Days 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, and 173. We have so much time and so little to do. Strike that. Reverse It.
Day 173. Tuesday. One week to go. Today I spent the morning cleaning out and decluttering my room. So exciting I know for only one week left, and I am spending it inside and not out on the town, but don't worry, my day got funner. I threw away two shopping bags full of stuff away. It's nice to get rid of stuff. Not so nice to look at all the stuff I still have. Ha! But it was great to clean, tidy up, and evaluate all that has to still get done. In the afternoon I met Tamara at One Aldwych Hotel for a 'proper afternoon tea' as it was on my list of things to still do in London. She had heard of this particular one as it was "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory inspired". As we had been to see the musical months ago, we decided to give it a go. The menus had printed on the backside picture of one of the families of characters from the book/movies. I had Charlie & Grandpa Joe, Tamara got TV Mike. As we sat down, the waiter put the napkins on our lap and asked, 'any allergies?' I said, 'I'm vegetarian, not sure if that is an allergy, but I thought I would let you know.' 'Yes madame, we will cater to your need.' First round, sandwiches. Five Petit four sized sandwiches arrived. Tomato and cheese on puff pastry, Cheddar, Cucumber, Egg Salad, and a Leek quiche. So good. 'What kinds of sandwiches would you like more of?' the waiter asked. 'Is it included or does it cost extra?' I asked. 'It is included madame, as much as you like.' Shoot. He did not know that these two girls can eat. We had another round of cheese, tomato, and egg sandwiches. After we finished those, he asked if we wanted more but in the same breath told us that he thinks we should hold off for the dessert section of the menu. Boy oh boy did we have a sugar high by the time we left. Golden chocolate egg filled with vanilla cheesecake and mango (for the yolk), Candy floss (aka cotton candy), cake pops with coconut and lime, Eton mess (meringues, cream, and strawberries), Chocolate Caramel Milk in the cutest tiniest glass bottles, chocolate financiers (cake), blueberry brioche, and scones with jams and clotted cream. Other than the golden egg, I didn't see how it was C&C related other than a paradise of desserts. Everything was sooooo good. We had multiples of some of the items, won't say how many of each, but it was rather enjoyable.
After that we walked around London a bit as I had some time to kill before my next meet up. Tamara showed me some places that I did not even know existed. Shops, cake bakeries, Liberty department store, Anthropologie (I know that exists, just not in London).
Next up, I met with Dierdre, as it was the only night before I left that we both had free. I got the time wrong, and she was about to leave when I messaged and said that I was there. We got tacos at a place called Tortilla. I was so full from the afternoon tea (we had tea too, I forgot to mention that) that I had Deirdre eat my other taco. We talked for awhile, and then called it a night. Came home, talked to my landylady a bit, and am now embarking in novel writing.
Day 172. Monday. Monday was the day of my final exam, the day I made the entremets. I was so calm it made me nervous. I got up early enough to eat some eggs before heading out the door. I chanted "Courage. Commitment. Calm. Peace." Practically the whole way to school. I got there plenty early to slowly get dressed. Then it was time. They had us come in staggered, with two people starting every 10 minutes. We had 20 minutes to prepare our stations (get equipment, bowls, ingredients, line trays with parchment, whatever we wanted/needed to do before our four hours began. My time plan was extremely tight. I knew it would be close to get it all done on time. The first hour I was ahead in somethings, behind in others, but the flow was steady, I kept calm, and carried on. About half way through I don't know where the time went, but the last two hours seemed like only one. As I was piping chocolate butterflies, I got a bit down/overwhelmed as I was running out of time to get everything done. As soon as the negative thoughts came, I whispered to myself, "Courage. Commitment. Calm. Peace." and I went back to a good place to get everything done. With about 10 minutes left I remembered that I had chocolate decorations (rings and the butterflies to put on the cake, and I had barely put the glaze on. I was wondering if everything would slide all over the place, but miraculously, it all came together in the end. I finished with thirty seconds to spare. For the first time in three attempts I had everything on it that I wanted to. It was not an exact replica of the imaginary cake I had in my head, but shoot imagination brings inspiration, and it was pretty good. I was eighty percent happy with it.
After it was over I could not believe how much I had stressed, worried and cried the week previous preparing for just a dumb cake. Ok it is not just a dumb cake, but still not worth all the agony I put myself through. It was surreal to think that my adventure in those kitchens were over, and on to bigger and better.
Hong Kong 2 and I were the last two in the room, so we decided to go to lunch. When I got to the lobby, Indonesia and Hong Kong 1 were there waiting for us to go to lunch. Indonesia went in for the test first, and had waited an hour for us. Wow. We went to a Japanese Steakhouse, not the most vegetarian friendly, but I got veggies with noodles, pot stickers, and halloumi cheese for the grill in the middle of the table. The others enjoyed barbecuing beef tongue, pork, and other things I did not recognize. I was so thirsty. I did not have a water bottle with me during the exam. I asked for two waters, the waiter looked at me funny, but obliged. I drank five glassover the meal. I was stuffed.
I got home about half past four, and did not know what to do with myself. I tried to take a nap, but my mind was going over the entremets too many times. I got a text from Tamara asking if I would like to join her at Selfridges food court. Shoot. I needed to get out of the house and be glad courses were over, so off I went. We walked around a bit looking at the food stations, bakery, cheese, chocolate, and more. As we walked around we talked about how we had talked about going to Andina for dinner, but had just never made it. Well, we might as well go now. I was still full from lunch, but timewise, this was the time to go as I did not know when else I could go. Andina. Peruvian Food. Amazing. Background: We had gone to a food show back in November where the owner of Andina did a demonstration. We were captivated by it. They had a food stall at the show and had the most amazing doughnuts (perhaps you remember me talking about them), pumpkin with honey purple maize sauce. After the doughnuts, we needed to get to the real place, but never found a time to go until now. The menu sounded so good, with a full stomach, I still managed to order three 'tapas' for sharing. Corn Cake was so so so good. I thought it would come as a fritter, but it came like a piece of cornbread but it was soft, fluffy, delicate, slightly cheesy and topped with an onion salad with a sauce in the side. So flavorful. It was my favorite of the night. We had plantain chips with a dipping sauce, 1/2 a butternut squash topped with salad, and Tamara got some of the best pork she's had in her life and a spiced prawn with green potato mash underneath. I tried some of the potato mash. Every item we got had all the elements of great food, salty, sweet, crunchy, bitter, and sour. And then we had doughnuts. I don't know how I had room for it all, but it was so so good.
I like it that here, waiters have no problem with paying seperately. They have hand held credit card machines that you pay the bill with at the table. Tamara paid first, and I was to pay the difference. '$XX.38.' I told the waiter. '38?' I thought he was repeating the cents, so I said yes. When he handed me the reciept, I saw that he had charged me thirty eight pounds. Say what? Shoot the food was good, but this guy was not getting that kind of tip. 'Oh sorry I thought that is that you said.' Um no. He said that he could not refund my card, but would give me cash instead. Fine. And could you please pay my currency conversion too? Thanks so much. The waiter could not put a bitter taste in my mouth after such a great meal to celebrate a significant day being over.
Day 171. Sunday. Church. I was so nervous for my test I was on the verge of tears. The Senior Sister Missionary at the front desk (whom I am chummy with) asked if I was getting excited for my courses to be over. I started to cry, telling her I was so nervous I did not know how I was going to pull it off, as I had never made what I wanted to in the practice exams. She told me 'I know you can do it. You can do it!' We talked for a bit before I headed into reverse church RS. I said goodbye to a few people that I have gotten to know in the ward. Michelle wished me luck on my test, I got teary again, as she and Brandon, Chris, and Kami looked at me, probably wondering why I was crying over a cake. They all gave words of encouragement and said that they would pray for me. :) I could use all the help I could get at that point. After church, I headed one more time to the V&A. I love that place, especially the fashion exhibit. Late 1800's early 1900's fashion amazes me. I think it would have been cool to have lived in that time only for the clothes, I'd pass on the circumstances of living without our conveniences.
Came home, revised my notes, time plans, recipes, knife kit, and ran over things way too many times in my head. Talked to my parents and went to bed.
Day 170. Saturday. I did laundry and ironed. Michelle started work at a cafe in her neighborhood, and had told me to come on Saturday to check it out. It was a delightful place. She said I had perfect timing, as she was just about to take her break and her husband Brandon was on his way over to join her for some lunch. Michelle sat down at a table with me, I ordered some food, Brandon came, we all chatted, and then our food came. i got avocado on toast with poached eggs. So good. Michelle had raved about the cupcakes, so I got a salted caramel one. My french pastry classes have tainted my sweet tooth, as this cupcake was more american super sweeet style. I got through it though. Who denies dessert? Not this girl.
As I hopped on the tube to go to the cafe, I noticed a lot of guys getting on with football (soccer) jerseys. At the cafe I looked up the games for today and found out that Fulham was playing at home! Say what? That is at the end of Bishop's Park where I walk to! The game was starting right then. I debated going (as it was on my list of things to still do in London) but I had already committed to Oman and Jordan to a movie. I needed to get my mind off the entremets so I headed to the cinema to see 'the second best marigold hotel.' I had never seen the first movie, but it was not needed for this one, older people living in a hotel in India post retirement. It was funny, but I was not laughing. Still thinking about that darn entremets. At one point in the movie Oman leaned over and asked if I was ok. I nodded my head yes. After the movie was over, and we were waiting for Jordan to come out of the restroom, I told Oman that I did not think i was going to be able to do it on Monday, that I was doomed to fail and that there was no chance of my entremets working in the four hours. I cried. She encouraged. When Jordan came out of the restroom and saw me crying, she said, 'Michelle I am the one who is not going to pass, not you so stop worrying everything will be fine. Come on! Let's go have some fun.' There was a group from school getting together for dinner, I told Oman and Jordan I did not want to go and that I did not RSVP, and that I should go home and study. "You are already stressed enough Michelle, you are coming with us." I went. We met at a pop up shop near Chinatown. 'Curls best friend.' The others we were meeting had walked past it, thought the all pink boutique looked cute, and the man at the door invited them in for a tour of the shop. Once in, they were offered cupcakes and cocktails. They were hooked. We met up, talked for awhile, and then decided real food was in order, so Shake Shack was the meal. That veggie burger is amazing so I did not mind. #yesiameatingoutalotbuttimeisrunningfast . We talked some more, then called it a night.
Day 169. Friday. I stayed up until 4am finishing my portfolio, making sure it was all there and complete, so all I had to do was wake up in four hours, find a print shop to print it off, and turn that darn sucker in. I gave myself another hour in bed before getting up at 9. I called two places to get quotes, and to see who would be willing to help with my request (some in black & white and some pages in color but not separate orders to mess up the page numbering). A nice gent said that they would work with any request I had. And they were cheaper than the place down the street. I emailed it to him, called to make sure he got it, they did and they would call me when it was done. I ironed and did laundry to pass the time waiting for the printing to be finished. About four hours later, he called and said it was ready. Yay! I picked it up, and even got hole punching done for free (I had a hole punch at home but it pays to ask). He was super friendly and helpful little print shop. #thankyoufulhamcallprint I put all the pages in the binder, under the right tabs, and headed off to turn that puppy in 22 hours early. As I was turning it in at the front desk, Hong Kong2 was walking up the stairs from the basement. She said that she had just turned hers in and was leaving her hole punch in her locker in case someone needed to use it. She said she was going to go get a coffee. I asked if I could tag along, and she said of course. We chatted for over an hour about our six months in classes, jobs, and the upcoming exam. I told her how thinking about it made me physically ill. She told me that in her basic exam, her group had the lemon tart, and one girl's lemon curd was not set at all, and her merengue was practically foam floating over the bad curd. HK said, 'that girl is still here. Don't worry, you will pass.' I still feared that I would.
I had texted Tamara and a few other people to find out their weekend plans. Tamara wrote back about the time I was done with my watered hot chocolate and said that she could meet for dinner. We met at a mexican place in Notting Hill. It was so good. It was the style like Bario Cafe in Phoenix, fancy mexican rich in flavor. Yummy. We talked, well actually I did a lot of the talking, telling her all about how nervous/anxious I was for the test, to meet all the requirements in the specific time frame...... you get the idea. She was an excellent listener. As we headed back to the tube station, we came across a bubble tea store. I had never had one, she said that they were good, it will probably be my last one. Nevertheless it was good conversation.
Day 168. Thursday. My last practical. It was to make the modern tart. We did not know which one until we walked
in the room. Kind of like a game. We each picked a slice of paper, and it gave each layer we were assigned to make. Everyone's was different. Mine was, Pate Sucre (sweet pastry crust), pear compote, white chocolate raspberry crunchy layer, coconut sponge and passion fruit mousse topped with a glaze, and to complete it, chopped fruit around the edge. We had Chef Yes. The first time in all our superior classes. I really like him as a teacher. He explains things really well, if we don't understand he tries a different way, and is patient with us. My passion fruit mousse was more of a pillow shape, than a perfect squared edge (my cling wrap job was not the best apparently). For the colored glaze, I asked him which he would suggest, he said either yellow or orange. 'Orange will trick those eating it to thinking its something else underneath. I choose orange. It came out bright orange. Everyone else had pale colors compared to my traffic cone alert of a tart. A cuisine chef came in from next door, I watched him as he rounded the corner looking at everyone's tart. He stopped at mine. 'Woa, you need sunglasses for this one." Ha! When I went up for grading, Chef Yes said, "What happened to your mousse?" (referring to the pillow shape). 'I cling wrapped my square tin with a curved edge." "Alright then, I am not going to punish you for your interpretation of what you think a modern tart should be, all the elements are there. Well done."
At the end of class, chef yes gave his recap. He said that he had faith in all of us to complete the final exam on Monday. He gave us great advice/tips. He said 'youall just need to have some confidence' [tears start forming] 'especially you' [points to Jordan]. She starts crying, I start massaging my hand to prevent tears from falling down my cheeks....Jordan is crying by this point. Chef dismisses us, a couple stay to ask questions. He gave Jordan a hug, and said that he did not mean for her to cry, just wanted her to know that he believes in her. As I am waiting to talk to chef, I talked to Brunei, I start crying telling her I am never going to make it on Monday, as she assures me that we all will get through it and be just fine. She gave me a hug, and a pep talk. Finally, its my turn to talk to chef. I had my tears under control, but they came back. I told him that i did not think that I could do it. He asked why, and we went layer upon layer of my entremets. He gave me improvement tips for everything. It was great. We talked about jobs, applications, many things. He answered all my questions. In the end, he said that if anyone could come back from a difficult situation, it would be me. [He was the chef in the room for my Fraisier from Intermediate class disaster turned miraculously half good dessert.] I left feeling a bit better. Went home and started working on the portfolio.
Day 167. Wednesday. Mock Exam. Started off great. Then I got flustered. Then I got rushed. Then I plated whatever would work. I went 34 minutes overtime and thought I was doomed. I dont know what I was thinking (other than I was super rushed) but I put my chocolate on cardboard to set instead of on acetate. Dumb. It stuck to the cardboard, and my chocolate rings that were to go around the top of the cake were now not useable. After it was all over, and I was one of the last ones to be marked, chef told me that if I presented this dessert on exam day, it would get a 55-60% grade. Say what? He asked where I got the mousse recipe from. I said it is a recipe from home. He said that this test was not for out of the box thinkers, and that I should use the one in the manual from last terms class. Chef Head never told me such a thing, infact she told me she was proud of me for thinking outside the box. I was so confused and felt like a failure.
Day 166. Tuesday. Had our last demonstration class for our last practical, the modern tart. As we would all be randomly assigned a dessert components (crispy, sponge, mousse, etc.) he demonstrated 2/4 in all categories. It looked easy enough to do.
After class i joined Maine, Maine's girlfriend, Vermont, and California to eat fish and chips. That's right people. I ate fish and chips. #wheninlondon #yougottajustdoit Must confess that for researching (and finding them to be in the top five places in the city) they were good, just not great. I did not feel good later in the day of the next day. But shoot. I did it. The rest of the day is a blank to me, as nothing more is documented from the day. Probably a nap was in order.
And that ladies and gents was my week..... bless you for making it this far. I have fallen asleep multiple times in writing this.
One week to go. And that is my week. Stricken and Reversed.
