UK/Spain 2024 Part 2: Edinburgh!

Once I was in Edinburgh, my wonderful incredible friend Jojo picked me up from the airport. Longtime bloggers/PPKers might remember Jojo from her original blog, Vegan In Brighton. Well, now Jojo lives in Scotland has has rescue sheep and we were going to spend a whole wonderful week together! Once I was collected, we went to our friend Emil's house. Emil is was also an old school blogger/PPKer, and now lives in Edinburgh, and it was their birthday on the day I arrived! So we were spending the night with Emil and their partner and their cat and our other friend Jenny who had come up from Manchester.

Right after we arrived, Emil had organised a delivery of the famous Gregg's Sausage Rolls and Steak Bakes. The sausage rolls were just OK (sorry UK, I am particular about my sausage rolls), but I loved the Steak Bake! Not pictured, there were also some Gregg's glazed doughnuts but I'm not a glazed doughnut fan. We aired out some hot food takes between us all, which was very funny.



After snacks, Jojo and I went for a very short walk to Easter Greens, a little vegan shop about 10 minutes walk from Emil's. Can I tell you how much I was loving Scotland? It was delightfully cool. Everything was so pretty. Take me back there! Anyway, Easter Greens was lovely! I bought some chocolate and some kombucha. Of the chocolate, I've had the Montezuma's 100% black before and know that is fantastic. But I haven't had the other ones yet! Obviously I drank the kombucha that night. The Strawberry and Rhubarb Kombucha was DELICIOUS! The ginger and yuzu, not so much.





On the way back, we walked passed a little vegan coffee shop called Little Fitzroy Cafe (which was amusing to me because Fitzroy in Melbourne has a ton of vegan options). The Hawaiian Pizza savoury roll in the window caught my eye. It was very good.



Once we were back, Jenny arrived and we had a lovely spread of snacks that I did not take a photo of. But it included dips, crackers, chips, and I'm just realising there was some vegan cheese that we never every got around to oh my god take me back there right now so I can eat it!

Emil made dinner, even though it was their birthday, and it was delicious! Lasagna, roasted potatoes, and green beans.



THEN, they had also made their own cake. Emil is a professional baker by trade, so this of course was going to be stunning. They made an alcohol-free Cranachan-inspired cake, which was an oat and raspberry sponge and then some sort of special Russian buttercream. It was GORGEOUS and it was delicious!





I had brought Emil some things requested from Australia (vegan Kewpie mayo, vegan Kraft mac and cheese, vegan Tim Tams), but Emil had also prepared a box of things for me! Including some biscuits, chocolates, a pancake mix, and some vegan malt powder! I haven't tried any of these yet, but will report when I do!





More Edinburgh eats in the next post!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Kobi! Emil's cat! I have been a fan of Kobi for a long time on the interwebs, and I finally got to meet him. He is SO cute and funny! I love him.

UK/Spain 2024 Part 1: Let's get to Scotland

HELLO FRIENDS!

I have been over the seas! And now I am back. I had three glorious weeks in Scotland, London, and Barcelona (including some Singapore stop overs both ways). And I know you want to know what I ate!

This first post is going to take us from Brisbane to almost Scotland. Three days worth of travel! Eight hours Brisbane to Singapore, a night in Singapore, then 14 hours Singapore to London, a night in London, and then a one hour and 20 minute flight from London to Edinburgh.

We had a morning flight out of Brisbane to go to Singpore, and we were flying Business Class! Fancy! Access to airport lounges! I had of course eaten something very early in the morning (before saying a tearful goodbye to the cat) before we went to the airport. But once we were in the Sinapore Airlines lounge, there were a few vegan options in their breakfast buffet. Hash browns! Roasted tomatoes! Fruit salad! There was also some beans and some chia pudding, that I didn't try.



I had requested a vegan meal on the flights, but I wasn't sure exactly what that would entail being in Business Class. I did pack many a snack for myself as well, of course. The main meal on the flight to Singapore was lunch. I was given a fancy little quinoa and tomato salad with a lovely avocado dressing to start with. Next up was some stir-fried noodles and, what I was afraid of, spicy! I could only request vegan, I couldn't not specify anything else. I did eat as much as I could, just because it was there. And it would have been very nice if it hadn't been spicy. Thankfully afterwards there was a fruit plate of cooling melons!







Not long before we landed in Singapore, we were given a snack. Mine were vegetable pasties, with a very capsicum heavy sauce that I left on the side.



Once we landed in Singapore, it was time for a rest as we were spending the night there to break up the very long trip. There was very little other than literal fruits and vegetables on the room service menu for vegans, so I headed out looking for dinner. I really dropped the ball here, and figured I could just walk around and find something easily. There was a huge shopping center called Jewel right next to the hotel that was full of food places. It also had a beautiful central waterfall and forest feature.



Anyway, I didn't have any wifi or data at Jewel, so I was going in blind. Happy Cow didn't show me any places nearby (more about that later on in the trip). I walked around for ages and I couldn't see anything obviously vegan until I found a Subway outlet but even though it was open, there was no one working behind the counter. So I ended up back at the airport, hungry, feeling like a vegan in 2002, until I finally found a place that did salads and bowls. I made a bowl of quinoa, teriyaki tempeh, charred broccoli, cucumber, lettuce, and lemon dressing. Also some inari, and a grapefruit pomelo bubble tea.(Don't worry, my return trip through Singapore was much more successful).



The next morning I had a Cliff Bar in my hotel room so that I could take my morning pain killers, then it was back to check in for our very long flight! This meant another visit to the Singapore Airlines lounge, this time in Changi airport. This was harder, as nothing had 'vegan' written on it, I had to go based off allergen and contains symbols. The hashbrowns had egg and dairy in them! Tragedy! But I did get some noodles, dumplings, and rice cakes.



This was the LONG flight. It left Singpore at 9am and got into London at 5pm with timezones, but that was 14 hours in the air. Oh, did I mention that Singapore Airlines Business Class has lie flat seats?? Fantastic! Revelation! Incredible! We got breakfast again on the flight. I had fruit, soy milk, and WAFFLES!





After a nap and a movie or two later, as well as talking to some friends (FREE WIFI!), it was time for the next meal. A felafel salad followed by Pad Thai (that was for some reason even spicier than the previous day's noodles) and a little fruit jelly for dessert.







I was travelling with my mum, but when we finally landed in Heathrow we went our separate ways for a while. She was off to do a family history tour through England for the week. I was staying in an airport hotel before flying off to Scotland the next day! The hotel did have some vegan options on the menu, but I instead elected to go to a Marks & Spencer at the airport to go look for fun vegan food! And oh did I find some! I had a bed picnic dinner of a Vegan Hoisin Duck Wrap, a New York Style Salt-Beef roll (with cheese and pickles) on a Pretzel Bun, a sweet potato and tenderstem broccoli salad, and some apple and peanut butter (that I saved for the next morning). The best part was the New York Style Roll! Highly recommend. I also got one of the best ginger kombuchas I've ever enjoyed, as well as some snack bars. So far I've only had the almond rasberry bar, which was nice! Unfortunately I couldn't find any of the nice M&S vegan desserts that they sometimes apparently have, but I had more than enough food.







In the morning it was off to Scotland! I was flying Business Class again, this time with British Airways, so that I had a consistent baggage allowance across the trip. But instead of going to the lounge, I went to Wagamama's in the airport and got a green juice and their Vegan Bacon and Mushroom Breakfast Bao (hold the sriracha mayo). I also realised I could have specified a vegan meal on the plane, but I forgot and I didn't really need to eat on such a short flight after breakfast, so that was fine.



Next stop, Edinburgh! I have so much to share with you all.

Let's address to COVID of it all. Travelling in a COVID world is a lot of risk analysis. I wore my N95 mask when I was on the plane or indoors, but I did have to take it off to eat. And I did eat at indoor places many times. I had my COVID booster a few weeks before I left, and I was constantly squirting my FLO Travel nasal spray when I took my mask off and before putting it back on, as well as in the mornings, when I got back to the hotel, and before I went to bed. It wasn't possible to be as vigilant as I normally am back home, but I did the very best that I could.

But now, cats!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Last photo I took of Eloise before I left, and it was her trying to eat my breakfast. Typical! I love her.

Sydney Eras Tour Day Three: Shift Eatery and TAYLOR SWIFT DAY

Monday morning dawned, at it was TAYLOR SWIFT DAY!

It was also walk to the vegan deli and bakery to get breakfast, lunch and pre-show dinner day, so off I went. It was awfully humid and by the time I got back I had to have another shower because I was so hot and sweaty, but I was successful. I then spent the rest of the day resting in the hotel room before the concert that night. It was weird spending a day in Sydney and not doing anything, but I knew I needed a very chill day if I was going to survive Eras.

The deli I went to was called Shift Eatery, and it has been on my Sydney list for YEARS! I was going to go ages and ages ago when I was last in Sydney working at OzComicCon, but that was the time I got so horribly sick that they idea of going anywhere extra was too much. This was long before COVID, just you regular garden variety make you so sick you wish you were dead virus. But finally I made it!

I ordered two sandwiches to take back to the hotel. The first was the Vegan Salmon Bagel, but they were out of bagels so I just had it on bread. It had house-made tomato lox with nori, cream cheese, capers, cucumber and fresh dill. It was really lovely, I enjoyed the smoky tomato lox.



I also got the Reuben's Vegan Brother Steve. I love reubens, and there is no where in Brisbane I can go to get a vegan reuben, which is rude. This had house-made corned beef, sauerkraut, russian dressing, cheddar cheese and westmont pickles on toasted sourdough. Also very good!



They had a drinks fridge, and I couldn't not get this Hibiscus Kombucha. It was so good, I wish I could get it here! I also got a Funky Fudgy Brownie (not pictured), which are some of the best brownies ever. It has been so long since I've had one.



The other place I stopped by was Miss Sina, their second location. They had a bunch of Taylor Swift themed doughnuts there as well!



I got a chocolate croissant (not pictured) and a French Onion Savoury Danish. This was delicious! I wish we had places doing inventive things with pastry around me.



I snacked on those throughout the day, and then it was time to head to Eras! This is me, in my pink Evermore-inspired dress that my friend made for me. Mask firmly on my face, of course.



And my official Taylor Swift Eras light up bracelet! During the show they all lit up different colours, sometimes making patterns in the crowd. It was incredible!





Our seats were in E section, so pretty far back, this was out view. But it was fine because there were big screens and also just being there was enough!



The Eras Countdown Clock! The palpable excitement in the stadium as we started counting down! Like nothing I've ever felt before!



Taylor looking GORGEOUS in the Speak Now era.



Witchy Willow Taylor in the Evermore era.



Bad Blood (1989 era) pyrotechnics!



I have several more blurry photos and some videos, but I'll just leave you with these few. Eras was INCREDIBLE, and I just feel so lucky that I was able to go and see it because a lot of people missed out. Crying during Marjorie and screaming FUCK THE PATRIACHY with over 80,000 people during All To Well 10 Minute Version are just a few of the highlights. For those of you who know Taylor, our surprise songs were a Would've Could've Should've/Ivy mash up on guitar, and a Forever and Always/Maroon mash up on piano. Incredible!!!

We got back to our hotel very late, and had to get up a few hours later to go to the airport to fly back. And then I had a delayed fibro flare/crash the following week. But you know what? Worth it!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Despite giving no indication that she missed me while I was gone, or when I first got home, Eloise did come to join me in bed for a snuggle that night.

Sydney Eras Tour 2024 Day Two: Ordering In From Many Places

Two posts in two days? Who am I?

When I woke up on Sunday, the travel of the previous day kind of knocked me around. I didn't end up getting out of bed until quite late, and I wasn't even hungry. Fibro fun times. But eventually I dragged myself out of bed because I had exciting plans to catch up with my wonderful friend Leigh, who I hadn't seen in so long.

We had planned to watch the final three episodes of OFMD together (we fell down the OFMD hyperfixation hole together), but alas technical issues kept us from our favourite pirates. But we still had a great time talking (yes, a lot of it was about OFMD) and ordering in a bunch of food for delivery for lunch!

We went all out on vegan pastrami, including a Pastrami Sandwich from Suzy Spoons and a Vegan Reuben Burger from Mama B's Vegan Pub Bistro. They were both very good.





We also got an assorted sweet box from Miss Sina, a vegan bakery that had been on my list to eat at for a long time. They choose what goes in there. We had two cinnamon sugar dougnuts (my favourite kind of doughnut), a creme brulee doughnut (incredible, it had a crunchy hard coating and custard in the middle), fruit danishes (always a good time), a cinnamon roll (ruined by so much icing I like them nekkid), and two Taylor Swift themed doughnuts. Everyone was in the Eras mood! The Look What You Made Me Do doughnut had blueberry jam on the inside, which was lovely. And the Peace doughnut was just a straight up doughnut.



As you can imagine, I was very full. I took some of the sweets back to the hotel for my friend I was travelling with. It was her birthday, and she'd been out to lunch with a Sydney friend. We reconvened back at the hotel and decided on trying out BellyBao for dinner. My friend ordered their Beyond Baoguer, essentially a beyond burger but on a bao-style bun. I ordered an Eggplant rice bowl, and a side of greens.



We spent the rest of the evening watching TV and making more bracelets. I'd also made a bunch of bracelets before we left. Here are some of the bracelets I made... half of them were related to OFMD rather than Taylor Swift, but I had to go where the mood took me.

First up, the bracelets I was keeping. These included:
Taylor Swift Related: Ivy, Reputation, Lover, Enchanted, Paper Rings Shiny Things
OFMD Related: Ed hearts Stede, Stede hearts Ed, Boyfriends, You Wear Fine Things Well
Cross-over: Our Flag Means Taylor



And the bracelets I made to give away. These were all Taylor related except for three saveofmd.com ones that I made to share the petition. They were Afterglow, 22, Fuck The Patriachy, Taylor Say Don't Go, and Folklore Evermore.



Then we went to sleep, because they next day was The Big Day!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

You get two photos today! Leigh's lovely cat Momo!

Sydney Eras Tour 2024 Day One: Mother Chu's

Hello friends, a non-Midweek Munchies post! Remember I mentioned going to Sydney last month to see Eras? Well, now is the time to share some food photos with you. And a sprinkle of Taylor photos, of course.

We arrived into Sydney on a Saturday afternoon, and once we were settled in our hotel room we headed out for dinner. We went to Mother Chu's Vegetarian, a vegan restaurant that was only a short walk away from the our hotel. This is what we ordered.

Steamed BBQ Buns, because I can never go past these on a menu.



We also shared some Tofu with Sweet Miso Sauce, which was incredible! The sauce was dengaku sauce, but on tofu instead of eggplant. This dish normally comes with chilli on top as well, but they left it off for me.



My friend ordered this Birds Nest style dish, which had chopped vegetables, mushrooms, and vegan ham in it, plus cashews, served in a crispy noodle nest.



I continued to be the most basic b*tch (/aff) (god I spend too much time online these days) vegan in the world by ordering some tofu, assorted mushrooms, and snow peas in a brown sauce. It was delicious! My favourite sort of dish to order at vegan Chinese places.



On the way home, we stopped by a Woolworths and got some vegan ice cream sandwiches, not pictured. And then spent the night making friendship bracelets on the bed, eating ice cream sandwiches, and listening to Taylor Swift songs like the 42 year old adults we were, living out very best life!

I'll share some of the bracelets tomorrow, but this post I want to show you the fun decorations our hotel had! They had gone full Eras themed, Taylor Swift stuff everywhere, staff wearing Taylor Swift t-shirts (ala Red Era), and non-stop Taylor Swift music in the lobby.









More Taylor and Sydney coming to you soon!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Eloise, being very helpful while I was packing to leave.