Adventure, Fun

Our two-day Outdoor First Aid (Level 3) Course

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Ellie & I have just completed a two-day Outdoor First Aid Level 3 Award Training Course with AM Outdoors (£100pp). I had been following Aaron Mitchell, the owner of AM Outdoors, on X for some time. He’s an interesting dude. Former medic with the British Army, served in Afghanistan and around the world, then spent a year and a half riding his motorbike around the world, seven years ago, before settling down back in Old Blighty.   MAKING A PROPER WEEKEND AWAY OF THE OUTDOOR FIRST AID COURSE (LEVEL 3) The course took place at Summit House in Gillingham, near Rochester in Kent. Normally Gillingham station is a mere 40 minutes by train from London, and would have been easy to commute to. However, the trains had been having plenty of hiccups on this route lately, which is why Ellie & I had decided to make a proper weekend away […]

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England, Food

Spicy Nepalese food at Gurkha Fire, Chatham

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Ellie and I are currently spending a weekend in Chatham, near Rochester, in Kent, for a two-day wilderness first aid course. Naturally, with us being fond of food and all, we had to check out the local culinary scene. GURKHA FIRE, CHATHAM, ONLY OPENED IN MARCH THIS YEAR This is how Gurkha Fire caught our attention. They only opened in March this year to great acclaim, with the mayor and other dignitaries attending the opening ceremony. The mayor at the time happened to be the first Nepalese-born mayor of the UK, Nina Gurung. Of course, she comes from a family of Gurkhas. Within weeks Gurkha Fire became the top-ranking restaurant in the whole region (125 restaurants), according to Tripadvisor. Ever since we first visited Nepal in 2020, we have grown fond of Nepalese food.   All pics (c) BerkeleySqB except where otherwise noted. Pic #2 above (c) Kent Online GURKHA […]

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Art and Culture, England

Wayne McGregor’s MADDADDAM with The Royal Ballet at the ROH

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Ellie and I just returned from the opening night of Wayne McGregor’s MaddAddam with The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. It is without doubt the best ballet I have ever seen. I’M NOT BIG ON BALLET, BUT McGREGOR’S MADDADDAM IS FABULOUS Now, admittedly, that does not mean much, because, different from my good wife, I am no huge fan of ballet and have only ever seen half a dozen performances or so. What does matter, is that Ellie loved it as much as I did. Moreover, the fact that it was me, the ballet hater, who immediately bought two tickets, as soon as I heard that McGregor was behind it, must count for something. Sir Wayne can get anyone into ballet with his magic. I had turned into a Waynaficionado about three years ago, when I saw his & Random International’s “No One Is An […]

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Fun, London

The Joker’s Trap at Breakin’ Escape Rooms, London – Soso

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Three good friends of ours joined Ellie & me recently for The Joker’s Trap at Breakin’ Escape Rooms in Islington. There had been a mix-up with the bill at the near-by Italian restaurant where we had enjoyed dinner just before the escape room experience, so instead of 15 minutes before the official start time, as recommended, we only rocked up 7 minutes before then. Our bad, of course, and definitely a no-go, that had not happened to us, before. STRAIGHT-FORWARD INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE JOKER’S TRAP AT BREAKIN’ ESCAPE ROOMS The staff were quite relaxed about our faux-pas and didn’t make a big fuss about it. We did not get the impression that they rushed the initial instruction, and there was still enough time to put our coats and jackets into lockers. The instructions were very straight-forward, perhaps shorter than at other escape rooms, but overall very similar. Don’t use force […]

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Adventure, Fun, London

The RGS Explore Symposium 2024 Expedition Workshop

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Over the years Ellie & I have occasionally attended events at the Royal Geographical Society here in London and always enjoyed them. Recently, at Ranulph Fiennes’ Transglobe Expedition series of events, I got to chat with the RGS’s Expeditions and Fieldwork Manager, Tom Allen. This is how I learned about the RGS Explore Symposium 2024, in essence, an expedition workshop for anyone who is interested. There is no other requirement, no previous experience necessary, you don’t even have to have a plan to do an expedition in the future. At £125 per person, with discounts available for students and others, the event is very reasonably priced, too.   TURNING ELLIE INTO AN EXPLORER, STEP ONE Almost a bit to my surprise, Ellie immediately agreed to join me at the Royal Geographical Society, when I pitched the Explore idea to her. I was rather pleased (and still am!). It is my […]

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