I feel so disoriented today. I caught my bus to work today at 5 past 7, and suddenly got struck with a weird realization... that I thought I had woken up at 7.

I hate feeling disoriented like this.

First week of March had been terrible. We were struck with blizzards everyhwere in UK. Newspapers called in 'Beast from the East' or 'Siberian Beast. Schools were closed, transportation was off, and Met office assigned a Red Warning to Scotland first time in over a decade. It was fun however, taking pictures and waddling about in the thick snow, and for the first time in seven or eight years I saw snowmen outside my flat. The downside of all is the transportation closure, and for one week all shelves in supermarkets were devoid of milk and bread. And slowly all vegetables shelves were empty too, mostly due to panic buying thanks to newspapers that said 'Don't Panic'.

A few random photos of the snow:

Finally I've finished the two books that I started a couple of weeks ago.


Eleanor Oliphant was a complete surprise. This book has been awarded the Costa Book of the Year and many more, also is in line for a movie production by Reese Witherspoon. I believe this book does deserve every praise it gets. It's a very warm, heartfelt and a beautiful story of Eleanor Oliphant, a woman in her 30s, who is completely content with her life. She is lonely, Monday to Friday she goes to work and back home as clockwork. Every Friday afternoon she gets a pizza and 2ltr bottle of vodka. And back to work on Monday. Her weekdays evening's are spent in front of the telly, Wednesday phone calls with her mother, and she lives in the tiny council flat since the last ten years after moving out of foster care. Her story is unique, enlightening, and gives a thorough depiction of 'adult loneliness' combined with mental illness, that she wasn't even aware about. The book makes us feel frustrated, angry, delighted as well as root for Eleanor as she finally triumphs against her fears at the end.

Close Quarters is a satirical book, and it's story is based in a tenement house in Glasgow. It starts off as a murder mystery; murder of one of the most hated man in the building. He is the infamous Walter Bain who has irritated and antagonized his neighbours, the local council, police and other services to the point of no return. He is a meddler and a muddler, a typical self appointed leader who had made every resident's life a misery. The story is essentially a huge backstory, of each resident of the building, of how they ended up buying or renting their flats, while being unaware of the disruption known as Walter Bain. Also the book gives quite a detailed view of the lives of Glaswegians during the 80s, the shops, pubs, and life in the University. This was possibly why I picked up the book in the first place.

I love snow, though only on my days off. It's painful during work, winds are freezing and pavements are slippery. Quite interesting to see joggers out even at this weather, they have serious fitness goals.

Here are some pictures from outside the window during and after snowfall:

Japanese food is my favorite kind of takeaway. I usually have the urge have one Japanese meal every two weeks. Scotland has quite a lot of good Japanese restaurants, though food may not be fully authentic and has a Scottish flavor. Today I ordered a lunch of Chicken Katsu curry with rice, avocado maki, chocolate mochi, Custard Dorayaki, Ueshima's Chilled Coffee. This is the first time I'm trying out this paricular coffee, its different but has a nice flavour.

What is your favorite kind of Takeaway food ? What are the common takeaways where you live? What kind of meals do you like the most when you don't feel like cooking?

Probably quite a silly thing to post, but I do love breakfasts. It's an important meal of the day, and my favorite are full vegetarian breakfasts. That way, I can easily skip lunch and go straight to dinner without any meal in between, and still retain the energy. I however prefer this on weekends only,

So below is my first choice of breakfast. It's based on Scottish protein rich breakfast but with vegetarian theme. A slice of normal toast with butter, baked beans, scrambled egg, hash browns, potato scone, fried mushrooms, fried tomatoes, and my favorite avocado, followed by black coffee.

My second choice is a partly vegan breakfast from Juice Garden. Its partly vegan because of the addition of a poached egg. And along with it are sourdough toast, with fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, homemade beans, avocado with falafel and a bit of herbs on top. The highlight of this dish are the wild mushrooms, they are a heavenly delight.

Finally, to add something really healthy, I love fruits and granola. I love crunchy fruits, and make my mix quite sweet by adding in honey sometimes, or often flavoured yoghurt.

Last weekend, boyfriend and I went for a walk along the Linn of Tummel. It is a 19th woodland area in Perthshire, two hours away from where I live. It is where the rivers Garry and Tummel meet – linne is Gaelic for ‘deep pool’.

It is the first time we went for a walkway that was so far from home. The journey was very green, and full of life. The river itself was very dry, which allowed us to walk along the stony banks quite easily. There were families with children splashing about, as well as a few folks fishing. The walkway took us quite deep into the woods, and across an abandoned rusty bridge. The views from there were fantastic, and we took loads of pictures. After a while the sun came up, and suddenly all colours changed. It was a beautiful day.




Back home, we realized we forgot to do our usual grocery shopping. So we took out whatever was left in our cupboards snd fridge, and made ourselves a small feast. We made two types of nachos, one with cheese and salsa and the other with curry, and spicy chicken liver and paneer tikka. We also opened a bottle of wine. A perfect end to s beautiful day.

It's been quite a while since I had updated. Mostly because it has been very quiet. Last two weekends we stayed in at home, due to bad weather and a few commitments. We were planning to maybe go this week somewhere, but boyfrriend hurt his shoulder/neck and is on bedrest for now.

Do you guys ever go out to eat alone? When I was single, I used to love to go to nearby cafes and maybe read a good book, with an unlimited supply of coffee. I've stopped doing that when I started going out with my boyfriend, and when we moved in together. But ever since I've started working in Edinburgh, I've enjoyed tit bits by myself here and there. My favourite is an Italian lunch place which makes gourmet pizzas. I had gone for chicken wings, chicken and rice soup and a small pepperoni pizza.

Edinburgh is full of legends and stories. Wandering around the city, one such story I found was Greyfriar's Bobby. It recounts the Victorian tale of a Scottish Terrier dog, who spent 14 years by his master's grave after he passed away. Quite a number of films have been based upon him. There are quite a few pubs and places around that mentions of the legend.

Last weekend me and boyfriend went to visit the Scottish Owl Centre in Whitburn, half hour away from home.

The owls were beautiful and very well looked after. We went to a flying session, where the trainers gave us a very brief overview of the different species in the centre, as well as the breeding programmes.

Boyfriend made stuffed peppers for dessert last night. It was delicious, it had a stuffing of egg, cheese and mushrooms, with bits or coriander and chilli giving it a nice spicy flavor.

Also I love my granola pot in the morning, which I get from Deli at work. Its delicious granola and yoghurt, topped with summer fruits.

Came across this song, and had been playing it in an endless loop.


Baba Yetu is actually a song from Videogame Civilization IV, but is now famous globally. It's a Swahili version of the song 'The Lord's Prayer', and is the first video game song to win a Grammys.
Have you guys heard this, or any of its renditions before ? I've seen another live rendition by Christopher Tin (original composer), with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I thought this was more closer to the original, which was sung by Ron Ragin.