Hello Happy Bunny

It has been a long time but I was given an advent calendar this year! This is the Cadbury’s Advent Calendar. The first few doors are now open! When I was younger, we used to buy advent calendars when they came out in November. They were also finished in November as well…Later on, I used to eat 3 chocolates on one day and then promise not to eat chocolate for the next two days, only to make the same promise the day after, until all of the chocolates are gone. This year, I think I can use some self-restraint and eat one chocolate a day…maybe…

Last week, I met up with my sister in Exeter. Unfortunately due to the recent bad weather we had a little train trouble but when we eventually arrived, the first thought that came to our mind was FOOD! We had a craving for Italian food and originally we wanted to go to Jamie’s Italian but it was fully booked. Nearby is Carluccio’s, which my sister said was quite good so we headed there. The front of Carluccio’s resembles a shop with cakes, biscuits and other Italian sweet treats which you can buy to takeaway. Behind this is a dining area – it doesn’t look particularly impressive or restaurant like. It looks like a cafe (indeed some people just ordered tea and coffee). The menu looks quite good – it displays Italian dishes with impressive ingredients. We opted for the Christmas menu – 2 courses for £17.99. I opted for the Risotto Festivo (a mushroom and spinach risotto with porcini oil and cheese wafers on top) and the Panettone with vanilla ice cream – I went for the more Christ

Last month I tried a Honeycomb Latte from Costa and a Spiced Cookie Latte from McDonalds. McDonalds hot drinks come in cute winter animals cups!

Welcome to Part 2 of my Yesstyle Haul! This is about the accessories and stickers I bought from Yesstyle! Recently, I bought a Molang diary from Ebay. These stickers I got will go perfectly with my diary and are excellent for journal planning and scrapbooking. One set comes with 8 sticker sheets, which is good value. There are two sets on sale at OH.LEELY – look  here  and  here . Molang is so cute! It is getting colder so socks are very important at this time of year! My sister likes bears so I thought these  socks from Fairyland  will be ideal for her. Around the site, I also spotted some cat socks from  NANA , which I thought looked cool and has a lot of positive reviews! ITS’ DEMO is famous in Japan for its collaborations with well known characters and making cute make up, accessories and lifestyle items. As far as I know, Yesstyle is the only store you can buy their items from in the UK, and they are a little expensive compared to other brands. The Pokemon range with E

I have shopped with Yesstyle a few times over the past couple of years. The items on sale are more of a different variety and sizing to what you would in UK’s high street shops. As a Chinese girl, I find some of the clothes don’t suit me nor fit me very well, so I recommend Yesstyle if you are looking for something a bit different. Yesstyle don’t only sell clothes but they sell lifestyle accessories and beauty products. The next two posts are about items I bought recently which fall into those two categories. I originally bought some Hello Kitty Wet Wipes (no longer available on the website) only to be told that the item had been cancelled because it was found to be defective (I was told at the last minute after waiting nearly a month!). However, when I received my parcel I was surprised to find that they had been sent! Should I use these or not?…Yesstyle didn’t really comment on why it was defective, the Hello Kitty cover is not attached, is that why? There is a lot of Hello

Last month, Barnstaple Pannier Market hosted the North Devon Foodfest. Lots of local food and drink producers set up stalls selling their wares and cooking food to order for hungry visitors. At Queen’s Theatre, cooking shows were going on during the day featuring top chefs such as Michael Caine and Thomas Carr, who recently was awarded a Michelin Star for his Ilfracombe restaurant, The Olive Room. One of the most popular stalls was Gourmet Street Kitchen ( www.gourmetstreetkitchen.com ) which had very long queues for its Mac n Cheese dishes, starting from £4.50. I opted for a classic mac n cheese, excitingly named “Return Of The Mac”, which came in a creamy cheese sauce and extra cheese on top. It was very tasty and the portion was quite big! I also tried an asparagus and leek savoury tart from one of the other stalls, which was called its Special Of The Day. This was ok, but I wouldn’t seek to buy more. We bought a Sausage Baguette from Big Pot Kitchen ( www.bigpotkitch

I got a Nectar voucher for Ebay so I thought I would buy some more cute things! On the far left is a lucky cat coin purse. It has a bell so you can also find it in your bag! I also bought some Sumikko Gurashi sticker flakes designed by San X. They are simply adorable!  I have a lot of cards in my bag so to keep organised I bought a card holder from Sanrio to keep them altogether. I love Pom Pom Purin, I even have a handbag so why not get the card holder to match?    The card holder has a zip up pocket and an outer pocket. The zip up pocket can be a little snug which makes it hard to fit a lot of cards inside but the outer pocket works well – perhaps keep important cards inside and other cards in the outer pocket. It is fairly cheap and the artwork is cute. The last thing I bought was a Molang Diary. I have seen these in various websites and I have always thought they look cute but never bought one. If you are looking for one, I would suggest using Ebay as you can buy them

For Halloween, I did some spooky origami using Youtube video tutorials... Bat DIYwithME-  https://youtu.be/Swxn9hwzQWw Ghosts Paper Kawaii –  https://youtu.be/D1Rq8dOypOA  and  https://youtu.be/SX-l-CUJ1Qk Have a great Halloween everyone!

From last month the Rhino Trail has seen several rhinos specially designed by local artists in Exeter and along the English Rivera. I saw two rhinos last time I had a shopping trip in Exeter. Autumn season also sees Starbucks bring back the Pumpkin Spice Latte, a perfect way to warm up in the cold weather!

I was feeling a lack of Japanese snacks so I ordered the Sumo snack lucky bag from Tofu Cute (£49.99). So many different things and a free tofu badge is included. I would have liked a drink included (ramune soda?) bur nevertheless, a great mix of things!

The last Kawaii Box I received in my three month subscription arrived at the beginning of September. This time, I got… Duck letter writing set, diamond gel pen, sushi sticker set, glasses hairclip and lipstick eraser… Cupcake pouch, phone bumper, bunny stationery set and a set of rings… Octopus DIY Candy set, ice cream keyring and a lolly plush charm. This box wasn’t perfect. The rings seem cheap, they arrived broken and it is not something I would wear anyway. The phone bumper states it is only used for iPhone 3, which is a very old phone! I struggle to put it on my own phone so I fail to see what use this is for! Maybe a weird, oversized bracelet? The things I always like in the Kawaii Box are the cute stationery and snacks, this time is no exception. I always feel excited to use the DIY candy sets, and the duck letter set has got me into writing more letters to my friends and family – a much cuter way to communicate! This month’s box was disappointing. I feel there are

On the back of Pokemon Go, there seems to be an increase of Pokemon merchandise everywhere. I got this Pikachu portable phone charger from Currys at £17.99, perfect for on the go (and playing Pokemon Go!)  Pokemon XYZ has just ended in Japan, and it is a fantastic ending (I won't give it away!) - the last few episodes are especially emotional and a great end to what has been an action packed season! A lot of people say it is the greatest season since Indigo League! The Sun and Moon anime trailers has been appearing online, and it seems like a big backward step in terms of the storytelling. A lot of people have mocked the animation style, in particular, Ash's design. Time will tell if the anime can gain as much fans as XY/XYZ...

This week I began to decorate my office with Halloween origami with a little help from YouTube… Bat DIYwithME-  https://youtu.be/Swxn9hwzQWw Ghosts Paper Kawaii –  https://youtu.be/D1Rq8dOypOA  and  https://youtu.be/SX-l-CUJ1Qk Have a great Halloween everyone!

On a Sunday afternoon, Latte and Lunch was quite busy, which shows how popular it is. Unfortunately, we had just missed breakfast so we decided to try a cream tea (£3.75 for one). With good quality tea and scone (would be even better if the scone had been warmed up), it makes for a tasty and inexpensive afternoon treat!

A few years ago, I used to make a lot of 3D modular origami models. For a friend’s birthday, I decided to resume this. I had seen people make swans before, so I decided to give it a go using this  video The video is easy to follow and looks great at the end. With great discipline, I managed to finish it in a few days. For mine, the base nests are a little off but the swan looks ok.

For the weekend, I met with some friends and travelled to Cotherstone. We started off at Cross Lanes Organic farm, Barnard Castle, which runs a farm shop with local and organic produce and a cafe using local ingredients. The menu has a wide range of items, including a pizza menu where the pizza are cooked in a wood fired oven. We shared an Italian Pizza, Breakfast Pizza and a Chicken Tarragon Pizza. I didn’t believe this at first when a friend told me, but there are sheep on the roof! One side of the roof is covered with grass for the sheep. I have never seen anything like it before… Later on, we drove to High Force, the largest waterfall in England. They normally close the area at 5pm but we made it in time! It is very beautiful and calming. We finished off the evening with dinner at the Fox and Hounds pub in Cotherstone, which was just opposite the cottage we were staying at. We arrived at 8pm only to be told that due to two large parties being booked there, it would

Turtle Bay is a Caribbean style restaurant in Stonegate, York. I went for a family lunch. To drink I had a passionfruit and orange blend, which was lovely. To eat, I had the 1/4 Jerk Chicken served with slaw and spicy chips. The sauce for the chicken was nice, a little bit hot. To share, we also had the chilli and lime squid, which I wasn’t a big fan of but others did like. The service was pleasant if a little disorganised, but this could be due to new waitress training. Price wise, the food is fine. My main dish cost around the 7pound mark, which was not too bad. This is the first time I have tried this type of food, and I would never say no to trying something else from the menu (I see they have goat…). For Caribbean cuisine in York, Turtle Bay is a good place to start.