A Few of My Favourite Things

There are many things that make me happy, but most of them are food-related. My parents just got back from a month in Europe and brought back some of my favourite things.

I will be the first to admit I am an Anglophile. How can I not be, having spent five years at British boarding school? Once the education was over, my family kept a flat in London's Sloane Square so we could visit the UK every other year or so on our holidays. My sister went to the Chelsea College of Art and Design in the early part of this decade so the four years she spent there provided great excuses to visit. 

Needless to say, there are many things British that I have grown to love and sorely miss now I am on the other side of the world. Thankfully, there are places to get decent Indian food and fish and chips locally, and I make it a point to cook regular roast dinners, but chocolate Easter eggs and Marmite are hard to come by and need to be brought in by people who visit the UK or sent by post. My favourite shade of lipstick isn't available in Asia, so that has to be purchased in the UK too, and I ordered a set of books to be delivered to the London flat from Amazon.co.uk. A number of those titles will not be available locally for some time, or at all.

It's been seven years since I visited London, and I know so much has changed in the city I knew and still love. We had planned to visit this year during my husband's 3 week holiday time, but the trip has been postponed due to a sudden series of job interviews (for him, not me). The industry he works in is in a downward slump and there have been layoffs, so it is extremely lucky that these opportunities have come about. One is for a senior position with another house, another is with a company based overseas. More on those developments as they unfold. For now, while Little A sleeps, I will sit quietly with a cup of Earl Grey with milk, read my copy of Wife in the North and munch on Marmite on toast with chocolate truffles for dessert. What a perfect way to spend the afternoon.