Lifestyle Archives - Page 14 of 39

bloomzy / February 3, 2017

Is This The Death of Instagram & Can We Save It?

Instagram is going through a bit a shit storm as of late, and that’s putting it nicely (sorry for the expletives). First it started with people liking old photos, then the confusing off topic comments came along, and suddenly a new algorithm. And now, well now we’ve got the constant following and unfollowing. And it’s left a lot of us feeling pretty jaded. Am I right, or am I right?

How & Why is it happening?

I’ve seen a lot of confusion on social, and people aren’t entirely certain what is going on. They’re seeing their follower numbers increase and decrease daily, whilst not actually moving at all. Big accounts have seen engagement drop (in fact we all have), and it’s left everyone asking why and how.

The New Algorithm Ever since Facebook bought out Instagram, they’ve constantly been adding and taking away features. The latest big addition was the new FB-feed style algorithm. Meaning we don’t get to see a chronological feed anymore. Instead we see the people Instagram thinks we want to see.
Follow, Unfollow Tools Yes, those people are not manually following and unfollowing 100 people a day. Well not the savvy ones anyway. For those of you that are up to date on your social tools, you’ll already know all about this. There are tons of sites and apps out there offering free or paid services that will automatically follow, unfollow, like, comment or send DMs for you via Instagram.
People Buying Followers This has become all too common. You’d be surprised at how many of the 10K+ crowd have actually earned their followers naturally and organically. The tell-tale sign is when someone has a lot of ‘ghost followers’. A ghost follower is an account that doesn’t have many photos, isn’t very active, but follows an awful lot of people. You can usually spot them by the lack of profile photo.
It’s Become Saturated There are just too many accounts now (over 600 million), which means it’s harder than ever to get yourself noticed.
But It’s Still a Big Accounts Game Even if people did want to get themselves noticed, it’s still pretty difficult when the big accounts are the ones being featured and mentioned.

Is This The Death of Instagram & Can We Save It?

Well this may not be the official death of Instagram, but it has definitely taken a fair few blows. It’s not safe to say yet whether it will come out of this whole, but with over 300 million daily users* it seems as though people aren’t completely tired of Instagram just yet.

Keep an eye out for my post on how you can save your Instagram account!

bloomzy / January 23, 2017

Celebrating Chinese New Year in London

I am always up for celebrating an occasion, particularly those that involve food. You might remember Chinese New Year 2016, where I visited Yauatcha. Yauatcha is a dim sum teahouse offering contemporary Cantonese dim sum, and patisserie inspired by European culinary techniques and Asian ingredients. And every year their top chefs create a special opulent CNY menu. This year is no different, as it sees a variety of high-end ingredients and techniques make their way on to the menu.

I decided to stop by again with VA (chopstickpanorama), to check out what they had to offer for the Year of the Rooster – 2017.
Find out what we ordered below:

To Start

Red Cocktail
Truffle Crabmeat Dumpling
Fried Wagyu Beef Dumpling

Mains

Mala Lamb Salad with Jellyfish
Lunar Chicken Pot with Cured Pork
Seafood Braised Rice in Lotus Leaf

Dessert

Jasmine Honey
Coffee Hazelnut
Coconut Lime
Apple Vanilla Choux

My thoughts…

As per usual I’ve bolded my favourite dishes above, to give you an idea of what I enjoyed and would order again. Whereas a couple of the mains were too spicy for me, I thoroughly enjoyed the dumplings and the rice. The desserts – as always – were a delight, and it wouldn’t be a trip to Yauatcha without sampling one…or two. Our meal came to just over £140 (£70 each), including drinks. It’s certainly not inexpensive, but I can understand people parting with their cash for a special occasion.

Celebrating Chinese New Year in London

Yauatcha will offer their Chinese New Year menu through 16th Jan – 11th Feb. As well as their CNY menu, the restaurants will be laden with glowing red Chinese lanterns. It’s not all about the interior though. A traditional lion dance, said to drive away evil spirits and bring good luck for the following year, will be held at Yauatcha City on 27th January and Yauatcha Soho on 29th January.

If you fancy celebrating Chinese New Year in London, head to Yauatcha to view their Chinese New Year menu and make a reservation.

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This post is in collaboration with Yauatcha however all views, photos and words are my own.

bloomzy / January 17, 2017

2017: A Year of Self Help & Making Big Decisions?

A Year of Self Help & Making Big Decisions

2017 has started a little differently than 2016. Last year I decided I wanted to say “yes” to as many things as possible. That actually went pretty well…well, in the sense that I did it. Unfortunately it also meant my social calendar became pretty hectic. I had to balance my social life and work. And I burnt myself out. So 2017 has seen me saying “no” to things instead.

Why? Because I soon learnt that saying yes, and wanting to please everyone was really not the way to go. Unless of course I wanted to stress myself out to the point where I knocked 10 years off my life.

A Year of Self Help

You see, I’m highly susceptible to stress. The last few years have seen me manage it relatively well, but sadly last year I didn’t give myself the time to re-energise. Something which is extremely important when it comes to keeping my sanity. Because of this, at the end of 2016 I saw my mental and physical health plummet. This isn’t entirely to do with my social life, of course. There was a death in my family, a close family member was taken ill, and other factors came in to play (again, thanks Trump/Brexit).

So I decided that this year I want to make some big changes, and some bigger decisions:

Take better care of myself
- Both my mental & physical health
- Be happier
Travel more
- Because it makes us happy (already working on #1)
Seriously consider moving abroad
- London life is a big contributor to stress
- It’s something I’ve been considering for a couple of years
- Amsterdam & Copenhagen are on the table
Think about buying a house
- Ben and I have been wanting to buy somewhere for a while
- It would give us a project to work on
- No noisy upstairs-neighbours

I might mess up a little along the way. In fact I can almost definitely say I will. But if I keep my main goal in mind – take better care of myself – then I believe I can make a difference in 2017. And at least I can say I had good intentions.

bloomzy / January 3, 2017

I’ve got the travel bag…I mean bug! | 2017 Resolutions

Mini Beauchamp travel bag by Knomo London *

Last year I made some travel resolutions, only they weren’t really resolutions. You see I’m not really into that. However I do like to set myself little goals and challenges throughout the year. Not only does it keep me motivated, but it gives me more of a purpose when I have something to work towards. In recent years, my main goal has been to travel as much as possible.

In 2016 I ticked off:

It was pretty damn awesome, and I loved every minute of it.

I’ve got the travel bag…I mean bug!

Let’s get a little practical for a minute. Travelling, especially when you only have cabin baggage, is not easy. I’ve been trying to hone my suitcase packing skills in recent years. I wouldn’t say I’m a pro, but I don’t do too bad. Of course having a trusty travel bag that you can take on your holiday is super important too. I like backpacks because I can easily shove all of my stuff for the day inside (read: camera, snacks & phone).

However I’ve always gone towards large backpacks. These can be difficult when the airline you’re flying with only allows one cabin bag. So this year I’m swapping my big backpack, for something a bit lighter – the Mini Beauchamp by Knomo London. It has a ton of pockets, which means I can fit a whole bunch of stuff inside. It’s also small enough that no one is really going to make a fuss about you bringing it on the plane with your case. Not that I’m suggesting people ignore this rule, but a tiny backpack never did anyone any harm, right? And if you are caught out, you can always pop it inside your perfectly packed case.

2017 Travel Resolutions

So what’s in store for 2017? Well I already have plans to visit:

Cyprus
Slovenia
Aarhus
Copenhagen

and possibly:

Sweden
Norway
Amsterdam
Prague

Phew, that’s a lot. Anyone would think I’ve got the travel bug.

Keep an eye out on my travel tag for more!

bloomzy / December 22, 2016

5 Must Visit Copenhagen Restaurants | Travel

5 Must Visit Copenhagen Restaurants

Figuring out where to eat can be such a pain, whether it’s at home or abroad. I’m usually the one tasked with finding somewhere too. Thanks to my blog, my friends and family seem to think I’m the dictionary on everything food related. Enter me, having an anxiety attack because I feel like I have to come up with somewhere right there and then (read: in 60 seconds).

So when I go away on holiday, I always make sure I do my research. I don’t want to be the person that relies on friends, or desperately asks Twitter on the spot. Plus you never really know if someone has the same tastes as you, and you don’t want to end up wasting money. Bad, expensive food is the saddest kind of food. Therefore I took my time (and knowledge of the internet) when we headed to Denmark recently. I was gonna boss those Copenhagen restaurants!

5 Must Visit Copenhagen Restaurants

I wanted to do my bit, and add a little suttin’ suttin’ to the array of Copenhagen restaurants posts out there. Blogs were a big part of helping me find some gems whilst I was in Denmark, so I thought I’d return the favour. I’ve chosen a variety of restaurants, and tried to pick ones I haven’t seen on other blogs/sites – minus one (bonus points if you know which one).

Fætter & Fætter
- Yes, this is a toast bar. For Brits, that translates to toastie bar. So you can expect lots of cheesy, crunchy deliciousness from this beautifully decorated restaurant.
DØP
- The Danes love their hot dogs, and this is one of the best known places to get one. You’ll find the trucks scattered around Copenhagen (the site has a map). These are a must-have, and they’re so affordable you’ll definitely have an excuse to try them all.
Tårnet
- Conveniently located in The Christiansborg Tower, this restaurant is redefining Danish food. The decor is to die for, but don’t worry, the food doesn’t suffer. It is every bit as elegant and gorgeous as it’s surroundings.
Mad & Kaffe
- This one is for the Instagram lovers. Or just those that like their food with a touch of fun. After waiting in the queue (this place is super popular), you’ll be seated and given a piece of paper to fill out. You select your choice of dishes, then sit back and enjoy.
Københavner-caféen
- It may look a little dated, but this is the place if you want to try traditional Danish food. The pub-like surroundings make for a relaxed environment, and the food is incredibly flavoursome. Try the Flæskesteg (Denmark’s national dish) – pork, crackling, caramelised potatoes, gravy, cabbage, and pickled vegetables.

Bon Appétit! Or as they say in Denmark, ‘Velbekomme’!

Don’t forget to check out my other Copenhagen travel posts!

bloomzy / December 12, 2016

Sorry but Christmas style ain’t my thing…

Biker Jacket: Zara| Jumper: COS | Shirt: & Other Stories | Trousers: Warehouse* | Trainers: Adidas

Every year I try to convince myself that I can do Christmas style. It’s either “buy that sequin dress” or “pop on that Christmas jumper”. But it always seems like I’m putting on a bit of a show for others. My problem is I get Christmas fever – it’s a real thing, trust me. I love the anticipation, the food, the mulled wine… And with the hype of the season – and all of the Christmas parties – my style is inevitably affected. I feel like I have to make the effort and dress up, otherwise I’m letting people down. And let’s be honest, my personal style is not exactly what you’d deem Christmas style friendly.

Sorry but Christmas style ain’t my thing…

This year was no different. I was searching for an outfit for the Christmas party, and of course I wanted to buy something new. But I took a minute to stop and think about it. The party was going to feel no more or less like Christmas if I came dressed in a glittery all-in-one or not. Let’s be honest, the only way it could be more Christmas-y is if I turned up in a sexy tree costume (how is that actually a thing?!). So I stuck with one of my favourite LBDs. And you know what? The party was amazing.

So no, you won’t find any Christmas jumper posts this year. Nor will you see me in sequins – as hilarious as that would be. I guess what I’m trying to say is, you shouldn’t feel pressured to “dress-up” or put on a ton more make-up than you would any other time of year. If you fancy going all out, then go for it. But don’t let anyone tell you that you have to “coz it’s Christmas”. You’re fabulous just as you are. After all, this is the time of year to reflect, chill out, and eat a ton of awesome food. And what better way to do it, than dressed in something that makes you happy.

Check out my previous style posts here.
Photos of me are taken by Van Anh Le Thi

bloomzy / December 7, 2016

Hand Cafe – East Village London’s Little Secret

Hand Cafe | East Village | Nearest Tube: Stratford | Map

It is my firm belief that everyone should have a local cafe. Cafes are the perfect place to lose yourself in your thoughts, contemplate life, or just enjoy a damn good coffee. When we moved to East Village in Stratford, the cafe offerings were pretty sparse. And by sparse I mean the closest (decent) cafe was in Homerton. That cafe was 46b Espresso Hut.

I’d been a few times when I was in the area, but it wasn’t close enough to become a ‘local’. So you can imagine my surprise when one of the units near our apartment put up a sign saying a new cafe was coming. But this wasn’t just any cafe. This was Hand cafe – 46b Espresso Hut’s younger sibling.

Hand Cafe – East Village London’s Little Secret

I really have nothing bad to say about Hand, so this post is going to be one of those genuine glowing reviews, that don’t come about too often. They’re dedicated to bringing good coffee and high quality food (using local ingredients) to the people of Stratford…and anyone who fancies paying a visit really.

From toasties to shakshuka, it’s anything but the usual foodie fare. The colourful yellow and purple dish below? That’s bacon, avocado and egg on sourdough. They’ve got the ‘traditional’ dishes down, but they’ve added their own special flare to them. My favourite is the Hand Granola; the fruits change based on what’s available and in season, and the added touch of bee pollen and mint adds a whole new dimension of texture and flavour to this breakfast staple. Trust me, you won’t bore of the food here.

More than just coffee…

I visit at least once a week, and often see the same faces (as well as new ones). Eva and Dom spend a lot of time getting to know everyone, and always greet you with a smile. And it’s not forced. These are genuine people doing something they love, and sharing it with those around them. Their hard work and determination has really helped cement Hand as – in my opinion – the best cafe in East Village. Hand cafe is a gem amongst a growing community. I think I’d even go as far to say it’s the heart.

Check out more: Where to Eat in London