Goodbye Glasgow - London bound :)

Finally

Finished with my mission in Glasgow.... 

:)

 Feels surreal!

Calls for some pizza and magnum ice cream AND a Euromillion lottery ticket!

Celtic Park and Emirates Arena

My friend and I took a one hour walk to Emirates Arena and Celtic Park. Both were located opposite each other. Both were mightily impressive. It felt like we were in another world where everything was just so gigantic and spacious unlike the cramp Central Glasgow.

It seemed crazy to walk one hour. Truthfully, before the day came, we were both torn between making the trip or not because it was a long journey. Alas, we did it with no regrets. Along the way we passed by Forge Retail Park and Forge shopping centre. It would not have been something we would have ever seen if it was not for us walking on foot! Forge Retail Park was the place to buy cheap branded clothes. There was also Poundworld there which sold more things than Poundland. Next shop was also having clearance. The downside to Next shop was that there were no dressing rooms and we were suppose to try it on at home and return it to the nearest Next shop if we didnt like it. 

Forge Shopping Centre reminded us of Sungei Wang or Summit USJ. We just walked through. Nothing much. There was an Asda there. 

Zzzz sleepy

Amore Pizzeria, Ingram Street, Glasgow

Another night out for pizzas and I only realised for the frst time that Ingram St had quite a number of Italian restaurants. How is it that we sometimes do not explore the interesting things located closest to us??

A quick walk through Ingram St and we settled for Amore Pizzeria. It was a warm and beautiful summer's night.

Interior of Amore was pretty and cozy! We were snapping photographs and the waiter jokingly said, "We charge for taking phtographs" and another one joined in saying, "Its true." That was how friendly the staff were :)

Comparing the pizza to Barolo Grill's one, I would still recommend Barolo's . For starters at Amore we had breaded mushroom which were quite plain tasting. I must say I preferred Aldi's breaded mushroom more.

For our mains, we ordered pizza margherita and pizza pepperoni.

 Amore's pizza had the thick crust which was tough to eat and the pizza was not nice already when it was cold. Furthermore, the pizzas was too salty for my friend and I. It was hard to finish it without downing with loads of water.

On the bright side, the pizzas were stonebaked and it was not oily. Besides that, the pizza portion was so big that I decided to not eat the crust!

We then shared a tiramisu for dessert.

Tiramisu was so good it made me feel very happy after eating it! Now I would recommend that!!

The bill came with lollipops. Tasted not good. Would have preferred a mint sweet.

The verdict: Starters and Pizza no. Will try other dishes next time. Dessert yes.

Chocolate hazelnut cheesecake @ Barolo Grill

Me: I read raving reviews on their chocolate hazelnut cheesecake. We should try it.

The Scottish: What? You want pudding?

Me: Not pudding. Cheesecake!

The Scottish: Same thing.

....

The cheesecake at Barolo Grill was simply out of this world. We were so stuff from the pizza that we decided to share a cheesecake. 

At first I was imagining the cheesecake to be a triangular shaped size, but it was round. It looked really small when served and was not fit for two people to share ;p

The Scottish: Are you sure you want to share?

We did share because the pizza was quite filling. The chocolate hazelnut cheesecake had a texture like praline and mousse. Imagine taking Nutella from the bottle but a bit softer! It tasted like nutella I guess because of the hazelnut but it was not as sweet as Nutella. One spoon into the mouth and it melts to perfection. It was not cheesy and the base was made of biscuit like other cheesecakes.

The cheesecake was topped with orange peel which went really well with the cake. I'd say its better than eating pizza and steak!

On another note, it was an enjoyable evening because company and banter with the Scottish makes me very happy.

Never a dull moment :)

Barolo Grill, Mitchell Street

Currently prepping my tummy at Barolo Grill for some good, authentic Italian pizza!

"Our pizza are hand stretched by our 'Pizziolo' and baked in a traditional Woodstone pizza oven. We use San Marzano tomatoes and Fior di Latte Mozzarella on all our pizzas"

Other specialities are their steaks according to reviews from Trip Advisor

M back in Glasgow

A hiatus on blogging the past week because I was busy exploring the beauty of Scotland. Thankfully, there were more sunny days than rain.

 

This week is all about packing up and moving out. I will miss the stunning view from my bedroom window.

Updates on my travels soon :)

Teaser by Maltesers

I am at the Queen Street Station waiting to board the train to Aberdeen.

I went into Boots to buy something to munch using my Boots points. Ended up with Teaser, a new chocolate from the same creator of Maltesers. It was good but I prefer Malteser balls because the malt inside melts on the tongue and taste good.

Origami fail

He says, "I am trying to make a unicorn for you."

After two weeks...

"I tried to make it look like a unicorn. Here it is."

Hahahaha

Chilli Tuna Spaghetti

A can of tuna always comes in handy when I did not stock up my fridge. For the past week, I tried to go meatless but failed. I feel trying to whip up something meatless takes more effort than a dish with meat. I also tend to binge on junk food like bisuits and chocolates after those meatless meals. It was like havin withdrawal symptoms. Meat is my drug :p

Today, with a fridge with zero meat, I only had a can of tuna in my cupboard. I boiled spaghetti and drained it. Then I fried the spaghetti with the tuna and its oil, added some fish sauce and sprinkled chilli flakes. I then mixed in an egg. It was a similar method to cooking fish fried rice.

Yummy meal in less than 30 minutes :)

Dinner date @Rumours Kopitiam, Glasgow

Initially, we planned to have Nando's. but since the weather was so beautiful, there were tons and tons of people everywhere on Buchanan Street. It was afterall the first day for a sunny weather after all that cold. No jacket required too! The wait at Nando's was one hour 15mins! we definitely did not want to wait that long.

In the end, I suggested Rumours. I have not been to Rumours Kopitiam since two years ago. I had dinner there. It is surprising how so many locals have never heard of Rumours eventhough its been around since 2008. I also realised they hung out more at the West End than at Central Glasgow. We did not have any problems getting a table at Rumours :)

Rumours Kopitiam = Malaysian food feast time :)
We had:
Salted and chilli fried squid
Char kuey teow
Curry Laksa
Thai green curry with noodles

Great weather. Great food! I am a much happier person when there is good food to fill my tummy :)

Spring is just fantastic!

Cheap rubberbands

Heres to buying cheap rubberbands. It was like playing a lucky draw. It came with plenty of colourful rubberbands. Everytime
i took one out to tie my hair, it snapped. Seriously, It didnt even reach my hair yet and it snapped.

Today I had two more left in the packet. I tried my best to be as gentle as possible with it. The first one snapped. So, I had one more left. Guess what.... It broke too....

Conclusion: NONE survived under my touch. Feels like some kind of super strong woman :p

Spring in Glasgow...

.. Is still bright at 9pm.

Pret A Manger, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow

Pret A Manger is a franchise shop all around UK. There are a few Pret A Manger in Glasgow but I have never bothered to try their food. When I was in London, I saw Pret A Manger shops at almost every street! Sometimes there were two Pret A Manger shops on the same street, just at a different block.

I finally tried Pret A Manger yesterday because I was given a food assignment :) I get to order any hot drink and choose any sandwich for my lunch. A job that pays me to eat is awesome :):)

I chose the free range egg mayo sandwich and a cup of hot chocolate. I know I should have chose a better sandwich since it was free. But, trying something that was commonly found at other places like Tesco, Sainsbury's etc makes the comparison more apparent. I would say that the egg sandwich at Pret A Manger was fab. The filling was a lot which was good.

As for the hot chocolate, it came with a star and I must say it was a star. I do not drink coffee, so hot chocolate or tea would usually be my choice of hot drink whenever I patronise cafes. Recently, I tried Gregg's hot chocolate and the hot chocolate at that posh looking Betty's Tea room in York. No, I did not fancy the hot chocolate from those two places. But, I was pretty happy with the hot chocolate at Pret A Manger :)

I guess it says a lot just by looking atthe number of Pret A Manger shops around the UK. The one I went to in Sauchiehall was packed. But, the place was clean and dining there was easy as the staff cleared the trays and wiped the tables pretty efficiently.

One downside would be the price tag. For a new comer like me, I would not have realised that there were two different prices for the food when we eat-in and take- out, until I paid for it. But other than that, my friend and I had a good experience there. They play nice music too.

Oven egg

I found a new way to cook egg - using the oven. This method was so easy and fast.

The idea came about when I felt like having an egg sandwich, but when I looked at the filthy stove (ilivewithsomeonefilthy), its just ruins the mood to cook. I was carrying my wok to and fro to the stove thinking if I wanted to use it. Then, the thought of cracking an egg on top of my bread and cooking it in the oven came up.

I just estimated the temperature to 220 degrees celcius and i cooked the egg for 5 minutes.

first attempt at cracking the egg on the bread failed. The yolk slid away from the bread. Then when I tried to put it back on top using a spoon, the yolk broke n u know what happens...

Second attempt was a success. The egg stayed on the bread, maybe coz the tray was balanced that end.

One thing I should have done was to butter the surface before putting the bread. I did not do that resultung in some parts of the bread being stucked to the foil. Egg sticks thats why.

Anyway, this is a healthier approach to eating eggs. No more oily fried eggs for me or microwaved eggs :)

Also, I can now cook 10 eggs (or more) in five minutes :)

Breakfast

I have finally found my kind of breakfast:
A cup of tea.
A bowl of homemade blueberry yoghurt, a piece of rich tea biscuit, one piece of oat biscuit and plain cornflakes thrown in.
An apple.

New Yahoo! Weather app

I recently downloaded the new Yahoo! Weather app.

Yahoo! has updated its Weather app for iPhone, iPod and iPod Touch - adding images from Flickr and an innovative tilt control to stand out from the glut of weather apps on iPhone.

"Flickr helps the Yahoo! Weather app show you what to expect from the day rather than just tell you.
Tapping into photos representing your local conditions, users will get the same forecast they’re used to, along with something altogether richer.
With a library of photos from all corners of the world, Yahoo! Weather will give you a sneak preview of the holiday you’ve booked, the weather back home or that destination you’ve always wanted to visit."

I especially like that they have information about the wind speed.