Lost in London

Even though I have visited London many times and can remember some of the ways I know, there are still loads more places that I have no sense of direction in, but that's all part of the fun!
I wander around trying to find paths that may lead to something exciting - on the one hand it might lead me to a dead end, or nothing interesting at all, although on the other hand there could be something that I never noticed was there before.

This happened to me when I visited Covent Garden yesterday - I last went to the markets there around five years ago, yet while I can remember many things I couldn't really remember this place vividly. When I exited the station, I didn't even go the right way to the markets, I thought to myself "just wing it, you'll eventually find your bearings". I walked down a long round which from a distance seemed to hold something appealing at the horizon and then I ended up finding myself at Leicester Square. Sitting in the centre park I noticed people with M&M bags, but I didn't really think too much of it, until... I turn around about to head back up to find another path when I suddenly see M&M's World.

I have always had this spoken to me from other visitors to England, but I never recalled myself actually going inside myself. As soon as I walked it, the place smelled amazing, you are greeted with a massive whiff of chocolate, making it even more inviting.

                                          ^ It sure is!

       ^ It might not look it from the picture, but this is actually completely made from M&Ms ^

I restrained myself this time (unlike in Choccywoccydoodah) and just looked without succumbing to become the next holder of an M&M World bag.

Instead I wandered back to Covent Garden and was immediately filled with memories of my time visiting the markets with my family when I was 15 years old. So while I didn't find anything new, I did re-find my previous childhood memories.

The point of this post wasn't just to show M&M World (another chocolate tourist attraction one should visit) but to demonstrate how wandering around and getting lost instead of sticking to a controlled map or itinerary can be so much more beneficial to your journey. I didn't expect to find M&M World, or even expect to stumble in Leicester Square which is a place I had completely forgotten about.

Wandering is the best journey to have because it rekindles your memory of past and old paths (like for me with Covent Garden markets), but also presents new paths to discover too.

Chocolates too beautiful to eat!

Back in Perth, my mum would often watch a British show called "Choccywoccydoodah", and I would always be lured in by the amazing cakes they would make just from chocolate. Sure I am also aware of shows like "Ace of Cakes" and "Cake Boss", and I did regularly watch "Ace of Cakes" and again be mesmerized by their cake creations. The thing is though, I LOVE CHOCOLATE, more than any other food, so when I find out someone is creating these 7 tier cakes which are made completely from chocolate, I go a bit crazy. I'm like a little kid on a sugar rush, except I never get that coming down sugar crash.

To give you a bit of a brief on Choccywoccydoodah, here's a quick background story: The brains behind the store is Christine Taylor, who is the creative director of Choccywoccydoodah, and Christine Garratt, the co-director. The company started around 18 years ago and only recently became known worldwide through their TV show which began a few years ago. Originally in Brighton, it has since also expanded to London with the rise of its huge popularity.
(If you want to know more about the shops and the story behind Choccywoccydoodah, check out the links posted at the end of the blog)

I visited the store in London located in Fouberts Place off from Carnaby Street, which unbelievably was quite difficult to find as it's slightly hidden away. After getting off at Oxford Street Station, I relied on my previous memory of visiting years before and I remembered to head towards Liberty because I could find Carnaby Street from there (it does work, so if you ever get off at Oxford Street and are overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle, just look for Liberty and you will find the hip and Moddish Carnaby Street). I strolled around Carnaby for a while before setting out to find chocolate. I was told that it was in a red building, so I thought to myself this would be easy and I could just look down each alleyway and spot out a red building (I might add this was before I bothered looking up what actually street it was on as I just knew it was a street off from Carnaby). I went up and down every alleyway whenever I saw a red building and I still couldn't find it. I used my phone to find out the actual address, so I found Fouberts Place and went down there but it still wasn't there, I thought they are lying to me! Little did I know buy Fouberts Place cuts across Carnaby Street and continues to the next alleyway, and there I found the red doors open wide to say "Welcome in! You have arrived in chocolate heaven!"

Seeing all those amazing cakes, which yes look EXACTLY like they do on the show, was definitely worth getting lost for. The cakes are insane, they don't even look edible! I didn't want to go too over the top, but I did want to take something to remind my taste buds of the place, so I got a choccywoccydoodah gold coin which is bigger than my hand (after seeing that I felt like I had been missing out all these years at Christmas when I get a bag of chocolate gold coins which look tiny in comparison!). 

I haven't tasted it yet, because I want to work up a little bit of an appetite for it. Usually I just rush to eat chocolate, but this chocolate is sacred to me and I value it more than all other chocolate, so when I eat it I want to really appreciate it, and so for now it is best to wait when I'm hungry and my mouth can really start to drool and my tummy rumble.

http://www.choccywoccydoodah.com/

http://www.rocknrollbride.com/2012/04/the-inspirations-choccywoccydoodahs-christine-taylor/