Simon Perry: Schemes, dreams & trivia

We had a party during the day on Saturday, partially to watch the Round the Island race (the largest sailing event in the world) - but also to celebrate the going of Blair.

I know it’s rare for someone to have been in power for that long to continued to be liked, but most people I know have nothing but bad feeling towards him.

My fear - What if Brown is more extreme that the nutcase Blair?

I love the work of the photographer Martin Parr. Appearing casual captures of today’s society, he’s taken too many for them to just be lucky shots and shows like the Barbican one back in 2002 showed that he had more about him than I’d previously imagined.

There’s a Martin Parr WE ♥ U group on Flickr, which has a ton of images taken in homage to the great man. Well worth the visit.

One of my fave contributers is lee_3dhighway who turns out loads of great shots like the one below.

Take the time to have a look at his McMansion series - it’s brill.

Martin Parr image courtesy of Magnum Photos, who represent Martin, among others.

Chinese is a really hard language for us westerners to get to pronounce. I was in Beijing early this month and struggled to make myself understood, beyond pointing at items of food and holding up one or two fingers.

A lovely young woman in one of the restaurants within the Summer Gardens was very generous with her time - and patience frankly - helping us try and expand out vocabulary being Ne Hah (Hello)

I hope it helps.

The New East London

Originally uploaded by Guy Eppel

What a brill image!

I spotted this is the China Daily Newspaper

New spy satellite launched
Israel launched a new spy satellite yesterday (11 June) and said it would provide high-quality surveillance over enemies such as Syria and Iran, rivaling the capacities of the US.
Rocketed into orbit from a costal Israeli air base, the Ofek 7 was expected to begin relaying high-res ground photographs from an altitude of 200-500Km by the end of the week.
“The successful launch adds an important layer to Israel’s defense capabilities and it is a testament to Israel’s technological strength,” said Defense Minister Amir Paratz.

Did it also get reported in the Western press? (I’m on a plane at the moment, so can’t check).

A good friend, Steven Parkins-Knight, who is an excellent chef and a food fanatic, got a chance go along to a preview meal at the new Conran (D&D as is now) restaurant at the newly refurbished Royal Festival Hall.

First impressions
Well it was a gorgeous evening outside and the Southbank was buzzy and vibrant. The restaurant makes a huge visual impact (windows/view) straight away in terms of light, height and space something the original People’s Palace didn’t (which looked more like a airport departure lounge).

The huge wooden ribbed lights are impressive an the colour scheme chosen not only subtle but very nicely coordinates the room and brings an immediate sense of calm and peace. If that was the intention, well done. I loved the girls outfits, very Thunderbirds (that’s a compliment) and sassy.

Staff greeting from just about everyone was one of long time friends saying hello/good evening very welcoming, warm, courteous and sincere. hard to do without seeming cliquey and there is an enormous difference when you get it right.

Staff & Tabletop
Attentive and polite whist being seated and the table décor, beautiful. The Conran thing of plates on tables prior to seating is something I’ve always liked. Gorgeous plate colour and pattern, stunning cutlery (I hope they don’t get stolen), wine glasses, oil burner and condiments. Perfectly laid and an immediate talking point.

Menu & wine list
Nice use of bold food headers followed by description. Imaginative menu with funky, inspired dishes. Clear direction to 2 or 3 courses and prices fair. I would like to have seen info on suppliers/sourcing, etc and perhaps some provenance related text. It tells me you are aware of global foot printing and have made effort to reduce it.

Wine list strong, well thought and the Nyetimber aperitif was delicious. It is well worth bringing to customer attention something like the Nyetimber as it so often surprises, once they know what they are drinking came from our own shores.

Went for the Mas Daumas 06 (recommended) by floor manager (dark, charming and excellent) who was very knowledgeable. Wine served at perfect temperature allowing some of the more perfumed notes to come through which could be so easily lost by over chilling. Nice touch and delicious.

Service
Attention/friendliness 10/10
Speed/precision 8/10
Attention to detail 9/10

Staff Knowledge
Very astute without being clever. Tried to catch Francesco out but he knew the menu backwards and courteously corrected my guest. Smooth.

Food description, expectation, value for money & presentation
Spot on. In fact the starters in particular over met our expectations, beautifully presented and so gorgeous to look at. We chose the scallops, squid and foie gras and the squid was just beautiful, very Charlie Trotter but better (that is a compliment) scallops ok but when you order chorizo you do so because it has a bit of kick, this was lacking and grated which seemed a little odd, capers perfect, micro leaves beautiful, scallop sweet just needed to up the spice.

Foie Gras better but again a perfectly cooked lobe needed more sour from the bramley apples. Choose fish for both mains but in particular the Sea Bass ‘en papillotte’. The only comment would have been the ‘en papillotte’ aroma’s go to the chef du rang rather than the customer which to misses the point. Otherwise very tasty, simple and perfectly cooked.

Value for money
Well in terms of the evening, my guest and I had not seen each other for over 2 years so the evening was one of reunion and everything was just so and the staff were attentive without being overbearing.

The bill came to £191 with the F&F discount. It was what we wanted, perfectly delivered, and served. The staff are very good PR machines for the kitchen/food/dishes etc which is invaluable and the whole place looks fabulous.

Impressed/disappointments
Very impressive front of house team, who were extremely charming and attentive plus the excellent and knowledgeable sommelier/head waiter. Food looks and tastes beautiful, just need to see to how she fairs in top gear?

Disappointments? The view (only kidding) No Naked bellydancers or Dame Shirley Bassy singing sultry numbers in the corner. No, no disappointments.

Would you recommend to friends & family?
Most definitely and already have. I would like to extend a big thank you to Katie Olesen who arranged the booking and most of all everyone at Skylon on the 25th May who made the evening so wonderful. Oh and more importantly the chef Helena Puolakka who cooks like an angel.

Would you return?
I think you know the answer to that question. Good luck to all who have been involved in Skylon’s creation and we wish you every success.

I’m going to Beijing at the start of June, so am gathering information …

Map of Beijing . Maps appear pretty far and few between.

Beijing Travel Tips

Beijing Attractions - on WhatsOnWhen

Classified adverts

789 Space - Hip looking arts venue

Beijing this month

A wide selection of types of shopping

Beijing Public Transport - Bus

BPT operates the largest-scale bus service in Beijing with 773 routes, providing local and suburban passenger transport service within Beijing , and long- distance service to lots of destinations outside Beijing.

The first streetcar line formally came into operation in 1924, since then on, the situation of Beijing bus had experienced ups and downs. By the end of 2005, the total number of BPTC vehicles reached 24091, including 17695 buses and trolleybuses, 781 tourist buses, 5374 taxicabs and 241 long-distance coaches.

Google Maps - Tiananmen square

Beijing Official Website

Planned Metro system map - Beijing

Beijing Subway

Wikipedia Beijing Subway

Beijing Map

HWA Apartments

This blog has just been moved to another server.

It had got to the point where I’ve been unable to realistically use it as it’s been so slow - to the point where it ground to a halt.

When you shift to a faster machine, it’s interesting how the physical feeling of strain lifts, after having gotten used to tensing as the machine takes ages to respond - but not realising it at the time.

I was lucky enough to stay with a good friend in Hampstead a couple of weeks ago - one of the few places left in London where you can walk down a street, and people still smile at you, despite them being strangers to you.

I glanced at an estate agent’s window as I passed on my way to the station (you can’t avoid passing them, there’s so many of them!). Of the three properties that I looked at, the most insane one was a one bedroom flat for £695,000. For a ONE bedroom FLAT for god’s sake. My companion explained that it was because it has a garden. From the picture it looked more like a paved postage stamp.

Given the number of people in London who earn really stupid amounts of money and those doing similarly around the world - through fair means or foul (more of the latter I suspect) - having for years thought that the whole property market in London _had_ to slow down or reverse I now think that there’s little reasons why these prices shouldn’t be maintained.

A friend has just told me that there are a million people in the UK with nine points on their driving license.

The huge increase is mainly due to how often people are getting caught speeding these days thanks to the automated speed cameras, and non-police now being able to catch people too.

In the UK if you have 12 points on your licence, it’s normal for you to get an automatic driving ban.

What would happen if these million people, or a large proportion of them, tipped over to 12 point?

The country would grind to a halt.

Image source:drivingservices