Fresh Start September!

Image taken from weheartit.com

I don’t know why but with September I have always seen it as a fresh start, maybe because of the start of school, college and university. I also love it as it marks the start of autumn, my favourite month!

Overall September is one of my favourite months of the year and if it goes to plan each year then I’m super happy! However if it doesn’t I often end up feeling rather down about it and end up thinking and deciding that the rest of the month and sometimes even the rest of the year will follow the same.

This September I have decided to have a fresh start with loads of new things I will start doing. I always see September as a fresh start anyway but this time I’m facing it with a different approach.

I thought I would share these with you all, as I hope that it will encourage you all to join in with my Fresh Start September, or FSS for short. 😛

Mochi ice cream from Wagamama, my own image.

Start: Eating better!

Although I have slowly began this already I’m going to plod on and continue with it. Instead of bread I’m now eating rice crackers, they make a great alternative and don’t contain as many calories either! I’m also trying to eat more fish, eggs and veg as these are all good for you. As much as I love going out for meals with my boyfriend, friends and sometimes my family I need to stop doing this. At one point every weekend my boyfriend and I would go out for a meal on our own or with friends and it needs to stop. Once a week for a treat isn’t bad and even when I was smaller than I am right now, I used to do this but I want to save money. My boyfriend took me out for a treat to Wagamama on Thursday and it was lovely, we didn’t eat too much and shared a pudding instead of having one each. I’d like to limit eating out to once every 2 weeks and that includes takeaways too, but I hardly eat takeaway food. I want to try and start home cooking too, like good old pies, lasagne, etc. It won’t hurt! SO no more snacking on crisps or any rubbish like that! I’m going to aim to try and lose some weight by the New Year.

Image taken from weheartit.com

Start: Walking everyday!

I used to walk everywhere when I first started college and I used to walk everyday due to it too. Sadly the past two years it has stopped due to being at work all the time and I’m not going to lie, me being too lazy and too tired to move my butt! Times are changing! I miss walking everyday and with England’s beautiful autumn evenings on their way I thought now would be a good time to start walking again. I’ve decided that everyday after work I’ll get my iPod, my most comfortable clothing and a bottle of water and go out for a walk for about half an hour, as that’s the amount we’re meant to walk everyday and I know for a fact I don’t walk that much anymore. Even if I can’t get out to walk due to rain I’m going to try and start going somewhere just to walk around inside, even if that means window shopping in Asda, local shopping centre, hell even Ikea! You can get lost in there due to its size. I’m excited, I’ve been meaning to start going out walking again but due to my health I’ve just not got around to doing it.

Image taken from weheartit.com

Start: Saving money!

With  my holiday in less than five months I want to try and save as much money as possible for it! As well as that Christmas will soon be upon us again, so it’ll be good to save for that too, although hard to save up for my holiday at the same time. Saving money is always good to do anyway, as you never know really what may happen. I’ve always been one for saving money, which I get from my Dad. He always taught me from a young age to save money for as much as it may burn a hole in your pocket, it’ll be worth it in the long run, which is true. I always try and save a little bit every week, but sometimes I’m not able to due to bills etc. At the moment it’s due to paying for my holiday, but in the long run it’ll be worth it. I’m going to try my hardest not to spend money on things, but if I really want something I will indulge. Recently I’ve felt very down in the dumps so I have been treating myself to the odd thing, but that’s stopping now as I NEED to save.

Image taken from weheartit.com

Start: Reading more!

I really do love reading, but I don’t read half as much as I would like to, and used to. When I was at university I used to read loads and even in my old job I used to read quite a bit. I don’t do that anymore, as my current job I don’t get breaks so I never get a chance to read a book for half an hour like I used to. At home I do try and read as much as I can these days mind, I’ll take my current book of choice out and about with me if I know I’ll get a few minutes to read. Sometimes I try to read before work, whilst traveling on the train (which I hardly do anymore!) or if I pop out with my Dad somewhere, as I know he’ll be nattering away to someone at some point! I would love to be able to join a book club, or even borrow books from the library to read but due to how slow I tend to read, or the fact I never have any time I can’t and that really sucks! I’m hoping by the end of 2014 I’ll have read all of John Green’s books! I’ve read one, currently reading another and have three gathering dust on my shelf. I shall keep you updated…

Image taken from weheartit.com

Start: Writing again!

Something else I miss doing is writing, creative writing that is. It’s my number one hobbie and passion and something that my anxiety and depression has made me forget about, especially how much I enjoy doing it. With NaNoWriMo coming up in November I’m excited to let my creative juices flow again and I already have a story plot written up from start to finish. I’ll be talking more about NaNoWriMo throughout October. I would love to try and do more writing, even if it involves me being a proof reader for someone, I just miss doing it so much! I’m hoping to try and find a writing group that I can join soon as it would be nice to meet up with people who love writing just as much as I do.

So that’s my five start something’s, I can definitely work on all of these! I also have a sixth one but I’m not going to discuss that on here, but it’s definitely my number one start something that I want to do!

I want whoever reads this to go off and make a list of five start’s that you would like to start in September.

I’m going to keep everyone updated on how I’m keeping with my start’s, probably be at the end of every month!

Will you be taking part in Fresh Start September? Let me know in the comments if you will and what start’s you’ll be doing!

Until next time, take care and see you in September. 😉

Japanese Series: Asian Food

Image taken from weheartit.com

Hello and welcome to the second post in my Japanese series!

As you can see from the title, my second post is about Asian food. I would have titled it Japanese food, but I think Asian food covers it pretty well as there are 3 places I’m going to mention that cover both Chinese and Japanese dishes, as well as drinks.

My mouth is watering just thinking about this post, not good! Best get on with it. 😛

There is plenty of choice in the UK when it comes to Asian food and drink and with more and more restaurants opening every year, the possibilities are endless. Whilst two of the places I’ll be naming are chains that are all over the UK (as well as in some other countries), one is only based in Birmingham so I apologise for this in advance, I have tried to add an equivalent of this in areas like London.

YO! Sushi

This is one of the popular chains that runs throughout the UK and also the first restaurant I will be talking about. Personally I haven’t been to YO! Sushi… Yet, but I want to go! As the name of this restaurant suggests, you can get sushi there but there are hundreds of Japanese inspired dishes to choose from, not just sushi and with over 80 dishes to choose from, you’ll have plenty to set your heart on.

Image taken from yosushi.com

How YO! Sushi works is that you go into the restaurant, sit down and pick up whatever dish you like the sound of from off of the conveyor belt. Each dish has a colour coded plate and depending on which colour you pick up, depends how much that dish will cost. As well as that you can order hot or cold dishes from the servers or chefs. At the end of your meal all your empty planets are counted for and added to the bill at the end. Simple!

There are so many dishes to choose from including hot (soups & broths, hot classics, rice & noodles, and katsu & tempura), sushi, salads, desserts, and of course specials.

I’m going to share with you some of the (okay maybe ALL) dishes I really want to try when I go to YO! Sushi, which I’m hoping will be soon (Valentine’s Day, maybe?)!

Hot (FYI most of them are chicken based!):

Chicken Yakitori, Chicken Teriyaki, Chicken Gyoza, Duck Gyoza, Chicken Katsu, and Chicken Katsu Curry.

Sushi:

Salmon Maki, Tuna Maki, and Spicy Chicken ISO.

Desserts:

Chocolate Dorayaki, Custard Dorayaki, and Chocolate Mochi.

Specials:

Duck Katsu & Moromi Miso.

I can’t wait to try out the food in YO Sushi, but I’m making sure not to spend too much at the same time! I’ve been told by my friend Poppy that it can all add up rather quickly! Also you don’t HAVE to sit in to eat at YO! Sushi, you can take food away as well, which I think is great.

Moo-Cha, Birmingham

This is a Bubble Tea and Frozen Yogurt stall that is in The Bullring in Birmingham and it’s an amazing place! Every time I go into town I make sure to pop to the stall to get my Bubble Tea fix! Bubble Tea is an Asian drink and is loved by both Japanese and Chinese people, as well as pretty much everyone else now thanks to all the Bubble Tea shops that are popping up everywhere.

Bubble Tea is a drink that originated from Taiwan and is also known as boba tea, pearl milk tea and tapioca pearl tea. Bubble Tea can be enjoyed cold or warm, as well as fruity or milky.

When I first tried Bubble Tea I was alarmed by the odd sensation I got whilst drinking it, due to what the squishy balls (tapioca pearls or popping bubbles) feel and taste like when they come up the straw in the drink. With tapioca pearls they’re squishy and taste like a coffee/chocolate flavour, whilst the popping bubbles can come in all sorts of flavours, usually fruity. My favourite are strawberry. When these enter your mouth they usually pop and when they burst they release the flavour that you chose.

As well as these, you can also get jellies which in my opinion are vile! I can’t really say much on these other than them not being like proper jelly at all but more of a solid version of jelly and very chewy. They aren’t to my liking, but they might be to you.

Bubble Tea is something everyone needs to try at least once and everyone I have introduced it to has loved it!

Image taken from moo-cha.com

At Moo-Cha you can get all sorts of flavours to create all sorts of yummy combinations, just take a look at the menu above!

When you arrive at the stall you will be asked what flavour you want, which tea you would like with that (green, black or no tea), how you would like your drink to be (hot, cold, with ice or slush), and what toppings you would like (tapioca pearls, popping bubbles or jellies).

If you were to order a Bubble Coffee however, you would of course skip the part of the order where you pick tea. As of yet I haven’t tried coffee, but I think I will be next time I visit.

I’m going to give you a couple of my favourite drinks to order from the menu, just to give you an example of how you would order a drink from Moo-Cha.

Bubble Tea £3.00:

Milky Green Tea Latte with Green Tea, Hot, and with Tapioca Pearls.

Fruity Green Apple with Black Tea, Cold, and with Popping Bubbles in Strawberry.

Bubble Coffee £3.00:

Coconut, Cold, and with Tapioca Pearls.

The possibilities are endless with Moo-Cha Bubble Tea and they also have a Loyalty Card scheme so after you’ve bought (from memory) 10 Bubble Tea drinks or Frozen Yogurt’s you can claim one for free!

I know if you Google search for Bubble Tea shops in your area of the UK you will find loads! I know London have Bubbleology, which I really want to go to in the future.

Wagamama

Last weekend I FINALLY lost my Wagamama virginity when my boyfriend and I ventured to Milton Keynes for a day of shopping. It was amazing and better than we expected and we both want to go back again already.

Wagamama is inspired by traditional Japanese ramen bars and Asian flavours. The name of Wagamama has always intrigued me and I always wondered what it stood for or meant and upon checking out their website I discovered that it means ‘naughty child” in Japanese, which is pretty cool!

Like most Japanese inspired menus they feature a wide variety of noodle and rice dishes and you can choose from classic ramen, which is a big bowl of noodles in soap, teppan which is noodles cooked on a hot, flat griddle, and kare which is noodles in a coconut based soup, but there are many more dishes served with rice.

The great thing about Wagamama is that you don’t have to sit in to enjoy your food, you can take you food away as take-away too, which I think is great!

When my boyfriend and I went to Wagamama we noticed how the seating was rather odd, yet delightful at the same time. We were sat at a bench that sat two people on side and two or four on the other side, so you would essentially have to share your table with someone. As well as that you have someone come over to take your order for you, both drinks, food and dessert and bring your food over for you quickly. You can also watch your food being  prepared and cooked for your fresh in their kitchen, which I really liked.

As we hadn’t been to Wagamama before we went for something we always order if it’s on the menu, pulled pork! We opted for Pulled Pork Gyoza, which came with a spicy sauce. It arrived in no time and bloody hell it was delicious! We both said we could have eaten them all day if we were given the option.

For our main we opted for Chicken Katsu Curry, we’ve had this before at restaurant in Coventry but this was a hundred times better than the one we’d previously had! The chicken was succulent and beautiful, the rice gorgeous and sticky, but the curry was delicious and I ate as much of it as I could get from the plate, onto the spoon.

We didn’t get a desert in the end as we were rather full, but the choice of desserts is rather nice, although I do wish they would do Bubble Tea!

I loved going to Wagamama as the staff were friendly, quick to take our order and get our food out to us but most of the food was amazing and just writing this post is making my mouth water for it again.

I can’t wait to go again as I have loads of dishes I want to try including:

Duck Gyoza, Chicken Kare Lomen, Mahi Mahi Curry, Chicken Ramen, and Grilled Duck Ramen.

Overall we loved Wagamama and we can’t wait to go again, whenever that will be!

I was going to try and mention more places on this post but 1. This post is getting awfully long and 2. It’s making me bloody hungry!

Do you like Asian food? If so do you prefer Japanese or Chinese? Let me know in the comments down below!

As well as that, have you been to any of the places mentioned in this post? If so do you like them, or not? If you haven’t been to any of these places, do you intend to in the future? Let me know all your answers in the comments down below too.

Well I hope you enjoyed this post, I know I enjoyed writing it! Stay tuned for post number 3 in this series, where I’ll be talking about places I want to visit in Japan, which will feature a special guest! So make sure to keep your eyes peeled for that next Wednesday.

Until next time, take care all!