London calling

 I've got today off from work as I have a few left to use before I leave work and am heading into London to see my mate James.  We used to meet up everyday for lunch pre pandemic and sometimes after work for a couple of cheeky beers before heading home.  With us both mostly working remotely from home plus having children and wife commitments it sometime hard to arrange a date.  Should be fun.  We're going to have a mini pub crawl around Charing Cross / Soho.  That means it's China Town for dinner before heading home!

Reconnaissance

Trying to find some new pubs for the annual Tonbridge air pub crawl. Unfortunately this one was being refurbished and doubt it will be open in time.

It's funny how many people you know

I went to 5 pubs over the weekend and in 4 of them I meet people I know. Rugby has a lot to answer for.

Sankey's:  1

P&J: 1

The Wharf: 1 (working there)

Slug and Lettuce: 4+ the guy that was in the P&J

The Man of Kent: 0

Putting Weldon on the map

The Shoulder in Mutton in Weldon (my dad's village) has won an award from CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale). That’s great news and should help it prosper as it’s had a load of different owners over the years since I used to frequent there and for a while was going to get converted into flats.
I used to go there when I was 16 or so with a couple of my rugby mates and their dads. It was a sh!t hole then and probably still is now but at least it serves good beer…

Poor stuffed bear

Not sure what happened to the bear's eyes, although I guess he'd have been more concerned about his head getting cut off. Also, the world's worse pool table. Incidentally I won.

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500th Post...

... and to mark this momentous occasion, what will I talk about?

My solution for ending 3rd world debt?

My guide to end religious hatred?

Or my quick and easy recipe for pork chops with sage and apples?

Nope... I'll talk about my impromptu drinks after work last night!

I was due to help Becky get a Christmas tree for our flat last night but Becky e-mailed late telling me that she'd been invited to a champagne and Christmas pudding reception upstairs here at Lloyd's. At that very same moment I was asked if I fancied a 'quick' drink after work.

Call it fate, or call it me not being able to say no to a drink but I ended up going to the Jamaican Wine Bar down Cornhill (Ian, i've eaten there with you and Wolfy). There were about 10 of us at one point so it was quite a good laugh. I think I may give San Miguel a miss next time. Ugh, I feel a little ropey now. After that we moved on to the Counting House and had a couple more. It wasn't a massively late one but we did have a few.

I then got a taxi to Waterloo with Patrick, then waited for my train home. Ideally I would have grabbed a take away on the walk home as all i'd eaten that night was the odd spicy peanut that Liz managed to hand feed me / throw at me, but my favourite place was shut (Ben, this is where we got our takeaway a few weeks back).

I love the Christmas period. I will make my second 'attempt' at getting a tree tonight…