my first vlog is up!

I made a vlog of what's happened in my life for the month of October. We had a lot of good weather and I was lucky to capture some of it. Take a look below!

autumn can be strange and beautiful

the menagerie in belfast

I went to The Menagerie on Friday night to catch Crilli Drum and Bass. The bar is laid-back and everyone was really enjoying the music. Drinks were also reasonably priced.

I don't listen to a lot of Drum and Bass, but I will probably want to checkout DAYTRIP, which promises a night of indiepop, punk-rock and other "awesome music"! That sounds much more up my alley.

this week in food porn

Tesco's "Finest" range recently undergone a revamp and it's looking a lot more like food you can pick up from M&S. I tried the Spiced Carrot Cake and was surprised at how tasty and moist it was.

I also slept in on Saturday and had breakfast for lunch. I've been baking eggs instead of frying them. Not because I thought it would be healthier, but so I don't have to clean up the mess of frying them.

short stopover in london (august 2013)

Since I couldn't fly direct to Belfast, I flew to Heathrow and stayed two nights in London before flying over here. Here's a peek at what I got up to in London.

Thanks to jet lag, I got to watch the sun come up in Kensington.

Taking the Underground for the first time. I much prefer the bus.

Coffee break at Tate Modern.

Checking out Boxpark Shoreditch. Great concept, but I was a little disappointed with the range of shops.

Somewhere in Brick Lane.

Feasting on Red Velvet cupcakes at Hummingbird Bakery.

Having dinner at Busaba Eathai. Delicious.

eating out in belfast

I don't eat out very often in Belfast. But when I do, my favorite thing to do is to take photos. Here are some places I've gone to since I got here.

I miss Asian food so much, so I headed to Wagamama

Breakfast at Cafe Maud's

Having a Caesar Salad at Ulster Museum

last days of sunshine?

I'm watching The Great British Bake Off as I post this. I really love baking but I don't think I could ever compete. I just wouldn't be able to deal with the scrutiny, stress and criticisms.

Anyway, we've been quite a bit of sunshine the last couple of days. I never appreciated the sun much back home, but being in Belfast has made me crave sunshine. I can totally understand the allure of the tropics now.

I managed to capture some sun flare photos walking around the City Centre over the last few days. The combination of the sun and blue skies make for some pretty sun flare porn, at least to me.

belfast botanic gardens

One of the places here that I really enjoy visiting is the Botanic Gardens. When I arrived in Belfast in summer, all the flowers were in bloom and made the park look so pretty.

Clear blue skies are getting fewer now that the weather is turning cold. So I'm uploading some pictures here to remind myself how beautiful the park is.

culture night belfast 2013

Culture Night Belfast took place on 20 September and featured over 250 events in different venues around the Cathedral Quarter. It was pretty exciting for me, since it's the first time I've attended a festival at night in Belfast.

I went to the event mainly to see Hit the North, which was a project that brought together street artists from all over, to create street art that would inject some life back to North Street.

The other event that I liked was DSNT present Augment, which was an audio-visual installation. The music was very good.

I was also pleasantly surprised by how pretty City Hall building looked when it was lit up. In the daytime, I can see it's a majestic building with a lot of history but seeing it at night was a different experience too.

Hit the North

Stopping for a coffee break outside The Mac.

Catching a performance at the Northern Ireland War Memorial.

DSNT present Augment.

Heading back to North Street.

Admiring City Hall at night.

so this is what i've been cooking

Since moving to Belfast, I'm amazed by the fresh produce I can get easily. So I've started cooking again because: 1) I've got a lot of time on my hands, and 2) I got tired of eating microwavable dinners.

I'm not entirely sure if it is cheaper to cook from scratch or to buy pre-cooked meals. I really think it depends on what you get, and what you do with it. So here's a sample of some of the dishes that I really loved making in the last couple of weeks.

I love the broccoli you can get here. I usually season with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and pop it in the oven for about 15-20 minutes and it's good to go!

Here again you see my obsession with broccoli. I got this recipe off Nando's website. After cooking, I drizzle it with Nando's Garlic and Herb sauce. Yum!

One of the foods that I miss eating is Asian-style seafood soup. It's usually seafood cooked in a broth with Chinese vegetables. I found this great recipe on the Eating Well website that kind of mimics what I can get back home.

I whipped up this warm salad when I had leftover smoked salmon. I found a great recipe from the Scottish Salmon Producers' Organisation's website. Really tasty stuff.

More on smoked salmon! Found this recipe on the BBC Good Food website. This is really easy to make. All you need is bread, smoked salmon and an egg. Great for an easy, posh weekend breakfast.

this is my first fall

Where I'm originally from, the sun pretty much shines all year round. So the cold, and sometimes dreary weather in Belfast takes some getting used to.

I was taking a walk and took this photo a couple of weekends ago. The gold leaves reminded me of Robert Frost's poem, "Nothing gold can stay". I studied this in class almost twenty years ago, and now I'm experiencing my first fall. It's all kinda surreal but beautiful.

i'm here!

After months of planning and deliberation, I'm finally in Belfast, Northern Ireland! Well, actually I've been here for about two months now, but everything still feels new to me. It's kind of a weird place to be, what I mean is, I've not completely forgotten where I came from, but Belfast doesn't feel like home either. I guess I am an "in-between".

Anyway, if you've recently moved away or have experienced this, let me know. I'm still trying to find my place in the universe. Here's to new beginnings!