il Giardino Romantico

After the awesome tour of the massive cathedral, it was time for food.  I had another half-day to go, so I might as well eat well. I found this across from my next destination - the Roman Museum. I decided to treat myself for a nice dish and perhaps a pint. 

參觀完壯觀的大教堂之後，當然到了進食的時間就該進食啦！還有半天的行程要跑呢！這間正好在下一個目的地：羅馬博物館對面。當然就決定在這裡用餐以及享受一杯啤酒啦！

For some reason, after spending a whole day in Bath, I felt a craving for Thai food. I remember thinking how I must find Thai food, while strolling around looking for a restaurant.  Then, I stumbled upon Thai Balcony, and thought I should give it a try.  No surprise can ever be a disappointment, since you don't know what to expect.

不知道為什麼，晃完一整天之後突然好想吃泰國菜。我記得那天有股強烈的非吃泰國菜不可的念頭。於是走著走著就是為了找間泰國餐廳。之後我就看到了Thai Balcony。任何的驚喜都不會令人失望，因為你不知道該怎麼期望。

I must admit I have double standards. By the time I left Liverpool, I had thrown my strict vegetarian diet out the window, because my time in the UK was so limited, I thought 'I simply HAD TO try the authentic English breakfast!' So, I did.

我得承認我有雙重標準。離開利物浦之後，我把我原本嚴苛的素食主義拋到了腦後，決定利用謹慎的兩個禮拜好好享受道地的美食。我不能夠在離開英國前還沒嚐過真正的『英式早餐』！於是，我就點了非素食，正統的英式早餐。

This was 'the last supper' in Liverpool. We came to Nando's because it was also my friend's last night in town. It was his favourite restaurant, as we celebrated his birthday here as well. READ MORE. What he loved about Nandos was, obviously, the chicken. But for me, it was the sangria. 

這就是我在利物浦"最後的晚餐"。會選擇Nando's，是因為這也是我麻吉的最後一晚。而這又是他最愛的餐廳。他生日當天我們也是來這裡慶祝的。［點閱舊文］。他當然是喜歡這裡的雞肉餐。不過我喜歡的是他們的水果調酒 - sangria。

Soon after my arrival at Liverpool, I had the honour of seeing Pete Postlewaite play King Lear at the Everyman. Before leaving Liverpool, I finally found the chance to visit the bistro. 

在我剛到利物浦不久後，我就有榮幸到Everyman觀賞Pete Postlewaite主演的李爾王。在我離開利物浦之前，我也終於有機會到Everyman樓下的小餐館用餐。

With such beautiful scenery as one seen here in Grasmere, there was just one thing missing - a good cup of coffee.  

環繞在這麼美麗的景色中，我卻欲求不滿。好像少了點什麼。原來少了的是一杯悠閒的咖啡！！

It's quite rare for Liverpudlians to not hear about Zizzi's. This Italian restaurant is located in the semi-outdoor shopping complex - Liverpool 1. The quality of their service and the food were both extremely satisfying. It was the perfect place for us to hold our 'dissertation hand-in' celebration.

利物浦的人應該很少沒有聽說過Zizzi's的。這間義大利餐廳位於半戶外的購物中心Liverpool 1。對於他們的服務以及食物品質，我們都相當滿意。因此我們選來這慶祝我們論文交出，應該是非常正確的選擇。

This is a popular place among uni students. The reason is because, other than it's delicious food, the price is affordable to most students. I'm not sure what kind of cuisine you'd categorize Kimos as, but does it really matter? So long as the food is great, I think you're missing the point if you become too obsessed with categorizing the food they sell. 

這間餐廳在學生群裡面很受歡迎。幾乎沒有人沒吃過，沒聽過。除了好吃之外，當然也是因為價位不高。對於無收入的學生來說想要外食，又不想花太多錢，這裡其實是個不錯的選擇。至於這裡賣的到底是屬於哪一類型的餐點，其實我不太清楚要怎麼去歸類他。但這有很重要嗎？好吃不是就好了嘛？

After one whole day of cruising around Cardiff, we both got hungry, for obvious reasons. Keep in mind that everything you have seen so far on Cardiff, were all done with in 'one single day'! So imagine how hungry we must had been by the time the day had ended! 

逛完一整天的卡地夫之後，當然我與地陪肚子都餓了。別忘了，至今你看到所有關於卡地夫的文章，幾乎都是在同一天完成的！！所以你能想像我們到了這時候有多餓了嗎？

So my mate asked me what I felt like having, and I thought, the best cuisine to have would be Thai food, seeing that we met, grew up, and went to school together in Chiangmai!  It's already a miracle that we were meeting in far away UK.  To top it all up, we are going to reminisce the taste of Thailand together!

Before we get into the castle, I'm going to give you all a treat. This is the English breakfast that we had before we went into the castle. As we just needed some morsel to last the morning, me and my mate, shared one portion.  But you still get to see what a typical English breakfast consists of.

在進入到正式的城堡文之前，天仙先給大家一點好康的。這是我們在進入城堡之前想用的英式早點。由於我們只需要足夠的熱量供我們早上的行程，我們就決定兩人點一份共用。想知道正統的英式早餐包含什麼嗎？現在就來瞧瞧。

 

I've written about Chinese and Thai cuisine in the UK, but I think this is the first time I've written an article about Japanese cuisine in the UK.  Aren't you curious about what Japanese food's like there?

之前天仙有跟大家分享過英國的中國餐廳，也有跟大家分享英國的泰國菜。不過我們台灣人也很喜歡吃的日本料理好像還沒介紹過吧！今天就來瞧瞧，在英國的日本料理店都長什麼樣子。

Pascal, the owner of the guest house where we stayed, gave us too many ideas of places to dine for us to handle at the time.  I do remember him recommending 'the best fish and chips' place, but I have to admit, I'm not certain if this is the one to which he was referring. 

We came here after we had our drinks because we were both starving.  We had saved so much money by bringing our own food, but by this time, we both ran out and craved for a full meal.  What could two skints students have?  What better choice is there other than the national dish - fish and chips?  (Actually, I insisted on having fish and chips... )

'A cup of tea is the solution to every problem.'  This is a quote from 'Doctor Who'.  I had never imagined myself falling in love with English tea.  The person who taught me how to drink tea the English way, was a French girl.  When she came to visit me, she asked me, 'Have you learned to drink tea the English way?'  She told me to add fresh milk and sugar to every cup of tea.  That's the way you're supposed to drink it. 

When you're feeling down, have a cup.  When you're feeling over the moon, that's even more of a reason to have one.  While coffee has become a daily routine, tea has become an enjoyment reserved only for special occassions.

Remember the meal on my flight over to Manchester? (published in this article)  It was so delicious that once I'd had a bite, I'd forgot about all the tears I shed over saying farewell to my loved ones.  Well, this time, I thought the meal would just be as good.  After all, I've always had pleasant experiences with Thai Airways.  I mean, what other airline is capable of offering the comfort from my second home other than this one?  Well, so I thought.

不知道大家還記不記得新航機餐一文中提到說飛到曼城那趟機餐有多麼好吃。好吃到我才吃一口，就忘了不到半小時前才哭哭啼啼的跟心愛的人告別。這次我以為機餐也會很棒。畢竟以前多次飛過泰航從來沒有過不好的經驗，再說，有什麼比泰航還要更適合這次回程的航空公司呢？不過，事實並非完全如我想像。

在上一篇『新四川』提到因為有了那次的聚餐，才會讓我想到要再安排一次。其實原因很簡單，因為煮出來兩份泰式料理都被我室友稱讚不已。而今年這群朋友聚餐好像還沒吃過泰國菜。當然就想趁離開前辦一次。不過其實原本看中的是一加新開的。風評非常的好。怪就怪我拖太久。等到人數確定後要定位，他們竟然跟我說『客滿了喔！』所以只好再上網找另外一家。不過這幾家我都沒吃過，很怕帶大家採到一顆大地雷。還好夜晚結束後大家都對當晚的餐點還滿意。我也終於鬆了一口氣。

『新四川』，又稱Chilli Chilli，是利物浦知名的中國餐館。名氣大的原因除了菜色之外，當然還有更重要的原因 - 二樓的KTV包廂！早在過農曆年的時候，有一位華裔朋友就邀約一群好友相伴來這吃飯唱歌。不巧那天正好有活動，所以錯過了晚餐。但還是趕的上唱歌。對於那次印象挺深刻的。因為西方人眼中的"karaoke"是鬧著玩的。而很不巧的，天仙那天點了一首國語歌，讓全場的外國人拍手叫好，然後驚覺說原來『歌，不是這樣唱低！！』。

不過拉回來今天的重點 - 這天朋友約了再來這兒聚餐。不過上回那位華裔朋友還沒回到利物浦。因此點餐他們得靠自己。原本我在猶豫要不要來，因為正好這天白天我上了整天班。沒一口答應是怕自己累了不想出門。不過下了班之後發現經歷還夠，加上飯還是得吃啊。所以就跟著去。我的好友之前在我還沒決定要不要去之前一直說我一定得去。原因是：只有我會點餐。我回說：不是都有英文的嘛？朋友回說：可是好料都在中文菜單裡啊。這時候我才發現，原來這攤我會被邀請的原因是這樣啊！(誤)

這間就是利物浦球隊副隊長卡拉格開的餐廳[分店]。卡拉格開的這間餐廳主旨是為了讓一家人能夠有個輕鬆看各類球賽的休閒餐廳。這間express算是比較小的分店。位於利物浦市中心的Liverpool 1。距離就在LFC Superstore不遠處。這天，天仙帶了兩個利物浦球迷來到這兒用餐。幸好兩位朋友心中有想來這間餐廳用餐的念頭。因為每次只要有朋友來，天仙最懊惱的地方就是不知道該帶去哪裡用餐才好呢。

This is Jamie Carragher's restaurant.  He is the vice-captain of Liverpool Football Club.  The theme of the restaurant is to provide a healthy and clean atmosphere for families to come and watch sports together.  It is located in the city centre, in Liverpool 1.  It's roughly about a two minute walk from the nearest Superstore, also in Liverpool 1.  I brought two LFC fans to come dine here.  It was a good thing they had this in mind, as I always have a hard time trying to figure out where to take my friends to dine when they come for a visit. 

等了好久，終於輪到該來寫這篇了。雖然已經被我拖稿拖了一個月，但是難得吃到好料，還是一定要跟大家分享一下。S小姐是我大學同學。雖然我們同屆，但是我們不同班。S小姐跟我的成長背景很類似。我們差不多在同一個時間被父母帶去泰國。然後大學又再回到了國土台灣。我們那屆還有一位跟我們類似背景的D小姐。由於當年的系主任認為強制我們上必修課『大一英文』好像有點不太妥當，於是約了我們三位去他辦公室安排要怎麼樣替代這門課的必修學分。有趣的是，系主任將我們彼此介紹認識之後得知我跟S小姐都是從泰國回來的，問了我們是否之前就認識。結果你說世界有多大，還是有多小？我們都在泰國住了時間，一個南，一個北，卻要等到回到了台灣才互相認識。

It took me such a long time to get to finally get to this article.  After lagging for a month, I would have decided to ditch the article all together, but since I don't eat out much, I thought it best to keep it and wait till the right moment to write about this.  S and I go way back since college. We were in the same department, but were in different classes.  We had a similar upbringing.  We were both brought up in Thailand, starting at pretty much the same age, then came back to Taiwan for college.  There was also D that year, who had a similar background.  The chairperson of the department that year decided that Freshman English might unsuitable for us three to attend, and asked us to meet at her office to discuss what to do to replace the compulsory credit for that course.  Interestingly, when the chairperson introduced us, and learned that both S and I grew up in Thailand, she found out that we did not know each other until that very moment.  Is the world big? Or small?  For us to have grown up in the same country for ten years, one south, the other north, and not know of each others' existence until we come back to our native soil.

因為不同班的關係，導致我們從大一之後就很少有課能夠一起上。當然也因為大二的時候大家都不再住宿舍，連絡感情也變得比較不方便。不過我們的友誼卻沒有因此而減弱。畢業之後我們都一直保持著連絡。S小姐讓我覺得最感動的地方是，我在大學曾經對他說過想要去英國留學的事情，他竟然在畢業許多年之後還記得，並且還寄了一些有助於我完成夢想的相關訊息。另外，她也在造訪砍特柏里時，貼心的寄了小禮物給我跟D小姐。現在能夠在英國與S小姐再次相聚，真的是很難得的機會。

我在英國其實有很多朋友。這些朋友，除了到了才認識的之外，還有許多以前小學至高中的同學，目前剛好都在英國發展中。早在我抵達利物浦時，我這位住在曼城的朋友就一直催我說一定要找機會去曼城找她。其實原本我挺猶豫到底要不要找她的。因為她其實是我姊姊的同學。當時在學校因為年齡差距的關係，其實很少有交集。但是因為許久沒見面，加上正好都在英國，既然距離這麼近，想說既然都計畫要到曼城，當然不能錯過見見老朋友的機會囉。

不過因為我選在禮拜一到曼城玩，所以E小姐她只能利用短暫的午休來陪我閒聊。於是我在十一點抵達後，自己先跑去Visitor Centre一探究竟，等到E小姐午休時間一到，就在走到我們約好的地方見面一起吃午餐。好巧不巧，E小姐說當天進辦公室，正好收到一張Pizza Express的2 for 1午餐優惠。於是我們就選在這兒解決午餐。雖然是連鎖店，但是餐廳裝潢挺不錯的。價目算是中等。平常我不可能會奢侈來吃這個，但是看在2 for 1的份上，£7-£8 的午餐，還算是可以接受的囉！

英國人說懶也是懶得可以。反正閒著也是閒著。寫論文寫到悶寫到煩，怎麼都不會想到要出來透透氣來聚會一下哩？前幾個禮拜我就發出email問大家什麼時候有空。回傳給我的人附上了日期就決定在某天出來聚一聚。其實我的要求不高。你們看文看到現在也應該發現，除非是我一個人單獨行動才會對地點有所要求。如果是跟朋友，因為有他們的陪伴，去哪裡做什麼我都比較不會太在意。[除非是太花錢或是我真的沒興趣想做的事情... ]

English people can be quite lazy sometimes.  Even when they have nothing to do, or if they get so fed up with their dissertation, they wouldn't even think about getting a small group together for some fun.  I sent off an email a couple of weeks ago to arrange this.  After getting people's replies, I set out a date for us to meet and catch up. You should know by now, that it is only when I'm alone, when I'm more picky about where I go.  If I'm with friends, I really don't mind where we go or what we do, unless of course, if it costs too much or if they intend to do something I have absolutely no interest in doing... ]