Keep Calm And Bake On.

(What better way to start a post on London : Buckingham Palace!)

I've always wanted to go to London. Always. I think that mainly stems from the fact that DDLJ was shot there. Lame, I know. But well. So, when I noticed a short course in the London branch of my favorite culinary institute in the world, it was just too tempting for me not to do it. I applied, got accepted, booked my tickets, got my student visa and was all set. It was a decision, i would have thought hard about, and maybe also a decision I wouldn't have taken , say 6 months back. But life changes and times change. It was expensive, very expensive, but I was doing this for myself. If I've really wanted to do something, money has hardly ever stopped me. That may not be the wisest way to live life, certainly not the wisest thing to do financially, but hey, who knows, Kal Ho Na Ho. OK, that Bollywood plug aside, it literally took my one day and a phone call to my mother, to make that decision. And that's it, it was done.

(The sun playing hide and seek at Nelson's column)

(I couldn't stop capturing the beauty that is this building : Westminster Abbey)

Two of my favorite people in the world live in London and i was told not to enter the city if I wasn't living with them on my visit. When March arrived, I could hardly believe that I was actually doing this. Taking two weeks off work to go bake, halfway across the world! When that thought finally sunk in, I realised I needed loads & loads of warm clothes for the trip. I hadn't carried ANY of my winter clothes to Singapore. I mean, winter in Singapore, just slightly too much to expect. I bought a few things, and borrowed the rest from a friend and I was all ready to get on that plane. When the morning on March 14th dawned, I couldn't control my excitement. Literally, it took two cups of coffee at the airport for me to calm down. The flight was smooth, Singapore Airlines, FTW! And when I walked out of Heathrow, I couldn't believe it. I saw Pree, my friend and we hugged for a full 5 mins and laughed, giggled. We were meeting after some 2 years and obviously pretty excited to see each other. The weather looked beautiful that Friday afternoon, it was sunny and bright, definitely colder than Singapore, but not extreme spine-chilling cold. We got a cab and drove home. The city that I saw of the city looked pretty in the sunlight. We got home and were welcomed by Sachin with a hot cup of chai and I didn't want anything more!

(My box of 12 cupcakes, so pretty, I didn't want to eat what I baked!)

I had classes the next day onwards. And it started at 8 AM. I've never been so excited to wake up for an 8 AM class. Believe me. Pree and I left home early and got on the tube. I thought being 155 years old, it might be a little dirty and might also need loads of maintenance, at least that's how the underground trains in Paris were, in desperate need to maintenance. But the tube was a welcome surpsie, clean and efficient and a pleasure to travel on. Or maybe I was just over excited as a tourist. ButI definitely came back from London with a very very very high opinion of the public transport! Anyway I drift! As I walked towards Le Cordon Blue at Bloomsbury square, I almost had tears in my eyes. I was shivering, not because it was cold, but because I was so scared about what waited for me on the other side of the LCB doors. Would I know what to do? Would I forget everything? Would I remember the difference between Castor Sugar and Icing Sugar?Would everyone else be way more qualified than me? But then I told myself, I was here to learn, so no point being scared. Pree hugged me and watched me walk into the building. I registered myself and went up to the class. Chef Matthew Hodgett was the chef who would be guiding us for the next two weeks. And I have never met a Chef as jovial and warm as him. I think he was a huge part of the reason I had SO much fun along with learning so much at LCB in those two weeks. He had an awesome sense of humour and made sure that all of us were comfortable and taken care of and getting the most out of the program.

(From being round....)

(To being a tower....)

(Starting to get prettier.....)

(And Ta Da ! : My chocolate cake! Has to be one of the tastiest cakes I've ever made!)

I did the little sight seeing I could fit in with my baking schedule. London, is a beautiful beautiful city. I am in love with it. I couldn't get enough of the weather also! I miss winters, so much! I just wanted it to be as cold as it can get in those two weeks, and then Londoners can get their 'nice weather' back! I did a walking tour that started at Covent Garden, through Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben. And I think that was the most touristy thing I did. It took us 2.5 hours to walk through all these places and it was an awesome experience. One shot and I was done with London sightseeing. For the rest of my time, I just wanted to live like a regular Londoner, go to the places, they go to, check out the quaint coffee shops all over with their awesome coffee, unlike Starbucks! I mean, no offence, I do enjoy Starbucks, but the coffee in these other places was SO much better tasting! Musuems, I love museums and the fact that most museums in London as free to enter, is amazing. The British Museum was right next to the LCB campus, so I did that one day. I really wanted to go check out the Churchill War Museum. It wasn't free, rather expensive actually, but absolutely worth it. So beautifully done! It located in the wartime bunker that sheltered Churchill and his cabinet during the Blitz. It's has to be my favorite museum. The Natural History Museum is just something else, I could have spent an entire day in there. The building itself is so beautiful.


How could I not visit the Hummingbird Bakery while I was there. I think I went there on my first day itself! And I had to order their red velvet. I was a little disappointed with it though. Either I visited the store late and their cakes were baked really early on in the day, the cake itself was dry and the creamcheese frosting too sweet for me. The best red velvet I had though was Lola's cupcakes. Has to be one of the best red velvets I've tasted. The absolute best is still Sprinkles.

But if I had to summarize London, it was breathtakingly beautiful. The city itself is beautiful, plus what I loved is the fact that there's so much to do in the city! There's always something going on. If nothing, you can pick up your mat on a nice sunny day and head to the park. You can't think of doing that in Singapore. You'll burn if you take your mat and sit in the park. Haha! London has so much history and culture, it'll take you a long long time to explore everything even while you are living there. Actually especially if you're living there. Another bit I loved is the fact that it's so multi-cultural. While riding the bus or the tube, you'll hear all different kinds of accents and languages. The city is full of people from different ethnic background, and that makes it very very colorful.

(The day we made flowers the WHOLE DAY!)

I did loads in the class that should actually be a different post. We were 16 totally in class, and from all different parts of the world, who had flown in to do this course. It was a mix of people who had previous professional baking experience to folks who were just doing this as a hobby. It was great to learn from everyone and by the end of two weeks, we did form a certain kind of a bond. After some classes, we would be covered in icing sugar from head to toe or find chocolate all over us. We spent two days, just making flowers for our wedding cakes. In fact one day I woke up and didn't feel my right arm at all. Because of all the marzipan and fondant I had rolled and all the flowers I had made. Insane. Not a pretty task this baking. But after every cake that I baked and decorated, I felt immense joy.  We would start working at 8 am and not realise what time it was or what the weather outside was like, just be in that kitchen with each other, baking and baking and baking. Has to be some of my best days in the last few months, just spending the whole day in the kitchen baking. I had my lows, of course. But i would still walk in the kitchen the next day ready to bake.

At one point after I had decorated a cake, I wanted to cry, just looking at it made me teary. At several points throughout the trip, I wished i had someone to share all of this with. All the tiny details of what happened in class, of how I felt when I walked through the parks or streets of London, of how every minute I spent in Le Cordon Bleu felt like a dream. Like a dream come true. I should've blogged about it from there. I know I should've, but the days would leave me so tired. After catching up on work emails at night, all I wanted to do was crash !

I think another huge moment for me was to visit  Kings Cross Station. I just simply had to see the place where this seen from this below image was shot. I just had to. So while I wandered around Kings Cross to find the exact location of this scene, I crossed Platform 9 & 3/4 from Harry Potter, I looked and smiled, there was a huge queue of folks waiting to take a pic pushing a cart through the brick wall that Platform 9 & 3/4.

I paused for a second before I continued on my quest and I did in fact find the spot. I was tempted to ask someone, but then they would've thought me to be mad or something, so I refrained.

It has changed A LOT since when the movie was shot of course. But I just stood at that spot and smiled to myself, hummed a few lines from the song "Na Jaane Mere Dil " and then continued to my next stop. When I whatsapped Pree and Sachin about it, Sachin took advantage of the moment to ask me sarcastically if I wished I had a dupatta that would flutter in the wind as I ran along the platform and I looked at him, and said, "you know, that would actually be nice". He almost slapped me via Whatsapp I think. Haha. All my cakes and cupcakes came home with me and we shared LOADS with folks who worked with Sachin and Pree. Carrying these hug cakes back home were painful though. I think the chocolate one broke and didn't look anything like that picture of it by the time the cab got home. At least it still tasted good! :) The wedding cake was sturdier though, thanks to all the marzipan and fondant on it, a lot more heavier also. But we weren't complaining, because there was SO much cake to eat! I was secretly wanting to get back to Singapore just so that I could get back to yoga after two weeks of binging on meat, alcohol and of course cake. 

(The cake that caused my my numb arm!)

(WIP. Yes, I know it's tilted, but I corrected it later!)

(Voila! the end result: my first ever wedding cake!)

Another memorable experience has to be the afternoon tea at the Orangery at Kensington Palace with my two girlfriends. So much food! Such good tea and what a lovely lovely afternoon, right in the middle of Hyde Park. 

(My lame attempt at capturing the afternoon tea try! Sigh.)

I wish I could write about everything that happened! But that would just be one long long long post! Maybe I will include instances and experiences here and there in my stories on this blog. On my last day,  I went and visited the famous Harrods. Haha. Just for fun. And I think I spent way more time in the food halls than the other departments. I have my priorities! It's pretty when it's lit up at night, almost like places back home in Diwali or even weddings actually :) ! 

Our last day in Le Cordon Bleu was emotional, everyone hugged each other, exchanged numbers and email IDs, took a group picture with Chef Matthew, opened champagne bottles, celebrated a fellow student's wedding (She is getting married on April 7th, a week after she completed the course!).

The best part about London, for me was staying with friends. If I hadn't had Pree and Sachin around, I think i wouldn't have had the amount of fun I did. Just living like a regular person and not a tourist was awesome. Going to the places they love going to, getting had-to-be-carried-home type smashed at their favorite Friday after party pub (not my proudest moment), chilling with them on Sundays and not doing anything except eating (a lot!), laying on the grass in the park and looking up at the clear blue sky and just really loving life there and then. None of it would have been how special it was, if it wasn't for those two. I am so glad I stayed with them and not at a hotel, not like they would have let me do that anyway! I got to live in and explore two areas of London, thanks to them shifting houses on one weekend. Going to the covent garden food market and pigging out on pulled pork (O.M.G heavenly) : none of it would have been so enjoyable and memorable without them. Of course, also the fact, that I just absolutely, simply love them.

When I left for the airport on my way back to Singapore, my heart was full of warmth and happiness. Two weeks of baking, cakes, living my dream, exploring London, catching up with old friends was just absolutely blissful. And I am so glad I did it!