Arundel, Cupcakes, Japanese, Natural History

Well I truly have become shocking at updating this blog - I am now endeavouring to change this.

I will begin by sharing the most surprising of news - it has only really rained once (properly) whilst here! Amazing!

Carrying on, so I moved onto the university campus on 14th September. My first impressions of my room were pretty good - thankfully! It's quite a bit bigger than my room at home, and for the first time ever, I don't have to share a bathroom with anyone - hooray!

Here are some crappy photos of my room:

This isn't really that exciting

Girly

Spot the ice tea bottle

This is about as neat as it's ever looked, other than when I first moved in and it was empty, of course

So far everyone here is really nice - and I didn't anticipate this but most of the friends I've made have been International Students too. I quite like it that way - it always makes for interesting stories, or funny moments of misunderstanding accents/words/phrases - or in the case of the non-native English speakers - mispronunciation (this may sound like I'm dissing their English - but I'm not! They all speak English exellently - yes that includes you Anna!)

I've not had a chance to do too much exploring of the country yet, but one of the places I did visit was Arundel Castle (home to the Duke of Norfolk). It was enormous and awe-inspiring, with lovely gardens.

Arundel Castle

I don't envy the job of the gardener at Arundel Castle

I'm not really sure what this is, I mean I can see it's a church/cathedral, but I'm not sure what it's called

A view

Another lovely view

Now, anyone who knows me knows I can always seek out a cupcake shop when I want to. This led to a journey one afternoon to Brighton with Laura (the Italian) and Anna (the Frenchie). Whilst Laura and Anna have a terrible sense of direction, my desire for an excellent cupcake (and to introduce the Europeans to some good cupcakes) helped me navigate the maze-like lanes with (if I do say so myself) stunning proficiency (okay I am slightly kidding here - but I really did surprise myself by finding the shop). We ended up at very cute Angel Food Bakery and managed to try something delicious just before closing-time. Now I may be biased, and although Angel Food Bakery's cupcakes are amazing, they just couldn't quite match the amazing-ness that is Cupcake Central in Melbourne.

The strength of a cupcake shop is measured by the deliciousness of its red velvet cupcake

Italian Laura feat. cupcake

French Anna feat. cupcake

Of course this newfound love for cupcakes imbued in Anna led to us baking the tried and tested recipe for Malteser cupcakes. They came out wonderfully - and I'm glad to say were very well-received.

Un-iced malteser cupcakes

Freshly decorated malteser cupcakes - delicious

Now this isn't very exciting for anyone other than Anna and I - but we figured out how to have Chinese food delivered to our flat! Woo hoo!

A Chinese feast. Okay this doesn't look very appetising in the photo - but it was great. Also note how Anna has gone straight in with the chopsticks like a pro, whilst I am playing it safe with the fork

On the 29th September us International Students were invited to a welcome reception at the lovely Brighton Dome. There's not much to say about this other than everyone is really nice, and that there was a universal agreement that there wasn't enough food.

Pink Meagan

From left to right: Anna, Laura, Meagan and Christina (from South Korea)

An unflattering photo of Laura and I mid-conversation, thanks to Anna

Last Thursday Anna, Christina and I (minus Laura who was busy gigging) went to Japanese Restaurant, Moshimo, in Brighton. I've heard a lot of great things about this restaurant and I'm happy to say it lived up to my expectations, as well as satisfying my craving for a good bowl of ramen. It also had a sushi train, which I have to say I've always found kind of intimidating. I mean, the food is there, whizzing around like it's nobody's business, you eye up something you want at the other end of the conveyor belt, and from that moment on it stops being a fun game, and it becomes serious business, as your eyes narrow in on the plate, and you attempt snatch it off the belt before any other challenger patron. I'm getting tired just thinking about it. I did steer clear of the sushi train this time and just played it safe by ordering off the menu.

Look at the speed of that sushi-train

Some amazing ramen

The Royal Pavilion in Brighton looking lovely in the light of the evening

Today I finally went back to London with Laura. We both awoke bright and early, and slightly pissed off about our lack of sleep the night before, and set off, first to Brighton, then onto London Victoria. The train journey itself was quite uneventful. Once we arrived, then came the business of transferring onto the tube. This, also, was entirely uneventful and easy. We first went to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, which was amazing, both inside and out. There's no way we could see everything. I think it's fair to say we will both be visiting again. Laura also called a triceratops a 'tricerapterpus' and I laughed.

Exterior of the Natural History Museum

And again...

The roof - this photo does not do it justice at all

Another crappy photo

And another...

I don't know what this is, but I liked it

Me with some guy, or as Laura said, 'it's like a whale, but it's also not like a whale'

Bang a gong, get it on

Ouch

A tiger hybrid

We then stopped at Nando's for lunch. Although I'm a Nando's devotee in Australia, this was a new experience for me to eat Nando's in the UK. It was different - it was almost fancy. The bun on my burger was a funny shape. I have to say, other than Nando's here having a refillable drink cup, Australian Nando's still holds first place in my chicken-shaped heart.

Would you look at that bun?!

We then went to Camden. It was busy. Extremely busy. Full of crazily dressed people, and crazy buildings, with crazy street-perfomers (one guy was riding a unicycle whilst juggling two knives and an apple, and would take a bite out of the apple mid-juggle). I'm sensing a crazy pattern about Camden. I'll definitely go back there in the future to do some proper exploring.

Laura with the 'famous' Gloucester Road sign

Hmm, this rings a bell (I love you Sidney Nolan - not really, Moonboy is terrible)

Crazy Camden

A giant Doc Marten

Pretty self-explanatory

More Camden craziness

Just like a bigger version of the Vic Market...

Oh, an aside: the Starbucks guy spelt my name correctly without asking me how to spell it.

Amazing

Well so far I've been having a great time. For now, though, I must sleep.

Until next time.