Olgui's Pink Birthday

That time of the year has come around again. Yes, it was celebrations all round as Olgui celebrated another candle appearing on her cake.

This year we met up in All Bar One with friends for a pink-themed party. Some people went all out, others had to search high and low for anything in this colour.

With Elena, Clea, Monika, Gianina, Eva, Andreia and Mar, the place got pretty busy (and lively).

We actually only noticed the torrential downpour at midnight when we left to go our separate ways, but nothing a quick run couldn't fix.

 

Here's to another year of a wiser and more mature (like the wine, not the cheese) Olgui :)

Ali, Marilyn, and Cryptic Tea

Before the end of the first quarter of 2012, the delightful Ali decided to pay us another visit. Although we couldn't guarantee the weather, it actually turned out okay in the end.

Friday night saw us visit Pierre Victoire's restaurant and have an amazing French meal. This was followed by a meet up with the girls (it was actually 3 guys to about 20 girls, so we weren't complaining).

We got up early on Saturday to get the train down to London (or is that up?) where we headed towards Oxford Street. Not for any shopping, mind, but rather to visit the Getty Images exhibition of Marilyn Monroe. There were photos of her during filming, plus private photos shopping, visiting London and relaxing. Also on show were the costumes from some of her plays, photos of which you will see below.

After the exhibition, we went down Regent Street so the girls could do some shopping in the big stores. After a light snack for lunch, it was off to the theatre to see Absent Friends, which was very enjoyable.

Of course the hunger came back after we  came out of the theatre, so we went to St Martin on the Fields for a spot of afternoon tea in the crypt which was very atmospheric (and quite tasty too).

On returning home we unwound on the sofa watching the latest episode of Inspector Montalbano. What a full day !

Sunday was not quite so early, but as the sun came out we headed off to Witney where after walking around for a bit we returned to the Hollybush for our Sunday Lunch. What a meal it was! This place is definitely worth a visit if you find yourself in Witney one day.

After all that, it was time to say goodbye to Ali as on Monday morning she left for Mainz again. I'm sure it won't be her last visit though, so better get planning already...

You can see the rest of the photos here...

Oxfordshire Cycle Trip #2

Yesterday afternoon the sun was out, and after a light shower had gone away, it was perfect timing for getting out on the bike again and enjoying the fresh air.

Unfortunately this time the internet had just stopped working at home, so I was not able to plan any routes. Instead I just head off towards Islip and from there took any roads that looked interesting. Of course there were some hills along the way, yet again I was caught out by a long slow climbing hill, which once around a corner, turned into a very steep hill.

This time though, the only moments needed to stop were to check where I was (although this doesn't help when the phone signal is also lower than one bar). After passing some nice villages with funny names like Noke, and woodland on both sides of the road, I decided it might be time to head back towards home before I get too lost (and didn't really fancy going back up some of those hills I had just descended).

At this point I realised that I was in fact pretty close to Headington, so the return route was going down the Headington Hill, passing the mosque, and then through St. Clements and between the university buildings until hitting the usual Oxford Road back to Kidlington.

So here's the map for those interested:

View Larger Map

After a relaxing shower a siesta of a couple of hours was in order, and I awoke nice and fresh in time for a Madras and an Old Crafty Hen whilst watching the latest installment of Inspector Montalbano.

Now it's just started snowing...c'est la vie...

It's all about the double drop

On Sunday we set off towards Witney in order to claim the spoils of the Oxford Ale Trail (see earlier post).

The day started out lovely and sunny, and it really was a nice day to go out on a local trip. After meeting up with Diego, Hannah and Francesco, we caught the bus across the Oxfordshire fields, passing through some really typical little villages, and arrived at our destination in good time.

 

The Wychwood brewery was a little difficult to find (we should have followed our noses) but we made it in time for the grand tour. This consisted of being given a swift half before entering the premises (point to not - we didn't pay for the half, so I remain free from having ever bought a half pint). We were then shown around the different areas of the brewery, explained how the process takes place, what (and why) ingredients are used, and what the difference is between the various hops. We were then explained about the famous "double-drop" method, used by Brakspeare, before being taken back to the tasting room.

 

We tried the draught Hobgoblin first, then the bottled version (which tasted much fizzier and stronger in comparison). We then tried the draught version again, this time noticing that it seemed to taste like water. This is the reason why if you start on the bottles, you have to keep doing them for the rest of the night. Next up was a paler ale, which was quite refreshing. We then went on to the 6.75% ABV bitter, which was surprisingly very tasty (but I wouldn't want to have to drink a pint of it). In order to take away this taste so that we could go back to some of the more 'normal' ales, we had a mouthful of the Ginger Beer, which was very tasty indeed.

  

We then continued to finish up the bottles and pitchers that were started for our tasting, until we were called away by the ladyfolk for dinner. This was taken at the Hollybush, which was recommended by a local couple who were also on the tour. We had a delicious meal, with extremely friendly staff and good ambiance. Definitely a place to come back to!

If you are wondering where the photos from the brewery are - there are none. I had my hands full with all that beer...

Cheers !

Science and Technology Roundup

After the fallen snow of recent times (I kept on saying we would get the proper winter in February...) one ends up reading a bit more of the news. This has actually led to me being impressed by a few things I've found recently.

Google's search algorithm has been used for a much better purpose - to find molecular links that would work better for medicine. This seems such an amazing use of an until now controversial bit of maths, and if you think more along these lines, you should be able to do a lot more investigation in a chemical model. In fact, think a bit further, and you can probably use it for physics too.

3D printers. I never thought much of them. If someone had invented a printer that could produce any object, then surely it would change the whole world around. Well, they do exist, and they have been recently used to do something miraculous. Instead of having to go through a lot of microsurgical reconstruction, not being able to talk or swallow for a good few days, a new jaw was printed for this 83 year old, and she was using it just like normal within a day. Think about this a moment. Something printed, from your computer, and replacing a part of your body you use for many daily tasks...very impressive!

Sometimes technology can also go wrong. We all know what bad things can happen when you end up losing control of vehicles and other potentially dangerous objects. This time it was a lot less damaging. Those captions that appear at the bottom of the screen when someone is being interviewed. When these system get things wrong, they can also cause a few chuckles, like here, where a young girl was labelled as a recovering alcoholic...

And to leave you with an interesting link. Ever feel like your eyes are tired and hurting, and the screen too bright in the evenings? Well, that's because the ambient light changes in tone through the day and especially at night, when it's all artificial. Try this program on your computer to change your display to be more natural to the surrounding light. Great idea !

Here's hoping for many more good scientific advancements...

Kung Hei Fat Choi

Last Sunday marked the end of Chinese New Year celebrations in London for the year of the dragon. Tens of thousands of people descended on London (well, those that didn't already live there) to see the festivities around Chinatown, Shaftesbury Avenue and Trafalgar Square.

The procession went around Chinatown, with the streets packed with crowds vying for a spot to see the dancers and musicians go by. Once they finished the route, people headed off towards Trafalgar Square to see the main stage for the firecrackers, dragon dances and other shows.

The main event was scheduled to start at 12 o'clock (midday), but as people started arriving from Chinatown, it was obvious that if you hadn't got there by 11.40, you weren't going to get a spot where you could see anything.

Luckily we managed to get spots on the stairs, which were elevated from the main floor and the many heads. It must be said that the weather was freezing, definitely below zero, and felt like about -5. Everyone tried to keep themselves warm and busy whilst waiting for the clock to strike 12, and on the dot the presenters came onto the stage.

They then started to introduce the festival committee, which consisted of about 15 people from the UK and China, each with relatively long titles. As each one was introduced, they came to the front of the stage and started to thank every one of the others standing up there with them ,never missing their titles as well.

Once everyone realised that we were in for a long wait before we would actually see anything, people started to leave the area. Not only had they introduced themselves, but then they had to do the painting of the dragon eyes, each minister at a time...

By the time the dragon dances started ,people had been waiting in the freezing cold for over an hour. As you can imagine, they weren't too pleased (those that had stayed - many had already left by now).

The dragon dances were very colourful and skilled, and were great to watch, it was just a pity that the day was let down by the amount of waiting before seeing anything. Next time maybe they will do an introduction between each show, so that at least people can see something before they got frozen and had to leave for home.

Spam, Burns and Retirement

We all hate those emails that arrive in our inboxes selling various pills and financial services. The fact that around 90% of all email is now spam, doesn't help matters.

However, this is not what I am wanting to talk about today. No, this is a much more favourable topic, namely SPAMALOT. Yes, we went and saw this theatre production last week (specially discounted tickets made it well worth it).
Based on Monty Python sketches, this production had us in fits of laughter many a time. A musical production, it still managed to keep non-musical lovers content by the sense of humour that MP brought to the world. As such, young children, OAPs, and everyone in between were in the audience enjoying this show.
Heartily recommended!

The 25th of January is celebrated throughout Scotland, but not many people outside of this area actually know the history of Burn's Night, so click on that link to find out more. South of Hadrian's Wall we don't normally celebrate this day, but you do see some related changes around you. For instance, at the local Cornish Pasty shop, they were offering Pasties with Haggis in them. Now this is a weird combination, being a mix of the far north and far south, but it worked surprisingly well.

Also a local pub was offering the traditional Haggis with neeps and tatties, which we just had to try yesterday (didn't we Diego?).
We didn't go the whole hog, however, and left the whisky on the side and opted for a more refreshing pint of Scottish ale. After eating we were accompanied by Eva, Kyle, Elena, Clea (+1), Gaia, Simon, and Irina, filling up the Swan and Castle (ok, just one area of it) and being able to say goodbye to Diego in style before he leaves these shores for those of a French nature.
See you soon !

For those of you who read my last post, went and watched The Artist, and loved it, you will be sad to hear that the dog (Uggie) is set to retire. Yes, after the tiring life of a movie star, he has decided to go off to Florida and spend his days relaxing on the beach, apparently :)
Rumours that he might come out of retirement for a sequel are unfounded, as he has not been offered the amount of dog food that he is demanding.

Bogota reached the news spectacularly the other day, as it was amongst the top 15 cities for business according to Fortune Magazine. Some positive publicity like this definitely does wonders for th country's image, so lets hope things keep on going this way. Well, celebrations tomorrow in London for the Chinese New Year, so hopefully have some great photos to put up soon.

Always look on the bright side of life !