Onions Onions Onions

If you are a restaurateur, how often do you get members of the general public asking you to change an item that is on the menu to something else? Can I have extra beans please or, could you swap the sweet corn for peas instead and I’ll have jacket potato instead of chips etc. I would imagine it happens quite a bit.

So that’s the fussy eaters taken care of but what about someone who has a genuine allergy? If my wife has anything that contains onion then she could be sent off to hospital. The pain becomes almost unbearable as the stomach swells and hardens, you cannot sit, you cannot lie down and the nausea is overwhelming.  As a punter in a restaurant, pub, café or even a takeaway it can be quite frustrating when trying to find something on the menu which is not likely to trigger another episode and the weekly trawl around the supermarket is made even more boring when reading contents labels of nearly every product on the shelf.

The idea behind today’s blog is to ask a simple question. Whenever we eat out anywhere in the UK (ranging from Manchester to London) and request no onion on the plate due to allergy, our meal arrives sometimes laden with the stuff. Nearly every time we have to send the food back to get changed and on some occasions we've had to have it replaced more than once. Yet our experience so far in several European countries as well as America, Canada, Mexico and even in the Arctic Circle, we've never had a single issue.

Why can’t the UK get it right?

Complaints to the management sometimes work and sometimes doesn't. On occasion we may get a discount or even a refund which is nice but that’s not the point. If you want to take the time in getting dressed up, go out, spend your hard earned cash and have an enjoyable evening then you should get the service you are paying for. Right?

My personal opinion is that the UK is lazy. Either the message doesn't get through from the waiting staff to chef because they can’t be bothered or chef just slaps up on the plate his set dish and buggers the consequences because he’s onto his next ticket. It’s true that care and attention to detail takes time and sometimes if you are up against it in a busy restaurant then things may get overlooked and slip through the net. But in various venues of different standards up and down the country at different times of day and night, our experience on the whole is sadly a negative one. Surely we cannot be on our own here with this kind of experience, Has the same happened to you?

So if anyone who reads this little rant works in the hospitality industry and wants to get in touch then feel free as I would love to hear things from your side of the story.

Wingwalker. 

Do you believe in life after death? Reincarnation revised

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust and all that. One thing I'm not going to cover in this blog is the why's and wherefore's of various different religions but I just want to ask you the simple question, what do you believe happens next?

I was born in January making me Capricorn as far as the astrology goes, and like all Capricorns I'm true to form and very much an earth sign. I believe in the four elements of earth, wind, fire and water and can genuinely say I feel a true affinity with Stonehenge and all it is said to hold and possess. I feel at one with the earth, I respect the earth and I like to think that I am in harmony with the earth. After saying all that I'm not a tree hugger, I drive wherever I can and last year alone flew across the Atlantic not once but four times, thus adding my bit of carbon on a great big hairy plane.

But one thing is for sure and that is prior to meeting my wife I was really on two minds whenever the subject of life after death ever cropped up - usually after the consumption of large quantities of alcohol on a Friday night when my friends and I would sit around the table discussing all matters "important" and putting the world to right in the wee early hours of the morning. However, over the years my perception on this has now changed. Everyone in the world has their own little foibles, little elements about themselves which make up the person that they are. Whilst some inherit their father's nose and others look like they have their grandmother's hands, we all have just that little something inside of us that sets us apart from one another in our own unique little way and with my wife, it is what makes up her whole personality.

Apart from being (in my eyes of course) the best thing since sliced bread she has certain elements that have given us both reason to believe she used to be a Parlour Maid around the time of the 1800's. As a couple of examples, she loves to watch any kind of period drama on the TV, especially Downton Abbey +Downton Abbey Addicts and The White Queen, she loves to sew embroidery and of course my favorite bit, she loves to cook for her man - i.e., me! Even her style of dress, taste in music, academic achievements and books that she reads will all fall into or around that particular category one way or another.

Now don't get me wrong, I love my wife dearly and there is not a day goes by when we don't say I love you to each other - and mean it - but I do wonder how this modern day woman who was brought up in a busy yet stable environment, who is technically minded and can work her way around the back end of a computer, who loves to watch the Formula 1 car racing and can drink you under the table can possess so many old fashioned like qualities without any external influence and make her the person that she is. The only thing we wonder is has she been born again? Did she serve with nobility in times gone by and if this has happened once before then how many times has it happened with the rest of us? This is a topic that could go on and on and to keep this blog short and sweet I've merely scratched the surface on what could be much more but I will leave it there and let you make up your own mind. So what happens after you shift of this mortal coil?  Let me know what you think I would be really interested to hear all your comments.

Wingwalker.

An awesome day out

If you are ever lucky enough to travel to Mexico, one of the things you have got to do is go to Xplor, Cancun!

Located within the Yucatan peninsula (you know the one with the great big crater that wiped out the dinosaurs) Xplor is a 100% natural theme park with a difference. There are only four different activities to take part in and you are guaranteed to get wet in each one of them but due to the average mid-30 degrees summer sun, the water will be a most welcome addition to your day.

At the centre of the park is “The Heart”. A huge mosaic shaped heart with realistic sounding rhythmic beating that you can hear well before you arrive.  From here you can go to each activity consisting of zip wires through the trees, driving amphibious vehicles, rafting in caves or swimming in crystal clear underground waters.

The first thing we did was to drive the amphibious cars. Being both petrol heads and 4x4 enthusiasts my eldest son and I jumped into these open topped beasts and set off down a rough gravel track which twisted and turned one way then another. Bumping and side sliding we ploughed our way along the track, crossed over a rope bridge and then down into the caves which were half deep in water. The light from our car headlights shone up onto the walls of the cave as we drove through the mini river was pretty spectacular and is certainly something you have got to experience.

I don’t want to give too much away as that would spoil it for those of you who want to go. However, travelling at speed on various treetop zip lines, sliding down long and winding water chutes or just chilling out as you paddle your way on a raft through great cavernous swathes of beauty is just simply quite amazing and something you will just want to do over and over again.

For me, I have to say the best part of the day was the underground swimming. The sheer stunning beauty of the cool clear water below and enormous array of nature’s stalactites and stalagmites was quite literally breath taking. Dotted along the route are natural openings in the rock and as the daylight shines from above, shafts of light bounce on the side walls and create a pool of light in the water. Buoyancy aids are issued prior to entering the water and these served to be very useful as you allowed yourself to drift along with the natural current just occasionally using your arms to guide your way through.

The whole park was clean, well sign posted and incredibly well organised. Hard hats are issued to you upon arrival and are mandatory throughout the park. From there you can get yourself changed ready for the day and leave your belongings in lockers. Food and drinks stations are located around various points as well as a restaurant which had a variety of sumptuous food from all corners of the globe. The price you pay on entrance covers all food and drink so you can have as much or as little as you want. Four of us went to the park and each one went away at the end of the day having had a thoroughly wonderful time. It was a truly remarkable experience and most definitely well worth the money we spent. Given the opportunity we would all definitely go back again. http://www.xplor.travel/ 

Wingwalker.  

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Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink

This blog was originally written and posted in 2012 but given the current heatwave I thought it deserved a re-post...

According to the experts we are rapidly heading towards a water drought. After two consecutive years of unusually low rainfall London, the south and south east are becoming quite heavily affected with low water levels in reservoirs and now according to the news this morning, parts of Yorkshire too.

The first you get to hear of it is when the press start to scream those ever immortal words, Hosepipe Ban, usually around the first or second of January. Britain wouldn’t be Britain if we didn’t have Easter Eggs on sale at Christmas, our daily fix of Countdown and the annual Hosepipe Ban by the water authorities. Now don’t get me wrong, water is a powerful commodity and something that every living creature on the planet needs to have so to preserve its reserves is quite rightly an important thing. But when we are literally surrounded by the stuff being based on this little biddly Island just off the coast of Europe, why on earth has no-one come up with a cost effective solution yet to purify sea water into drinking water?

Of course we as individuals can all do our little bit to help prevent water wastage such as water your plants with dirty dish water, turn off the tap when brushing your teeth or for the best fun of all, bathe with a friend, wayhey! I’m sure that there are plenty of other top tips and if anyone cares to share them on here then be my guest, but one thing that miffs me the most about the water companies and their message for us to do our bit is how much wastage is caused by their leaking pipes contained within our ancient underground network.

At the bottom of my road the pavement has been dug up for nearly three weeks due to such an incident. The tiny trickle of water that had made its way to the surface and gently down to the roadside has caused quite a lengthy “repair” operation – let alone what I also assume to be a costly repair bill. However, the boffins at Thames Water have come up with a clever little gizmo called the Leak Frog which they are saying is detecting where leaks are happening around the home and helping to point out where repairs may be necessary to an individual homeowner.

So far, of the 70,000 homes fitted with these devices, over 2100 have had repair work carried out which they say has saved around 10 million litres every day – or in other words, enough to fill up an Olympic sized swimming pool four times over. And that's a lot! For more information on the Leak Frog, click on this link http://www.thameswater.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/corp/hs.xsl/13995.htm

And finally, I always seem to be amazed or amused depending on your viewpoint how when natural spring water that is full of all the good things and none of the bad things taking thousands of years to develop will suddenly have a best before end date just two months after you have bought it.

It’s madness!

Wingwalker

Swimming with Dolphins in Cancun

It’s 6am. The equatorial sun had already broken dawn and the sounds of Cancun's Magnificent Frigatebird can be heard screeching and wailing its morning call within the grounds of our apartment. This was the day I had waited nearly 40 years for.

Six months ago my wonderful wife threw a surprise birthday party. She had been teasing me for weeks beforehand saying she was going to give something life changing and kept me guessing as to what it was. However, given that my crystal ball was foggy and I failed my GCSE clairvoyance I was left completely in the dark and became clueless to what it may have been. On the night of the party her gift to me was to provide our family with a once in a lifetime holiday to Mexico with the ultimate aim to achieve my lifetimes ambition of swimming with Dolphins. Members of family and friends all played their part by contributing towards the cost giving me the best Birthday present I could ever wish for. Now that day had come and as I lay awake in our bed wondering what the next few hours would bring, I couldn't wait. 

The sun beat down in a sweltering 32 degrees with a humidity level that was so saturated you were no wetter when swimming in the sea. We arrived at +Delphinus Swim with Dolphins  dolphin centre and once the paperwork formalities had been concluded were taken to get ourselves changed. After a brief introduction on what you can and cannot do, spoken in both Spanish and English we were led to the main pool. This was it! The tension and excitement building as we saw around six dolphins casually swimming in and around occasionally coming up for air then disappearing back down again giving us just tantalising glimpses of what was to come.

Like tourist lemmings kitted out with buoyancy aids we followed the trainer to the far end of the pool and followed his instructions jumping into the nice cool water. A sharp contrast to the ambient heat on the outside, the water was bliss before we had even started. What then followed was a series of tricks performed by these beautiful mammals as they jumped high over our heads, raced round us in circles, gave us a water fight and even pushed us by our feet at speed along the whole length of the near Olympic sized pool. The whole thing was slick, well organised and very professionally done and the Dolphins did not appear to be badly treated in any way. For me however the best part was the end, a relaxing solitary five minutes just swimming gently in and amongst these wonderful beasts. As they brush alongside you in a graceful manner, like an old friend who has known you for years. It was an experience I will never forget. Save the tricks for those who want to see it, today I swam with dolphins and they swam along with me.

Wingwalker.