The Sugar Bar

Like the title says it, here I am in London. All moved in, still in the midst of sorting out the bedroom and settling into my new pad, I’m struggling to get some good sleep. At the same time, I’m trying to pack in some fairly good meals between getting shopped out, stocking up the flat, going for my evening classes and worrying about the costs of tubing it all across London like there’s no tomorrow. I’m thus far enjoying all that but I’m none too chuffed about our kitchen. Sure, it looks all modern and fancy but guess what? The electric hob is tiny. The sink’s tiny. There is hardly any work space at all or cupboard space for my food, spices, caffeine fixes, condiments, etc. Only 1 tiny drawer, the tiniest of freezers and a Bosch microwave. Guys, I have zero oven and you know that’s just pure torture for a baker! I can hear someone in the back saying, ‘Look Dave, you’re a tiny person. Get used to tiny spaces!’ No can do. Even tiny people need space and I look to extend beyond my petite 5’3 physique which means heck load of tabletop for my chopping, peeling and careful organizing of ingredients down to type, colour, size. LOL. Someone tell me I’m way too OCD for my own good or my fellow flatmate?

The bedroom’s real pretty and I’ve got a good view of London city. In the evenings, the sunset’s a beauty and I get to see it all straight from where I’m sat. The mornings can be a real bitch though as the sun literally attacks my bedroom and pierces its way through the curtains and there’s no escaping getting up and making full use of my day. The room’s definitely quite a mess right now but I’m hoping to sort that out by the end of next week.

So my flatmate’s pretty alright so far. She’s real sweet and it’s her birthday today so woohoo. Unfortunately, I’m shopped out for new school clothes and homeware, so I have no spare cash for drinkies tonight. She wasn’t too upset about that since I promised her that there’ll be more drinks to come, especially since our fellow Diva has made some awesome friends from other rooms in this building. Whoopie doo! 

About that oven, or lack thereof, it’s well out of order don’t you think? Not that I can complain since complaining won’t solve anything. There isn’t space to install one anyway. As custom demands it, I like having cake for lunch and knowing that whipping one up (by what means I can’t even conceive it) was quite impossible, I popped into this little Japanese grocery store down on Piccadilly and sorted the cravings out with a Matcha & Adzuki Bean Roulade for £1.99. Quite pretty isn’t it? And very delish too. Very satisfying. That little shop down on Piccadilly is called Japan Centre and my favourite go-to for Japanese groceries, except that I used to shop there online and get the stuff sent to me in Birmingham. They have a wonderful selection of traditional Japanese sweets and desserts like mochi and daifuku. For matcha lovers, you have to check out their Matcha Tower. I believe it’s a tower of matcha sponge, matcha custard, adzuki bean paste, whipped cream and more. I think it was £3 for one and it looked phenomenal. When I do try it, I’ll blog it.

Cleaning the flat, unpacking, sorting and storing stuff can be a real bore. And it ain’t exactly uplifting especially when you’re all alone without your old pals and the room totally smells nothing like your bedroom. I wasn’t surprised that I got a little down being so far away from my mates in this bustling, dusty city of smoke the day after I moved in. The 25th was my birthday and I had an awesome time that night having dinner in London with some friends who had made it down for the occasion. Putting away the presents they’d given me, I came across this jar of homemade Gooseberry & Redcurrant Jam from Steph’s mum (she gave me a really cute milk pan and small frying pan too!). That woman is simply the loveliest and holding that jar of homemade jam which had been carefully wrapped in a tea towel nearly brought tears to my eyes. It was just one of those moments where you go ‘OOOOh! Someone loves me!’. Sticking that in our brand new kitchen definitely gave it a touch of much needed homey-ness and lifted my spirits considerably.

The birthday dinner in London went really well. We dined at Abeno, an okonomiyaki restaurant fairly close to Holborn. Great service, friendly staff which was extremely efficient and informative to those unfamiliar with the cuisine. It was so lovely to see everyone after the summer, catch up and just generally be merry. The birthday morning was my favourite bit though. Still sleepy-eyed and rather cross-eyed from not having any caffeine yet, I stumbled into the kitchen to see Steph’s mum making birthday pancakes with my presents neatly arranged at the breakfast table. OH SWEETNESS!

Thank you Steph and Mummy Steph Mmmm, pancakes and jam, pancakes and golden syrup. And mmmm, my cute birthday cake. So sugary it was wonderful. My 22nd has been a quiet one. Chilled out, unpretentious and just pretty damn amazing. In the past, I used to try and outdo each birthday with big plans and big showy decoration. I do not not like that (I mean I still find myself lusting after fine pretty and gold-embossed invitation cards), but as the years go by, I am discovering that the quiet quality time spent with the people I love is so much better. The little things matter more. They truly do.

Diva Version 22. has been busy sorting her London life out and that includes finding a part-time job to help with the daily expenses which are by now, skyrocketing through the roof. At the same time, I’m loving the fact that I can drift about some cool backstreets of East London anonymously with my Wayfarers on and the Canon Powershot in hand, browsing in vintage shops and mentally making a checklist of curry places to visit and cool indie cafes to pop into in the weeks to come. 

A lot more blogging to come from me I hope! Not sure about how many recipes I can test out in my ‘cosy’ kitchen or how much baking I can do without an oven, but I’m excited about posting up more pictures of London. Don’t expect touristy pictures though as I’m looking out for the ‘little things that matter’ and the odd quirky bits and pieces that catch my eye. Will definitely not forget about the food aspect though so here Diva comes! Eating and discovering London by accident – as and when I decide to pull out the camera from my bag.

Much love, y’all.