tonyleeharley

New year – wonder what 2012 will bring along – good or bad?

For new years eve in 2011 we went once again to the Blue Elephant in Fulham.

The place is about to move, so just before it did we thought we would enjoy another good meal there

We booked in for 9.30 and went for the new years eve banquet, lots of courses and plenty of spice.

The wife looked stunning as usual, the purple of her dress really making her look beautiful.

Me – I went simple – black leather jeans and black turtleneck.

The meal was great, but to be honest, it was a bit too much for us both and we ended up leaving some of the main meal behind. This was not a travesty though, as the best part of the meal is the many courses leading up to the main course.

With Thai dancing around us and the restaurant decked out for the new year, it was a great night.

As we departed just before midnight, the trip home via tube and tram was very quiet. It’s quite nice bypassing the mad rush on the busiest night of the year. Bed followed with great comedy keeping me up till gone 3am.

Another new year seen in.

Bring on a great 2012

Great website – great concept – some great things for a fiver

LINK

Must buy this at some point

LINK

With  Blurb now offering iPad eBooks I finally got around to testing the book design software and make my first book with them. The eBook is now sat on my iPad which was a good test, though I suspect things can only get much better. The preview below shows the book which others can order but only if they are that stupid!

I just bought into a new photo app for the iPad. Brings photos to life.

Tuesday was travel day. With everything pre booked and packed, a busy Gatwick was our destination. For the first time ever Helen beat me to it in the packing stakes. She packed first and then beat me in weight by a clear 2kg. I blame the fact I hd to bring my work laptop etc with me to do some gfx work as the reason but I doubt that will stick.

Check in was easy but we were pre warned that there was already a one hour delay. More time to shop said Helen!

So we fed ourselves, shopped and eventually boarded the plane for Turkey. The delay was up to two hours as we left the runway and headed skywards.

The was quite a bit of turbulence early on, much to the dismay of the woman sat by me, who had a panic attack and feared impending doom and disaster. Fair play though to the Thompson air stewardess who sat with her for a good half hour calming her and trying to get her relaxed.

So at gone midnight we qued to get our visa, picked up our bags, boarded a taxi and headed the 15 mins into town to the hotel.

It was very dark, so full update on the hotel and rea to come but the hotel is inside the walled old town of Antalya and the whole place looks beautiful.

More to follow.

Saturday March 19 2011 was the day i finally took the wife to see Manchester United play at Old Trafford.

It had been a long time coming. Promises had been made to take her for quite a while – but getting things organised and planned – more difficult.

So when IMG offered me two tickets as a thank you for work done getting the Premier League channel off the ground, everything finally came toegther.

So – with Bolton the visitors, a trip to Manchester was planned.

To make the weekend a bit more special – we flew to Manchester, checked in to a nice hotel in the new Media City in Salford Quays, just over the river from the ground plus organised a great meal with my folks at the River Restaurant at the Lowry Hotel.

Flying up was very nice and certainly takes the strain out of the trip. The only downside is making sure you have all your toiletries in small containers due to the new flight regulations.

The taxi from the airport to the hotel was easy and with check in complete, we headed to the ground. I gave Helen a brief tour of the ground’s main sights, then we headed for our seats.

Well – a few observations. The new ground improvements look great and certainly cram in more people to keep the money flooding into the United coffers. But. The atmosphere has really suffered. It’s been quite a few years since I was last at Old Trafford but the feeling inside the ground was flat. Was it down to the fact United were playing one of their worst performances in years – maybe – but the crowd should be enough to lift the atmosphere – rather than rely on the team to lift them. It seems that nowadays, with ticket prices so steep – the onus is on the team to entertain the crowd – rather than the fans getting behind their team no matter what. The crowd is the twelfth man but on this occasion, they were lacking.

The game – was won 1-0 – in the 88th minute. Only then did the atmosphere lift and resemble anything like the one I remember with fond memories from previous visits.

Thanks to Nani and Berbatov for making the goal happen. Without it the day would have been as flat as a pancake.

I tried to keep the wife as informed as I possible could throughout and when I turned to her to ask her if she was enjoying it – she told me she was, but the other match she had been to – Barnet quite a few years ago – had been more exciting. Sadly – I could not argue with that one !

So – match done – it was the short walk back to the hotel to freshen up and then head over to meet the folks and eat.

It was lovely to see them both. Not the shortest of trips for them but I hoped they enjoyed it.

The Lowry hotel – back into town and a very nice hotel was beautiful.

The reviews of this restaurant on trip advisor were the only reason I picked it – but it certainly lived up to expectations. We were well looked after and the food was superb.

The conversation was easy flowing and even though we ate early – with the threat of turned tables – the restaurant never once gave us the impression that we were unwelcome and being rushed.

With coffees and tea downed, the folks drove us back to the hotel – giving us a chance to show them the BBC complex (very high tech and stunning) before they headed back own the motorway and to bed.

Breakfast in the morning was perfect (bacon to die for – very tasty) then hop in the taxi for the trip back to the airport and home (the taxi driver insisted on having a very detailed conversation about football – lasting almost the entire trip !). The short accent and descent later and we were driving home and back home. A thirty hour round trip but lots crammed in and bags of fun.

Thanks to IMG for the tickets, the folks for the great company and the wife – well – just for being her.

Wow – this looks lovely. Will be buying one when they come out. More info HERE