Snowdonia's best kept secret, Plas Curig Hostel.

In the height of this almighty heat wave we seem to be having and having a little London cabin fever we accepted a long overdue invitation to one of our closest friends hostels, Plas Curig, in Snowdonia, Wales. Just two years old and based in Snowdonia - a good few hours drive from busy ol'london P and I hired a car from our usual 'trusty' car hire company and left London on a muggy Thursday night, complete with a car full of provisions ready for our long journey ahead. As night fell and the red sky glowed pink to red to deep jet black P suddenly pulled the car over realising that the car's back lights weren't working! Stuck in Telford at this point with no back lights and less than 10% phone battery each we headed in to a local pub and waited.... and waited for roadside emergency assistance. Two tiring hours later, a closed pub and a weary couple sat in the dark there was light- our roadside assistance man! Quite a character and very helpful, he immediately fixed the car ( blown fuse) and let us follow him to a local hotel. It was now way passed midnight and we were bit shattered. £65 later we were in bed laughing at how wrong our first night's rest should have been, but excited for the following morning and eventually getting to Amy and Wills! Friday morning and with a burst of energy we bounded out of our room and set to the car hoping this time for a smooth ride. Quite rapidly the scenery changed from fields and industrial estates to lush green rolling hills and then more dramatic valleys, open to the blue skies. Eventually mid morning we reached Plas Curig and could see all the mountains in their full glory! 

After a delicious and much needed breakfast, Amy showed us around the hostel. 59 beds and 14 bedrooms, a library, chill out lounge, dining room and immense kitchen complete with everything Gordon Ramsey would require- aside from a usual hostel dweller! The interior is gorgeous, chocolate brown leather arm chairs, lamb's wool rugs on every bed, reclaimed flooring and many other incredible pieces that I ooohd and ahhhd at as she showed us around. All designed by Amy herself, this could be an exclusive hotel rather than a hostel, it's dog friendly too! All the bedrooms are light and airy with high ceilings and incredibly comfortable looking beds! The design is so well set out and makes you just want to climb to the top bunk and dive in- a child and adults play pen.

After snooping, Amy and Will took us for a walk around their local swimming pool, Lynn Idwal . . . And no, we're not talking about a wee infested Tooting lido- but a glistening, clear- warm(ish) and deserted lake at the foot of the Snowdonia mountains, complete with its own beach.

Seeing very few people at all, we walked along the jagged rocky paths, up over and around until we finally saw the foot of the lake. With the warm air and blue skies, the dogs chasing stones, sticks and the splashes of water, Amy and I sat on the beach and gossiped as we watched the boys plunge in to the lake- trying to assert their machoism  as they felt the icy cool water on their sunned bodies. 

 After a good hour watching the boys splash around we headed back to the car over the rugged heathland. Such vivid colours and beautiful rare heather which smelt like a perfumery. 

Before heading home we stopped off for a well earned drink at the Pen-Y-Gwryd Hotel. Steeped in mountaineering history, it displays a plethora of mountaineering artefacts used by Sir Edmond Hillary and Tenzing on their maiden ascent of Mount Everest in 1953. A truly welcoming bolt hole and retreat with lots of different nooks and crannys to snuggle yourself away in (+ the dogs) and a great selection of food and drink to choose from. 

Back home, with rumbling tummies Amy and I set to preparing the BBQ food as Will and P headed to the local shop for some more provisions. 

BBQ blazing we tucked in to home made haloumi and veg skewers, sausages, bbq'd asparagus and corn followed by Amy's insane and utterly indulgent brownies for which I must get the recipe of. These were a chocolate lovers heaven and a dieters hell.... But hey, you only live once and for this weekend the wedding diet was also on holiday! 

Not thinking it was possible to fit anything out in our bulging tummies Amy cracked out the marshmallows! Using skewers we each roasted them over the roaring fire, seeing who could get the white fluffy clouds to be of optimum sinful gooeyness. 

 Pitch black now and under a star scattered sky we headed for bed ready and excited for the next days activities! 

..... to be continued! 

Sing contd.... a few blogs later!

So, continuing on my love affair with Singapore. . .

The day after we arrived in Singapore, fresh faced and raring to go we went straight down to Marina Sands for Amy's friend Mark's surprise birthday party. This wasn't any old birthday party, oh no, it was a whole afternoon out on a chartered boat; with food and booze galore and all of his best friends- oh, and two very pale English folk, P and I. All in high spirits and feeling very integrated (thank god) we set sail out of Singapore. It was so nice to feel a breeze in the air as we sped along the water, something you don't get very much in Singapore- unless you have your head by a fan or are in somewhere air conditioned! We stopped and moored about 30 minutes out of the harbour where people who wanted to swim jumped in and those that felt a bit less inclined (granted there were huge monstrous tankers only 500 meters away and we were just off their main driving route in and out of the main port- yuck).

As the afternoon drew to a close and everyone very merry and dancing around we made our way back along the city sky line to No 1 Marina Sands. Slightly rouged and warmed from the afternoon of gin filled pimms we hopped in a cab and headed back to Amy's for after sun and showers, ready for the evening.

First off we headed to one of Singapore's most busy and popular food court Lau Pa Sat

A busy, sweaty, crazy, loud, bustling, AMAZING experience- this gives you a real buzz with a huge array of choice and cuisine to choose from, Amy took us here to see another side of the seemingly faultless Singapore. People shouting, trying to grab your attention, everyone everywhere , the mix of smells penetrating your senses and  a rapidly grumbling tummy. We were guided to a still full table of locals who were quite abruptly beckoned off. The table was swiped with a cloth and we were sat surrounded by an animated swarm of local food sellers asking what we wanted. We settled on satay, pak choi, bbq'd prawns, fried rice, ice cool Tiger beers and many other sumptuous treats.  

After a sweaty but utterly delicious food experience at Lau Pa we headed out for a few drinks at The Cufflink Club which turned into quite a few....! At about 12 pm as everyone else was heading to a club we decided to be naughty and head to the 2am Dessert Bar. 

A late night early morning post club pre sleep sugar fix in Holland Village, Singapore. An interesting menu with offers from Pop corn parfait and Deconstructed Cheesecake to Kayambe H20 – 72% Michel Cluizel chocolate, Evian. Impressively served and Amy's almost like a piece of Tate Modern Art the service was  brilliant and the ambiance very chilled with reclining bed seats and comfy pillows. . . The taste of the desserts were good but not brilliant, give me more, i don't care what the scales will say but good. Amy's was a little on the small side- more of a taster - that was gone in two seconds. For the price we all agreed that they could have been a little more generous! 

Mine was great, looked more sinfully delicious than it unfortunately tasted but nothing to write a post card home on. For me if a pudding looks sinful it should surely taste it! A definite place to try though as there's a whole menu of options!