0 A goodie and a baddie

Genetics paper was crap. I spent more time thinking how to craft my answer than actually writing the essay. I got myself confused with creating a temporal control of Cre/LoxP DNA recombination with Tet/on gene expression system. If that sounds confusing enough, writing about it was even worse. But in a kind of twisted way, I actually like tough exam papers like this (when the final marks don't count to my CAP :D) rather than an easy paper like yesterday's Embryology. Can you believe the first question was actually what are the three germ layers? I should really treasure such questions because NUS will never ever come up with such questions. 'Nuff said about exams. Looky what I got here:

Pre-exam "brain" food: Salad of roasted paquito squash, baked potato, vine-ripened tomatoes and tempeh with pecan nut butter, pomegranate, blueberry and acai dressing* and balsamic vinegar.

*It's actually a smoothie (Innocent brand) which I doubled up as a dressing because it's so thick! I was studying and eating at the same time and halfway through I felt very stressed suddenly which chomping on the mound of greens really helped relieve.

Post-exam! Off too..... Mildred's - my long-awaited trip, finally.

Their dishes tread the fine line between vegetarian fine-dining and British pub food, which is a paradox, because the former is usually associated with healthy, while the latter, with grease, oil and fat. Can Mildred's pull it off?

Porcini, mushroom and ale pie with mushy peas and chips

You bet!

Mildred's used to have a take-away shop called Mrs. Marengos but apparently it closed earlier this year. Nevertheless, their restaurant still do take-aways, thankfully. When I got there at 6.30pm, it was already bustling with activity, evidence of their popularity. A queue was already beginning to form. Although they do serve some really healthy dishes like a detox salad, I went with the baddie choice of British pub food in vegan form - a porcini mushroom and ale pie with mushy peas and chips. I half walked/ran home, but with the wind blowing like crazy, but food probably got frozen barely ten minutes into the cold. I reheated half the meal in the mircowave (can't do full British meal portions) and dug in!

The mushy peas were awesome with a minty edge. The mushrooms were doused in a savoury roux-like sauce full-on with black pepper goodness that I cannot believe it's vegan. Because I had it take-away, the filo crust was soggy from the gravy, but still delicious nonetheless! I hardly touch chips usually, but I have to make an exception this time. Again, the chips were a wee bit soggy, but I believe if you dined in, it would be nice and crispy. Everything was nicely seasoned and not too salty, especially to my salt-sensitive taste buds. Maybe I can bring the fam here to dine! It's kind of expensive though. 9.25 for my pie (10.25 dine-in) but it's the end of my SEP and scrimping isn't in my vocabulary at the moment! :)

Leftovers for lunch tmr!

Le Sigh....Endocrinology & Reproduction to tackle.

0 Anthro spells Desire.

What a day! My day officially started after lunch (leftover Whole Foods salad) with the sojourn down to Southbank. I wanted to check out the Xmas fair and World Press Photo Exhibition. Incidentally, this weekend was also the Tea & Coffee market fair. The air was thick from the aroma of coffee beans. Too bad I'm not drawn to coffee or tea, but for those who are, I guess it was heaven for them. The World Press Photo Exhibition (free at Southbank Centre) was an eye-opener - a tragic one. It showcases news photos by photojournalists and most of the photos had to do with either one of the following: war, death, natural disaster, man-made disaster, poverty or crime. Very typical themes. The xmas fair, held along the river walkway, was thronging with people. I was kind of disappointed though. If not for the christmassy decorations and outlook of the stalls, you could have mistaken it for another typical street market; most stalls were hawking regular items and not christmas-related goods.

Southbank Christmas fair from the Hungerford Bridge. *First time crossing this bridge too!*

By luck, the sun had decided to set beautifully that day, albeit at 3.30 pm only. Days are getting shorter and gloomier.

And then it was off to Anthropologie! Last night I made a list of "to-dos" and "to-sees" before I leave London. With just three weeks left (!) I had better make the most out of Time. One of the "to-do" on my list is to get bowl/plate from Anthropologie. Expensive store with parisan chic stuff, but wares are their endearing! Since there's no Anthropologie in Singapore, I had better not dither on whether to buy/not to buy.

Regent street with christmas deco, on the way to Anthropologie.

By the time I got out of the store, it was dark already. I had spent an hour inside as I couldn't decide between all the intricately designed bowls and plates. Moreover I fell in love with this comical owl jar (the head being the lid) which I thought would be a perfect oatmeal bowl. The price? 32 freaking pounds = 64 dollars. My hands reluctantly put the owl back onto the shelf. Still, I'm more than happy with my two purchases - a white scalloped soup bowl from the Fleur de Lys collection and a turquoise plate with a chameleon and flowers inked on. I loved the turquoise and shape of the plate but loathed the chameleon. I mean, who would want to eat from a plate with a chameleon on it? But the pull of the former was too strong, and eventually I thought it was a rather quirky plate, and thus relented (and am happy now :D)

Back out into the dark cold. Surprisingly, the christmas lights & deco here isn't half as exciting as those in Singapore.

I stopped by Whole Foods (Soho branch), got a can of Suma pea soup, thought of having dinner at Hummus Bros, but decided not to. Back to Dover it was, where I made a simple, quick (the kitchen was occupied :( )but absolutely delicious dinner taken from the ever-so-useful 500 recipes Mediterranean cookbook - warm fish soup on a bed of toasted (garlic) bread. My version consisted of: frozen cod, chopped savoy cabbage and Warburton's seeded bread, toasted, remaining 1/2 of the roasted orange pointed pepper, and a sun-dried tomato and garlic clove. Essentially you pour the fish soup over the toasted bread, which becomes soggy and mushy but that's the beauty of it!