A DAY IN BRIGHTON

One day last week, my parents and I took a drive to the seaside town of Brighton. Exploring new (to me, at least!) parts of the UK is something that I'm really keen to do when I move back to England this year, so I was really happy when my mum suggested that we spend the day in Brighton.

What better way to start the day than with breakfast on the seafront?!

We took a tour around the Royal Pavilion, an exotic seaside palace, formerly home to George IV. Steeped in history and beautifully restored, it was so interesting to walk through the bedrooms, kitchen, ballroom and music room that were once home to British royalty, as well as being used as a military hospital during the first World War.

Full of newfound historical knowledge, we explored the Lanes, tiny narrow streets lined with tiny independent shops largely selling jewellery. We also discovered an excellent sweet shop selling delicious homemade fudge - the salted caramel fudge was amazing!

We took up residence on deck chairs on the beach to enjoy the last of the afternoon sun (for my parents anyway, I was absolutely freezing as I had yet to acclimatise!) but before we knew it the sun had gone behind the clouds and refused to return, so we retreated to the car for a much anticipated fish and chip tea before heading home after a lovely day at the coast.

Have you visited Brighton?

LIFE LATELY / DOHA DIARIES #25

First and foremost, RAMADAN KAREEM! The Holy month of Ramadan is underway the world over so I wanted to extend my best wishes to all.

Secondly, it feels so good to be back in front of my laptop, typing up a blog post. I really do miss blogging when I am away from it for extended periods of time. I haven't really had too much time and energy for it as of late as I've been a bit of a busy bee. This post is a bit of a life update / Doha Diaries / catch up post combination to fill you in on what has been going on lately in the life of The Blonde...

Ps - please forgive the iPhone pictures!

BIG DECISIONS
Those of you who know me in person/follow me on social media will know that recently I made the decision to follow my head and my heart and put the motions in place to leave my adopted home of Doha and head back to the UK. I'll be touching down in London town on a permanent basis from September, so I still have a few months left to embrace life here in the sandpit. After a very rocky time here due to personal reasons, the lure of being closer to my family has been tugging at me for a very long time, so when my very talented boyfriend was offered a great job back in London, the decision to head home suddenly became very easy, as I would be heading home to all of my loved ones. That's not to say I won't be leaving behind people I am incredibly fond of - I really have made some very close friends for life here in Doha, but I know that once I leave I will be seeing them again!

COPA AMERICA 2015
We are covering the Copa America tournament at work until 4th July. We have two studios a day, and as a result the team are working every day with no days off. I'm on day 14 and already feel like I'm going a little stir crazy, but it has been fun looking after the guests that the producers have lined up for the Planet Chile lunchtime show - Chef Bojan, the executive chef from Toro Toro at the Kempinski Marsa Malaz came in and prepared some light dishes on air, a pair of Brazilian martial artists came in to demo their moves, a freestyle footballer taught the presenters some impressive ball skills, and an incredible Capoiera instructor wowed us with this graceful and strong martial arts/dance combination, all in our impressive Copa America studio.

GETTING GLASSES

I mentioned in one of my previous Doha Diaries posts that I was excited about getting my glasses - they finally arrived and I really like them, despite the fact that I can't decide if they suit me or not!

DATE NIGHT AT TORO TORO

Matt and I had a really great dinner date at the newly opened Toro Toro restaurant at the Kempinski Marsa Malaz hotel. Everything we ordered was amazing, from the scallops to the prawns to the desserts, which were very kindly complimentary from Chef Bojan. I will do a review post on this restaurant next time I'm there and armed with my proper camera rather than the grainy iPhone!

DATE NIGHT AT MYKONOS

As a final date night before we go our separate ways for Summer (Matt's off exploring the US and I am heading home to the UK before we join each other in London to head back to Doha), we decided to opt for Mykonos as our date night dining destination. Situated in the Intercontinental Doha, it is a stones throw from our apartments and one of my favourite restaurants largely due to how beautiful the setting is (in addition to the good food, of course). I have some very fond memories of dining here, such as the night my mum and Matt met properly for the first time, and also one of my favourite impromptu date nights. When the weather is cooler, dining on the terrace of Mykonos overlooking the beautiful pool, you could forgive yourself for thinking you had been transported to a Greek island.

PACKING!

As I mentioned, I'm jetting off to the UK to spend a few weeks with my family and friends before my final stretch of time in Doha. I'm currently in the process of packing for the trip as well as packing up as many of my belongings as possible to transport back to the UK this time around, so that I won't have quite as much to ship home come September. It really is amazing how many things one girl can accumulate in two years living abroad!!

I can't really say what my blogging habits will be once I'm home in England over the coming weeks, but I hope to post again soon. Thanks for continuing to support my blog even though I've been very irregular with posting!

As always, I hope you've had a fantastic couple of weeks, wherever in the world you are reading from.

BEAUTY REVIEW: BIG EASY BY BENEFIT

Every now and then, you stumble across a product that really throws you when it comes to making a decision on whether you like it or not.

Usually you can get a feel one way or another from a product (with the exception of skincare) after one or a few uses, but Big Easy from Benefit has been sitting in my makeup bag for the best part of a year, dividing my opinion every time I reach for it.

I didn't set out with the intention of buying this product, and it was never really on my radar until I was accosted by a Benefit sales assistant in Boots who had sat me down in a chair and whipped out her makeup brushes before I really knew what was happening. She introduced me to Big Easy, which at the time was a relatively newly released product. I was immediately taken in by two things: the oil-free formula and the SPF 35 content. Living in the desert, where the sun melts your face the second you step out of the sanctuary of the A/C, these are two things that really up-sell a product to me.

Those, the lightweight formula, and how lovely the sales assistant was meant that I left Boots almost £30 lighter, when I probably only went in for dry shampoo.

So this product claims to be a 'balancing complexion perfector known to help balance skin and oil control' - this is where I fall in to my biggest divide with this product. 

Upon initial application, I love it. It stays true to its claim to 'even out skin tone and conceal imperfections'. It doesn't claim to be a full coverage product, which I quite like about it, as I would reach for this on a day where I don't want to go heavy on my makeup but need to have 'something' on my skin. As promised, the liquid to powder formulation finishes 'lightweight and smooth' on the skin. 

Let's all forgive my big spam forehead - it is necessary to subject you to this to show the finish in natural light!

As you can see, a light coverage with a natural finish.

Now my gripe with this product is, that come the afternoon, my face is ludicrously shiny. No matter if I set it with powder, the shine strikes with full force at around lunchtime, so for me personally the claim that Big Easy 'balances skin & controls oil' is nonsense - it doesn't.

To give it the Benefit of the doubt (Benefit, get it?!), I will take into consideration that I live in a country where the sun shines almost every single day, thus making shine more likely. I just feel like whenever I wear this product, it is almost worse than usual.

But I persevere! I really like the initial application, and it almost feels worth the constant powder application to maintain a 'no makeup' look throughout the day.

Would I repurchase? I'm not too sure. The fact that I have been so divided on this product for so long suggests that I probably shouldn't, and that instead I should search for a better (and cheaper!) alternative for those 'minimal makeup' kind of days.

Have you tried Big Easy from Benefit?

DOHA DIARIES: MY WEEK IN THE DESERT #24

Another very quiet week in the sandpit this week! I was out of action for a good three days with one of the worst migraines I have had in a long time. In total it lasted for four days, and I was totally wiped out for two of them, so the beginning of my week basically consisted of me laying in bed with cold flannels on my head. Obviously not photo worthy! The rest of the week looked a little something like this...

LIFE ADMIN
I seem to be doing a lot of this lately. Trying to get on track with everything - I've started using my Filofax again to help to get myself organised (although very, very tempted to purchase an Erin Condren Rose Gold Life Planner when they are back in stock as they are so pretty) Very much looking forward to getting fixed plans in the diary with friends and family when I go back to England...only two weeks to go!

SHOPPING / BEING STALKED!
I took myself off to Landmark Mall once I had started to feel more human again towards the middle of the week. I like Landmark a lot - it's close by and as Doha goes it has a decent selection of shops. There was a sale on in Mango so I ended up buying a couple of cute oversized but really lightweight jumpers, perfect for the too hot outside / too cold inside scenario that I find myself in on a daily basis in this country! I spent ages browsing round the new Marks and Spencers, and it made me feel right at home. They even stock the stunning Rosie Huntington-Whiteley for Autograph range which is very good to know! I was having such a lovely shopping trip until I noticed that I was being followed around the whole of Marks and Spencers by a guy in a baseball cap, throughout each department I looked over and there he was. I clocked him again outside the shop, so I ducked in to Warehouse and really took my time in there, taking a few pieces into the changing rooms to try on. I must have been in there for a good ten minutes or so, and when I came outside there he was again, waiting. I moved on down to Bershka, had a look around and realised he had sat himself down on a bench outside the store. I quickly hurried down to the other exit and left that way, and made my way along to another shop. As I was coming out of the next shop, he walked past and looked in, saw me and stopped. By this point I was a bit freaked out so I hurried as fast as I could past him and didn't stop until I was way round the other side of the mall - luckily by this point I lost him. Not a nice experience at all and it made me so anxious that I was in a bit of a state for the rest of the day!

DINNER AT ANTICA PESA
Jemma and I headed off for dinner on Friday night to a restaurant we haven't tried before - Antica Pesa at the beautiful Kempinski Marsa Malaz hotel. I liked that this restaurant was in an entirely different part of the hotel to El Faro, where Matt and I have had dinner before. Antica Pesa is off to the left of the hotel, alongside Toro Toro (which I can't wait to try!) The restaurant is lovely and beautifully decorated, with a gorgeous view out over the water. If I was going to live anywhere else in Doha I would want to live in one of the apartments overlooking the Kempinski. We both opted for the gnocchi (surprise, surprise) and were both pretty disappointed with it to be honest. It was baked, which neither of us expected, and quite bland. Not a dish I would have again, but maybe it serves me right for not exploring a different pasta option for once! I would go back to Antica Pesa purely for the dessert alone - I opted for the Hazelnut Parfait and it was amazing! It was essentially Nutella icecream, with chocolate mousse on the side. Heaven! Jemma opted for the Rice Panna Cotta which she also enjoyed. After the meal, we were taken on a tour of the restaurant as we hadn't realised there was a bar upstairs, and back downstairs we waited for our driver beneath the celebrity photo wall - rows upon rows of photographs of the celebrity clientele who dine at the branches of Antica Pesa in Rome and New York.

Please forgive my blurry photographs - the humidity got to my camera lense when I stupidly decided to try and take some photos outside the restaurant and ruined my snapping abilities for the rest of the evening!

Afterwards, we poked our heads into Toro Toro, a Pan Latin restaurant that quite simply looks amazing. The restaurant was yet to open officially to the public (but it is now, so make yourselves a reservation!) and was open only for 'friends and family', but we were very kindly taken on a tour. The decor is stunning, and the atmosphere is buzzing. So excited to dine here!

A1 NIGHT AT THE GRAND HYATT
This club night is nothing new and has been running for ages, but this was the first time Jemma and I had been there. By day, the Grill restaurant in the Grand Hyatt plays host to brunch on a Friday, and by night it is entirely transformed into a very decent night club! We arrived at around 22:30, and there were hardly any people there. We headed to the bar for a drink and were joined by the very lovely Moufdi, the man behind A1 Nights. We had met Moufdi way back at the start of our time in Doha, at the Four Seasons beach party. He is such a lovely guy, and arranged complimentary drinks for us for the evening, regularly checking in on us to make sure we were enjoying ourselves. Within the hour, the club was absolutely packed from front to back! If R&B is your music of choice, this is the night out in Doha for you.

As always, I hope you've had a great week, wherever in the world you are reading from :)

DOHA DIARIES: MY WEEK IN THE DESSERT #23

I have to admit that this has been one really quiet week.

I've barely left the house except to go to work, so my evenings have mainly been spent...

LEARNING A LANGUAGE
I have been saying it for so long and it was on my list of New Years resolutions, but I really want to learn French so I have been getting home from work and launching myself into this. I have been using the 'Collins French with Paul Noble - Learn French the Natural Way, Part 1' audiobook that I downloaded from the app store onto my iPad. For me, his method of learning really works. He doesn't start off with the basics of hi, how are you, my name is, etc. He launches straight in to teaching you how to construct sentences with easy rules for adapting these sentences into different tenses. By teaching me to say 'I have prepared the coffee', I can also say 'I have decorated the house', as he explains that English words that end in 'ation' (preparation, decoration for example), are spelt the same in French, and can easily be changed to the past tense. As this is an audio book, I am also supporting my learning with '15 Minute French - Learn in just 12 weeks' which is a handy book that I picked up from the airport. This book covers a vast range of topics and has an English to French and French to English dictionary in the back so that I can always look up how to spell the words that I am learning from the audio book. I've actually loved spending my evenings this way and am really enjoying my language learning experience so far.

DATE NIGHT AT THE MOVIES
Matt and I went to see The Avengers: Age of Ultron. I think this is the first Marvel film that I have seen and I really enjoyed it! Really want to see the rest of them now. It was just an easy going action film so it was easy for someone like me, who hasn't seen any others, to follow the storyline.

GLASSES SHOPPING
Matt hated my RayBans (and maybe he's right, maybe they didn't suit my face but not many glasses do!) so he took me off to the mall to scout out a new pair. There was a Buy One Get One Free sale at one of the stores in the City Centre - he spotted a pair he wanted so encouraged me to also look for some, and I ended up walking away with these beauties from Gucci...

I have also ordered some glasses to use whilst I am on the computer at work, and on the laptop at home, as lately I am really feeling the strain on my eyes from staring at screens. These just help to take the glare away and give my eyes a little extra protection, so I am looking forward to picking these up next week.

GYM
My health and fitness has never been the best, but I am trying to keep on top of my diet and eat as healthily as I can. Mainly, this is being aware of not repeating my food groups too much (if I have a carb heavy lunch, go lighter for dinner and vice versa). It would not be realistic of me to say that I will cut out chocolate, that will never happen (especially because my boyfriend keeps sneaking bars of my favourite Lindt Cookies & Cream chocolate bars into the shopping bag!!) but a little treat every day can't hurt, surely. I have also been enjoying getting back into the gym. As you may remember from my post about anxiety, I don't always find it that easy to pluck up the courage to go, which is daft as it's two minutes downstairs in the lift. Lately, however, I have been trying to beat the fear and go, even if it does mean going after 9:30pm. It is my favourite time to be there, as it usually looks a little something like this...

Perfect for antisocial little old me!

As I say a pretty quiet week. I am trying to save my pennies as there is lots coming up over the coming months - various trips to save for, and a big old lifestyle change on it's way that I need to be financially stable for (that totally sounds like I am expecting a child, I assure you it isn't that!!!), but of course I'll update you all when the time is right :)

As always, I hope you had a great week, wherever in the world you are reading from!

HOLLYS COOKBOOK: CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE TORTE

Chocaholic? If so, this blog post is for you.

The original recipe comes from Deliah - so head on over to her site to check out the ingredients list, which should look a little something like this:

Doha really isn't the easiest city to source baking ingredients, so I had to make a couple of variations to Deliah's ingredients list - for example, Elmlea instead of double cream, Cantuccini almond biscuits instead of Amaretti biscuits, and Cointreau instead of rum a) because my mum uses it to make hers b) I had this in the apartment c) I love the subtle orange kick that it gives to this dessert.

The one ingredient you really will need is liquid glucose. My mum brought out two tubes of this for me as I can't find it anywhere in Doha (if anyone finds it, please do share!) I tried to make this dessert once before without it, by using sugar mixed with water as I had read online that this works as a substitute. It still tasted really good but the whole dessert fell apart because it didn't bind together properly.

My final alternative to Deliahs recipe is swapping out half of the dark chocolate for half milk. This dessert is super rich, so this just tones it down a little. Credit to my mum for that tip!

You'll want to kick off by lining your baking tin with baking parchment. I didn't have any so I lined it with cling-film. I was a little worried about this but the only damage it did was creasing the top of the torte a little bit, so no harm done.

You'll want 75g of your Amaretti/Almond biscuits, finely crushed. Sprinkle these all over the base of your lined baking tin.

Next, break up your chocolate (450g), trying not to eat any of it (although buying 5 x 100g bars leaves you 50g left over to nibble on as you go. The one and only time I have ever been any good at maths)

I used Lindt as it's such good quality, and one of my favourite brands of chocolate. Isn't it beautiful?!

Mix up your chocolate, liquid glucose (5 tablespoons), and Rum/Cointreau (5 tablespoons) in a heat proof bowl, and sit on top of a saucepan of simmering water on the hob. Leave to melt. Deliah doesn't say anything about stirring, but I gave mine the occasional prod with a wooden spoon to let the heat get to all of the chocolate.

Whilst the chocolate is doing its thing on the hob, measure out your cream/Elmlea (570ml...although 573ml didn't do any harm!) and pour into a bowl. Beat until thickened. I used my electric whisk for this until it reached the desired consistency.

Once your chocolate has melted, you'll want to give it a stir, and take it off the heat to cool for 5 minutes or so until it is warm. Deliah reckons it should be smooth, although once stirred mine went a little bobbly.

Fold half of your cream into the melted chocolate, then fold the chocolate/cream mixture into the remaining cream. At this point all becomes smooth again. Grab another spoon and help yourself to a bit of the mixture - it's amazing. Now put the spoon down, no more until you're finished.

Pour the mixture into your baking tin, on top of your crushed biscuits. Smooth over with the back of a spoon or tap the tin until the mixture is laying flat.

Cover with clingfilm and pop in the fridge to set over night.

Now you may lick the bowl/spoons/whisk. Go on, you've earned it!

The next day, take out from the fridge and run a knife around the edge of the torte to loosen it up. I used a springform baking tin which made this whole affair a lot easier, but basically you need to turn your torte upside down so that you end up with the biscuit base at the top. Thanks to the liquid glucose, your torte should be solid and won't collapse during this process.

Ta da!

Dust the top of your torte with cocoa powder to pretty it up, and top with strawberries for a pop of colour to serve. Amazingly, I couldn't get hold of any strawbs (unless I was prepared to buy an entire crate - I wasn't) so mine was served up with just the cocoa powder, and a jug of chilled pouring cream on the side.

Deliciously smooth, rich, creamy and chocolately - this is the perfect dessert to serve up at a dinner party, and once you get the hang of it and have the right ingredients to hand, it is actually super easy to make :)

Enjoy!

REVIEW: MIRAMAR AL AQAH BEACH RESORT - UAE

When my mum and her friend Jenny booked a weeks holiday at the Miramar Al Aqah Beach Resort in Fujairah, UAE, I absolutely had to join them for a couple of days. As I mentioned in my previous Dubai post, Doha is only an hour away by plane, so Dubai is a destination that is so easily accessible for a weekend jaunt.

I hopped on a flight to DXB very early on Thursday morning, and was met by my driver at Arrivals. I was so pleased that my mum had organised a hotel transfer for me, rather than having to take a Dubai taxi, as I'm not entirely sure they would have known how to get to where I needed to be.

The first thing to note about the Al Aqah Beach Resort, is that it is miles away. I'm not talking 30 minutes in a taxi like it is to Dubai. I'm talking almost two hours by car.

Through the desert...

Vast expanses of golden sand dunes stretching for miles into the distance, peppered with wild camels.

Then through the mountains...

...before finally reaching civilisation.

I was greeted at the hotel entrance and helped with my luggage by Sunday, the worlds friendliest man with the worlds coolest name. Check in was smooth, and the staff were very friendly and eager to help me to the room with my baggage.

It was so great to see my mum - she was already 5 days into her holiday so it was lovely to know that I would be spending the last two days with her.

Lunch was the first port of call. Mum and Jenny were all-inclusive, so I ordered the grilled salmon from the A La Carte menu, eager for something light ahead of an afternoon of sunbathing.

When it arrived, it looked amazing, and the accompanying vegetables were delicious but the salmon itself was absolutely packed full of giant bones. Every single forkful was filled with them, to the point where I just couldn't eat it. At the equivalent of over £20, I was pretty disappointed, and even more so when the restaurant manager didn't offer to discount the bill. He offered a replacement meal but by this point mum and Jenny had finished their lunch and I wasn't in the mood anymore.

Not the best first impressions of the 5* resort.

My mood soon lifted when we headed outside to the pool area, which was absolutely stunning. I would go as far as to say it was one of the loveliest pools I have ever seen! It was like an enormous lagoon, with a pool bar in the centre, against the stunning mountain backdrop.

After a few hours of swimming and sunbathing, we took a wander around the beautiful gardens...

And then a wander along the beach...

Before heading up to the room to get ready for dinner at the Bahari beach bar, where the barman had promised my mum that he would look after us and make our evening special.

He had reserved us the best table in the restaurant...

Right on the sea-front, with the therapeutic sound of the waves gently breaking against the sand. As we tucked in to a feast of cold mixed mezze to start, our lovely waiter informed us that he would be selecting and making cocktails for us all night, and as soon as we finished one he would bring over another concoction for us to try.

Cocktail after cocktail came, and we had fun (unsuccessfully!) trying to guess what ingredients he had used in each.

My main course from the A La Carte menu, the lamb kofta, was delicious - I would highly recommend this to anybody dining at Bahari beach bar.

At the end of our meal, our wonderful waiter (I wish I could remember his name but after seven or eight cocktails it's understandable that I wouldn't remember much!) informed us that the entire evening was complimentary, gave my mum and Jenny and big cuddle to say goodbye as it was their last evening at the resort, and off to bed we went, full of good food and cocktails after a fantastic evening. Such a lovely dinner thoroughly made up for the disappointing lunch.

The next morning, we packed up our cases and hit the long road to Dubai, sent away with a beaming smile from Sunday (one name I could not forget!) as brunch was calling our names...but that is yet another blog post for another time!

If you are looking for a Middle Eastern all-inclusive holiday away from the hustle and bustle of Dubai with a beautiful pool and scenic surroundings, then I would for sure recommend the Miramar Al Aqah beach resort. The location is gorgeous and the staff are super friendly.

For me however, it was just too far away from anything especially to visit in only two days, although it was great to see a landscape so different to that of Doha and Dubai.

After two years in the desert, I am very happy to report that I have finally seen a wild camel!

Sometimes it's all about the little things :)