The totally off-topic thread

[Flashback]

And with any money left !

Ah... touché!

 

[Flashback]

While I'm thinking of it, you used some very good quality card for the sign

 

[Mal]

While I'm thinking of it, you used some very good quality card for the sign

Lol, seeing you were in Business, thought you deserved some quality cardboard!

It was 240gsm smooth white card - perfect for the occasion.

 

[Flashback]

Lol, seeing you were in Business, thought you deserved some quality cardboard!

It was 240gsm smooth white card - perfect for the occasion.

Very fitting for the head of DJ

 

[Bundy Bear]

Arrived in Italy; you can find free 10-15 wifi in any country.

 

[Mal]

Arrived in Italy; you can find free 10-15 wifi in any country.

Indeed, free Wi-Fi is becoming more and more commonplace everywhere. I wish hotels didn't charge an arm+leg for it though.

 

[Flashback]

Indeed, free Wi-Fi is becoming more and more commonplace everywhere. I wish hotels didn't charge an arm+leg for it though.

It's a chain hotel thing, mainly. Every place we've stayed in over the past month, except for one had free wifi

 

[Mal]

It's a chain hotel thing, mainly. Every place we've stayed in over the past month, except for one had free wifi

Yeah true. It's often been the way that the lower your hotel room rate, the higher the chance of free internet, or cheap internet. High room rate - pretty much no chance of free internet.

We discussed all of the following yesterday anyway, but for the sake of others reading:

When you look at some of the other options (eg a mobile broadband dongle O2 Mobile Broadband ) , it really highlights how crazy the charges are.

O2 have the pre-paid (pay as you go) dongle for £14.67 (it's on a 50% off promotion till tomorrow), and for £15 you get 30 days Internet Access including 3Gb downloads +Wifi from many locations (no data cap on wi-fi).

[Also using a local cashback site called Quidco, they are currently rebating £14.67 if purchased online... when I first signed up it was the modem cost and one month's usage rebated]

I often connect at HSPDA, which is 3.6Mbps , which can be around 1Mbs of downloads / minute.

I doubt if £30 would cover much more than 1 days internet access at Hilton etc.

Only issue for tourists, is that the O2 top up site (apparently) doesn't accept overseas cards. Havn't tried to use one of my Aussie cards as I use my debit card.

I've also re-flashed the dongle to make it generic and if I can find a cheap enough data only type SIM in a country I visit, can also use it there...

 

[Flashback]

That sounds pretty good.

Any recommendations on an area/place to go for dinner? You're welcome to come too, if you've nothing better to do

 

[Mal]

Any recommendations on an area/place to go for dinner?

I think Brick Lane isn't too bad for a tourist to visit, have a curry+beer (I go about once every couple of months), and to run the gammit of the touts looking for you to go into their restaurant.

The reputation of the place has gone down a bit over the last few years though.

If looking for something simple, Gourmet Burger Kitchen (There's a kind of takeaway one in St Pancreas station) makes great burgers - but you're probably burgered out!

Lastly, and this is probably what I'd recommend, "The Slug & Lettuce" - it's a kind of mix between a pub and a restaurant. All food is 50% off Mondays: The Slug and Lettuce, Welcome to Slug

I've eaten there once or twice and found the food good (and well priced on a Monday!). Plenty of locations around London, probably the best one for you is Leicester Square.

<ponders whether I want to head out for dinner tonight ... Let me think about it for a little while, and let me know what you decide>

 

[anat0l]

BD granted me my *G comp request. w00t.

On the other hand, I wish LH had a better search engine for booking flights. Having to go back and forth (using the Back button and resubmitting) in order to see which flight during a certain time is cheaper than the other is ridiculously time consuming. At least BD shows this (ala QF does the same thing - both price and flight time are shown in the same table), but for the sector I'm looking for BD books into codeshare with LH (at a higher than cheapest fare class).

 

[Keith009]

Any recommendations on an area/place to go for dinner? You're welcome to come too, if you've nothing better to do

The foie gras at Harvey Nicks' 5th floor resto is very good.

For something more casual there's Maze by Gordon Ramsay.

Or you could try a gastropub - The Bull & Last (a bit out of the way Northish but worth it), Smith of Smithfields and The Engineer are some of my faves

If you are home sick for good coffee, go to Flat White on Berwick St in Soho - one of many Aussie coffee shops popping up all over London except this one is one of the few actually run by Antipodeans. They also have a 2nd outlet around the corner called Milk Bar which is less busy.

 

[notzac]

Greetings from MEX. I'll get around to updating my trip report v shortly - I've got a stupidly long layover to use up somehow - but I thought I'd give a quick rundown of the oneworld lounges available to SPH and higher.

• Mexicana domestic - lovely lounge, comfy couches, free wifi (I think?), paid restaurant and bar :shock:, anaemic self-service drinks and snacks.
• Mexicana international - awful. Tiny, uncomfortable couches, equally tiny bar and snack service, free wifi. Restaurant coming; presumably at cost per the domestic lounge.
• American Airlines international - actually pretty decent. Drinks, wifi and reasonable snack selection all free. Decor not dissimilar to most other AA lounges (i.e., straight out of a chain hotel in the 80s). I believe this lounge is also available to pax flying on an AA flight with a QP card.

 

[Keith009]

1 month into car ownership and I'm really happy with it for the most part. It's such a looker, and some of the gadgets are neat. The a/c works very well on a hot day, and the stereo system is fab. There's also great isolation in the cabin with v little outside noise.

However now that I am more informed about cars, I have just found BMWs to be too performance-oriented at the expense of comfort. I guess that's why they're the Ultimate Driving Machines but I could care less about the time taken to get to 100kmh or how much 'road feel' or how the steering feels etc like the car journos like to cough on about in reviews -- personally the less I 'feel' the road the better. For the most part, the ride is a bit too firm and harsh for me even for a small car - I prefer something a lot cushier and softer. I was told to change the suspension or replace the run-flat tyres with normal ones so maybe that's something I'd explore when I bring it in for servicing.

 

[Flashback]

We ended up going to a place called the Slug & Lettuce, and it was actually a really good meal! The eye candy upstairs was pretty impressive too

50% off meals on Monday nights too, so even better:!:

 

[docjames]

I think Brick Lane isn't too bad for a tourist to visit, have a curry+beer (I go about once every couple of months), and to run the gammit of the touts looking for you to go into their restaurant.

Dont accept until you've got at least 30% off menu price AND a bottle of wine.

 

[Keith009]

Having my first British Indian meal next week at this place as suggested by a friend in London:
| RASOI | ______________________

Going for the Gourmand menu with wine pairings. (and substitutions for the lovely-sounding shellfish stuff )

Hopefully not too spicy but I discovered a great way to take away the spice from curries whilst retaining the flavour is to ask for extra yoghurt to dunk in.

 

[Mal]

Dont accept until you've got at least 30% off menu price AND a bottle of wine.

Hehe, otherwise you'll pay 25-30% too much, and even more for that bottle of wine (not that wine is expensive in London anyway!).

 

[docjames]

Exactly Mal. The discount brings the price for the meal to about where it should be!

 

[thewinchester]

Best. Seat. Ever.

Three rows of models, one on my row, one behind, and one opposite side of the aisle a row back.

It was brilliant they came on last and had so much cabin baggage to put into the overheads, hope they didn't catch my extended staring at them :mrgreen: