Coronation Tap

Bristolians would be familiar with this place. Jo and I went to Coronation Tap in Clifton ("Corey's Tap"). Its an old pub at the end of a cul-de-sac dating back to the 1700s. They serve a variety of ciders and cask-ales but are most famous for an exclusive cider they call the Coronation Cider.

This sweet, flat drink appears innocous when it appears before you. And then you wonder why it is only served in half-pints.

Sad to say, my limit is 3 half pints before I start acting the fool... The drink is THAT strong. Hurhur...

Trevi Fountain

St Peter's Basilica - Vatican City

St Peter's Basilica

Burial place of the first Pope, one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus and indeed, the greatest Church in the world.

Classy Insults

When Insults Had Class - forwarded email. Part 1 - here.

When Insults Had Class (no 4-letter words!!) These glorious insults are from an era when cleverness with words was still valued, before a great portion of the English language got boiled down to 4-letter words, not to mention waving middle fingers.

The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, 'If you were my husband I'd give you poison,' and he said, 'If you were my wife, I'd drink it.'

A member of Parliament to Disraeli: 'Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.' 'That depends, Sir,' said Disraeli, 'whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.'

'He had delusions of adequacy.' - Walter Kerr

'He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.' - Winston Churchill

'A modest little person, with much to be modest about.' - Winston Churchill

'I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. 'Clarence Darrow

'He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.' - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).
'Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?' - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

'Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it.' - Moses Hadas

'He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know.' - Abraham Lincoln

'I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.' - Mark Twain

'He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.' - Oscar Wilde

'I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one.' - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
'Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one.' - Winston Churchill, in response.

'I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here.' - Stephen Bishop

'He is a self-made man and worships his creator.' - John Bright

'I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial.' - Irvin S. Cobb

'He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others.' - Samuel Johnson

'He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.' - Paul Keating

'There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure.' Jack E. Leonard

'He has the attention span of a lightning bolt.' - Robert Redford

'They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge.' - Thomas Brackett Reed

'In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily.' - Charles, Count Talleyrand

'He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.' - Forrest Tucker

'Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?' - Mark Twain

'His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.' - Mae West

'Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.' - Oscar Wilde

'He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts.. . for support rather than illumination.' - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

'He has Van Gogh's ear for music.' - Billy Wilder

'I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it.' - Groucho Marx

Food for Thought

If you used to set aside 10% of your take-home pay as savings every month, but inflation is hovering at around 9% today...

It means that you will have no more new savings if you continue to live your lifestyle as you used to do.

Scary, eh?

Familiar?

Some of you readers would recognise this. =) They have given Will's a wash, and it looks sparkly-sandstoney brown now!

4 Seasons Duck

Call me a "mountain-tortoise", but having spent 3 years studying in the UK, I have heard so much about the famous "4 Seasons duck" but have never tried it. To make it up, I flew 13 hours to London, and checked out the place.

Most embarrassingly, when I got there, there were at least 3 types of duck on the menu. They had Peking, Roast, Cantonese-style etc. Which duck was it? A quick 2 phonecalls to ex-Londoners cleared it up - somewhat. They could only remember it was not the Peking nor the Roast. So I took a chance on the Cantonese Duck.

It took awhile to arrive, but woah, the duck was fatty, succulent and indeed, one of the best I've ever eaten! It was melt-in-your-mouth, mind-numbingly good!

Was definitely worth the trip down and the price one pays for it. =)

I had thought the place would be hard to find. But nope, its just outside the Tube exit @ High Street Kensington.

P.S. My elder brother swears that Magic Wok, a few doors down is better. But there is only so much duck one can eat in a day, so I didn't get to find out. =)

Summer 2008

Just back from a holiday... busy with work... more details later.

Laughs