Jamaica me crazy!

No problem mon! haha. My Jamaican accent has improved considerably since my fabulous 2 weeks there, so I apologise if a few 'Ya mon's appear in my post.

Jamaica is amazing. If any of you ever have the opportunity to go, I urge you to, you will not regret it. I went on the 2nd of April 2012 and came home on the 16th April. I went with 30 friends for a wedding and it was a wonderful experience that I will never forget.

I stayed at the Club Riu Hotel Negril, which is about 1 1/2 hours transfer from Montego Bay airport, a 9 1/2 hour flight from Manchester, UK.

The hotel was lovely. It was smaller than I expected it to be, but in the end I preferred it that way. There were 4 restaurants to choose from in the evening. The buffet restaurant, steak restaurant, Brazilian and an A la carte. I was fortunate enough to be able to try all of them, three of them you had to make reservations for and not everyone was able to book into them.

The range of food was fantastic. Breakfast was everything you could imagine. Cooked breakfast, omelettes, pastries, fruit, cereals, pancakes. Lunch was a choice between the buffet restaurant and the Jerk chicken whihc was served on the beahc. Jerk chicken is delicious. Famous in Jamaica it is the best chicken i've ever had, but the Jerk sauce is a bit spicy! And the buffet restaurant at night did not dissapoint, offering lobster, which was gorgeous.


Whilst there, I went on a day trip to Rick's Cafe. A bar which is a bit of a tourist attraction in Jamaica, and known for cliff divers. We went on a catamaran to Ricks Cafe, where i then had to swim to shore, which was a bit challenging as I had to swim with one arm in the air to stop my camera and money from getting wet! The drinks were a little expensive, but as I had to swim back, I didn't want to get drunk anyway so one drink sufficed! I ordered their house cocktail, 'Sex with Rick' mainly because I thought the name was a bit cheeky haha. Ya mon!

This here is a picture of me about to do the 33ft jump off the cliff. I'm not gonna like. It was bloody terrifying. I did two false starts before the guy said if i did it again he wouldnt let me jump. So I just inched to the edge and jumped! The feeling of falling felt like it was never going to end!

I did however sustain a bit of a bruise as I hit the water on a funny angle. Not my finest moment! I had to sit on a bag of ice all the way back on the boat. I'm glad I did the jump but I wouldn't do it again!

The wedding itself was a fabulous day. It also felt like the hottest day in the time we were there! This is what I chose to wear. It is a dress I purchased off asos.com . I bought it a few months ago, I knew it was the dress the moment I saw it.

This is lovely area where the wedding was set up. In my mind it was perfect.

And this is my beautiful friend and her new husband.

Here is a few more pictures from the day.

I also visited Dunn's River Falls a few days after the wedding. Unfortunatley I do not have any photographs as it is impossible to climb the falls with a camera in hand. It was challenging to say the very least, but I LOVED it. It was fantastic. The water feels so strong as it rushes past you. It takes about 45 minutes to do the climb, which we were told was around 900ft.

What did I drink in Jamaica I hear you ask? A little guility I admit I indulged in cocktails pretty much everyday. They were so good! I drank a lot of Mai Tai's, Pina Colada's, Amaretto Sours and Brandy Alexander's. They were my tipples while I was there, plus wine with my meal. There were optics in our bedrooms in addition to the mini bar that offered Jamaican rum, brandy, gin and vodka. So it is safe to say that we were all quite merry while we were on holiday!!

To finish off, here is a couple of pictures of me and my friends on the pedalo's, which was a lot more fun than you would think!! haha. I also had a go on a Jet ski for the first time. I don't think my bum touched the seat once while I was on it! It was hilarious!

It really was a fantastic trip, one that I was sad to see the end of, so got a serious case of the holiday blues now!! Not to worry, as it is 10 weeks until I land in California, and I am so excited, I actually can't wait. I will be working very hard over the coming the weeks to save up money for this trip, but I have a couple of things coming up, such as Pub Golf this weekend, so I shall share some piccies from this weekend when I have them!

Until next time xxx

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and done fabulous things. Have we all chosen some resolutions? I have selected mine which include:

1. Stop swearing (it isn't very lady like and at the moment by mouth fathoms that of a sailor, mainly when I am at work, hmmm)
2. Visit at least 3 new places. (Normally I say countries, but I am going to count the different states of America as a new place so hence the choice of word 'place') I already have Jamaica, Californa, Nevada and Arizona on the list, so that is 4, but I would like to fit another trip in somewhere. Lots of wonderful additions to my food adventure!
3. Concentrate more on writing. I am a top class procrastinator and need to sit my ass down and actually commit to it.

And those are my resolutions, or the main ones at least. I welcomed in the New Year at my friends house as she had a bit of a party. This is me with my friend who threw the party and our yummy glasses of champagne.

She put on a bit of a buffet but the highlight was the iced fairy-cakes, they made me feel like a little kiddy again! If your having a party, there has to be at least one piece of party cliche in there somewhere.

And the New Years Eve 'Wall of Shame!' Who made the cut for 2011? Not me! I was a good girl and I paced myself, except when we played a drinking game and I was picked several times for the forfeit : S

In between Christmas and New Year I did a couple of things. Normally on Boxing day, me and my friends get dressed up in fancy dress and go on a night out, but this year, as I am saving my pennies to pay off my U.S.A trip, we decided to stay in, watch a christmas film and order chinese. We also attempted to make Bailey's cocktails but we were not very successful! I think I put too much Vodka into the Mudslides.... I also enjoyed a bottle of Brothers Toffee Apple cider which has to be one of the nicest ciders I've ever tasted. If you see any in the supermarket, buy it and try it!!

I also went to Manchester on the Bank Holiday Tuesday for a bit of sales shopping and for a few drinks. Me and my mate went to Tiger Tiger in The Printworks where I enjoyed a 'Vanilla Kiss' cocktail made with vanilla vodka, Drambuie and cranberry juice. It was a nice cocktail but I could barely taste the vanilla because of the Drambuie, which is a shame because I really enjoy vanilla flavoured vodka. My next cocktail was a 'Ga-Ga Colada' which was delicious, made with Havana Club rum, Malibu and pineapple juice, my kind of drink!
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While I've been off I've had a little trawl of the internet and found a fantastic website called 'Fine Food Specialist' You know me, I love my internet shopping and there's nothing I like better than to find a gem of a website, be it fashion or food! They specialise in, well, fine foods and they offer the most amazing range of ingrediants and foods. If you are into your food and enjoy cooking, you need to check it out. My particular favorites that I have spotted and think sounds a-mazing, is their 'Mini Wagyu Burgers', perfect little bite-size burgers, ideal for canapes which you can find here in their Beef selection.

If you have a bit of time, make sure you check out the Seafood section as well as they sell fresh Lobster and Crab Ravioli, which, in my opinion, sounds absolutly divine. They sell so much different stuff and is a really nice alternative to the supermarket counter. You'll even find cheese and pate's on there which is a little weakness of mine. Check it out!

You may not hear from me for a couple of weeks as this is my last day off work for 15 days (getting in the overtime as I need the money!) and so I may not have very much that's interesting to say! But it is all in preparation for this year's plans. I'm always keeping my eye out for a good Groupon (I know, I know, such a bargain hunter) so let's hope for some good reviews this year. Here's to 2012!

San Rocco Review

When: Saturday 8th October 2011

Where: San Rocco, South King Street, Manchester

Who with: My fabulous friend Amy.

Me and my friend Amy had a gal-date at San Rocco last weekend. Food, wine, cocktails and a massive chin-wag was the order of the evening. We reserved a table for 19:30 and although we turned up a little early, we were seated in a nice little couch area where there was olives to nibble on and they brought us a bottle of wine which we had ordered upon arrival (Pinot Grigio Veneto - which was fit to say the very least).

My friend who has an unashamedley fussy palette chose spaghetti bolognese, I, more adventurous (of course, do you expect anything else?) selected the 'Coda di Rospo', medallion of monkfish with cherry tomatoes in a garlic and white wine sauce. I also ordered a rocket & parmesan side salad.

This meal truly was amazing. I ate every last morsel on the plate. The portion size was generous, although you can't really see it in the picture, it was 4 pieces of monkfish, one on top of the other in two piles, with cherry tomatoes and onions layered on top. If i'm honest, I'm not a big fan of onions, so I just pushed them to the side so if I have any complaint at all (and it really is nit-picking) is that it didnt say on the menu that it came with a great big dollop of onions on. The rocket & parmesan salad, simple though it was, was lovely and a nice accompaniment to the monkfish. The restaurant also brought a nice balsamic vinegar to dress the salad with.

I could have eaten that meal twice, not through hunger, but because it was so good.

A bottle of wine, one garlic bread with cheese, two main courses, side salad and two desserts came to around £55, which is very reasonable considering my dish alone was £15 for the fish. I would absolutly go back again.

After San Rocco, me and Amy walked up to the top of King Street and went to cocktail bar and restaurant, Room. This is a stylish place, and not really one to be seen after being drowned the rain, which was our case unfortunatley! But we laughed it off and tried to make a dignified entrance. The doorman asked us how old we were (oh the shame!) but didnt really press us the way they do when you go to a nightclub.

My first cocktail choice was a Pornstar Martini.

If I hadn't wanted to try other cocktails for reviewing sake, I would have ordered this drink repeatedly all night. It was so delish. This Pornstar Martini consisted of Vanilla vodka, passion fruit, butterscotch, pineapple and a champagne shot on the side. It was a little on the pricey side, £9.50 a pop, but oh so worth it.

I also tried Room's signature cocktail, a Roomberry.

This was also lovely, Strawberry, Chambord and Champagne. As you can see it came with a strawberry and cute twirly stirrer. This one was £8.50.

I would also revisit Room again, and would love to go back very soon. For the rest of the evening I also sampled their Bellini (peach) and then continued to re-order the Pornstar Martini, but be under no illusion, the cocktail menu is impressive, offering a variety of types, unlike All Bar One which offers a paltry 4 or 5 cocktails.

                                                                                                                          

All in all it was a great night! I highly recommend San Rocco and Room for anyone to try, whether you are a Manchester native or visitor, and if you do happen to go, let me know what you think!

  

Birthday Celebrations

For my birthday this year, I decided to go for a meal in Manchester with a few of my friends. We chose to go to Panama Hatty's, a trendy mexican restaurant in the heart of Manchester, just off King Street.

Despite a few dramas (45 minutes to find a parking space did not a happy birthday girl make!), I had a great time. This is what I chose to wear. The dress was from ASOS (I am an asos whore) and it was £45. I thought it would be perfect for an occasion such as this as I though it was dressy and stylish, without looking too over the top. The shoes are from Primark and were a bargain at £15. I love those shoes.

Panam Hatty's is a great restaurant, hidden down a stairway opposite All Bar One. The staff were fantastic, and didnt pull their faces at all when I finally rocked up 50 minutes late, to my own birthday meal! Considering there was 15 of us at the meal, the food came out together and was delish.

For my main course I chose the 'Spicy Chicken Papousas' and it was fab. Chicken in a smoked chipotle sauce, layered with tortilla, enchilada sauce and mozarella, served with latina rice and sour cream, it really was worth the 45 minute parking space search.

The cocktails were amazing too. My first cocktail was a strawberry margarita, and my second was a pink cosmpolitan. Although I did sample one of my friends cocktails, a 'Bailey's Colada' and it was without a doubt one of the best cocktails I have tasted.

And here is a group piccie of me and a few of the friends that joined me on my birthday celebrations. I highly reccommend Panama Hatty's, and I implore you to go!

Well, I've been a very bad girl. I haven't blogged in an outrageous amount of time, mostly through wallowing in the tragedy that is the current climate with graduates and work success. But no matter, I'm here now!

In the past couple of months I have worked an obscene amount of shifts, all in the aim of paying off my holiday to Jamaica next year. I've also planned things for the next month or so, and planned things for 2012.

I've also bought a few new loves of my life (they are ever changing, I'm so fickle) which I shall introduce the most recent to you.

The raspberry coloured dress is from Rare and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. I haven't decided what to wear it for yet, but it will be for something special. The red dress is an asos brand dress and I intent on wearing it to Manchester for my birthday celebrations on 10th September (24, aaaagh!).

I am going to Panama Hatty's, a mexican restaurant situated on Kings Street. I've heard very good things about this place so I'm really looking forward to going. I've already had a look at the cocktail menu and I want to try them all! I'm looking forward to reveiwing and blogging about it.

I'm doing my 56 mile bike ride on sunday, which I have been training for, and am quite looking forward to now. So far I have managed to raise almost £300 which I am incredibly pleased about, so I will absolutly be blogging about my success (or rather struggles!) about completing this challenge. It is in aid of Help for Heroes, a fantastic charity that looks after injured british soldiers.

This week I went to Manchester to do a bit of shopping and have lunch with my mum. We went to Thomas restaurant in the northern quarter, and it was fabulous. For starters I had Honey crumpet and goats cheese with a roasted tomato pesto. It's one of the best things I have tasted in ages. I love goats cheese, and this truly was fit. I highly reccommend that people visit this restaurant, it is on Thomas Street (Yes, Thomas restaurant on Thomas Street). Expect to pay around £50 for a 3 course meal for two, but I used a groupon voucher which I had purchased prior to visiting the restaurant. I also got a cocktail, I chose a peach bellini which delicious, and garnished with a blackberry which was a nice touch.

I cannot praise enough the use of Groupon. You can get such fantastic deals for restaurants in the city centre, saving you money, and at the same time discovering places that you may not have otherwise ever known about. I always keep my eyes peeled for deals in Manchester city centre.

I've got some things I'm planning soon which I am very excited about and plan to blog about when I know more.