Flight #17 & Flight #18 - The awesome Flat mate

On my flight to Lisbon on TAP (Portugeuse airline) I got to sit next to Jon Bird, my awesome flat mate. The best seat buddy yet. If I didn't know better I would say he was a techie gadget maestro by the use of BOSE head phones, ipad2, and reading Stuff magazine.

He didn't bother me or play elbow hockey and he was chatty. :-) The flight was fairly empty and there were loads of seats open. We flew with around 15 people from Bazaarvoice which was entertaining. They were sitting everywhere around us.

Jon sat next to me on the flight home from Lisbon to London as well on TAP. This time he slept most of the time. :-)

But this is the flight I want to write a little more about. The guy sitting in front of me leant the chair back fully. Very annoying. I don't really see the use of tilting the chair back completely on a short flight like this. So I played knee pokey pokey with him.

later on in the flight it was hilarious, three babies started a competition or choir of crying, one after another. It was surreal. None wanted to be less than the other. Luckily it didn't last too long and luckily they weren't close to me.

All in all, it's sooooo much better to travel with someone you know and it's a lot more entertaining. We could chat when we needed too and sleep when we needed too.

Music and tricks

The perfect start to a day? Wake up. Put this song on and see the ray of sunshines seep in through your curtains. It makes you feel absolutely FANTASTIC. That's how my Saturday started.

This is one of my favorite songs at the minute. I found the song from the latest Social Media Revolutions 2011 video by Erik Qualman. If you haven't seen that video definitely go onto that site and check it out. Always insightful.

So having listened to this song as soon as I got up, I went out for a 10k run. It was such lovely weather and as I run with my iPhone I could make a little film of me panting heavily. :-) Oh so exciting. :-) I use the Nike+ app to measure how far I go so that's the voice you hear a little ways in...

As you can see, Kew Gardens is an absolutely beautiful surrounding to go running in. Who would have guessed that's London eh?

So my Saturday started wonderfully. A friend of mine from my time in Bratislava - Kieran - was in town and so met up with him in Balham - a part of town I'd never been to. It's near Clapham common.

So thanks to last night I now have some new TIPS for places to go in London if you are over and want some great hidden gems off the beaten track.

• A pub called the Duke of Devonshire. - really cosy - for some reason it reminded me of a circus. don't know why. It had a really nice interior but I was expecting monkey's with wings to jump out from under tables. Very odd.
• A great Spanish Tapas restaurant in Clapham called Carmen Bar de Tapas -best Tapas I've had in London.

Also, if you're ever in Brentford/Isleworth/Kew gardens area, there's a lovely pub that's just been refurbished called Coach and Horses. Jon and I went for roast today. I've picked up some cold ... sniffly nose and sore throat.

I'll leave you with some fun music ---a little Lonely Island and Jack Sparrow. Michael Bolton is a legend.