Heading for the slopes

Off to Grindelwald soon, and hoping we won’t need www.ski-injury.com or the Alpine Safety Awareness Program.  We’re aware of International Society for Skiing Safety and Ski and Snowboard Safety, from the National Safety Council, and 10 Things Ski Resorts Won’t Tell You, from SmartMoney, and also the NSAA response to that article.

We’ve been getting fit via the 50 minutes to ski fitness program.

We’ve been checking the Grindelwald webcams here, and here, and here, and have also been checking the Grindelwald snow conditions here, here, here and here.  Also checking for tweets about Grindelwald and tweeted images of Grindelwald.

We’ll be staying at the Sunstar (also detailed here and here, with a video from YouTube here).  We’ll be hoping the skiing is like this.  This video really gives you a feel for things.  There’s a zoomable piste map of the area.

Grindelwald is in the Jungfrau region.  More information about Grindelwald is available here, and here.

Hmm – what with all that information available at the click of a mouse, hardly any point in actually going!

Running kit

Bought these new running shoes last week from Run and Become, with a gift voucher from my retirement present – what an excellent and useful gift!  They’re Saucony, same as the old ones.   I find them really light, comfortable and hard wearing.  Also bought a reflective top and some running breeks.

Old and new running shoes

I’d post details of my total recent distance, from TwunLog, but I see that “The server hosting TwunLog.com died early Tuesday morning and has to be completely rebuilt. It will be back on line soon.”

However, I see from The Guardian that my brain should start to grow soon as a result of the running.

The runbritain website is quite interesting for runners.

10 interesting websites #1

1. Entireweb is a search engine that’s been around for a while.  Try it if you’re fed up with Google.

2. MyWire describes itself as “the place for high quality, professionally created content.”  Essentially, MyWire brings you the latest news and entertainment, plus collections of broader, deeper content. The MyWire Reference Collection includes hundreds of thousands of encyclopedic entries from hundreds of branded publications, including titles from the The Oxford Companion Series and The Oxford Reference Sets.  Selected entries from each title in the MyWire Reference Collection are freely available to all users. Through a single, low priced subscription, you gain access to the entire collection.

3. JISC SIS Landscape report This survey has focused on the current and active users of Web 2.0 tools and services in UK Higher Education institutions and identifying what they are using and why. It includes recommendations for the future.

4. PicFog enables real time image search and display of photographs from twitpic, tweetphoto, yfrog, twitgoo, etc.

5. mygaelic.com is a website devoted to Gaelic.  It was criticised recently in a national newspaper, but I think it’s pretty good. Find out where the language came from and where it is going.  Keep up to-date with all Gaelic goings on with news and reviews. Discover where to learn and places to go to speak Gaelic. Register and connect with Gaelic enthusiasts from around the world and share your views on just about anything through our groups.

6. @WasteAwareScot Waste Aware Scotland provides you with helpful advice on how and why to reduce, reuse and recycle your household waste.  See also the Environmental Management and Waste blog.

7. How Does Twitter Work is a blog with tips on Twitter.

8. D-Lib Magazine, Jan/Feb 2010 issue.  Includes articles on virtual journals, metadata in digital repositories, the Digital Object Repository Server, and more.

9. Bill Gates – his verified Twitter account.  Nice to see that he follows MalariaNoMore

10. Datastore for London. “This is where we’ll be releasing all of the Greater London Authority’s data for all Londoners to see and use free of charge.”

John Beatty – Wild Vision

I’ve booked tickets for John Beatty – Wild Vision, 28th Jan, at the Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy.  I won’t put a link to the event website, as it may disapppear after the 28th.

From the Arts and Theatres Trust Fife website

However, here’s a link to the John Beatty Photography website, where you can see some of his wonderful photos.  I’m really looking forwards to the presentation.

La Tasca – not – then Muang Thai

I was looking forward to taking Lindsey to the La Tasca restaurant, in South Charlotte Street, last night for a meal.  I made the booking online at the La Tasca website

Online booking

And I had found out about discounts at La Tasca via an online voucher service which would give us 50% discount.

Discount voucher, when downloaded and completed

However, we got there only to find the following notice on the door.

Notice on the door

Well – the place was in semi-darkness, lit only by some candles, and an apologetic manageress explained that all bookings had been cancelled.  Had I given my mobile contact number, instead of my house phone number, I might have been informed on the way to the restaurant, and I should point out that there was a message on the answerphone when we arrived home later.  The manageress also explained that the other La Tasca outlet in the Omni Centre was fully booked until 9pm.  What a disappointment.

Instead, we wandered around until we came across the Muang Thai restaurant, in Hanover Street, where there were some empty tables.

I thought I’d be writing about a tapas meal, but it turned out to be a Thai meal, and without the discount.  Muang Thai is centrally located.  The decor consists of wooden panels and occasional oriental wall-carvings, with tables separated by wooden balustrades.  As can be seen from the Muang Thai website, this helps to create a fairly attractive ambience.  The background music was neither Thai nor too intrusive.  Service was attentive.

For a starter, I chose Pak Shup Pang Tohd (vegetable tempura), which was cooked to perfection, with a range of crunchy textures.  Less impressive was the sweet sauce dip, which I reckon had come from a jar.

Vegetable tempura

For her starter, Lindsey had Jum Jeim Soup with chicken.  This proved to have an unusual but much appreciated taste of coriander root and limejuice, with a hint of basil and fresh Coriander.  Lindseys’ hot sauce also tasted as though it had come from a jar.

Jum Jeim soup

As can be seen, most food is served in brass dishes.

My main was Pork Yang, and Lindsey chose Beancurd Panang.  Yang Dish is described in the menu as a traditional grilled dish of marinated meat in oriental spices and ground black pepper which is then cooked over hot charcoals and served on a sizzling platter with a side portion of grilled vegetables garnished with fresh coriander and served with special “Muang Thai” dips.  It was as mouth-watering as it sounds, and let down only by the dips, which were the same as we’d had with the starters, along with some very salty soy sauce.  Lindsey’s Beancurd Panang came with a coconut milk and lime sauce, which was delicious.  To accompany the main course, Lindsey ordered jasmine rice, and I chose what turned out to be a slightly skimpy amount of plain white noodles.

Pork Yang

Total bill, which included three Singhas, was £46.58

Cafe Royal

Went to the Cafe Royal for a few pints on Thursday night.  Quite a pleasant evening, and was pleased that during the discussions, Mac finally did a deal to get his novel published through the up-and-coming Cargo Publishing.  For their tweets, see @cargopublishing.

There’s some ongoing construction work outside the bar.

Outside the bar

Outside the bar

Once again, some of the attendees didn’t want their photos to be made public.

Pre-negotiations

Apres negotiations

As well as a good selection of beers, the Cafe Royal serves food, and there’s an excellent, though fairly pricey restaurant in the same building.  The Cafe Royal seafood platter for two is a special dish, which includes lobster, scallops, smoked salmon, oysters and prawns, and costs £44.25

The suggestion of the day

The toilets are downstairs

On the bus home

Runs

Todays run was 5 miles with Lindsey, over to Newcraighall then down to Joppa.  It’s really nice being able to get into the countryside so quickly.

Lindsey, running towards Newcraighall

Tide far out in the Forth. Very grey day

Yesterday’s run was 3.3 miles down to Joppa via the fancy houses with a private golf course.

Private golf course

Wednesday’s run was 4.2 miles with Mac, from Stockbridge to Ravelston Dykes.

Mac, running along Craigcrook Road

Flowers

I bought Lindsey these flowers, because she’s had a tough week at work.  Lindsey is really good at arranging flowers.  You’d think you could just pop them in a vase and they’d look OK, but this isn’t the case.

Lindsey's flowers

William Cockfield

I met this chap, William Cockfield, on today’s run down to Joppa and back.  His name, I think, is William Cockfield, and he’s walking the length of the country, or wherever the fancy takes him.  I think (it was chilly and windy when he spoke to me, and I’d been running for half an hour, so didn’t want to get too cold by stopping for too long) he said he’d come from Aberdeen, and then down Loch Ness, then Glasgow, and from Glasgow to Edinburgh via the canal.  He was heading down the coast towards Dunbar.

William Cockfield

On his travels he had met other walkers, including Michael Wilding somewhere along Loch Ness, and he asked me to mention this in case he should somehow see this blog.  William plans to write a book one day about his walk.

Harvey Nicks

A couple of weeks back, Lindsey took me to Harvey Nicks on St Andrew’s Square.  Never been there before.  What a place, and what prices!  The foodmarket and restaurant on level 4 caught my eye – lots of exotic products.

The only thing I bought was a packet of Japanese shaded green tea.  Lovely, so it is.  Very mild taste.  You get a little clothes peg to keep the packet tightly shut.  There’s plenty leaf stalks in the brew – you can see them in the second photo below.

Keiko Japanese green tea

After brew