One of this month’s featured sponsors is the fantastic Miho from Wander to Wonder.
1. What motivated you to start blogging?
I had been an avid blog reader for a long time, as well as having written an online journal for 8 years. The routine of documenting snapshots of my life comes naturally to me, so I loved blogging even before I started, in a way! What actually made me bite the bullet and start Wander to Wonder though, was my move back to London after 3 years studying abroad. Being away made me appreciate all that London has to offer, something I had taken for granted in the past, and my blog was a way to share my adventures and hopefully help others discover things to do and places to see.
2. What inspires you personally?
The arts – music, literature, theatre, film, visual art. Seeing and experiencing other people’s astounding creativity and drive is so inspirational to me, especially as I work in the arts field myself. But quite honestly, anyone who tries their best to have a happy and fulfilling life, and makes other people happy in the process – that inspires me! Cheesy but true.
3. What advise would you give to first time visitors to London?
I know that London can be an overwhelming place to visit, with so many things to do and overflowing with tourist traps, but try not to spread yourself too thin. Choose what you would really love to do – pick one or two galleries but don’t skim over the whole lot, choose a couple of touristy attractions (the London Eye, Tower of London, The London Dungeon, etc.) but not all of them – just try to pace yourself so that you can enjoy each place you go to. If you like theatre, going to a play or a musical (or both!) is a must. The West End is not an experience to be missed!
As for food, do your research. If there is an evening you need to eat at a certain time, make sure you look up places that you can reserve, as a lot of places nowadays don’t take bookings. Read reviews! I recommend using Zomato or Urbanspoon to read trustworthy reviews of fellow foodies.
4. What’s the most memorable place you’ve traveled to?
Such a hard one! I’ve been lucky enough to travel a fair amount, so a lot of places hold cherished memories for me. I have to say that two places jointly stand at the top – Santorini, Greece, where my husband proposed to me 2 years go, and the Maldives where we went on our honeymoon last December. Obviously these two occasions were very special, but even besides that, they were both spectacular and stunning places to experience. Is it cheating if I give honourable mentions? I’ll do it quickly – Paris, Lake Como & Tokyo! (Tokyo doesn’t really count, as I am originally from there.)
5. You’re quite the foodie- where’s your favorite place in London to go?
Again, difficult question! There are so many that I enjoy, and so many that I have yet to go to. At the moment, one of my all time favourites is Yauatcha, if upscale dim sum is your kind of thing. Honest Burgers is a trusty one for that burger craving, La Petite Maison is a pricey but superb Provençal French restaurant for a special occasion, and Shoryu is my pick for Japanese ramen. I cheated again, didn’t I? I have aRestaurants page on my blog if you’re ever stuck on where to eat in London!
6. What’s your favorite recipe you’ve posted?
E, being French, is very passionate about food and cooking. He loves to make elaborate dishes for me and our friends and you can see his creations on my Cook page. My favourite is probably the Lasagna recipe – everyone loves a good lasagna! Although this isn’t a recipe as such, my own baking feature that I like are the Sea Salt Caramel Brownies.
7. What’s the one thing that really surprised you about blogging?
Interesting question – in a way, nothing has taken me too off-guard. It is pretty much as I expected – a lot of fun, hard work, commitment, eye-opening. But on the other hand, it is such a fast-paced, ever-evolving community and “industry” that it is sometimes hard to keep up!
Perhaps the most surprising thing is that I have met people through blogging that I can see myself getting along and having a lot in common with. I have an extremely close but small circle of friends and always have, so it is nice to meet people I would not have otherwise met and to discover that they are like-minded and easy to talk to!
8. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In 5 years… I’ll be nearly 32! Wow. I think by then I would like to have had my first child, seen my career progress in a direction that makes me happy, and hopefully kept on blogging! I also would like to see myself having and nurturing the friendships I already have, and maybe have made some new ones. Most importantly, I would like all my loved ones to be happy and healthy.
9. What would your ideal day look like?
Although I haven’t run very much since my 10K race in August, I still plan to get back into it when I’m not so crunched for time as I do genuinely enjoy it (or at least the feeling you get afterwards!). So I would go for a 6K run with E around our nearby common, we would hit up somewhere for a delicious brunch (our most recent favourite is the Naan Roll at Dishoom – holy yum) and go for a wander and a spot of shopping around Covent Garden. If it’s a sunny day we would hop over to somewhere green (Primrose Hill? Holland Park?), and if it’s raining we could cosy up at The Sampler for a spot of casual wine tasting, before heading home for a simple dinner and chilling out with Netflix. Simple days are happy days.
10. What’s your favorite form of social media (instagram, twitter, pinterest, etc)?
Definitely Instagram! I’m not very adept at juggling lots of social media platforms, but Instagram is one that I always keep up to date with. I just love seeing other people’s snaps of daily life, and it’s also a great way to discover restaurants, bloggers and recipes! My Instagram is food heavy (no surprise there) with splashes of nature, London scenery, travel adventures and people.
I hope this session has inspired you to go check out Wander to Wonder!
