The Blog...

Well OK, some of those positive words come from me. Someone's got to do it.

Bournemouth Echo article on the successful High Streets in the area.

They could have used a better photo of Southbourne rather than one of Sainsburys, ha ha.

It's not often we get any meaningful level of representation in the media.

This brings back memories...

Your childhood days are your formative days. Things can happen that have a lasting impact. Sometimes it is the dislike of a certain food that you had, to something as wanting to hide away from the rest of the world.

This BBC piece about being a takeaway child brings back memories of when my parents had a restaurant and takeaways. Poignant memories in the main. There's the added context of being able to count the number of other non-white families in the town on one hand as well.

Whilst the BBC has done similar programming, the representation of the British Born Chinese is pretty minimal at times, barring some wok based cooking show and the odd walk on part in Eastenders. Probably the equivalent of M squared in "BAME". Your forced-upon role models was either Monkey or David Yip, the Chinese Detective. That's the 80's playground for you.

I will certainly concede that we were our own worst enemy. Hard working, inscrutable, excellent at education… our self fulfilling prophecy. Yes, our parents landed in a strange and barely welcoming country at times. There have been good people but as usual the noise of the troublemakers are loudest. We thought getting our heads down into hard work, we would get through it.

Our parents gave us that platform, but we didn't know what to. I still see the same questioning from the next generation in the Facebook groups I am part of.

What I have gained, through getting older, is respect for the sheer sacrifice and perseverance our parents went through. I've learnt to offer the best piece of lobster to your guests before you tuck in. If you know my love of food, that takes some doing, but it's the right thing to do.

This picture made me laugh. I was that child that slept on the chest freezer lid at the back of the restaurant. No number of blankets made it any easier.

It's nice to see that some people on Facebook also have fond memories of our restaurant in the 1970's and 80's, as I saw a post where someone was asking about its existence.

Well 2018 was a pretty fun year to say the least. Lots happening in work and social life.

Me and Angela reached our 50th birthdays and had massive parties to boot. Not saying totally unscathed, but we won't talk about that :-)

Our Southbourne Grove high street was rocking all year long and good times were had.

Social Media, Video Media, #sobomile project all got going. Unfortunately things have stalled on moving forward with a Neighbourhood Plan. It's all about time...

I have a feeling 2019 is going to be even better.

I've ventured further afield for my latest little local foodie video. This time it is the Pokesdown Mile, ha ha.

Hopefully other people will pick up on doing something for say the Charminster Mile or the Winton Mile.

I really wanted to do something for the end of November so that people could get some ideas for drinks to go with their Christmas Day meal, but things didn't line up locally in Southbourne. I contacted Jim who said yes at the drop of a hat and I was able to get this video out three days before Christmas. Anyway, it doesn't matter whether it is Christmas or not as Jim's suggestions work equally well for any celebration dinner, or if you just want one bottle to enjoy.

 Jim covers sparkling wines that help to start the day off with a bucks fizz using a Prosecco for example and something a bit more to kick off the main dinner. A Cremant d'Alsace makes an interesting alternative.

There's a range of white wines that even includes a Chardonnay as the top end pick. Then a few red wines in the form of a Rioja, a Malbec and a stunning blend.

To go with dessert there is a sweet dessert wine, a port and a amaretto. The nightcap comes in as a cognac.