Life of a Short Indian Girl

In continuation with my 'cool things in London' posts, I introduce..... Cookie Shots! You've probably seen these on Instagram and Facebook, and seeing as the bakery they are made in is only 20 minutes from me, I thought I'd check it out. The cookie shot was invented by Dominique Ansel (also known as the creator of the Cronut- doughnut and croissant hybrid). He has a bakery in New York, Tokyo and now one in Belgravia, London. The bakery from the outside is relatively simple, and the inside was too, but in a bright, minimalistic way. Everything looked so good (and not exactly student-budget friendly), but I stuck to the cookie shot because that's what I went there for, although I was so tempted by the macarons/macaroon however you say it. There was no separation between the kitchen and the shop front so you could see what the bakers were doing, which was so cool- I was kind of tempted to stand there for ages and just observe....

So almost half the academic year has gone.... ALREADY. This is scarily fast. On a cold and muggy afternoon, I thought it would be fun to reflect on my first term of university. Which is much more fun than revising. First term was a mixed bag- sometimes I was loving it, and others all I wanted to do was drop out and go home (but really, which fresher doesn't have a melt down every once in a while). I mean, we've moved to a new city, with new people, new routines and no guidance!! Talk about being thrown in the deep end. But anyway, there's my emotional paragraph over. Here's some stuff I got up to last term- and a few things from the first few weeks of this term... they were too good not to put in! Seen La Fille Mal Gardée at the Royal Opera House (for £10 as well- if you're studying in London sign up to ROH student and thank me later) Been asked whether I'm part of London Fashion Week whilst wearing a Primark bed sheet wrapped up like a toga Sweet-talked ...

For some reason, our accommodation has been given about 500 Planet Organic leaflets full of vouchers , one of which is a free coffee voucher. The Planet Organic shop is a two minute walk from our halls, so we decided to take advantage of the offer (i t saved me buying milk for about 4 weeks too- added bonus). The whole ethos of Planet Organic is kind of a given- everything is organic, natural and sustainable. There was a lot of choice, and so many weird ingredients that I would never think to put in a hot drink (e.g. tumeric latte, coconut oil coffee, reishi (which is a mushroom?!) cappuccino) which I didn't try, but I did want to try as many as I could. The first time I visited, I went for the Almond Cacao.  Almond cacao- cacao powder, coconut nectar and almond milk They asked whether I wanted the almond sweetened or unsweetened (obviously I went for sweetened), and after I tried it I found myself wondering how people drink unsweetened, because...

Waheeeey, we made it through freshers whole! Well, almost. Whether you were partying in London like me, or elsewhere, I'm sure we all had some of these thoughts...... 1) Wow, where did my money go? - until the student loans drops, you learn to live on veeery little. We luckily had a lot of free food at freshers events, which I definitely took advantage of! So. much. pizza. It's also a little painful looking at your bank balance after a night out. Our pub crawl was in Hampstead. Ouch. 2) Have I met this person before?? You will probably introduce yourself to someone, only to have them say 'we've already met'..... ah, awkward. You just meet so many people. 3) I'm so nervous - even people who seem confident on the outside are nervous. Of course we are- new city, new people, new EVERYTHING. 4) Damn you, freshers flu - most of us will probably have been struck down by some sort of illness during freshers. Tip, vitamin C tablets! I managed to avoid any real illn...

Sooooo, a little bit has changed since I last posted- I now live in London (for university)! After my first week here, I'm surprised to say that I'm loving it. I didn't think I'd like London too much, but it does have something magical about it. I've been trying to do some cool things this week as I only have a few lectures a day (as appose to the 10-5 days starting from tomorrow). One of the things I've been wanting to do for ages was go to the Cereal Killer Cafe, which is what it says on the tin - over 100 different cereals, 30 types of milk, and a whole lotta toppings....... I went to the one in Camden, as it's only a 25 minute walk from my halls. I've been walking as much as I can because a) I don't like the tube and b) transport is expensiiiiiiive. The downside is the ridiculous number of blisters on my feet, but  I live so central walking is not too bad. Anyway, the cafe is in the Camden Stables Market, and has an outdoor area. It was qui...

One of the things I was looking forward to doing in the longest summer of my life was to FINALLY be able to read the monster pile of books which were piling up on my beside table. Although I've still got a couple I didn't have time for, I got through a fair chunk of them! So here goes......... The Prince Of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafron -  this was a bit of a gamble. I never read the blurb or any reviews of this book, so I didn't know what to expect. I just saw who the author was and bought it. Turns out it's a teen fiction book, and it was pretty good! I would recommend this if you like dark, chilling stories. The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson - one of the best books I've read this year! (admittedly, there wasn't much competition, but even if there was this book would be up there). The story is so whacky it's almost unbelievable, yet it's just that that makes it almost believable. Definitely...

Apologies for not posting in so long, I can only describe it as an exam- induced hiatus. I wrote a bit after exams but nothing felt right, sooo going back to where it all began with a post about India- only 2 years on! Which means it's been 2 years since I've had this blog, c r a z y. So, what's changed since I was last in the city of joy? a.k.a. Kolkata Well, unsurprisingly, not a lot. I say unsurprisingly because although India is a BRIC economy, there is never much change when we visit. Very slow economic, social and political development, despite rapidly increasing growth. Oh, corruption. Weather is still pretty vile. 97% humidity + curly hair = no. And don't get me started on the heat. Although it's cool that your hair is dry literally a few minutes after you step out of the shower. Who needs a hairdryer? No need for moisturiser either. It's monsoon so it absolutely chucks it down randomly during the day - I love it, but I did ruin my Nikes by walk...