DUBAI

The blog post you have all been waiting for!!! Lol I am just kidding. I have never been more sure that no-one is waiting for this. Although hopefully my dad will give this a read seeing as it heavily features his amazingness! My brother too... as he does feature too!

So as a few of you may know, my dad emigrated to Dubai over the Christmas break. Whilst this has been ridiculously difficult for us all, it has given me an opportunity I thought I would never have. I visited Dubai in February, and have never been more excited in all my life to write a blog post. I have wanted to sit down and write this for a while... but have been so busy I never got round to it! Here it is! :D

Thursday 26th January 2017

Booked my flights...

Wednesday 1st February 2017

I boarded several trains and a plane on my way to Dubai International airport. I experienced my first Yo Sushi along the way, and a 16-hour journey (8-hour overnight plane). Lots of sleeping and reading was done on the flight...

Thursday 2nd February 2017

When I landed in the morning, I jumped straight on a metro (the metro system in Dubai is insane... it's essentially like the London Underground, except it is overground, and only has two lines. So easy to negotiate, and I was on and off it like a pro by the end of the weekend, travelling from one end of Dubai to the other!), and got off at the Dubai Mall. It is PHENOMENAL. It is absolutely huge, and full of amazing shops and fun things too. Spent some pennies, and I saw the waterfall, the aquarium... and so much more. But most excitingly, I SAW MY DAD! 

We wandered around for a while trying to find each other, went for a spot of food in the immense Food Court, and then had an awesome coffee at a little coffee shop he likes (which I now love too) after wandering round the shops. After a big heart to heart and catch up, we wander to go and watch the fountain show outside the Burj Khalifa, and see the Burj lit up beautifully. Absolutely AMAZING experience, followed by food and negotiating a chaotic car park, and I finally got to see where he is living for the next few months. 

In the evening, we went out to a bar and saw a band called Carpe Diem perform... they were the most amazing live band I have ever seen in an almost underground bar (although I can't say I have seen many... that does not diminish how awesome they were!). They are on YouTube if you fancied giving them a look-up... they were so good. Very very late night, after probably the longest day of my life... but so so worth it. 

Friday 3rd February 2017

Late-ish start after a hectic night before, but we headed straight off to a place called Deira to see the "Souks" (markets). I saw the Spice Souks, the Fabric Souks, the Gold Souks, and went on the coolest little boat across the river. I bought some gorgeous little tops for next to nothing, and then we went for lunch. Lunch at a little, very breezy, Moroccan-type place on the river, and after a hilarious walk back to the car in rain and what felt like gale-force winds, we jumped back into the car for a trip to a place called IMG World of Adventure: AN INDOOR THEME PARK. It was so cool, we queued for AGES to get into an awesome haunted house, went on some fabulous 3-D simulation rides, and best of all... mastered the children's laser quest. Had some food at Samosa World, and headed home. 

Saturday 4th February 2017

Beautiful sunny morning, so shades on we headed straight for Jumirah Beach. It was so beautiful and warm, and the views were phenomenal. I read my book for a bit, and dad had a bit of a nap, and then we walked back via Subway.

We then did the experience of a lifetime, which was the Desert Safari. Basically, we set off at 3pm from our hotel in a Landrover, and drove out to the Desert. The first stop was a Quad-Bike park in the middle of the desert, which me and dad JUMPED at the chance to try out. We jumped on a bike together, and rode off through the desert (it was a designated area, not just the whole desert), and had literally the best time. After that, we went "dune-bashing" in the Landrover, and stopped to see the most gorgeous sunset over the desert. It felt like a film, and after taking a MILLION photos, we drove off to see a dance show, had some dinner, and got some henna (well, I did), and I also got the chance to see a camel really up close, which was so cool. Enjoy the hundreds of photos I will now post of the desert... it was so gorgeous...

Sunday 5th February 2017

Early start as I went into work with dad (the weekend is Friday-Saturday in Dubai!), and saw his office. Weirdly, it's an open plan office with like treadmills and fake grass in it and stuff... straight out of "The Internship" film about Google. SO awesome. 

I then jumped on the metro and met up with my brother and his colleague Joakim, and we wandered round Deira together and had some lunch at the same Moroccan place I went with dad. 

After a well-deserved catch-up, I got the metro back to the hotel, and Carl and Joakim went back to theirs, and we freshened up ready to meet for dinner. Dinner, however, was in the best place ever, called Global Village. This was an attraction with miniature (but still huge) versions of famous landmarks from countries all around the globe, alongside markets, a river, food stalls GALORE, and beautiful lights everywhere. There were performances and dancers everywhere you turned, and booming music from the different cultures you visited. We had some dinner at an Indian, and then said our goodbyes. 

Monday 6th February 2017

One of the crappiest days of my life... said goodbye to my dad in the morning, and got back on the metro to the airport...

Thank you so much dad for letting me see your little world right now, and for helping me arrange the trip. Thank you for the countless meals out, and the drinks, and the desert, and the quad bikes... and the shopping, and the hugs and the heart to hearts. It was one of the best weekends of my life, and I cannot WAIT to visit again. I hope you enjoyed this little summary! 

If any of you managed to read all the way to the end here, either my writing was incredible, you are procrastinating from revision, or you were simply interested. I can't believe I managed to get halfway round the world all by myself... I was genuinely so proud of myself. Anyhow, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it!

Nutshell

So my life in a nutshell right now. In case you were interested...

I am in third year at University now, which has been absolute CHAOS. I am currently writing my dissertation, which has been the sole focus of my life since January. I had a bit of a nightmare with it, as I had to get full ethical approval to carry out the study I wanted to do. It wasn't difficult as such, it was just a lengthy process and meant I started data collection much later than I had anticipated. ANYWAY. All data has been collected: if you are reading this and you took part, THANK YOU SO MUCH. I owe all of my success to you. And if I fail my diss... ;) I am kidding. But on a serious note, thank you so much to everyone who helped me out. It made such a big difference and you will never know how grateful I am!

To all that don't have a clue what I am on about, I am writing a dissertation surrounding how the direction of attention can influence our memories and emotions based around a "traumatic" event. It's actually quite interesting, and surprisingly under-researched as I am coming to find... but I have enjoyed it so far so hopefully it will get better. 

In other news, I have started living healthily! Well, this sounds drastic... I haven't cut cheese or chocolate out of my life entirely, and yes, as I am writing this, I am eating a millionaire's shortbread mini-bite. HOWEVER. I have not eaten the entire box, and I have not been over-indulging on the foods I know are bad for me. I have also really taken to the gym again after a busy period and lots of time off from it. Even though I am super busy at the moment, I am taking the time to attend Legs, Bums and Tums, Pilates, Dance.. and just ordinary gym sessions when I can. I have started running... and set my new personal best of 36 minutes at a 5k, which I was SO excited about as I am completely not athletic at all. 

What else has happened... hmm...

I have seen my lovely boyfriend a few times, had a few crazy gin and tonic nights with my housemate (which were awesome), seen my family, finally got my Tinkerbell tattoo (picture below), dyed my hair purple, and then accidentally dyed my roots orange (more on that to come), fixed my hair (sort of)... oh yeah... and I WENT TO DUBAI. More on that soon... I want to do a whole blog post about that weekend as it was phenomenal. But yes. A lot has happened since I last wrote on this blog! 

Anyway, if you have managed to get to the bottom of this, thanks for reading and I hope I didn't bore you too much! Stay tuned for more exciting blog posts to come... I'M BACK. 

Technology is killing our souls.

Okay, so the title was a bit ominous and extreme... but I have been thinking about this for a while now, as I sumbmitted a project on friendship in Psychology last year. It's interesting how Facebook and other social medias have allowed us to hold on to our pasts with everything we have. Like... how many people do you have on Facebook that you haven't seen or contacted in the past 5 years? Why are they on your Facebook in the first place?

Surely these networks should be for keeping in contact with people you see often. Keeping in contact with those best friends who slipped through the net and moved abroad. Or friends at Uni you met, who lived abroad to begin with. Or for those friends you don't have time to see often, due to work, family, or other commitments.

Instead, it's become a platform of stalking your old classmates who have had babies, got "fit" or married. The friends that put on weight, or lost it. The people who are volunteering in Africa, and then the ones who share political posts about Donald Trump. 

It's not necessarily a bad thing that social media is so advanced; how would we know these things otherwise? Human nature is often about being curious, and comparing your own life with other people's (trust me.. I'm a psychologist ;D). But do you really want that person to share your life experiences, if you haven't seen them for more than 5 years? They are doing exactly the same to you; they are sitting with their current friends saying "look at this person I went to school with... look what they've turned out like!".

If you are reading this, and you haven't seen me in more than 5 years, don't take this personally. I'm not saying I don't want you in my life in any way. Those people who were so special to me once; I love being able to see what you are up to, and share in the beauty that your life has become. And I am also glad that you can share in my life too! I mainly mean those people who you didn't really know in school. Or those who friendships that didn't end as well. Or people who you never really got on with in the first place...

I am just finding the whole concept of Facebook strange at the moment. We are using it as a way to promote products, share pointless memes and vines (albeit they are often very funny). Don't get me wrong; Facebook is an amazing tool. It's innovative, and modern and reaches out to a large population of people. It's genius really. I just sometimes wonder about peoples motives when they use it.

I just think back to those days where you would wait a week for a reply to a handwritten letter you'd sent, but how beautiful that was when it finally arrived. A tag in a Facebook status, a mention in a tweet, or even a private inbox is just not the same.

Just something to ponder... feel free to leave a comment if you disagree/ agree... I'm always interested to hear other people's opinions!

Dear the man I met on the bus

Dear the man I met on the bus,

I know you will probably never read this. But I hope that this reaches you in some way.

I was touched by your story about your wife, and felt it needed to be shared. After a light hearted discussion about the buses, you opened up to me, a stranger, all about your late wife, and how you toured America's National Parks and collected the information leaflets at each one. I just want to let you know that I've made it my personal mission to do the same with my partner (although he doesn't know it yet!). The passion you told the story with was inspiring, and made my day. You spoke about your wife with such happiness and love, and I admire that. I have told many people about that bus journey, and have written this as a reminder to myself, and to share the story wider. There are good people in the world. People who will chat to a stranger as if they were a friend.

I saw you sat on your balcony the other day. I hope this doesn't sound like I was stalking you. I simply saw you as I drove past. You didn't see me, but I was moved... You looked so happy sat watching the sunset, and I hope that what I saw was a true reflection of how you were feeling at that moment. You are such a friendly person who made that one particular bus journey (and I have been on MANY) something to remember and treasure. So I thank you for that.

Love,

The Girl with Purple Hair

India 1.0 - Food

I landed back in the UK on Sunday night, after a heck of a lot of delays and two long flights. Almost missed my connecting flight from Abu Dhabi to London, and lost a Fitbit in the process (whilst trying to carry a roll-mat across the globe...). It was all-around an interesting experience. I want to do several blog posts about my month in India. I want to tell you all about the kids there, all about the food and amazing things I ate, all about the experiences I had, the temples I visited, the Campus I stayed on... I just have so much to tell you all, and so many stories, if you are interested in reading them. I won't post them all at once, because that would be madness, but my plan is to write as many as possible over the next few days, so they are fresh in my mind and as genuine as I can get.

I had an absolutely amazing time in India... I saw some beautiful temples, spent time with the most fantastic bunch of children I think I have ever met, stayed in various stunning locations throughout Tamil Nadu (the south east state of India), even visited Kerala (just) for a day, and most importantly... I ate a ridiculous amount of wonderful, and beautiful food. 

I think this blog post will be about food, as I think it is probably the easiest to describe, but there is a lot to go through, so grab a cup of tea and get comfy if you plan to stick this out until the end! I won't describe everything I ate, as that would take weeks. But key things that you might not know about, and pictures will be provided. 

Spiciness rating: 1 = milder than yoghurt, 5 = medium at Nandos, 10 = blow your brains out. I have eaten India food all my life, so if my ratings are off... I can only apologise. Everyone's taste buds are different! Things that were a 10 at the beginning of the month, can become a 4 by the end... so bare with me.

Drinks

Bit of an odd one to start with, but I had some amazing drinks that I thought you would like to see... so here goes!

Lassi

Served in a lot of restaurants, it is a yoghurt-like drink. Can be flavoured (e.g. banana, like the one in the picture, or mango), but generally comes either sweet (with sugar), or plain. Very yummy, and very classic.

Pineapple juice

Needed a special mention; it is literally just fresh pineapple juice, but served in a little shop just off the main high street in Madurai. It was 35p, and made with pineapple and crushed ice, as far as I was aware. Amazing!

Cold Coffee

From the same shop as above; it is a beautiful coffee milkshake type thing. It tastes like caramel coffee, with sugar, ice-cream and cream. It is so tasty; and was only 50p!

Masala tea

A tea made with spices. Tastes a bit like chai tea. Often served on the street in small paper cups for around 15p, but the best one I had was made with fresh spices in a restaurant in Kodaikanal. Yummy!

Sauces and accompaniments

Coconut chutney 

As it sounds; coconut chutney is a chutney made with coconut (sorry to state the obvious!). It often doesn't actually taste of coconut, but has the texture of liquidised desiccated coconut sometimes. It looks like something that will make your dish milder, and this is generally the case. However, in some, more local, restaurants/ cafes, this chutney can often have a bit of a kick, so be careful!

Spiciness rating: around a 4; taking into account that it is sometimes a 2, and less likely, an 8. 

Sambah

Sambah is a sauce/ gravy served with loads of things in India. It is orangey in colour, and usually contains a lady's finger, some other vegetables and many spices. 

Spiciness rating: 2-6. Generally around a 4. 

Tamarind/ green chilli with coconut chutney

I ate this a few times in various places, but can still not tell you exactly what it is. Have since had a google, and was correct in saying it is tamarind, but is often mixed with coconut. It is a sauce that is often spicy, but tastes of chilli, and goes well with dosa (see below). 

Savoury Foods

Masala Dosa

This is a staple food in India. Southern India specifically; as you wont find it in the North (or in most Indian restaurants you will have visited in your life). It is a rice-based crepe/ pancake, filled with potatoes and sometimes onion, marinaded in spices (it's a yellow colour). I ate this as breakfast, lunch and dinner (although not all on the same day!). It was often served with a coconut chutney (see above), a sauce called sambah (see above), and sometimes a green tamarind-type chilli sauce (also see above). Can also have dosa plain (see below).

Spiciness rating: 4-6, depending on where you go, and what time of day it is. Had one that was around an 8.  

Vadai

A savoury donut, that was described to also taste a bit like a potato croquette. It usually has mustard seeds in the batter, and served with sambah or coconut chutney.

Spiciness rating: 5. But this again depends on where you have it.

Idli

Only had this once, and I had it for breakfast. I was actually disappointed with this one dish, however I will still explain what it is, in the hope that you will find a more appetising one (I've had many in England that were lovely). Idli is a rice cake, but not in the way you will know of, like we have them here in England. It is soft, and it literally a savoury cake, made with rice flour. Again, served with sambah and coconut chutney, it is often served as breakfast in South India.

Spiciness rating: the cake itself; 1. The chutneys; see above.

Paneer 65

Okay, so this was my all-time favourite dish, ever. I absolutely loved this. Paneer is a type of Indian cheese similar to halloumi in consistency. It doesn't melt, but is usually served after having been deep-fried, so it has a crispy outer layer. It is then added to sauces like Tikka Masala, Korma, etc (in the North). Paneer 65 on the other hand, is the vegetarian, Indian equivalent to fried chicken (sort of...). It is cheese, deep-fried in a spicy batter. That's it. Cheese. In BATTER. It is so divine, I have attached several photos for your viewing pleasure... please enjoy.

Spiciness rating: 5.

 This one is actually Mushroom 65 - but just so you can see it's awesomeness, this was also incredible, so I have attached it. 

Breads

Laccha Paratha/ Parata/ Parotta

A bread that is served in a spiral shape, and is easily tearable. It is made with wheat flour, but is created slightly differently to parathas you may have had in England/ northern Indian paratha. It is my favourite bread in South India, and I will rave about it as much as I can.

Spiciness rating: 1. 

Stuffed Paratha

Similar to the above, but obviously, this paratha has things in it. You can get a million different types: masala (curried), aloo (stuffed with potato), paneer (stuffed with cheese), other vegetable parathas and meat filled ones. They are all delicious. I only tried a paneer paratha, but it was absolutely incredible. It tastes like a ray of sunshine on a rainy day (slightly dramatic, but thought I'd try and spice things up... mind the pun). See for yourself in the picture below- it was hot from the pan and absolutely delicious. You can buy stuffed paratha in England that you stick in the toaster... they are gorgeous.

Spiciness rating: depends on the stuffing, but around a 3. 

Chapati/ Chappati

Typical Indian flatbread that you may have seen in England. Similar consistency to a wrap, made with whole-wheat flour. Interesting story: I went to a cafe which served unlimited chappati, with various sauces and gravy. They just kept bringing them over!! All for only £1.10... ahh I miss India.

Spiciness rating: 1. 

Naan

Do I need to explain this?

Spiciness rating: unless topped with chilli, 1.

Dosa

As described slightly above, it is a rice based pancake. Often served slightly crispy, it can be plain and dipped in the chutneys/ sauces mentioned above.

Spiciness rating: 1. 

If you made it this far, you deserve a medal. Because I genuinely don't expect a single person (expect maybe Dom... and a few others from the trip) to get this far. And if they do, they are also troopers. But I hope you enjoyed this huge snapshot into Indian food, and keep your eyes peeled for another installment in the Sharla India Chronicles ;)

Bucket List 2.0

So it has recently come to my attention that I have never written down my Travel bucket list; i.e. all the places I want to visit in my life.

At the end of the day, life is short. We have to grab it by both hands, and experience everything. So, without further ado, here is a list of the top 25 places I want to visit in my lifetime.

1. New York (preferably at Christmas; but also during autumn).
2. California
3. Thailand (anywhere in Thailand... just anywhere)
4. Bali
5. Sydney
6. Las Vegas
7. Italy (just all of it; Vienna, Rome... take me everywhere!)
8. United Arab Emirates (I need some Abu Dhabi and Dubai in my life please)
9. Berlin
10. Amsterdam (Anne Frank museum, canals and bikes... please!)
11. Poland (I want to visit Auschwitz... but also experience Poland too!!)
12. Norway; mainly the Fjords, but again... general Norway too)
13. Copenhagen (been to Denmark before as my brother lives there... but lets visit the capital city!)
14. Nepal
15. India (obviously already visiting the south, but want to tour around India, do the north and other bits of the south too... it is a sub-continent after all!)
16. South Africa
17. Egypt (pyramids... duh?)
18. Morocco (I like homous ;D)
19. Japan (cherry blossom... all the cherry blossom. And I would LOVE to see a real life Geisha; as Memoirs of a Geisha is one of my all time favourite books)
20. San Francisco
21. Prague
22. Paris (again)
23. Barcelona
24. Greece (Santorini especially)
25. Rekiyavik (I want to see the Northern Lights... doesn't really bother me which country I see them in though, but Iceland is supposed to be beautiful!) 

Hope this blog post was interesting... I know it's basically just a list, but thinking of all these beautiful places has made me super excited for getting out there and exploring.

An interest in witchcraft...

... well sort of.

FIRST IMPRESSION: Witch Blemish Stick

So I was in Sainbury's yesterday with my housemate, and was looking for some kind of face wash I could use in the shower. I have make-up remover and stuff that I use on an evening (and morning sometimes....), but wanted something to help with the occasional breakout. I picked up this beautiful little witch (hence the witchcraft title...) blemish stick (because all the face washes were so expensive), and was so shocked. Seriously... it is like witchcraft; IT'S MAGIC.

The product is a witch hazel block that applies to the face in a similar way to that 4head headache product thing. It's almost like one of those rock salt deodorant type thing, but soft. It applied like a gel? Anyway, whilst difficult to explain what it feels like on the face, it is easy to explain what it did to my face.

I applied a few layers to one of my blemishes on my face on the evening, and woke up to find it was literally almost gone. Without a trace. And I swear, just now I applied some over it again just to see, and half an hour later it was gone. This is all within like 12 hours of having first applied it. I am so so impressed with this product so far, and am giving it:

For only £1.30 (although it was half price I believe), it has done an absolutely superb job. I will keep you updated in case my face suddenly comes out in hives or whatever, but for now, good job Witch!