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mandragoraa ridiculous number of events. And it's not even a 'special birthday'.
Celebration number one was the weekend before last and was a slashy event round at my place. Much laughter, some drooling and lots of giggling over The Slashiest Series Ever, AKA Once a Thief. See, gals, I told you so. Birthday cake, and singsong, courtesy of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
alsoa. It was a touching moment. Honest.
Celebration number two was the following Saturday. It was a joint celebration with a friend who I have now known for...nineteen years. Ouch! We have exactly the same birthday, except that she's three years older. As I remind her without fail. Every year. It assuages the pain of being another year older. I made the arrangements this time 'cos she did them last year. We went with a bunch of mutual friends to The Atlantic Bar & Grill for drinks and then onto Benihanas, which is a (nominally) Japanese restaurant. The theme is that the chefs prepare your food at your table, and their performance forms part of the entertainment. I had thought that the last time I went to one of these places was over twenty years ago in Oklahoma, but the fellow birthday girl assures me that we went to one when we on holiday in Portugal one time. Alas, I really can't remember it.
Anyway, I can heartily recommend Benihanas for a group outing. There were twenty of us and we were all well catered for. The food was decent, without being remarkable, but all told it was a fun night out. There are Behihana branches all round the world, there are three in London alone, together with places like Moscow and Budapest. Guess they're opening branches in those nations who like to drink a lot...
Celebration number three was the next day when my parents came down from t'frozen north to take me out to lunch. Also known as my mother using it as an excuse to come to London and go shopping ;) It was fish for lunch this time at one of my favourite restaurants, Loch Fyne. And yes, shopping was undertaken as well. I finally got round to buying a digital landline phone.
Celebration number four was Friday night when I went out with a few friends who hadn't been able to make the Saturday before. We went at an Australian restaurant called Osia, which was excellent. It was one of the best meals any of us had enjoyed for quite some time - and I think that we've all been to pretty much all of the top London restaurants. And no, London cuisine is not bad nowadays. The fact that London has more Michelin starred restaurants than any city except for Paris speaks volumes. The restaurant was worrying empty for a Friday night, despite the celebrity diners (we recognised a few faces off the telly. No, of course we didn't say anything to them. We're jaded Londoners, remember ;) So, if you've got a few quid to spare (well, about £60 to £70 but honestly it was worth every penny and that isn't expensive by London standards) then go to Osia before it shuts and enjoy the magnificent cuisine and attentive waiter service. Ours was an exceptionally good looking Polish/Australian waiter. One of my friends has spent quite a bit of time in Poland and gleefully practiced her Polish as she flirted with him. A lot.
Last night went to see The Last Samurai, which I can really recommend if only for the stunning battle scenes. I'm not a huge Tom Cruise fan but he was good in this and Ken Watanabe was magnificent as the noble Samurai leader. I would have personally gone for a different ending, but I guess the producers were worried that the audience wouldn't swallow the one I think would've been most suitable.
Also found out that I can upgrade my Vodaphone mobile for free to a G2 phone, as my existing contract is over a year old. Think I'll call in to the Vodaphone shop on Moorgate tomorrow and take a gander.
Celebration number one was the weekend before last and was a slashy event round at my place. Much laughter, some drooling and lots of giggling over The Slashiest Series Ever, AKA Once a Thief. See, gals, I told you so. Birthday cake, and singsong, courtesy of
alsoa. It was a touching moment. Honest.Celebration number two was the following Saturday. It was a joint celebration with a friend who I have now known for...nineteen years. Ouch! We have exactly the same birthday, except that she's three years older. As I remind her without fail. Every year. It assuages the pain of being another year older. I made the arrangements this time 'cos she did them last year. We went with a bunch of mutual friends to The Atlantic Bar & Grill for drinks and then onto Benihanas, which is a (nominally) Japanese restaurant. The theme is that the chefs prepare your food at your table, and their performance forms part of the entertainment. I had thought that the last time I went to one of these places was over twenty years ago in Oklahoma, but the fellow birthday girl assures me that we went to one when we on holiday in Portugal one time. Alas, I really can't remember it.
Anyway, I can heartily recommend Benihanas for a group outing. There were twenty of us and we were all well catered for. The food was decent, without being remarkable, but all told it was a fun night out. There are Behihana branches all round the world, there are three in London alone, together with places like Moscow and Budapest. Guess they're opening branches in those nations who like to drink a lot...
Celebration number three was the next day when my parents came down from t'frozen north to take me out to lunch. Also known as my mother using it as an excuse to come to London and go shopping ;) It was fish for lunch this time at one of my favourite restaurants, Loch Fyne. And yes, shopping was undertaken as well. I finally got round to buying a digital landline phone.
Celebration number four was Friday night when I went out with a few friends who hadn't been able to make the Saturday before. We went at an Australian restaurant called Osia, which was excellent. It was one of the best meals any of us had enjoyed for quite some time - and I think that we've all been to pretty much all of the top London restaurants. And no, London cuisine is not bad nowadays. The fact that London has more Michelin starred restaurants than any city except for Paris speaks volumes. The restaurant was worrying empty for a Friday night, despite the celebrity diners (we recognised a few faces off the telly. No, of course we didn't say anything to them. We're jaded Londoners, remember ;) So, if you've got a few quid to spare (well, about £60 to £70 but honestly it was worth every penny and that isn't expensive by London standards) then go to Osia before it shuts and enjoy the magnificent cuisine and attentive waiter service. Ours was an exceptionally good looking Polish/Australian waiter. One of my friends has spent quite a bit of time in Poland and gleefully practiced her Polish as she flirted with him. A lot.
Last night went to see The Last Samurai, which I can really recommend if only for the stunning battle scenes. I'm not a huge Tom Cruise fan but he was good in this and Ken Watanabe was magnificent as the noble Samurai leader. I would have personally gone for a different ending, but I guess the producers were worried that the audience wouldn't swallow the one I think would've been most suitable.
Also found out that I can upgrade my Vodaphone mobile for free to a G2 phone, as my existing contract is over a year old. Think I'll call in to the Vodaphone shop on Moorgate tomorrow and take a gander.
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Date: 2 February 2004 06:54 (UTC)Re:
Date: 2 February 2004 13:29 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2 February 2004 06:59 (UTC)Shows how observant I am (I mean I *noticed* when it stopped being a Thorntons). I'll have to find another one, there's got to be one nearby somewhere...