It was still foggy this morning for my drive into London. I had a few things to purchase along with some food but unlike last week I managed to get into the City early. Hamleys was slowly filling up and there was still space to wander and browse but as time moved on it got fuller and fuller. Lunch was the Tokyo Diner which since the demise of the Mandeer¹, a vegetarian and Ayurvedic Indian restaurant, has taken over as my favorite everyday place to eat in London. Despite it being 1pm there were places to sit and the table full of Italian girls looked confused with what to order until one of them asked me what I was having. “Chicken Katsu Don” I said and they liked the sound of that so much the whole table ordered the same. I should be on commission.

Fortnum and Masons food hall was packed and there were rugby scrums to get to the Christmas Puddings so I gave up with the idea of the trip to Knightsbridge and came home early at 4pm which was just as well as the fog was starting to gather. Missing out on the drinks with Martin and Richard last night means I’m due a trip to them today to discuss present lists, when James’s band have their gig and inspect the Christmas tree which I spied when I parked the car.

It suddenly feels like Christmas is coming…..

¹ You can experiance a little of what the Mandeer was like by purchasing the cookbook written by it’s owner of 30 years, Ramesh Patel.