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CoMooting Cows

July 13, 2010 By danyul Leave a Comment

moooooooooo

Riding cattle class on the London underground every day makes you feel like you are part of the herd but today my usual jaunt along the Central Line was livened by some amusing fake cows. Charity activists were out in force and dressed as cows in a bid to raise awareness of rainforest-free food as organised by Friends of the Earth. I did not really notice the cows in my carriage until I was getting ready to depart at Bank and I noticed what looked like a guy wearing a comedy cow hat further down the carriage. It wasn’t until I removed my headphones that I heard a low “mooooooooooooo” from all around me and realised that there were several people dressed in body size cow outfits. I thought the cow standing still reading the Mootro, with headlines and text consisting of “mooooooooo”, was a very nice touch. Thankfully the cows were very well behaved and were just holding out small business card sized information text for those that wanted to find out more.

Subsequent articles then appeared online thanks to the Farmers Guardian, the Docklands 24, and Left Foot Forward. Various pictures are available on all three sites and it proves I must invest in an ever so slightly more modern phone so I can take pictures of cows on the underground if they ever appear again.

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Japan (part ni)

January 14, 2010 By danyul Leave a Comment

Japanese Kite Flying

The Japanese New Year period usually sees a return to the more traditional Japanese games including the flying of traditional Japanese kites. This year we headed down to the nearby Ube beach armed with several paper kites to join small groups of other kite flyer’s. This year we also had the somewhat odd site of a group teenagers holding a barbecue while they all lounged in a heated inflatable pool. It was a bizarre site since early January is not a warm or sunny time in this part of Japan plus it was quite a cold breezy day: great for flying kites but not good for running your own portable hot tub on a public beach. Maybe I am not ‘down with the kids’ these days because it looked far from a fun activity to me but the group of teenagers looked like they were having a great time.

Japan has gone through a noticeable period of change in the 12 plus years that we have been making regular visits. I remember the first time that we saw homeless people asking for money or food in a train terminal based in one of the largest cities. It stood out for me since I had never seen any sign of homeless people at any point previously, although of course that did not meant that people were not homeless before, but seeing such an overt example of begging in a high profile location shocked Mrs danyul.

During our latest visit we saw real signs of the economic downturn in Japan;. Firstly, the number of people attending the shrines in a bid to win favour and blessing was astronomical compared to our previous visits. The area where we stay is quite rural and we would normally visit the local shrine on New Years Day and we might have seen 5-10 other people paying their respects. However, on this visit there was a long queue of families waiting to pay their respect at the shrine and additionally a large number of families donating extra to the shrine so that they could receive individual blessings.

During this visit we also attended second hand and antique fair for the first time, which very much resembled an English car boot sale but with the goods on sale from little stalls setup either by small businesses or families selling off unwanted goods. Again, this was not previously a common occurrence in the area of Japan where we stayed and it was a reflection of the economic situation in the country.

Japanese Second Hand Good Fair

Our final family trip this time around was to spend 1 night in Shimonoseki, which like Ube is also based in Yamaguchi Prefecture. We drove across to Shimonoseki with a brief stop at a motorway style service station / dining location for lunch. I had never stopped at any Japanese motorway style services before and it made a distinct change to the expensive food provided in British motorway stops. The food area was run as a small local business and provided excellent Japanese food at very affordable prices. MiniMe tucked into his favourite Japanese curry while I had some fantastic pork ramen that would put any English motorway food to shame. We were soon in Shimonoseki and settled into our hotel ready to spend some relaxing time in the hotel onsen (hot spring baths). Visiting onsen is big business in Japan and there are travel style TV shows that just show various bath locations around Japan with reviews of the facilities and the food on offer.

The hotel is located on the hillside overlooking the Kanmon Straits, which forms an important shipping line that runs between the main Japanese islands of Honshū and Kyūshū. The hotel makes good use of the outstanding view with the baths, with baths both inside and outside, looking directly over the river and the city while the hotel restaurant also utilises full window style walls looking over the city. The city itself is very well known for its fugu (puffer-fish) haul, which is the largest yearly haul in Japan, and all the restaurants specialise in fugu dishes. On this visit we took a local taxi to the Sea Mall Shimonoseki (largest shopping center in West Japan when it was built) and the driver told us that the visitor numbers were substantially down over the past year, especially during the fugu season when people traditionally flock to Shimonoseki, so much so that all the taxi drivers are now all members of the ‘silver fox’ generation. The younger taxi drivers are no longer able to make a full-time wage from their fares so only those that are retired and have other incomes available (i.e. a pension of some sort) can afford to remain as taxi drivers.

Shimonoseki: Hotel Balcony View

I enjoyed wandering around the shopping mall and trying to pick out some gifts for my family while Mrs danyul raided the huge book shop. We are fortunate to live in an age where Mrs danyul can order Japanese books from Amazon and get them delivered to the UK but it is much cheaper to haul some back in our suitcases compared to the shipping charges. I picked out the latest Pokemon movie DVD for MiniMe so he could have something to watch back in the UK when he would no doubt be wide awake with jet lag at an unreasonable hour. I found some nice gifts for my family and made good use of the gift wrapping services from all the shops, which put the UK firmly in the shade. All Japanese department stores will gift wrap something to a ‘basic level’ for free and their definition of a ‘basic level’ is what a UK based store would charge for as their ‘premium service’. Although Japanese stores do offer a chargeable gift wrapping service, I have never had to take up the additional services although I have wondered just how much better they could actually be compared to the fantastic free service.

Our last activity in Shimonoseki was to visit one of the large shrines based in the city. Again, the shrine was full of people and had some fantastic food stalls at the entrance to help warm everyone up in the cold weather. On this visit we decided to ‘donate’ an extra amount of money and receive a blessing from the priest. Neither of us has any strong religious views but we were interested in what happens so after making our donations we were shown into a private room within the temple where the priest discussed our goals and aspirations with the coming year (well… he discussed with Mrs danyul anyway) and then he began to recite various Japanese chants before waving a staff adorned with what looked like white paper chains above our heads. We both thought the blessing was over but were told to stay while the priest then started to play on a flute like instrument while a girl dressed in traditional robes performed a dance around the room. We did not (and still do not) understand whether the dance had any significance but it was certainly an interesting experience and a small view of traditional Japanese activities.

Shimonoseki Shrine

Our latest visit to Japan soon drew to an end  as the remaining time flew by with various family visits and MiniMe playing with his grandparents. We all had a fantastic time, as always, and I had a relaxing time of catching up on some reading while not being drawn into any work. As usual our family were extremely hospitable to us and I am sure MiniMe will have some more treasured memories of spending time in Japan.

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Japan (part ichi)

January 3, 2010 By danyul Leave a Comment

Hinomaru ("sun circle")

We usually schedule a visit to Japan at the end of each year to stay with Mrs danyul’s parents and to visit other family in Japan. Unfortunately we were unable to make it in 2008/09 but this year we were able to fly out to Japan just before Christmas. Our normal schedule would be to spend Christmas in the UK with my family and then New Year in Japan with Mrs danyul’s family. This time around we faced restrictions with time off from work so had to leave earlier so no Christmas with my family this time around. They more than made up for it though by throwing a Christmas lunch for everyone before we left, where MiniMe could open all his presents as though it was Christmas Day.

We headed to Heathrow on the 23rd December with a hope to avoid long queues by going through the Virgin online check-in process beforehand. This seems to be a pretty standard procedure these days so we were straight into the queue for checking in our baggage and then straight through security to wait for our flight. Mrs danyul had some time for some last minute gift buying, which is very much a necessity if you are visiting Japan since it is customary to buy close family a friends a gift. I wandered around with MiniMe in tow and bought myself some JVC noise cancelling earphones for the flight. These were the cheapest on sale within the shops area and they turned out to be a reasonable purchase since they cut out a lot of the flight noise and I might consider an upgrade next time we fly.

Our flight was delayed by an hour since the plane had arrived later than schedule and then once everyone boarded, one of the passengers was taken ill and had to be taken from the plane so another hour was gone while their luggage was located and removed from the hold. Thankfully we were soon up in the air and MiniMe could sit watching some kids movies / TV while I watched some movies at well. Nothing of note occurred on the flight, which is always a good thing, and we were soon touching down at Narita International just an hour later than scheduled. I usually have to spend an hour queueing for passport control along with all the other Gaijin but for once everything was clear so I quickly had my body scanned for heat signatures via a camera checking for people with flu, I had my finger prints taken, and finally a digital photograph taken before my passport was stamped and I was free to go join MiniMe and Mrs danyul to collect our luggage.

We used to stay one night in Tokyo before MiniMe was born but then found out looking after a jet lagged child is not the easiest thing to do at 3am, even in a city like Tokyo, so we now catch a limousine bus across to Heneda Airport to take an internal ANA flight down to Ube, which is located in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The parents-in-law were waiting for us at the airport and thankfully it is only short drive back to their house. They were happy to see the three of us, especially MiniMe, and we were thankful to be able to visit them again.

Giraffe Riding, MiniMe Style

Christmas is not a public holiday in Japan and nor is there much evidence that it is celebrated although I must admit over the years I have seen more and more Christmas decorations dotted around whenever we visit. Mrs danyul’s parents bought a small Christmas tree this year so that MiniMe would have somewhere to put his Christmas stocking all ready for Santa san to visit. They also helped join in the fun by buying a carrot for the reindeer plus some cookies and milk for Santa san. MiniMe had a great time opening his presents with his grandparents and I think they had a nice time being part of MiniMe’s Christmas for the first time.

New Year is a public holiday in Japan and it is a time of wide celebration and also a time for families to get together once more. It is traditional for the ‘oldest son’ to host a dinner on New Years Day, which all the family are invited to. On our early visits to Japan this would mean a lot of visitors since Mrs danyul’s father is the oldest son in a large family so there would be a lot of people arriving at the house for lunch. It is also traditional to give gifts of cash to all the children so it is a very lucrative time to be a child in Japan! As the years have passed we have found that our New Year celebration has diminished each year, mostly because of older relatives sadly passing aways, but also from family members gradually moving to different parts of Japan. On our last visit we moved from a very large gathering at Mrs danyul’s parents house to a more smaller lunch (approximately 20 people) at a local hotel, although again it was hosted by the ‘oldest son’ within the family. This year we just had a visit from Mrs danyul’s brother and his son so we had a small family lunch at home although we did join the crowds at the local shopping mall and also at the local shrine.

Feeding The Lions

The shrine visit is a fundamental part of Japanese culture and a lot of people will celebrate the New Year by being at a shrine as the clock hits midnight; some of the large city shrines heave with crowds at midnight and form the location for live television across the entire New Year period. We went to visit the local shrine on New Year’s day and this time around it was packed with people and for the first time ever we had to queue to pay our respects. It seems that during a time of economic decline more and more people are returning to their local shrine to ask for good luck through the coming year.

We then took a day trip to the Yamaguchi Safari Land, which is just over an hours drive away. MiniMe loves to visit Safari Land every time we come to Japan and I must admit that I really enjoy visiting as well. Safari Land consists of a small theme park area that is free to enter, although you have to pay for tokens that are then valid across the rides, and the Safari Part itself where you could either pay to drive through in your own car or take a guided tour through on a bus. We always go for the guided bus since you also get to feed the various animals on the route through the use of some metal tongs that can be pushed through grills along the side of the bus.

Safari Bus

We arrived at the park to find the first available bus tour was already full so we signed up for the second bus and then took a walk around the theme park section. MiniMe went straight to the go-kart track where he was now tall enough to drive one of the ‘skid karts’ around the track provided that he had an adult sitting next to him. I drew the short straw and had several scary laps of the track with MiniMe at the helm while Japanese pop music blasted from speakers dotted around the course. MiniMe loved it although I hope his driving skills improve as he gets older.

We’ve been visiting the Safari Land for quite a few years now and it was strange to see MiniMe aiming for all the older kid rides this time when previously he would just want to sit on the little kid cars, which do not move anywhere and just resemble the small kid rides you find outside supermarkets in the UK. He did insist on riding the giraffe around, which has a small motor and wheels on the legs, but I suspect that will not be repeated on our next visit since he’ll deem it a ride “for babies”.

It was soon time for our bus tour so we grabbed some drinks from the plentiful vending machines (there are vending machines everywhere in Japan) before taking our bench seat on the bus ready for the tour to begin. This time we had the lion bus and we were soon being driven around the park. Our first stop was to feed some zebra and a camel by holding out some small pieces of bread with the tongs but on a first attempt one of the circling hawks dive bombed the side of the bus and helped itself to MiniMe’s bread. He was not happy with the birds so I had to let MiniMe use my bread while I kept a lookout for more cheeky winged beasts.

Japanese Shrine

The bus then moved through various security gates as we headed into the more dangerous animal sections; first stop was the cheetah enclosure where we have the opportunity to hold out pieces of meat from the side of the bus. Next we moved through the tiger enclosure and the lion enclosure where again small pieces of meat were dangled out of the side of the bus ready for the growling large cats to take their feed. I was once again on hawk duty since the somewhat suicidal birds would swoop down across the side of the bus trying to grab the meat before the tigers or lions could snap their jaws shut. It would not surprise me to find that the lions get an accidental bird lunch on occasion.

The tour pulls to a stop in a ‘petting zoo’ style section where the small goats, llama, and kangaroos seem even more aggressive in their pursuit of people to feed them. There is even a small enclosure where there seems to be hundreds of guinea pigs hopping about but the small furry fiends give Mrs danyul the heebie jeebies so we stayed away this time.

The final stop on the way back to the car park was at the elephant house where MiniMe had great fun holding out carrots and other vegetables for the baby elephant to snack on. Again, Mrs danyul keeps a distance from the elephant since it’s trunk sways around sniffing for food and it does not seem to discriminate between food and scarves if you get too close. This ended our visit to Yamaguchi Safari Land and we headed home with a very content MiniMe snoring in the back of the car.

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Cornwall 2009

August 24, 2009 By danyul Leave a Comment

Mawgan Porth beach

We spent a lot of time looking for a suitable holiday destination this year although as usual our search took so long that we ended up leaving the actual booking until quite late. Last year we visited the Mark Warner San Agostino resort in Greece where we had a fantastic family holiday and we considered visiting San Agostino again or visiting one of the other Mark Warner resorts but we decided that we would find somewhere with a more balanced climate this time around. I loved the hot sunny weather in Greece but for Mrs danyul it was a too hot and for MiniMe it was difficult trying to make him rest at times to make sure he was not in the sun all the time. So this year we looked at various options in France, Switzerland, and Austria before deciding to stay closer to home with a family holiday in Cornwall. Our selection criteria was based on finding a location with plenty of individual activities (such as sailing for me and spa like facilities for Mrs danyul and kids play for MiniMe) and having a dedicated kids club so MiniMe could be looked after and play with other children. After much deliberation we settled on the 4 star Bedruthan Steps Hotel on the North Cornish Coast.

We looked at the options of flying to Cornwall since the Newquay Cornwall Airport is very close to Mawgan Porth, where we would be staying for the week. However, we decided to tackle the 6+ hours it would take to drive and packed out our car with all the things we would need for a UK beach holiday. In true danyul family tradition we packed far too much under the rationale that we would need both summer and winter clothes given the English weather. The drive to Cornwall was pretty uneventful but we did stop at a great litle pub in the countryside for lunch and take in some of the scenary. Sadly we did not make a note of where we stopped since it was unplanned and based on ‘we’re hungry, next exit please’.

MiniMe with his sand castle

The exterior of the hotel looks a little dated and we were not sure what to expect when we pulled into the car park but thankfully the interior is everything that you would expect from a 4* hotel. The entrance to the hotel is a little strange in that you enter directly onto a stair case and the reception is down a small flight of stairs and then situated to the left. I would not really think to mention it here but since our holiday I checked out a number of online reviews for the Bedruthan Steps Hotel and a few people make negative comments regarding trying to find reception on arrival. However, the route to reception is clearly sign posted and is so easy to follow so I cannot understand why some reviewers make a big deal out of this.

The check-in process went smoothly thanks the very friendly reception staff and we were soon negotiating our way around the hotel to our room. We had left our booking very late so there were only 2 rooms available at the time; a double bedroom with attached kids room with bunk beds or a discounted similar room above the kitchen. Although we like the idea of saving money we equally do not want the sounds and smells of the kitchen hitting us plus all the noise from early morning deliveries. Our room did not have an ocean view but it was extremely modern, clean, and very spacious: everything we needed for our stay.

Mawgan Porth beach

The hotel is a 10 minute walk from the beach along a slightly steep winding path down the hill side and we soon wandered down to explore and make our first sand castle. We had paid for breakfast and evening meals although children were not welcome in the main restuarant at dinner time so either had to attend the kids evening meal or sit in the lower part of the restuarant with their parents. MiniMe was booked into the evening kids club so he ate at the kids supper before we took him to the ‘Dolphins’ kids club. There were various group names for the kids clubs (e.g. Dolphins and Sharks) and they were split by age. I cannot remember the age splits but initially we were a little worried that MiniMe would be bored in the Dolphins club since he was at the top age for the group. However, he was soon enjoying himself thanks to the wonderful staff and all the friends he was soon making.

There were plenty of other activities at the hotel for kids outside of the scheduled classes and MiniMe loved to play in the Jungle Tumble play area. When we could pursuade him to stop throwing himself into the ball pools we also used the inside and outside swimming pools, the assualt course, and the tennis courts.

MiniMe soaking up some sun before surf lesson

After a hearty buffet style breakfast we took some time to speak with the on-site surf instructor Nick and book a lesson for me and MiniMe. Surfing is big business in Cornwall thanks to the great conditions and the influx of tourists so there are surf clubs all along the coast. The hotel has its own surf shack on-site where you can book lessons and also hire equipment (e.g. surf boards, wet suits, and body boards) and there is also the King Surf School near by in Morgan Porth located at Betty’s surf shop. We did look at booking some cheaper group style lessons at the King Surf School but the minimum age was 8 and with MiniMe still 7 we stuck with some private lessons via the hotel surf shack. Neither of us had surfed before so we pass our thanks onto Nick and his team for the great tuition given. All the staff were well qualified and I had no hesitation in trusting them with the safety of a very fearless MiniMe. To say MiniMe took to surfing like a duck to water would be an understatement (pun not intended); we took 2 private lessons and then the both of us were out everyday surfing or body boarding by ourselves.

We took some time on a more miserable rainy day to visit the relativly nearby Eden Project. I think all visitors to Cornwall make a visit to the Eden Project at least once and although not cheap it is well worth the visit. MiniMe loved the kids area and was soon running around grabbing materials to build a tiny boat from ‘sustainable materials’. The aim was to build a small boat and then push it out to sail in a small pool like area where the boat would ‘dock’ at a small island with some playmobil figures on it. There was a helpful adult in waders to help the boats around and MiniMe took his task very seriously and was very proud when his boat made it to the island.

MiniMe surfing

The more educational aspects of the Eden project also kept MiniMe inspired and we had a great time walking around the domed areas and learning about various fauna and associated wildlife. Even on a very grey British day we had a great time exploring and learning so recommend to anyone visiting the Cornwall area.

We soon settled down to a activity driven schedule: MiniMe would race to reception every morning to register for the kids supper by picking from the days menu. We would all eat breakfast together from the extensive buffet before MiniMe raced off again to join the Dolphins group for their morning activity. I would then head off for some surfing or spend some time with Mrs danyul before we all hooked up for lunch somewhere. In the afternoon I would keep MiniMe in check, usually through surfing together, while Mrs danyul would spend time in the spa or taking a bus to one of the local towns so she could explore. MiniMe would join his friends at the kids supper and we would leave him there safe in the knowledge that the kids staff would be watching over them and then taking them all back for the evening Dolphins session. I would eat with Mrs danyul in the fantastic hotel restuarant before taking a walk down to the beach and back to the hotel again before settling down in the bar area. Soon it would be time to collect a very worn out MiniMe and get him to bed all ready for the next day.

MiniMe surfing... ?

I have briefly mentioned the food through this posting and it is well woth highlighting the standard of food available at the Bedruthan Steps Hotel. The hotel takes great pride in sourcing local seasonal produce and this is firmly reflected in the quality of food available. Each morning we were presented with a buffet style breakfast selection consisting of an English cooked breakfast using local produce, a choice of cereals, and a selection of fruits and yoghurts. MiniMe would dive into the cereal options while Mrs danyul developed a previously unknown liking for porridge. I stuck to the more traditional English breakfast option along with some toast in a bid to fill myself with energy for all the days activities.

There was a small cafe style area at the hotel offering lunch, although you had to have your wits about you if sitting outside since the seagulls had their beady eyes fixed on anything edible. We tended to eat in and around the Mawgan Porth area for lunch while for supper / dinner MiniMe joined the kids club for burger / nugget style food although we did make sure that he had equal amounts of vegetables on his plate as well. This left dinner for just the two of us in the hotel restuarant where a set menu was on offer each night consisting once again of local produce for staters, main, and dessert. The food was fasntastic and there was an extremely well stocked wine selection to go with your meal. However, after a few nights dining in the hotel we wished we had not paid / booked for a hotel dinner every night; not because of the quality of the food or the standard of the service, which were all excellent. We just found ourselves wanting something smaller some nights rather than a three course meal every time. If we return to the Bedruthan Steps Hotel in the future then we’ll probably go for breakfast each morning and dinner the first few nights and the last few nights of the stay with a gap in the middle to eat at other local restuarants. This isn’t a reflection on the food provided but just an acknowledgment that sometimes we wanted a smaller meal while it was hard to resist the fantastic three course meal at the hotel since it was all booked in advance.

MiniMe surfing

The hotel had plenty on offer for all age groups: there was a room for teenagers that had a TV and a Wii inside, there was a small gym (adults only), a snooker room, an adult room with pool table & TV, 2 outside pools and 1 inside pool, plenty of play areas outside, 2 tennis courts (although 1 is ‘undersized’ and has some interesting ‘bumps’ to make games interesting), and I am sure there is more that I cannot remember. Also, each room had a feed to a set of DVD players in the reception area and there was a timetable of adult and child movies showing through the day. This was very welcome to us because we would want MiniMe to take some rest occassionally and the kids movies proved a great distraction to either keep him out of the sun for a little while or to let him rest before we went out for our next activity.

The hotel also arranged various morning / afternoon / evening activities for both children and adults to attend. There were severl morning visits from local attractions to show some sea life or some other wildlife so the kids could interact with the animals and the parents could be pursuaded to schedule a trip to the visitor attraction they were advertising. The afternoon / early evening saw a varierty of kids entertainers; such as a clown or party games or a magician. We found these events were aimed at a younger age group than MiniMe so he was not really interested but the toddlers were having a great time. After dinner there were more adult themed events in the bar area with visiting musicians and one night there was a team quiz night for all those interested.

I mentioned that the majority of kids entertainment events were aimed at the ‘toddler’ age group but MiniMe and some of his friends from the Dolphins group were really looking forward to watching the magician. However, the magician seemed obsessed with everyone being quiet throughout his performance and was constantly telling the adult group in the bar and surrounding groups to be quiet. MiniMe and he friends were standing along the side walkway watching and were talking to themselves wondering how he was performing the various tricks. No-one was being particularly loud but the magician was constantly telling everyone around to be quiet even though there wasn’t much noise; he was clearly getting more and more aggitated and his attitude left bit of a sour taste so we ended up taking MiniMe away before the magician completely lost the plot. I don’t know whether we caught this guy on  bad day but we felt he was a bit weird and overly obsessed with anyone making any noise in the hotel public areas.

We tended to stay in Mawgan Porth for the majority of our stay although we did venture out to the Eden Project and also on a short visit to Newquay. We were not that impressed with Newquay as it seemed to be dominated by cheap and tacky souviner stores selling t-shirts or various kebab / burger stores. So we cut our visit short to Newquay and instead drove along the coast and stopped off at various little towns along the way and had a much better time. Mawgan Porth was enough to keep us happy for the week with Betty’s Newsagent & Surf Shop stocking everything we needed alongside the pub or nearby restuarants for food and drink.

MiniMe surfing

So it was a big thumbs up from the three of us for Mawgan Porth and the Bedruthan Steps Hotel. The facilities in the hotel were excellent, the kids activities and care was excellent, and there were plenty of adult activities to keep me and Mrs danyul happy. The weather was not great while we visited but it was warm enough for t-shirts and shorts and it was the perfect weather for Mrs danyul who doesn’t like to be out in the hot sun all the time.

The highlights of our trip:

The lowlights:
  • The weird magician
  • Newquay did not live up to expectation
We all had such a great time that we have already booked another weeks stay at Bedruthan Steps Hotel and we look forward to visiting again and exploring Cornwall in 2010.
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Safety First

March 8, 2009 By danyul Leave a Comment

My regular commute to work takes me along the Central Line to Bank station where I change for the DLR onto East India station. Anyone who relies on London public transport will know that it is subject to delays on a fairly regular basis, that trains or buses will occasionally break down, and that the odd security / safety alert will crop up.

The evacuation message suddenly sounded while I was changing at Bank this past week so I joined the majority of other passengers as we headed for the first available exit. However, I was amazed to see a number of people refusing to leave the platforms even though the station staff were directing them to the emergency exit routes. As I was walking through the ticket barriers at the exit there was even someone trying to sprint past through and dodge around the staff so they could make it down to the platform.

I am just amazed at the number of people who are willing to risk their life and ignore safety announcements all in a bid to save a few minutes getting to work. Whether there is a fire or it is just a false alarm; you are not able to tell and if there was a real fire then you would just be running down into it. Why bother?

East India DLR Station

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San Agostino

August 20, 2008 By danyul Leave a Comment
San Agostino
Mark Warner Resort at San Agostino, Greece

We recently returned from a wonderful week away in the Greek based Mark Warner resort located in San Agostino. It’s our 10th wedding anniversary this year and each year we have always talked about going away on a ‘beach holiday’ but somehow we just have not been able to make the time or sometimes not make the budget. In fact we have not even really been away on a proper holiday in this period: we have been to Center Parcs a few times on a long weekend break and we have visited the in-laws in Japan a few times as well. The Japan visits are great for me as I get to travel around a fantastic country and stay with friendly family but for Mrs danyul they bring a whole bag of family obligations so it’s not always a fully relaxing time.

Our flight to Greece departed from Gatwick Airport on a Saturday afternoon with the airline XL, which seemed to be exclusively filled with other Mark Warner holidaymakers, and arrived at San Agostino airport in the early evening. Flying with a so called ‘budget airline’ meant that you had to pay for your food and drink during the flight and also pay for a set of headphones if you wanted to watch the movie and did not have a headphone with you. MiniMe couldn’t really see the small screen very well from our seating position so we did not watch anything on the way out. As we taxied at the Greek airport we noticed a lot of what appeared to be military jets along the far side of the airport and a few times during the week we saw them flying in formations along the coast.

We were reasonably quick through the airport although we held up the passport queue a bit as they seemed to run a few extra checks against Mrs danyul’s Japanese passport, which meant she got another stamp in her passport of course so is well ahead of me now. There were plenty of friendly Mark Warner staff to greet us at the airport and they organised us and our luggage into the correct coach ready for the 20 minute drive to the resort. One of the main reasons for picking their resort at San Agostino was because of the relatively short journey from the airport onto the resort.

We had gone with a garden bungalow for our stay so the staff gave us directions once the coach pulled up and our luggage was driven down soon afterwards by more friendly staff in a pickup truck. The room was more than adequate for our holiday needs and contained 3 single beds, a bath / shower / toilet room, was fully air conditioned, and had a great view of the beach and sea from the patio doors. We had read a few negative online reviews before the holiday about ‘dated’ accommodation and buildings but we found everything to be modern and in excellent condition. The main resort building seemed to be in a more 60′s style but everything seemed to have been updated since then and so thumbs up from us to all the accommodation.

San Agostino

Villa view - Mark Warner Resort at San Agostino, Greece

Mark Warner offers a choice of half-board (breakfast and dinner) or full-board (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and we plumped for full-board based on the assumption that a busy little 6 year old would need to be fed well because of all the planned activities. Dinner consisted on a large buffet with your usual salad, meat, and vegetable options along with an outside grill. Each night had a different theme so there was generally always something different on the menu while plenty of it available. From reading some older online reviews it appears that Mark Warner used to provide one bottle of wine with the evening meal but this was changed so all drinks aside from bottled mineral water (plus orange at breakfast) were chargeable. This wasn’t really a problem for us as we don’t tend to drink very much but some online feedback suggested that the drinks were a little pricey. I didn’t really see anyone voicing any complaints while we were there and those that wanted to drink seemed quite happy to me.

Breakfast and lunch were again buffet styled with a varied menu each time and everyone took advantage of the mineral water dispenser each morning to fill their empty water bottles rather than keep buying new bottles each day. We also found out that the restaurant opened from 5:30pm until 6:15pm for a special kids dinner that aligned with the kids club finishing at 5:30pm. This was a great idea and MiniMe was often ‘starving’ after finishing a full days activity and would have a couple of plates of food during the kids dinner then again join us for dinner again at 8:30pm after he finished the last kids evening activity. It was also a great time to get MiniMe inside and out of the sun / heat so he could cool down in the air conditioned area.

There were 2 other restaurants in the resort, an Italian themed restaurant and a Mediterranean styled restaurant, but both were not included in either half or full-board. I think there was a 25% discount if you decided to eat there but we were more than happy with the food on offer in the main restaurant so stuck with it for the entire week.

San Agostino

Church next to Mark Warner Resort at San Agostino, Greece

So onto the main reason why we decided to select a Mark Warner holiday… child care! Although some online reviews picked at a few minor issues with Mark Warner, all are united in agreement that the child care is second to none and boy is that right. The ‘Nannies’ who run all the kids clubs were excellent and we could not fault them, their facilities, or their activities. There are various different clubs for kids, which are based on different age ranges, and all of them are well planned, well run, and well staffed throughout the holiday. We dropped MiniMe off at the kids beach at 9am each morning as they started with water activities first to take advantage of the calm water / weather then he would be busy until just after noon when we would collect him for lunch. MiniMe just loved all the morning water activities and had his first go at sailing, surfing, and wind surfing through the kids club. Other activities were based around various games (beach cricket, football, painting etc) while they also made good use of the outside swimming pool. The kids activities continued through the afternoon and we had to make MiniMe rest in our room for an hour or so after lunch to make sure he stayed out of the sun and rested ready for more fun each afternoon.

Each evening there was another hour of kids games and this would be followed by a couple of hours where the kids could sit and watch a movie if they wished. MiniMe was usually exhausted and hungry well before the movie so he would join us for dinner then quickly fall asleep. You could also organise a babysitting service if there were Nannies available but again we had plenty of time to ourselves thanks to the kids club so did not need to make use of the babysitting service.

There were plenty activities for adults utilising the excellent water front (sailing, wind surfing etc) while there were also tennis courts available with coaches available to brush up on your game. Some families had brought along their own tennis rackets with them and took party in the nightly tennis socials and you could also sign up for the tennis competition each week. It’s been several years since I last played tennis so I signed up for some one-on-one coaching with one of the coaches and I also entered the adult single competition to get some exercise. Sadly I managed to lose in the first round to a 14 year old but it wasn’t too embarrassing as he was a club tennis player back in England and made it through to the semi-final stage while we were at the resort.

San Agostino

Kids Beach - Mark Warner Resort at San Agostino, Greece

My favourite activity quickly became sailing and I took advantage of the free beginners group class to brush up on my sailing (I used to own and sail a Lazer when I was younger) then I was out by myself as much as possible. During our first group lesson we were told that the resort always has an on-shore wind, which of course changed to a strong off-shore wind the next day and confounded all the water front staff. This brought about the highlight of my sailing at the resort because I was the only one to turn up for the second group lesson because the water front changed from a green flag to a blue flag due to the wind conditions. The rest of my group were busy capsizing during green flag calm water conditions with no wind so they decided not to turn up for more challenging conditions. They wouldn’t let me out by myself on a pico but I ended up with over 2 hours of one-on-one sailing tuition on a Dart 16. Boy did our cat fly along in the windy conditions and I had a great time sailing it alongside the guidance of my instructor.

My main regret from the holiday is not paying to take the RYA accredited courses on offer. With the off-shore wind picking up each day there was fantastic weather for sailing but I was not quite confident enough to be out there by myself and I am sure that with the extra hours / tuition from the RYA course I would have been out there sailing all the time.

We had a few minor quibbles about the holiday but nothing major enough to stop our overall enjoyment. Although all the staff were excellent we did find that we had to search around the resort to find out information on all the activities and facilities. I think Mark Warner could take a leaf from the way Center Parcs provide a full activity pack beforehand and also structure activities to fit around the kids club. For example we signed MiniMe up for the kids tennis academy before we arrived but we found that it overlapped with the kids club each morning from 9am-9:30am. This wasn’t a huge deal because the kids could always drop in and out of the club sessions at anytime provided that their parents / guardians signed them in / out but for MiniMe it was a big problem because he loved the morning water activities and he couldn’t do these and the tennis at the same time (which of course he also really enjoyed). It would have been much easier to to make the tennis session 45 minutes instead of an hour and then schedule it to start a little earlier so that it finished at 9am ready for the kids waterfront activity. In the end we had to cancel the tennis academy for MiniMe so he could stick with the sailing etc.

So it was a huge thumbs up from us for this Mark Warner holiday and we would definetly consider San Agistino again or picking another Mark Warner resort. There were plenty of activities to keep yourself busy while it was just as easy to sit and relax by the water if you just wanted to take things easy. All the staff were fantastic and obviously had a passion for whatever role they had.

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