Afternoon Tea at Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Victoria

When my colleague/friend heard that in the end I never got to go afternoon tea for my birthday, she immediately offered to take me out instead. We used the website www.afternoontea.co.uk to try find one with a good deal and decent reviews. Out of 3 places short-listed we settled upon the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Victoria which had 40% off their afternoon tea! We had to book a table but there was no deposit needed so a few weeks later we were on our way. The hotel is literally 3 minutes walk away from Victoria Station and it does not have the most appealing exterior for a hotel but at least you can not miss it.

We walked in and asked the first person we saw (a bellboy I think) where we was suppose to go and he directed us to the restaurant, just on the right where his colleague all smiles was waiting to greet us. W.H gave her name and we were given a choice on where we wanted to sit down. We chose a big table on the side and shortly after we were given the menu. Doubletree Victoria have 2 afternoon tea options, the 'Traditional Afternoon Tea' for £20.50 and the 'Gourment Afternoon Tea', which in addition you get a glass of champagne, crumpets and strawberry cupcakes for £34.00. The pig in me, guess which I picked..

The choice of teas was not great most of them were the usual fare such as breakfast, camomile and peppermint tea. The only unusual ones were raspberry and chilli; lemongrass, ginger and citrus fruit; and wild sweet orange. W.H wanted the lemongrass but unfortunately it was sold out so she settled for the peppermint and I got the wild sweet orange. The food arrived in what looked like a mini shelf which was certainly different however the overall colours was very dull, there was just too much brown going on.

We started with the crumpets which were already buttered but it was unbelievably dry, W.H suggested that they should have put more butter on it. Next were the 4 sandwiches; salmon, egg mayonnaise, prawn and ham, which were okay. The scones did not look appetizing at all, they reminded me of the ones my mum buys at the supermarket which can be super dry but these were surprisingly moist and still warm. I actually can not remember what the little cakes were but the passionfruit drizzle on top was amazing. I do not know if my readers remember my last afternoon tea but the dreaded coffee slice dessert made its way back into my life again. I knew at first glance that it was the same one but for the sake of it I ate some anyway, at least W.H got to enjoy my disgusted expression. At this point as you can imagine, we were both quite full already but we had one last dessert left and that was the strawberry cupcakes with the cute heart sprinkles. The icing thankfully was not too sweet and the sponge was nice and soft.

Coconut macaron, coffee slice and toffee macaron.

The bill came up to £40.80 which is very decent for afternoon tea and for the amount that we had as well, however both me and W.H agreed that we would not be coming back here. The service was good but the actual afternoon tea was not the best that we have had, to say the very least. Although we had fun and it was nice to catch up again outside of work so thank you W.H! 

[Review] Urban Decay Naked Palette Basics

I am just going to come right out and admit this, I had no idea that Urban Decay had this small version of the Naked palette until my friend bought it for me. It is so tiny and cute, helpful for travelling around with. The palette itself has a matte surface and contains 6 eyeshadows, 1 semi-matte (Venus) and 5 matte. The price is £22 compared to the full Naked palettes which are priced £37 but with 12 eyeshadows, an eyeshadow primer potion sample and a brush.

Minimalist outer appearance.

Venus, Foxy, W.O.S, Naked 2, Faint, Crave

Size comparison with the iPhone 5.

Swatches: Left - Foxy, Right - Venus

Swatches: Left - Naked 2, Right - W.O.S

Swatches: Left - Crave, Right - Faint

The colours are so pigmented and being quite a neutral-loving person this palette is perfect for me. My everyday look now consists of this palette using W.O.S as base for the eyelids and then Naked 2 to create an eyelid crease since I do not really have one. When I do my eyebrows I like to use Venus as a highlighter although it does have a very slight shimmer to it.

I usually wear it for around 7-8 hours a day and it has amazing staying power coupled with the Urban Decay eyeshadow primer potion, on hot days. The only thing I have to nitpick about this palette is the way that it is suppose to be opened, there is a tiny gap to put your finger in and lift it up but I found it difficult at first, not sure if that was only me but guess you know it won't split open in your bag. I do love this palette however if it was me buying it I would rather get the original bigger Naked palettes, they are more expensive but I reckon you get more of your money's worth.

Rating out of 5:     

Update I

I have totally been neglecting this blog as of late, it has been 2 months since my last post! What I have been up to:

• Turning another year older.. I celebrated my actual birthday with a family dinner at a Turkish restaurant, Meze Mangal, that have amazing reviews however it was not great and believe me I know my food. I have had much better Turkish food elsewhere, I think that maybe as this restaurant has grown and got bigger (renovations for a bigger restaurant), the quality has diminished from its beginnings. We ordered the starter platter and calamari. The free bread that came with the meal was delicious, I think it was homemade and whenever the basket was empty the waiters or the owner himself would replace it with another warm fresh batch. The hummus as well was nice! However the other dips were not to my taste and the 'starters' were all vegetarian. For the main I ordered the mixed grill, my mum ordered the special mixed grill (difference is she got a quail) and my bro had the lambchops. I absolutely love Turkish salad! So simple but tasty and not as fattening as other salad dressings but this salad had a really weird taste to it, like it had been in a dirty pot for too long. The grilled meat too lacked flavour which was a huge disappointment.

I also celebrated with my girls and the original plan was to go afternoon tea at a boutique hotel but due to people not replying and a strict booking policy I had to change venues and book for another place that done sushi afternoon tea, which I thought was different and interesting. However on the day the restaurant, Ichi Sushi and Sashimi Bar in Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, told me that they did not get my request and they could not provide us with afternoon tea but we could order sushi from the menu.. Er no I don't think so. I specifically made a special request which was confirmed and now they tell me they did not get it even though the booking was done on their own website. Ridiculous. So instead me and my girls spent the whole day last minute researching for places to eat at and that would accommodate 9 people without prior booking. I felt so sorry to them, but they were so patient and helpful, I couldn't ask for better friends.

So much pink, they know me well xD

• I have been job-hunting again and only recently started looking at internships which is what I am doing now. It is an unpaid internship but it is also part-time only so with the other days I can work and then rest. I realized that I would have to suck up my pride and love for money, in exchange for some experience so that I can successfully find a full-time job. It is still early days but in this short time I feel like my brain is alive again as I am learning new things and challenging myself. Although I have a lot of self-doubt as in whether I am being helpful or not, I know that I'm not getting paid but interning is a 2-way gig, I'm getting experience and the company is getting help. Maybe I should ask for more work.

• Tickets booked for EDC UK 2014! I am so excited I cannot believe. At first I didn't even know if it would be my scene but after a night out raving I was convinced and if not then this video certainly done it, now this is what you call a promotion video:

• New family member! My auntie finally popped out my baby cousin, Timothy on 27th May 2014. I have been waiting ages for a new baby to arrive in the family. All my little cousins are not so little anymore. It is so weird to think that they're no longer children but becoming teenagers now. No! Is this the mindset of the old..