For my birthday a couple of months back, my mum got me one of the coolest and most original birthday present ideas I’d ever been given – a two hour sushi making class.

As my mum knows all too well, I love Japanese food and I’m forever taking up space in our already tiny kitchen with my exotic ingredients and various pots and pans all going at once. She’s often tasting my cooking and more often than not she will tell me it is quite good (although she doesn’t like anything that is even slightly spicy) but whether she likes it or not, she is always moaning at me for commandeering the entire kitchen for most of the evening.

This has been most apparent on the couple of occasions that I have attempted to make sushi. This is the most time consuming of all the dishes I know how to make, and not only that but it uses a lot of different utensils. But it’s worth it – I love sushi and was pleasantly surprised by the results of my first attempt. I got the rice pretty much spot on and the whole assembling / rolling part wasn’t as difficult as I’d imagined. But it took the best part of three hours. Needless to say, my mum wasn’t best pleased. Read the rest of this entry »

It can be difficult learning to drive, as my friend Nicky knows all too well. He has just failed his third attempt at his driving theory test examination and has been more or less constantly ranting online about how frustrating the whole process is.

Despite the fact that the government are already making it harder and harder for people to learn how to drive, I assured him that things could still be a lot worse. For example they could introduce a system similar to the one they have over in the United States. From what I understand, instead of having a single governing body like the DSA, with one set of rules governing examinations, each state has its own Department Of Motor Vehicles (DMV), each with their own version of the written examination.

I explained to Nicky that for that reason the frustration does not stop once you have obtained your license. For example if you live in New Jersey and had already passed the test set by the New Jersey DMV but you then wanted to move to California, you would need to pass a further written test set by the California DMV in order to legally drive in that state.

I found an online free dmv practice test which offers a sample of some of the questions asked, and showed it to him so he could get an idea of what the unfortunate drivers the other side of the Atlantic have to go through. This particular one was for the state of California. I think it helped put things into perspective for him.

Once again, apologies for my recent slump in the level of updates to this page. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I have joined the video club in Broadway Market and have already viewed my way through a large portion of their World Cinema selection, including just about all of their Swedish films (although I haven’t started on Bergman yet, possibly saving the best till last??) but hopefully this article should signify a return to frequent posting.

Sometimes I spend ages in the video shop trying to make up my mind. They offer 3 films for six quid which isn’t a bad deal, so I’ll browse through and try to select a bit of a mixed bag to keep me entertained for the next three nights. I’m often found wandering around the World Cinema bit, and while I find these films fascinating and often educational, sometimes I just want something easy so I can just stick it on and kick back with a cold beer without having to think or apply myself too much.

So the other day I spotted this:

The Karate Kid (2010)

Director: Harald Zwart

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If I told you that when I’m alone in the house I wear a pair of nurses’ trousers and nothing else, you’d probably phone up the mental health institute and request that I be taken away by men in white lab coats .

But it is true. I do in fact own two pairs of these ‘scrubs’, to give them the name that they are technically referred to as in the trade.

“Why??” you may ask. Well, the simple answer is that they’re just about the most comfortable things I’ve ever had the pleasure of putting on. They are also really cheap which is another advantage. I’d highly recommend them as they are a decent substitute for a pair of pyjamas. And nobody has to see you in them (unless you want them to).

So you don’t have to be a nurse or somebody in the medical profession to feel the benefit of scrubs. They could also be used as part of a fancy dress costume, in fact I’m thinking of ordering some white ones from the nice people over at http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/ and customising those into this year’s Halloween costume.

On a side note I can’t believe I’m thinking of Halloween already and it’s still only may…

So on Thursday night I decided to join the video club in Broadway Market. I seem to be spending a lot of time down there recently. If you can overlook the whole crowd who inspired the song “Being A Dickhead’s Cool”, then it’s a pretty cool place which is home to some interesting little shops, a couple of decent pubs and a pretty good market on Saturdays.

I’d been into the video shop on one of my previous visits but finally plucked up the courage to join. What I like about it is that they have a good selection of world cinema, complete with its own sub-section dedicated to Scandinavia. The way that you sign up is a bit different too, it’s free, and they don’t give you a card or something like most places do. You just fill out a form and choose an easy to remember password and just quote the password when you take stuff out. Simples. Read the rest of this entry »

As you may or may not know, I turned 26 yesterday.

My birthday coincided with the first of two Bank Holiday weekends – Easter bank holiday, in fact (the second being the upcoming Royal Wedding on the Friday and Mayday Bank Holiday on the Monday).

On Thursday I went to the West End to get my hair done (as you’ll see below), and on Friday I ventured back up there again, this time to buy a t-shirt which I’d had my eyes on for a while and decided to treat myself to as a birthday present.

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Last week us London folk were treated to a bit of a rarity – a spell of really nice weather at the start of April. Now that the clocks have gone forward it’s starting to get darker a lot later and, coupled with the aforementioned mini-heatwave I was able to temporarily forget the list of about 10,000 different complaints I have about living in London and just enjoy it while it lasted.

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Just to recap: Back in January I made a sort of health plan/resolution type thing. I decided that I would get fit in 2011. For starters I told myself – No more drinking during the week. At all. The aim of this isn’t to eventually go teetotal or anything, simply to cut down my alcohol intake to a much more sensible level, but more importantly to use alcohol in the manner in which it is intended to be used – to enhance an already pleasant situation. Read the rest of this entry »

Meat-Free Indian That Won’t Break The Bank

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Indian Veg Bhelpoori House
92-93 Chapel Market, London N1 9EX

Here in Britain we love a good curry. That’s stating the obvious. All you have to do is take a walk around your local supermarket to see the extent to which the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent has become intertwined with our own. We have tikka pizzas, balti pukka pies, jalfrezi crisps, and so on. However I bypass these fakers on my search for the real Indian experience. Read the rest of this entry »

On Thursday night I went to see Turisas at the O2 Academy in Islington, courtesy of my friend Thespina “The Greek Geek”, who decided to treat me as an early birthday present.

My birthday isn’t for over a month but I wasn’t going to complain as it meant that I would get to see one of my favourite bands. I had missed them twice before when they played in London so I was not going to let it happen a third time.

The show was to promote their upcoming album, entitled “Stand Up And Fight”.

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