Goodbye to old friends

Today the world is a darker place as two of my heroes departed me. Both tragically taken from us too soon.

Although both orbited totally different worlds they encapsulated the same for me.

Graham Dilley who's name I had not spoken or heard for years, was a hero of my youth. Tall and blonde he was taken straight from the pages of a Greek classic. I suppose it is Headingly where he first came to the fore but it is also the following summers of my youth where his sporting deeds are also etched all over.

The other Steve Jobs, the absolute opposite of a heroic figure to some; especially now that Apple bestrides the world like a behemoth.
But I remember him from when he was the little man fighting the against the odds, against the mediocrity and dullness that others were so happy with. The way we see our world has been shaped by his genius and foresight.

Seemingly polar opposites, but to me both represent the need to never give up whatever the odds.

The Deck Amorosa @ Arun Residence

Wouldn't bother, 5 star prices but 1 star service and food.

My friends were observing the vegetarian festival and ordered food accordingly, this is what happened with their order.

First out of the kitchen was a vermicelli noodle dish with a fresh river prawn on top, next out came a bamboo root salad with sausages hidden in it, after that was a replacement dish we hadn't even ordered (maybe this was a subtle signal from the chef!) lastly arrived a vegetable lasagne which should have been a rigatoni but the biggest problem with this vegetarian lasagne was the minced meat lining the layers of pasta.

So while the rest of us ate our decidedly average fair, (my signature "deck sandwich" lived up to the restaurant's standards by being a limp, tasteless serving of cold processed meats from CP in between some stale day old bread.) our friends had to wait another 40mins before their food arrived.

Thank heavens the kitchen managed to totally forget two other dishes the rest of the table had ordered saved us the added expense of paying for two more overpriced dishes, luckily the kids had had their fill of chips (about the only thing the kitchen got right.) or there might have been a mini melt-down in the restaurant.

It is not that the place is lacking for staff, there are a lot of staff there but what they do? God only knows! From what I can gather most of the staff seem to do a lot of running around doing nothing.

If you want to eat Thai food that is soulless and with all the life and vibrancy taken out of it, then this is the place for you.

If this restaurant didn't have a view of Wat Arun it would be out of business! (Be warned if you sit on the first floor you get a prime view of the backside of a fairly shabby warehouse)

Avoid!!! You'd be better off chancing your arm with some some roadside fair, god knows how this made Thailand Tatler's list of must eats in BKK for 2011, probably says more about how seriously you should take the list and the publication.

LINK TO LISTING IN THAILAND TATLER