A Really Late Post

This post is so late it is pathetic. I really have no excuse. I truly think the reason behind it was that I didn't think about writing about my english experience but instead I was fully focused on transitioning into a vloging environment. However, I became a bit self-conscious so I decided not to venture into that world. So in the end, I didn't do anything and my mind wandered off. Only until I saw a badly written yelp review did I realize I didn't do what I should have done. I didn't write about being vegan in another country.

So, like always, I apologize. I should have "been on it" but I failed. So since I want to have something to write about I'll write about the couple of restaurants I ate at when I was surviving in Yorkshire England, and also the worst restaurant I ever went to.

So let's start off with the worst.

Here is my review of the Tribal Cafe in Leeds.

I was extremely excited to go to Global Tribe Cafe. It was the number one place I wanted to go to. I thought that if the trip to England sucked then at least I would have had one thing to use positively in memory.

I was so wrong.

Global Tribe Cafe presents itself as a new age hippy restaurant offering Vegan/Vegetarian options. It has a small shop that sits under it and the overall theme of the store seems like a new age hostel. I was so excited. The food seemed like a mixture of healthy/ homely vegan food and I thought it would be a great place to be "me". My whole day was centered around eating there for lunch. In my mindset, I would go christmas shopping in Leeds and then I would feast right after.

Now, to their defense, what I have been told is that the English are notorious at being TERRIBLE for customer service. However my only argument is that what happened to me seemed to so idiotic and inhumane. But, to be civil, I might have had a cultural mishap. 

When I arrived I was so ecstatic. I ran upstairs and then I was instantly disappointed. It was full and small. My dad was a bit defeatist and decided to leave but I wanted to give this place credit. I mean this was going to be my everything. So I went up to the waiter and asked if there were any seats available; he looked at me with disdain and said "no". 

"No". He just said "no" like I was some sort of inconvenience. Nothing like, "well let's see what we can do", or, "I'm sorry we're full right now but if you wait a couple of minutes we can get you a seat", just "no".

He just said "no".

So I asked how long the wait will be and he replied, "thirty minutes". He never once ask, "shall I get your name down?" or anything like that he just said, "thirty minutes", like 

I just took a shit right in front of him. Like I said before, I became the inconvenience for him. I believe I told him that I would be downstairs and will wait and he said that was ok. I also believe I asked him if I could put my name down and he said they didn't do that. I had never experienced a restaurant that didn't have a waiting list but I thought this is England so I can't judge.

So I decided to wait a couple of minutes downstairs. I knew I could wait a couple more minutes so I thought I would go up in thirty to see if I can get a table. This was going to be good. This was what I was waiting for. 

However as I waited I noticed several people went upstairs and never came down.

They got tables.

I went upstairs and finally got to speak to someone else. She was a lady who kind of realized how upset I was. I asked how the fuck I was going to get a table and she asked me IF I WANTED TO WRITE MY NAME DOWN. Now maybe that guy was having a bad day, but he needed to grow up. He was working for a company and he brought his weird prejudice with him. When I said yes I asked how long it was going to be and she said, "forty-five minutes".

The problem with this restaurant is that they do not want your service. If you come from another country, maybe from another English county, they do not want your kind here. They do not care about service they just care about their own. I never felt so insulted and rejected in my whole life. I am privileged to experience being a white woman but for the first time in my life I felt judged for who I was. If you want to experience vegan cuisine I HIGHLY recommend that you DO NOT COME HERE. 

However I'm not here to bash England. They're not a country of idiots. I actually did eat at some good places. One of the restaurants I did enjoy was Wagamama.

Wagamama is a asian inspired franchise that spans from the UK to the USA. It became my last resort after the fiasco at Global Tribe Cafe. Wagamama is a bench lunch style eatery that offers all diet food. It also is an ASIAN FUSION. I repeat, ASIAN FUSION.

Now I am currently living in Los Angeles. I know a lot of restaurants that have authentic Asian food and a lot of Asian inspired fusion food as well. Now I have to make the statement that Wagamama is an English- Asian fusion restaurant. It is very English, very very English. 

However I have only nice things to say about Wagamama because the one I went to was on the ball with my morals. After the fiasco with Global Tribe Cafe, I found Wagamama on the top of the Leeds mall. Our waiter, I'm sorry but I don't remember what her name was, was the nicest. When I said I was a vegan she quickly got the nutrition menu and found me several meals for me to eat. She even took an initiative to separate my meal from other areas where meat was cut and cooked. 

At Wagamama I had the Yasai Pad Thai without egg. Comparing it to a lot of the thai food I had, (I live above thai town in Los Angeles), I would say this was so-so, however I did go twice and I did enjoy the meal. Needless to say, not all is lost in England.

Closer to home was also the Rob Royd Farm Shop which was very helpful towards my lifestyle. 

From what I've been told Rob Royd is a famous farmhouse that converted itself into a shop/restaurant. Now my family lives near Rob Royd and my Great Aunt Nora LOVES, and I mean LOVES, Rob Royd so we went a couple of times. Every single time I went they made me a meal especially for me and they were always really kind to my great aunt who is 97 years old. I always had a salad, but every single time it was always good.

England had some good and bad moments when it came to vegan food, however if you manage to ask, they are usually knowledgeable to help you out. Being vegan in England is not as impossible as some might think.

The next post I'll write about were goods I prepared for my vegan christmas dinner and foods I manage to buy at the local shops.

New Discoveries about Yorkshire with an Emphasis on Barnsley

Ok let's start off the back with some positives. I have to admit that coming back to Barnsley, or Yorkshire, there has been some considerable changes from the eight years prior. 

I do have to admit that Barnsley, or Yorkshire, still needs to some work to be done, but again, let's think of the positive.

Now that I'm older it is easy to admit that Yorkshire is beautiful. Despite being such a densely packed country there is a lot of foliage. Going up north, you really see the beauty of the land.

One day dad and I went to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and had a hike around the park. I took a couple of photos to show how pretty the land was.  

the land was owned by the Wentworths

A well on the land

Wait a minute...

This place was a big thing to me and it displayed a unique quality of Yorkshire. Instead of the traditional historical museum, or fun park, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park is an oddly amazing art center centralized in West Bretton in Wakefeild. Well, I don't really know if it is centralized in West Bretton because I don't really understand addresses in England, but it is in West Bretton.

The Yorkshire Sculpture Park is on Bretton Hall. Bretton Hall was an 18th-century estate that later transformed into a college in the mid 20th-century. Established in 1977, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park
became well known for its installations from famous artists like Ai Weiwei, James Turell, Andy Goldsworthy, and Nigel Hall.

My dad had talked on and on about this place for the last couple of years and like any normal child I tuned him out. Only until I hiked its path last month was I able to understand how cool it was. 

The whole area contains a beautiful juxtaposition of nature and art which was occasionally hidden from the naked eye. As you meander through this "other world" you would always turn a corner to see a beautiful statue looking down at you. This park was something unique. Something that should definitely be seen.

I think a lot of the artists were inspired by the concept of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The area seems quite in tune with the layout of nature. When you're walking around you never really feel like anything is out of place, instead you feel a sense of calmness and wonder on how such a large amount of land could possibly be a haven for art and artistic interests a like.

I had previously mentioned that there has been some major improvements of Yorkshire and Barnsley and the Yorkshire Sculpture Art Park is a grand example of that. While I had previously seen Yorkshire as an wasteland of what was once profitable in the 1970s, now it seems to be a growing vibrant entity evolving into a area of art and beauty.

Inspired by Scandinavian
nature goddess 

I'll write more soon...

My Trip to England

So I went to England.

That happened.








However let me start from the beginning. I am English. Well, I'm actually half English, half American. I'm not one of those people that say "I'm English" even though my family history spans farther than the history of America, I'm actually an English citizen. I have family in England, and I have an English passport.

I've been going to England since I was a baby. I, however, have not really gone to any fun part of England, nor have I been enjoying my experiences in England; I have been going to Yorkshire England.


Warning: These are the thoughts of me alone and do not in any way mean shit. I had bad experiences in England, sorry.

See as a kid, going to England was the most boring thing in the history of the world, which ironically, is where most western history has come out of. I had no one to play with, and I had nothing to do and no where to go. The scenic views of England were nice, but I cared less. Being a 8 year old child and trying to distract me with the beauty of England  was as successful as making Zoom work as a mp3 player.


Everyone I knew "oohed" and "aaahed" at the concept of going to England but they never, NEVER, got the chance to see it through my eyes. I literally, for two or so weeks, would sit in front of the tv and wonder when in hell was I going home. These were my trips to England. This was the reason why I didn't like to go to England. I experienced the real England, not the tourist England.






So this year was another year of going to England. Another year of doing nothing. Another year of having to deal with family that I couldn't stand. However this year I decided to document it. I think I will stretch this out for a couple of posts. I'll try to make a video, for those that don't like reading, and I'll give some tips on how to survive England, or, how to survive having to spend time with your family.





Enjoy!

Vegan Miscellaneous Things

So before my massive post on Cambodia I was looking at smaller things to talk about. I found three things to discuss. One was Coexistence Vegan Cafe in Dapsimni. 

Coexistence Vegan Cafe is basically what it is in the title; it is a cafe that offers vegan goodies. It is very close to where I live and I absolutely love it! The ladies are nice and the food is decent. They have a simple menu so they could focus more on quality over quantity, and they seem to portray a love for animals and a love for vegan culture. I think restaurants like these offer a bit of humanity to the lesser known and less popular parts of Korea. Dapsimni isn't like itaewon or hongdae, so there isn't a large foreigner base or even a liberal viewpoint. Having Coexistence Vegan Cafe in Dapsimni is like finding a designer bag at a discounted store, or finding a great book at the library. Coexistence Vegan Cafe is a great place and I highly recommend it. Go out of exit four and walk down the street. Turn left at the fruit seller guy and go straight for about four blocks. Coexistence Vegan Cafe will be on your left. It is a fun bright yellow building. Also there is an animal rescue right next door so you should check it out.

Cafe Sukkra is a jazzy little cafe in Hongdae, and proves the point that Hongdae is actually good. While there might be a huge uproar on this confession, i feel like to should make it, I personally did not like Hongdae. I always figured it was an area for wannabe hipsters and huge fraternity assholes. However there is a calmer side to the district. Going left, from exit nine you can see a more relaxed setting. Cafe Sukkra exemplifies that feeling. It offers a healthier meal set, with large vegan options to make you feel comfortable and less processed. The better thing is that Whole*istic provides their cooking there. So you can experience the deliciousness of raw vegan food. There is even vegan hot chocolate which is rich and delicious all at the same time.

For some strange reason I forgot that there is very few vegan or even healthy items in South Korea and convinced myself at the notion that I can cook totally gourmet vegan meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I have become a lot wiser to that foolish thought but beforehand I managed to scrounger up a chia seed pudding for one of my breakfasts. The chia seed pudding is very easy to make. Basically all you need is....

1/2 cup of chia seeds

a smidge of maple syrup

a smidge of cinnamon 

1 cup of soy milk

Mix that shit all together, keep it in the fridge for about 12 hours, and there you have it.

I'll try to throw up some more posts soon!

China Part two: the food and food related items

Even though there aren't a lot of items to talk about, I think the food portion is the most interesting aspect of the trip. Honestly I think food is the most interesting thing about my life.

On our first night in Beijing we went to the famous Wangfujing Night Market. This market is about three or four blocks of weird and strange food. Even though they did have fruit kabobs, I didn't partake in any of the taste testing. Instead, my friends enjoyed a ostrich kabob. I happily took a plethora of pictures.

This is my "nice" shot with some editing

Same with this one

This one was all natural.

                                     

 Starfish homie.

Silkworms and shark

spiders and roaches

centipede 

centipede and snake

ostrich

After the market we went to this fantastic little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that listed all the ingredients used to make the meals! That was such a relief because I was nervous on being forced to eat a meat broth. I had the stir fried celery and cashews with the lightly fried tofu in a sweet and sour sauce. It was SOOOO GOOD! I took too many photos because I was so proud on what we all had.

celery and cashews

art shot

the others had fried rice and kung pow chicken

We did go a restaurant for lunch the next day however I guess I never took any pictures. What I had was the vegetarian chow mein and I asked them to take out the egg. I asked them several times if they cooked it with any animal products and they said no. I still don't know for sure if that is true, but at least my heart was in the right place. We also shared a pumpkin pie which was divine.

The majority of my meals was actually food that I packed ahead of time. I was expecting China to be far less accommodating for my vegan needs, so I decided to pack some food so I would be prepared. A majority of what I ate were prunes, which, let me tell you, are great. 

However I am still jonsing for some dates.