Bumper cars, karaoke and bowling champion

And another showcase event (venues are heavily targeting us to pick them for our Xmas staff parties) - this time at the Namco Funscape at London County Hall, opposite Big Ben, next to the London Eye - great location!

We had such a fun evening: complimentary massage (my next objective is to convince my boss to hire a massage therapist for our annual event - I'm sure our delegates would love it!), drinks and canapes (as per usual - not enough food! Thank God for McDonald just upstairs!), karaoke room, bowling, pool tables, games, bumper cars - what else do you need?!

I proved once again how crap I am at playing pool... I even enlisted the help of a pool professional (who seemed to have been hired to show off some really cool pool tricks) - but that didn't make any difference either. I rocked at bowling though and even got two strikes and won.

I'm not sure this would work as a venue for our Christmas party, as you are sharing the space with lots of other parties and you don't have a private area for dining either. On the other hand, I already know who of my colleagues would LOVE it! We'll see what else is on offer.

Penguins and tiger cupcakes

Showcase event at the London Zoo. And the minute I left the office, it of course started raining... (this was last week). We still enjoyed the penguins' performance. All attempts to capture them being fed, ended up completely blurred though - they swim way too fast, especially when after competing for fish.

From there we went to the Terrace restaurant where they had a number of food stations where Ampersand catering was offering delicious bowl food. The duck and pork were particularly yummy. And the tiger cupcakes!

With a Day Delegate rate of £69+VAT there are on the pricey side of venues in London - but of course offer delegates time in the zoo, too. It's not in a great location though as it's quite a walk from the next tube stations, which makes it rather inconvenient, especially for evening events. But their event space was surprisingly nice (given that it's not their primary purpose).

School of Wok

Unique attitudes invited us to a cooking evening at the School of Wok. The School of Wok offers oriental cookery classes and corporate events including team buildings. Nev Leaning guided us through the evening and made cooking so easy! I will definitely be trying this at home.

In a small group of 10 we mastered spring rolls, egg fried rice and ginger and spring onion stir fry chicken. The atmosphere was really relaxed and Nev was at hand to help out at all times. It was a really fun evening! Even if we didn't win the prize for best cooking, we still went home with a goody bag filled with oyster and soya sauce and some good cooking tips.

More dining out - The Haberdashers' Hall

The Haberdashers' Company is another of London Liveries. Their first hall was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The second hall burnt down in an air raid in 1940. The current new hall was only opened in 2002.

I was invited to a conference dinner last week. When planning event dinners, I choose the menu - so everyone - except for those with dietary requirements - get to eat what I give them. The organizers went down a different path though and went for two different starters, mains and desserts. Every table got half of each and people then got to agree who gets to eat what. Quite an interesting idea as it at least gives the guests a bit of a choice. Difficult though if everyone wants the same...

As per usual, there were a few no-shows, which meant that there were some spare meals to go around. Being seated on the top table meant that we got first pick! Which meant I got to taste the passion fruit creme brulee and the rhubarb panna cotta dessert. Both delicious!

Asparagus, salmon and my two lovely desserts

Is it the Minories or me?

Manchester United vs Chelsea: 0:0

Bayern Munich vs Chelsea in the super cup: 2:2, Bayern wins the penalties

Everton vs Chelsea: 1:0

I watched all these games at the Minories pub. (btw, their burgers are really good!)

I have therefore decided not to watch any Chelsea games for the foreseeable future. 

And yes, I am superstitious. 

And if they still don't win, I might have to pick another Premier League club... (superstitious and a glory hunter - that's me! :-))

Mexican burger deliciousness

And here comes another week

Very relaxing weekend. But over so soon.
I could really do with another holiday. Even though, I am not even sure I'd be able to enjoy it, knowing how much work is waiting for me on my desk. So, I am bracing myself for the next two weeks and am hoping there won't be any other incidents that I am wasting my time and energy on like in the last week.

All will be good. Somehow. I'm sure.
Not to forget all the things to look forward to. Like the massage I booked for Saturday. And of course Adam Hills on Sunday.

Proof that we did it

I'm scared of heights. But you only live once, so when we got the opportunity to do the roof walk at the Sage Gateshead for free (usual price of £69), we of course said yes! In order to get to the roof, you have to climb a vertical ladder. Then change from that ladder to another short, super narrow ladder. And then you are on the roof. We were a group of six with three guides looking after us, harnessing us onto the ropes on the roof and taking the photos (you are not allowed to bring your own phones/cameras).

What an experience! I'm not sure whether I found the ladders more terrifying than the actual roof walk. I mean what good is the harness going to do when dangling inside the vertical ladder?
Check out how the roof curves:

And as you can see there is nothing on the roof. Just the ropes to hold onto. When climbing back down, you have to go backwards. Without gloves on, your hands quickly warm up from sliding down the rope... Getting down was definitely scarier than going up. Quite possibly, as you can't see where you are going.

Apparently they are planning to put a walkway with railings on. Understandable from a health & safety point of view - but I am glad we did it without. I'm sure it's a much more exciting experience!!

Can you see the massive dent on the roof 'tile' to the left of us?
They stopped taking 10 people up there after that incident...