Category Archives: Going Out

Busy night

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It was a busy today/tonight for me tonight with one birthday celebration (Kelly’s 30th), a going away do (James’) and dinner with my brother. In the end I decided I couldn’t bother with the going away do as the venue kept changing and just settled for Kelly’s 30th and dinner with my bro instead.

Kelly had her do at the Duke of Devonshire in Balham. I don’t often get down south so it was a special occasion for me. ha ha! The Duke of Devonshire is a very nice pub – huge on the inside but also, for a day that really turned into the perfect summer afternoon and evening, a very much appreciated beer garden. It was very lovely. It needed to be big too to accommodate all of Kelly’s friends! But it was not without its pitfalls – walking in I was accosted by this Albanian guy who I actually thought worked in the pub as he was asking me who I was looking for. That is, until he then started his line of question focussing on whether I thought he was good-looking or not. Help us all!

The Boy is All Grown Up – Part II

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Part II of Akhlaq’s and Batool’s Wedding Party got going today at Watford. This time the reception was for Akhlaq’s side of the family. The venue, at the Ramada, was much more intimate than the first venue so this reception seemed a bit closer to what I know as a wedding including having a head table where Akhlaq and Batool actually got to sit down and enjoy the meal.

Having a smaller wedding reception, however, didn’t change how tardy people were in arriving. Akhlaq and Batool entered about an hour and half after we arrived although I think they had arrived a bit earlier and were just waiting for the majority of the guests to arrive. At least this time, too, Akhlaq and Batool, got to arrive together which was very sweet.

Having a smaller wedding reception also didn’t reduce the number of people taking photos of Ahklaq and Batool cutting the cake. I got some really nice photos of the two of them though this time feeding each other. Cute!

Oh! also Akhlaq had this giant chocolate fountain for all the guests to indulge in. I swear it was nearly taller than I was!

Today’s reception seemed a little less formal than the one on Thursday. Once Akhlaq and Batool arrived one of Akhlaq’s best mates gave a speech which was actually very serious for most of it until he cracked a joke about mothers-in-laws. After that we very quickly got served a meal which seemed to go down very quickly. Unlike Thursday night the platters weren’t as big and as we had nearly double the number of people at our table the food went very quickly. Our waiter, unfortunately, was not very efficient! Still I think everyone ate way more than they could handle and enjoyed what we received.

After food it was the cake cutting as mentioned previously, then tea and coffee and the chocolate fountain. After this was also photos with Akhlaq and Batool. Worked out nicely this time and we managed to get one big group shot of all of us from work. More photos here.

Tomorrow the Boy and his wife jet off to Dubai for their honeymoon. Well jealous!!

Lunch with the Lo’s

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The Lo’s have been family friends of ours ever since my family hit the shores of Australia over 25 years ago. Connie and Amy (they are sisters) have been living in London for at least the last couple of years and I catch up with them now again.

But today the catch up was with their Aunt and Uncle who I haven’t seen for at least a few years.

Astonishing to think we’ve gone from:

THIS TO THIS

It was really good to see Uncle Henry and Auntie Coral. Lots of reminiscing as you can imagine!

Roller Disco

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The trainees at work, somehow I’ve picked up honorary trainee status since I always seem to be attending their events, had a Roller Disco night tonight. We had a decent group of about 8-10 of us turn out although only 4.5 of us decided to get into the spirit and dress up. I think half the fun in these sorts of events is taking the p!ss out of yourself … I mean come on, how often does one get to wear bright yellow shorts and not look too foolish.

I was a bit nervous walking the streets of Vauxhall in my get up especially considering the bar where we were meeting up before hand seemed to have a lot of very well-dressed business sorts in attendance so I saved the bling for the venue. I would have felt less self-conscious if I’d been confident that other people would have made an effort too (which most didn’t!)

The venue at Vauxhall had two roller skating rinks (one slower than the other) and what seemed to be about three bars spread out. The later it got the more crowded the rinks got and also the scarier it got to skate – not only from the sheer masses on the rink but also the state in, shall we say, inebriation most people had gotten into. I must admit I was very wide-eyed at a few points during the night with admiration at the effort some people had put into their outfits. In addition to a few superheros (pecs included) such as Superman, Batman, Robin, we had some genuine disco outfits – with the ‘fro included. Next time I’m definitely going to get me a ‘fro.

Roller Disco is a lot of hard work on small rinks where you go around and around and around. If I’d had more skill I would have liked to have joined the instructors (there are lots of them milling about on the rink ready to help you) in the centre with their dance lines. Looked pretty cool. The music could have been a little improved – the fast rink seemed to have a lot of house when I was expecting a lot more disco, or at least disco mixes of current hits. Otherwise it was a really fun night. It is an improvement on the usual just going to drinks … and if someone catches your fancy is really conducive to meeting someone – all involved was an “oops. so sorry I ran into you and ended up in your arms.” Ha ha.

Elsa Beatrix English

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My good friend Elvira gave birth to little Elsa Beatrix English yesterday afternoon. Despite being born two weeks early Elsa was a healthy 7lbs 13oz or 3.55kg and 55 cm long.

Now Elvira jokes that husband and new father Andrew can stop with the sympathetic pregnancy weight gaining … 🙂

I visited them in hospital today and all three are happy and healthy. The little bub was suprisingly patient with all of handling her!

The only sad aspect is that in a couple of months I will see Elvira, Andrew and Elsa returning to Australia foor good.

Caro’s Hen Do

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Caro’s Hen Do today was probably one of the more sedate and civilised ones I’ve been to .. no crazy drunken antics, no men in their underwear (ha ha) and definitely no inappropriate accessories for the bride to wear!

We, Caro, Maud, Emma, Anne-Claire and I, started off with a bit of pampering at one of Caro’s and Maud’s local hairdressers with a very nice shampoo and head massage (nearly went into some sort of trance it was so nice!) followed by, for me, a haircut and the others a blow dry. It was actually quite nice to be in the salon – we had some champers .. well the other girls did … and we had some good music … it really was quite a pleasant way to start the festivities.

We followed this with a wine-tasting. Maud had originally organised for the wine-tasting to happen at one of her local wineries but at the last minute he pulled out! Some quick thinking by Maud and a very flexible pub, Mel’s, and we were sorted for another wine-tasting. I was actually impressed by the Mel, the owner of Mel’s, who quickly arranged something for us. She offered all her wines for tasting (except those sold by the bottle) and even supplied us one of her staff to go through the wines with us. No charge except for our olives and bread!

Our guide to the wine-tasting was really impressive – taking us through what wine-tasting was about, what to look for in a wine (the smell, the taste, the legs etc), and explaining each of the wines and how they differed from the last. He was also quite generous with the wine portions (… I think we were all a little tipsy after the end of about the twelve wines we tasted) and that he was kinda cute and charming and had a nice mild Welsh accent didn’t hurt at all. For some reason the girls were actually trying to set the two of us up!

After all that wine we were all more than ready to get into some food so we headed over to Kazan’s, one Caro’s and Maud’s favourite restaurants in Earlsfield. This Turkish Meze & Grill seemed quite popular. Admittedly it was a Saturday night but there was a constant stream of people coming in and out. I could see why it was popular though after we finished with our meal. It was delish. And even though I didn’t think we’d have room for dessert we sat there for long enough that our meals settled and we did indulge. I had to try their baklava which according to Time Out Cheap Eats 2004 is “… one of the best [they’ve] tried.” Happy to report that four years on this claim is probably still quite valid. Mmmmm …

Sugar Reef

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Mirela’s time in London is quickly drawing to a close so we are trying to cram in a few things into her schedule in the middle of her packing up her flat and researching for her dissertation due in a couple of month’s time. She was asking me where we could go for dinner that was something a little bit different (for some reason people think I know all about food in London … ha ha) but I couldn’t really think of anywhere off the top of my head which wasn’t ridiculously expensive and/or busy on a Saturday night. We tried Rainforest Cafe but as we got there for just before 9pm they had already closed the restaurant for the evening in preparation for turning it into a club for the night! So, instead we headed over to Sugar Reef.

I’ve been to Sugar Reef once before for a work Christmas do and I was pretty impressed with the food then. Tonight the restaurant was fairly busy but mainly with hen do’s. I felt a little left out! 🙂

Our waitress was very nice and quite patient with us despite the many questions we had and indecision we had over our menu choices … especially when we found out that two of the things we wanted had run out for the evening! The only problem we had was that Sugar Reef seemed a little under-staffed so getting the attention of our waitress at the end of the meal proved a little difficult.

Sugar Reef have a set menu option which is actually priced differently depending on which evening you have it – Mon-Wed I think its something like £15 for 2 courses, then £17 for the same thing on Thus-Fri and then £20 on a Saturday night (I can’t remember the exact pricings)! What a premium! At least the food is of high quality – I really liked the salmon I had on a bed of pesto mash and bell pepper salsa. Our starters of tempura prawns and duck spring rolls were delish too.

I love taking the bus home late in the evening and for once we managed to score the front seats of the bus. Our bus driver was a bit of a maniac though cause he cruised through Oxford Street just barely stopping on time on most occasions and really taking the amber lights aggressively. Definitely made for an adventurous ride home.

Wii Fit? Me Not

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Last night I finally got to catch up with my good friends Rehana and Ant. I can’t believe that it has over two months (!!!!!!) since I caught up with Rehana at The Sanctuary. Both Rehana and Ant were looking very good – and Rehana was looking especially perky being seven months pregnant and by her own admission a little large! I thought she was handling the pregnancy well. And Hana – wow has she grown. Hard to imagine she’ll be one year old next Saturday. She’s also very perceptive for a one year old – check her out in these photos the little cutie:

So, we caught up over a very nice roast dinner cooked by Ant (prepared by M&S apparently – ha ha) which was very tasty. Time flew by and before we knew it – it was practically bed time. Not before Ant and I did a bit of gaming however on the Wii. Ant is a boy who is really into his gaming – I think he has a Wii, a Gamecube, a PSP, and and xbox (just to make sure he has a sample of gaming machines from all gaming companies I’m sure!)

Wii Fit is one of the latest games to come out for the Wii but Ant’s first challenge, even before trying to get fit, was in setting it up. This proved impossible for him and after 20 minutes he declared that the Wii just wasn’t reading the CD. Rehana bet him her lie-in for his two lie-ins over the weekend that we girls could set it up. Guess who was right? Of course Rehana was. We girls got it set up in no time and were soon trying it out (until way past midnight!)

Nintendo are certainly on to a winner with their Wii console. I think it has totally revolutionised the market and, the best thing, is it doesn’t rely on sex or violence to sell its games. Game designers must have a heck of a time designing the games and must be very creative to think of the new applications.

Here is Ant giving a balance game a go. I wish I’d caught him doing the Hula Hoop Aerobic workout instead – so funny:

The Wii fit is a very fun game (both as a challenge to yourself but also entertaining for spectators.) Sure you can cheat but if you do the exercises within the spirit that they are intended then surely you can be on the way to being a little fitter, more flexible, stronger and balanced (physically that is.) These are the four core aspects Wii Fit tries to work on: Balance, Muscle, Flexibility (Yoga workouts) and Aerobic. Games are very fun and can be addictive when you get close to completing a task. I found the Yoga poses the most difficult to master. Poor Rehana and Ant – I think they were worried that I’d want to stay all weekend to play! 🙂

Visiting Watford: Akh’s new pad and Top Golf

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Akhlaq had moved into his new place in Watford at the end of last year so for months now Boo Boo and I have been pestering him to let us see the place. FINALLY the day had arrived! LOL.

There are two things we are always teasing Akhlaq about – the fact that he doesn’t like to cook and that he likes his comfort! Thus the reason for the following series of pictures. First a series of pictures of his empty fridge and practically empty freezer (which contains things that are either just for his fiance or which had expired!) …

… and the second series of pictures of his nice couches.

After viewing his house it was off to one of my favourite venues in London (if you can argue that Watford is actually part of London … 🙂 ) Top Golf! It was very busy for a Thursday evening so we had to make do with a spot outside an on the very side of the driving range. Luckily for us the heavens didn’t open but it was a spot chilly and windy. Here are boys and their strokes:

And video footage of course. I love Akh’s Happy Gilmore imitation. I’m well impressed he can connect with the ball even after a run-up!

Pauline’s Birthday Celebrations

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Pauline celebrated her birthday today by having drinks at The Goat followed by a few hours of dancing at Clapham Grand. The usual suspects from worked turned up for drinks at The Goat. Pauline had also invited a whole heap of other friends but for some strange reason they didn’t turn up until late and then they left after what seemed like about only 15 minutes later.

The Goat seemed like quite a nice bar – it seemed quite massive actually and, I’m not sure if its because Pauline and the others got there early and managed to snag a good seating area, but seating seemed plentiful from the time Lofty and I arrived (at about 8 I think it was) for at least another couple of hours. It did get quite crowded however and getting served at the bar could get difficult.

At about 11 the brave few (Pauline, Sandra, Boo Boo, Amelia, Andy and I) ventured on to the Clapham Grand. The Clapham Grand has a bit of a dire reputation for cheese. If there is one thing I can recommend to get in and save a few pounds it is to look out for the girls/boys handing out pamphlets for free entry. No point paying for club entry when you don’t have to! When we got inside it reminded me a bit of The Church. And no wonder really as both are clubs/bars situated in former theatres.

The Clapham Grand is supposed to be spread out across a few floors but I only saw one, or one and a half. The DJ is a big feature and he/she is centrally located right up on the main stage. The dancefloor had tiles which were illuminated and changed colour constantly. It took a while but finally the dancefloor did get full (though not crammed by any stretch of the imagination.) It also took a while to convince Boo Boo, Sandra and Andy to come down (and by the end of the night Boo Boo and Sandra were the first to sit down!)

The music tonight wasn’t too bad featuring classics from the ’90’s apparently. I was glad that most of the songs that came on you could actually dance to and was not rubbish house music.

Overall I was expecting something much worse for The Clapham Grand but actually its a fun night out .. even if it felt a little cheesy!