching our Fortnum & Mason bags on the tube felt a bit ironic. I wonder what the locals thought of us... Too poor for a cab after spending so much money at F&M? Haha!

This is an experience I would definitely recommend if you ever travel to London. Save some money and treat yourself. The money you spend on this event can be made up for by following a strict budget for the rest of your trip.

I'll entertain you with more of that when I tell you more about my trip.

Have you had any memorable High Teas where you live? 

0800-Mauritius

Tee and I are finally going away!

After many months of planning and monitoring the exchange rate, our plans have evolved from Malta, to Switzerland and Croatia and we have finally settled on Mauritius.

Our accommodations for the duration of our holiday:

The Ambre hotel:

Source

Our 700m long white beach:

Source

It's an affordable holiday and the added bonus is that it is outside the country so there is no way the office can contact me and ruin my trip.

When making the booking I put the following under Special Requests:

1. Twin beds
2. Hot Man to meet me at the door (in that case, ignore request #1)

Now if only that was the motivation I need to get my butt back at the gym. 

I have piled the kilograms on and I look horrific in my underwear, but I just cannot seem to muster the mental strength to make that decision… time is looming closer!!

I guess I am just so excited about actually getting a break away that I will only regret not losing the weight once I am actually there trying on my bathing suits and realising that I look like a beached whale.

Then I will down a few cocktails and not give a hoot anyway - CHEERS!

Holiday Snaps Part 4

Our last day of holiday was spent taking a scenic drive around the Cape and along Chapman's Peak towards Hout Bay, where we stopped for lunch. 

Hout Bay

Wind being perverted with my skirt

Silly buggers

Thumbs Up!

On the Beach

Cool water on our feet

Awesome Lunch at Dunes

Quenching the Thirst

Holiday Snaps - Part 2

Day 2 was a chock a block day of wine tasting & tipsiness.

Quoin Rock was a nice surprise as they had a "Secret Society" type room complete with round table in a round room, only lit with candles. The only natural light is from the oculus above that casts an eery glow on the table below.

Each alcove has something new - I would love to be able to host a function there. 

HQ Steak Restaurant - Heritage Square

Our Wine Purchases at Quoin Rock

The Oculus - Very "secret society"

 Muratie was so old, the cobwebs looked like pieces of chiffon draped everywhere. They even had the original Title Deed on the wall from 1699!

Muratie - a really oooold wine estate

Bet it looked like this in the 1600's

From olden days to posh estates - Waterford is where you expect to see horses & polo players accompanied by woman with huge hats.
We experienced an orgasmic wine & chocolate pairing & I finally saw how food and wine can compliment each other

Waterford Estates

The wine & Chocolate pairing gives you Turkish Delight!

Models?

Happy on Wine!

Clearly.... tired, not tipsy

 A set menu followed at Dornier and gave new meaning to the phrase "lazy lunch"  Service was a bit slow and if it weren't for the fact that we were drunk, we might have been more content to relax, but I think we were afraid of falling asleep at our table

Dornier - lunchtime

 This is a favourite of mine and i think if I had to get married at a wine estate (seeing as Waterford is a private venue) I would choose Asara.

The function area overlooks the lake and it is just too beautiful.
They also have the nicest macaroons - I bought 1 in each colour and a scoffed them all that night!

Asara

Asara - perfect for weddings

Holiday Snaps - Pt 1

Once again over the next few days I am going to bombard you with a few snaps from my 4 day long break in the Cape.
It was a small break with Tee, but exactly what I needed, as I was ready to kill somebody - seriously.
We did some touristy things like the Red Hop On Hop Off buses you can find all over the world and we visited the wine farms & went up Table Mountain.
When I am there I always find myself asking why I don't relocate there. The people are laid-back, The scenery is gorgeous and the sea is there!
Yet, here I am... still in Jhb!

Enjoy my pictures of Camps Bay & the Aquarium!

Bye Bye Thailand (and the end of these holiday posts)

Our final dinner in Aonang was at a restaurant overlooking the sea. Thanks to some well-placed fans, we managed not to melt completely. I sat next to a couple that I hadn't really gotten to know and spent sometime getting to know them.
Phil is a personal trainer and as a result has some nice biceps going on. The one elephant guide had felt his arms and said, "Nice strong muscles. Mmmhh you have strong cock too!" that same guide asked one of the girls if she was a 'She-lady". Ah boy we had a good laugh!

not melting yet

After dinner the group went out to get completely smashed and Tee and I did what we do best... Shopping. Truth be told we actually went shopping for another bag as we had no more space left for our copious number of purchases. And to think I went to Thailand expecting to buy a small gift for the people who helped me tremendously in getting ready for this trip and in the end I went crazy. My mom is going to get spoiled but she us always so much fun to buy presents for.

The next morning was a late start for all of us and after packing we spent a bit of time by the pool before heading back to Patong beach.

After a brief goodbye to the people we liked, we took a slow, heavily laden walk to our next hotel. Eventually the weight of our bags forced us to get a Tuk Tuk. Good thing as it turns out that we were going the wrong way! Yikes!

We were going to spend our last evening having dinner on the beach at the same place we had enjoyed our first dinner. However, my body had other plans and I ended up spending dinner time vomitting in the bathroom. It wasn't from anything I ate or drank so it could have been a bug. I'm still feeling drained and my stomach is sensitive now.

I had wanted to spent the last morning lounging on the beach and working on my tan. Thanks to my SPF20 it doesn't look like much. Instead I spent it in bed and I managed some last minute shopping before the heat got the better of me.

And here we are sitting at Starbucks (who have been our saving grace in the land that does not have any decent coffee) AND they have free wi-fi.

these are our sad faces

We have a 3 hour wait for our next flight. Then 10 hours later it's back to the real world. I don't even want to contemplate all the work that is waiting for me!

I adored Thailand. The beauty exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend a visit to all of you. I loved bartering over prices, I loved meeting the friendly stall workers, I loved exploring the beauty of a foreign land and getting to know a foreign culture. I love that prawns a pineapples are staple foods.

I should have bought this shirt - it should have been written in Thai!

Saying all that- I don't think I will will be eating any rice or prawns for a while. I'm looking forward to a nice juicy steak and a good glass (or bottle) of red wine.

I look forward to constant BBM and FB on my Blackberry without having to rely on wi-fi and I look forward to seeing my babies again. I have missed my fluff balls terribly!

Phi Phi to Aonang

The massage on Phi Phi was amazing. Slathered in coconut oil the ladies really got to work on all our sore muscles. Let me tell you- this is not relaxing if you have tense muscles, but you do feel good afterwards!

Tee had an afternoon nap and I made my way to the beach. I read my book, enjoyed a swim and just relaxed. It was the perfect alone time.

We then went shopping when it had cooled down somewhat and If the stalls had had more western sizes, I would have bought more things!

We stopped at a Sports Bar and had some real western food, it was great!!

We had to check out the next morning, but were only boarding the ferry at 3, so we made the most of our air-conditioned room, found a pizza joint on the beach with free WiFi and then made our way to the ferry

At least this time it was airconditioned!

I have not started on my Novel for November Novel Writing Month, so I put a good hour or so into beginning it. I have to finish this challenge, it would be really fun!

Our hotel in Aonang is amazing. The island is pristine, the people are super friendly and their english is very good. Prices also seem to be higher here.

We enjoyed a delicious buffet breakfast at the hotel restaurant and then made our way to the pharmacy for Aloe Vera oil for me and a McFlurry for Tee.

Oh and I bought myself a pair of nailclippers! I had left mine behind an my nails have been irritating me! I even had a dream about nailclippers! :-p

This morning we were up early for our elephant trek through the jungle. The asian elephants are a lot smaller than the African elephants, but nevertheless, these gentle giants are still daunting when you stand next to them.

We went for a leisurely walk through the jungle. Our bare feet rested on their backs and it was an amazing experience to feel the thick skin and hair under our feet. We got a chance to pose sitting on her neck and I really hope that these animals are treated well. A few trainers seem to be a bit harsh and you can see a few marks on their skin from the bullhook, but I sincerely hope they were superficial. Our trainer said he did not use the hook and it was only there for emergency. He seemed to really love the elephant though. But unfortunately he only works there, doesn't own them.

We came back to our hotel and had another sleep. It is incredible how the heat drains a person!

We are off to do some shopping in a bit and then all meeting for our final dinner tonight

There are some good people in our group, but then there are some really loud, obnoxious people. We try to avoid them!

Right, I have shopping to do, so I will say cheerio for now!!