My 100th Review

==INTRODUCTION==

For my 100th review, I was going to answer one of those big lists of questions about myself, but DixieChick10 gave me the idea of asking all my CoT if they had any questions they'd like to ask when she asked me such a question for her 200th review, which seemed much more interesting, so many thanks to Kirsty for planting the seed of an idea in my head and apologies for pogging your idea.

As you will see, ...
...weren't more travel questions; clearly my restaurant reviews have left the most impression. So without further ado.

==QUESTIONS FOR ME==

'''DixieChick10'''

'''"I'm not sure if you play an instrument, but if you did play an instrument, and got the chance to jam with 5 famous musicians, who would they be?"'''

Well when I was a teenager I briefly played the classical guitar and could even ... more

INTRODUCTION

For my 100th review, I was going to answer one of those big lists of questions about myself, but DixieChick10 gave me the idea of asking all my CoT if they had any questions they'd like to ask when she asked me such a question for her 200th review, which seemed much more interesting, so many thanks to Kirsty for planting the seed of an idea in my head and apologies for pogging your idea.

As you will see, I am a bit indecisive and so can never confine myself to one answer, but hopefully the answers I gave were sort of what you guys were after. So here are the answers in order of who replied first, and who asked which particular question first when it's been duplicated. Apologies to anyone whose questions were duplicated and who didn't come back to me with an alternative, but hopefully your original question is answered.

Looking at the questions I was surprised there weren't more travel questions; clearly my restaurant reviews have left the most impression. So without further ado.

QUESTIONS FOR ME

DixieChick10

"I'm not sure if you play an instrument, but if you did play an instrument, and got the chance to jam with 5 famous musicians, who would they be?"

Well when I was a teenager I briefly played the classical guitar and could even read music, but I gave it up once I had to give my borrowed guitar back! But I'd like to jam with Black Francis (The Pixies),. Kristen Hersh (Throwing Muses), Mark Gardener (Ride), Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) and Nick Drake.

"second question, if you could be any one else in the world, family member, person you know, actor, musician, anyone, who would you be and why?"

I've thought about this before and I have to say I don't think I'd want to be anyone else particularly! We all have our own experiences and opportunities that made us who we are. It kind of spoils it to be someone else in a way. Putting that aside though - my late father led a very interesting life and unfortunately I was only 18 when he passed away, but I did get snippets such as he was a jockey, drove General Montgomery around one day during WWII when he was in the British 8th Army and being complimented by Monty on his driving skills, and saw the result of Mussolini being lynched before the army arrived in Milan. Having checked these stories, they all have evidence to back them up (particularly his description of Mussolini and his mistress looking like pieces of meat hung up, and a small note in his war ID card that says "good driver" written by an unknown source). The only one I can't substantiate is the claim that one of my ancestors has a portrait up in some Turkish museum. If I had a name I'd be able to find out more seeing as I'm in Turkey at the moment! So as you can see it would have been interesting to have lived his life; it really would tell me all about who I am. I would have loved to write his memoirs.

Expired-Account

"Most treasured memory?"

I don't know really, I'm not sure if I treasure memories as such. I do enjoy the thought of coming top in my O Level English Lit mock exam though. I was always known as a science whizz but that really put the wind up the arty, middle class snobs in my school who dismissed me as a pleb from the rough side of town without refinement. I beat them at their own game and I will never forget the gasps of amazement as they read out the results in reverse order and my name was last, mind you, I couldn't believe it myself, I hated English Lit! A bit of an odd choice considering I've travelled the world and gained a BSc and MSc but I guess that was a seminal moment for me. I bet I'm posher than them now anyway!

frankiecesca

"If there one place in the world that if money was no object, you would want to see and why?"

North Korea! An unusual choice I know, and this is going to sound horrible, but I think it would be a fascinating Stalinist theme park of a country. I'd love and yet be appalled to see those kind of military walkpast with montage of dictator built with pieces of card in the crowd segueing from an image of the national flag, that kind of thing. I've travelled a fair bit in my life as part of my job so to be honest I could have gone pretty much anywhere anyway, so I pick North Korea as it's tricky to get to in more ways than one. Plus it's quite unlike anywhere in the world; there's not much chance of a KFC like in Beijing or McDonalds in Tallinn (of which I've seen both). Globalisation has made a lot of places more accessible but less interesting and "authentic" at the same time. Not that you'd be allowed to see much of "authentic" Pyongyang by your minders but it'd be the nearest you'd get to the hardcore Iron Curtain experience these days.

karimkha

"What is your favourite food and why?"

My mum's salmon curry with rice - obvious reasons really, can't beat mum's cooking! It's slightly spicy with no chilli and adds to the fish flavour rather than detracts from it. Basmati rice is the perfect accompaniment.

"If you have to choose between being dumb and rich or clever and poor what do you choose or why?"

Clever and poor. At work and in life in general I've seen many a dumb person get far via selfish, dumb actions. I feel I have the moral high ground as I like to think I live my life with integrity and honesty, and I'd rather be smart with my principles intact than play any game that walks all over people to get ahead, or indeed be too stupid to realise I was in one in the first place. Of course playing the game at work on your own terms to run rings round the selfish and dumb can be fun too!

"What is your favourite quote?"

“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.” - Benjamin Franklin

"The most embarrassing moment in your life?"

I was in a hotel in Sweden once and I was reading the paper whilst eating dinner in the hotel restaurant. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that it was being lit by the candle on my table, and the staff ran in with a fire extinguisher. No damage done aside from a slightly scorched carpet; later on one of the diners came over to thank me for the entertainment.

ScottishWestie

What was the very first website you clicked on?"

Now you're asking! Well that must have been about 1994, when I started work and had access, so I can't really remember but I'm guessing it would have been a newspaper website that I'd found via Netscape (no Google back then). While at Uni I had discovered the joys of IRC chat on a site run from UCL, the name escapes me now but I even met some people from it. This may or may not count as a website; for the techies amongst you, you accessed this via telnet; http didn't exist at the time.

manlybeach

"Well I would like to know what you see yourself doing in say ten years time. Nice easy one for you!"

Easy - you must be joking! I never look ahead. This is the sort of question they ask at job interviews and I always want to say "not this". Well I'll be 48 then, and I'm not really an ambitious person, so not a manager or anything like that. It looks like I might lose my job soon, so hopefully employed and doing something that I enjoy. I work in Telecoms at the mo and that will have changed beyond recognition by then, but hopefully still working with techie stuff. Or retired having won the lottery!

suesie

"You are stranded on a desert island with absolutely no belongings or mod cons- what three things would you most miss about "civilisation"?"

TV - I have it on all the time.
The internet - I have it on all the time while watching TV.
Hygenic lavatatories - I have an aversion to dodgy toilets and hence have missed out on many interesting places to travel in the world.

lazza123

"Worst fear!! and most outrageous piece of clothing you own :-)"

Worst fear - well at the moment, losing my job and not being able to get another decent one to be able to pay my mortgage. I can't think of any outrageous piece of clothing I have, as being a one time Indie kid it was anything as long as it was black, and nowadays it's anything as long as it's plain and preferably from Gap. I do have a purple Base zip up top that I'm starting to think is actually a bit pink so I don't wear that much anymore, so that'll have to do. I used to have a Silverfish (early 90s student Indie) long sleeved top that said "F**king driving or what?" in big letters on the back but that's long gone.

rachael23

"What's your favourite restaurant is and which country's cuisine you prefer from your travels?"

I'm the sort of person who likes different things depending on my mood, so my fave band or restaurant or whatever can change all the time. This may be a result of travelling a lot and experiencing new things constantly. At the moment it's Sir and Madam in Guildford as it serves excellent Thai food at a nice price with a fabulous welcome. I will try to review it sometime! I loved the food in China. I like Chinese food anyway and the duck in Beijing is amazing. They bring a whole duck and then slice up the crispy skin, oddly take away the rest of the duck and serve the bones as soup later on. I do like to search out Chinatowns when on my travels too, mainly Stateside.

plod591

"Your favourite place in the UK and why"

As a born and bred Northerner, I'm sorry and slightly ashamed to say London. It's got everything and is full of life, bustle and cosmopolitan life. I gather Manchester has changed beyond recognition in the 15 years I've been in the treacherous South but it's not the Manchester I knew. Plod is going to kill me but when I go back to Sheffield, where I studied, I am saddened by how little the city centre has changed since 1992.

duskmaiden

"If an artist could play in your living room who would it be?"

Hmm an artist could be any kind of performance I suppose but I'll take it as musical. I must say music was more important in my life when I was younger and barely plays a part now, so I would have to go for my old fave Kristin Hersh in her solo incarnation, as her strumming an acoustic guitar would sound OK in my living room!

tallulahbang

"The Ciao member you'd like to have dinner with/go drinking with/have an intellectual debate with/go on holiday with."

Well I'd really have to pick the people I've chatted to most on the guestbooks or are most applicable to the question (which isn't the same thing as you're about to see). I can't narrow it down to one, either, so I'll pick 3 for each.

I would actually like a drink with many people on here as it'd be really interesting, and it's a shame Ciao Meets don't seem to happen anymore, as I'd be well up for it in London. I'd organise one myself but I can't be arsed and herein lies the problem as I'm sure a lot of people feel that way. So I'll mention the 3 that would be top of my list, with many others just missing the cut. Plod591, as we've been talking about it for years and he seems to think I'll buy him a pint for some reason, typical Yorkshireman. Sonic0209 would be cool as we could compare notes about early 90s Indie and growing up at that time. Likewise Greenierexyboy, who is also a fellow immigrant to the South from the North West of England.

The originator of the question, Tallulahbang, scares and amuses in equal measure and is very sarcastic so she'd do for dinner as it would be funny as long as she didn't stab me with a knife. Denella seems to like eating out and eating fish as much as I do, so she'd be a good choice I think. AndrewPo is a bit of a connoisseur and I'd use the opportunity to talk financial advice with him as well as fine dining and travel.

Karimkha for the debate; she's very chatty, clever and has strong, interesting opinions. 1st2thebar would also be interesting as he's knowledgeable and likes a good rant, especially about how the banks have taken us for fools. MarcoG is a serial winner on the Current Issue so I think he'd be another one to debate with.

On holiday, Frankiecesca I think as she'd be able to get some good deals and would know her way around places. Koshkha would be an incredibly useful guide in India where I might be going to work this year, but we could make fun of the Benelux countries en route. Mitsudan is incredibly knowledgeable about Japan, so I'd like to pick his brains about a culture I know little about.

blackmagicstar4

"What about your favourite toy as a child if you have one?"

I'm having trouble remembering that far back! I did like my Action Man figures, dressing them in in WWII costumes and stuff. Star Wars figures and my snowspeeder were also well used. See what I mean, can never single anything out!

Jo145

"You are well travelled, but if you didn't live in Britain which country would be your ideal choice to live in and why?"

Well I lived in Sweden for 5 years so I'm sick of that, you can cross it off the list. I quite like the idea of Canada, as the lifestyle seems quite laid back and the people are really nice. But it's cold in the winter! I'm not sure if there such a thing as an ideal choice as I've lived in Finland, The Netherlands, the US and now Turkey for at least a few months at a time and in my experience everywhere has advantages and disadvantages; it all comes down to where you feel you belong. When it comes down to it, I found that the UK, for all its faults, really is home for me and on balance has less disadvantages. I mean it's expensive, the work culture is horrible, and we're going bust fast, but I feel like I belong in a way.

anonymili

"I wondered (cos you've visited and written about so many restaurants) which you would consider the best of the best and which was the worst of the worst?"

A slightly different question to the one answered, methinks. Of the places reviewed, the best of the best is the Greek restaurant Rhodos in Breda, The Netherlands. The food is good but I can go there any time on my own and feel welcome, and as a traveller you can't put a high enough value on this. As for the worst, well 3 Vrienden, also in Breda, was pretty appalling in terms of service so that gets my vote as the worst of the worst!

Here are the links to the respective reviews in case you're curious:

http://travel.ciao.co.uk/Rhodos_Breda_Netherlands__Review_5778253

http://travel.ciao.co.uk/De_3_Vrienden__Review_5744696

debmercury

"If you won a million pounds (lucky you) what would be the first thing you would buy and why?"

A house or flat, somewhere to live mortgage free - alternatively, pay off the mortgage on my present flat. That sort of thing. I like to feel secure and am a bit boring that way I suppose but I wasn't well off when I was growing up and I don't want to be like that again. So financial security is a big deal to me.

lel1969

"If you had to choose your last meal, what would it be and why?"

Chicken fried rice I think. Not quite my favourite meal but one I'd miss most.

koshkha

"If you were a vegetable, which type of vegetable would you be and why?"

A mushroom - I'm always in the dark and people never tell me anything.

sonic0209

"Has a musical artist / band changed your life and if so, how ?"

I think as a teenager I really defined myself in terms of music, and I would say The Pixies in a way changed my life, as being an 18 year old away from home for the first time as a student, for the first time I met lots of people interested in the same music as me who I could share the experience with, in terms of discos, gigs and discussions. So from being a slightly marginalised Smiths fan, with the other school misfits, I was suddenly part of a wider group, but still niche, which I liked. And I saw them live a few times too!

pixie65

"If you were cooking a meal for you hero - who would it be and what would you cook?"

I'm not sure if I have any heroes really, everyone is human and fallible. Perhaps it would be nice to cook for a food hero, and in that case it would be Ken Hom as his books really tuned me into Chinese cookery, plus he seems like a nice bloke who'd appreciate it. I'd try to cook my experimental dish that seems to work quite well - thai green curry salmon with (of course) rice.

donf18

"If you were given £500,000 to donate to charity, how would you spend it."

I think I would put £400,000 into cancer research and the rest to local hospices.

JoannaPiano

"What is your worst job interview ever and why?"

I've had the same job since graduation, so we'd have to go back somewhat. I remember a few dodgy graduate interviews at the hands of thickos from HR who didn't have a clue. One that stands out is before that for the BBC, which for once didn't involve HR, when I was after sponsorship for my degree course. They expected you to be some kind of a geek whose whole life was based around electronics, and they asked me how a TV worked. I did mug up on this but couldn't remember and I recall the smug, superior look of the techie geek interviewing me as I struggled to explain. I felt like saying it's a load of little men who dance inside the screen, in fact I wish I had. I console myself with the thought of having a bit more of a life than him. Don't you just hate the smugness of some people? I was asked once, by someone not much older than me, how I would deal with managing a team if they refused to work. I bet he didn't know! Of course I'd probably enjoy torturing graduates with similar questions now.

MarcoG

"Sushi in Montreal, Curry in Antwerp or Chinese in London? And why?"

Sushi in Montreal is OK but I haven't reviewed it; that was actually Vancouver, I haven't had sushi In Montreal for years. Curry in Antwerp, well Wagamama is nothing special really, that was more about the context of being away from home. So it has to be Chinese in London. I love Chinatown, always have, always will; to me it represents all the good things about London. I'd quite happily try every restaurant then try them all again. These days, since the main area of Gerrard Street has been cleaned up, I don't like the new, shiny places so much and prefer the ones that have been left that retain a bit of character and haven't just been polished to oblivion. So I always try to pick one of the few old skool places remaining.

techno_man_37

"What is the most daring thing you have ever done?"

I have discounted anything mucky, so, when I was doing my degree course, I used to have lectures with one of the heads of department. Thinking back I think he may have been a bit tongue in cheek but he used to imply that what he was teaching was very easy. Maybe for him having studied nothing else in detail for 10 years! I was in my final year by then and I'm no genius, I worked really hard at my degree, so I gave him some lip in one of his lectures along the lines of actually it wasn't easy at all if you hadn't studied it before, it was bloody hard. Cue a sharp intake of air from my friends. He took it surprisingly well and he didn't fail me when I did my final year project presentation so perhaps he admired someone telling him what they thought.

tune57

"If your life were to be made into a film who would you want / like to play the part of you and why?"

He'd have to be Asian, so it cuts it down a bit. I quite like that bloke from Slumdog Millionaire and there's an actor famous in Finland who looked like me, in fact I got mistaken for him a couple of times in Helsinki, so he might be good. But I'd have to plump with that speccy bloke off Eastenders who was in that Ferrera family, no idea what his name is. He's probably closest to what I actually am.

brereton66

"What was the best restaurant meal you ever had, not necessarily for the food maybe the company or an occasion"

Well there are loads of these, but I had a great meal once in Guangzhou in China. I had just arrived for work having never been before, and I was out with some colleagues. We sat by the harbour in the late evening heat picking things out of fish tanks we wanted to eat and I just remember it being a nice time.

Chouchinciao

"What's your favourite food and do you ever put on weight"

I've already answered the favourite food question. I seemed to have put on a bit of weight recently! I think I need to do more exercise, but travelling and eating out all the time as a result certainly takes it's toll.

"I always associate the name Lars with the children's story of a little polar bear adrift on an ice floe. Are you a polar bear? If not, why Lars(baby)?"

As for my name, well at first I only joined Ciao for the surveys so I used a bit of a joke name totally nothing to do with my own, related to my Swedish connections (it's a common Swedish name, I thought it sounds a bit Nordic sex god-ish). I saw an email address of someone I know and he called himself his-name-baby so I sort of randomly added the baby as I thought it sounded suitably daft. I never intended to write reviews, so when I did, I forgot that would be the name displayed! So really, it's a bit of a mistake and it's far too late to get rid of it now.

silverstreak

"With all the eating out you do, how do you manage to stay in such good shape? (And don't tell me that isn't really you in the pic and that you're really a Mr Blobby lookalike!!)"

That's me allright and I'm glad you think I'm in shape! As in a previous question, I have put on a bit of weight. However, I can't drive and have a half hour walk to work, so that keeps me active. I also played squash in Breda, use hotels gyms when I can and play a bit of badminton too when I'm back in the UK. But I'm not nearly active enough to be honest, I need to get in shape.

ryanando

"If you woke up one day and were suddenly in charge of the world without question, what would be the first thing you would DO and what would be the first thing you would CHANGE?"

I'd firstly move to arrest and prosecute George W Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and Tony Blair for war crimes. They'd be in the Hague before you could say "Brent crude and Halliburton share price". I think I would then make a radical change to the way the stockmarket and corporate business is run. I think it's fundamentally wrong that a company can record a profit but is seen to be doing badly because it's not as much a profit as before, resulting in problems for the poor hard working employees. You can almost hear the greedy CEO thinking: "Only a $4 billion profit and not $5 billion this quarter? Let's sack loads of people here then and move their jobs to China to cut costs and watch the share price rocket! Pass the lobster and call my broker, Jeeves".

Amy69

"If you were a Time Lord who would be your ideal companion?"

I'll have to say Ms Larsbaby for the companion or she'll thump me.

"You walk down the street and you see a poor bee dying, in pain, crying out to you. What do you do?"

I'd put the bee out of its misery and finish it off if it was on its way out anyway.

"If I randomly left my name in your PGB what would your response be?"

I'd think "eh, what's the point of that?"

greenierexyboy

"Have you ever had a comedy encounter with a minor celebrity? Or a major one."

When I was living in Sweden, there used to be a chat show with a presenter called Renee that I used to watch, mainly as I thought she was fit in an attainable kind of way, but also to try and learn some Swedish. I was in some nightclub and I spotted her in the corner with her entourage. There were some quite good looking girls next to me and my mate and so as a chat up line I said to one of them, "excuse me, isn't that Renee? I use her show to learn Swedish". With that, the girl went over to Renee then came back and said "I told her you're a fan, she wants to say hello!" I then had to go over and say how I used her show to learn Swedish (I missed out the "and I think you're reasonably fit" bit). To be fair she was really friendly but it was very embarrassing. My friend said he'd never seen anyone sweat so much in his whole life. I've had grief off him anytime we see her on Swedish TV since. I never did get that girl’s phone number in the club, either, so that was a useless chat up line.

sarahbarrow

"Is there anything you would change bodywise and if yes how far would you go to change it?"

If you've read my review on internet dating, you'll know my height caused me a lot of problems pulling, so it'd be nice to be a bit taller. I’m not that fussed though, as if you’d have read the same review you’ll know I did OK in the end, so not very far at all, I don’t want to be stretched on a rack or anything. Here is the link in case you missed it:

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Member_Advice_on_Online_Dating__Review_5779853

Zmugzy

"Have you ever left a restaurant without paying?

No, I'm a pretty honest and principled person so the thought has never even occurred to me.

"Which/Where was the worst hotel you stayed in?"

I've been quite fortunate really with hotels, but I was on a business trip to Croatia once and stayed in a town called Osijec on the border with Serbia. The people were fabulous and the hotel wasn't really bad, but it had bullet holes on the outer walls from the Yugoslavian War and the shower was really slow to drain so you'd be standing in waste water during showering. I also remember it was during Euro 2000 and we watched the semi final Italy vs The Netherlands in the hotel bar, but the sound wasn't turned up and some horrible plinky plonky muzac was being played. We did ask for the TV sound but didn't have much success. It was a dog of a game too, with Italy stifling the Dutch and scraping through to the final undeservedly.

Bollinger28

"Your ideal three course meal - what would it consist of?"

Not quite the same as my favourite dish, as I have to pick 3 dishes to complement eachother. Duck spring rolls as a starter with some Hoi Sin dipping sauce. Deep fried squid rings with egg fried rice for the main. The squid would have to have a nicely seasoned, spicy breadcrumb coating with maybe some chilli in there too. For the dessert, chocolate cheesecake with a bit of vanilla ice cream on the side.

bryspy

"What would you spend your ideal evening (no expense spared)?"

If I could find the best Chinese restaurant in London, it would have to be a meal there with Ms Larsbaby and maybe a few close friends. That’s it; I’m a man of simple tastes!

MizzMolko

“This is very VERY random and if it's too random tell me but: If you could be any household appliance for the day, which one would you be and why?”

Ms Larsbaby reckons a Tefal wok pan and I'd have to agree with her, as I'm a huge fan of stir fries and I think I'd like to facilitate a nice egg fried rice, I think.

fizzytom

"If you could pick one person from history to dine with, who would you choose?"

Mahatma Ghandi I think. It would be interesting to see what he was really like.

CPTDANIELS

"who is your favourite writer on Ciao?"

Again, I don't have one single favourite, it depends what mood I'm in and what topic you're talking about. AndrewPo, Mitsusan, koshkha and Torr always comeup with the goods with travel. I've always liked greenieireboy's and Sonic0209's music reviews. Tallulahbang is always entertaining. Tune57 is consistently brilliant on consumer topics. I like denella's foody reviews. Karimkha always has something to say about, well everything, and never misses any detail.

tac20

"What would you love to review on ciao but you know they'd never add to the site? (i.e. won't fit in any of the categories or cafe ciao)?"

That's a tough one to answer, I think you can get pretty much anything into the café can't you? Maybe a government? I guess you can’t review a government or its policies!

kiss_me2070

"If you were digging up your garden and found a secret box with lots money in it, what would you do with it?"

Well I don't have a garden, but if I did I’d probably hand it in to the police. Mainly because I'd be worried that someone would be after me for it!

mythdata

"What is your favorite junk food?"

I love KFC; I know it's full of fat, really bad for you and as far from free range as you can get, but it's been a favourite of mine since I was a kid.

"Worst thing you have done, while under the influence?"

When I was a student I got so drunk that I banged my chin and only realised the next morning that there was blood all over my bed. I had to go to hospital for stitches and I bear the scar to this day. I still have a picture of my blood stained Wedding Present t-shirt a friend kindly took at the time. The Wedding Present were a big Indie band at the time.

"Have you done something wrong but never admitted it to anyone and let someone else take the blame?"

I once told someone at work to turn something off, but I told him the wrong way to do it, so he broke it and got a right roasting for it! I did try and correct our boss but he didn’t believe I could have got it wrong.

Amazingwoo

"What has been your best and worst food experiences and have you ever made any culinary c*ck-ups on your travels?"

Best and worst, hmm, think I’ve answered that already. Culinary faux pas, I was in Rome once in some rip off restaurant and the waiter came round with some mushrooms that they would put in the risotto, Me and my friend didn't have a clue what he was trying to do, so we just picked one each and put them on our plates. He looked shocked and soon told us to put them back. I assume now he was just showing us what quality they were. The bloke and his wife next to us were also British and he said he would have done the same thing!

mummy2harry

"I see you travel quite a bit, so where is your favourite place you've visited so far, and what place are you desperate to visit that you haven't yet seen"

I was very impressed by China, and it was very different to any of my other destinations, which have generally been Western cultures. I'd love to go to Thailand, I've heard so many amazing things about it.

lilyellowfish

“Hmmmm what do you do for a job?"

I'm a Telecoms Engineer for a huge multinational telecoms manufacturing company. This means that when there are problems with mobile phone networks, e.g. if a load of people in an area can't make calls, I look into issues like that. I also help build them. As our equipment is all over the world, this has resulted in a fair bit of travel.

"what do you enjoy doing in your spare time?"

Well I Iike to write obviously, I also like to eat out and just relax really. If I'm abroad I like to see the sights and find out more about the country. Travelling takes a lot of energy out of you and I've probably lost a lot of my hobbies and interests due to not always being at home, unfortunately.

Seresecros

"When will you make an honest woman of Ms Larsbaby? And where will you hold the wedding, when you do? And do you need a Best Man?"

The trouble is, I have so many friends around the world, I'd need to win the lottery to be able to pay for it. Probably in her home town. No.

rolletrog

"Favourite dog?"

Oh dear! I have to say I'm not a dog person at all, I'm definitely a cat person. I'm also allergic to animals, so when I do get near cats I can't stop sneezing. But I suppose Labradors are useful as they help the blind. Lucky that was the answer you were looking for!

"If you were turned into cheese by the Gouda Goblin, which one would be your preference?"

I like blue cheese so a nice mature blue cheese, not sure which variety.

Lunar_see

"Why do you write reviews here on Ciao?"

I can't quite remember how I started, but as I said previously, I originally only joined for the surveys. I think I was bored one day and thought I'd give reviewing a go. Now, I like to review to improve my writing skills as well as make some cash, and the satisfaction of being read and rated, so, like other members, vanity plays a part! I guess if finance was the defining factor I'd write a lot more.

kirstymack80

"If you could take five of your favourite food items with you to a desert island, what would they be?"

Well, being an engineer I'd take the pragmatic option here, assuming there would be supplies of fish to be caught, I'd take stuff along that would give it some flavour. So - soy sauce, chilli oil, garlic, spring onions and rice (hopefully I could continue to grow the latter 3).

RICHADA

"What do you drive now, and what WOULD you drive if you had a lottery jackpot to spend?"

I can't actually drive! I did try to pass my test 12 years ago but failed it 3 times in a week and since I was emigrating to Sweden I didn't care after that, and haven't got round to it in the 7 years since I got back. I use the train to get everywhere and I walk to work, which is pretty healthy and environmentally friendly, I like to think. I've never been interested in cars though; if someone asks me what model a car is I'll say "it's blue". When the other boys looked at car magazines at school I was far more interested in the computer ones. If I won the lottery I'd employ a chauffeur; as for the car he'd drive, well who cares as long as it has low emissions and gets me from A to B in reasonable time and comfort!

"I unexpectedly have a spare day to "kill" - how would I most enjoy spending it?"

I think I would go for a wander around London. There are a lot of museums and places of interest I've never visited as I'm too lazy, so that would be good use of such a day.

carcraig

"If you could attend any sporting event you wanted to, what would that be and why?"

The football World Cup Final. That would be amazing, to see the final of the highest level of football. As it's ever 4 years, the chance doesn't arise very often.

sewbizzie

What is the most expensive thing you have ever broken or damanged and was it on purpose?

I work with electronics and have to replace boards occasionally so I reckon I have broken a few of those, never on purpose though! I think some of them can cost £10,000 so they’re not cheap.

THAT’S YOUR LOT!

Well it was very interesting thinking up answers to a lot of those questions. Hopefully you’ve learnt a bit more about me!
 

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