A Long-Waited Weekend Getaway

A weekend like this has been a long time coming! With lockdown easing finally allowing overnight stay this week, I wasted no time a few days ago booking my city break from London. As soon as I got off work on Friday, I jumped on an Uber to the train station and away we go! 🚞🚞

Welcome to Folkestone!

For this trip, I picked the coastal town of Folkestone just to be close to the sea. The town overlooks the English Channel and is a nice little tourists’ attraction along the English coast. Taking that into account, I also picked a hotel situated by the seafront. Weather, however, was not on my side from the get-go with strong gusts of wind 🌬🌬 (and rain 🌧) throughout the Friday evening. (Mind you I did expect it as the weather in London have been absolutely miserable this past week too ☹️) In fact it was so windy, I was struggling to even walk (and snap photos πŸ“Έ – in fear of my phone getting blown away into the sea! 🌊) So, I basically retreated to my hotel room and restaurant for dinner.

Storm in the harbour πŸ’¨πŸ’¨ (You might just be able to make out the large ripple on the water)

Knowing lockdown easing will probably mean that restaurants may be fully booked up, I spent some time before my trip calling up restaurants to reserve tables for me. (Which is very unlike me as I usually just go on the fly! πŸ˜‚) After going some researches online, I decided to head to Marleys for dinner on Friday. Absolutely loved the food there and it’s cute, cosy interior! πŸ’“

My cosy little spot! ☺️
So cute! (I do miss playing Scrabble! πŸ˜‚)
Crispy sweet potato balls with beetroot hummus
The best tuna steak ever! 🀀🀀 (It even smelt incredible!)
Perfect cook! πŸ‘πŸ‘

The staff were all very warm and welcoming, and to top it it off – I think I had the best tuna I had ever eaten in my entire life! 🐟 Perfectly cooked to medium rare and well seasoned – I couldn’t get enough of it honestly! πŸ˜‚

The next morning after enjoying some β€˜me-time’ in the bath πŸ› (and the night before! πŸ˜‚) I decided to head along the coast as the weather took a nicer turn! (Thank goodness! πŸ™ŒπŸ™Œ)

Looking upon the English Channel

The Folkestone pier was just simply breathtaking. The sea was so calming and the view truly did throw away all my worries for the week out the window (albeit temporarily! πŸ˜‚) It really let me appreciate the freedom of being able to travel again.

Folkestone pier
Little orange house by the sea
Look at the waves! 🌊
Beautiful view for a drink! 🍸
If only I can get a little sun… πŸ˜‚ β˜€οΈ

I also headed to the creative quarter – a quirky, colourful area of the town. Marleys where I visited yesterday was also situated in this unique alley.

Creative Quarter
Meet Oliver the Octopus! 🍰 🍰 (so impressed by the artistry of this cake!)

When you are in a coastal town by the sea, surely seafood is a must, right? πŸ¦ͺπŸ¦πŸ¦€πŸŸ Hence my visit to the Harbour Inn for lunch (again booked in advance.)

The Harbour Inn
Beautiful deco inside
The dining area I sat at ❀️❀️
Delicious dressed crab! πŸ¦€
Can one wish for more seafood? πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‹πŸ€€
Yum! Yum! What a feast!

After the luxurious seafood lunch, I left the restaurant just as rain poured heavily over the town. β˜”οΈβ˜”οΈ Just so happened I left my phone charger in the hotel, I walked back into my room with my trousers πŸ‘– all soaked. πŸ’¦

β˜”οΈβ˜”οΈ

After taking yet another hot bath and a brief nap in the room, I decided to head to the beachfront (umbrella in hand of course!) as the rain started to fade. Walking gradually into the sun, I was taken by surprise of an amazing view from behind! πŸ₯°πŸŒˆ

Breathtaking! 🌈 🌈

And more colourful surprises down the beach! (I think folks in Folkestone really do love their colours haha!) Maybe I should think about moving here lol? πŸ˜‚πŸ€”

Rainbow on land! β€οΈπŸ§‘πŸ’›πŸ’šπŸ’™πŸ’œ
Can’t get enough of these colours!
Felt like a hidden paradise
Want to live in one of these! 🏠
🌊 🌊
The vast blue sky

To cap off the day, I went back to the Folkestone harbour for some light seafood snacking by the water.

At Rocksalt by the harbour
Whelks and Prawns
And a nojito – can’t get better than this for a Saturday night! 🍸

And lastly, a few more snaps of the pier as night falls. ✨✨

Oh, and also, happy Eurovision day! (Caught the last hour or so of it back in my hotel room! πŸ˜‚)

Day Out in Chiswick

As lockdown easing will hopefully continue on Monday, there is most definite a great sense of normality back in life. Weather in London is as turbulent as ever though as we went through a cycle of rain, sun, rain and more sun throughout the day – but what great fun I had enjoying a day out with my best friend! 😁

We decided to visit Junkyard Market in Chiswick, and after running a bit late on the London tube, I arrived at the outdoor venue just as the rain was about to fall. πŸ™πŸŒ§

β˜”οΈβ˜”οΈ

But thankfully as busy as the tent area was, we eventually managed to find a spot to sit down. Due to COVID measures, all orders were done through the app and QR code at the table – but it did allow easier browsing in my opinion. I decided to order an African grilled chicken thigh with chips and also sausage and beans mac and cheese! πŸ˜‹

The sun is back out again!

It wasn’t long before the sun is shining back out again (typical London lol) and then very quickly back out again! πŸ˜‚ It literally lasted about 10 minutes when we took our jackets πŸ§₯ off enjoying the warm sun β˜€οΈ before putting them back on again as the dark clouds came matching back! ☁️☁️ But I did grab a vegan ice cream just in time haha!

Quick snap before the dark cloud was coming back over us again! πŸ˜‚

After staying cosy back in the tents to sit out the rain until it stopped, we decided to take a walk around Chiswick (juice πŸ₯€ in hand) as we made some surprising art discoveries around the area! πŸ–Ό

Trying to be healthy! πŸ˜‚
A β€˜Stay At Home’ mural made by students in the area really touched home for me
❀️❀️
This is such a cute sign in the park ☺️☺️
Stumbled upon this amazing-looking building!
πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘

Isn’t it just amazing how new discoveries are always around the corners? 😊 Hope all of you also have a lovely weekend!

The Joy of Eating Outside Again πŸ˜‚

Hope everyone has been enjoying their weekend! In London, we are certainly blessed with some glorious weather in the past week! β˜€οΈ β˜€οΈ As my holiday is coming to an end soon, I had a look back to some of the food I have eaten in the past weeks as lockdown eased in the city… πŸ˜‚

Hopefully it’s not too much haha… πŸ€«πŸ˜‚ (In particular, I have really missed visiting food markets.) Nonetheless, it’s just been so nice to be outdoor again and meeting people just like before.πŸ™‚ By no means am I taking these things for granted now, so you just have to enjoy life a day at a time! πŸ˜‰

Let’s hope this joy continues!