Cambio de Tercio

Still wasn't feeling really well but I had previously agreed to have dinner with one of the brokers, and the fact that I rarely see him makes it difficult to blow it off on such short notice. He had booked a table at Cambio de Tercio, a Spanish restaurant in the midst of Knightsbridge. It's actually just a bit further down from Lundum's, a restaurant which I've been twice and have spoken about before. As usual we left the office quite late (supposed to have met the broker there at 7:30pm, we left the office at 7:30pm).. so by the time we got there we were a good hour late. No matter, he was enjoying the wine with another one of our colleagues who left quite a bit before we did. The food was the standard affair at a Spanish restaurant - we had a few tapas to start and we each picked a main dish. I had the beef fillet with mushrooms and pan-fried foie gras, which was quite nicely cooked to my surprise. My experience with Spanish beef wasn't great, after eating a rubber-tough steak in Barcelona when all they served was seafood (damn the allergy). As for the tapas, we had the typical Spanish ham and a few other tidbits. The wine was quite well chosen, a nice Spanish red that didn't taste like a Spanish red - a refreshing change. I was expected the typical Rioja with a bit of sediments at the bottom, but instead it was much lighter body than I had thought. After dinner I had to quickly find an exit as I was really not feeling too well, hopped on a taxi and hit the bed before midnight. Now only if today could go a little faster so I could go home and sleep the entire weekend that'd be great..

Christmas Party

I seriously think this will be the only Christmas party I attend this year. Just as well, I haven't really felt any sort of "Christmas spirit" or "Christmas cheer" this year so far. Other than the fact that I was reminded by the red cups from Starbucks at the beginning of November, and the increasing number of people on the streets doing their Christmas shopping. This is the first Christmas party at this company, and I must say that it was a bit of a disappointment. The food was quite sub-par (come on, you could do better than a cold tuna salad and a stir-fry veg dish with pieces of beef stuck in between), and the alcohol was lacking. Sure I was supposed to meet more people from work, but I'm still recovering from my stupid flu so I literally stayed for 30 minutes before calling it quits. Speaking of which, I'm still suffering from that flu I got last week before heading back to HK and it seems to be getting worse. It's not even that I'm not taking care of myself, I'm wearing so many layers I break a sweat just walking to work from the tube station. I just think that the stress and the work hours are having a serious effect on my immune system.. oh well, it's more flu medicine for me before going to bed!