Having the Christmas dinner at a casino

About 6 months ago, a few of my colleagues started to mention the 'C' word. At the time, I was quite shock and thought that it was way too early to organise this meal...

Then, a few weeks ago, my line manager kept sending emails out asking where we wanted to go, needed us to choose all the dishes for the day in advance etc. I was thinking the following: 'Majority rules', 'Whichever restaurants', and 'Couldn't I order my food on the day instead?' Yes, there were whole load of not too constructive answers from me.

Anyhow, I must say the most interesting thing is that I've learnt how to bet on Blackjack and Roulette. In fact, the Casino staff gave us a free lesson on both games because most of us didn't know how to play.

Also, they gave us a free £5 chip each to bet. But... I've won nothing.

Anyway, I wish you to have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. See you next year.

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Guy Fawkes Night

Recently, I've been hearing the sound of fireworks at my home. It was because of the Guy Fawkes Night!

In 1605, Guy Fawkes joined his Catholic gang to kill King James I, who was a Protestant. They were planning to blow up Parliament. However, their plan was discovered before it could be carried out. Fawkes was sentenced to death. In order to celebrate that the King  survived the attempt, a law was passed in 1606 to commemorate the event, which allowed people to light bonfires and fireworks on 5 November.

Nowadays, some people light fireworks a few days before and after 5 November. A primary school nearby my house had a firework event to raise funds for the school. I stood at my garden, took some pictures in the fine rain.

If you hear people say: 'Remember, remember, the fifth of November, Gunpowder Treason and Plot.', it means Bonfires Night is coming.

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Waste or Natual?

Recently, my friend asked me to order something from Neal's Yard. I vaguely heard of it. When I looked at their website, they said that they were Carbon Neutral, no animal testing, to use organic matters where possible etc. It seemed good to me, so I bought some product online for myself to try as well.

A few days later, I looked at the box and thought: 'did I order too many stuff? How come the box is so massive?' But that was not the issue. I opened the box and couldn't believe what I saw - the box full of white plastic fillers! I had to put my hand in to search for the bottles.

Unfortunately, I think they break their promise. I have decided to share my thoughts about this on their Facebook page: '... I thought your company cared about the environment and believed in "Less is More"!?'

18/08/13 Updated - They replied: '...We always want our products to arrive with you safely, and as your order contained a number of 200ml glass bottles and essential oils, we selected a box that would allow space between the products, so as to avoid any damage during transit. The white chips that came in the box are corn starch and they’re fully decomposable so they can be put onto your compost heap afterwards – you don’t have to worry about them being plastic!...'

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Waterfalls in Brecon Beacons

My husband has mentioned before that when the sun comes out, the UK is a really pretty place, and there is no need to fly elsewhere in Europe for the weather. I totally agree with him. Since the weather was nice again here, it was time to travel around the country.

This time, we went to Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales, which is not far from our home. The area of the entire park is about 1,344km². After reading the National Park website, I decided to find some waterfalls near Pontneddfechan village in order to have a pleasant walk but also enjoy the cooling effect of the water spray.

There are several waterfalls in the village. However, the outstanding one is Sgwd yr Eira (meaning: Waterfall of the Snow, pictures below). Not only is the largest one in the area, but also you can walk behind the waterfall to feel the power of the falls without getting too wet. 

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