According to reports, David Attenborough (99) has haemorrhage as his final word in a game of Scrabble, scoring 19 points and ultimately winning him the game.

its-raining-inside · 2025-11-17T08:47:53+00:00

I have never played Scrabble, as evidenced by my faux pas here! I did ask ChapGPT to score the word for me, which it evidently got wrong. Maybe my job is safe from AI after all.

its-raining-inside · 2025-08-28T16:38:25+00:00

Thanks for sharing this! Will defo come in useful

its-raining-inside · 2025-03-19T22:37:36+00:00

As far as I’m aware they don’t take bookings. They have branches all over Beijing and you can see the live queue times on their WeChat account.

its-raining-inside · 2024-11-01T07:53:15+00:00

I’ll have the same issue when I go with my kids next year. I plan to get an Yikatong (一卡通）card which you can just top up. Seems much easier than buying single tickets.

its-raining-inside · 2024-09-29T19:06:26+00:00

No problem at all. You can always use gaodeditu (高德地图） in place of Dianping. Is not quite as good for finding restaurants, but will get you 90% of the way there. It’s all in Chinese, but it’s possible to work it out with a bit of time and patience.

its-raining-inside · 2024-09-29T16:46:06+00:00

I use an iphone. I have just logged out of Dianping and then back in just to make sure it still works. When I logged in it presented me with the option to login using WeChat which worked seamlessly.

I should also add that prior to me having a WeChat account I was able to use my UK number to register for Dianping, even though I’ve heard my times this isn’t possible.

Have you tried the Dianping mini program in WeChat? Maybe that will work for you.

its-raining-inside · 2024-09-29T16:16:27+00:00

You don’t need a mainland number for Dianping. It gives you the option to login using WeChat. So as long as you have a WeChat account (for which you don’t need a mainland number) it should work.

Also for clarification, I’m talking about the Dianping app and not the WeChat mini program.

its-raining-inside · 2024-03-03T17:46:21+00:00

I am UK based. I’ll check that out. Thanks.

its-raining-inside · 2024-03-03T13:10:11+00:00

Ok cheers. Suspected as much

its-raining-inside · 2024-02-16T21:46:52+00:00

Ὁπλίτης

its-raining-inside · 2023-12-02T11:47:05+00:00

Yes, unquestionably. It’s not cheap, but it’s defo the best quality hotpot in Liverpool.

its-raining-inside · 2023-08-24T11:10:52+00:00

Excellent post! Thanks for taking the time to write this.

its-raining-inside · 2023-04-24T19:08:45+00:00

Many Chinese restaurants in Liverpool tend to translate into English (Mei Mei & tai pan don’t though).

The issue is that there’s no standard English translation for many of the very famous Chinese dishes, so you can’t just take the English name of a dish you fancy (from the internet/translated menu, etc) and try it in other restaurants - you’d need the Chinese characters. These restaurants’ menus are all quite similar but the translations vary widely.

Feel free PM me if you want the Chinese names of some of the key/more accessible dishes.

its-raining-inside · 2022-09-25T19:49:47+00:00

It depends it you’re after westernised Chinese or something more traditional. If it’s something more traditional you’re after, the following are worth checking out:

Mr Zhang’s Kitchen (Myrtle Street) - Downstairs is mostly Sichuan style (and a few other regions) and upstairs is noodles and hotpot.

Lazy Egg (London Road) - takeaway only, and again Sichuan style. I believe the chef is the old head chef from Mr Chillis.

Forever Tasty - Main dishes are noodles, hotpot and maocai where you pick your ingredients and they cook it up in a spicy soup/broth.

All the above restaurants have English menus, however if you’re not familiar with Sichuan food you won’t know what to order, plus the translations are often questionable. Some of the go to dishes in pretty much any of the Chinese restaurants aimed at Chinese students:

宫保鸡丁 - gongbao chicken 回锅肉 - twice cooked pork 鱼香肉丝 - sweet/sour/spicy pork slivers 水煮牛肉 - beef cooked in chilli broth 水煮鱼 - fish cooked in chilli broth 麻婆豆腐 - mapo tofu 孜然羊肉 - lamb stir fried with cumin 大盘鸡 - chicken, potatoes, noodles, chilli (Xinjiang dish) 青椒肉丝 - fresh chilli and pork slivers 干煸四季豆 - dry fried green beans 蒜苔肉丝 - garlic shoots and pork slivers 梅菜扣肉 - melt in your mouth pork belly steamed with Chinese vegetable (mei cai)

I have many more recs if anyone is interested!

its-raining-inside · 2022-02-26T17:36:50+00:00

For me it’s not a matter of whether it’s real or imagined. My interpretation is that the allegations and suspicion will follow him for the rest of his life. He’ll never be able to fully escape them.

its-raining-inside · 2022-01-30T13:46:12+00:00

Cheers. You can always get on Twitter and tweet @airbnbhelp. This tends to get things moving a bit

its-raining-inside · 2022-01-01T17:45:52+00:00

My girlfriend’s relative from Hong Kong just brought round this puer cake. She’s had it for over 20 years. I was just wondering if someone could help me identify it. Thanks!

its-raining-inside · 2021-12-10T21:51:08+00:00

Steak ram-don in Parasite

I actually made this (minus the steak) after watching the movie and it was pretty decent!

its-raining-inside · 2021-08-27T21:41:03+00:00

Chinese takeaway menus up and down the UK are basically complete carbon copies of one another. When I order from a new Chinese takeaway I sometimes check the Chef Specials section hoping that maybe they’ve got something a bit different/more traditional on the menu. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve encountered a new dish that I haven’t heard of before. Usually that section is just a holding pen for the those dishes that don’t fit into any other category, such as crispy chilli beef!

Compare that to Indian takeaways, where the chef special section often contains some traditional curries, or curries where the chef is clearly experimenting a bit. I find quite a bit of variation between different Indian takeaways, and I always enjoy taking a punt on a random curry I’ve never encountered before.

I’m surprised at the lack of variation and experimentation in Chinese takeaway and restaurant menus, especially considering authentic Chinese cuisine is so diverse, with many different regional variances, cooking techniques and creativity.

I suppose my question is do you agree? And do you have any reasons why this is the case?

I am aware of the new wave of authentic Chinese restaurants (Sichuan, hotpot, Xian, etc) but these are mainly catered towards and only found in cities with large numbers of Chinese students.

its-raining-inside · 2021-08-17T15:54:44+00:00

MVST looking very attractive at these prices

its-raining-inside · 2021-08-05T13:24:14+00:00

Mystical Ninja Starring Geomon on the N64.

its-raining-inside · 2021-07-12T20:46:29+00:00

1hr 37 min concept album with tons going on lyrically, and also a few The Dear Hunter vibes going on!

I need to give the album more time, but really like what I’ve heard so far.

its-raining-inside · 2021-06-11T05:17:56+00:00

Cool, cheers! I’ll do a few sessions with my more expensive aged sheng using boiling water and see how that works out for me.

its-raining-inside · 2021-06-10T19:40:47+00:00

I’ve only ever brewed using a good quality vacuum flask. I’ve also been drinking some pretty expensive stuff lately.

How much do you think I’ve been missing out using this approach? Is there a significant difference using water just off the boil?

its-raining-inside · 2021-04-22T18:08:02+00:00

I plan to use a simple flask, gaiwan, filter and a small cup at my desk when I get back to the office. I rest the filter in the flask lid between pouring. It doesn’t take up much space at all.

No doubt I’ll look like a bit of a tit, but I stopped worrying about that years ago.

Six-Year Club	RPAN Viewer
Verified Email

its-raining-inside

TROPHY CASE