After such a miserable time recently, both of us were really looking forward to the weekend. We had a long standing arrangement for Leila to come and visit us for a couple of days. I was very excited - I don't feel I see her enough and her visits are always fun.
Before she arrived, I did a bit of sewing ( a bit predictable!). I had picked up some really pretty fat quarters when in Hobbycraft getting some thread and decided to make up a few nice things. So I ended up with a drawstring bag, an applique drawstring bag, a zipped make up purse and a tissue holder. I made up her room and then carefully laid out the goodies, just adding in a couple of L'Occitane treats.
She arrived on Thursday morning, and I made some cupcakes while we chatted companiably in the kitchen.
After lunch, and tidying up, we went into town for a little stroll round the shops. Plymouth doesn't have the range of shops that Cardiff does, especially now that St. Davids 2 is open. In particular, she wanted to visit L'Occitane, and we spent a delightful time in there, sniffing, rubbing and squirting lots of things; always like the fact too that the assistants offer you a cup of fruit tea while you are browsing. Even better they had a sale on so I picked up a couple of things. Then we went over to Crabtree and Evelyn for more lovely smellies and then round to Cath Kidston (bliss). After that we headed over to John Lewis and stopped by the Lancome counter as there was a free gift offer. We wandered upstairs for a look in the bedding department (Leila is a bit of a sheet fetishist) and then I had a look at the Amy Butler fabrics in Haberdashery. After all the excitement, we headed back home with our parcels, and had a nice cup of tea and more chat. Picked up Andrew from the station then came home and had dinner together.
On Friday, we headed off to Ikea, as Leila had never been round the shop properly before and wanted to. So we enjoyed a leisurely stroll round, and paused for lunch in the restaurant before continuing through the Market Hall. Home again, and time to recharge our batteries before the evening. Whenever Leila comes up, we try hard to find a "concept" restaurant (a long standing joke between us). Then Andrew came up with a brainwave. On our way to Tredegar House every day, we pass a quiet rural spot with a sign for Seoul House - Korean and Japanese food. We decided to give it a go, figuring that even if it was terrible or we hated the food, there's a perfectly good chip shop in St. Mellons. Well, what a revelation.
Seoul House is a lovely place, set just off the main road and is a lodge to one of the old local farms. It does rooms as well as the restaurant. When we got in, the restaurant was small and homely, feeling in a nice way that we were in someone's house. There were a couple of other Japanese/Korean families there also eating. The guy who served us (who I think was the proprietor) was very friendly and helpful and helped navigate us through the menu.
To start with we had some appetisers - exquisite little dumplings, and little plates of pickled vegetables. We also had some of the most delicious tempura vegetables - incredibly light, fluffy batter on delicate slices of vegetables. Gorgeous.
For our mains, the speciality of the restaurant is a table BBQ. Actually set into each table is a high powered electric grill (a very whizzy piece of kit, to be honest) that got ferociously hot. Cuts of marinaded meat and vegetables were brought out and then grilled in front of us. The idea then is that you take a lettuce leaf, a dollop of rice, some amazing sauce and then a piece of meat, roll it up into a parcel and eat it with your fingers in a couple of mouthfuls. It was a bit strange, but we were utterly bowled over - the meat was beautifully marinaded, sliced and cooked and the sauce was amazing. Apparently it is a traditional Korean recipe, based on bean curd, with all sorts of lovely things added, such as garlic, herbs etc providing a delicious savoury flavour utterly unlike anything I have tried before. We also had a side dish of the wonderfully (and aptly) named "Yum Yum Chicken" - chicken marinaded in a sweet, sticky, spicy marinade. Messy but delicious.
I can honestly say it was one of the nicest meals out I've had in ages, quite different and really lovely. I can strongly recommend the restaurant, and we also liked the relaxed, family feel of the place. After our meal, we came home for coffee, and before long it was time for bed.
On Saturday, Leila came with us to Tredegar House to walk the dogs, but as we got there the heavens opened and it poured down (just to make a change). So Leila decided to head for home, stopping off to visit a friend in Bristol with a new baby, en route. The trip had flown by and to be honest, it was a badly needed tonic for us.
On Sunday, Andrew was racing in the Llanelli Coastal 10K, with its course goign along the Millennium Coastal Path, with amazing views over Gower. It was the first time Andrew ran this race; he was due to run it last year, but of course his broken collar bone put paid to that. Because of Booty's death, Andrew's training had gone all to pot. Although the course was lovely and the views terrific, he didn't do a particularly good time and looked tired and miserable as he crossed the finishing line, quite unlike his normal race demeanour. Both of us were philosophical - the race is a good one, and I'm sure Andrew will enjoy running it next year. Amazingly it stayed dry, and the sun even shone. After the race, Andrew was given a T shirt for finishing and then we came home to spend a relaxing day together.
