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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.

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.

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.

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.

On Sunday 10th August 2008 we took MiniMe to White Hart Lane to see his first football match as Spurs took on AS Roma. This was the final warm-up match for Spurs before the 2008/09 Premier League season kicks off and it was the first chance to see the new Spurs players at the Lane. My usual routine of watching Spurs play consists of a train journey to White Hart Lane station then meeting some friends in the pub then heading to the ground just before kickoff but this was our first family visit to the Lane so I drove and parked just outside the match day parking exclusion zone. We walked to the Lane and were there half an hour before kickoff so we watched the players warming up and some of the pre-match entertainment.

Spurs have signed up for Superleague Formula so the car was officially unveiled before the match with Chirpy prancing around. I have never really paid any attention to the Spurs mascot but MiniMe enjoyed Chripy’s antics and it made for a slightly surreal sight watching a racing car being pushed across the pitch as the players lined up for the start of the match.

Both Mrs danyul and MiniMe know little about the rules of football so I spent most of the match asnwering their questions (who was the man in green? [referee], why did a player constantly play with his hair? [Gareth Bale during the warm-up and I have no idea why either]). MiniMe had a great time joining in with the crowd and really enjoyed the ‘Stand up if you hate Arsenal’ chant.

The match itself was a great result for Spurs although it was hard to tell if Spurs played exceptionally well or if Roma were just really poor. Certainly Spurs scoring twice in the first four minutes looked great but the defending from Roma was terrible and the goals effectively killed them off before they could exert any pressure.

We left the game early, again something I have never done before, as MiniMe was getting a little bored and the noise was getting to him. We left part way into the second half and as we joined the High Street there was a group of several hundred people who seemed to be Italian based on their singing and who were being tightly marshalled by armoured police on all sides with mounted police and several vans of police following behind. All the traffic was backed up as the group were escorted along to White Hart Lane station where the police kept their grouped in the middle of the road. The police directed us around and we walked back to the car just in time for torrential rain to fall.

So we had a great day and a great match to watch although it was a shame that MiniMe couldn’t last the entire match. Mrs danyul enjoyed herself, which was completely unexpected since she has no interest in football, and we’ll probably go back again as a family once MiniMe gets a bit older.

On Sunday 6th July 2008 I took MiniMe to the Guildford Spectrum to watch the JKA England 2008 National Championships. Entrance to the competition was restricted to brown belt and above with events split by age, by grade (no 3rd Kyu fighting against a 2nd Dan), and event type (individual kata, team kata, kumite, and team kumite).

I was not really sure how long MiniMe would want to stay and spectate since the Championship runs from 10am well into the evening so I took along our swimming bags to make use of the swimming facilities and we also went ice skating and bowling during the day.

So we arrived a little after 10am and watched some of the heats while cheering on participants from Kilburn SKC. With a total of 72 entrants from our club this year it meant that there was usually a club member taking part on at least one of the competition areas during the early rounds. I took along my camera to try and get some good action shots but it was quite difficult to; a) get the timing right, especially during the kumite when the punches / kicks flew so quickly; and b) get good pictures thanks to the indoor lighting in the hall. I did have a quick chat with someone using a Nikon D3 who was getting some cracking shots even with the relatively poor lighting but unfortunately my ISO settings do not go as high as the D3.

MiniMe quickly tired of the watching the karate at this stage so we went swimming along with a fairly large group of people escaping the rain at Guilfest 2008, which was taking place opposite the Spectrum. The kids pool and slides were closed for maintenance so we had to make do swimming around the shallow parts of the main pool with MiniMe equally interested in watching people throw themselves off the diving boards into the diving pool.

We then went back to watching the karate again as the competition became more fierce, especially in the men’s kumite 2nd Dan and above (I think that was the grade restriction at that level) where there was plenty of small blood wounds. The attending first aiders were certainly needed numerous times to deal with a variety of punch / kick inflicted wounds. There was a particularly competitive round of kumite between two of our club members, who I believe are also both squad members. I have watched them spar a lot on a Sunday morning Kilburn SKC session and their familiarity led to an amazing round of competitive kumite.

Next up was lunch and a round of ice skating, which was a first for MiniMe. He had quite a few minor falls starting off but he was soon telling me to skate around by myself while he tackled his own brand of skating then holding onto the side then skating again. I think he would have stayed there for the full 2 hour skating session had it not been for a blister he developed on his ankle.

When we returned to the karate the various heats were concluding, which made for more great viewing as the standard rapidly grew across all the events and age ranges. We both sat and watched the women’s kumite which was just as competitive as the men’s kumite and equally fascinating to watch.

This took us up to around 5pm and I hadn’t expected MiniMe to last that long but he wanted to stay and watch the finals so we took a break to go bowling then came back to watch the ceremony proceeding the finals. This is where we both became transfixed with the standard of karate across the board and were happy to see a number of Kilburn SKC members pick up medals. Unfortunately the finals were still ongoing at 8pm and it was time to take MiniMe home (although surprisingly he wanted to stay) to make sure he went to bed on time.

Congratulations to everyone who took part because I know how daunting it can be performing kata in front of such a large audience. We both competed in the JKA National Kyu Grade Championship last year and we will both be competing again this November. It was good to see all aspects of karate performed to such a high standard while also giving us the opportunity to meet karateka from other clubs.

We recently took a short break at the Stanton House Hotel which is located  next to Stanton Park, near Swindon. The hotel is owned by Honda, which has a manufacturing plant nearby, so the hotel has a Japanese restaurant, a Japanese food store, and a Japanese grocery store. We only stayed for one night so did not travel to the relatively nearby Cotswolds but we did visit the outlet mall in Swindon where we stocked up on some summer clothes for our upcoming holiday in Greece and we also took a walk around Stanton Park. Unfortunately the Japanese restuarant itself was closed while we were there but we were able to order from the menu and also visit the Japanese food store. We let MiniMe pick a drink a sweet from the store but there wasn’t anything there that we could not already buy from our local Japanese stores in Acton / Ealing.

The hotel was nice and the staff very friendly so we would recommend it to anyone thinking about visiting. It is worth checking in advance to make sure the Japanese restaurant is open if you are planning to eat there though.

It’s the summer fete season in the local schools so we have taken MiniMe around to see the English schools before the Japanese summer festivals take place this week. First up was the ‘Summer Global Village’ at West Acton Primary School.

West Acton Primary School is one of the many schools that we visited as a potential school for MiniMe before we moved to the Ealing / Acton area. It’s very popular with the Japanese community as it’s close to where most of the families live and has a fair number of Japanese kids attending as the parents want their children to learn as much English as possible during their 2-3 year stay. The ‘Summer Global Village’ event truly reflected the multi-cultural makeup of the children and we had great fun sampling food from all parts of the world. MiniMe had a great time on the bouncy castle, eating candy floss, and playing with all the Japanese kids.

Next up was the Montpelier Primary School ‘Fruity Summer Fete’ which was much more of the English style but also much more of a disappointment. MiniMe loved the football game but unfortunately the guy running the stall had absolutely no interest in being there and was quite insulting to any kid of was not wearing the football shirt of the team he supported. There was also a bunch of young kids inside trying to hit random people with a football then shouting out “sorry” whenever they managed to hit someone.

I suppose that’s a fairly common attitude in young kids but it was actually their parents cheering them on and encouraging their kids to smack someone in the head with a football.

So that’s the first of the English events for the year and next up we have the Japanese summer festivals.

On a recent fine day we decided to head out to the Windsor area to visit Windsor Farm Shop. We didn’t buy anything from the shop but we did sit in the cafe so Mini-Me could eat a meat pie and since it would have been rude to let him eat by himself, we tucked into some delicious cake.

We then decided to drive across to the other side of Windsor in search of The Savill Garden as it was such a nice day. Unfortunately a certain Mr Bush was visiting the Queen at Windsor so the crowds were heavy in the town centre due to an abundance of security and a healthy batch of protesters. As we waited for the protesters to cross ahead of us there was a flurry of activity as helicopters began to take off from the castle grounds. This included Marine One which flew directly above our car as Mr Bush continued his visit to the UK.

We finally made our way past the crowds and followed the signs to the Gardens while various armed security personnel stood guard in the Windsor area. Due to the delays driving through Windsor we were later than planned getting to the Garden so we decided not to pay for entry into the Garden itself because we would then be rushed to walk around before the Garden closed. Instead we have a great time walking around the surrounding park land and looking at all the wildlife near the lake.

Me and the Mini-Me attended our green belt grading (6th kyu) last week at Vale Farm under the watchful eye of Sensei Adel Ismail, Sensei Eric Pich, and Sensei Gary Stewart. The ’seniors’ in each grade are asked to go first and we were taken through kihon (basics) by Senei Adel and then both kata (form) and  ippon kumite (one-step sparring) by Sensei Gary.

I made an error in basics as I caught myself blocking with the wrong arm in uchi uke (inside block) but I was able to correct myself to finish the series. Sensei Adel also commented on my stance (not long enough) and the angle of my foot in kekomi (thrust kick). I was aware of both problems each time as I had strained my left leg slightly on an earlier kick, which made it difficult to stretch or kick to my full reach. That will teach me to underestimate my ‘before grading stretch’ and I won’t make that mistake again. Sensei Gary took us through kata (Hian Sandan) and ippon kummite without any issues and then my grading was over.

Since the seniors go first I am then able to exit and go back around, via the floor below, to join the non-participating parents in the viewing area. Mini-Me was in the last group of children to grade so I watched as he sailed through each stage without any problem and I actually thought he did better than me. He is so much more flexible than me and his kicks are well directed at his head height rather than my waist height kicks.

I then joined Mini-Me downstairs for the results to hear that I had cleared each part of the grading so was now a 6th kyu while MiniMe cleared 2 parts of the grading and achieved the equivelant of a A* in the 3rd part of the grading. He did actually perform better than me and he hasn’t stopped telling everyone since much to his delight.

So thanks to Sensei Sue and Sensei Graham at Kilburn SKC (affiliated to JKA England) for their ongoing training at the Gurnell Leisure Centre along with all the other Sensei’s who also provide their time for training. We started our karate training with Kilburn SKC in April 2007 and it’s been a great activity for me to do something alongside Mini-Me rather than just watching from the side. I recommend the club to anyone interested in karate based in the Ealing / Acton / Wembley area and I am sure there are clubs just as good in the area you live - give it a try!

I hardly watch television these days but I do sit down with Mini-Me every Saturday evening to watch Doctor Who. I used to watch the show when I was the same age as Mini-Me and it’s fun to see him hiding behind a cushion or the sofa during the more scary moments just like I used to whenever the Daleks or another suitably  rubber faced monster appear.

Mini-Me has picked out a fortnightly Doctor Who magazine as his ‘newspaper’ pick when we go grocery shopping and in a recent edition there were instructions on how to create your own Adipose utilising a white sock, some rice, and other assorted bits & pieces. It was fun to make and looks suitably cute as it sneaks across our garden.

This is how me and the Mini-Me made our sock Adipose…

Items Needed

1 x white sock (I bought a cheap pack of large adult white socks, size 9-12 so we could make a few Adipose)

1 x sheet of white felt for the arms and feet (it doesn’t have to be a sheet but we made a few Adipose so used it all. We bought all our felt from our local Hobbycraft store)

1 x sheet of black felt for the mouth ( as above)

2 x black buttons for the eyes

1 x craft / PVA glue

1 x scissors

1 x bag of rice (we bought 2 bags of cheap supermarket rice to make multiple Adipose)

1 x bag of cotton wool (well… we didn’t actually use this but it was in the instructions we followed. If you read on then you will see that problems we had with the cotton wool)

So to make your very own sock Adipose you need to fill a white sock with rice until it reaches about an inch below the heal of the sock - it’s not an exact science so don’t worry about measuring this perfectly. We then used our scissors to cut the top of the sock off, just below the heal line. Then using the craft glue we folded the sock over the top and glued it into place so that the rice is contained in the sock. We now had our basic Adipose body.

Next we made the arms and legs by drawing each respective shape on the white felt and we had to draw then cut out 2 pieces for each arm and again 2 pieces for each leg. So to make 1 arm you need 2 arm shapes and the same for each leg - giving you a requirement of 4 arm pieces and 4 leg pieces per Adipose. The instructions we followed told us to put a bud of cotton wool on top of an arm piece then glue another matching arm piece on top. However, we found that craft glue does not work on felt so did not bother with the cotton wool. Instead I cut some more arm and leg shapes out of the top of the sock that was earlier cut off and used this as the padding for each arm and leg.

Finally we used the glue to stick the arms and legs onto the Adipose body then glued 2 black buttons on for the eyes and the same for the mouth after cutting the shape from the black felt.

You probably need less black felt than white felt as the black felt is only needed for the mouth but a lot of white felt is needed for the arms and legs.

Having watched the housing market decline gain momentum in the UK over the past few months, we have today bucked the trend and sold our last remaining property and exit the buy-to-let market. It’s been a bountiful few years in the housing market and we managed to ride the wave and make some money out of it. Our first purchase was a small one bedroom property in Folkestone which we quickly followed up with a similar property in Leeds.

I find it amazing that we were able to buy a property by picking it off the Internet, not physically visiting to view it, and then rely on agents to deal with the sale then the subsequent search for a tenant. On both these properties we were lucky to find long-term tenants who created no serious problems for us and then we were easily able to sell the properties with the tenants still in place to other investors. Each sale allowed us to make a tidy sum of money that we then leveraged as we bought and sold the properties we lived in so that we could move up the housing chain.

Our final buy-to-let property was our Docklands house, which was our main residence for several years, that we decided to remortgage and rent out rather than sell. This was probably our most risky move as the mortgage payments were considerably high compared to other purchases and any changes (i.e. decrease) in our employment income would mean considerably higher outgoings compared to our income. Thankfully our agent was able to find tenants straight away although we had to accept a house of 3 students and accept the risks this would cause. I remember being a young student and the way we lived at the time so I went ahead knowing the likelyhood of ongoing repairs due to general damage students cause.

Our tenants were fairly well behaved although of course quickly wore out the carpets, random bathroom parts, and nearly all the furniture. We also had to make other general repairs so, as expected, we made a loss comparing rental income to mortgage and other payments. This did not matter as like most people riding the housing market, we were banking on our equity steadily increasing as the house prices continued to ride.

Our turning point came in January 2008 as the tenants moved on and the house required a lot of work to make it presentable for new tenants or indeed to sell. We progressed with most of the work but those costs along with the steep mortgage payments opened our eyes to the risks we took on so we decided to put the house up for sale at the market value. We had a few interested buyers immediately but they had issues raising the finance as the housing market started to dip and well publicised financial market issues came to light in the media. Again, our new agent did us proud and found another investor who was still buying properties in the area. After some quick negotiation to account for outstanding repair work that we passed onto the buyer, the offer was accepted and we went through the sale process. Today marked the completion day and everything went through without any issues and we’ll soon be paying a reasonable chunk out of residential mortgage. Now every time I see a new headline bemoaning the rapid slide of the housing market I will be thankful that we invested well and got out at the right time.

I spotted the most ludicrous black Lamborghini today sans huge rear spoiler resplendent with the number plate “HOT 3EX”. I can not think of a more appalling combination of car and number plate. Sadly I didn’t have my camera with me to capture the car and the driver with his huge appendage.