Superstar

Across to Heathrow, today, for a meeting with a couple of people, one of whom I hadn't met previously. Before starting Meantime, I had about fifteen years of working for 'blue chip' companies, so I know the game and speak the lingo when it comes to big organisations. Sometimes it's so bloody puerile, all the posturing, but I've developed my approach from many places not least Stephen Covey's terribly titled 'The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People' and also Iain M Banks 'The Player Of Games'. And so it was that after half an hour or so of nonsense, it turned into a very pleasant meeting. (Rule 1: don't say anything that's going to be a hurdle to friendliness later.)

And once that was all done, I headed back to Waterloo, got out of my suit and had a pleasant afternoon, working in my room. There is a desk but also a deep shelf below the window with an unconventionally beautiful view, so I set my laptop up there.

Later, work done, I took the tube up to Tottenham Court Road, thence down to High Holborn to meet my good friends Ash and John. John can always be relied upon to find somewhere interesting to eat and drink, and we started off at the Craft Beer Co. As well as beer, the pub has a fine selection of whiskies, which happens to be Ash's current passion. And if there's one thing I love it's enthusiasm so I was happy to find myself in an impromptu whisky tasting session. (My favourite was the Ochtomore 6.1)

And after that we went to eat. John had suggested we have ramen (which I've never had before as far as I know) at Kanada-Ya but had warned us of queues as they don't take reservations. There was a queue and it was very small but it turned out that all three of us have the same view of queuing so instead we crossed the road to a place called Superstar, where you have a small sunken hotplate in the middle of the table and use it to cook your food. It was excellent. 

At the end of the evening, I decided to walk home, which meant that I didn't feel quite so stuffed and had a relatively clear head by the time I arrived back at Waterloo. I did take a few photos of and along the river but they were all a bit average, so I've stuck with this one, which I took to remind myself that we live in a world where you can hire a private Karaoke room.