A few weeks ago, a couple of us descended upon Stratford to help Emma (Bloomzy) and Ben out with a spot of housewarming. The lucky couple have honestly struck gold - they're the proud new tenants of an apartment in the most amazingly futuristic-looking building. It's super-clean, super-modern and super-dangerous (it's on Westfield's doorstep...I don't even want to imagine the damage I'd do to my purse if I lived around there!) The high-rise is also reminiscent of the complexes in Hong Kong or Singapore, with enviable cosmopolitan views stretching all the way to the City.
As a group united by our love of food, we obviously had to warm the house in the most food-centric way possible. Emma's coffee table was literally groaning with goodies - such as V.A.'s brilliant homemade sticky bánh rán and bánh cuon, reminding me of my childhood favourite, cheung fun, addictive pizzas brought by Jesse and Rob from Pizza Union, E's famous salted caramel macarons (which were even better than I'd imagined from the Instagrams!), the cookies I'd baked with Inez earlier that day, popcorn, falafel, cheeses, Japanese crackers...
And, of course, one cannot adequately warm a house on food alone...
Honey helped Thach to crack open a particularly good bottle of champagne gifted by the T-Man himself (Emma, above, looking adorably anxious pre-cracking). Next we zoomed up to the gorgeously verdant roof, toasting the move while gazing out at the architectural gems on the skyline - the ArcelorMittal Orbit and the Shard, among others.
When it got chilly we decamped indoors to snack on more treats and laugh ridiculous amounts while playing that reliable relationship-destroyer, Cranium. It almost felt like a little family, with the teams spearheaded by Papa E and Mama Miho! And a special mention has to go to V.A., officially the funniest purveyor of Captain Jack Sparrow impersonations ever.
You know you've had an excellent night with lovely people when you can't stop smiling on your midnight train home. Congrats on your move, Emma and Ben - I'm very very jealous of your new home and can't wait for the next Cranium game/match/armoured tournament! Might have to read the encyclopaedia first though so I can keep up my erudite reputation...
You know you've had an excellent night with lovely people when you can't stop smiling on your midnight train home. Congrats on your move, Emma and Ben - I'm very very jealous of your new home and can't wait for the next Cranium game/match/armoured tournament! Might have to read the encyclopaedia first though so I can keep up my erudite reputation...
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