Eating Out
November 14th 2009 00:57
Up until a couple of years ago, going out to a restaurant was something we did only rarely - usually it would be a big family occasion, or the end of year celebration with a bunch of people from my wife's work or from a group I'd been performing with.
But since I've become part of the team at work, I seem to spend far more time at cafes and restaurants than ever in the past. In fact, in the last few weeks there have been several outings of this kind. We sometimes just go out and have a coffee while still working, since working at our place often consists of discussions about where things are going or have been. It's taken me a while to accept this as part of the job.
But we've also had dinners which may or may not be part of the working day. Last night was just such an occasion. It was a colleague's birthday last Wednesday, so we went out for 'drinks' after work, and wound up staying in the place for dinner as well. My boss joined us eventually with his wife, and most of the group who'd come for drinks stayed for dinner too. (And very nice it was, at a place called Mannequin, in North Rd). Four of the group sing together as a quartet called One Lucky Feller (there being only one bloke in the group) and while they were all together, they sang three songs for the birthday girl. They do close harmony and upbeat, jazzy numbers. Very satisfying on the ear.
Mannequin is an old two-storey house that's been altered quite considerably inside - at
least as far as the downstairs goes. There's a bar area in front, and the restaurant on a slightly lower level at the back. We went there last four or more years ago on my mother's birthday, so a return trip was probably overdue.
The group we were with last night were mostly from our house group, a fairly fluid group that meets irregularly. All of them have been people who've attended the same church as us at some point (with maybe one exception) and all of them have either moved to a different part of town or become somewhat disenchanted with the particular church milieu.
So we are mostly old friends. A couple of them have a small vineyard up near Otematata, where we went for a holiday at the beginning of the year. They were talking about the making of wine, and way different wines are put together. The wife of the couple commented on my wife's contemporary jewelry, but the latter pointed out that she'd bought it at church as part of a fundraiser for people in Asia who actually make the jewellery (!)
(Note that the spelling of jewellery seems to be getting altered more and more - note the recent version: jewelry - all excess letters removed!)
Anyway, I'm off to another party - a grandson's this time. More to eat....!
But since I've become part of the team at work, I seem to spend far more time at cafes and restaurants than ever in the past. In fact, in the last few weeks there have been several outings of this kind. We sometimes just go out and have a coffee while still working, since working at our place often consists of discussions about where things are going or have been. It's taken me a while to accept this as part of the job.
But we've also had dinners which may or may not be part of the working day. Last night was just such an occasion. It was a colleague's birthday last Wednesday, so we went out for 'drinks' after work, and wound up staying in the place for dinner as well. My boss joined us eventually with his wife, and most of the group who'd come for drinks stayed for dinner too. (And very nice it was, at a place called Mannequin, in North Rd). Four of the group sing together as a quartet called One Lucky Feller (there being only one bloke in the group) and while they were all together, they sang three songs for the birthday girl. They do close harmony and upbeat, jazzy numbers. Very satisfying on the ear.
Mannequin is an old two-storey house that's been altered quite considerably inside - at
The group we were with last night were mostly from our house group, a fairly fluid group that meets irregularly. All of them have been people who've attended the same church as us at some point (with maybe one exception) and all of them have either moved to a different part of town or become somewhat disenchanted with the particular church milieu.
So we are mostly old friends. A couple of them have a small vineyard up near Otematata, where we went for a holiday at the beginning of the year. They were talking about the making of wine, and way different wines are put together. The wife of the couple commented on my wife's contemporary jewelry, but the latter pointed out that she'd bought it at church as part of a fundraiser for people in Asia who actually make the jewellery (!)
(Note that the spelling of jewellery seems to be getting altered more and more - note the recent version: jewelry - all excess letters removed!)
Anyway, I'm off to another party - a grandson's this time. More to eat....!
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