Free Hong Kong Merchandise

I was just searching for something to meet how I am feeling.  Surprising a lot of them are from Australia and USA.  There is a few in the UK.  I still cannot find what express how I am feeling, shame.

Beware of Free Chocolate

I was in York Food Fest and as by reflex, I picked up a piece of dark looking chocolate.  Then I asked what they were, he explained it is chilli and star anise, disgusting I thought, but I already picked up the chocolate, so I cannot put it back down.  I braved it, and I was right, disgusting.

Insufficiently Chunky Boots

I bought this pair of boots with chunky soles hoping to help me on Flint, as it turns out, it still wasn't thick enough!  I supposed this is as good as it gets, I just need to manage Flint.

Fuel Tank Condensate

The bike wasn't happy after only 2 weeks idle.  I could only think of one reason - fuel tank condensate.  The tank usually has a breather, so the tank is actually ambient air.  With the air so humid, and cold evenings, I suspect there was condensate resulting in damper fuel.  I fueled it to the top, I wonder if it helps...

Loose Bearings

So the head bearing has been bothering me, and the garage seemed to think it is just incorrectly adjusted, so let wait and see...

Unsolicited Advices

Some say,  the easiest way to get unsolicited advice is to get pregnant.   I always get unsolicited advices and I was never pregnant.   Seriously,  unless you are an expect in the subject matter,  or were asked to advise,  otherwise,  please keep your uneducated opinions to yourselves.

History is Sexy Podcast

I started listening to You're Dead to Me on BBC, then added History is Sexy as one of the guest on You Are Dead to Me is Dr Emma Southon.

Let me do a sandwiched review...

It is good to hear women podcasts, especially women talking about history.  There is a lot of giggles, which sometimes is good thing.  But I am a bit impatient, so I have been listening at 1.25x.

When they are talking about periods they are not familiar with, they make a lot of mistakes, some are so blatant that I screamed at the phone, and tempted to open a twitter account just to tell them.

They put in effort in looking materials up on different audience questions, most other programme would just use a historian in the subject matter as an walking reference book.  They are in a journey with the audience to learn more about history.  Especially with the frequency of the programme, it will be a lot of work.

Good hustle.

Mowgli Leicester

Nisha has been in many BBC shows and her restaurant Mowgli came into my radar.  Finally the opportunity came, the new Leicester branch open, and we caught the last day of introductory offer.  To make sure we get in, we even queued outside the door before opening time!

Food was acceptable, the others waved about the lassi.  I am not sure I would want to pay full price.

We will have to see how long Leicester Mowgli will last...

Alpaca in Warwickshire

I finally did the walking with alpaca thing.   Alpaca is a funny thing,  the boys are the calm ones (except the stud).   Then out of curiousity,  I learnt their Chinese name,  and Sarah thought Chinese has a lack of vocabulary,  as alcapa and llama both called sheep camel and big sheep camel,  not the most accurate nor inventive,  the same way we called most shelled reptile turtles...

Tuxford Granary

We were near Tuxford Mill, so we stopped for a cup of tea.  Whilst we were there, I insisted in getting a bag of granary flour, which they called 4 grains. 

The bread comes out quite nice, and quite different to the Hovis mix, this is coarser and has a "country taste".  We will definitely try other mill's granary blends.

MAY GLORY BE TO HONG KONG 願榮光歸香港

Kosovo 20 Years On

BBC has recent coverage in Kosovo and the impact of the war 20 years ago.

In short, Serbian (bigger neighbour), employing a mix of intimidation and political maneuvering, drastically reduced Kosovo's special autonomous status within Serbia and started cultural oppression of the ethnic Albanian population.

This is very upsetting to witness history repeating itself.

Emergency Chocolate

I had a sudden chocolate craving at work.  I could have get whatever they have at the shop, but I did not give in, but I realise I need to have an emergency stash!

Sunscreen Song

The Sunscreen Song was on The Documentary.  I wondered why I didn't know about it in 1999, anyway.  Then I realised it is on the Documentary because it is 20 years since 1999, and there was a reference to it in the song.  Good advises.

Cheese Scones

In an attempt to use up some cheese, my normal port of call is making cheese scone.  It often asked for some type of spice, and I usually just use pepper, but this time I got some cayenne pepper.  These ones got some warmth to them, very nice.

Insoles Solve All Problems

If in doubt, add insole.  Too much vibration?  Add insole.  Too loose?  Add insole.  Not fitting properly?  Add insole.  Feeling short?  Add insole.

Harris & James H&J Dark Chocolate Peru 77%

We got this from Suffolk.  The texture is interesting,  the taste is complex,  maybe it is the wonder of Chuncho beans.   We can tell it is handmade.   I am looking forward to the other bars. 

Voice Works

Voiceworks put up a seminar,  and I was nosy enough to sit thorough it.  It was all very interesting.   I also learnt more about myself that I am so introvert that I don't really like speaking,  even to a machine!

Coupon Management II

I just threw away a hand full of out of date coupons.   This coupon management issue seems to happen more often than not in Summer.   The sun is so distacting!

T-Cut Polish Wax

I never did look after Little Rome cosmetically.  I would make an attempt with Flint.  I only just leant about different products and different uses.  That reminded me why I didn't bother with Little Rome after just waxing her once...

Polish Food

Richard took us to this Polish restaurant.  I ordered stuff that were "safe" but was still slightly disappointed.  The pierogi were too meaty (yes, too meaty), and oily.  The soup had unexpected Polish sausages.

Heilemann Espresso Edelbitter

Heilemann does not disappoint.  On the other hand, "Edelbitter" is very misleading.  At this instance, I will let it slides, as the chocolate needed to make room for the coffee flavour.

Cobblers

I had a pair of motorcycle boots that I glued together, then my "new" motorcycle boots are falling apart, and I think I would actually take them to a cobbler.  Why are they so flimsy?!

Devon and Cornwall Grand Tour - Day 8

Knowing the weather was changeable, I put many of my wind and rain proof layers back on.  On the way back, M5 was still being a pain.  After making past the chaos, I stopped at the same place for a coffee, and I treated myself to a chocolate scone.

Devon and Cornwall Grand Tour - Day 7

On the last day of West Cornwall, we thought to actually exploring the area.  We started at Mousehole.  It is nice, but St Mawes was much better.

I set Sarah walking back along the coast, and I met her in Newlyn and Penzance on the bike.

I got a pack of Newlyn crab from the W Harvey & Sons factory and Sarah got a souvenir scallop shell. 

We made a giant crab sandwich at the beach. Only half a pack would fit on the bun!

We finally got back to Penzance, we explored around town.  We saw Rowes Bakery, but I stopped myself from having another pasty!  We went to The Honey Pot for a scone.  By now, Sarah was full of clotted cream and we opted for cheese scones.

I had the joy of picking up the luggage and rode all the way to Exeter and caught Sarah in town.  We initially wanted to go to Hubbox, but since they give us some ridiculous wait time, we looked around, and found a little independent Portguese Restaurant, The Cork and Tile, and we were very happy with our find.

Devon and Cornwall Grand Tour - Day 6

Today was meant to be an easy day with only 2 scheduled stops, but it turned out to be exhausting!

We went to St Michael's Mount, but instead of parking at St Aubyn's car park, which were already full, we parked at council's car park incurring extra walking.

The beach was empty, but the causeway was full!

After the long walk up and down the beach and the island, I had a Philp's pasty.  It has a lot more meat and other, the crimp is slightly off the side and the seasoning was quite distinctive.



We started driving to Lizard, but I was distracted by the large Porthleven Harbour Market sign, knowing we were ahead of (scone) schedule,  I made a detour and an unscheduled stop.

We finally parked and Lizard and walked to Lizard point with extra detour to keep to schedule.  We got to Polpeor Cafe, the Britian Most Southerly Cafe at good time.  The scones were very rustic, elementary, but the jam was very disappointing.



We started walking along the coastal path.  Sarah was going to walk to Kynance Cove, but she also abandoned the plan after I was caught in the wrong path.  We stopped at Kynance Cove just to have a look.

I was exhausted by the end!

Devon and Cornwall Grand Tour - Day 5

We were on the move again, further West to Penzance.  Sarah took the train and stayed mostly dry, and by the time I got to the hostel to drop off the luggage, I was a drown rat.

It was only 7 miles from Penzance to St Ives, but it felt so much further.  As soon as we parked up, we looked for place to hide from the rain.  The queue at the Tate's cafe was too long, so we went to Cornish Bakery for a coffee, followed by Cornish Deli for lunch.

Luckily by then, it was all cleared up and we explored both beaches and headland before we went to Land's End on the coastal road.

We did the obligatory walk around and took the picture in Land's End before going back to Penzance.

Devon and Cornwall Grand Tour - Day 4

Inspired by the Kingswear Ferry in the GLME ride, I crowbarred in St Mawes as a reason to ride on the King Harry Ferry.  St Mawes Castle and village of St Mawes were surprisingly nice, we even got a bonus local crab sandwich as elevenses.

On the other hand, the King Harry Ferry was a little disappointing and came with an unwanted hairpin bend.  In hind sight, Sarah could have taken a ferry directly to Falmouth.

Falmouth was also quite full, so we just parked and marched to Picnic for another top rated crab sandwich.  Unlike most crab sandwiches, this is all mixed in, not layered.  It was quite nice.

Pendennnis Castle was larger than expected.  We were hoping to find food in Charlestown, but nothing tickled our fancy.  By the time we came back to St Austell, we could not be bothered to buy dinner, we went out to a Cantonese Restaurant.  The waitress told us about Charlestown being used in TV and movies.  I managed to got another signature for the Petition for the Ex-British Colonial Hong Kongers.  If you haven't signed, please so, and send around.

Devon and Cornwall Grand Tour - Day 3

We left Devon and went into Cornwall.  I stopped at Eden Project for a quick coffee before picking Sarah up.

We went straight to Tintagel.  I was shocked by how busy it was, I nearly cannot get parked!  We just managed to squeeze into a parking space and got changed.

After some debating, we chose to eat at Pengenna.  We were sceptical about any eatery in Tintagel, but the food turned out to be very good.  Sarah's "small" salad was very substantial and my pasty was fresh, giant and traditional bar the top crimping!

Fuelled by the hearty lunch, we spent the afternoon in Tintagel castle ground.  By the time we were done, the car parks and the town was nearly empty!

Devon and Cornwall Grand Tour - Day 2

Our grand tour officially starts with a little South Devon tour.  I avoided A38 by going across tiny roads on Dartmoor.  It was hard work.  By the time we got to Buckfast, it was lunch time.  Buckfast has been rebuilt in the 19th century.  I could not make up my mind about what to eat, so I went for a pasty.  It was meant to be a chicken pasty, but it turned out to be a beef pasty.  It has more beef than the two Cornish pasties I had.  They do still sell Buckfast tonic wine here.

Dartmouth Castle was nice.  Sarah went on a bonus walk to see Sugary Cove.

Then we went deep into the South Devon AONB to Avon Mill for a top rated afternoon tea,  Sarah has given it a thumbs up.

On the way back, we stopped at Totnes Castle for another Motte and Bailey castle!