Aliens, Dinosaurs and Everything In-Between: Froot Loops and Other Things

As you’ve probably noticed a lot of our blog entries are by Zach. Unfortunately (or fortunately as he might say) I don’t often get the time write – at least not anything significant. Zach’s usually busy with visa stuff or job hunting or being a walking tourist looking for a good burrito in London. So what am I doing instead?!

Well my day job tends to take up a lot of time - that is getting there and back. For anyone that does the daily commute into Central London on the Tube you’ll know how arduous the journey can be. I try to work on little projects as and when I can – cooking, crafting, reading, sadly though not so much writing (I like to take my time with the more topical entries so I can fact check and so on – I am working on a blog entry at the moment which looks like it might have to be a series of entries rather than just one). Anyway, here’s what else I've been doing lately.

On the less exciting side I’m studying for my TEFL qualification. It’s been good so far and I’m really enjoying it. I love being a student. I’ve been a student most of my adult life (while working at the same time), it feels pretty strange when I’m not working and studying. Between work and study there’s not much time for a lot of other things but I squeeze in what I can … like…

…origami! Those of you who know me know I love doing origami. Recently my wonderful step mum, Joan, gave me some brilliant origami books to add to my collection not to mention a boxful of beautiful origami paper (and often I find a piece I think is too nice to use). I’ve been doing origami for as long as I can remember, including modular origami though I rarely have the time for that these days. Here’s a few things I've done lately.

Persimmons

Bookmarks

I was also given an awesome origami set by Joan’s sister Jane when I was visiting in California earlier this year and stayed with her. I couldn’t wait to get home and get started! Robot origami, complete with illustration and paper to match! Although the book is entirely in Japanese the picture diagrams are easy to follow. I still haven't managed to get one started yet, but here's a look at the book if you're interested.

A friend and colleague of mine leaving left Penguin earlier this week so we had the usual tea party for her in the office, my contribution was cheese and chive scones. I figured with everyone else baking something sweet we’ll need something savoury. There were none left at the end - that's a good sign right?!! If you'd like the recipe let me know. They're embarrassingly easy to make.

The scones on the bottom right are from Le Pain Quotidien in Southbank. They're scrumptious!

Keeping on the topic of food, Joan sent us some American Froot Loops. I could pretty much eat Froot Loops for dinner every day (not that I do). For a long time you couldn't get them here in London (a very, very long time) so when I saw them in the grocery store here I was pretty chuffed so I grabbed a box. Oh boy was I in for a huge disapointment.

Forstly they looked all wrong. They were coloured (orange, green and purple) but they have this horrible gray tint to them. And they're huge!!! I mean you only need two and you have a spoonful already. Nevermind, they'll at least taste good. WRONG!!! They taste like cardboard. Not even cardboard with sugar, just plain cardboard. Lesson learned, only American, sugary, neon, Froot Loops from now on...

Another thing I found, by chance is this toilet deodorizer. I found it in Little Tokyo, LA. Let’s face it, we all have those times when we use the bathroom and then feel paranoid about what the next person to use might… er… smell? Well worry not anymore! This nifty little bottle saves any odour embarrassment and makes bathroom life a little more pleasant for the next visitor. Once you’ve finished and flushed just put one or two drops in the toilet bowl and voila… it smells fresh and clean. And yes, it really does work! Unfortunately I have no idea where else you can get this and when I showed it to Joan she said “Only in Little Tokyo!!” but if you ever come across it it’s worth the few bucks.

Here's a few doodles I did too...