Fri 12 Feb 2010
I went to a play! My first review on Spoonfed in quite a while and it was worth the wait, for me at least, as it was a brilliant event.
Entirely new, utterly creative and complete with the risk of everything going disastrously wrong. What more could you want out of theatre?
Read on: Round 2 at The Electricty Showrooms - Spoonfed London.
Mon 1 Feb 2010
Apologies (again) for the radio silence but, as if I weren’t busy enough, I joined a gym - the incredible 37 Degrees in Olympia and while I know the love affair with the elliptical won’t last forever, I’ve spent most of my free time there this last week.
However while the gym may have taken over my mornings and weekend, January has proven to be the month of meetups in that I’ve attended some quite fantastic ones over the last few weeks, and branched out from my regularly attended London networking events.
First was the fabulous YesAndClub, a group founded on the basis of the idea that you want to surround yourself with people who say “yes… And?” To an idea rather than “yes, but…” I had heard a lot about the group before I visited as a guest (members must either be recommended by a current member or apply) and found it to be a fantastic collection of people. In particular, it was nice to be around people whose background covered a range of business initiatives rather than just tech.
Also that week I attended a dinner hosted by online publishing company Blurb, who print high quality books users create themselves. Not only did we have a chance to see the quality and range of products that Blurb produces but we also spent an enjoyable dinner discussing the pros and cons of social media in business, and how small companies can leverage that medium. It was a ton of fun, not least of all because all of the invitees were women, which led to some lively conversation.
Speaking of women, the following week I had a chance to attend an event hosted by TheNextWoment, an online magazine and business network for women that also hosts fantastic speaking and networking events. The event I attended featured a range of speakers talking about business strategy, as well as an excellent opportunity to network with some of the most accomplished women in London.
So in the space of a few weeks, I’ve had a chance to connect with a fantastic range of people, learn some business and social media strategy and, of course, join a gym. Not a bad start to the new year! Happy Feburary everyone and if you’re stuck for what to do on the 14th, take a look at Spoonfed’s Valentine’s Day ideas for a laugh, if not necessarily for the world’s most romantic date ;-).
Sun 24 Jan 2010
On Saturday, a small group of us visited the London Dungeons, a tourist trap of epic proportions featuring mangled London history, mutilated “facts” around horror stories and a combination of cheesy and spooky live acting and props that would put the Disneyland haunted house to shame.
I was somewhat surprised by what a great time I had.
The family entertainment was certainly less scary than I (in my ‘fraidy-cat-ness) had feared, the amazing snapshot above being a product of the drop-zone type ride at the end of the tour. There were a fair few ‘things that jump out at you with a loud scream’ or ‘things that go bang behind your ear’ but the majority of the tour was actually pretty witty scripting for the live actors (who included the unfortunate souls surrounding such infamous names and events as Jack the Ripper, Sweeney Todd or the bubonic plague).
The circumstances that saw us purchasing tickets were a special event at the dungeons that lowered ticket prices by more than half - and I honestly can’t say it was worth the full ticket price. But at ten quid a head and on a gloomy Saturday morning, it was the perfect London entertainment.
Sat 19 Dec 2009
Before heading back to California, Alex, Henry and I had an end of the year dinner at a Notting Hill diner with, what I was promised were, the best hamburgers and milkshakes in London. With that tall order, and hearing the two of them gush about various dishes on the menu the entire way to the restaurant (California burger with avocado and mozzarella; onion rings; chocolate milk shakes… uh oh, I’m getting hungry again!) I was really looking forward to our meal.
We arrived at the diner which, true to its word, felt like a 50’s burger joint, complete with red booths and a silver bar from which fountain drinks, fries and burgers appeared with impressive speed. We settled down to business with milk shakes and placed our orders for various burgers - and low and behold, Lucky 7 Diner has managed to create an American tasting and looking burger in the heart of Notting Hill. Delicious :-).
127 Westbourne Park Road
London, W2 5QL, United Kingdom
020 7727 6771
Wed 16 Dec 2009
While I do a lot of baking at The Top Floor Flat, every so often it’s nice to indulge in someone else’s confectionery goods - especially if that someone else is winning French pastry shop Maison Bertaux. My flatmate Ann had been singing the praises of the shop for some time and finally we found a spare few hours, sandwiched between Christmas shopping, for us both to visit the impressive display of cakes, pastries and gloriously over-the-top desserts.
Instead of trying to describe the food, here are a few pictures:
For the incredible quality, the prices are very reasonable - but bring someone to share the food with you; one slice of cake proved too much for even me to handle (but that didn’t stop me from making a valiant effort.)
28 Greek Street
Soho, London
W1D 5DD
Tel: 020 7437 6007
Tue 15 Dec 2009
Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Courvoisier Punch Bowl Experience (and what an experience it was!). But after sailing across a bowl of alcohol on a wooden orange slice, I had worked up an appetite and my friend Alice and I found ourselves in Soho, surrounded by some of London’s best restaurants, and not a clue where to eat. Half an hour of wandering later we had decided we were ravenous, desperately wanted sushi and didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg to satisfy both cravings. This seemed like an impossible challenge to overcome as we passed half a dozen overpriced sushi restaurants on the various side streets around Piccadilly Circus when we came across a little shop called Ten Ten Tei.
While the menu held fairly standard Japanese fare, what caught our eye were the preset meals, which looked fantastic and featured soup, salad, sushi, tempura, teriyaki, fried tofu and dessert. Expecting a reasonably sized sample plate of each of the offered items, we were delighted when generous plates of each were presented one after the other, with a large patter of sushi each topping off the meal.
For less than £20, we had an incredible meal. The ambiance in the restaurant itself was limited, although we were seated in the slightly cramped upper level on the ground floor alongside the sushi bar - it wasn’t until later I realised that lower level seating looked a bit nicer. Regardless of the space, however, it was a delicious meal and one I am very much looking forward to repeating.
56 Brewer Street,
London, W1F 9TJ
020 7287 1738
Mon 14 Dec 2009
I’ve been singing the praises of the collaborative creation of Courvoisier and jelly makers Bompas and Parr ever since I heard about plans to create a giant punch bowl so big one could row a boat across it. The idea of a bowl of punch where one could not only drown their troubles but also all of the individuals responsible for said troubles immediately captured my imagination. So it was with immense excitement that I finally stepped through the doors of 33 Portland Place to witness the Courvoisier Architectural Punch Bowl Experience for myself.
Read the rest of my review for the Courvoisier Punch Bowl Experience on Spoonfed.
Tue 1 Dec 2009
Of all of the London landmarks, the London Eye seems to be one of the most visitor-friendly. Unlike Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and all of the others, the London Eye is interactive, provides views of the rest of London, feels like an amusement park ride and looks damn impressive. Perhaps that’s why they charge you so much to go on the thing. Due to the price, my busy schedule and the fact that I was still hoping my parents would come visit and it would be a fun family activity, I had never actually ridden the Eye in the year and a half I’ve been in London. Yet despite the fact that I was holding out for a family outing, I was certainly not going to turn down the opportunity to take a champagne night flight on the London Eye if the opportunity presented itself.
Which, conveniently, the opportunity did last week. The evening before my epic Karma Kab ride, I, along with my good friend and coworker Alice, made our way to the South Bank to join a small group of bloggers on the flight. Alice had been on the Eye before when she was younger but during the day. I was the only one of the group who had never ridden it before.
We were first treated to a short 3D video teaser of the ride itself in the movie theatre. While there were no other riders around (a welcome change from the carnage of queues that usually extends along the South Bank for the Eye) this video seemed to be more of a pit stop for the families waiting for their turn rather than its own feature event. Still, it was an impressive showcase and include shots of the fireworks over the Eye on New Year’s.
Then it was up to the Eye itself for the 40 minute ride. We were accompanied by an attendant whose job was to serve us champagne, a nice perk (and available on all regular flights – for an added price). We were also given an aerial map of London to help us find the key landmarks from above. Although it was dark, it was still an amazing way to see the city, and we even picked out some interesting seasonal landmarks, such as the Ferris Wheel in Hyde Park (part of the Winter Wonderland event) and the Oxford Street Lights.
Overall it was an incredible experience and I’d love to go again during the day – I’m sure it’d be a totally different type of view. Although the ride is relatively short, it’s also an incredible way to get a sense of London and see a lot of the city in one go. Fortunately for my parents, sounds like I’m still happy to let them take me on the Eye when they come visit; just so long as we go for the champagne flight.
Mon 30 Nov 2009
As an American, travelling abroad this time of year can be an interesting experience. It sounds silly but sometimes I honestly forget that Thanksgiving is unique to my native homeland. I mean, Christmas with its rampant commercialism seems to better typify American-ness, much moreso than a day about giving thanks for the amazing things in our lives. So, whether it’s homesickness, forgetfulness or just the desire to share one of the best holidays of the year, I’ve found that both myself and other Americans tend to force Thanksgiving, figuratively and literally, down the throats of their fellow abroadees.
This year, my Thanksgiving took place the Saturday after the traditional Thursday and a friend of mine from Colby who also happens to be in London had invited me over to celebrate. Although he wasn’t American himself (in fact originally from Kenya) four years at an American university had instilled in him the need for turkey, potatoes, stuffing and pumpkin pie once a year. I wasn’t particularly surprised when he called the night before to ask if I’d be willing to come by and help him cook the meal for the rest of the guests and, with no other plans and excited to take on the challenge of cooking a 20lb bird, I agreed.
Little did I know that this meant that I would be, in fact, cooking the entire meal myself – and I arrived to find my friend looking expectantly to me to make the meal appear. The flat, a Depford bachelor pad with a view of Greenwich and Canary Wharf was gorgeous however I was a bit overwhelmed by the cooking before me when I realised the building was stocked with a bag of potatoes, a giant turkey, and about four dozen bottles of various alcohols and mixers. I hastily scribbled up a list and sent my friend to the store, leaving me alone in the flat to attack the bird and prepare the pie (the ingredients for which I had brought myself, correctly assuming that ground cloves might be mistaken for some sort of illegal supplement rather than the necessary spice).
Six hours and a surprisingly straightforward cooking routine later, I proudly produced a (sadly dry) turkey, gravy, stuffing, green beans, broccoli, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie for the seven of us who gathered for dinner. In the true spirit of the holiday, we consumed almost all of it – including a fair number of the bottles of wine.
I have so much to give thanks for this year; the fact that I am happy, healthy and safe in an amazing part of the world, working in a job I love, communicating my family regularly, surrounded by a growing international contingent of friends and with a bright future ahead. All of that and, of course, the fact that I successfully managed to produce a full Thanksgiving dinner that everyone enjoyed.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Fri 27 Nov 2009
I think I’m doing pretty well on the karma front. I managed some charitable giving this year, I attended the International Buddhist Film Festival, I’ve baked a few cakes and pies for the office… But what really set me over the top on my quest for enlightenment was my one-of-a-kind commute yesterday. Cobra Beer - the only beer one would conceivably drink along with their traditional British curries - is celebrating National Curry Week by hiring a small army of Karma Kabs to shuffle shmucks with an hour+ commute (like me!) around London.
How to describe a Karma Kab? The most effective analogy I’ve come up with is the following: think back to that horrendous early 2009 film with Mike Meyers, Love Guru. Now, imagine a cab that looks exactly like that film. This was the thoroughly pimped ride that appeared on my doorstep Thursday to take me (and the karma-inducing pumpkin pies I had made for the office) into work.
Along with simply giving some free rides for National Curry Week, the Cobra team had also done some surveys to discover, among other things, one in five Brits name curry as their favourite food. It’s almost like pizza in the States as the default takeout food.
During my incense-heavy ride, I was also presented with a bag full of goodies to make my own, handmade curries, some recipes and, of course, a range of Cobra beer.
So, feeling enlightened (or was that ‘light-headed’ from the incense in my Karma Kab), and bearing pies, beer and curry, I arrived at Spoonfed after a significantly less painful commute than normal. Be good and good things will come, and if good karma equals curry, beer and Karma Kabs, I’m going to camp out under a Bodhi tree. Have a great National Curry Week!
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