Over the weekend I ended up going to Oxford to see Sammi and Shalisa. We were meant to be having a meet in Reading, but a lot of the people who were meant to be coming to that couldn't go because they were at Hyper Japan. I do hope my absent friends had a good time at Hyper Japan. I haven't been to HJ in 3 years because I didn't have a great time the last time I went, but maybe I will give it a go next year again. We will see how things go.
Thankfully, it wasn't raining heavily this time! I managed to stay relatively dry until I got back to the train station and had to walk home. Oh well, it is still a massive improvement on last time, and no umbrellas died! I wore my black Queen's Coach skirt, which I obtained recently. The colours on the skirt were not quite what I was expecting, but I managed to find items the same colour as the flowers on the skirt. After looking closely at the skirt, I realised there are actually colours in the print which I had never noticed before, such as peach. So maybe I will come up with some more challenging colour combinations when I get the chance to think outfits up.
We ended up going to a restaurant we hadn't been to before called My Sichuan. I came across this place earlier this year when I went to a games board cafe nearby with friends and I happened to spot this place hiding around one of the corners. The restaurant turned out to be quite an interesting find and I liked my food. My chicken and chili dish came with a tea light candle underneath to keep the food hot. The only problem is, it was a bit tricky to eat because it was quite messy! Shalisa and I both had aprons made out of all the napkins we stuffed down ourselves and I avoided the chopsticks because I am not too confident using them. The food was well cooked though, and very tasty.
Afterwards we decided to head to the Mitre, but not before getting some fudge from the Fudge Kitchen and having a bit of a posing session. I was very glad that nobody decided to come out of the door we posed in front of! I think all of us were reluctant to take out coats off, but at least we got some photos in the end. I was really pleased with the fudge we tried as well. They have a new Pumpkin Spice flavour, which tasted so amazing that Shalisa got us a slice to share. It was an interesting take on what I am guessing is a flavour brought in to celebrate Thanksgiving. If adopting some aspects of American culture means we get tasty fudge, then I am all for it!
Sammi and I decided to get Cosmopolitans at the Mitre. They are more of a pub than a cocktail bar, so they only have a few cocktails on offer. We got given these weird winter hat shaped cocktail stirrers. I suppose they are fairly cute? I do miss the Pimm's strawberry stirrers though- I am always taking them home with me!
Like Reading, Oxford also has a Purple Turtle bar. What we didn't realise though, was that the Oxford one isn't open all day like the Reading one is. So we went out in to the cold for nothing! I did get a picture of the Christmas lights though, but it is very blurry. It serves me right for clicking and walking at the same time. The lights look a lot better in the dark but after seeing these lights so many years in a row, I think Oxford could do with some new lights.
After our Purple Turtle disappointment and discovering a lot of the pubs were totally packed, we ended up back at the Mitre! After being out in the cold, I wanted a hot pudding, so I got a warm chocolate brownie. Every time we get this pudding from the Mitre it seems to come out different. but this time all of our desserts were identical. Sadly though, I ended up paying more than Sammi and Shalisa, because the guy who served them added a discount that they were not meant to get. I was fuming when I found out! It clearly pays to wait and get the right member of staff to serve you.
I ended up having a really great day. I was so glad that we tried a new place and I would like to go there again sometime. It was a bit busy in Oxford, but that is to be expected at this time of year. The lovely, warm food we got was comforting and it was the perfect accompaniment to our fun conversations. I am so looking forward to our Christmas meet-up. We are going to meet Sammi's new puppy Biscuit too, which I am really looking forward to!
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