Lancaster

Patrick Travel, UK Life

Last week I helped out on a project way up north nears the Lakes district located in Lancaster. I’ve never really been that far north in England – the furtherest place really being Milton Keynes (and that city’s definitely not very representative of England). Being pretty far north, I expected lots of rain and extremely cold weather so I was pleasantly surprised when I got off the train to semi-blue skies and a fairly moderate temperature. It did rain during my stay there yet it was still fairly light and didn’t last all day and night.

Lancaster Station

Lancaster has plenty of history and going out to dinner with one of the client staff told me much more about it all. Lancaster is located very close to the coast, leading to very moderate temperatures all season (never too hot in summer and never too cold in winter). The infamous Morecambe Bay (where the eighteen cocklefish pickers died several years ago) is also located very close there. Of course, travelling during the week and doing so for work meant that we never got to visit the vast stretch of sand where the tide will cause the shore water to move faster than you can walk, leaving you in plenty of deep water before you know it.

What I really enjoyed about the city was it’s pristine condition for such an old city. A small ring road encompasses the main part of the city and all the places within it are all walking distance apart. In fact most are no more than fifteen or twenty minutes from one side to another. All of the buildings in this area must be built from stone and the resulting look is simply stunning with store fronts, houses and office spaces simply looking like extensions to the Castle and Church located in the heart of the city. Like most English cities, Lancaster has plenty of pubs per person though forty within the tiny ring road still seemed a little excessive to me. We ended up in the Ye Old John O’Gaunt one night and enjoyed a little bit of live music amidst the buzzing mix of university and locals.

I stayed at the Penny Street Bridge Hotel for the couple of nights I was there and was definitely impressed. It’s definitely new and its modern finishings and fittings seemed to stand in bleak contrast to the older stone exterior. It’s only got 26 rooms yet I was the last person to check in that effectively filled it up. They offer a standard continental breakfast and free internet (both wireless and the standard network cable).

Penny Street Bridge Hotel

I think it would’ve been great to stay there for the weekend and check out all the local sights. I had slight difficulty understanding some of the Lancashire accents yet the people were extremely helpful and friendly in all the places I went.

Habits

Patrick General, UK Life

I just got in to London this morning from my trip to New York and I’ve finally finished doing all the things you do when you get back from a trip – unpack, do some laundry, and generally unwind. One thing that I noticed, in the haze of little sleep and yet another timezone, was one of my annoying habits when doing all of this.

Do you, like me, tend to move one pile of things from one place to another? I’m sure I’ve done it plenty of times before as well. It feels like you’re making progress, by moving things and doing stuff, yet at the same time, feels like procrastination. Actually, I’m pretty sure it is procrastination.

Hoo Ha for Supergrass

Patrick Entertainment, Music, UK Life

After having a lovely dinner with my fellow trainers at the Lowlander, I headed out to Camden to see the new band, The Diamond Hoo Ha Men. Actually a front for the band, Supergrass, they performed a number of their new songs and a couple of their older songs at the very intimate venue, Barfly.

It’s so rare to watch the very passionate and talented band play in a venue that holds a maximum of maybe one hundred people. Their set didn’t last that long, starting with a rock cover of Michael Jackonson’s “Beat It” followed by a series of their own songs. Disappointingly they didn’t bother with an encore.

The set list went something like this:

  • Beat It (cover)
  • Bad blood
  • Three, four, five
  • Outside of the darkness
  • Rough knuckles
  • Never done nothing like that before
  • Diamond hoo ha man

I’m Home

Patrick UK Life

You know you’re back home when you step off the plane into the corrugated terminal corridor only to be blasted by the cold wintery draft declaring your return to England. A bright red underground sign beckons you to your final destination and the swoosh of the tube’s closing doors sends you on your way. You watch as people enter and leave the long Picadilly ride into the centre of town, carefully and politely seating themselves into the empty seats with the subtle efforts of not crossing into the adjacent seats.

I finally get out of my stop, watching as the busy city people rush to and from the tube. It’s certainly not rush hour though that doesn’t stop them from moving around and about at the fast London pace. On the way to my flat, I walk past two or three pubs and even at 3pm, enough people occupy them to not leave the bartenders standing idly.

I drop my bags off, refresh myself and go out for a walk. It’s starting to get dark, reminding me that the warmth and sunny Bangalore disposition lies several thousand miles behind me. I can’t help but smile as the evening lights accentuate the old Victorian buildings around me, and I remember I’m back in London. It’s good to be back.

2007 in Review

Patrick General, Life in India, UK Life

I’ve finally got through all the emails, uploaded all my holiday snaps and written up enough of my holidays to finally properly retrospect on the year that was 2007. It’s been a busy one and it looks a bit like this.

In terms of travel…
I ended up with plenty to the US for some reason, hitting Philadelphia, New York City, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.

The European trips started with a weekend in Paris, followed by an ad hoc whiskey drinking holiday in Scotland covering Aberdeen, Dufftown (in Speyside) and finally Edinburgh. Ben organised for eight of us to go to a wonderful skiing week in Andorra. The weekend after that I returned to Edinburgh to really get a good feel for the city.

I ended up in Italy for a work conference visiting Milan, Bergamo and the Como area only to return to Italy shortly after to its Sardinian island, Alghero for a weekend with Kath.

My final “European” trip actually ended up in Bath (of all places) for the bank holiday weekend.

I started my time in India (only eight months later than originally planned) and I’ve managed to fit in quite a lot of travel since being here. I’ve managed to visit Mysore, Kochi, Savandurga, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Mahabalipuram and Kolkata. I also managed to visit a number of India’s famous hill stations including the Queen of them, Ooty, and a couple very close to Pune, Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani. Most recently, I spent the Christmas and New Year period on a secluded island in the Andaman Islands.

In terms of entertainment…
Things ended up pretty quiet this year for concerts and the small number of people I did see included The Feeling, Bloc Party, The Editors and Keane.

I also attended my first two British/European music festivals – Oxegen held at the Punchtown Racecourse just outside Dublin and then Bestival, on the Isle of Wight. Most memorable artists from Oxegen included the ever gushing Snow Patrol, the energetic Calvin Harris and the stunning light and sound extravaganza that is Muse. The Chemical Brothers were easily the musical highlight of Bestival.

Musicals and theatre shows this year included The Colour Purple whilst I was still in New York, a disappointingly droll Porgy and Bess, a bright and energetic Lion King, and a very funny show called Boeing, Boeing. The highlight was the marathon yet very succinct Lord of the Rings stage show.

Other random things…
I moved for the second time since living in London to Farringdon, very close to Smithfields, Fabric and Turnmills. Fortunately it’s also just down the street of the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society that I became a member of and only a twenty minute walk to Old Street where I started tumbling classes.

I trialled vegetarianism for an entire month after coming back from the US, leading to learning more about the whole vegan, vegetarian and pescetarian lifestyles people live.

I barracked for Australia while I watched them lose against Denmark in a disappointing football match near White City.

I had a go at Bobsledding, of all places, in Bath(!) where they have a training site for the British team.

I also split out my life blog from my work blog at last as the content really started diverging and work people weren’t that interested in all the things I got up to, and my friends probably aren’t that concerned about my rants about onboarding and various coaching and development things I do. I’ll be sure to write up a work retrospective on the other blog too if you are interested.

I finished the year off by finishing my PADI open water diving qualification on New Year’s Eve in the Andaman Islands.

Returning Home

Patrick Life in India, UK Life

My three months are finally up and I’m flying out tomorrow morning very early to return “home” to the UK. After all my holidays and running training in India, I’m actually looking very forward to getting back into the whole swing of living in London. I’ll be only in London for a short time – I head to New York to have a bit of a family reunion and I’m also looking forward to that.

India has been great. I’ve seen loads of places (there’s still so much more to go) and I’ve had a great opportunity to meet and work with plenty of great people. I’m sure I’ll miss some things yet I know they’ll be plenty I won’t at the same time. I’ll find out when I’m back home.

Favourite Chinese Restaurants in London

Patrick Food, Restaurants, UK Life

Stacey asked for some advice for a friend who’d had bad experiences with Chinese food in London. Admittedly there’s plenty of opportunity for those, and it’s a shame that they hadn’t hit any of the winners. I suggested a list and thought I’d blog about it so other people might try something new.

Here’s a few recommendations…

Best Peking Duck
You can find the most popular Peking Duck at the Four Seasons in Bayswater. They’ve opened up another outlet in Chinatown though I haven’t been there yet.

Dim Sum (Yum Cha)
Not many places in London do this by the cart (and if they do, the quality tends to be very average). New World is pretty good with carts, but not my most favourite. For what I think is quality Dim Sum I head to Laureate (it’s on Shaftsbury Avenue), or Golden Dragon – both in Chinatown.

Malaysian/Singaporean
Though not exclusively “Chinese”, C&R Cafe, in Chinatown does great Malaysian or Singaporean food. It’s down a little alley somewhere (I think Rupert Court).

Upscale Chinese
London being London means every budget is accommodated for. Hakkasan (very expensive) offers a great dining experience though I think I prefer Shanghai Blues (expensive). Royal China (affordable upscale) is also less formal yet still very enjoyable dining experience. They have locations both in Queensway and Baker Street. Princess Gardens (affordable upscale) is also very nice though has been quite empty when I go there.