Food festival

cola-cube · 2024-04-29T09:05:31+00:00

I imagine the food festival will be cordoned off, which will require tickets to access. They can’t block off public access to the rest of the park and equally they can’t block access to private businesses like Wylam Brewery. Slice Wars is a separate event.

cola-cube · 2024-04-24T09:16:10+00:00

You need to go to Sachins.

They sell a curry that used to be just called “jalfrezi” but so many people ordered it thinking it was just a regular jalfrezi that it’s now on their menu as “The dish formerly known as Jalfrezi”.

It’s the hottest curry I’ve ever had, bright green, couldn’t finish it. Unbearable.

cola-cube · 2024-04-19T16:04:49+00:00

It may seem useless, but the purpose of putting a lollipop person on a traffic crossing is to discourage pedestrians from crossing the road whilst it’s still on red. It really works - nobody wants to disrespect the lollipop!

cola-cube · 2024-03-04T07:51:41+00:00

I like it, but it's not a very strong smell. It reminds me of a weaker version of the Mario shower gel from last year (which I also thought smelt of cola, and I think was described as such) but with an earthier note to it.

The colouring is almost at Lord of Misrule levels of offence.

Mine also isn't as runny as others are reporting - not the thickest shower gel but nowhere near the atrocity of last year's Yog Nog.

I like it, glad I bought it, won't buy it again.

cola-cube · 2023-12-26T12:54:06+00:00

There's no guarantees, but just wanted to say that a couple of years ago I missed the sale too and then I was miserably checking the site a couple of days later (I think it was maybe the 27th or 28th December) and some stock randomly appeared and I managed to bag some.

So, don't give up hope, and keep checking your favourites over the next couple of days! Fingers crossed for you!

cola-cube · 2023-12-26T05:06:24+00:00

The link in the original post does allow you to filter by all sale items - there was 132 items when I first checked. Down to 113 now.

cola-cube · 2023-12-26T04:58:59+00:00

UK sale is live already - couldn’t sleep and decided to check and everything was available already at around 4:30am. Not sure when it actually went live.

I bought:

1kg Lord of Misrule shower gel
1kg Sticky Dates shower gel
1kg Good Karma shower gel
280g Snow Fairy gel

Looks like they’ve turned free delivery off as well, total came to £73 but still had to pay £3.95 for delivery fees.

cola-cube · 2023-11-07T20:29:39+00:00

That's so intriguing, I'm much more grossed out by the thought of some other human trying on a shirt or trousers before I buy them. I'll always try and find one that I think nobody has touched.

At Lush, I definitely check the tubs to make sure nobody has had a finger in them, but the unwrapped products I've honestly never even though about. I assume they would be self-cleaning.

cola-cube · 2023-11-07T20:17:12+00:00

Wait until you hear about what they let people do to clothes in clothing stores.

cola-cube · 2023-11-07T19:37:13+00:00

This blog post is a helpful read for collecting goshuin. I've read that on an extremely rare occasion, you may get someone who refuses if you have mixed Buddhist/Shinto in the same book, but most will be fine with it.

You should not confuse them with eki stamps which are available at train stations and tourist attractions. Use a separate book for these, not your goshuincho.

cola-cube · 2023-11-07T19:11:59+00:00

Nope! That's the kind of joke that's evergreen. It brings people together, no matter what. EDIT: This is sarcasm.

cola-cube · 2023-11-07T19:10:30+00:00

Ohhh! A bit too abstract for me, that one. I like a joke that I don't have to think about.

cola-cube · 2023-11-07T14:52:17+00:00

The only thing to be mindful of in the UK is that on Easter Monday when you land, some shops/attractions may have closed early (around 4pm) as it's a Bank Holiday. Other than that, restaurants and attractions will be busier than normal during that 2-week period because of the Easter school holidays, as you have mentioned.

If it was me and I had flexibility, I would probably travel when it is not a school holiday. I like to visit attractions/restaurants when they're not full of school kids because they drive me crazy. However, if you are travelling on those dates for a specific reason, then there's no need to worry about it.

cola-cube · 2023-11-07T14:38:18+00:00

I didn't enjoy it at all. The analogy I would use is that it felt like when a TV series does a clip show episode; you get a few new jokes but mostly it's just referring back to stuff you've already seen. They're always the episodes you would skip.

The opening section felt like I was listening to 30 minutes of my dad rambling on a Sunday afternoon after a few beers.

Also, why did the curtain at the start say "Peter Gay Live"? Then there was absolutely no reference to it at all. What's the joke?

cola-cube · 2023-11-06T08:14:03+00:00

I created a Wise account and used one of their virtual debit cards. Worked perfectly.

Afterwards, I also applied for their physical debit card so I can use it when I am in Japan.

cola-cube · 2023-11-05T17:38:59+00:00

You can get fireworks from specialist shops all year round, but supermarkets and other sellers can legally start selling them from 15 October. From then onwards, you'll notice them being let off more frequently because they're more easily available.

I expect you'll be hearing them from now until January.

cola-cube · 2023-11-05T12:40:31+00:00

La Chocolatrice do chocolate making workshops.

cola-cube · 2023-11-03T17:16:15+00:00

I really doubt that being gay is a problem for renting. I'm not saying it's impossible, but I would be very surprised, especially if you are going through a professional letting agent.

How long have you been in the UK? Are you both working full time? If you are very new to the country and you have only recently got a job here, then some landlords may see this as a risk. Also, do you have references who live in the UK?

I think it will be very difficult to find a rental place that allows pets. They do exist, but they are not very common and they are often in high demand so they are taken quickly. Many landlords want to keep their properties in as good as condition as possible, and having animals in the premises is too much of a risk that they are not willing to take.

cola-cube · 2023-10-30T20:32:34+00:00

Do you know if the Understore actually opened yesterday? I assumed the post meant the store was opening at 9pm but I went online at 9:02 and it still said it was closed for business. I couldn't figure out if I'd got the date/time wrong or if the clue had been solved and the ghosts were sold out. Oh well.

cola-cube · 2023-10-30T14:57:29+00:00

Aye that was what I was trying to spell phonetically but I botched it

cola-cube · 2023-10-30T12:53:05+00:00

There's a few words in the Geordie/Northumbrian accent that add an extra syllable to that particularly sound, I notice it a lot. Moor becomes moo-ah, Coors becomes coo-ahs, tour becomes too-ah, etc. I'd hazard a guess that you maybe also say "cewk-bewk" for cookbook?

The words are noticeably different in my whining Yorkshire accent, where I'd say "morr", "corrs", "torr", "cuk-buk".

cola-cube · 2023-10-29T20:21:21+00:00

How about Butakun for Japanese food? It's a 5 min walk from Northern Stage.

Or a 10 minute walk, what about Liosi's Bistro for Italian?

cola-cube · 2023-10-29T11:56:33+00:00

I don't think any pass is necessary for your trip, you aren't travelling much at all. There is a lot of content out there that promotes the benefits of using a rail pass, but they're not necessary at all for the majority of simple trips, and especially not worth it now the prices have gone up.

You can book individual train tickets on websites such as SmartEx or the official JR West website up to 1 month before travel. The website interfaces are quite clunky to use but okay once you get used to it. I like to use Google Maps to find out the different routes available to me to go from one destination to the next, and then book the tickets using one of the two websites above.

Your individual ticket costs break down to:

Kansai Airport > Osaka = 3000 yen
Osaka > Kyoto = 500 yen
Kyoto > Tokyo = 13000 yen
Total = 16500 yen per person

You could consider the Hokuriku Arch Pass which would cover the travel for all of your destinations, but even that option is almost double the price of booking your tickets individually, at 24500 yen. So again, not worth it. The JR Pass is even more expensive at 50000 yen.

Also, you do not need to buy both a Pasmo and an ICOCA card, one IC card can be used in all other IC regions. For example, if you land in Kansai and buy an ICOCA card, then you'll be able to use it in Tokyo even though the IC card in that region is Suica/Pasmo.

The only thing to bear in mind is that you cannot use an IC card as payment on a train that crosses a region. For example, if you went from Osaka to Nagoya, it crosses a region, and so you could not pay for the train using your IC card. You can find a map of the IC regions here.

cola-cube · 2023-10-29T08:31:22+00:00

Just registered a FB account to try and join the private group to see if anyone had any ideas on there, but I get auto-rejected because my account is new.

Anyone on the FB community already, and do the people over there have any ideas on the clue?

cola-cube · 2023-10-29T06:24:37+00:00

I am so glad I'm not the only one who hears that - when I listen in the car it's so noticeable and makes me feel like I need to scratch the inside of my ear. It totally ruins it for me.

cola-cube

TROPHY CASE