seated

If you're in a position to choose your own seats next time you fly, SeatGuru looks like a great site. Gives you impartial reviews of each seat on a variety of aeroplanes and airlines.

Don't know whether I've recommended TheatreMonkey before, but it's a similar site, but this time for London theatres and concert venues. I always look there before I book any tickets!

party week

As part of party week next week, I'm off to the IM2004 Awards Dinner at the Grosvenor. Promises to be a very glamorous evening with entertainment from consumate entertainer Barry Cryer and dancing to 'The Spotlights'. I'm especially excited about the prospect of Amaretto panacotta - two of my favourite edible items in one! Ernst & Young are finalists in three sections, the Knowledge Management Project Award, the Intranet Project Award and the Premier Project Award.

I'm also off to the City Information Group Christmas Party at One Whitehall Place which will be held in the Gladstone Library - quite appropriate for a group of what are, essentially, librarians!

not the rice

Loved this drawing of Tilda Swinton at the Modern Women exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery at the weekend.

We also visited the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, and I went through the Ed Ruscha exhibition - hadn't heard of him before, but I thought it was very interesting! They'd called the exhibition Ed In Burgh - ha ha!

worldly... but not that technical

So I can't get the map thing to work. Oh well. It looks quite impressive, what with Russia and Canada filled in. But I've still only seen 14% of the countries in the world, so it looks like I'll be travelling for quite some time yet...

worldly

According to the World 66 Travel, I've now visited 33 countries.

Hopefully this map should appear on my blog showing you where I've been in the world!


'>map

Interestingly, it counts countries such as Vatican City and the Palestinian Authority as separate countries, but it doesn't count Hong Kong!

celebrations!

Up in Scotland at the moment for Steve and Aoife's wedding. I travelled up to Edinburgh on the train on Thursday with Lisa and her other brothers Andrew and Tim who are over here for the wedding. The wedding was held Perthshire, near Scone and we were staying at the lovely Murrayshall Hotel, where the reception was held.

The actual ceremony was held at St Stephen's, Blairgowrie. It was a full Catholic service but very moving with lots of mentions of Val and Eileen, Steve's parents. We were bussed there and back through lovely Scottish countryside. The wedding breakfast was absolutely gorgeous with pate, courgette soup, beef and sticky toffee pudding. Each of the tables was named after a different NZ wine (we were Forest Hill) and there was a bottle of the appropriate wine on the table for us to drink. Favours were little bottles of Lindauer!

After the meal, we danced the night away to a ceilidh band - I managed not to fall over in my new heels which was a miracle! The Kiwi boys even did a haka to round the evening off - Tim was really the only one who new what he was doing but it was very impressive!

curly reunion!

Had a great time catching up with Sue, who was in London over the weekend. Dragged her round to buy shoes on Saturday after lunch at the Aveda cafe.

We then met up with Kt, Lisa and St John for the Lord Mayor's show fireworks. We walked through the City, past the recently completed Paternoster Square surrounding St Paul's to Farringdon. Had drinks at the Slaughtered Lamb (this is near Smithfield hence the name) and Cicada before going next door to The Real Greek, a souvlaki restaurant. It was just lovely to all catch up together - quite rare to all be in the same place. Hopefully this link will go through to photos at some stage when they're posted.

After dinner, we cabbed down to holborn where my workmate Owen was having 30th birthday drinks at the Old Crown. We gave him some lovely mother of pearl cuff links from thomas pink and nicola gave him a shrek cake (not a comment on his looks!).

spotted!

Attending my second Rufus Wainwright concert in as many weeks last night, I picked up a flier advertising Lulu's Christmas concerts and showing her in all her botoxed glory for Simon and I to chuckle over. We were discussing whether or not she had cheek implants, when we looked up and saw Lulu, in the flesh, standing about 3 metres away from us. Bizarre coincidence!

PS and we saw a v drunk Beth Orton as well!

little emperors

Interesting series of articles in the Guardian's G2 section this week on China - I especially enjoyed the article about the 'little emperors', China's generation of only children. Very strange to think that soon, there will be no aunts, uncles or cousins!!