Skype Me!

Check out the top right hand corner of the blog for a Skype Me icon.



Just like the one above. Click on it to start a Skype call to us anytime ... if neither me or Anne are logged in then you can leave us a voicemail.

If you don't have Skype you can download it at www.skype.com - and start making free calls over the Internet.

Or, alternatively, just call us on our Skype-In number: 02071932012; which will connect you to us via Skype where ever we happen to be in the world (or to our voicemail if we're not logged in), and can be called from any landline or mobile.

Gordon F'ing Wood

Gordon F'ing Wood
Originally uploaded by domfells.

Woody demonstrates his amazing culinary skills once again ... apparently he often snacks on a nice pizza plus polystyrene base when Jo isn't around to look after him. Either that or raw lardons.

Jo was later quoted as saying: "Ah bless him, at least he tried."

Good party though, and nice to see a few people before the big off on Wednesday.

Borough Market & Fish! for Lunch

barry the battered cod
Originally uploaded by domfells.

This was my rather pleasant main course choice - Barry the battered cod, with chips, mooooshy peas and bread & butter. Lovely.

Set of photos linked from this one show Borough Market packed to bursting on Saturday lunchtime; and then us plus parents having a farewell lunch at Fish! the restaurant also in Borough Market.

Not only did we eat Saturday lunch, we also purchased Sunday dinner ... which was very pleasant. The sticky toffee pudding cannot be recommended highly enough ... all that remains is to sample the cheddar from Neals Yard.

Living out of a bag!

This is my entire life for the next 5 months. In order to prove to myself that I would be able to take more that a pair of pants and a t-shirt I had a practice packing session yesterday - with Anne's careful guidance of course.

I am now more relaxed about the whole thing, as there was plenty of room for at least 3 pairs of boxers!!

Not sure about Anne's hair straighteners though.

Round the World!

Right then, Anne and I will soon be off round the world on our travelling adventure.

It's getting very exciting now - we have our basic plan: a short stop in Tokyo, and the same in Hong Kong. Then 3 weeks in Thailand, followed by another short stop in Singapore. Then into Brisbane & up the East Coast of Australia for a couple of weeks, before flying from Brisbane - where we will be celebrating Anne's birthday on 20th December - on to Melbourne for a week including Christmas and the 4th Ashes Test. Then on to Sydney for two and a half weeks including New Year's celebrations and the 5th Ashes Test. Then in to Christchurch & the South Island for about two and a half weeks, before flying to Wellington & the North Island for roughly three and a half weeks, and eventually leaving from Auckland, and flying into LA. We spend a few days in LA, and then drive up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco, and spend a few days there. We will then probably go skiing in Lake Tahoe or similar, before heading down to Las Vegas for a couple of days. We then fly from Las Vegas on the 19th March to San Diego, where we spend four nights taking in the sights and chilling out. From San Diego we fly to New Orleans, where we spend two nights before flying on to Miami in Florida. We spend about ten nights in Florida before finally flying home to London from Miami, leaving on 6th April and arriving back on Saturday 7th April.

Click here for the detailed itinerary of flights.

Question: how will I live out of a bag for five months?

Kiwis in Richmond

Chord change ... this is G
Originally uploaded by domfells.

So, straight from cookery school off I went to meet Anne, Megan, Katy and Graham for a few drinks and dinner.

We scooted off to the White Horse in Richmond - where we proceeded to demolish a large chunk of the New Zealand wine mountain; and Katy demonstrated how to play a very large guitar.

Click the photo to go to the full set on Flickr

Learning to cook Fish

View from the cookery school into the restaurant
Originally uploaded by domfells.

Best birthday present ever - learning to buy and cook fish properly.

Anne bought me a day at FishWorks in Richmond, attending their classic seafood cookery course. Which was excellent - myself and three others (there were four no-shows - thanks for that, mean't there was much more wine for the rest of us!) spent the day with Olly the chef.

We spent the first 30-40 mins in the fishmongers (every FishWorks has a fishmonger, and they are supplied by FishWorks' own supplier from Brixham) learning how to choose good fish of various different types. I particularly enjoyed sniffing a lot of fish gills.

The rest of the day was spent in the cookery school kitchen; only the Richmond FishWorks has a dedicated cookery school kitchen - at the other restaurants they use the actual restaurant kitchens for the school on the day the restaurant is otherwise closed. Which is typically a Monday.

Olly showed us how to cook Mussels in white wine & garlic, Taramasalata, Clam & Mussel Chowder, Salt Baked Sea Bream, Pan Fried Skate, Monk Fish Skewers, Tempura Prawns, Classic Crab and many more. Most importantly he kept us fully lubricated with some excellent Spanish white wines throughout the day.

House of Parliament, by night

20061018_IMG_0209
Originally uploaded by domfells.

There we were wandering along beside the Thames, on an unseasonbly warm October evening, when I decided to snap a few shots of the House of Parliament, the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Bridge.

Pretty iconic views, its just a shame Anne jumped in front of the camera at the last second!

This is pretty much one of my favourite views in London. It will be nice to see this online whilst we are treking around the world for the next few months.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.