The Loft, yoga studio, Auckland

I've done quite a few yoga session since I left on my travels in September.

From a studio set in the serene surrounding of paddy fields and beautifully fresh air, in Ubud, to an air conditioned studio in one of Singapore's many, many malls.  The world class instructors make up for the lack of atmosphere in the latter.  But all in all, it's been pretty good, and varied.

I have found a nice wee studio in Auckland.  It's called The Loft but I'm pretty certain there is another floor above it.  Anyways, for $17 ($14 for students) you get a 75 min yoga session, dinner AND dessert.  Absolute treat!  It's all vegan food so it's all round goodness.

Monday's Vinyasa class is worth checking out.  It's in the smaller room so only fits like 12 people but it's great, and a bit more challenging which I like.  Miki teaches this class.  She is a quirky Japanese girl who effortlessly demonstrates some positions, and says things like 'if you've never done this position before... watch the person in front of you' for others.  Lucky the person in front of me knew what they were doing.  I'm still trying to learn all the different names.  The small room is literally 6 mats wide, and 2 deep.  Intimate.  I like it.

Tuesday's Ashtanga class is good too.  Miki again.  I've been a few times, and the class size seems to vary a lot.  It's in the larger room. The first time I went, it was packed out, I think someone even had a mat in the changing room at the back! I wasn't a fan of the crowded class at first, thinking they were packing too many people in but I kinda forgot about it throughout the practise, and I've been back since so all good.  Second time, the class was a better size.  Heaps of sun salutations, balancing poses, stretches.  A good balance, and at a decent pace too.  Mat hire is free, and there's loads of blankets for relaxation at the end.  THEN it's dinner time.

Food food food.  Vegan isn't a lifestyle I have ever really considered.  I've done a vegetarian challenge but never vegan.  Every time I've been to the Loft though they've cooked up something different (from the last time), and tasty, and it all seems pretty simple too.  Portion sizes are huge.  They make these delicious chocolate brownies but without the chocolate.  They use carob.  I hadn't even heard of carob before but it's tasty as.  A tasty vegan friendly chocolate alternative!  I kinda joked that the girl next to me got a bigger piece than me, and she was like, we can swap, I like the corner slabs anyway, and that made me go hmm maybe the corner slab is better, maybe I'll keep it.  I ended up with both pieces cos she was so full after dinner, hahah.  Treat!  Hopefully carob is good the next day too.

I believe Wednesday, Thursdays are hatha classes, I've not tried them yet but the website will tell you more about the classes.

See you there!

http://www.theloft.org.nz/

NEXT: I'm keen to try Bikram yoga, and also laughing yoga.  I'll be back.

GoogleAds is pretty handy- it let's you know where all your site traffic is coming from.

It made me smile when I saw that someone had typed 'camembert nightmares' into Google, and it directed them to my page.  This made me review my post, and I found it a wee bit upsetting that I did not report back with my findings.  Sorry about this, pals!

I don't think it worked.  I think you really need more than a slither to get a cheese induced nightmare.  Also maybe camembert is a bit too creamy.  Maybe I need to get a smelly, crumbly cheese involved...

WATCH THIS!

A morning in Luang Prabang, Laos

I cruised down the Mekong for two days to get to this little gem of a city.
Two days because I opted for the cheaper and safer slow boat.  It takes literally a quarter of the time if you want to take the fast boat. I actually saw a few zoom past. The passengers wore motorcycle helmets. The fast boats only seated about 5 people, it's a speed boat. Meanwhile, the slow boats can squeeze in like 100 people- rows and rows of small wooden benches. Minimal leg room. Wooden, numb bum but at least you don't have to wear a motorcycle helmet, and if you were to crash into a rock, the whole boat would not crumble.  A speed boat would, warned my hostel owner in Chiang Mai.  Oh it would, he said.  Safe! You can read about the slow boat journey here.

Once locating your backpack, and climbing up the small hill, you'll be greeted by a small group of tuktuk drivers.  The city is a UNESCO world heritage site, making all big vehicles forbidden.  It's a real religious city- about 90% of Laotians are Buddhists- and it's forbidden to be higher than a monk so no buses!  It was really quite refreshing being in a town without heaps of traffic.

Monks do not have any possessions- although sometimes you see them in big cities with mobile phones, and shopping which I can't really understand... anyways, in Luang Prabang, every morning, the monks walk down to the main street to collect alms.  They each carry an alms bowl which they use to collect goodies and which they all share out later in the temple, and that's their food for the day.

I was with my friend, Pete, and we got up at 530am to get ready to go hand out alms.  There was already a lady there setting up a stall with baskets of sticky rice so we bought a couple from her. You can also buy packs of biscuits if you are into that.  It was still dark at this point but a few people had started to gather. Once it started getting light, more people arrived, tourists and locals alike and we all lined up at the side of the road. Soon we saw the bright orange robes of the monks walking down the street in single file. They walk alongside us and open their bowls each time they pass someone with an offering.  There was a local next to us, and she would pinch some sticky rice, and roll it into a ball before popping it into the monk's bowl, and whispering a prayer. They come by really fast so I probably only managed every 3rd monk but they all share the food anyway. It was a good experience.

There were a couple of homeless families on our side of the road too, and a lot of the monks would donate all their alms to them.  One of the woman selling alms across the road had one of her kids with a box on our side of the road, and the monks would hand over all the biscuits and treats into the kid's box, and I guess the goods would get sold again the next day... huhh.

The only thing that annoyed me were the tourists that chased the monks down the road to snap photos! It was crazy, running after the monks like that.  Very disrespectful, and embarrassing seeing falangs (foreigners) disrupting the morning ritual like that.  I took a photo from afar...

Pappin the papz

We went along to the morning market after. Lots of treats!

Baskets for sticky rice alms

Colourful veggies

Rice, rice, rice

This little kid was actively involved in choosing dinner. The ducks were freakin out.

Catch you next time,

Sue

black melon bread.

So this packaging has created a huge uproar.

You guys have it all wrong. Huge props if you can grow an afro with Oriental hair.

MUSCLE 2GO

So I got given this at the gym. What is it? Its like the size of a toolbar. 35g protein. I've just looked it up... it has more protein that a chicken breast! What is this monster?

I won't lie, I'm kinda scared to eat it but thank you Les Mills!

camembert induced nightmares

Camembert. Delicious, soft and creamy camembert. Its even nice to pronounce. Camembert!

Mike was making a Marmite, and camembert sandwich (I know, I must try one), and I asked him to give me a wee slither of camembert. Just as I was reaching for it, my eyes clocked the time. 10.55pm. Not quite bed time, but getting there.

'Oh no, will this give me nightmares?' I asked, pulling back my hand.

Mike laughed. Oh silly me. I laughed too but I told myself I must Google that later, and find out.

The best way to find out though is probably just to go to sleep...

I'll be back.

the tits.

Risotto. One of my fave dishes to cook, and one of those dishes you can make vegetarian but still tasty as.

Ok, let's do this for 2 people

1/2 onion

2 gloves garlic

Get some of those big portobello mushrooms. So meaty, just great.

Small handful of button mushrooms

1/2 courgette

Wee splash of white wine

200g risotto rice

600mls veg stock

Knob of butter

Parmesan cheese

Black pepper, and salt for seasoning

1. Dice your onion, and really chop up that garlic. Prep all the veg- I like to dice the portobello mushrooms, and quarter the button mushrooms. Slice up the courgette.

2. Preheat the pan. Heat up a knob of butter. Fry up the onion until its a lovely clear texture then add the garlic. After this add the risotto rice and keep stirring until its a nice clear texture too. At this point, you can add some wine but allow the wine to vapourise i.e. the wine is all absorbed.

3. I like to add the veg now, mix it all up. After the veg looks like its beginning to cook, add a 1/5 of the stock, and keep mixing until it is completely absorbed. Repeat this process until all the stock is used up. Always a small amount of stock at a time. The risotto rice will start looking bigger. You can taste it at this point, and ideally we want it to be al dente.

4. Season to taste. Add a knob of butter, and a generous sprinkle of parmesan.

So simple. I fell asleep after writing this. A risotto and wine coma of sorts. Enjoy!

based on http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/gourmet-mushroom-risotto

New feature- Photo Thursday

I always get told off for being 'so Asian' when I take pictures of food. What's everyones beef?!?! Food is supposed to be visually appealing, right? The chefs want you to look at the food, and go nom nom. When you're eating out with friends, you can't touch your food until everyone else's plate has arrived. Its that anticipation! There is a story behind every photo.

Xiabu Xiabu

I'm quite sad to say this but Pete and I just couldn't find any decent food in Beijing. We were cold, and STARVING, haha a tiny exaggeration but you get the idea. We stumbled across this hot pot restaurant after going into the basement of a shopping mall. It was busy so we were like, yeah this must be good! After requesting the English menu, we decided on the 50 Yuan set (only 5 Queen's faces, only 5 shiny UK Sterling pounds!) noodles, dumplings, veg, and meat, miso sauce dip, and a drink. It fed us both but the people around us were ordering a platter each!

How it works is there is a round counter with hot pots in front of each seat. So you order a platter and then cook your own food, and you can make your own delicious soup. Lots of fun. It was COLD in Beijing in October and I remember we felt so warm, full and content after. Afterwards, we agreed that we would have to come back again for a decent feed but after exploring the city a bit more, we discovered it was a chain so ate with them a further 3 times haha. Loved it.

Good memories.

Does anyone have any ideas for next Thursday? Or I might make it 'Food Thursday' hehe, watch this space!

Eating in Singapore

Not much to do in Singapore apart from eating. My cousin, Peter, was in town, and he loves afternoon tea in a posh hotel. If my cousin invites me out to tea, I'm not going to be rude and decline!

Afternoon tea started back in the Victorian times when people would eat breakfast and then nothing again til dinner time in the evening. One afternoon, a peckish Victorian lady (I've just checked, she was a Duchess) got her maid to prepare some cakes, and tea for her. She did the same the next day, and then started inviting her pals round and getting them involved too, and it all started from there!

Tea, cakes, and finger sandwiches. A few of my favourite things in the world! Thank you Anna Maria Stanhope (1783-1857) and thank you Mr Raffles for hosting the event for this is where we went.

I was a little worried at first because there is quite a strict dress code, and having traveled through S. E Asia, I didn't really have formal attire. I don't even remember the last time I wore shoes! (I've been wearing flip flops) You must remember to book before you show up too because there is a check list with names, and still a bit of a queue.

Anyways, on top of your usual tier of cakes and sandwiches, Raffles also have a buffet section too- with dim sums, all sorts of cakes, and fruit. So great. Had a great time that afternoon. I would recommend paying the extra $$ for this experience.

Tiffin tea room at Raffles Hotel, Singapore

Talking about cakes, we stumbled across this lovely wee cupcake shop in Marina Bay mall. This was a different day by the way!! It was called High Society, and surrounded by designer shops so of course there was a champagne bar at the back. I was more interested in the front display though.

Cupcakes at High Society

I had just finished lunch so a cupcake and a cup of tea was perfect. Shortly after this we went across town to meet my cousin again but this time for a Chinese afternoon tea, CNY special at the Park Hotel in Little India.

We didn't get to use this tea set...

This is a dish which is traditionally eaten at Chinese New Year. Everyone puts their chopsticks in and tosses and mixes it up together. I've never done this before, and when I called my mum to check if it was ridiculous that I hadn't eaten such a traditional dish before she said she had only seen it on TV, and hadn't tried it herself either! Maybe its not so common in Hong Kong.

Ok, next on my eating adventure, hawkers stalls. You cannot go to Singapore without checking out the hawkers stalls. Although Singapore doesn't have a national dish as such, the centres feel like a small community whenever you go eat at them. There's so much to choose from. Its cheap, and when there's always plenty of locals eating there, you know the food is going to be good.

Several people had recommended Newton Circus stalls, and after some research I discovered it was one of the more popular ones and it was only a few stops away on the MRT. Go at dinner time though, we went at lunch time and only like 1/5 of the stalls were open. I still found something though.

Grilled stingray from stall 16 I think it was

Delicious

I'll save the rest for next time. Enjoy!

David Bann, Edinburgh

In February I cut meat out of my diet for one month. As a result, I did a lot more cooking which I really enjoyed. I felt healthier too, and less 'full' after meals but in a good way. It made me think a lot more about what I was eating too whereas before I would eat meat just because it was normal to have some on my plate. I did still eat fish for nutritional reasons/ essential oils, but making sure I wasn't using it as a substitute i.e. I didn't eat it every day. Surprisingly, it was my gran who gave me the most beef (yesss!) for eating fish as part of my challenge, claiming that I was cheating. Haha come on!

For Valentine's Day, we booked to eat at David Bann's in Edinburgh. It's a nice wee vegetarian restaurant just off the Royal Mile. The place was packed, but the service was still excellent!

I chose the olives as a starter which I guess was quite safe but they were the best olives I've ever tasted. They were literally the same size as my thumb, and you could hold them and eat them like you would an apple! HUGE.

Olives, and homemade bread drizzled with herb olive oil

Everyone around me seemed to have ordered the Udon noodles as a main so I decided to try something different...

Roast aubergine chick pea cake with mash and gravy

And for dessert, they had a platter with a wee taste of everything for those who can't decide what they want. I wanted a wee taste of everything so it worked for me.

Let's see - plum and vanilla brulee, raspberry ice cream, raspberry and whiskey chocolates, pineapple sorbet, and hot pear and passion fruit tart.

It is a complete myth that you need meat to make you feel full. I didn't even know vegetarian restaurants existed! I would definitely recommend David Bann as a treat, or as something 'different'.