Genuis Economic Policy

Mugabe bans pay and price rises. That will sort out all the countries troubles then.

An evening in Balham

Before last night the last time I visited Balham was about 15 years ago when my Aunt and Uncle lived there. Back then a visit was an interesting experience. Being a country boy I found it a bit of a culture shock. My Aunt and Uncle were burgled with alarming regularity, usually coinciding with the school holidays.

How times change. Last night I was invited to dinner at my friend Debbie's house. Walking from the tube station to her flat it couldn't have been more different than 15 years ago. One of the things I noticed was the number of newly painted front doors, behind which obviously sat neat and tidy houses that had been renovated. It is an area that has come a long way. I bet my Aunt and Uncle still wish they had their house there, it must be worth a bit now.............

MOT Review

After a less than overwhelming response to my appeal for suggestions on where to get my car MOT renewed in Brockley I decided to take it to Brentons of Blackheath on Greenwich High Road.

The service was perfectly acceptable really, but they need to improve their customer service to get top marks from me. One of the attractions of Brentons was their relatively long opening hours of 6am - 6pm. However, in reality if you tried to drop the car off or pick it back it up before 8am it seems to cause some consternation.

On the bright side the car passed with no work needing to be carried out......

Wembley!!

Thank you to Ed for getting me a ticket for the England v Germany game on Wednesday night. I was looking forward to it for two reasons. I've wanted to visit the new Wembley stadium since it opened and I haven't seen a live game of football in a long time.

The stadium lived up to expectations. Even from up in the eves there was a fantastic view. The facilities were good and it was efficient to get in and out of the stadium. Sadly the football didn't live up to it's half of the bargain and England slumped to a miserable 2-1 defeat.

A comical part of the evening was when the German fans were singing in English Football's coming home and You only sing when you're winning, mocking the English fans. Could the English fans sing in unison in a foreign language?

Credit to the Police who managed the crowds discreetly but efficiently, especially as 70,000 people queued to get back into Wembley Park tube station after the game. I was astonished at how well the Police Horses are trained and can effectively guide the crowds.

Where to get an MOT done?

Just realised that my car is shortly due to have an MOT test. Being my first car I have absolutely no idea where to go. Any local residents popping by the blog who can make a suggestion?

Thanks!

Restaurant Review: Yummy Thai

Last night I went Yummy Thai in Wantage with my parents and sister. The restaurant is owned by the parents of two children that my mum used to teach (poor kids! lol).

My love of all things Thai is well known. I tried some pigeon Thai to strike up a conversation with the owners which produced roars of laughter and some consternation from my parents who hadn't got a clue what was going on. I don't think that they get many visitors to the restaurant who have been to Thailand or have bothered to learn any Thai, so were genuinely appreciative. I hope!

I got the impression that the menu is more South East Asian rather than specifically Thai. My favourites such as Som Tum and Larb were missing. There were still lots of classics such as Pad Thai and green and red curries. All of the food that arrived was excellent and the prices were very reasonable for a local eatery.

Dinner with Kelly!

On my final night in NY I met up with Kelly who had arrived that afternoon for a two year stint with PWC. I arrived at Kelly's rented flat on 6th Avenue which has fantastic views from every window, the Empire State from the front and views over the Hudson River from the rear.

We walked down to Greenwich Village and found ourselves on the heart of the New York University campus. I'm not quite sure how we managed it, but we struggled to find a bar for quite a few blocks which I would have thought would be impossible in NYC. Belated we found a bar and headed in for a drink.

After a couple of beers we headed for dinner. Yet again great food and friendly service, but massive helpings left us with a stuffed feeling. Apple Pie for desert just to complete all of the classic American fair.

New York Food

After nearly a week in New York the question I want answered is not, why are so many Americans obese? But why aren't all Americans obese? Their appetites seem huge, the portions even larger and quite a lot of it was unhealthy. (I'm not denying that healthy food exists also.) I found myself skipping meals because I was still so full from the previous one, not something I noticed the locals doing. How do they do it?

I'm not going to deny for a minute that the range and quality of the food on offer was excellent and that might be part of the problem. It is all too appealing. Below is a quick recap of my culinary highlight.

The highlight had to be Poterhouse Streak Restaurant in the Time Warner Centre just opposite Central Park. Invited by a colleague from the office, my boss and I went on our second night. Still full from breakfast and lunch I tried to escape with just one course, but the form was clearly to have three and I felt compelled to oblige. I had the classic New York strip streak which was an enormous piece of well hung and perfectly seasoned beef. For those familiar with the Gaucho Grill back here in the UK it dwarfed their largest steak in size by quite some margin. The side orders were sized to match the steaks. There was no concern about running out of onion rings. To complete the all American dining experience I a York Cheesecake for desert while my companions had a DIY Sundae.

I'm not going to grumble, the food was excellent. But the sheer volume of food must have provided sufficient calories to fuel you for a week, there was quite a lot of salt in the food, the side orders were deep fried and the deserts full of fat. Usually a lethal combination. Which brings me back to my original question why aren't all New Yorkers obese?

The big question is: Would I like to live in NY?

A blog with a few casual musings about NY almost seems a bit irrelevant. Most people have spent a lot more time in the city than I have and certainly a lot more time experiencing the place rather than cooped up in the office.

It's probably very bad manners to complain when someone else paid for you flight, but I am going to anyway. BA Business Class is not a patch on Singapore airlines. The service was less attentive, the food wasn't as good, the fabric of my seat had a couple of tears in it and I wasn't quite sure about the concept of facing a complete stranger during the whole flight.

For some reason I was under the impression that the BarCap office in New York was going to be a small satellite office and was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't. It was also strangely familiar. The desks, PCs, monitors and even the carpets are all the same as in the UK office. They must have got a job lot from somewhere!

Two days into the trip I got the dawning realisation that my job, and by extension me, might be moving to NY sometime over the next 6-12months. I spent the final two days of the trip trying to work out if I liked the place enough to live there. I'm certainly not ruling it out, but I didn't get an overwhelming sense of homeliness either. I think we are just going to have to wait and see..........

Sadly I didn't manage to meet up with any of my old JPM colleagues for one reason or another. A reason to head back there soon..........

As one of the themes of the blog is restaurant reviews I am planning a second exciting post on my experiences of NY food sometime tomorrow when I get back.