Jasmine surpriseWhen you order the Jasmine flower tea at Whole Foods, you get exotic flowers wrapped in green tea leaves. Once the hot water is poured over the tightly wrapped ball, the leaves unravel to display the beautiful flowers inside.

It is quite a beautiful thing to order and drink, although am not sure why it is called Jasmine Flower tea when that is not what a Jasmine flower looks like. Well, unless you read the fine print you will never know - ignorance is bliss!

Dio asked the cute American next to us if we could take a photo, we were eating next to him at the sushi bar and am sure he was loving our lunch gossip. The interruption of his meal and photo was payment for the free entertainment we provided. Dio likes to make fun of my Canadian accent, especially when I try and say Irish words - Kurrah, Currah?! Am sure he was chuckling inside.
Get to High Street Ken's Whole Foods - it is a lovely place to shop, eat and browse in - but bring your American Express Gold card as it ain't cheap!

Push the buttonIn a small restaurant in Soho where you can see the waitresses, although they most likely hide to avoid working, there was this small call button. We needed something and D decided to push it to get the server's attention. I thought it was rude but it was a great way to get their attention - from their hiding spot they emerged and helped us.

It is funny how in the credit crunch we have experienced consistently bad service at the last 3 establishments we visited. Each time D and I take off the service charge and when arrogantly questioned as to why we do it, he goes into a mini lecture about how 'in a credit crunch, wouldn't you want to look after your customers?' We are not in busy restaurants and we have to wait an extreme amount of time for menus, drinks, the bill and more - it is not like we ordered a bespoke souffle or some exotic fish that takes time to be fetched from the sea?!

And in the last three instances, we looked over and there is the wait staff staring into space or chatting with other wait staff. I want to own a restaurant in the UK to show how it should be done. The customers pay your salaries people, let's try not forget this minor point!

I think wait staff don't care as they are only getting 5quid an hour so they are complacent and are not bothered if the business folds as they will find another crappy job at another restaurant! There is no ownership or pride of place or even consideration for the business owner - it seems to be plain selfishness and laziness.