Hip Cat

R and Miss Kitty decided to attend the Honor Oak's first evening of live jazz where they watched Ballantine Shaw Band, a fusion of guitar and vibes sounds with rhythms from rock to Latin.

The band consists of a slightly, self-conceited but nevertheless swinging jazz vibraphone player, a modest Terry Gilliam look-a-like guitarist, a snoozy double bass-player and a cool cat drummer with aptly limp wrists.

After a few Bombadiers and Cherry Krieks, R & MK were tapping their knees and shaking their heads in time with the band for the 2 hour set and then staggered home whilst arguing whether the double-bass player was good or not.

Eye of the Kraken

Now this game Miss Kitty likey (and not just because it was free)!

This simple point and click created by Absurdus, the small development team from Montreal (and also created Carte Blanche), is short and set to a catchy, scratchy soundtrack.

The story starts in the dead of night, a thief steals the mysterious object known as the 'Eye of the Kraken' and hops on board the sailing ship, Glutomax, headed for Hyade Island.

This is serious business because it's suspected that the object may be used in some obscure ritual to awaken the mystical giant Kraken and thus take over the world. Luckily, Miss Kitty was playing as Abdullah, a minor official representing the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who is also on board the Glutomax.

The game then follows in trying to work out the thief is. Could it be Ophelia, the Danish orphan from a Shakespearian tragedy; Ingrid, the plump opera singer; Fitzcarroldo, the Irish inventor; Rasputin, the mad, drunk monk; Villon, the psychotic French poet or Olaf, the Viking who never stands up? Or perhaps it is one of the crew, or maybe even your African friend, Aboubakar (who repeatedly gets his head kicked in vy Villon during the game). And who is the mysterious passenger in cabin 10? And who the hell are those guys through the periscope?

Miss Kitty felt at home straight away with this game's surreal plot and humour and loved playing as Abdullah, the game's hero who will not drink wine but smokes just about anything you stick in his hookah.

Bring on EOTK2!

Carte Blanche

After queueing for 20 minutes, forking out £20 and then tweaking like hell, Miss Kitty finally got to play Carte Blanche…and after all that she expected very good things.

Fortunately, this point and click adventure did not disappoint. MK found the mixture of Edgar Delacroix's soothing voice and naivety quite a treat, as well as the attempt at film noir storyline and deliberate black-and-white animations.

True there were a few annoyances (the secretary's unnecesarily rasping voice and the stuttering soundtrack) but these could be overriden by the game's lulling atmosphere and touches of surrealism.

A modest masterpiece and Miss Kitty looks forward to the sequel!

Christmas Revisited

Holidays are excellent opportunities for Miss Kitty and her siblings to regroup, stay up late watching films and trash R's house while his parents are away.

And the Easter break was no exception, in fact this time we got by with a little help from our pets, Kia and Tori. Tori especially enjoyed backflipping a stuffed toy dog which is about 5 times her size, very cute!

R and MK also enjoyed a Bank Holiday alfresco dinner courtesy of Co-op's disposable barbecues!

The highlight of the break…finding retro PS classics Incredible Crisis, Parappa the Rappa and Bishi Bashi!

Good Thursday

Miss Kitty has always adored 93 Feet East, it possibly has something to do with the large chunky chandeliers, tasty outdoor barbecues in summer and the girls' toilets reminiscent of her school days.

So when R suggested that they meet there for a few drinks she did not hesistate in saying yay. It was the last working day before the Easter break and the sun was out, and MK was sure that life could not get any better…but it did…

Before hitting the two bottles of red, MK & R had a quick pre-soak curry on Brick Lane. MK voted for going into the cosy, dark restaurant which allowed you to bring your own alchohol, but R insisted that they go in the more expensive restaurant with the baroque paintings of nude women bathing in pearls in a giant oyster shell. The front of the restaurant had been opened up to let in the spring sunshine, but more importantly lure in more comtemplative eaters.

Well, the food was ok, but more interesting were the pretty girls who kept walking straight to the back of the restaurant and then out again, of them even returning a second time with a different wardrobe.

Hmmmm…MK started to thinks something seedy was going on until asking the waiter who informed her that there was a fashion shoot occurring. Miss Kitty sniffed, that could have been her ten years ago.

R showed MK where he worked which, although was a grotty little grubhole, was just a few paces from the cultural hustle and bustle of Brick Lane, lucky sot!


And while they made their way home buzzing and chatting, they decided to continue that theme early into the next day but not before admiring the Discworld Noir, Martin Mystere and Solaris soundtracks, having philosophical conversations in the toilet, touching bubbles on the wall and watching pink flowers blossom into green…and vice versa.

Bubblegum

Just as Miss Kitty was feeling like a withered, old prune staring resentfully at the pretty young things with their neon leggings and Debbie Harry pouts, she spied the walls and ceilings which were pasted with pictures of the Ramones, David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Prince and many more timeless beauties.

And R performed flawlessly, as usual.

"Who are you?"

When it comes to films, Miss Kitty is a little wary of that breed with the 'you'll-never-see-it-coming-but-when-you-watch-it-it'll-blow-your-mind' endings.

Whilst many of these films are ultimate cinematic classics (Memento, Fight Club, Seven etc) others tend to wear a thin on content saving it all for those final 5-10 minutes.

Despite all this, MK was very much looking forward to watching The Machinist (which she had purchased for £4 from Woollies) and it did not disappoint at all.

She found this largely due to the non-American feel of the film (it was shot in Spain), the bleak lighting, spooky soundtrack and, of course, the excellent Mr. Bale (still sexy although painfully emaciated).

And Miss Kitty found the twist very interesting…not only did she not see it coming but when it did come, it did indeed blow her mind.

What's the CRAIC?

For those from the Emerald Isle it commemorated the 1546th year of Saint Patrick's death…for the rest of us it was an excellent excuse to get blitzed.

Before meeting the gang in the MK and R decided to pre-soak the copious amounts of alcohol in the Tai Won Mein near the Cutty Sark.

After consuming large platefuls of salt and pepper deep-fried squid, beef curry and seafood noodles in soup (washed down with a couple of Saparros of course), we headed towards the Hardy where we enjoyed a variety of beverages with fellow Guinness hatted chums.

Ichiban the Killer

It seems to be a recurring theme for R and MK to attend the Sapparo Ichiban on Sundays for the eat-as-much-as-you-want from the menu (a bargain at £11.90 per person) and to order the same food items:

Gyoza (4)
Pork Spring Roll (4)
Sesame Prawn Toast (4)
Avocado Roll (6)
Salmon Roll (6)
Futo Maki (6)
Prawn Tempura Roll (6)
Tuna Tempura Roll (6)
Tofu Steak
Chicken Curry
Spicy Pickles
Sapparo Beer (4)

The most recent time we visited the Sapparo, the manageress very proudly showed us the silver cup they were awarded with for coming joint third in the Lewisham's Top Four Restaurants. The order was as follows:

1st place – Royal Gurkha, Bromley
2nd place – Handmade Food, Blackheath
Joint 3rd place – The Pizzeria Italiana, Catford/Sapparro Ichiban, Catford

Miss Kitty thinks Sapparro should have been first place as neither Bromley nor Blackheath are technically in Lewisham, and who wants to go to a boring old Pizza restaurant in Catford?!

She will disregard the silly little Lewisham Council vote, for it's not as if the borough has any taste.

Either way, Sapparo rules!

Devil's Reject

Sometimes Miss Kitty like to be scared and she does this by watching scary movies, by herself, in the dark so that she can feel that mixed rush of adrenaline and fear and hear her heart beating wild and crazy like a Rada drum.

It is for this reason that she recently purchased the following:

Monster Man - Hey well it looked scary on the cover! This is basically about two guys and a female hitchhiker are terrorized by a monstrous looking man driving a giant monster truck…and that's it! Just kidding, there is a little, albeit far-fetched twist to the end.
However, it does have a few enjoyable moments including when the most annoying character ("I'm the kind of guy who puts the "ick" in "dick"") performs oral sex on the mutilated stomach of a dead cat in his sleep.

Manhunter - Bought this as its a cult classic and also because William Petersen looks dead sexy in it. It's based on 'Red Dragon' and is about a former FBI agent (who captured Hannibal Lector but became so traumatized he went into retirement) who comes out of retirement to help catch the 'Tooth Fairy' who is killing entire families. Petersen's role as a profiler who has an uncanny ability to get into the mind of a killer and think as he does. Hmmm…Miss Kitty wouldn't mind him working on her profile…

House of 1000 Corpses - Now this film is great! Written and directed by the excellent Rob Zombie it is a true tribute to 70's exploitation backwoods slasher horrors.
However, what makes this film greater is the added supernatural vibe and surrealism.
It gradually becomes more and more insane until reaching the climax which is a bizarre and over-the-top apex. And that's just how Miss Kitty likes it..And even more notable is the central charater Otis B.Driftwood. A sadistic, revolutionary artist country bumpkin turns gothic prince at the end.
He can be Miss Kitty's daddy anytime...

Nacho nacho man!

So then R decided to pry Miss Kitty's fingers from her PC keyboard and pull her away from the Phoenix's watchful eyes.

He took her out to Forest Hill and there they dined in Wetherspoons.
They shared a plate of nachos and then R had the classic Beer 'n Burger deal and MK her favourite sirloin steak with salad and jacket potato dish.

Whilst eating they debated on whether Wetherspoons make the best nachos ever, and to this Miss Kitty has to say YES!

Firstly, they use tortilla chips and not doritos as some restaurants very annoyingly use (Bar Q).

Secondly, they use real sour cream and not watered down mayonnaise (Westons).

Thirdly, they use cold salsa and not hot, tinned tomatoes which make the chip soggy (Desperados).

And the final winning point is that they top the dish off with jalapeno peppers, which Miss Kitty could happily eat a jar of.

R disagreed, preferring the tinned tomato salsa, he voted for Desperados. Then Miss Kitty pointed out that bargainwise Wetherspoons won hands down as portions anywhere else cost more and are no way near as large. R then agreed.

Once R and Miss Kitty realised that they had been debating for 45 minutes on whether Wetherspoons nachos rule or not, they decided to straighten up, leave and make for Blockbuster.

It was here that Miss Kitty decided to re-enter that underworld of the horror film...

Miss Kitty and her date with Death

Ok so feeling really rough Saturday morning. Tongue felt like sandpaper and tasted like the alcohol-sodden carpet lining the Catford Wetherspoons.

Despite that Miss Kitty decided to spend the entire morning playing In Memoriam.

The game centres around the disappearance of journalist Jack Lorski, and his young female companion, Karen Gijman, in Europe while investigating a series of bizarre murders. Some weeks later, the SKL agency whom they work for receives a package containing a CD-ROM and on this CD-ROM is a mixture of disturbing footage and reports made by Jack. But there is also some other data including puzzles and messages, created by some weird ass referring to themselves only as "The Phoenix."

Now, although this game is played using a CD-Rom, to make progress in the adventure Miss Kitty must connect to the Internet to find information that's essential to accomplish some of the missions.

She is then rewarded by the Phoenix by receiving snippets of film that he stole from Jack. Using those extracts Miss Kitty must reconstruct the events that led Jack and Karen into the clutches of the serial killer and save them from death.

The reason for MK buying this game was that she had read about its Alternate Reality-style gameplay, in which the player receives e-mails from other in-game characters, including the Phoenix himself!

And when Miss Kitty receives her first email from the Phoenix titled "I'm Watching You". It reads:

I'm there, right near you. I'm watching you. You could almost feel my breath on your skin… See you later, my Little Friend.

Hmmm…Miss Kitty feels very intrigued by this invitation.

Phoenix if you're out there, fancy a drink?

A Cat amongst the Hens

The latter part of that evening saw Miss Kitty meeting up with the Hens for a night out.

After numerous photo shoots, we were on our way, cackling, shrieking, flirting with strangers and generally acting like every man's worst nightmare (and fantasy).

First stop was Marsala Zone, an Indian restaurant in Soho, and to Miss Kitty's horror the entire place was illuminated as though it were in the light of some terrible day.

Miss Kitty likes the dark you see.

Anyway, the interesting selection of spicy poppadoms and chutneys pleased MK along with the cornucopia of red wine.

Miss Kitty opted for an interesting dish which seemed to contained about 8 courses! Of course, once the meal arrived on a silver platter, Miss Kitty realised that they were 8 very tiny courses. Nevertheless, interesting and pretty tasty.

After the meal, we were all stuffed and pretty merry, walking down the road, linking arms, and making our way to G-A-Y!

Unfortunately there were 'too many of us', and the doormen wouldn't let us in. So we spent the next 15 minutes convincing ourselves that the true reason was that they were afraid that we would convert the homos into heteros...yeah right!

We ended up in The Escape which was adequate, but Miss Kitty didn't know any of the songs and by that time she was tired and wanted to go home.

Fortunately, so did everyone and so MK did not get to snog a gay guy, which was her plan beforehand, but instead took the no. 1 and then the 363 bus all the way home.

A short session of In Memoriam followed...

Gangsta Kitty

Modern R n' B does not fall under Miss Kitty's favourite genre of music purely for the fact that it has become as hollow and commercial as any other pop trite, and promotes an unhealthy perception of women (though I do have a soft spot for Justin Timberlake).

However, G, Miss Kitty's little sister cannot get enough of it and so when she discovered that Thursday is R n' B night at Bar Equal, she begged yours truly to go with her.

The plan was to first have a family meal in Honor Oak Tandoori and then to cross over the road and spend the rest of the night in Bar Equal. Sounded good.

MK and R got to the Honor Oak Tandoori plenty early and ordered two shots of sambucca (flames and coffee beans included) to kick-start the evening. Forty-five minutes and 6 poppadoms later and still waiting for G and lil A to turn up. When they do turn up, they're not alone..G has brought her dyke friend and A has bought two of his friends, who although are now 18, look very pre-pubescent.

Anyways, some took advantage of the Thursday 'Happy Night Meal' which is £6.95 for four courses, but Miss Kitty ordered her food separately as she was feeling like having a little seafood. Therefore, King Prawn Butterfly for starters!

After, MK paid by card for the entire group's happy night meal(!), we went across to Bar Equal where the bass was thumping through the dark, steamy windows. Inside was a completely different story though. Maturish couples were sipping glasses of beer, and two tipsy girls were dancing in the dark, the green glow of the DJ's light illuminating them like devillish sprites.

Despite that, Miss Kitty actually enjoyed the music. It wasn't modern day R 'n B at all, but proper old school classics such as Mary J Blige's 'Real Love', En Vogue's "Never Gonna Get It" and Boyz II Men's "Motownphilly" and Jade's "Don't Walk Away", and whilst MK sat bopping away whilst sipping her White Russian, the youts looked at her in shock!

Yes kids, as Tori once said "I think there are pieces of me you've never seen"

Mean Kriek

Being a typical male, R decided to take a day off last Tuesday as he was convinced he was dying...and since Miss Kitty's boss was away on holiday, she decided to be extremely naughty and take the day off to accompany R to the doctors.

Well R was in a right state, so we bought some snacks and sat in the adjourning park before the appointment. There we were accosted by a rather large Dalmatian who seemed to want to grab Miss Kitty's scotch egg out of her hand.

Anyway, once R was in the clear and feeling very silly indeed, we hopped on the bus towards Lordship Lane.

First stop was MIND, the charity shop on the corner of Grove Vale. It is, in Miss Kitty's opinion, one of the best charity shops in South-East London It has an excellent collection of gilt mirrors, oil paintings, exotic ornaments and pretty retro clothes and shoes. R gravitated naturally towards the acoustic guitar in the window, whilst MK checked out the PC games where she found and bought In Memoriam and Day of the Tentacle.

Second stop was The Sea Cow, in Miss Kitty's opinion, one of the best fish and chip shops in all of London (despite it's industrial interior)! Here, we settled down to yellow fin tuna, crispy-skinned salmon and chunky chips, washed down with a few glasses of Cava.

Indeed, it had been a long time since MK & R had been along Lordship Lane, so we further savoured the experience by popping into Apollo Video, which contains the best collection of World Cinema that Miss Kitty has ever seen in a video shop.
We bought Lady Vengeance, Hidden and, at R's request, a John Candy film called Delirious.

All the shopping and alcohol was making Miss Kitty sleepy, but R was buzzing from his new lease of life. So we stopped inside Inside 72 and had two delicious cherry beers called Kriek.

We decided to split from Inside 72, although it was rock n' roll and proper cosy, we had a feeling that it would soon be packed with Emo teenies.

So we moved on to the HobGoblin or The Hob (as it is now called), sat reminiscing about how it used to look in our wonder years. Cheered up by playing a game of pool, which Miss Kitty lost by quite a large margin.

Moving on swiftly to the cosy bar section of the Dartmouth Arms, and Long Island Iced Tea for R, Mohito for MK. Followed by a bottle of Prosecco which was a terrible, sickly mistake, but quickly rectified with two White Russians, which Miss Kitty smugly assisted the barman with.

And then to bed, after watching Delirious which was ok but no Planes, Trains and Automobiles!

Caught by the Fuzz...again!

Since R had not seen Hot Fuzz but had heard all about it from Miss Kitty, we decided to watch it in Greenwich Picturehouse.

Before doing so, we had our usual selection of savoury snacks in Desperados washed down with a few cocktails.

R thoroughly enjoyed the film. And MK thoroughly enjoyed the new cinema, despite the reel melting halfway through the trailers, it was very cosy and comfortable and we were very happy to note the absence of rowdy teenagers.

We shall definitely be going there again, possible for the monthly Film Quiz which Miss Kitty and R would definitely win!

Red Moon

To celebrate the return of Miss Kitty's brother S from university (just for the weekend though!), we had a family day out in Greenwich.

We started with the Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant which offers an all day eat-as-much-as-you-like buffet.
Now as much as MK loves Vietnamese food, she has a true love/hate relationship with the Saigon.

On first entering, the smell and site of the endless trays of food and the first taste of a cold Tsing-Tao get you into thinking this is paradise, and why don't we come here more often?

Several piled plates later and you remember why, as you feel all the grease congealing in your stomach and realise that no amount of Chinese beers will quench the thirst developed from all the copious amounts of hidden salt. Still it's all good, and what can you expect for £5.95. Plus you get fruit, ice cream and jelly for dessert!

We then decided to resist the urge to drive back home and catnapping in bed, by driving up to Filmworks and catnapping whilst watching a film. Once sneaking in bags of cheap Sainsburys' goodies (well, we weren't going to pay the Filmworks' price of £4.20 per small bag of popcorn!), we made our ways up to Screen 10 where we watched Hot Fuzz.
Miss Kitty, being a big Spaced fan, enjoyed the film immensely, and is in awe at the genius of Pegg and Wright, a match made in comedy heaven.

After the film, MK and the Fam drove back into Greenwich and joined R and his bands Severe Repisal and Chavvie Bowler for a few drinks on the benches outside the Coach & Horses.

At exactly, 11:15pm we all dashed into the high street to view the moon eclipse, which was pretty and red like a whore's mouth.

The Past is a Diverted Mirror of your Soul

After an absolutely awful day at work, Miss Kitty scampered off to Covent Garden to go get loaded. Met friends in Fuel Bar and took great advantage of their £3.25 cocktail list! "The Dune Bugs are on me!"

However, the merriment didn't last long as MK was truly bushed and decided to throw the towel in @ 8pm. Grabbed a Chicken Vindaloo from Honor Oak Tandoori and headed home to finish playing Black Mirror, which despite the dodgy accents is an enjoyable game in the gruesome, ritual murder sense!

Karaoke Kitty

Just when Miss Kitty was thinking about about cutting down on alcohol, who should call her out for a drink but her beloved friend PS.

We decided to try The Duke of York on Borough Road. Didn't get much luck getting a seat as the place was heaving with young workers, no doubt celebrating on through half the week.

A couple of Frulis and two glasses of wasabi nuts later, and we're making our way drunkenly to Lewisham where we were to meet PS's lil bro' at the Fox & Firkin.
The Fox & Firkin isn't the coolest pub in the world but MK managed to reaffirm her coolness with the young and tipsy customers by mentioning that she had recently visited Crowbar and the Intrepid Fox!

After being chucked out of the F&F, MK, PS and our small posse of teenagers headed four doors down to Stonewalls.

Now, Miss Kitty used to live in the Catford/Lewisham area during one of her previous nine lives, but had never ventured to go into any sort of club there, for health reasons (namely that one could get stabbed/mugged/shot etc).
However, Stonewalls was quite a pleasant, non-violent place, possibly because it was a gay bar.

It was karaoke night and after ordering Baileys, PS was adamant on performing Duran Duran's "Hungry Like A Wolf" with MK. Luckily, we approached the stage too late.

And what sort of feline would Miss Kitty be singing songs about wolves?

Lunch @ John's

Today's lunch was on MK today courtesy of payday, yay! R & Miss Kitty ran through the rain-filled streets of London to reach Ekachai.

This oriental dining room is tucked away in the Liverpool Street Parade. It is ideal if you are pressed for time, but want to sit down and eat good food in a casual atmoshere. According to the website, ekachai is to the thais like john is to the english, pierre to the french, luigi to the italians.

For starters, curried samosas and sesame prawn fingers. R ordered the crispy duck salad and sparkling water and being the seafood junkie/alcoholic that she is, MK had the garlic and pepper seafood washed down with a tsing-tao.

Now, a few quick criticisms: the sesame prawn fingers were somewhat disappointing. Maybe, R & MK need to experience more sesame prawn toast outside of the usual sphere of Chinese & Japanese cuisine, but this dish contained hardly any prawn and was soggy inside as though it was made of raw, eggy dough? Is this normal?

Then came MK's main dish: prawns, mussels, fishballs & fishcakes in a garlic & pepper sauce on a bed of lettuce,hey but hello where was the squid as specified in the menu? It was the only reason why Miss Kitty ordered this particular dish.
R was also disappointed with his dish (then again, he is extremely hard to impress): crispy duck, sliced and tossed in a plum vinaigrette with julienne of cucumber, tomatoes & spring onions on a bed of salad. However, Miss K totally loved his dish (apart from the red chillies, although a big fan of the spicy stuff, would have preferred if they were in my saucier dish!).

Total: £27.80, bit pricey for the amount of food we received. For the same price we could have feasted at either Tai Wu or Sapparo Ichiban. But, alas, both are south of the river and us being in the city, you kinda have to bend over and take what these city folk give ya.

Was expecting a little more value from a restaurant named after the common man.

Find Surma!

…just a little, Discworld Noir joke (ahem!).

Yes, well anyway, after all the fuss about this restaurant being voted Best Indian Restaurant in East Dulwich, Miss Kitty decided to find Surma and decide for herself.

Luckily, she decided this on Sunday, when the All-You-Can-Eat for £6.95 deal is on!!
After ordering a large bottle of Kingfisher beer, Miss Kitty padded her way to the buffet, plate in hand.

Well, there were plenty of poppadoms, an array of chutneys and pickles, a cornucopia of nan bread and a bucket of rice. The curries were not as abundant: the trusty Chicken Korma sat there looking very sweet and yellow, Chicken Sag looked saturated in oil and Chicken Tandoori looked tired and dry. However, it was very tasty, the Korma, although fluorescent, contain chopped almonds and there was a Prawn Sag which, to Miss Kitty's delight, contained more prawns than sauce. Plus lots of the overlooked Vegetable Pakura, which was crispy and packed full of chilli.

To top it all off, Miss Kitty ordered a Mango Delight, which was a mango shell filled with sorbet.

Is it the best Indian Restaurant in East Dulwich? Miss Kitty's mission is to spend more of her Sundays indulging in other such restaurants in the area before to be able to complete that comparison!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

After her Dog Day Afternoon, Miss Kitty was intent upon seeing the Chinese New Year Parade, as she was convinced it would bring her luck for the new year, the year of the pig!

And being a monkey under the Chinese Zodiac, Miss Kitty spent the entire day monkeying around and chasing the red and white lions whilst they danced down smokey alleyways that were eventually cordoned off by police officers.
The crowd was immoveable, but MK still found a way to get close to the two lions and almost feel their breath, whilst the drummers beat out that hypnotic rhythm which has stayed in heart ever since.

The lion dancers would go from shop to shop in China Town to "choy chang" (採青 lit. picking the greens), as the business is suuposed to tie a red envelope filled with money to a head of lettuce and hang it high above the front door. The lion would then approach the lettuce like a curious cat, consume the lettuce and spit out the leaves but not the money. The lion dance is supposed to bring good luck and fortune to the business and the dancers receive the money as reward.

It was all great fun, and Miss Kitty enjoyed it very much. She finisehed off the day by eating a Chocolate Brownie Sundae and then proceeded to spend lots of money on Chinese plastic charms: a blue glass pig, a wooden pink pig, a dragon lantern with a pearl in it's mouth, a goat shaped lantern and a Hello Kitty-imitation wall charm which has light and sound effects! All now adorn Miss Kitty's walls, so that she can remember the day with warm fondness...until the next Chinese New Year!

Temaki-tty

...and so the Sapparro Ichiban is!

Ok, so they've swapped the meditatively-focused minimalist look of plain square white tables with origami paper, swans coloured glass starfish and plastic bonsai trees, but the food is till excellent quality and value! Miss Kitty has been to quite a few Japanese restaurants around London, and none seem to compare in presentation, flavour and price with the Sapparo.

G & MK had an assortment of starters: Agadeshi Tofu, Tuna & Salmon Sashimi and the famous Salmon & Avacodo Fashion Sandwiches, which look identical to English tea-party, no crust sandwich squares but taste authentically Japanese.
For mains, G had Chicken Teriyaki Bento Box (no surprise there then!) and MK had a Seafood Ramen with Udon Noodles, which was served in a small black cauldron.

Washed down with a crisp Sapparo beer, Miss Kitty started feeling more feline.
Down with Dog Day Afternoons!

Dog Day Afternoon

Saturday 17 February and Miss Kitty is spending a lazy Saturday afternoon, sulking, plucking her eyebrows and painting her nails, when she suddenly gets a call from her little bro, Guybrush (lol, he'll hate me for that!)…he's bored and want's to go out somewhere. So, being the good big sis that she is, Miss Kitty slaps on the warpaint, bejewelled and clothed leaves her lair on a mission to entertain Guybrush.

First stop was Horniman's Museum, said hi to the very grumpy-looking goats and then gallivanted around the gardens. There were a lot of hand-holding couples about, which Miss Kitty would have sneered at if she wasn't feeling so pathetically vulnerable as she was that day.

But all introspection ceased when we entered the Museum...

The tour started at the new Aquarium, which dare she say, Miss Kitty wasn't too impressed with. Maybe, it was due to the fact that most of the exhibits were missing, or that the prized jellyfish were aimlessly drifting around in a blank tank look as though they had been literally bored to death. Hearing a young boy call out frantically, "Mummy, this one looks dead", confirmed my fears.

After, a brief looking-over of the colourful and kitsch voodoo shrines in the token African exhibition, Guybrush and MK set off to the Great White Bear exhibition. Here we shrank at the 8 foot, snarling polar bear standing with paws poised and bare teeth slavering albeit stuffed and in a glass case. The exhibition was a collection of photos of dead and stuffed polar bears, which Miss Kitty didn't like at all. Surely those who kill wild animals to parade as trophies are suffering from short stature or undersized genitalia, or probably both?

Anyway, Miss Kitty & Guybrush were only a few canopic jars and a gigantic walrus away from viewing the entire Museum and as the sun set, all was not lost for Guybrush suggested that they go to the best restaurant in South-East London for dinner…

Love Cats

The most dreaded day in the calendar for Miss Kitty, even more so than Friday the 13th is February the 14th…and so this Valentines' Day, knives were out and ready for love's slung arrows.

But thank the Worldwide Web for e-cards, MK sent out some pretty ones with black roses and gothic gravestones to her girlfriends, and she received some interesting ones back…

After mysteriously vapourising from her desk at 5pm, Miss Kitty scampered down to Covent Garden where she met R and they had a meal at Boulevard Brasserie

It was quite a quaint place overlooking the dizzying lights of theatreland. There was a slightly, sickening attempt to set the mood...the tables were scattered with heart-shaped foil confetti and Lindt chocolates. Fortunately, this was completely ruined by the appalling range of pop music playing which made neither R nor myself in the mood for romance e.g. Akon's 'Lonely'.

Both R & MK ordered grilled goats cheese on focaccia bread with tomato chutney for starters. This was then followed by roast salmon fillet with rosemary & garlic crushed new potatoes and hollandaise sauce for R, and duck confit served with cassoulet beans and caramelised baby onions pour moi.

All washed this down with two bottles of Domaine du Mordoc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Vin du Pays d’Oc (2004), and we were staggering along the street of Covent garden in search of St. Martins Lane.

Our tipsy tomfoolery was appropriately silenced when we entered the Coliseum and were greeted with disapproving stares and shakes of the head by the theatre staff. Being 20 minutes late for The Marriage of Figaro, is not something to be proud of and so once being let into the hall, we were made to stand at the back in shame. And rightly so.

This was to be the first operatic performance that R & MK had ever experienced, save for the sopranic strains of students in the Covent Garden Market.

It was quite interesing to see The Marriage of Figaro, based near Seville but ideologically rooted in pre-revolutionary France, somehow fetched up in an English stately home of the early Thirties.

But unfortunately, the strain of standing, heat of the densely packed hall and el vino coursing through veins caused R & MK to leave the performance during the intermission.

And within 30 minutes, back in good old Honor Oak Park and to bar Equal where couples were getting it on whilst listening to some of Miss Kitty's favourite 80's tunes. She was embarrassed to have known the words to Alexander O'Neal's "If You Were Here Tonight" and "Mind Blowing Decisions" by Heatwave, but this soon passed after drinking a few glasses of champagne thanks to Equal's 2 for 1 Wednesday deal.

R & MK then retired with two bottles of Cava later and proceeded to watch Going Overboard, a film so unfunny that Miss Kitty was rolling on her back with laughter..now that was a 99p well spent!

Kitty Sark

It was a couple of Sundays ago when R & Yours Truly decided to be brave and venture away from the bosomy warmth of SE23 into the unchartered, pirate-infested waters of Greenwich, home of the famous Cutty Sark.

Having no interest in the ship itself since it is now infested with small children, we stepped straight off the dock of the Docklands Light Railway and headed toward Desperados, a Mexican Tapas Bar that serves a mean tequila beer and Miss Kitty's favourite cocktail, Spidersweb, which has the perfect partnership of Goldschlager & Strawberries. R & MK proceeded to stuff themselves with a range of snacks: Jalapeno Poppers (jalepeno peppers stuffed with soft cheese and deep fried in breadcrumbs), Calamari, Stuffed Mushrooms and, of course, Nachos.

However, once making our way towards Greenwich Market Square, hunger kicked in which we quickly plugged up with salmon and avocado temaki, spicy tuna rolls and miso soup from the sushi stall they have there, mmm 風味がよい!

Finally, we decided to end our gastro-tour of SE18 with red wine and cheese at the good, ole Café Rouge!

Harry Altman rules!

Miss Kitty has recently joined her local Video Shop, or rather DVD Rental Store. It is called Visual Eyes, and although does not contain the largest collection of entertainment, it seems to cater for quality rather than quantity. On her first visit, Miss Kitty indulged in the following:

Spellbound - no not the Hitchcock film, this is the documentary about the U.S Spelling Bee. Miss K quite enjoyed this, it had a gentle, jazzy swing kinda like a Snoopy cartoon. And how incredibly mature and intelligent were these youngsters, why at their age Miss Kitty was climbing pear trees to watch the sunset and leaving offerings out for the fairies...

Children of Men - bleak and grey, Miss Kitty wasn't terribly fond of this and the characters weren't entirely convincing. However, the soundtrack is pretty interesting and there is a 6 minute climactic battle scene which apparently took place in one uncut shot.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - now this is an orignal film, and Miss Kitty totally loves romantic sci-fi's! Still what else can you expect from Michel Gondry but vision pure, limitless, surreal and inhibited...he is my hero.

Miss Kitty pulls a sickie!

Well, since the weather had been soooo dismal that Miss Kitty and her friend R, decided one day last week not to go to work at all, but to spend the entire day in various pubs, bars and eateries in the SE23 area. We like to think of ourselves as celebrating National Sickie Day. The course of action for the day of truancy was as follows:

12 - 13:30pm - La Querce - here we took advantage of the lunch time offer which includes Pasta and Bruschetta with a drink for only £5.90. Miss Kitty ordered a Mozarella and Rocket Bruschetta and washed it down with a glass of Montepulciano D'Abruzzo. The atmosphere was a little frosty, the bruschetta wasn't the best Miss Kitty has experienced and R was convinced that the grated parmesan was cheddar cheese in disguise…still for such a modest price one can hardly complain.

13:35-15:00pm - Jam Circus - This was our first time in Jam Circus and we took advantage of the lazy mid-afternoon, mid-week lull in the very kitschly decorated back room. Slouched on the battered leather sofas staring in wonderment at spikey living-room clock, orange glass lamps and psychelic paintings we knocked back a few more glasses of red and a bottle of the most loveliest raspberry beer called Frambozen

18:00-19:30 - Honor Oak Tandoori - after a slight respite, Miss K & R returned to the hub of Honor Oak Park to get a spot of dinner. And where else but Honor Oak Tandoori to mop up the afternoon's dregs of beer? Miss K had King Prawn Butterfly to start which was slightly dry, but still the best starter on the menu. To follow, Mixed Tandoori, Cucumber Raitha, Nan and Pilau rice..not to mention a few Kingfishers. After basking in the relaxing, breezy atmosphere of the H.O.T and rebuckling our belts, we then moved on to the one and only…

19:30 - 21:00 - Bar Equal - just for a few cocktails…R had the usual Long Island Iced Tea and Miss Kitty tried a My Thai, which was flavoured with a manner of exquisite and exotic things. Then finally after a pitcher of Amstel, we decided to put an end to our fun day of playing truant to an end and prepare to make up excuses for the following day of work...

Cruisin' for a Boozin'

If the final effects of last night's drunken debauchery are starting to slowly ebb away into sobriety then fear not as The Forest Hill Society Pub Crawl takes place today from 7pm at Bar Equal. Apparently any Tom, Dick and Harry can join (or leave) at any of the points along the route. A bloke called Charlie is the host for the evening and will be wearing something conspicuous to identify himself (lol!). The plan for tonight is as follows:

7pm Bar Equal
8pm Tapastry
9pm General Napier
10pm Foresters

Be there and be square!

22/7

For those of you with nothing to do this evening, if you fancy trapsing down to the Montague Arms you'll be in for a rockin' surprise...long live VETO!

Poster Perfect

Something for the SE23 film enthusiasts…there is a Thai movie poster exhibition showing at the Horniman Museum which will run until 4 February.

The posters on display are just some of the thousands collected by Neil Pettigrew during his travels around south-east Asia during the past 10 years.

In an article, Mr. Pettigrew enthusiastically explains why Thailand’s amazing movie posters are a unique art form and how the artists expressed themselves much more visually than western poster artists:

"The Thai poster artists were largely unrestrained by the kind of censorship which governs posters produced in the West. As a result they were able to produce some of the most sensational and explosive images seen on posters anywhere in the world. If you have a taste for the dynamic action of high-kicking kung fu films, or for the blood-drenched gore of horror films, or for the steamy nudity of porn movies – then Thai movie posters will deliver all this and more."

It seems SE23 has gone Thai crazy, and Miss Kitty welcomes the influx of exotic and bold flavours and colours.

Miss Kitty and the Blustery Day

Well, what a racket that was last night!

I am sad to hear about the trees uprooted on Forest Hill Road…and even sadder to see the little black and white cat, that greets me on the way home, being blown about.

Miss Kitty urges pet owners to keep their cats safe in-doors in such conditions!

My Thai: Update

According to sources Thai Orchard is going to be run by a Thai lady called Siraporn and her husband, Martin and there will be more about them in the February issue of SE23living with a special offer for readers.

Apparently, the Thai Orchard chef has a lot of experiences working in different places such as in the hotels in Bangkok and in Thai restaurants in Japan, so Miss Kitty might be visiting this potential gem sooner than she thinks...

My Thai

And so on NYE we bid farewell to The Orchard as it closed its doors for the last time…only to be reborn as Thai Orchard!

Well, that's just grand, Forest Hill was certainly lacking in the Thai restaurant department, and now it seems we can enjoy a glass of Singha beer without having to step foot in the dreaded Capitol.

Since the Thai Orchard opens tonight, Miss Kitty will give it a chance to resolve any teething problems before she crosses the threshold to sample their Gaeng keo wan!

The Great Eastern Dining Room

Last night R & Miss Kitty followed our tastebuds and ventured South into Brockley Rise. There we discovered a quaint little Chinese restaurant called Tai Wu. We were surprised to find it quite busy despite being tucked away from the main road, but perhaps that is why it is so popular as it offers a very non-obtrusive and relaxing atmosphere. In fact, Miss Kitty and her companion were becoming so lulled by the gentle aura that we lost count of how many Tsingtao (pronounced "Ching-Dow") beers we had drunk!

The food was very tasty, for our first course we ordered War-Tip Dumplings, Sesame Prawn Toast and Deep-Fried Squid with Salt & Pepper. Extremely yum. The second course took quite a while to reach us (20 minutes!) but it was an excellent opportunity to digest and converse in jovial banter. R ordered Beef Curry for mains, and Miss Kitty indulged in Quick Fried Scallops with Squid!

The only criticism of Tai Wu would be that the main dishes are slightly overpriced, but then the beers and starters are pretty reasonable so it kinda evens out.

Tai Wu is a complete gem and Miss Kitty shall definitely add it to her list of best Oriental Restaurants in SE London!

A Puzzle of the Flesh

Well, so much for the three-sided coin, I ended up not going anywhere last night! The main reason being that once boarding the 63 bus from Farringdon my eyes proceeded to superglue themselves all the way until the last stop in Honor Oak Park.

Luckily, had some indulgent provisions in my fridge to last me through the evening. Ended up having Sainsburys-steam-in-the-microwave Salmon with Tarragon, New Potatoes and Vegetables, accompanied by a large glass of Chateauneuf du Pape and then a Rocky Road Chocolate Sunday…I’ll start the New Year’s resolutions next week!

Tonight I shall be cooking dinner for my brother and sister in their new flat, which is always a little tricky since they haven't got a cooker! Have decided on Beef Bourguignon with New Potatoes (in butter and coriander) and Spicy Rice followed by Blueberry & Almond Torte for dessert. The wine for tonight is a 2005 Cotes du Rhone Villages, hope it's nice, had to make cut backs after splashing out on the Chateauneuf du Pape!

Anyway, should be fun. My brother is dying to show me Civilization IV which he has recently bought, and I should like to pick up my disk 1 of Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars from him so that I can re-run the fun and play it again (again!) at the weekend.

Sadder still is the game I managed to get working on my PC via DosBox. I definitely won't say what it's called…it contains some slightly sick killings (e.g. a lady gets her legs amputated and is then electrocuted through her stumps), the main character appears to be bisexual and frequently goes to an S&M club and last night I found out that aliens are to blame!!

Hmmm...bizarre, but definitely the sort of game Miss Kitty likes to play.

Bar Wars (in SE23!)

Hmmm...I feel in the mood for a few drinks (perhaps cocktails) and some tasty bar snacks. Luckily for me the Honor Oak Park area is a cornucopia of bars, restaurants and pubs. Narrowed it down to the three best places (and the ones closest to my lair, ha!):

1. Equal - now this is one classy joint! As soon as you step in you're greeted with cosmic chill-out music, lulled lighting and some very groovy artwork by resident artists. The food here is of high standard and unlike most South-East London restaurants the food (and cocktail) menu changes very frequently treating your tastebuds to a different experience everytime.
My only criticisms of this place is that the food is not as good as it used to be! Indeed, I remembering tasting one of the most heavenly starter courses here: Smoken Salmon and Poached Egg on a Bed of Rocket, yum! The food now is still good but slightly veering toward gastropub rather than gourmet, but hey, it's still good! Also, I get slightly disorientated with being served by different barstaff...now wait here me out! Although they are all very talented, they all have their individual styles of cocktail-making which means the same cocktail never tastes the same :( I guess I'm just a creature of comfort, but those things aside, it's definitely the best bar in SE23!

2. Tapastry - Now I have only been here once but I like it! Thankfully taking the place of the dreadful Red Rooms , Tapastry has a wonderful European feel to it, more German or Belgian than Spanish. It's not really the kind of place to sit brooding in a dark corner as the whole place is as bright as day! But if you want some good tapas, cold (and pretty darn cheap) Spanish beer and a cheerful, unpretentious atmosphere it's definitely a good place to go and nicely merry!

3. Two Trees Restaurant - Now this isn't exactly Honor Oak Park, but sometimes it's worth going the extra 0.1 mile for quality! Once you're seated in the restaurant it really does feel like you're somewhere more exotic due to a combination of the arabesque music and mystical knifes and jewellery adorning the walls. However, when you get to the menu it's a hodgepodge of Moroccan, European, Mexican, Cajun and Italian. Criticisms aside, they have a very good wine list, the chef always cooks the dishes with love and the staff are very helpful (and pretty!).

Might have to flip a three-sided coin for this one...

Brave New World

Last night as I sat on the top deck of a 63 bus, silently gazing out through the slightly steamed windows, I pondered on why I felt compelled to create this blog.

Hmmmm....I remembered first being inspired by the man from catford's brilliant and witty blog which lovingly elaborates on those enigmatic experiences one can encounter from walking along the high street.
Having recently lived in Catford, I too have had my share of strange experiences most of which I have forgotten. And yet, having relocated to Forest Hill, I am finding that the odd occurrences pervade still...

But why create a blog now? As the bus swerved onto New Kent Road, I could see remnants from the festive celebrations in the wet and shining streets such as empty boxes once containing remote-controlled cars and bread-makers now stacked high in rubbish bins and the prettiest blue fairy-light icicles cascading from a flat balcony, forgotten by their owners but still sparkling... And it was then that I realised why now was a good a time as any to start this blog, rather than lose all these South-East London gems to accursed time I should record and remember them. Plus I have so much free time these days...

Anyway, welcome to my blog and a happy New Year to you all!