Rage quitting: my experience with EE and T-Mobile – part 1

I’ve been a T-Mobile customer for several years now. Until recently I was on Pay-As-You-Go, which seemed to fit my usage quite well. I would top up about £10 each month, which would give me free texts for the following month and enough credit for all the phone calls I would normally make. If I used more during one month, I would simply perform an extra top up, and if I used less, the credit might stretch even further than a month. For internet I would buy “unlimited” (500MB/month) usage for £20 every six months. It seemed like a good system.

More about rage quitting →

Train Service or Train Business?

TrainPostImage300x200Public transportation is a crucial service in any modern society, and vital for the economy. Not only does public transport facilitate workforce mobility, but it does so without the excessive costs to our health and environment that come with private automobiles. Therefore, it’s paramount that the politicians who run the United Kingdom understand this, so they can ensure the best possible service to all of us.

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Eliza Shaddad – January ~ March

A couple of months ago, a friend of mine was visiting us for a weekend, and he asked if there was any music on. Knowing that there would be loads of music on somewhere in London, but having no idea what, where or when, I turned to the internet. Not surprisingly, there was indeed loads going on. We finally decided what to see and only when we were pretty much on our way out the door we realised that our chosen gig was on the Sunday and not the Saturday as we thought. So we had a quick panic and returned to the list from earlier and picked the second choice. This was how we ended up going to The Wilmington Arms to see Eliza Shaddad and The Worry Dolls. We managed to sit at a small round table a few feet from the stage, and witnessed some great performances.

Tonight, I’m going with Katie to see Eliza Shaddad again this time at the St Pancras Old Church; a beautiful venue where we’ve seen Emmy The Great in the past.

Check out her music here and if you like it, buy it and share it!

Holborn Whippet

Finally made it to the Holborn Whippet that opened a couple of months ago, and this is what I had:

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Oldersham – Heavenly Blonde. This amazingly fresh and hoppy beer made the rain outside seem like a distant memory. 5/5.

10 Bells, Shoreditch

We walked here after a heavy brunch at the Worker’s Cafe in Islington. I had the two halves below while the girls had some fresh lime and soda.

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First I had the Truman’s – Runner. It’s a tasty ruby beer, with hints of mild. 4 / 5.

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Then followed Truman’s – Swallow And Swift. This is a beautiful amber golden beer with a surprisingly smooth taste. Lots of biscuit and a subtle warmth of ginger. 5 / 5.

La Gelatiera, The Bree Louise and El Parador.

Yesterday after work, I met up with my lovely Katie at our favourite ice cream place: La Gelatiera in Soho. After some amazing basil and chili, strawberry yoghurt and our favourite the chocolate sorbet, we got a bus home. Or at least that was the idea at the time. But at Euston Station we decided to get off and find The Bree Louise; a pub we had heard so much good about. And we were not disappointed! Just west of Euston Station lay the pretty little pub. Even though it was very busy with loads of people thronging outside, it was still very friendly and service was fast. The beer selection resembled more that of a beer festival than just a pub, outperforming even the nearby Euston Tap on real ales.

The first beer I tried was the “safe bet” of a Tring – Side Pocket For A Toad. It was in a very good condition and tasted as fresh as when we got it straight from the brewery. I would even say that it was better than it’s been when we’ve come across it at some beer festivals.

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A very well presented version of the lovely Tring beer – Side Pocket For A Toad. 5/5

With such a wide selection of ales, I wanted to try something new. I went for the Third Switch from ABC Brewery. It was a good choice and just what I was looking for.

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A very dark beer with almost treacly coffee without being sickly. 5/5.

Katie had a very refreshing sweet cider from Hecks. We considered staying for tea, but felt adventurous, so we went for a walk down a road we’d rarely gone. We ended up on Eversholt Street where we found El Parador (the hostel) that despite its name was an interesting looking tapas restaurant.

We ordered five dishes, and while that was quite a lot of food, I wouldn’t have wanted to have gone without any of them.

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The pork belly was one of best examples of the dish I’ve had. It was extremely tender and masterfully spiced with just the right herbs.

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This octopus’ arm was amazing. It was soft and fresh. Not chewy like you might expect, but very tender and cooked to perfection.

We also had chicken livers that were like they should be, but how I would have no idea how to cook them; they were soft and creamy inside, without seeming too raw.

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Here’s a picture of the whole table, though the bacalao (salt cod) hadn’t arrived yet.

All in all this was simply some of the best food I’ve ever had in this friendly and popular little restaurant.

Food, oh glorious food.

It might not have been obvious from my posts so far, but food is very important to me. Even as I child, I remember how one of the most exciting things when traveling was to try the food. Here is a blog post to show some of the culinary adventures of this year.

Dave and Laura's Wedding Buffet

Dave and Laura's Wedding Buffet

The London Burger at The Centre Page in The City (of London)

The London Burger at The Centre Page in The City (of London)

Pizza Emmigrante from La Forchetta in Islington

Pizza Emmigrante from La Forchetta in Islington. Notice how it looks just like the Italian flag.

Amazing sausage and mash from The Alma.

Amazing sausage and mash from The Alma when we were there for their beer festival.

The Sharing Starter Platter at The Alma.

The Sharing Starter Platter at The Alma when we can back for the beer festival the day after.

Amazing window in a food shop in Boulogne.

Amazing window in a food shop in Boulogne-sur-Mer. We stopped by and admired it several times over the weekend we were there.

Katie's tasty salad.

Katie "only had a salad" for lunch on our last day in Boulogne. It was quite amazing with herring, salmon and lots more.

Moulles Frites Creme Saumon

I had this pile of Moulles Frites Creme Saumon. There was quite a lot of salmon and in the end I couldn't finish the mussels, having hardly touched the chips.

Tiny Crab from my moulles.

This cute, tiny, little Crab was hiding in my moulles, and I very nearly ate it.