Christmas musing in Woking

(Aileen)
It’s 10:06 on a Saturday morning. Christmas music is blaring over the speakers here at the Starbucks in Wolesly Mall, Woking (London suburb). It’s a work day for the Smalls. Or at least a work day for Ed so figured I’d tag along, and hang out/work in the mall.

It’s been a crazy busy week for the both of us, and it will be so for the coming weeks. Before we know it it’ll be X-mas. But between now and then, there a numerous X-mas parties to attend, a 2-day training seminar for me, a business trip to Liverpool for Ed, a mortgage to finalize, another flight across the pond to Philly for me, a flat to buy, and finally, a trip to Innsbruck, Austria for a dose of gluwein and X-mas markets (and hopefully snow! We do miss snow).

Christmas season is in full swing here in London. Oxford St Christmas lights are on, ice skating rinks are all open, Nutcracker’s on at the National Ballet, Christmas carol shows are on at Royal Albert Hall, Christmas music is wafting through the air in public places, and to top it all off, it’s been sufficiently nippy the past week, with temperatures falling to 4C.

I have to say despite having growing up in the tropics, I do love winters. I love the warm coats, fluffy hats, coming in from the cold, the occasional whiffs of pine, and wood burning (fireplaces). We both miss NYC winters, the quiet and stillness that comes with snowfall, the crackling sound with each step from the mix of ice, snow and salt on the ground, knee-deep snow in Central Park and of course the big tree at Rockefeller. But we've also come to love the flavor of the season this side of the Atlantic. I'm still on the fence about mince pies (Ed seems to like them), but we do love Christmas markets - gluwein (to warm your hands and belly), the smell and taste of outdoor grilled sausages and roasting chestnuts, stalls of Christmas trinkets, the sight of horse drawn carts.

I’ll be singing a different tune in February no doubt (the most depressing month of the year) when I’ve had enough of the darkness and wet coldness. But till then I’ll relish this warm fuzzy feeling.

Seasons

(Aileen)
Time flies by. Seasons change. Fall is in full swing here in England.

Some pics from today - Ed ankle deep in leaves outside our building, park across the street

!Viva Oaxaca!

(Aileen)
London is a funny place food-wise. There’s tremendous variety of food. But all too often, restaurants “cater” their food to English tastes. Case in point – we have a Mexican restaurant around the corner from our flat. Chips (potato) and penne feature prominently on their menu (English love their chips and penne pasta).

A Mexican restaurant opened in Covent Garden several months ago. We’d read the good reviews, and were toying with the idea of checking it out. But the dread of taking the trouble to visit only to be disappointed kept us away.

It wasn’t until Ed, on a flight to Chicago, happened to sit by a woman who raved about the place, did we seriously consider checking it out.

We had dinner at Wahaca last night, and were duly rewarded. It was excellent. We started of with some tortillas with salsa roja (spicy!) and salsa verde washed down with Corona.

For mains we ordered from the street food section of their menu – skirt steak tacos, smoky bean quesadilla, braised pork tacos, and aubergine and goats cheese tacquitos. Plus side orders of frijoles and coriander rice. All yummy tasty treats, washed down with some more Corona.

For desert we shared a portion of churros, capped of with complimentary (in honor of Feast of the Dead) shots of Gran Centenario tequila with sangrita.

Another bonus was the price. For all the food we got, and 4 Coronas, the bill came to £35 - about the same cost as getting Chinese takeaway!

With bellies full and slight buzzes, we headed of to watch a movie (Control). We’ll definitely be back again.

Some pics from our dinner (L-R): Whetting the appetite with spicy salsa and corona, beef tacos, black bean quesadilla, Ed and the spread, tequila