Fortnum & Mason High Tea

When tourists visit London, they all run to Harrods which in my opinion is a bit overrated.  That being said, if you've never been you should still tick it off your list.  The Harrods foodhall is certainly impressive but in terms of buying 'English' foodstuffs (tea, biscuits, chocolates, jams etc), I would suggest checking out Fortnum & Mason's selection.  It's nice to get something with the Harrods logo but I think F&M do have a super (if not better) range on offer.  It probably also helps that it is easier for me to get to F&M rather than Harrods.

Anyway today was another day for eating.  I've been craving Afternoon Tea for some time and I was waiting for Moo to come over to London so we can do it London-style.  The last time Moo and I had afternoon was at the National Gallery.  The cakes sure were nice (courtesy of Peyton and Byrne) but the sandwiches were rather stale.  Wtf.  I wasn't prepared to have a shitty experience this time, so we opted to go to St. James's Restaurant on the top floor of F&M.

We were given a choice of three different afternoon teas and settled on the Fortnum's Estate Afternoon Tea.  The food was pretty much the same (unless you got the High Tea) but the accompanying teas were different.  Not that I am a tea connoisseur but the I liked the sound of the Goomtee First Flush.  Moo liked the sound of Yunnan Orange Pekoe.

Now for the food.

To start - a selection of canapes.  Goat's cheese tarts, sausage rolls (hehe) and salmon spread (I can't remember) on crispbread.  My fave was the sausage roll and Moo's fave was the tart. 

Bottom of the tier - finger sized sandwiches with no crusts, thank-you ma'am.  Middle tier - madeleines and scones.  Top tier - raspberry jam biscuits, ginger parkin (what? I had to google that) and cakes-a-plenty.  When the cake tray was brought around for us to make our selection, my greedy guts kicked in and I asked 'So how many can we have?'  Must.... make.... strategic cake decision! 

Mooey with the tiered stands.  Sterling silver?  Maybe.  

We were given two little pots of jams - raspberry and strawberry.  I don't mind jam but I certainly never crave it. But this was the nicest jam I've ever had.  EVER!!  Moo and I wondered what they were going to do with the jam we didn't consume, so I made sure I piled on a heap on each of my scones and madeleines (even though I don't think you're meant to eat jam with madeleines).  Do they just throw out the left jam?  *gasp*  What a waste!  Do they spoon it out and re-use it?  *gasp* That's gross!

Now, I must say some kind words about the clotted cream, that lump of yellowy goodness sitting there on my butter knife.  I think I've mainly had jam and scones with whipped cream in Oz and not the clotted dream cream which was served at F&M.  This stuff is the SHIZNIT.  I'm sure the uppercrust Brits would love to know that's how I describe it.  I couldn't stop piling that stuff on my scones and Moo thought it was rather amusing.  I understand that clotted cream could be at it's maximum 85% milk fat but what is life if we can't enjoy it?  Why can't I enjoy my fatty goodness?  Why?  Shuddup, you calorie-counting biatches!  I will enjoy it, thank-you very much!

Me and another butter knife scoop of clotted cream.  Moo eating cake.  

I actually don't remember too much about the cakes we ate.  All nice I would have to assume, as anything bad would have surely stuck in my head.

At the end of the meal as the waiters cleared away our dishes, I waved a teary farewell to my leftover clotted cream.  However, I felt a little bit better when asked 'Would you like to take your jam pots with you?'  :D  Yes please!  I considered asking for a pot of clotted cream, but I knew that wish would not be fulfilled.

Clotted cream - I shall return one day to rescue you from dieting monsters!

Waitrose Toffee Sundae

One of my favourite pre-made desserts is the Waitrose Toffee Sundae.  I first saw this dessert last year when I was in one of those weak moods and had hankering for something dessert-y.  Surveying the pre-made dessert shelf, I pondered, 'Well, I've had the profiterole dessert and chocolate sundae... Why not try this toffee sundae?'

On that particular day, I couldn't wait to dig in so I collected a plastic spoon on the way out of the supermarket and started stuffing my face.  Mmmmmmm nummy!  Toffee mousse, toffee custard, sticky toffee cake pieces and whipped cream.  So fattening but so nummy!  It totally won me over.

Anyway, my local Waitrose doesn't seem to stock the Toffee Sunday anymore :(  I looked for it at John Lewis on Oxford St but couldn't find it there either.  I got pretty upset and assumed that they had discontinued the product but I was relieved to see that was still available online.  But boo at the fact that my local doesn't stock it anymore.

As a result, I have been on a hunt for a toffee sundae replacement.  I had seen one at Tesco but it did not look appetising so I have not bothered to try it.  However, my local Sainsburys had a toffee sundae which seemed to be practically identical in it's components to it's Waitrose counterpart.  I got pretty excited, took it to the counter and gave my donation to the Sainsburys register.

It was pretty good, but nothing like my favoured Waitrose one.  Generally, the consistency of the cream, mousse and toffee cake wasn't as nice as Waitrose's.  The other notable difference was that there was too much plain whipped cream.  All I could think while eating the Sainsburys sundae was that "I am eating plain cream".  That in turn made me feel fat.  It makes no sense, but the utter deliciousness of the Waitrose toffee cream was so enjoyable that the thought of eating fatty cream didn't cross my mind.  I figure this Sainsbury sundae will suffice as a substitute though.

Still happy to try more desserts, I spotted this new Caramel Frappe sundae at my local M&S.  Ooooh, caramel and cinnamon - well that's just two of my favourite dessert ingredients.  This sundae was already half-way there for me.

I was hoping for a bit of cake in the sundae but no joy :(  It's definitely not a toffee sundae, but with it's butterscotch mousse, caramel, cream and cinnamon, it has it's own decent qualities.  The consistency of the mousse is on par to Waitrose's quality and as I've come to expect; M&S and Waitrose desserts really do kick ass over Tesco, Sainsburys and the other chains.

So, while I'll continue to hunt my Waitrose Toffee Sundae, it is nice to know I will have some alternatives.  (Sometimes, I really do eat too much.)

Busaba Eathai

Smee and I were just hanging out today and part of hanging out involves eating.  Why we settled on eating at Busaba Eathai I'm not sure but I think it was mainly due to proximity.  This is another Alan Yau contribution to the London food scene; this time Thai food.  I'm not sure if Mr. Yau has cut his ties to Busaba like how he did with Cha Cha Moon, but judging from the decent food Smee and I had today, my guess is that he hasn't.

My Guava Collins - guava, lime and coconut juice.  It was very nice and refreshing but it was served in the smallest glass ever.  All that shaking in a cocktail shaker and this is all you serve?  Don't call this drink a Collins unless you serve it in a Collins glass with the extra millilitres!  

Char-grillled duck, pandan chicken and pad see euw (I think).  All were quite nice and I especially liked the duck.  

So yes, despite the smallish drink, Busaba gets a tick from me (for now).  I'll pop by there again if I have a Thai food craving.

A Munich Walking Tour and an Airport Hobo Stint

Moo had her official business today and so I did my usual free walking tour.  For those interested, I add my observation that no there was no Mike the Hottie.  I've forgotten the guide's name but I do remember he was Irish.  Once again, it was a beautiful day in Munich-town.  Perfect for a stroll!

We were first introduced to the most overrated, boring tourist attraction in Munich, the Glockenspiel at the New Town Hall.  Yes, even the guides dislike it.

They were the ones who warned us of it's slow, uneventful crappiness!

The Frauenkirche, also known as the church the Devil built.  A cold wind surrounds the church all year long -  ooh spooky.  The story goes that in order to construct the church quickly, the builder asked for the Devil's help and promised to make it a windowless structure.  Little did the Devil know that the builder had tricked him so when the Devil came to inspect the completed church, he stomped his foot angrily and here the footprint remains.

Also within the walls of the Frauenkirche is a little plaque featuring the current Pope.  He's a Bavarian and supposedly enjoys a beer every now and then.

This gold cobblestone is located on Viscardigasse, a little alley located behind the Feldhernhalle.  The gold strip indicated the path people would take to avoid having to give a Nazi salute.  Hence the nickname, Dodger's Alley.

The lucky lions.  If you rub the noses of three, you'll have good luck.  If you rub the noses of four, you're a greedy bastard and you get nuffin.  

Inside the Hofbräuhaus, where men used to pee under the table (just unbutton the lederhosen flap) while simultaneously drink their beer.  In olden times of course.

The Jewish synagogue.  An interestingly shaped modern building.

Munich's maypole.  One certain days of the year, if one city successfully steals another city's maypole, the loser city has to throw a party for the winners.  Yay! 

My final hotdog for the trip.   

Afterwards, I met up with Moo at the Hauptbahnhof to catch our relevant trains.  I marvelled at the German efficiency, watching each S-Bahn train pull into the platform, minute after minute.  Moo bid me adieu while I began my journey back to London and she headed off to Belgium.  This is where it all started to go wrong.

I boarded my S-Bahn airport train and chugged my way towards the airport.  My train would arrive 90 minutes before my scheduled flight which is a nice (though some would argue - too long) buffer.  Six stops into the journey, the train remained sitting at a station for about five minutes.  A bit odd, but I figured the train was being held back to regulate the too-efficient service.  An announcement was made in German but no one seemed bothered by it.  After 15 minutes of nothing, some people started getting antsy and began leaving the train.  Another announcement was made and more people started moving off the train but some remained in their seats.

I asked the hot guy sitting next to me what was happening.  He had been speaking Spanish on his phone but he was obviously one of those awesome, hot, multilingual, European guys.  He informed me (in his lovely accented English) that there was a problem with the train and they were unsure when it will be fixed.  (Thank you hottie European man.)

Oh f**k.  It was chaos at the station with an Oktoberfest-inflated population trying to catch buses and flag down non-existent cabs.  After flapping my arms for awhile and doing nothing useful, I decided the best option was to return to the Hauptbahnhof using the underground network (the U-Bahn trains were still functioning) and get a cab from there.

The underground was packed like how the tube is at peak hour with severe delays.  So after 1.5 hours of starting my journey, I was back where I started at the Hauptbahnhof.  I couldn't see any available cabs but then yay (!) I saw an airport bus loading up passengers and sardined my way on.  My flight was leaving in an hour and the bus journey would take 45 minutes.  Yes, I was going to miss my flight.

But the saga didn't end there.  Arriving at the airport, I was advised to queue in the non-moving ticket queue.  My patience was taken to the limit and after 50 minutes of standing in line, I cracked it.  I left the queue and tried to muscle my way to the Bag Drop-Off counter.  The woman sent me back to the ticket queue.  I hadn't asked the two guys standing behind me to mind my spot but I just gave them a pathetic face with a 'Can I pop back in here?' and they let my sorry ass back in.

When I finally got to the front of the queue, the last flight back to London had just closed and the best they could do was book me on the 6am flight the next day.  Oh and make me pay €50 for the flight change!!!!

So that's the story of how I ended up doing this in Munich airport.

I was too pissed off to consider an airport hotel.

I felt like a homeless hobo. 

A fellow hobo.  

I was hoping for a shower in the terminal but once I cleared security, there weren't any!

I did the next best thing and washed my feet in the bathroom sink.

The good thing is I can now add 'being an airport hobo' to my list of travel adventures.

Oktoberfest!

I have to admit, I had no real idea what Oktoberfest was all about.  I assumed it was an annual event where heaps of people gathered in a park to sit on green grass (BYO picnic blanket) and drink beer.  A sporadic marquee placed here and there and maybe a food stall or two.  But yeah, the gist of it was sitting in a park with a beer with a tonne of other people.  Well the actual Oktoberfest is not too far from my above description but the real thing is definitely no moshpit affair.

There is history behind all the revelry.  The first Oktoberfest was in celebration of a royal marriage and involved a horse race.  The Muncheners loved it so much, they did it the following year and then the next year.. and then the next and so it went on.  Another misconception I had - there is no grass nor a conventional green park for that matter.  The grounds on which Oktoberfest take place was historically a meadow (a green one I would think) but in our current times, for the majority of the year the modern meadow is a asphalt-laden 'field'.  Which also explains why locals don't call it Oktoberfest.  They call it 'die Wiesn' which is German for 'the field/meadow'.  Oh and the 'sporadic marquees'.  I found out they do set up beer tents each year, although these are 'tents' in the loosest possible sense.  The 'tents' take two months to construct and a month to dismantle!  Enough about the facts - on to the frivolities!

My original intention for today was to visit Neuschwanstein, drag Moo along and finally tick the Disney Castle off my list.  However, when I realised it was the 200 year anniversary of Oktoberfest, well I couldn't pass up such an historic event!

At the entrance - it's free!  The weather was absolutely glorious which I have to say, I took for granted.  But maybe the sunshine just follows me?

Super cool shoes with asymmetrical laces, worn with lederhosen and socks.  Must have socks or you will look stupid!  

I realised while on the train to the grounds, if you weren't wearing tracht then you weren't giving Oktoberfest your all.  Seeing so many people dressed up in lederhosen and dirndls was like seeing an entire city going to a costume party.  It was awesome!!  The Bavarians sure are proud of their national dress.  An Asian in a dirndl is a novelty and Moo happily posed for photos when approached by other tourists.

About to head into our chosen tent. 

We turned up bright and early to beat the crowds and settled in the Armbrustschützen tent.  The masses hadn't arrived yet and there were plenty of empty tables around.

I felt a little out of place so put my hair into pigtails to get into the mood.  After studying the menu, we ordered our food and beer.  Well actually, neither Moo or I are big beer drinkers and so we shared a shandy.  I know, I know *hangs head in shame*.  Good news for the beer enthusiasts - the beer purity law and the Bavarian's passion for beer means that you are guaranteed to only have excellent and smooth beers here!

The first picture demonstrates incorrect beer drinking technique.  Note the hand gripping the stein handle.  Tsk, tsk.....Wrong, wrong, WRONG!!  An elderly Bavarian couple sitting near our bench took pity on our novice skills and showed us how things are done.  Hold the stein dammit and use the handle as support!!!  The weight is spread across your hand, prevents fatigue which ultimately equates to more drinking enjoyment!  The waitresses on the other hand carry about five or more steins with each fist and then rest them against their bosom.  I have no idea how they cope but they must have massive biceps and forearms.

Trays of hearty fare.  My sausages and sauerkraut and Moo's veal and mushroom stew... I think.  Num nums!  So tasty! 

We were in prime position to enjoy the oom-pah-pah music and watch some traditional dancing (until the fat Americans sat in front of us).

Lederhosen definitely don't flatter but they are sure good for thigh slapping!

Moo shows the dance troupe how it's done.

Trying to finish the stein.  I tried to finish it in one gulp but I under-estimated the volume of beer.  Moo shows me how it's done.  

Verms and I with the horsies.  So cute.  

I needed my fair share of Oktoberfest souvenirs so next on the purchase list was a Lebkuchen heart.  These are gingerbread heart-shaped biscuits with lovey-dovey messages/pet names on them.  Men given them to women to wear around their neck for all to see.  I... errr.. bought my own.  Schatzi = sweetie/honey/darling!  Hehehe...

It's hat time! 

Inside the Hofbrau tent.  Inside the Augustiner tent.  Yes, there are 'tents'. 

Inside the Ochsenbraterei tent.  So pretty!  Even prettier are the oxen dishes in which they specialise. 

Moo rocks it outside the Lowenbrau tent.  On our way to ride the giant ferris wheel.  

The view from the ferris wheel.  Beer = drunk fun.

As part of the 200 year anniversary, a section of the meadow became a time portal and rewound us back to the years of the historical Oktoberfest.

Mooey patted a fake cow and a fake pig before finally getting her real shetland pony.  So cute and stumpy! 

We then hit the ghost train.  The last time I went on one I was 13 years old and even back then, I thought it was lame.  I still think ghost trains are lame but by ghost trains standards this has got to be one of the better ones.  There was a friendly Freddy Krueger outside!

All that frolicking around, photo-snapping and animal-petting made me hungry.  Well not really but I wanted my fill of German desserts.  We had ordered a germknodel but they must have misheard our shitty accents and we ended up with dampfnudel instead.  Essentially, it's just a bit of dough with custard - one has jam in the centre of the dough, the other doesn't.

A nudel nonetheless and as long as it was served with warm custard, I was happy.  Apple fritters dusted in cinnamon and sugar.  How could I say no?     

With the teenage crowds making their way to the grounds, we were pretty beat and ready to let the vomiters and bierleichen (beer corpses - people so drunk, they have passed out and look dead) take the reins.  I must thank Verms for being a most patient host while Moo and I (especially I) indulged in our touristy behaviour.  Must buy hat!  Must buy magnets!  Must buy stein!  Must buy t-shirt!  Must try to eat everything!  Must take a billion photos! 

So yeah - Oktoberfest.  While it was never high on my tourist list, I'm so glad I went.  My advice?  Do it people!  Do it!!! 

Munich - Day 1

So yep, nine hours after coming back from Paris, here were Moo and I riding the DLR at 6am to London City airport.  This by far was the best choice as for any other airport, Moo and I would have had to leave the house at 5am.

Despite having the biggest eyebags ever, Moo was happy to drive the DLR to the airport.  All that driving was a bit much and she had to have a crash nap at our Munich hotel.  

The hotel was average at best and overpriced due to the Oktoberfest.  I couldn't ask more from it's location as it was opposite the Haupbahnhof and walking distance to the city centre.  What did irk me was the greasy, rude prick manning the reception desk.  Rude on check-in, rude on service, rude on key delivery.  I actually think he was the hotel manager.

After the nanna nap, we ventured to the city centre for some quick sightseeing but more importantly - dirndl buying.  Moo really wanted to get into the spirit of Oktoberfest.  On the train ride from the airport to the hotel we observed a lot of people wearing the traditional dress - dirndls for women, lederhosen for men.  Initially it was quite funny, almost like they were taking the piss out of it.  But as more and more passengers got on the train I realised, 'Hang on, leather shorts are serious stuff in Bavaria!'

Checking out the town gate and some buildings near Marienplatz. 

The New Town Hall and another building... I can't recall what it was.  

On to the important task of the day - buying Moo's dirndl.  We were hoping to each buy one but I soon realised they don't really do 'cheap' dirndls unless you buy one of the slutty interpretations from sex shops.  The next best thing was to head into C&A (the European equivalent of Target) and find something suitable.  We were pretty impressed with the range and even the 'cheapest' lederhosen were still made of goat leather!

Obviously all that's comes at a price and while €99 for a dirndl is a bargain by most measures, I happily declined my purchase while Moo settled on the cute design above.  I will take advantage of the fact that Moo and I are similar sizes and I could always borrow it later on!

We hadn't eaten, so we walked up towards Viktualiemarkt to see what was on offer.

Moo checking out the sausages.  Some very likelife and creepy-looking foxes (inedible).

With dinner in only a few hours, we settled on a currywurst from one of the sausage kiosks. 

Believe it or not, I know a native Munchener - Hai Verms!  This was going to be the first time we had seen each after other in 7 years after living together in a crazy woman's house.  Aaah memories.  To ensure a most authentic take on Munich we had dinner at the Fraunhofer, a beer hall away from the tourist hoards.

The menu with what I guess are the original owners on front. 

Verms and I clinking our spezi.  

Liver dumpling soup.  Moo and I shared it.

My hearty venison stew with a dumpling and cranberry (I think) sauce.  Num nums!  It was like as though I shot my own deer, cut him up and cooked him up myself.  

In the spirit of Oktoberfest, Moo ordered the pork knuckle.  Yum yum.  The meat just melted.

To burn off our dinner, Verms and C then gave us a night walking tour around Munich.  Moo and I then retired to our hotel to rest up for tomorrow's super day at Oktoberfest!