Sample of Europe - Spain & Italy

Tired and severely sun burnt, had no time to write an entry of our mini European tour adventure.
We covered the Andalusian Spain and major cities in Italy. Here is the sneak peek of where we went!.

Spain - Granada & Cordoba

Granada - Alcazar
This is where the Game of Thrones filmed for Dorne. It was a former Muslim fort hence the moorish architecture.

postcard picture - Alcazar

Cordoba - Alhmabra
Alhambra's Islamic palaces, were built for the last Muslim emirs in Spain and the court of the Nasrid Dynasty.

postcard picture - Alhambra

Italy - Rome, Florence & Venice

Rome - All major attractions and Vatican city

Florence - Actually the main attraction is the leaning tower of pisa in pisa which is 1.5 hours from florence.

Venice - Basically do all the touristy thing i.e. gondola ride and enjoying the city. It was a break from our rushed visits in Rome & florence.

I'll definitely will write an entry for each of the place that we went. But for now, need to sort out my pictures and notes!

Food hunting around London

It's going to be Ramadan month soon. For muslims, we can't eat and drink from sunrise till sunset. As now is summer, we have longer daylight hours, which means we have to fast for 17 hours everyday for 30 days. :-(

So, I thought why not go and search for interesting eats in central London while I can still eat during the day. I've always wanted to visit Cereal Killer cafe and have a look at the different kind of cereals there. It has two branches, one in Brick lane and another in Camden Stables. I decided to go to the Brick lane branch as its nearer to my place. Took the Overground towards Highbury and Islington and stopped at Shoreditch High Street station. It's my first time being in this area of London and was amazed with all the mural paintings around the area. There's also a line of shops just beside the station. It's really a 'hipster' place. So, I walked happily along the Bethnal street and taking pictures along the way. But then I felt like I'm being followed. It might be nothing but I got the hell out of there as fast as I can. Its better to be safe than sorry. Female travelling alone must always be vigilant and trust your instinct. A reminder to myself!
ps: I didn't even get to see the Cereal Killer cafe! 

Now that I was relatively safe in the Overground, I was thinking where should I go next. I decided to go to where the tourists are, Oxford Circus! I walked along the Regent Street to find a nice cafe to have some coffee and cake. Stopped by a cafe on Regent Street and bought iced coffee to go, my it was boiling hot outside. I continued walking till I reached Piccadilly Circus junction. Now, I'm hungry!

I felt like having a lobster roll today, so I headed to Bond Street to the Smack Lobster Roll deli. I bought the Seven Samurai Lobster roll, which has tempura lobster, Japanese mayo, Japanese cabbage & pickles. It cost me 10 pounds. It was quite cheap considering its a lobster, duh!. But oh my god, the lobster roll was really good. The buttered brioche was to die for and the tempura lobster was nice as well. Done with my late lunch now off to do some window shopping.

Laduree macaroons in Burlington Arcade!!

Walked towards Bond station and saw this new shop in West One Shopping Centre - Simit Sarayi. It's a Turkish based franchise that sells various types of bagels, breads and desserts. The smell of warm bagels was so enticing that I bought one (to go) even though I was still full with lobster roll. I was on my way to the underground that I saw Wasabi - my favourite sushi place. Bought my favourite dish - pumpkin croquette for dinner. Wow! That's a lot of food to be eaten in a day. But no worries, I always have my husband to finish it all off at home.

I really wish that I had a chance to visit the Cereal Killer cafe, though. Maybe next time with my husband as a company. Not going to that place alone again anytime soon.

Bloody Snow... Game of Thrones finale

OH MY GOD! Why GoT? Why? Why must you kill Jon Snow? The only male Stark left in this world. I know sometimes his character was one dimensional but who can resist his charm and hipster look. In addition to him being betrayed by his Night watch brothers, his 'trusted' help was the one who finished him off, that little shit! 

I'm not looking forward to season 6 next year as there's no more story line that I want to know the end. Oh, except for Sansa's story though. My favourite scene in the finale show was when Reek killed that bitch (don't know her name) and ran away with Sansa. Even though Reek/Theon was kinda cruel when he took over Winterfell but I think he's paid his due. He deserves good things now. But as GoT loves killing its main character, I think Theon will die next. I also wish Sansa will have good things happening for her in next season. Enough is enough. I just can't take it anymore, bad things always happens to good people. Not gonna waste another year of my life waiting for this story to end.

London Tube Challenge : Central Line

After I completed my Jubilee Line challenge yesterday, I thought it wasn't so bad. So, I decided to attempt the Central line challenge today because I have nothing else better to do anyway. Started from stations in Essex;  i.e. Epping, Theydon Bois, Debden, Loughton & Buckhurst Hill. I wanted to stop at Theydon Bois station and have a look at the quaint village. Wikipedia stated that there's no street light along its street. But, I stopped at Loughton instead and was greeted by a large Sainsbury building just in front of the station. Where is the village and churches that I saw in the picture?? I realised my mistake when I got home and looked at my notes. When the train was travelling from Woodford to Epping, I felt like I was stepping into a different place. I'm no longer in a city. There's even cows and horses in the fields along the train tracks. :-)

Next, the train passed through Woodford, Snaresbrook & Leyton stations. There's a large TK Maxx outlet just opposite Leyton station. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to pop into the shop. I continued on till I reached Mile End station. Once I exited the station, there's the usual London map board in front. I walked towards Whitechapel area when I stumbled upon a strange street. I was suddenly surrounded by South Asian people and hearing different language being spoken. There's a market along the road up to the Whitechapel overground station. I saw a large East London mosque as well. 

I kept on walking until I reached Old Spitalfields market. There's a lovely church opposite the market, Christ Church. The famous Ten Bell pub was just across the church. It was alleged to have been a rendezvous of some of the Jack the Ripper's prostitutes victims, before they were murdered. 

Continued on until I reached Liverpool street station. Don't know how I ended up there but there I was trying to find my way back to a tube station.

From Liverpool street station, I headed towards Ealing Broadway station, the last station on the Central Line. Passed through Oxford Circus, Marble Arch, Queensway till I reached Ealing Broadway. Circled back on the same train back to Bank station  and head home. 

I wanted to stop at Oxford Circus but I changed my mind. I did stop briefly at Marble Arch station to take some pictures of the wall. There are artsy decoration on the wall and each are different.

I completed my semi-tube challenge (I missed some stations) of the Central line within 8 hours. I enjoyed the first part of the journey (from Epping to Stratford) the most. Once, I passed through Bank stations onwards, the train was too busy and full with people. It was warm in the train as well. I felt sleepy too due to lack of oxygen in the underground, I guess.

London Tube Challenge : Jubilee line

I read about this Tube Challenge in an article somewhere and I was intrigued. What is Tube Challenge? It is the accepted name for the Guinness World record attempt to visit all the stations on the London Underground network in the fastest time possible. The record for fastest completion is currently held for 16 hours, 14 minutes and 10 seconds.

Hmm why not? Let's do something crazy. I'm not going to break the record, of course. But, I'm going to try visit as much stations as I can. Bought a week travel card that covers from zone 1 to 3. I don't  plan to tag out if there's nothing to see outside of the station. So, I guess the travel card is sufficient to cover my journey. It costs me 40 quids for a week. Better make the most of it.

I decided to start off with the Jubilee line as that's the one that I'm familiar with. The journey started from Canary Wharf station towards Stanmore. I got down at Bermondsey station just to have a look at the area. I was curious. Walked from Bermondsey to London Bridge station. I've put up a post on that part of the journey earlier (see blog post here)

Next, I got down at Green Park Station which took me straight to St. James' Park. There were a lot of people lying on the green grass, enjoying the warm weather. Snapped some pictures and continue on to my next destination.

The station looked like it had gone thorough refurbishment. The red tiles really brighten up the otherwise grubby looking station.

St Johns Wood - There's where the famous Abbey Road Studio and zebra crossing are. The walk from the station to the studio was very relaxing and hardly any passers by around. But then I saw a bunch of people standing beside a road. Oh my god, it was so funny looking at those people trying to get the 'Beatles shot' on the zebra crossing. And the poor drivers need to stop everytime someone tries to cross. I did not take any picture but I had fun watching, though.

Swiss Cottage - The district is named after an  inn called the 'The Swiss tavern' that was built in 1804 and on the site of a former tollgate keeper's cottage. The inn's later named to Swiss Cottage. It is now becomes a pub. The station itself dated from 1939.

Finchley Road - I stopped by the station to find something to eat. There's a Mark & Spencer and Waitrose just outside the station. Then I saw a sign to Freud Museum. I decided to follow it just out of curiosity. Well, the route through the Trinity Walk was kind of challenging with a 60 degrees steep. Unfortunately, the museum was close that day. It only opens from Wednesday to Sunday. But at least I've seen his last house from outside.
I saw this Victorian building which I guess a pub with 1850 plaque on it. I googled it and according to London Remember, It was built in 1850 as one of first building to grace the new Finchley Road. It was purpose built as a pub.

I continue on the Jubilee line without stopping at any station till I reached the end of the line, Stanmore station.

It was a tiring feat to achieve and it took me 7 hours to complete the ride from Stratford to Stanmore and back. But I did take my own sweet time exploring the area nearby the station as well. Will I continue with other line? I don't know. :-)

A night with the dinosaurs - Jurassic World

Well it's Friday and its a date night, yeah! We went to watch Jurassic World movie which opens in theatre today. I had high hopes for this movie because of Chris Pratt. I love watching him in the Guardians of the Galaxy and I expect the same humour-hero combo performance from him. We booked for a 3D version of the movie and our seats were 3 row from the front. It was really close to the screen.

The movie started off with a pair of baby dinosaurs clawing their way out from their shells. Ok. Nothing scary, just a couple of newborn dinosaurs. Then the side story, kids going to vacation and visit their aunt (the park manager) on their own in Isla Nublar, where the Jurassic World is. Ok.

I didn't see any dinosaurs for the next 20 minutes after the first introduction of the baby dinosaurs at the beginning. Ok, my focus started to wane, and I've started yawning. Bad sign. When will the big scary dinosaurs going to make an appearance??? The intro for the Claire, the leading lady was too long and something about her annoyed me. But I can't pinpoint the reason though. 

Then the dinosaurs started appearing one by one. Ok, not that impressed but acceptable. It then progresses on to the 'asset out of containment' situation. The Indominus Rex, is the bad ass villain in this instalment of Jurassic movie franchise.  It was enormous but look like a T-Rex which confuses me when a T-Rex was brought in to kill the new Indominus. Both looked the same on screen. The scene where both Rex's fighting each other reminds me of the movie Godzilla. 

I just need to say something about the character Masrani, owner of the park. His character was so unnecessary and just add confusion to the story. He tried to be a hero to save his park but ended up killing himself in the process. S.T.U.P.I.D

Oh, don't let me start with Claire. She acted almighty in the beginning of the movie, total bimbo in the middle and totally mental at the end. The character is a mess. I just can't connect with her. Plus, I think Bryce Horward is wrong for the part and can't act to save her life. But that's just my opinion. 

Hubby loves this movie because of all the special effects and dino fights. For me this movie is a B-, the only saving grace is Chris Pratt.

A day In Bermondsey / Southwark

I was on a crazy mission to visit as much tube station as I can when I alighted the train at Bermondsey station. I was curious what kind of place Bermondsey is. The name just sounds exotic :-)

Don't know which way to turn once I'm outside the station, left or right? Saw the Shard building on the left, so to the left it is. There were not many people around as it's just past the morning rush. The place was quiet and not much traffic either. So, just calmly walked along the road until I saw a sign to Thames path. So I followed it. It brought me through a street with wharves on both side of the it. It was so pretty. I think it's probably old wharves building turned into high end residential estate. The name of the wharves that interest me most, Java Wharf, St. Saviours, St' Georges, St' Andrews, New Concordia, Butlers wharf & Tea trade wharf. I wonder how the wharves got its name.

I reached the Design Museum and in front of it is a weird looking sculpture. It looks like a face of a man.

I walked straight on along the Shad Thames. The small alley is interesting due to its cobbled stone, very dangerous if one is wearing high heels. Swanky restaurants and delicious looking bakery lines the street now. But it used have largest complex of warehouses that stores tea, coffee and spices unloaded from river boats.

The converted warehouses retain their original features and named after the commodities which were originally stored in them - Vanilla & Sesame Court, Cayenne Court, Ginger Wall and others. I did smell a hint of vanilla when I was in Vanilla & Sesame Court, though. Then, there's a striking red structure that caught my eyes. It's the China Wharf, which is actually a new residential building. There were also boat houses docking in front of the New Concordia wharf.

Further along, I reached the Tower Bridge and walked along the Queen's walk on the riverside. As usual, the place is packed with tourist with selfie stick trying to get the best shots of the Tower Bridge as a background. Walked past the shell-shaped City Hall building and the Scoop, the open-air theatre that opens during the summer. There'll be a live telecast of Wimbledon games as well. Yeah! 

A riviera just popped up in London with view of the Thames. The colourful deck chairs were so cute with palm trees scattered  around the area. 

There's an exhibition going on near the Tower Bridge pier. It exhibits Thames tideway tunnel system, London sewerage system and hidden Thames gems.

Walked into Hay's Galleria, which now houses offices and restaurants where it used to be a warehouse. It was named after its original owner who acquired the property in 1651. In a fountain at the centre of the Galleria is a 60ft moving bronze sculpture of a ship unveiled in 1987 to commemorate its heritage. I thought the ship has been there since the 1700, I was wrong! 

Walked past by the HMS Belfast ship/museum but I didn't go in. Its admission price is to steep for a poor Londoners like me. Plus I had visited a battleship before - back in August last year.

Straight on until I reached the London Bridge station where I hopped on a tube to continue on my silly Tube Challenge :-)

A day in Firepower - Royal Artillery Museum

This visit is part of my crazy London tube challenge. The museum is in Woolwich Arsenal and the nearest tube is the DLR Woolwich Arsenal station. It's just 5 minutes walk from the station through the Woolwich Market. 

A day in Kenwood House

I really wanted to visit Kenwood House since I saw the Notting Hill movie back in early 2000. The house was in the background when Julia Robert was filming Henry James' movie. Actually I love old Victorian and Georgian houses. Sometimes. I wished that I was born in those period of time, in upper class society of course :-) Oh, the dresses, the afternoon tea, the parties and balls!

How to get there?

I took the Northern line towards Edgware and stopped at Golden Greens station. Once there, I was supposed to take a bus No. 210 to Kenwood House. But, when I reached the station, I saw a bus station and not a bus stop. There were lots of bus stops and buses including National Express busses. I was quite loss and asked around for the correct bus stop to go to. The first was wrong and I waited 10 minutes but no 210 bus. I asked again and finally found the bus stop that is slightly outside the bus station, stop GK. Lucky, a bus was due to arrive in 1 minute, otherwise more waiting for me. Got on the bus and nervously watching the bus stop announcement/indicator. I got down at Kenwood House stop, like 5 stops away (20 minutes) from the tube station. But, I didn't see the entrance gate and I walked the wrong way (towards the direction of travel) instead the opposite. I walked till I reached another bus stop and another gate, the Compton Avenue/Kenwood House stop. Silly me.

The House

There's no entrance fees to the house but donations are welcome. The staffs are welcoming compared to other houses I've been to. They are approachable and knowledgable as well, I guess its a pre-requisite skill to have anyway.

The highlight of the house is the Library room. It was painted in pastels colour scheme and the ceiling is magnificent. It's my favourite room of the whole house.

The rest of the house are filled with beautiful paintings and portraits. There's one portrait where a lady was posing in her bridesmaid dress and it was quite fashion forward for that period. I was told that a royal tailor made that particular dress.

Dido Belle
Dido Belle was born into slavery as the natural daughter of Maria Belle, an enslaved African woman and Captain John Lindsay, a naval officer stationed there. Lindsay took Belle with him when he returned to England and entrusting her to his uncle William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield to raise. The Murrays educated Belle, bringing her up as a free gentlewoman at Kenwood House, with their niece Lady Elizabeth Murray. Belle lived there for 30 years. It is a very interesting story as at time, normally coloured people were normally slaves. They must have helpers in the house who were coloured people as well. I wonder how Belle feels, did she felt guilty or lucky for being born in upper class English family. There's a movie on Dido story in 2014.

The exterior

I love this side of the house as it reminds me of the Notting Hill movie. Will definitely watch this movie this weekend. :-)

There's a lake in front of the house with sweeping hilly garden. It's just beautiful. The woodland around the house is pretty ancient too. Plus they have a cute dairy farm as well.

I completed the tour of the house and garden in 2.5 hours. I enjoyed the cafe as well, the coffee and cakes are fabulous. They have afternoon tea on offer, 22.50 pounds per person.

I recommend this place if you love old mansions and its history.

A day in Kew Garden

Another late entry. I visited Kew garden with my husband last Saturday (6/6/2015) and didn't get to write an entry due to extreme exhaustion :-) So here goes.........


It's finally Saturday and I'm so excited!!! We're going to Kew Garden today. Been planning this for weeks. 

We went out approximately 11 am (late, I know). Took the DLR and got off at Bank station. But surprise, surprise, when we arrived, we saw a sign stating that the Monument station was close. So, we decided to catch a District line train from Tower Hill station. So, we took the DLR again back to Shadwell and change for Tower gateway train. But......the Tower Hill station was close too!!!! I felt so silly for not checking the tube status before we went out. Rookie mistake! Hence, onto the DLR again to Shadwell, to catch the Overground train to Kew Garden. Surprisingly, there were no closures on the Overground line. Normally, there'll be massive closures on the Overground line during weekends. There's no direct route from Shadwell to Kew, so we need to change at Cannonbury for train towards Richmond. 

It's mid-day when we reached Kew station. There were a lot of people trying to get out from the small station. Once, we are out of the station, we followed the signage to Kew Garden. It took us up a crossing bridge to the other side of the station and walked for another good 10 minutes before we reached the front gate. 

I saw lots of people queueing outside its gate. Lucky, I decided to buy the tickets online. If you buy the tickets online, you need to print it out and they'll just scan it at the gate. No more queuing! Oh, and the ticket cost 14 pounds if you buy it online compared to 16 pounds at the gate. Save time and money, what more do you need?

We were so rushed trying to get to Kew as fast as we can (the park/garden close at 6 pm), that when we passed the gate we were quite a loss on where to start. We only have like 5 hours to cover the vast park so hubby became the time keeper. We tried our best to visit all the attractions in the park.

Palm House

It was built in 1844 and has been in the park for 160 years. Impressive! It houses palms & other tropical trees from around the world. I'm from tropical climate country and most of the plants in there were familiar to me. But it's still fascinating to see it. I saw a Durian tree but no durian fruit! I guess they alter the tree DNA or something so that it won't have fruit. Just imagine a thorny durian fall on visitors, that would be a disaster. I saw a person fascinated with a banana tree. I used to ignore the banana trees at my grandma's house but here people are fascinated by it. I should be grateful that I grew up knowing the things that I knew. I'll definitely teach my future children to be one with the nature. The glasshouse was so hot inside, that I felt like melting. Once, I stepped out of it, I felt so relieved. I wonder how it will be in the peak of summer heat. 

There's another large glasshouse in the park, the Temperate House. It's the largest surviving Victorian glasshouse in the world. Unfortunately, it's currently being restored and will only re-open in 2018. 

Waterlily House

Next to the Palm House, is the Waterlily House. It was built in 1852 to house the natural wonder, the giant waterlily, Victoria Ammonica. There were also other beautiful waterlilies in there as well. It was a joy to take pictures of the flowers.

Pagoda 
In the middle of a Victorian park there it was a Pagoda stood 10-storey high. It was built in 1762  as a gift for Princess Augusta, the founder of Kew Garden (I think!). But you can't enter the pagoda, though. It's close to public. It was almost 3pm and we decided to stop for a quick lunch at the pagoda. Lucky we bought lunch with us, as the food in the cafe were so expensive. My time-keeper hubby told me that we only can sit for 10 minutes, oh boy how annoying. Well, the reason that we went out late this morning was because hubby woke up late and I had to wait for him to get ready.  Plus, the back and forth in the DLR trying to find your way to Kew took away precious time. Ok, enough with the nagging :-)

There's a Japanese Gateway and garden near the Pagoda complete with a Chokushi-Mon, a replica of the gateway of the Imperial Messenger in Kyoto.

Xstrata treetop walkway 
Next, is the treetop walk. The walkway is 18m above ground and 200m long. It was opened in 2008, quite recent. We took the stairs to top, what a mistake. I was out of breath when I reached the top. There's a lift if you're wondering, do take those. It was a windy day and the walkway do sway a little bit and you can see the bottom when you walked along the walkway. It's quite scary if you're afraid of heights like me. I ended up clutching my hubby's hand and walked really fast to the end. Hubby didn't get to enjoy the scenery that much 'cause I kept whining. Sorry love.

Princess of Wales Conservatory 
The conservatory was opened in 1987 by Diana, Princess of Wales. It houses various plants especially cactuses. Lots of weird looking cactuses. If you love orchids, there are various species on display as well.

Sackler crossing 
It was built in 2006. The bridge is quite unique because as you approach the crossing, you can see as if there's solid walls on both sides. But, if you see it on the side, the was is almost invisible. You need to see it to appreciate. My picture does not do it justice.

Kew Palace 
The centrepiece of the park, the Kew Palace. It was built in 1631 as a country retreat for George III. He and Queen Charlotte spent their summer with their 15 children. It was also a refuge for George III during his infamous episodes of madness. Queen Charlotte died here in 1818, and since then the house was closed up. It was only re-opened 80 years later but it was in a really bad shape. It has been restored since. It was quite a small house, I wonder how noisy it was with 15 children inside.

The Orangery (1761)
There's an orangery next to the palace but there's a wedding happening, so we can't enter it. The building is very pretty and suitable for wedding and other events.

It was a pretty long day with lots of power walking involved. I suggest if you want to enjoy the park leisurely, do arrive early as the park opens at 9.30 am. I was quite exhausted at the end of the day that I spent the whole Sunday lying on the sofa.

A day in Westminster

Date of visit: 4 June 2015
Place of visit: Westminster, London

It was a sunny and super HOT day today. The temperature reached 25C and my skin became tanner/browner as though I'm not dark enough before :(

Walked the suggested route 'Westminster Walk' (see Map below) that I got from WalkLondon.com. It covers the main tourist attractions in Westminster.

Attractions along the way:
1-House of Parliaments & Big Ben
2-10, Downing Street
3-Horse Guards
4-Banqueting Hall, Whitehall
5-Trafalgar Sq & Nelson Column
6-National Gallery
7-St James' Palace
8-The Mall & Clarence House
9-Buckingham Palace
10-Queen's Gallery & Royal Mew
11-Churchill War Rooms
12-Westminster Abbey

Well, as usual I'm not good at following guides, I either got loss or strayed to other things that looked interesting to me at that time. I started from the mid-section i.e. from Trafalgar Square, which I've seen everyday since Monday. I think it has etched into my long term memory by now :) Next, to the National Gallery.

There were lots of awesome paintings the gallery. I saw Rafael's and Leonardo Da Vinci's awesome paintings. It looked so life-like. I just can't believe someone can paint so well. But unlucky for me, I was not able to view the very famous Van Gogh painting, the Sunflowers, as the room was closed for restoration work. The staff told me that the room will be open on Friday, but maybe some other time.

It took me like 1 hour to finish the whole museum. I'm not into the art so much but at least I've seen the famous paintings once in my lifetime.

I did not rent the audio guide so I was a bit lost. Didn't know what I was looking at except that it were beautiful. There was quite a crowd when I was there, but surprisingly quite.

Truthfully, I was quite bored in there!

Admiralty Arch

Before I know it, it was lunch time and I did not have any breakfast yet. Bought cheap sarnie from Co-Op and coffee from Costa. I headed off to St James' Park through the Admiralty Arch.

Walked along The Mall and stopped by St James' Park where I sat under the shade having my lunch. Will never get to do this anymore in the future.

Buckingham Palace

Continued on to Buckingham Palace. But it was too hot to take a decent picture so I just give up. This is the only good picture of the place that I have (after Photoshop treatment, of course). By this time, I feel it weak due to dehydration. I quickly passed through park to find St James Palace but alas I couldn't find it and I ended up at the end of the garden and I was on Piccadilly road.  Hahahahaha... I'm lost again! But what the heck, keep on walking till I reached Piccadilly circus, turned right and walked downhill towards Parliament Square.

Now, the masterpiece of London, Westminster Abbey! Wanted to go in and have a look but the 20 quid price tag is just too steep for a budget traveller like me. I guess the exterior picture is enough and  bought some postcards with the interior pictures on it. Job done!

There you go. I completed the Westminster walk in 3 hours, including visit to the National Gallery. Not bad! But I was sun burnt and dehydrated at the end of the walk. Really, if you're walking around London during heat waves/summer, do consume lots of liquids (not iced coffee like I did, it made me more dehydrated).