The Spaceship Has Landed: The New Routemaster

So, I got on one of the new Routemasters the other day on my way home from work. It was freaking amazing. I was on the phone with Alice so I pretended to be all cool and unfazed about it, but inside, I was actually fist pumping the air with excitement, Jersey Shore style.

Sleek, quiet, and futuristic in design, the bus certainly made passerbys gawk and saw many people board just to take it to one stop in the wrong direction. I was even lucky enough to get a seat facing the back, so could see everyone's delighted reactions while getting on. The conductor (a young man in his early 30s, perhaps) was probably also really enjoying his new job - drivers don't usually have much interaction with the public, so the introduction of a conductor means more face time with the passengers (yes, a trip on the futuristic bus has made me incorporate "face time" into my vernacular. *shudders*).

If you're not familiar with it, the Routemaster is the original "hop-on, hop-off" double-decker bus in London, originally built in the 1950s. It features an open-ended rear with a conductor on board, allowing passengers to board and alight in a much more efficient and convenient manner. When I arrived in London, they had began phasing these types of buses out and I never took one because they only seemed to travel short distances, though it would have been a cool experience. Today, the old-style Routemasters are rented out to wedding parties and other special occasions. A few years ago, however, rumors were afoot that the current Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was contemplating a new version of the Routemaster. These were rolled out in February of this year and hence, why I was able to catch one on my way home the other night.

Of course, when it came to my ultra-cool, nonchalant dismount, I almost broke my foot. However, I can safely say that that was the coolest ride I have ever taken home. I was just too cool to take a picture.

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Decent Enough Dim Sum At Half The Usual Price: Shanghai Blues

One luxury John and I couldn't seem to get enough of when we went to Washington last Christmas was dim sum brunch with my parents. My dad is such a regular at a particular establishment in Renton that the owner barked at the server to offer a better tea upon spotting my father and plonked down two sauce dishes of mustard (our preferred dipping sauce for har gao dim sum) on the table. If that ain't good service, then I don't know what is.

The barbequed pork buns (char siu bao) were a favorite of John's and came in both the steamed and baked varieties (which aren't always served in Chinese restaurants - don't think baked char siu baos even exist in London Chinatown, for example) and the har gao and siu mai (prawn and pork dumplings, respectively) were both succulent and served in large portions. Steaming hot, these were offered to us by ladies pushing freshly filled trolleys before we could even take our seats. Basket after basket of steaming delights were delivered to our table - all for a bill of roughly $40 for four.

It's no surprise that we returned to London mournful and longing for dim sum comparable to our state-side experience, which, if you live in this city, you'll know is impossible. Sour-faced, rude waiters serving overpriced, frozen goods is more like it. But we did recently re-discover an old favorite of ours that does half price dim sum lunches on the weekend: Shanghai Blues in High Holborn.

Apparently, Lewis Hamilton is a fan (says so in the magazine interview posted in the bathroom downstairs) and so am I, if it means that Shanghai Blues can fill a dim sum void that previously couldn't be satisfied. We dined there on Saturday with Tom & Cristy and enjoyed a variety of classics, such as har gao, siu mai, beef cheung fun, and char siu bao (steamed) and some Shanghai Blues creations: tai chi dumplings (wrapper half dyed with black squid ink to give a - forgive me - slightly gimmicky yin-yang effect), scallop dumplings, and some yummy veggie selections for Cristy. We ate to our hearts' content and even ordered a side of Chinese broccoli (also known as "gai lan") to fit our virtuous/healthy needs.

And you know what? The bill didn't even sting: £50 for four is not bad for central London prices, plus the service and ambience are ever-so-much-better than the unpleasant Chinatown experience (I mean, I'm Chinese, speak fluent Chinese, and absolutely DREAD stepping foot into a restaurant in Chinatown).

So if you're in the mood for dim sum and don't want to shell out exorbitant prices for bad attitudes and mediocre prices, then I suggest you avoid Chinatown all together and mosey on down to Shanghai Blues. Reservations are advised.

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All The Cool Kids Have This: Herschel Backpacks

A Herschel backpack, that is. All the cool kids in London are cycling with them on their backs while wearing turned-up skinnies and/or khakis, Ray-Ban Wayfarers, navy wool blazers and Oxfords - no socks, 'natch. It's like a uniform and I want in. I actually think my dad has an orange one hanging up in his office at home - gonna steal that next time I'm back. Our parents were so ahead of the times! That, plus the fact that trends are recycled over and over again.

In other lustworthy news, they also make an iPad sleeve in mint green. MINT GREEN:

I. Must. Have.

In some not-so-cool news, you can purchase these in the UK, but the prices aren't reduced from the US site (much like what I predict will happen when J. Crew finally appears over here): instead, a '£' sign simply replaces the '$'. Typical. Luckily, I can have this sent to my non-home in Washington. I can just picture my room becoming a stockpile of American retail goods.

Graze: Nature Delivered (AKA How to Help a Snack-a-holic)

Once, I emailed my co-worker to ask if he was free for lunch and wanted to grab wonton noodles with me in Chinatown. "Sure," he wrote back. "But I take my lunch at 1 pm - is that too late for you?" "???" I replied. "Your lunch seems to run from 10 am - 4 pm," he wrote. "Every time I come up to your office, you have food out on your desk during those hours. It's nearly a 24/7 spread." "I SNACK," I wrote back faux-angrily. "It's called GRAZING," I faux-fumed.

"You should eat a more substantial and slow-releasing energy breakfast," advised another colleague. "I make myself a bowl of steel-cut oatmeal every morning with a generous helping of almonds, walnuts and a handful of goji berries." "Mmm hmm," I nodded, scribbling down notes while wiping away a remnant of Nutella smeared on my pinky - evidence of my cinnamon and raisin bagel breakfast habit.

I get hungry mid-morning. So what? Rather than stress about it, I buy myself snacks. Which is fine except that I sometimes don't have enough forward planning to buy materials in advance and end up raiding the biscuit cupboard at work when I find myself shaking with low blood sugar around 11:30 a.m. - a lot. In emergencies, this is probably fine, but not good on a regular basis. So I tried to buy a pack of dried fruits and nuts at Sainsbury's to last me through the week. This was also, in theory, a good plan, except for the fact that I got so BORED of dried fruits and nuts, I felt like a freaking grey squirrel. I took the rest of the pack to the park and fed it to one. Just kidding. (But I thought about it.)

My snacking is also somewhat compulsive. The nature of my job means that I spend a lot of time problem solving or explaining things to people or writing long, angry emails (AKA negotiating). And when I'm deep in concentration, I tend to snack. Or chew gum.

Enter the Graze box: for £3.49, this compact little box with four compartments filled with different varieties of snacks that you choose arrives at your office desk once a week or as often as you'd like. Skeptical, I paid a visit to yet another co-worker, whose husband had given her a Graze subscription as a present one year. She loved them. And since Graze was running a promotional deal where you can get your first box free and your next box half price, I decided to try it.

Graze gives you the opportunity to choose what kind of box you'd like: 1) a "Nibble Box", which gives you maximum variety and is no-holds-barred when it comes to what kind of snacks you get (yes, it includes the occasional piece of chocolate in the form of, say, a chocolate button) 2) an "Eat Well Box", which includes strictly healthy foods and the occasional "treat" 3) the "Boost Box", which is the strictest, most nutritional box that consists of nuts, seeds, and maybe dried fruit and 4) the "Light Box" which contains low calorie nibbles. You can guess where this story is going, right? I started with the "Boost Box". New year, new me, right? Then, my face fell when I realized that, duh, I couldn't get chocolate buttons in the Boost Box. So then my finger hovered over the Eat Well Box. Nixed that idea in about 2 seconds. Then the Light Box. Finally I gave up and just headed over to the Nibble Box. You can choose what snacks you "love", "like", want to "try" or simply "bin" (AKA never have it delivered. EVER.). Click, done.

I admit it, when my first box arrived, I was so excited (and hungry) I kind of nearly ate the whole thing. My first box had "Billionaire's Shortbread", a mix comprised of dried cranberries, small toffee slices, and white chocolate buttons. Heavenly. The other sections had kalamata and halkidiki olives (weird for a mid-morning snack, but hey, you could have those mid-afternoon ... or at 9:30 a.m. Not saying that I did. Not saying that I did), cinnamon and apple flapjacks (YUM! And - butter, whoa!), and herb-y rice crackers. They were great. And the best thing is that you can rate your snacks after you've received them so you can ensure that you either get them again, often, or never ever again. I was like, so glad I didn't opt for the Eat Well Box. I'd just be grumpy. But then again, I haven't stepped on the scale lately ...

Best Friends Get UGG-ly Together

That's Udita on the left and me on the right.

After agonizing over whether or not to buy a pair of UGGs for oh, a few years, Udita finally took the plunge - but not before also agonizing over what color and height she should buy ("Gray or chocolate brown? I think gray but then you sent me that email that said I should get chocolate brown so now I really think I should get chocolate brown. But the gray look good too!") then experiencing buyer's remorse ("I totally should have gotten the long chocolate browns, not the short grays. I totally regret it. Do you like them? You think so? You think the gray look good?").

So momentous was this decision that we decided to co-ordinate our outfits so we'd both be wearing our UGGs when meeting each other for lunch a couple weeks ago.

Having lunch with Udita and writing tormented emails to each other about what color UGGs and iPad covers to buy reminded me of my New Year's resolution to make more of an effort to visit my friends - wherever they are in the world. This especially hit home this weekend after Adeline's third (or fourth? Or even fifth?) trip down to London to stay with me and my lousy one-time trip to Edinburgh to see her.

This picture reminds me of how lovely my real friends are and how precious the time I have with them truly is.

Ashtanga Yoga @ The Life Centre, Islington

I've been fortunate enough to live near two, well-known and established yoga studios during my time in London: the Iyengar Institute in Maida Vale and now The Life Centre in Islington. And while my previous experience at the Iyengar Institute was a little, erm, overwhelming, it still made me reassess my current yoga practice and I came away with some very helpful corrections/adjustments from the instructor.

So when I attended the Ashtanga Level 1-2 community class at The Life Centre on Friday with Adeline, I went with an open mind - but also with the intention to get my butt kicked. And I did. Have my butt kicked, that is. I still can't lift my arms above my head and the class was on Friday. Like, ow?

While I can't envision myself being able to afford the £13, sometimes £15 per class fee at The Life Centre on a regular basis, the community classes are priced at a more affordable £7 and seemed to be the perfect opportunity for me and Adeline to take a class together in my neighborhood (we took Lauren's class together last time she visited and I took her regular Ashtanga class at Union Yoga when I was in Edinburgh).

The class was taught by Ulric Whyte, whose soothing voice and slower-paced Ashtanga sequences helped calm me as I had been hysterically running around (with poor Adeline in tow) trying to make it to the class on time, after a bus had severely delayed our efforts. But after a few too many vinyasas, I couldn't resist the urge to rest in child's pose and now my triceps are paying the price.

The studio is a incredibly calming, quiet haven away from the hustle and bustle of Angel and Essex Road. Inside, you can't hear any cars or noises from the street interrupting your practice and the wood floors, gentle lighting and warm studio help you focus on your breath and asanas. I was also pleasantly surprised at the size of the class, which was considerably small-medium sized (granted, it was in the middle of a Friday afternoon) and it made me wish I had more free Fridays to take off, just so I could make it to the class again. And despite the multiple chaturangas, the pain made savasana feel ever-so-sweet.

Thai With A Twist: Suda Thai, Covent Garden

St. Martin's Courtyard in Covent Garden is my new favorite escape: quiet, tucked away, and full of my favorite stores (Twenty8Twelve, Jaeger, and the newly discovered French organic skincare brand, Melvita) it also currently boasts a pop-up concession from Glassworks, a newly opened yoga studio and is, above all, QUIET. Struggling past tourists down Long Acre on my way to Zara is enough to give me heart palpitations, but slipping into St. Martin's Courtyard is like a little sanctuary. At least, for now - until more people stop forgetting it exists and start spoiling it for me.

Meanwhile, I have Suda Thai to enjoy. Since its opening last year, I've been for lunch and dinner on several occasions and its delicious and diverse menu means I get to try something each time - not just stick to my boring usual of pad thai (although their version is delish).

When Udita was in town a few weeks ago, we met there for lunch and caught up on life, shopping, and everything in between. I always order a lychee juice as their juices are freshly pressed and their juice options are both varied and plentiful.

I also love the contemporary interior and spacious seating, which means even at its peak times, you can still hear your dining partner's conversation without having to shout - rare for London restaurants and a real blessing. Service is prompt, polite, and attentive.

Though I'm a big fan of their noodle dishes, I'd also recommend their rice and salad options.

I took a leaf from Udita's book when I met up with a co-worker for lunch last week and ordered the Gae Yang Som Tum: grilled lamb chop with lemongrass and chilli dressing, served with som tum (a spicy Thai salad consisting of fresh green papaya, fish sauce, dried shrimp, chilis, garlic, and lime). The sticky rice that is optional (but advised) is stickier than what I'm used to, but apparently more traditional. My only complaint is that I managed to accidentally eat a whole clove of garlic, thinking it was something else. Oops. Needless to say, I avoided meetings for the rest of the afternoon. Dragon breath.

Prices are very reasonable (read: cheap) and the experience is one that is both enjoyable and calming. I'll definitely be a returning regular.

Photos courtesy of Udita Iyengar.