Three of us this weekend!

Had a bit of a gallavant this weekend.

Out for dinner on Friday night at: Waterloo and City

Fab Gastro Bar within walking distance - highly recommended.

Out for dinner on Saturday night at: Kaizuka

Our fave Sushi Restaurant on the Westside

Out for dinner on Sunday night at: Whole Foods

Sitting at the bar having salad and a glass of wine - while shopping troll by with their shopping carts during their Sunday Shot -- only in La-La Land!

On Saturday and Sunday - there was three of us at dinner - me, the Ginger Prince and his new iPhone 4. For the past couple of years, I've managed to convince him that he doesn't need an iPhone - he just makes calls and sends the odd text message. He doesn't use a computer for work - so isn't really tecchie savvy - but that's all changed now. We bought a Mac a couple of years ago - and since then - he's been getting more familiar with surfing, hunting out music - we have about 16k songs, and surfing through our photo's - nearly 18k, and this year - I introduced him to Facebook - and he's now an FF -- a facebook fiend! Never a day goes by, that he doesn't check in to find out what's going on with his friends back home.

So I couldn't fight it anymore -- the time had come - and I dragged him off to the local AT&T store. Don't go to the one in the Marina - they don't sell iPhones - how mad is that? AT&T is the only service provider in the US - and one of the 3 stores in the area's doesn't have iPhones.

We were heading to Santa Monica to the Mac Store - but on the way, went past another AT&T store on Lincoln Blvd - so stopped in there instead. What a fab store! Joclyn helped the Ginger Prince get his phone. I also caved, and traded in my ancient phone in for something new and snazzy - looks like something a teenybopper would have -- but it has Blue Tooth -- my new mini has blue tooth, but my old phone didn't - so it was a good enough reason to upgrade.

I spent about 15 minutes getting to know my phone - the GP spent all weekend snuggled up with his!

On his way to work today he emailed me a photo he took of the Coliseum - so I guess he's figured out how the camera works!

Mar Vista Farmers Market - LA

Mar Vista Farmers market on a Sunday-- used to be nothing in the area - now we have this!

Follow this link to view more details about it: http://marvistafarmersmarket.org/

The Mar Vista Farmers’ Market is a non-profit organization.
It came about as a result of local business owners and neighbors’
desire to create a Mar Vista Town Square.

The first Mar Vista Market took place August 6, 2006.
In just a short time it has more than met it’s goal of bringing fresh,
direct-marketed produce from California farmers to the
community. Sundays are a bustling example of Mar Vistans
coming out to shop, eat, and visit with their neighbors while also
achieving broader social impacts – from community development,
to health and nutrition, to preserving family farms.

Toasted Tea Cakes

My trip to England is coming to an end. It's 2 days short of a month - since I arrived in the UK for work and of course multiple trips to my Mum's. It was an early start this morning - and I'm sitting in Norwich bus station waiting for my coach to Heathrow.

I've just had a trip down memory lane with a toasted tea cake. It was as good as I remembered.

As a teenager - my school crew and I used to hang out at the local Wimpey - this was in the days of the sit down burger joint. As high school students we didn't have much money - so we used to order the cheapest thing on the menu - a toasted tea cake and a cup of tea. Nothing better on a cold afternoon - than a hot toasted bun smothered with butter.

The toasted tea cake tasted as good as I remembered - this time washed down with a Cafe Americano. Can't wait for proper coffee back in LA -- but without a toasted tea cake of course.

Back home in the wilds of Norfolk

I've been working in the London office for a few weeks - and consequently have been having weekend trips to Norfolk to visit my parents.

Trips here are a training ground for Turkey. I go on long walks - there nothing for miles around and I spend afternoons in the potting shed - transplanting and potting up plants.

I love the tranquility of the existence. I know I'll be good with this as my new life - I can amuse myself quite easily.

I read a blog the other day - detailing an Expats move to Turkey - and the importance of having a plan. I do nothing but planning - and when I go back to LA - I'm going to kick one of them into action.

Day trip to Poland

So to be honest I wasn't really looking forward to it! I had a vision a grey - drab - miserable place full of grumpy poles!

I was pleasantly surprised! Caught the 6.35am flight - and arrived into Warsaw to a sunny day and blue skies. I was traveling with a work colleague - so the jump in the cab experience was worry free, and we spent the day at the office discussing process improvement -- did a couple of store checks in the mall - and was very impressed by the shops. Been a long time since I'd seen a C&A!

Airports - the other side of the pond

So I arrived in the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow. How Fab. Even this arrival terminal was better than the LAX departure terminal. The LAX authorities need to wake up to the fact that they have a captured audience in their departure lounges. Travellers - bouyed by the idea of distance places, have money burning a hole in their pocket.

If you go to Heathrow - departures. It's like a Mall -- nothing but shops, shops, shops, restaurants, bars etc. Plenty of opportunities to spend money. This is what travel and airports should be like

Airports

I left LA yesterday, and it never ceases to amaze me - how terrible LAX airport is. I left from the Tom Bradley terminal - and I bypassed the cafe and bar in the departures hall, fully expecting a better choice of establishments the other side of security.

Boy was I disappointed. There was one tiny bar which had a hot dog stand as the only form of solid sustenance. Well I don't eat meat - and to be honest I'm not sure I'd eat them if I did. My vodka and orange cost nearly 10 dollars - and the tinney speakers belched out bad covers of early disco.