bookmark_border(i)Plodding along

Struggled out for a run last night, bloody freezing it was, and had my first ‘confrontation’ with a small, slightly angry looking dog. Looked a bit like a pit bull to me so I gave it a wide berth, hoping that my day-glo yellow top would scare it off. Thankfully it only stood and glared at me, for if it had given chase then it would easily have caught me and had a nice juicy leg to chew on, during which I’d be trying to decide whether to try and kick it with my free leg, or just enjoy the rest…

Speaking of rest, the ‘rest’ of the gadget blogs out there need to give this whole iPhone thing one, it’s getting beyond a joke! I’ve been using Daring Fireball to ‘track’ the goings-on and there has been a right old mix of interesting posts, and downright shoddy reporting. But I won’t mention it any further here because…

Ohh indulge me for a moment please.

The iPhone DOES look very very smart and I can see me owning one in the future. I am currently HATING my Samsung, and wish I’d never moved away from the smartphone (Windows Mobile) models. Seeing how well the iPhone handles email and the internet – two things I THOUGHT I didn’t need on my phone as I was trying to simplify my life – makes me sad and angry that I’m stuck with my current phone for another 10 months!! ARGH!!

However, I most certainly will not be getting the current version of the iPhone, for one reason and one reason only. You can’t remove/swap the SIM card. You see I’ve always had contracts for my mobile phones but my usage pattern fluctuates quite a bit and I’m toying with going PAYG in the future… or certainly looking to get a more flexible contract. As such I am also considering buying a handset outright and then I can swap my SIM/contract as and when I like.

That’s the plan anyway.

Dammit, I wasn’t going to talk about the bloody iPhone… oh well.

~

Well done the Edinburgh Evening News for posting only “good” news yesterday. Apparently “readers would find only uplifting and positive stories.”

I think other local city papers should follow their example, as the Edinburgh Evening News thought that local MP Alistair Darling being named as the Chancellor of the Exchequer was good news (good news for HIM I guess), and, and this really is the icing on the cake, they also made sure to report the good news of the drop in the number of new syphilis cases in the city.

Bravo Edinburgh! Syphilis free by 2010!!

~

And finally… tonight we are off out to Yen Rotunda for some teppenyaki. My previous review is still listed on their website, so maybe it’s about time I claimed my free drink. Spookily enough (this one is for my mother) it’s exactly two years since I was last there. Here’s hoping it’s as good as I remember.

bookmark_borderYen Rotunda

Off to dinner at Yen Rotunda, a yen oriental & teppanyaki restaurant, where 20 or so of us will be dining in the teppanyaki section. It’s my first time in that restaurant and my first time experiencing teppanyaki and I’m quite looking forward to it. The fact that the company is stumping up the lion share of the bill may also have something to do with it.

Only problem is that it feels like my holiday begins tonight, meaning dragging myself out of bed tomorrow morning will be quite a challenge.

We went, we saw, we ate
God damn that was a great meal!

The food was superb, the staff were efficient if a little bossy at times (but then we were a party of 20 and we do get a little noisy), and I’ll be going back there again!

Naturally the chef is the star turn, clanging, flipping and twirling his spatulas, flicking bits of food up in the air for you to catch or, in the case of one of the ladies in our party, to lose down your top… but despite all the showmanship everything was cooked to perfection. Eight courses in all, a small starter of oriental beef and suriyami, then salad in a sesame dressing, miso soup, then the first “meat” course – I had king prawns – then fried rice, the second “meat” course – I had chicken – then some fried vegetables, and finally a lovely dessert (PDF of menu), and whilst I felt full I didn’t feel stuffed to the gunnels.

Next time I’ll be more adventurous with my choice of “meat” dishes but I decided against the lobster tails as it was a company dinner and one doesn’t want to be seen to be extracting the urine, and personally I think it’s just bad form when you are out in a group of people to be that selfish. I digress.

The photos of the evening don’t do it justice, and there are only a few as the rest are mainly of the people I work with and, frankly, they’re not the prettiest bunch…

Update – If you decide to eat at the restaurant, and this review has been helpful, please let me know via email: gordon AT gordonmclean.co.uk