18 July 2012

London Olympics: Me And My Oyster On A Journey

Leake Street - London Eye/Waterloo Station


Up until recently "Street Art" was called graffiti and was associated with vandalism. A lot of places have now cleaned up the colourful art that used to be in so many places that I spent time in around London. I hadn't been to the newly acquired Old Vic Tunnels until a few weeks ago. Only a stone's throw from where I used to live. The  Old Vic Tunnels is tucked away behind Waterloo station and as the name says, its entrance is via the tunnel that is Leake Street.


As soon as you approach the tunnel you are immediately bathed in this rainbow effect and a burst of colour that you just don't see around London anymore and rather unusual of it being so central. Leake Street and is fantastic splash of colourful Street Art or Graffiti for the old skool, and is right across from the London Eye.

17 July 2012

Ladies Who Lunch: Afternoon Tea at Kettners





The rituals of afternoon tea date back to the 1800s when Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford scheduled times for tea and snack to keep the hanger pangs at bay. In 2012 the ritual is still as alive as ever, and in one truly elegant surrounding that is Kettners. Tucked away in Romily Street in the heart of theatre land.



Afternoon Tea is one of the most fashionable ways to catch up with friends. On Saturday we set about to do just that, catching up over endless cups of fragrant teas with heavenly scones and sandwiches that would stop any dieter in her tracks. One would normally associate afternoon tea as a ladies thing but Kettners offers an atmosphere of genteel refinement and caters to all. I could have sworn I saw a few raised pinkies over fine china by a few male guests sitting across our table.

8 July 2012

Open The Olympic Games With A Weekend Of Free Music From Around The World


Emirates Cable Cars-  Royal Docks

If you haven't managed to get a ticket to any event at the Olympics, fear not, because help is at hand. If want to see some of the sporting events but not prepared to pay the amount it would cost to send your family for a week in Spain then I may just have some good news for you!

26 June 2012

Windows Cloud Day: Windows Azure Conference





Websites
Virtual Machines
Cloud Services
Big Data
Media
Windows Azure opening talks - Scott Guthrie Blog
Nord.js - Mark Rendell
iOS Devices with Azure - Chris Risner
Provision and Customise Azure Virtual Machines - Michael Washam
Social Gaming - Nate Totten
Windows Azure Storage and Service Bus - Scott Klein
Android Device with Azure - Chris Risner
Java Applications with Azure - Satish Nikram
Team Foundation Server use of Azure components - Richard Fennel
Building PHP Applications on Windows Azure - Cory Fowler
Tracks at the presentation 
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazure/
http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/
http://robinosborne.co.uk/2012/06/23/ukwaug-ms-cloud-day-windows-azure-spring-release/

13 June 2012

The Big Blue: My Mini Guide to Lake Garda



Something curious happened the moment I stepped off the plane. Arriving in Verona on a hot Friday afternoon. In that very moment, it was as if the heat had suddenly melted all my cares away. I was ready to spend 5 days in Italy. With only a GCSE Italian to rely on I was determined to fully immerse myself in the culture.

Anyone that knows me or those that have traveled with me know, that I am a planner, and I will plan the whole trip in detail. From how I will get there to downloading local street maps on my iPhone, getting around; the best, cheapest, quickest ways to see the cities I visit including what not to miss out on. I suppose this is what traditional tourism tells us; seeing the standard city sites like landmarks and artworks as if the only things worth seeing. So this trip to Italy, I decided to do things differently. That of minimal planning. I wanted a more sensory and deeper travel experience, so there was no downloading of any maps or extensive research about the best places to eat, drink or museums around town. I was not going to slavishly follow a travel itinerary to the letter.