FOOD CORNER

HELLO GEMS | MEGAN’S AT THE SORTING OFFICE

Hello beautiful souls! I am excited to bring you along to hidden gems such as local spots in town. These will be spots that you only go to if you heard about it or know from a local. So if you are new in town and want to explore like a local, you will find them in LIFESTYLE under HELLO GEMS.

My first hidden gem starts in one of my favourites neighbourhoods, Islington. Halfway down Upperstreet, you will find a cute Islington Square, et voila, you are at Meghan’s. There is an ODEON Luxe & Dine Islington opposite Meghan’s. [Just mentioning it, as it is worth seeing a film in this Odeon. They have very comfy seats]

The food on their menu is mainly a Mediterranean twist with some Turkish influences. All ingredients tasted fresh and are easy to share if you like to. [Just saying]

Some of my favourites are the Mezze. This time I went for the Chicken Shawarma Mezze. I tried the Halloumi Fries w/ Honey [the honey did it for me as I am not the biggest fan of Halloumi]. The overnight braised lamb is heaven. [The lamb I tried before and almost melts in your mouth] They have many delicious vegan options for the vegans between us. Click here for their menu.

In summer this place might be busy as we all want to enjoy having lunch or dinner outside on a terrace. Meghan’s is a cute place for a romantic date. [To be honest, almost all the places I mention here are suitable for dates or dates with friends or family] Last but not least, it is very affordable for a special night out in central London. [Between 40 – 50 pounds for a special night out, depending on the drinks]

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So if you want to try something more local, [and still in the centre of London basically] Meghan’s will be an excellent option.

#hiddengems #hellogems #hellolondon #localguide #mediterraneanfood #londonlife #livingabroad #Meghan’slondon #meghan’satthesortingoffice #islington #misswidjaja2022

LIFESTYLE

HELLO LONDON | THE PARKLAND WALK

Hello beautiful souls! We finished 2021 with a walk from Finsbury Park station to Alexandra Palace. A walk of roughly 8 km. Luckily no rain on the day of the walk, but it had rained the night before, so it was muddy. A great tip is to wear your old hiking shoes.

Starting at Finsbury, [via the Parkland Walk (South)] you will discover a lot of graffiti, abandoned platforms and nature reserves. It feels peaceful to have this in London and not too far from the city centre. I have to say without navigation, walking through the woods, it will be easy to get lost. [I am one of those people]

From Finsbury, you will continue your walk to Highgate Woods, Queen’s Wood Local Nature Reserve, the rooftops of Muswell Hill, through Alexandra Palace Park to Alexandra Palace. So much nature and cute doggies during this walk. A recommendation for a summer walk [when it is not muddy].

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Once you are in Alexandra Palace, [and explored the area a bit] take the direct bus back to Finsbury Park station. It does not get more convenient than this.

#hellolondon #londonlife #livingabroad #misswidjaja2022 #FinsburyPark
#PARKLANDWALK #AlexandraPalace #graffiti #abandonedplatforms #naturereserves #peacefulwalk #HighgateWoods #Queen’sWood #LocalNatureReserve #Muswell Hill

LIFESTYLE

REFLECTION | GOODBYE 2021 – HELLO 2022

Hello beautiful souls! On this last day of 2021, it is time to reflect on what a prosperous year it has been. Time flies, even if it wasn’t always fun. [Pandemic wise] I believe [looking back to all my blog posts] it was a year of lots of fun, growth and happiness.

Lockdown in Rotterdam
At the beginning of 2021, I was in the Netherlands with my family during the lockdown. My initial Christmas holiday 2020 turned out to be 2,5 months extended holiday [work] trip. Working from home at my mom’s place felt like I never left home and was comfortable. To pass my spare time during the lockdown, I mainly went for long walks with my family and luckily could see a few friends. I almost forgot, but I took some beautiful pictures of my city Rotterdam at night. [It felt as magical as London at night along the river]. This beautiful purple orchid in my mom’s kitchen inspired me to write this poem.

First Outing
The summer love open-air film festival at King’s Cross has been my first outing of the year here in London. The weather started to feel sunny again. The movies I saw [with my flatmate and friends] were almost all from back in the day. We saw the Italian Job [never saw the original before], BIG [loved this one from Tom Hanks], LaLa Land [the first time and loved it], the last one was Jumanji.

Hello Food
This year I finally tried to cook my first carbonara, I was always scared I screwed up the egg part, but it turned out perfect. Next time, I will follow my recipe to [hopefully] make it as delicious as the first time. My best cooking experience [of this year] is making [vegan] banana bread. I had to blog about this one because I wanted to have my measurements just right, so it would be easy to follow this recipe many other times. I was right. [Basically a pro in making banana bread :P]

Travel
Travelling was not really on the list for this year. [Boo] Except the occasional going home to the Netherlands. I am happy that I did spend a weekend in Oxford with my flatmate as our first trip together. [I can’t wait to explore more of the UK with her] So much fun we had and will never forget the excellent guide of the Harry Potter tour. [He made me a Harry Potter fan, reading all the books ever since] Another mesmerizing trip, more a hiking trip for a day, was to Eastbourne. This hike along the chalk cliff was stunning. Not an easy long-distance walk for a beginner like me, but worth every struggle and step.

Exhibitions
Life without art is no life for me. I am lucky that also this year I saw some great exhibitions. The V&A ‘Bags: Inside Out’ was outstanding. I saw so many iconic bags. As a bag lover, I was in bag heaven. I am a big fan of leather and quality materials in handbags. I loved seeing the process of making the bag. Some other great exhibitions I saw were the Lightfield exhibition, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, Street Art in Penge West and Unfinished business; the fight for Women’s rights in the British Library. [Women rights and women supporting women is something that I got more and more passionate about]

Summer Vibes
The only [unfortunately] work event we had this year was on a perfect summer day [30 degrees celcius] on the River Thames. [A day to remember] We did a cruise on the River Thames with a party boat. [First-time view from the river Thames] After the cruise, we went to one of the bars on Southbank for some cocktails. [I would love to do this next summer as well] I enjoyed seeing everyone from work again. Working from home can feel lonely sometimes.

Hello London
As always, super excited to get to know London better and better. These blogposts help me to discover local spots. I love to go for new experiences and create beautiful memories. One of my missions for these blogs is to be your local guide, so you can skip the standard site seeing and enjoy REAL London.

The last few months have been a blessing for me. The recent blogs are all experiences with family, friends and [surprisingly] dating. Check them all here.

Highlights
The Highlights of this year were The Glade and The Gallery, both at Sketch. Dreams do come true. [Sign me up for any Sketch experience] Ting Shangri-La at Shard; I had a lovely time here celebrating the birthday of my flatmate. [This year brought us so much closer. I am happy she is a friend for life] Morning Yoga and celebrating Halloween at Skygarden were events I wouldn’t want to miss for anything else. I didn’t write a blog post about Halloween [unfortunately], but I posted some pictures of it on my Instagram.

Happiness
I feel fulfilled, happy, blessed and content if I look back on a year of so many adventures. Thank you, everyone, for making so many fun memories with me in 2021. So happy I could see some of my friends here in London and my cousin. You all gave me epic weekends to remember. Thank you, friends, in London. Even in dating, I had such a lovely experience, which makes me super optimistic about dating in 2022. [Still searching for some local wine buddies in 2022 :P]

Covid
Unfortunately, I had to end this year with Covid. [Big meh] So no Christmas Holidays back home with my family. This period gave me some time to reflect on all the activities I did this year. I am grateful for all the experiences I had with the people I did connect with this year. [You know who you are, Thank you so much]

Up to 2022
My London Winter Walk will be my first fundraising walk for Woman’s Trust here in London in January 2022. So far, I did raise 235 pounds. [Whoop Whoop] If you like to support and help women who suffered abuse in any way here in London, click on this blog for more details. I am excited to walk 22 km here in the city and show much more content next year for you to enjoy.

Thank you all for sticking around and reading all my blogs till the end. You are the best! I hope you all have a healthy and prosperous 2022 ahead.

See you in 2022!

FOOD CORNER

HELLO LONDON | CIRCOLO POPOLARE

Buon Natale, beautiful souls! You are in luck today because here is another Hello London blog. So many exciting options I found for you here in London to visit in 2022. [And way in advance so you can book them in time, you are welcome] 

When I booked a table at Circolo Popolare my heart skipped a beat. This place is usually fully booked within a few minutes when they add some new dates online. [Kind of proud of myself] I finally managed to book us a table for lunch. [H*ll yeah, I think I checked the booking site on a rainy Friday some weeks before the actual date] No worries, book here and plan everything around it. You will be fine. 

Why is it so special? Circolo Popolare is a stunning Sicilian Trattoria. [Take a look at their Instagram posts, the walls with all those bottles, the flowers and authentic decoration takes you back to Sicily, Italy] 

If you are early, as we were, wait for the “normal” lunch menu around 11:30 am. [Thank me later] The “normal” menu has all the pizzas and a lot of pasta on it. I have already decided to eat as many things as possible during lunch. The next time I get in might take ages.

As starters, we went for some Proscuitto di Parma and Truffle Salami. I added some mussels and bread to the starters. All delicious, a bit too much. [I forgot I ordered a main he he] For the main dish, I had an impressive Truffle pasta. [Truffle heaven again]

The Truffle pasta was very impressive. I ate a bit too much, but I had the best time. Places like this make me smile. The food tasted authentic and made with love. No one rushed us to get out, which is always great. If you love Italian food, definitely try out Circolo Populare. 

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MEI MEI – BOROUGH MARKET

Another place to try when it is not so busy is Mei Mei in Borough Market. [Completely different than Italian food] If you know Uncle Roger, you know. It is a food stall with traditional Singaporean food. Easy to take away or eat at their stand. 

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Hi you beautiful soul. Thank you for reading till the end. I hope I got you inspired to visit any of my Hello London suggestions when you are in London. No worries, there must be something for everyone, go through them here. 

#circolopopolare #meimeiboroughmarket