Date Day: Afternoon Tea, Hakkasan, Museum and Sky Garden

Good afternoon readers, last weekend was mine and Eric's one-year anniversary (on the 16th to be precise) and what better way to celebrate than to do what we love best? EAT.  Over the Christmas holidays, we had to organise what we were going to do for that day. We knew we wanted to go to a fancy restaurant but we had the difficulty choosing which one. It was a new experience for both of us, so we wanted to go all out. After much contemplation and booking then cancelling reservations, we came to a decision. Thanks to Groupon we got a deal to have afternoon tea at the Xenia hotel. For dinner, through recommendation we opted for Hakkasan, a michelin starred cantonese restaurant. Eric and I love trying out chinese restaurants! We have tried almost every chinese restaurant in China Town by Leicester Square, so it was interesting to see just how good the food was going to be.

Twenty Sixteen.

The cliche "New year, new me" is perceived as unrealistic. This enables it to hold a negative connotation. People often roll their eyes at the sight of it on social media... "Oh god, this again" or the "You were the same person as you were the previous year!" I used to think the exact same thing. Reflecting on it, I have discovered a whole new perspective on it. People find this boost of motivation going into the new year, a chance to essentially start afresh. We take on all these promises we make to ourselves and throughout the year we realise the struggle to maintain it. It's a real test on strength and self-discipline. Failure to adhere to it doesn't necessarily signify weakness, just difficulty. There is no progress without difficulty, it is important that we remember that. We are never the same person at the end of the year, we experience another year of life that turn into memories. Whether you agree or not, I believe that we always come out stronger than we were at 12 am, 1st January that previous year.
Whilst last year proved to be the most challenging year of my life, I am still in the process of healing. I learned a lot from 2015, about myself and other people. The most important being independence. Always be independent and do not ever rely on anyone else but yourself. When you're independent, you find this strength that you didn't realise existed within you. I'm still getting there... I had to experience a few obstacles in order to continue that journey. What exactly is it that I learnt?

Philippines pt. 2 - Palawan: El Nido and Puerto Princesa

Finally a blog post about the highlight of the holiday… El Nido, Palawan. I was beyond excited for this part of the trip. The beach, sun, sea! Who wouldn't want to relax on one of the most beautiful islands in the world? The weather in the Philippines was very hot and humid, however in Manila it was full of pollution. It wasn't as bad in Palawan so it was nice to get a breath of fresher air.

After a standard McDonalds breakfast (where by the way, the workers are ten times friendlier and the food is also better), we took a taxi to NAIA Terminal 3; specifically for domestic flights. It would only take us at least an hour to get there so we made sure to leave the hotel at an appropriate time. The plane was absolutely freezing, the air conditioner was on full blast the whole time. Although, I slept the whole way throughout the plane trip as I was still struggling with jet lag.