Having A Lush Trip! | Lush Liverpool Spa Trip - May 2022

 Hey everyone! 

Welcome to a brand new blog post. Today, I thought that I would talk to you all about the time I went to Lush Liverpool Spa a couple of weeks ago. 

Myself and Alex had decided to visit Liverpool to celebrate my 25th birthday. The main reason that we went was because well Liverpool has one of the biggest Lush's in the world and well we all know what I am like with Lush. The weather was quite warm and humid on the first day of visiting Liverpool which caused me some anxiety so we decided to spend the second day of our visit checking out Lush Liverpool Spa. 

We walked into the superstore and decided that it would be best to have a quick look around and then grab what we wanted due to there being a plethora of products on the ground floor alone. We walked up and down the ground floor nosing at all of the products. 

The first section that we wandered to was the Fresh section. The Fresh section is actually made at the Liverpool store itself hence the name. This section consists of exclusive fresh products to Liverpool Spa itself. This includes Fresh Cleanser and Scrub Rolls. A couple of these (Aloe Bamboo and Ilipe Of Faith) have made their way to most of the stores in the UK but Liverpool Spa had a few others. The one that most stood out to me was Oaty McOatface because well that name! This section also contains all of the Fresh Face Masks that are stored in their own little section on ice in most stores and some more. The Liverpool Spa had exclusive masks such as Matcha, Date Night, Brush Strokes & Prince Of Darkness (which contains Patchouli, Lavender and some other goodies). I still have a tiny bit of both Matcha and Date Night and well Prince Of Darkness was calling to my inner dark so I decided to grab it. I think with this post, instead of doing a haul, I'll do reviews of the products themselves when I can so keep an eye out for them. The Fresh section also has an Enfleurage section which Alex and I spent some time looking at. What is an enfleurage?, I hear you ask. Well, an enfleurage is a sheet of creamy goodness that gets cut, rolled and packaged right in front of your eyes. If you have tried a Massage Bar from Lush before then imagine that but a bit creamier and in one big sheet instead of bars. I realised that I still had some Wiccy Magic Muscles enfleurage and none of the sheets had a product card attached to it so we were unsure which was which. This was a bit of a shame as i was sure there was an exclusive one to Liverpool but couldn't tell due to the lack of product cards.

 When we decided to start walking again, we noticed the Peau-Paris Bath Bombshell. This bomb comes in two parts and can be personalised. The way this bomb can be personalised is through selecting what local flowers you want in the middle of it sourced by the wonderful staff and florists at Lush Liverpool Spa. This bomb shares the same scent as Rose Jam so if you're ever at the store and love that scent, definitely pick one up. As I knew that we were both travelling quite long distances back, neither of us decided to grab one just because we were not sure how it would hold up through a long train journey. It is priced at £15.

The next section that we scurried over to was the Hair section. I had heard that there were a few exclusive products in the hair section and even if I have sniffed or seen them before, I had to check them out again. The main three that stood out to me were Aga's, Valkyrie & Goddess Hair Treatment. I bought Valkyrie a few years ago when it was available online and I wanted to see if they had repackaged it at all. My reasoning for this is that, to me, Valkyrie is too thick to be stored in a bottle and in my opinion should be stored in a tub like some of the other hair products sold at Lush. This conditioner contains Hydrolized Wheat Potein to help repair and thicken the hair and has the iconic Rose Jam scent which consists of Rose, Lemon Oil and some other goodies. Alex has forever not been sold on the Rose Jam scented but adored it when they smelt Valkyrie... The next product that caught my eye was Aga's. For anyone who misses the Plum Rain Shower Gel or loves the Plum Rain Body Spray sold at Lush then this hair conditioner is definitely up your street. Aga’s shares the same scent with Plum Rain. To me, Plum Rain smells of Plums being rained on in a massive field. The scent is to die for. Aga’s again contains the Hydrolized Wheat Protein that is also in Valykrie but also is a purple conditioner. This means that it is perfect for anyone who bleaches their hair a lot as this conditioner will not only condition the hair but also tones it at the same time. I mean, who doesn't love a versatile product? The final product I loved the look of was the Goddess Hair Treatment. I kind of wished that I got the smaller size of Goddess perfume in the sale of 2021 as I am now finding that I quite like the scent notes of Goddess. I also should've got a sample of this product but I already asked for one of Aga's and was unsure if I could get a sample of it or not This shares the same scent and contains some amazing butters and oils to really nourish the hair.

 The next part of the ground floor that we decided to discover was the Perfume Library. This contains every possible perfume that Lush has to offer. We sniffed ones that we had not sniffed in a while and decided to conquer a quest of all things perfume. Alex has had a very old solid perfume for a while. They weren't sure of what scent this solid product was so we decided to sniff a fair few fragrances and see which one it was. After some time, we figured out the it was Cocktail. 

Once we were done conquering this quest, we both decided to take the lift to the first floor. 

We had a wander around and decided to head into the corner where we found some exclusive products. We found all of the perfume bubble bars that were on offer. After Alex's sniffing section at The Perfume Library, they decided to grab the Cocktail Perfume Bubble Bar which made sense. I decided to grab the Karma Perfume Bubble Bar. Anyone that knows me personally knows how much I love Patchouli and in turn how much I love the Karma, Lord of Misrule and all of the other scent families that include Patchouli such as the 4:20 range and the Tank Battle perfume, just to name a few. After this we noticed the particulary huge Party area that was cordoned off. In this party area, there is a wonderful wall of some of Lush's well known products. A staff member noticed us looking at the wall and asked if we wanted to go in and snap a few pictures. We said yes of course. 

Carrying on the first floor forage, we walked on and stopped in our paces when we noticed the cool conveyor belt that was zooming in circles and full of iconic bath bombs that are sold at Lush. We stood for a few minutes staring and getting lost in the laps that all of the products were taking. We then decided to go around the belt and look at some of the Shower Jellies that are sold at Liverpool Spa and the other anchor stores.  In a nutshell, the exclusive jellies are Crash (Celebrate scented, lime, orange and cognac), Bongo (Pineapple and Coconut scented), Beats (Maypole scemted - a sweet sort of mint candy cane like scent), Rumba (So White scented - a fresh green apple scent) and Gong (Golden Pear - cardamom and pear scented). We both sniffed them. Alex's favourites were Crash and Rumba. My favourites were Gong and Crash. I just love that sort of spicy kick to the fact that Gong gives especially on a cold morning. 

Alex then decided to gift me a personalised Sleepy Body Lotion as Liverpool Spa is one of the only stores in the UK that has a personalisation station. The personalisation station lets you personalise a label of a product that you are about to purchase. Due to multiple reasons, Lush only keep the personalisation to one scent family at a time. This time it was Sleepy/Twilight. Alex spent a good twenty minutes deciding on what design would be perfect for me and what font would represent me the most. After spending some superb time on this mini digital art project, we submitted it and then found out that they weren't doing the labels today and that it would be best to come back the week after to do it. The sad part though was that we wouldn't be able to come back the week after to do it all over again. I was kind of looking forward to a personalised pot of Sleepy Lotion. Not only that, but I also felt bad that Alex had spent their hard time on creating this label to then get nothing in return. Was quite sad actually. 

we decided that after this, we would stop off at the Cafe and grab a much needed coffee. I stuck to a Oat Latte. I'm not the biggest expert on Coffee but I really enjoyed the Coffee that was in this Latte. After some much needed rest, we decided to grab some more bath bombs such as the limited edition Orangutang Bomb that shared it scent with Lord of Misrule, a Dirty Bath Bomb due to it being out exclusively for Fathers Day and an Intergalactic Bomb due to well it just felt like a day where Intergalactic was needed. We had a look t the hair treatments that are exclusive to anchor stores and then made our way onto the Spa/third floor. 

When we got there, I noticed a board for the Take A Bath Spa Treatment. I think that Lush's Spa Treatments are definitely for a special occasion and I was a bit annoyed with myself that I didn't know about this exclusive treatment that was only happening at Liverpool Spa as the premises of it sounded amazing. A spa treatment where you get to take some time for yourself and have a bath with the Diamond Dust Bomb. Sounds amazing. If I had known before going, then I would've considered booking it. I really need to try out some of the treatments at some point. Gladly I live near Lush Leeds Spa so the option is always there. I decided to grab a Dreamtime Temple Balm for a friend of mine whilst I was on the third floor which contains Lavender and can be used to help you go to sleep. I mean who doesn't need that at the moment? Alex picked up a Whoosh Temple Balm which can be used as a pick me up. I have one and mainly use it when train journeys are just that little bit long and I'm that little bit drained of energy after a long hard day of doing things. 

After this, Alex picked up a solid T'eo Deodorant and then we decided to call it a day. Such an amazing time wandering around and getting to have a look at some of the exclusives that the Anchor Stores have such as the Get Closer Solid Deodorant. 

Have you been to Lush Liverpool Spa? Let me know down below. 

Check out Lush. 

Check out Alex. 

Thanks for reading! 

Jamie x

Meow! I've Got Cattitude! | Kitty Café Leeds

Hey everyone!

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I went to Kitty Cafe Leeds a while ago, and I thought that today, I would tell you if the experience was purr-fect or not. (That was a bad pun, I know. Ah well.)

'Following on from the success of our original Nottingham Café, we’re delighted to come to Leeds to share the Kitty love! We’ve converted a beautiful old building in town into a paradise of comfy chairs, fabulous food and of course, dozens of beautiful cats.' - Kitty Cafe Leeds' Website.

Myself and my friend Alex, decided to check out Kitty Cafe Leeds, as they had an offer where you could book two hours, for one. I love a deal so it made sense to check out the wonderful Cafe then.

Before entering the cat cafe itself, we were asked to read a set of rules and sign in. The rules consisted of things including, not picking up the cars and not disturbing them if they were sleeping, which is more than understandable. The sign up was to mainly check how many people were in the cafe, I believe? We signed in and was escorted to a little table with two comfy chairs, surrounded by a water feature, scratching posts and ledges for the cats to rest on.

We sat down and perused the menu for a couple of minutes. After not being able to decide for a couple of minutes, I decided to go for a Coke and a slice of Black Forest Gateaux. (Side note: I love Black Forest anything, especially the Black Forest Hot Chocolate that is normally on Costa's Festive Menu.) Alex decided to get a pot of Lychee Jasmine Tea and a Banoffee Cheesecake. I loved the Black Forest Cake. Quite chocolatey, with a hint of Cherry. I love a tiny bit more Cherry in my Black Forest but I loved it as it meant that the fruit enhanced the sweetness of the Chocolate. I enjoyed a bit of the Banoffee Cheesecake too. I love anything Banoffee. I know Banana is a love or hate thing, in both texture and taste, but I like it. I love Cheesecake! Honestly, give me Cheesecake any day of the week! My only critique with it, is that I wish it had more Banana in it, but that's just a personal thing.

We played with a fair few Kitties. There was a bright white Persian Cat (I think it was a Persian Cat) that was and is an eternal mood. Not just from their facial expressions, but from the fact that all they wanted to do was to be lazy in bed. Don't we all just want to do that with our lives for, well, eternity? When they did escape the bed/cushion, it was for a quick wander before getting back to where they were before.

Another cat that kept coming back for strokes and attention, was, a sort of white with orange and brown patches cat. They would come straight over and then go back to hiding which was adorable.

The final kitty. that may have stolen my heart just a little bit was Pud. Pud is my spirit kitty through and through. Everyone needs a Pud in their life, or at least to go to Kitty Cafe Leeds to meet Pud. Pud was the majestic beast that had their own bridge. By this I mean that they were sprawled against the bridge and wouldn't move from it, but if your dream is to be the most majestic being in the world, then isn't Pud showing you that it's possible? I could spend all year with Pud.

I spent some more time with the kitties, chatted with Alex about a plethora of things, got some pictures of the cats and myself playing with the cats and then decided that it was time to go. Well by decided, I mean the cafe was closing so we had to go before I was dragged out for wanting to spend more time with the kitties...

Check out Kitty Café Leeds.

Have you checked out Kitty Cafe Leeds, or any of the Kitty Cafes? Let me know down below!

Thanks for reading!
Jamie x

Filling My Cherry Blossom With Food | Blue Sakura Leeds

Hey everyone!

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I went to Blue Sakura a couple of weeks ago, so I thought that I would tell you all about my time at the restaurant.

Blue Sakura is a Japanese based restaurant, that opened earlier this year within the Arena Quarter/Merrion Centre in Leeds City Centre. At Blue Sakura, you can choose from either the a la carte menu, or the all you can eat menu that starts at £18 per person.

I went with my good friend, Alex. I had seen the creation of Blue Sakura, due to my student accommodation being a two minute walk from it. Due to this, I had lusted over checking it out to see what the atmosphere and food was life. I finally bit the bullet when I saw Alex and we both love Japanese food and Sushi, so we thought why not.

The decor screams inspiration from Japanese gardens. Not only with it's crisp yet elegant features such as tiling and glass tables, but with a big pink Sakura tree that is surrounded by a blue background. If you're not sure what Sakura (I say it like sack-u-rah but obviously I'm English and I apologise if I'm butchering the pronounciation of it.)

As soon as we sat down at the table, we were told how to order. You have five dishes per person and you have six rounds. If there's 2, you can order up to 10 dishes per round and so on. The way that you order is via a big electronic tablet on the table. You scroll through the menu, choose the dishes that you want and click confirm and within about five minutes, they come to your table. Just like that. You can also order your drink in the same way. You have six rounds, so 30 dishes per person? Challenge accepted.

Honestly, we ordered pretty much 3/4 of the Lunch Menu, so I thought that I'd list as many as I can remember and just talk about what I thought of them. (I also paid for this out of my own money, so the opinions within this post will be true and isn't sponsored, therefore I did the Lunch Menu, but if Blue Sakura want to invite me for the Dinner Menu, I would definitely say yes.)

Here is some photos by Alex of the amazing food that I enjoyed.

Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup

I always get Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup at a Buffet. I don't care what else they have to offer. If they don't have a good Chicken or Crab and Sweetcorn Soup, then they're already in trouble in my mind. I loved this, slightly creamy yet still fresh. The sweetcorn added sweetness and crunch. I just loved it. I can drink this by the bucket load, even if it does burn my mouth from rushing to have it due to being greedy.

Miso Soup

I love Miso Soup. This was perfect. Chunks of creamy tofu that soak up the deep broth with strips of healthy Seaweed. Definitely a good first dish to start off a massive buffet with. If you've never tried Miso Soup before, I urge you to.

Seaweed Salad

This was a new one for me. I'm not a massive salad eater at restaurants. I kind of loved this though. It created a refreshing palette cleanser whilst eating a lot of Sushi. I loved the crunch from the vegetables and the slight softness from the seaweed. It was a great salad and I would definitely recommend.

Tofu Pocket Nigiri

I love Tofu Pocket and is normally one of the items that I get when I go to Yo! Sushi sometimes. I loved the slight texture difference from the exterior to the interior. The sweetness of the Tofu Pocket also went really well with the Wasabi that Blue Sakura have to offer.

Cooked Egg Nigiri

I wasn't sure how I felt about this one at first as I had never had Egg on top of Sushi Rice, but, it was amazing. The soft silky egg against the slightly starchy rice was fabulous. Oh and if you had Pickled Ginger with it to cut through some of the richness, then it would make it even better. (it made me love the Nigiri more.) I loved these and would definitely have these again and again.

Salmon Maki

I love Salmon. I rarely have it due to the price of it, but, boy do I love it when I do get to enjoy it. The freshness of the Salmon went really well with the more sort of nutty taste of the rice. I love Maki as you can just pop it in your mouth. These were fabulous.

Flying Fish Egg Gunkan

So I'm not the massive fan of the texture of Fish Eggs, but by the third one, I understood why they were there. They added an element of freshness and texture. I enjoyed this one, but it took me a couple of them to finally make my mind up on whether I enjoyed them or detested them.

California Roll

I love a good California roll! Crab Meat, Avocado and Cucumber always work in my opinion. I loved the crunch of the Cucumber against the smoothness of the Avocado with the slight sweet yet meaty rang of the Crab Meat. Honestly, I love Crab Meat in anything.

Golden Dragon Roll

This roll comes with Flying Fish Eggs... As I said, I'm not the massive fan of Fish Eggs, but I honestly think it was needed in this to add some texture. It also added a deep flavour to the Roll which made me love it a bit more.

Red Dragon Roll

Even though this Roll had a good amount of heat, and I'm a wimp when it comes to heat I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was spicy but fresh from the Cucumber and Avocado that was in the roll too. The Salmdon mixed with the heat added some texture and made the roll feel more luxurious.

Pumpkin Croquettes

These are another staple that I get at Yo! Sushi. I love them! These were slightly crunchy but slightly creamy on the inside. I would have loved more Pumpkin in them, but, I'm greedy like that. These were fabulous!

Deep Fried Tofu In Teriyaki Sauce

Sadly, I wasn't the biggest fan of these. I love Tofu, I love deep fried food, and I love Teriyaki, but when paired together... No. I just think that the batter may have needed to be a bit crispier or that I'm just not the biggest fan of creamy Tofu being deep fried. I'm not sure. I loved the Teriyaki sauce though!

Vegetable Gyoza

Gyozas are fabulous and so were these. Slightly crispy on the outside and warm and steaming on the inside. I would have loved for these to be a tiny tiny bit crispier for me so I could get the full texture contrast fantasy moment that I love, but on a whole, I enjoyed these. These went fabulously with the Soy Sauce that is on your table to enjoy.

Yakitori

These were amazing. If you don't know what Yakitori are, then, they are pretty much charred Chicken Skewers drenched in Teriyaki Sauce. When I say drenched, I truly mean drenched. Ugh, I could have these over and over again.

Gyu Kushiyaki

The Chicken ones were nice, but oh my god, these were something else. I think that the deepness of the beef just workd extremely well with the complex Teriyaki sauce.

Ebi Kushiyaki

If you're not sure of what Ebi is. Ebi means Prawn. I loved these Skewers but I also love Prawns in anything and everything really.

Chicken Bun

I like a good Bar Bun. It was massive. The bun was fluffy and creamy, the Chicken was tender and the veggies were bright, refreshing, and, crunchy. Ugh, I could eat 10 of these.

Chicken Katsu Curry

I'm still not sure with this one. I liked it but the smell of it was making me a bit nauseous. I don't know if its because of the amount of food I had already devoured or just the smell but it was alright. I think if I had this earlier on then I would have felt a bit better about it as a dish.

Crab Meat Tempura 

I'm still not sure on this one. I love Crab. I love Tempura but I wasn't enamoured by this sadly. I just think that batter wasn't;t as crispy as I was expecting thus not creating that much of a textural contrast.

Chicken Wings 

So, okay. I'm picky with Chicken Wings, I hate most things that start with Buffalo, so if you serve me a Buffalo Wing and expect an amazing review, well then it might have to be very amazing. These were slightly charred and crispy. I liked them, but I kind of think they would have been better with maybe a Wasabi Mayo or maybe a Japanese style BBQ sauce. (Like Okonomiyaki BBQ sauce?)

Korean Fried Chicken 

I love Korean Fried Chicken. If you ever get to go to Ox Club in Leeds, then please try their Korean Chicken for Brunch. Weirdly, this wasn't spicy at all. Sour, yes, but spicy? No. Yes, we got the Mild version, mainly because I was expecting a lot of heat from Mild. My fault, I know. The chicken was fabulous though.

Blue Sakura Salad 

Sadly, I didn't like this that much. I love Avocado, Cucumber and Lettuce, but on its own, there's only so many forkfuls you can have before admitting defeat and moving onto another dish. I loved the smoothness of the Avocado, against the Lettuce, but it got a bit too cloying in the mouth. A good palate cleanser though!

Spring Rolls

I love Spring Rolls. I love Summer Rolls. I love all the rolls. Sadly, I wasn't in love with these though. These weren't my favourite, but they were a good dish to slowly munch on mindlessly whilst chatting.

Spicy Tuna Crispy Roll

Okay so these were amazing. I am a wimp with spice sometimes, so these were quite spicy in my opinion. Saying that, the crunch in the middle made you want to go back for more and more. I would happily eat thee again and again. Bring me all the Crispy Rolls!

Deep Fried Breadcrumbed King Prawn 

These were Alex's favourite. They ended up ordering about three platefuls. I loved them. Crunchy and spicy on the outside, and soft and sweet on the inside. Sadly. I was full from all of the delicious food, so I didn't have that many of them, but I would definitely go back for them.

Have you been to Blue Sakura Leeds? Let me know down below! What's your favourite type of Sushi? Let me know down below! 

Click here to check out Blue Sakura.

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x

This review was not sponsored. I paid for this with my own money. All views, ramblings and opinions are non-biased and my own. 

Having A Punk Pizza Party | Adore Delano A Pizza Me Manchester

Hey everyone!

How's everything going?

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I went to see Adore Delano a while ago in Manchester, and, I thought that today I would talk to you all about it.

If you don't know who Adore Delano is? Then where have you been for the past few years?! Adore Delano (Danny Noriega) is a drag entertainer, who first got caught the people's eye via the American talent show, American Idol as Danny. Some years later, Danny grabbed the worlds attention, via, participating in Season Six of RuPauls Drag Race, as Adore Delano. Adore Delano is a drag performer who bases their aesthetic on the punk and grunge movements, and from other aspects of pop culture.

Myself and my friend Alex, decided to go to the A Pizza Me tour, as I relate to a lot of Danny and Adore's views on the world and I love Adore's aesthetic and the grunge/punk movement. I was already in Manchester that weekend, to see Panic! At The Disco (read that post here), so it made sense to make the weekend even better by going to see Adore the day after.

We got to the venue and made our way to the balcony to watch the show. The venue increased the excitement for the show via playing songs from other Drag Race alumni and adverts for shows that were coming up from other drag entertainers.

The show started off with a pre show by Victoria Secret, a drag entertainer from Dublin. They started off the night via telling stories and antics and even included a mix of songs based off the story of Nadine Coyle, from lying via her age to get onto an Irish talent show to being a part of one of the UK's biggest airl groups.

After this, Victoria encouraged four of Adore's fans to get onto the stage for a lip sync to win some Adore merchandise. Even though the lip sync became a dance off, it was still amazing to see people get into the groove of things.

When Adore came to the stage, they started off the show with a rendition of, Britney Spears' top hit 'Piece Of Me'. This mixed with the fact that Adore loves Pizza creates the title of the tour. The rendition was amazing and raw. A perfect way to describe the full show. Adore carried on with more songs, played via just two instruments, their voice and a guitar. After some conversations about her life and past, and a couple of songs, a Q&A session happened. Adore answered questions in relation to, Drag Race, All Stars, the punk movement, favourite songs and artists and much more. Adore even makes references to such TV shows via, adlibing during one of the songs they perform within the set to, 'I don't belong here anymore, All Stars.' They also talk about that its their first tour since sobriety and talks frankly about it during the set.

One of the best highlights throughout the show, was when Adore sang, Cher's infamous track, 'Believe'. Not only did Adore perform it with poise and class, but she explained that it was one of her late Dads favourite song, which meant that you could tell that Adore was pouring all of their feelings into the song and everyone in the room could tell this. I loved the slow acoustic version of it compared to the electronic anthem that we all know and love. All in all, I adored the A Pizza Me show at Manchester, and wish that I could have about five pieces more of Adore, because, I'm greedy like that.

Did you attend the A Pizza Me tour? Let me know down below! Do you have a favourite song from Adore? Let me know down below! 

Thanks for reading!
Jamie x

Having High Hopes & Celebrating The Death Of A Bachelor | Panic! At The Disco's Pray For The Wicked Tour At Manchester Arena

Hey everyone!

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I went to see Panic! At The Disco, a while ago, and, I thought that I would talk to you all about the great time that I had at the gig.

If you haven't heard of Panic! before, then let me tell you a little bit about them. Panic! At The Disco is a Pop-Rock/Pop-punk based band that started out in the early 2000's with the help from fellow Pop-punk band, Fall Out Boy. The band has been a vehicle for. lead singer, Brendon Urie, to experiment with different genres within different albums. Most of the public may know the band for their infamous tracks, such as, I Write Sins Not Tragedies, Nine In The Afternoon, and, Emperors New Clothes

Myself and my very good friend, Abbey, have a good habit of buying tickets for ourselves and the other friend, and then randomly telling the other one that we will be going to the aforementioned show within the future. So, when I saw that Panic! At The Disco had released tickets for their 'Pray For The Wicked' Tour, I knew that I had to have them, and twenty minutes later, I had booked the tickets and messaged Abbey that we were going.

Now onto the day itself. 

I met Abbey on the train to Manchester. We nattered and joked about all the tunnels that we had to go through during the journey. (I had decided to name them every time we went through one. Gladys was a good tunnel to go through...)

We arrived at Manchester Victoria, and met up with my good friend Alex. The group of ragamuffins (myself, Abbey, and, Alex) decided to kill some time, so we decided to venture to the Lush Naked store that sells non packaged products. (If you haven't checked out the store, and you're near Manchester, then you should!) After picking up every other product and sniffing it, we decided to slowly make our way to the Arndale Food Court. As Alex has only had Taco Bell once, and well, me and Abbey normally end up getting Taco Bell before every show we see in Manchester, it made sense to get, well, Taco Bell.

We nattered for a bit and then waited in Manchester Victoria for a bit, to wait for mine and Alex's good friend Jim, especially as Manchester Arena is located directly next to the station. We waited for Jims arrival, then catched up and chatted about all sorts for a while, before saying goodby to Jim and Alex and making our way to the queue line for the show.

We weaved our way through the several large metal barriers, and, made our way into the venue. Thank goodness, that I had booked seated tickets, because after that queue alone, I didn't have the energy to stand up for the duration of the show. Abbey eventually found the seats, and we then chatted until the two support acts came on.

Sadly, I don't remember the name of the first support act, but Mø was the second supporting act, and, they were fabulous. Mø is a Danish singer and songwriter. Their music is mainly electro pop. This genre of music definitely built the anticipation for Panic! up via the fast beats. Mø, themselves also built the audience up via engaging with them before the end of their act. One of the songs that I especially loved from Mø set, was, Red Wine (ft Empress Of), from their album, Forever Neverland. \

The performance by Panic! started. It was amazing. A collection of the bands greatest and newest hits from the album, Pray For The Wicked were performed. They dedicated a few of the songs to the lives that were lost at the Ariana Grande performance at Manchester Arena. Brendon interacted with some of the audience that were standing at the bottom of the stage, which was quite nice, as sometimes artists don't do this. Panic! even played their cover of The Greatest Show from The Greatest Showman. The vocals were completely live, with moments of, Brendon reaching notes that are higher than any of my aspirations within life. All in all, it was an amazing show and I loved every second of it.

Have you been to any music events lately? Let me know down below! 

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x

Poking The Palette & Trying Something New | Oke Poke Manchester

Hey everyone! 

How are you? Are you enjoying the weather at the moment? Let me know down below! 

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I went to Manchester a while ago, and, tried Poké, so I thought that I would talk about my experience with it today.

Poké (poh-kay) is a traditional Hawaiian street food that is a healthy alternative to western fast food. It’s normally a combination of diced raw fish, vegetables and various other mix-ins. Poké in Hawaiian translates as ‘chunk’. It has been compared to a deconstructed sushi bowl, with hints of Asian flavours which creates a unique, healthy and soulful alternative to an everyday salad.

I was in Manchester a while ago, with Alex & Jake. We had ventured into Manchester for a good catch up, and, to defeat and conquer the Doctor Who Escape Room at Escape Hunt. (More details shall be explained in a post very soon.) After conquering the game, we decided to head to Oké Poké.

This business has a cosy yet casual aesthetic with vibes of Hawaii. The aesthetic on it's own makes you feel like a part of something bigger with being able to see everything being made before your eyes. It's something that you can rarely do when eating out at an established restaurant.

I didn't get a photo sadly of my dish, so I am using the photo of Alex's throughout this post. 

You can either get a Poké bowl or a Pokérito. (It's exactly what you think it is, imagine an amazing Hawaiian influenced Burrito.) I decided to just go for a normal bowl. The great thing about this establishment, is that, you can either choose a already created bowl, or, you can create your own. I decided to have all the fun in the world and create my own!

When choosing your own, you have the decision of, choosing your rice, protein, three toppings, garnishes and a sauce. I decided to go for, Black Rice, Free Range Chicken, Pineapple, Spring Onion, and, Avocado, Coriander, Pickled Ginger, and, Teriyaki Sauce.

I loved the colour of the black rice against the wonderful pop of colours from the Pineapple, Spring Onions and Avocado. The Chicken was seared on the outside and succulent on the inside. I loved this, as sometimes, restaurants have a tendency on overcooking Chicken. I loved the contrast of the crunchy Spring Onions against the clay smoothness of the Avocado. (I rarely eat Avocados, so I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to be a stereotypical 'millennial'.) I love Coriander, I can eat it by the bundle, but the pepperiness of this against the sweetness of the Pineapple was to die for. The Teriyaki sauce added flavour to the Avocado. but also mellowed out the burn of the Onion. All in all a great dish, and definitely one to have with friends as you can all come back to the table and talk to each other about what you chose.

Have you been to Oké Poké before? Let me know down below? Where should I go and eat next? Let me know down below! 

Click here to check out Jake 
Click here to check out Alex 
Click here to check out Oké Poké. 

I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post and I hope that you come back next time for another post!

Thanks for reading! 
Jamie x