Seller of flowers

Kath and I managed to spend a weekend together. We decided to put the house on hold for a while and enjoy ourselves.

Friday night we had a few beers and watched Arrival on Amazon prime. I enjoyed it though I found it hard to believe Jeremy Renner as a scientist.

Saturday Kath and I went for a walk around the Carrs park, mostly avoiding the rain. Then off to the Trafford Centre for a meal at Tampopo. I had Laksa which was very nice spicy Asian noodle soup with prawns muscles and chicken. After the food we headed to the Odeon to watch Baby Driver. It was a great film about a young driver sucked into a world of crime, and ultimately his redemption after finding the women of his dreams. The sound track was excellent and it starred, Kevin Spacey as a kingpin and John Hamm as a down and dirty criminal.

Today I did my training run 26km, then after a shower we had a nice bbq. It was great to be able to spend some quality time together.

Eastern revive

It is funny how life can be circular, sometimes people that you loose touch with come back into your life later down the line. On Monday evening we went out for dinner with Laura, Colin, Ian, Helen, Bruce and Nina. Laura was someone I used to see so often when I was in my late teens, but then we lost touch for many years. It has been nice to catch up and meet her new partner Colin.

The venue was Eastern Revive in Wilmslow. This is an Indian that Kath and I had never tried. Previously the Ayo Gurkhali was our favourite Indian (well, Nepalese) of choice but unfortunately it closed a few months ago.

In spite of the drizzle Kath and I made the 15 minute walk to the restaurant. It is finally starting to pay off living so close to the centre of Wilmslow.

I ordered the Eastern Revive Jalfrezi which was spicy and tasty. Kath ordered Dal Gosht Karahi, which she enjoyed. Colin also had the Jalfrezi which I think proved a little more spicy than he would have liked. Conversation was easy, Ian and Helen had just returned from a short trip to the south coast, where of all things Ian found a Newfoundland dog show.

We chatted so long that we ended up being the last people in the shop. The waiter was good fun and had a good banter.

Automobiles to the Grand Hotel

Thursday was Kaths birthday, she had been working all day doing the inductions for her new job in Leeds so rather than go out I picked up a sushi platter from Zumu Sushi in Wilmslow and a bottle of Champagne. it made for a great evening together.

Friday Kath was working but I had the day off to go to a track day near York. Phil had bought them for Bruce and myself for our birthdays but it had taken a while to organise the date.

We all had a drive in two supercars, mine was a Ferrari F430 and a Porshe 911. We also got a high speed lap round the track driven by a racing driver.

The Car driving was fun, but with only a couple of laps it was hard to find a groove. I enjoyed the Ferrari more to drive but the Porshe I can imagine as more a practical car to own. Getting in and out of the Ferrari was a chore.

After the driving day we headed off to Wagamama at the designer outlet for lunch. I really enjoyed a Pad Thai and some gyoza.

Saturday Kath and I headed to Birmingham. I got us tickets to see Regina Spektor at the Birmingham Symphony hall. It was the 4th time I had seen her. The first time in many years, and her style has changed somewhat. She has did a very professional set with backup musicians, a far cry to the night Phil and I saw her at the academy 3 in Manchester where she boasted about buying a chair for a pound on which tap out the beat to "poor little rich boy".

There was a very diverse group of people for the gig, very different to the recent performances we had attended. It was a great atmosphere though. Regina played a really nice mix of material from across her albums, even doing an encore of Sampson.

Kath and I really enjoyed the performance, we made a night of it dining at Carluccio's in the nearby canal side development. Packet with bars and restaurants it made for a very pleasant evening.