london day one

Shoreditch from our flat

Hoxton Square

Spring!

Cay Tre in Shoreditch

Vietnamese spring rolls

Pho

Ran off to London for a couple of days over Easter Break. We stayed in Shoreditch in the Hoxton area and had a delicious Vietnamese dinner at Cay Tre. Loved the deep fried spring rolls and pho but the Lemongrass Chicken Rice we also ordered was only ok.

I think Shoreditch's a great place to hang out, loads of great cafes and restaurants, quirky small boutiques and accessible by buses and Underground. But the downside is that it gets really rowdy at night, though all the bars and restaurants had signs up not to disturb the neighbours which I thought was kinda cute.

More on London tomorrow.

spring is coming, even though it's still cold

Drumglass Park

Drumglass Park

Lagan Meadows

Summer come soon please.

february/march: what i ate

risotto from il pirata

polenta from il pirata

kaffe-o

yo! sushi

burger and fries from cutter's wharf

in bloom

all the light we cannot see by anthony doerr

Paris from the air, Spring 2014

"It's embarrassingly plain how inadequate language is."

Have you read, "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr? I just finished it last night and went on YouTube to see what BookTubers had to say and everyone loved it. This reviewer was not as kind. I think I fall somewhere in-between.

Don't get me wrong, this is a good book. It's set during the second World War and I love the amount of detail that goes into for the book, which he discusses in this video. I love the way he brings his characters to life and I became emotionally vested in many of them. I think the book was fairly well-paced (except for the flash-forwards and flash-backs but I understand why he did that). But I agree with the reviewer from The Guardian who said the book was far too long; at times I think Doerr is so caught up in the romance of the story, he over-indulges himself. Kind of like how I feel when I eat an extra biscuit (*sweat).

I also got the impression from the way the book was organised, that he was prepping this book for the possibility of making it into a film someday and I wouldn't be surprised if it did, but I guess this is where the book fails for me slightly. But overall I would still say that I enjoyed the book tremendously and would recommend it to the right reader.

So now I leave you with this beautiful quote: "This, she realizes, is the basis of his fear, all fear. That a light you are powerless to stop will turn on you and usher a bullet to its mark."

aaand... i'm back

London at 5am in the morning

Music has been such a big part of my life for a long time. But because of this, I've recently become obsessed with listening to podcasts. Aside from This American Life, other series that I'm enjoying are Dear Sugar, Reply All and Criminal. But my favourite podcast this month is Dark Karma by Benjamin Walker's Theory of Everything. This particular episode has everything, murder, betrayal, heartbreak and the universe.

And if you've listening to it, you'll know why it's the perfect segue to the Unbreakable Kimmy Schimdt. Produced by Tiny Fey, it hasn't found the pace and confidence of 30 Rock but I love Ellie Kemper, she's a sweetheart!

From Tina Fey, I turn my attention to Amy Poehler. I'm listening to her book, Yes Please on Audible. It's great. I enjoy listening to biographies, especially if they're read by comedians. I have started and abandoned on this and this though, I don't know when I'll get around to finishing them. Maybe they just don't work as audiobooks for me.

Ever since finishing Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, I've been jonsing for something like that. Luckily I stumbled onto this historical gem set during the Second World War. I'm only two-thirds in so no spoilers, please! P.S., I want this and this too.

reading list 2014

List of books I bought this year:
1. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
2. Endless Night by Agatha Christie
3. This House is Haunted by John Boyne
4. Mortality by Christopher Hitchens
5. Wurthering Heights by Emily Bronte
6. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
7. Jan Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
8. Life of Pi by Yann Martell
9. The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings
10. The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebowitz
11. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
12. The Dinner by Herman Koch
13. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
14. The Best American Essays 2013
15. The Best American Mystery Stories 2013
16. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2013
17. In Cold Blood by Truman Copote
18. Farenheit 451 By Ray Bradbury
19. On the Shortness of Life by Seneca 

List of books I've finished reading this year:
1. Endless Night by Agatha Christie
2. Mortality by Christoper Hitchens
3. The Dinner by Herman Koch

Looks like I'm a bit behind on my reading.