Gill and I's Annual Boondoggle, I mean Conference

It was that time of year again, where Gill and I converge on Manchester for a conference on nuclear decommissioning.  I was speaking again this year, even though I had resolved to say No, I just didn't manage it.  I need to work on that.

So as usual, I waited until the last minute to figure out what I was going to present and I forgot to check the program to verify it was consistent with what everyone had been told I was going to present - by happenstance I got it 66% correct.

We both arrived Sunday night and then wandered into the night to find dinner.  We found this incredible Thai place.  However, it was about halfway through the meal that we both realized that the 'onion' surrounding our sea bass was in fact garlic.  I went back to my room thinking that a head of garlic each was probably not the best the night before a conference - unfortunately, it could not be undone, but the meal was delicious.

I did wake in the middle of the night - over garlic'd and this has never really happened to me before so that gives you some idea.

The next day, we tarted ourselves up and headed off to the conference.  My presentation went just fine and in general, the presentations and questions were much better than previous years.

Where have all the women gone...oh right, there are any

Day 1 done, we could move on to the real aim of the trip - Australasia.  This is a great restaurant that we've gone to every year - small plates with 1 bite each - order 3 plates per person - 2 hour time limit for the table as it is TOO cool.  I had this intention to take photos of each course, but I didn't do it as sometimes I like to eat my meal instead of cataloguing it - sorry middleoldcrow.

We started the meal with cocktails.  Gill and I had the best which was a grapefruit martini.  Andy had the worst, but entertaining, Australasian porn star, which required special instruction on how to drink it.  Richard had the most complex, and it was called a smoky old fashioned and came in a flask filled with smoke that did not come out of the flask and hung around for quite a while.

After cocktails, we had a steady stream of delicious fare including: smoked duck dragon rolls - which Andy thought was fish; squid and fresh lime; black cod in hoba leaf; spicy chicken skewers; sliced beef filet - the tables least favorite; lamb cutlets with sour cabbage - my favorite; yum yum rice squares - I am the only one that really like these; roasted aubergine with miso mustard - that's eggplant for Americans; szechuan salt and pepper beef skewers - extra plate ordered; bok choi in oyster sauce; and pork dumplings - extra order made before the first one was consumed.  Now this was a lot of food even though it was small plates and our table looked a bit like a war zone.

See what I mean?

Now I was full after all of this, but I have never let being full get in the way of eating dessert and thankfully it was the same with my companions, which is why we like to eat together.

Richard's chocolate and coconut

My and Andy's rhubarb crumble

Gill's lemon creme brulee - notice the A's on the foil?

Have I mentioned that life is good?