Marble galore

Beautiful, aren't they? Personally, marble reminds me of the house I grew up in as a child in Malaysia. I have fond memories of playing pretend on the marble floor with all my relatives. These were taken inside the lobby of BPP University Manchester - the law school where my brother is currently studying at. A little insight to why I was there: well, I was waiting for him to go grab lunch! 💁🏻

Yard & Coop, NQ

Pictured

↠ Dirty bird fries - a bowl full of chips, bacon, cheese, chicken thigh, blue cheese sauce, BBQ sauce and spicy Bee's Knees sauce (£8.00)

This was so, so good I finished it even though this was their large plate. Don't let the photo deceive you... their large plate portion is truly, LARGE. The flavour combination in this dish was absolutely perfect and the fries were crispy - just how I like it. I've been to Yard & Coop several times and my other favourite dishes here include: Monkey Ball - legendary balls of buttermilk fried chicken breast, served with spicy Bee's Knees and Bourbon BBQ sauce as well as the wrappers delight - buttermilk fried chicken breast, Monterey Jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, slaw served in a wrap with chips.

One word. DELISH!!!

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

| Yard & Coop

| @yardandcoop

North Tea Power, NQ

Pictured

↠ Cappuccino (£2.80)

This is honestly one of the best coffee shops you can find in Northern Quarter. Whenever I need a good caffeine fix, this is where you'll find me. They have a great variety of coffee, tea, breakfast, sandwiches, cakes and even beer! All the staffs here are really friendly and I could sit here for hours just people-watching.

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

| North Tea Power

| @northteapower

Teacup Kitchen, NQ

Pictured
↠ Cappuccino (£2.90)
↠ Wild mushroom and spinach sourdough - sautéed mushroom and lightly wilted spinach on toast (£7.00)

I've been here once or twice before this meal and I've always had a pretty great experience BUT for this particular breakfast... it wasn't at all satisfying. We waited for a pretty long time before our food arrived (we got there around 9ish so it wasn't at all crowded just yet) and when it did arrive, my food was not seasoned AND I had soggy toast! REALLY SOGGY TOAST - it was as if someone spilled water on it or something! I barely ate any of it, paid and left. I'm normally not one for bad reviews but this really went below my expectations. Loved the atmosphere and the cute, hipstery décor but not sure if I'll return.

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️

| Teacup Kitchen
| @teascupandcakes

Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera | El Born

Really enjoyed exploring through this beautiful neighbourhood in Barcelona even though my feet was so sore it swelled up from all the walking. According to my FitBit, I walked approximately 30 609 steps or 18.37 km. Yep. Me and the best friend really walked that far. Trust me, our feet were hurting everyday but hey, that's what we said we were gonna do and we did it - we explored Barcelona on foot!

🇪🇸🇪🇸

La Barceloneta, Barcelona

I just adore summery days like this... bright blue skies with the sun shining down brightly. These pictures were taken around a month ago went me and Fristi visited Barcelona. We spent an entire day chilling, tanning and being surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea!

To be honest, I've never been to a beach that stretched on for miles... and it really was something. The sandy beaches just went on and on and on and on. It was pretty crowded but that's to be expected given that it was peak season.

💙 🇪🇸

Salad for dinner

Pictured

↠ Fresh salad with halloumi, avocado, spring onion, pan-fried courgette and chicken thigh (homemade)

I was invited for dinner over at Fristi's new place and Liam made us dinner! He served us this gorgeous light salad that I couldn't get enough of - the combination was simply filling yet so, so light. 

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

| @liamhelliwell

TGIF

Today's agenda:

◻︎ Sleep-in Woke up bright and early

☑︎ Drop by the post office

☑︎ Get fresh fruits from the market

☑︎ Transfer and organise folders/images onto external hard drive 

◻︎ Get some of my pants/winter coat altered at Arndale ALTERED THE PANTS MYSELF!

◻︎ Catch up on some work 

☑︎ Hangout with Fristi and Liam

This post (list above) will be updated at the end of the day!

Weekly catch-up: I've had a pretty great week so far. Yes, I'll admit it's been hella tiring but I think adult life is supposed to be this hard...? 🤷🏻‍♀️. Anyways, I've recently starting working for The Fashion Network over at the Old Granada Studios and I'm having so much fun learning new things + working in a brand new environment. I'm conscious that I still have a lot of work to be done for my Masters project though, so I'm trying to rest my brain as much as I can (by mindlessly scrolling through my Instagram feed 🙄). Currently for this week, I've been listening to Frank Ocean's Swim Good on repeat - I am so in love with his music! Okay, this post will have to be cut short because I just pushed myself to stay on track with my POP pilates schedule AND I got back from a long day at work... so I'm pretty beat. 

Good night for me, good morning for you guys and thank you for reading this.

Jerk Shack, NQ

Pictured

↠ Curry mutton with rice, peas and a side of coleslaw

Me and Fristi got the same thing and honestly... this was the bomb.com!! The mutton was super tender and full of juicy goodness. And the coleslaw was absolutely out of this world - I did not know coleslaw could taste that good! The rice was a little too dry for me but that's just me being Asian 🤷🏻‍♀️. 10/10 would eat again... especially on a rainy day cause it reminds me of home (Malaysian food).

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Great value, superb food!)

| Jerk Shack

| IG @jerkshacknq

Porter + Cole, NQ

Located on the ground floor of One Smithfield Square, Porter + Cole is Northern Quarter's newest coffee lounge/design store. They have one of the best interior decoration I have seen so far in NQ - I am completely obsessed! During the day, this coffee lounge serves coffee (duh!) and food (cakes, healthy pots, lunch). At night, they offer a range of wines, spirits, Prosecco and beer!

In terms of the store, there's a great curation of designer jewellery, artwork, mugs, glasses, socks, beauty products, scarves and even chocolates. One of the best things about the store however (besides the obvious Instagram worthy shots)..... is Porter and Cole! They are the cutest doggies 😍 - I petted Cole for a solid five minutes (pictured below). I haven't had a chance to meet Porter yet but I'll be sure to take a picture of him when I do.

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️(+⭐️ because of Cole!)

| Porter + Cole

Help a girl out!

Do you live in the UK? Do you like fashionable items? Do you use beauty products? Are you looking for some cheap items that are basically new?

If you've answer yes to any of those questions, then please check out my Depop store or search for @annicknickky. I've put up a number of items on the cheap because I really need them gone and honestly, I'm really just trying to earn a pound or two.

95% of my listed items are in brand new/perfect condition and are all being sold for half the original price. Some of my many items include beauty products from Benefit, Etude House, Laura Mercier, Nyx, tote bag from Katie Judith, clothes from NastyGal and that super pretty pair of sunnies (pictured) that I previously bought from Hong Kong.

So please, #helpagirlout 😫

| https://www.depop.com/annicknickky

Oishi-Q, Oxford Road

Pictured

↠ Chicken karaage don - crispy fried chicken with Japanese style omelet and rice (£8.95)

Me and Tom ordered the same thing! Normally I am unable to finish my portion but I did - so yes I'm pretty proud 😊. Side note though, now that I'm home and the food has expanded... I am so stuffed I want a nap. Okay fine, I shouldn't have gotten that milkshake from Archie's but I haven't had one in awhile. I mean, the sun was out... how could I say no to a milkshake?

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (the omelet could've been better)

| Oishi-Q

| Twitter @oishiqMCR

Stonehenge

Visited the UNESCO heritage site a couple of months back with Tom and his family. Located at Salisbury, the place is absolutely breathtaking. Did you know that up until very recently, you could still walk up to the stones and touch it? Tom's mom told me that during her last visit here (8-10 years ago?), she actually took a picture sitting on one of the rocks! Crazy, right?

I love, love photographing this place - I had so many to choose from my cameral roll but I thought I shouldn't bombarded this post with too many pictures.

All these were taken on my iPhone 6 and enhanced on Photoshop Express.

Federal Cafe, NQ

Pictured
↠ Mocha (£2.70)
↠ Smoked salmon bagel with cream cheese, capers, red onion, lemon & dill (£5.50)

Located at 9 Nicholas Croft, Federal Cafe is probably one of my favourite brunch places in Northern Quarter, Manchester. They have a good selection of brunch food and is one of the only places that sells Milo drink.

Overall rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

| Federal Cafe & Bar
| IG @federalcafebar

Starting fresh 🌱

The title says it all.


Tbh, between finishing my BA and starting an MA... I ditched the blog. And honestly, it bothered me that my once prized blog was abandoned and put aside in favour of academia but I guess that happens. It took me awhile - and by awhile I mean over a year - to really want to restart this again. Personally, my blog has always been about detailing my life, my experiences and my own thoughts. That's how it started and that's how it's gonna be restarted.

I did something rather... wild. I deleted every single post that I have ever written on this blog because I wanted a fresh, blank start. And honestly, I don't want my younger self's opinions/words to reflect who I am today.

Since completing my undergraduate and nearly finishing my masters', my writing has changed - I grew up. I am no longer that young teenage girl who started her blog back in 2008. I am now a woman of nearly 23 (omg!) who will soon be stepping into the real-world. And that means change. So I deleted most of everything. And hopefully, working with a fresh new site means I can produce more content that will truly reflect me.

I have no idea if any of you guys following me will even read this but you know what, that's okay. I'm doing this for me. Writing used to make me incredibly happy and I'm glad I took the first few steps towards that direction again.

❤️