(no subject)

so, despite the fact that regular Google knows that MS MOSS is Microsofts Office Sharepoint Server, Google Images thinks I was talking about Ms. Moss, the local dominatrix...

I'm not sure those images were exactly suitable for the workplace. They certainly weren't the official logo I was expecting.

(no subject)

Well that was a most enjoyable few days.

Estelle's sister Sophie was over from France visiting, and LadyJack had made the trek from across the pond, so my tiny little flat was rather crowded.


Friday started by a visit to Estelles office and an introduction to her work mates, followed by the pub :)

Eventually I got a call to say Jackie had arrived at my flat, so I popped home to collect her and headed back to the pub (bet you can't guess what the common theme of the weekend was)

After forgetting that I'm not 17 any more, and downing a bottle of Magners in one, we headed off for Chinese food before crawling home.

As my wonky sleep pattern had been pretty bad all week, there didn't seem much point me taking up valuable bed space, so Sophie shared the main bedroom with Estelle, and Jackie had the spare bed while I was on the sofa.

It was probably the right decision as the two jet setting travelers were rather tired, Sophie seemed to really struggle to stay awake, and Jackie had something like 96hrs of sleep to catch up on.


Saturday consisted of myself and Jackie meeting Lin/Leo/Rob for a trip to the pub, while Estelle took Sophie to see Oxford and then we met up again on the evening before going out for a Thai meal. My food was really good, but they screwed up Sophie and Jackies orders :(


Despite being rather shattered, we said goodbye to Jackie early Sunday morning and then headed off to Warwick Castle for a day of mediavel fun :)
Yet again Sophie's order got messed up, this time mistaking fish for meatballs and spaghetti.

In the evening, as we hadn't been for ages, it was suggested we go to the pub for a few drinks with some of Estelles friends again, and then after that we dragged ourselves home for cake and DVDs (Estelle bakes the most delicious almond cake)

Unfortunately, during the movie, I somehow got an eyelash caught under the lid, the rubbing of which caused my eyes to look red and puffy, which, to the untrained eye may have appeared to look similar to Estelle and Sophie, who, being rather pathetic girlies, had been crying all the way thru "The Notebook"


This morning I was dragged kicking and screaming to have eggs benedict for brunch, before taking Sophie to the airport and waving goodbye.

The Thai Orchid - Bennett's Hill

It was a Saturday night and we didn't have a reservation, which judging by the waitress's expression wasn't a good way to start the evening.
We were shuffled into the corner by the bar while they tried to make room for us, but before we had even taken our coats off they had cleaned and relaid a vacant table and we were being escorted upstairs - can't complain at all about the wait.

The waitress had returned with our drinks in an infeasibly short time but there was no rush from her for us to open the menu let alone make a decision - which was handy as when we did we were confronted with an excellent selection.

We did have a bit of a language problem as I was the only English person in my group so I was having to relay messages between my two French and one New Yorker friends and the poor stressed out waitress so I was actually fairly surprised that only one dish failed to arrive as ordered.

With the exception of one meal, all the other main dishes were excellent, large portions, exceptionally well presented and extremely scrummy tasting.
The one that didn't hit the spot can't really be complained about either. I thought it was spot on, my friend from New York found it a bit mild tasting and the young lady from France who had actually ordered it found it too spicy to be able to eat - although the waitress was quick enough to provide extra rice so she could fish out the prawns and mushrooms and leave the "fire water" as we roughly translated it.

When the bill arrived at the end of the evening I had to double check everything as I was that sure that something had been missed off. Granted, I do have a habit of eating at obscenely expensive places, but even so, The Thai Orchid seemed really great value for money.

The only thing I wish had been different was how little the waitress smiled, which wasn't even once, but then as I said, it was a busy Saturday night and she really was rushed off her feet.

Definitely a place worth returning to.