China Buffet King, X-Scape, Braehead, Renfrew

We needed something quick to eat before going to the movies the other night and Lorna fancied a Chinese so, since we'd already tried the Glasgow restaurant, we thought we'd try the China Buffet King in XSpace. I'd much rather have gone to a more traditional Chinese restaurant but CBK is the only Chinese restaurant at XScape.

Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed with this one. It's over-large and has the atmosphere of a work canteen with all the associated noise and clamour. It was also very busy with loads of young people filling up cheaply before hitting the nightlife. On a plus side, you do get a good view of the snow slope so you can watch the kids slide, fall and roll down the slope as you eat. On another downside though was the fact that the buffet servery looked like a feeding frenzy at shark island - hordes of hungry diners moving in, grabbing something and then retreating to eat before going back for more.

As for the food, they do have a large range of stuff on offer. Starters and sweets are pretty good, if cheap and cheerful, but the mains are almost all deep fried, battered, covered in MSG laden-sauce (I had a very sore head next day) and high in salt. Great if you like that kind of food but eat it more than occassionally at your own risk.

Unless you're either strapped for cash or in a such a hurry that either the taste of the food or the fact that you're probably damaging your health doesn't bother you, then I'd avoid this place.

Cuisine: Chinese
My Rating: 5/10

The Last Hero - by Terry Pratchett

The Last Hero is Terry Pratchett's 27th Discworld novel and it's been published as a graphic novel, fully illustrated by Paul Kidby. It features a couple of characters that were introduced in the very first Discworld story - Rincewind and Cohen the Barbarian.

Legendary Discworld warrior Cohen the Barbarian is getting on a bit. He's been there and done it all, seeing most of his old friends pass away into obscurity and, now the current ruler of the Agatean Empire, he is unhappy with his Gods. He doesn't like the way they let men grow old and die so now he and his band are heading for Dunmanifestin, the home of the Gods, with the intention of giving them back something that mankind stole from them long ago - fire!

Trouble is he wants to do it with a 50lb keg of Agatean Thunder Clay and, given that the Gods live on top of Cori Celesti, the highest mountain on the Disc and the hub of the world's magic field, the explosion will result in the magic field collapsing. Unfortunately, the Discworld needs magic to exist - the turtle and the elephants holding it all up could very well just vanish.

Cohen and his Silver Horde may want to go out with a bang but it's a bang that could destroy the world. So, Lord Vetinari and the Magicians of Ankh Morporkh send gather their finest, or in this case, Leonard of Quirm, Rincewind and Captain Carrot, to go on a mission to try and stop them.

It was nice see Rincewind and Cohen back in a Discworld tale, even if it is a fairly short story. Pratchett's wit and humour are up to their usual par and there are some very funny moments in there. Also back in the frame are the Silver Horde, who made an appearance in Interesting Times, but they're minus Old Vincent, who has passed on. So Ghenghiz Cohen, accompanied by Truckle the Uncivil, Boy Willie, Caleb the Ripper and Mad Hamish, is on a kami-kazi run to give the Gods a bit of his mind (and body).

On the other side, we've got Lord Vetinari and the wizards of Unseen University, who've somehow got wind of his scheme and obviously want to put a dampener on it. Without going in to much detail, they choose Leonard of Quirm to build and pilot a device that will enable them to catch up with Cohen, Captain Carrot for some muscle and Rincewind as he's been in so many scrapes and is still alive they reckon he must have some serious luck on his sideand they're going to need it this time.

Then there the Gods, who're watching all of these goings on with some amusement. And there's Evil Harry Dread, the stock Dark Lord of the tale, who accompanies Cohen's band but really can't act out of his mould for very long. There's The Code to be followed you know!

It's actually quite a funny story and the book is fleshed out with a fair number of illustrations by Discworld artwork regular Paul Kidby, which helps make it last a wee bit longer.


Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
ISBN: 978-0-575-08196-3
My Rating: 7/10

Rail Travel - SNAFU

The train situation gets more confusing. First ScotRail are saying…

Services between Glasgow Central and Ayrshire/Inverclyde are gradually returning to normal from 0700.

and

A bus shuttle remains in operation between Glasgow Central and Paisley Gilmour Street.

Sorry but I can't see what's "normal" about that and yet again, we have no rail service today. What's even more annoying is the fact that they are running rail services along our line as one of my work colleagues came in on an Ayr train yesterday and it stopped at Cardonald.

Network Rail Are Full Of Wind!

Yet again, we have no rail service today but this time they're blaming the weather…

Train services on all routes across Scotland are subject to disruption during the morning of Wednesday 9 January due to high winds and poor weather conditions.
The following lines are currently suspended and customers are advised not to travel or to make alternative arrangements. Replacement transport will not be provided on any of these routes:
- Between Glasgow Central and Ardrossan Harbour / Largs.
- Between Glasgow Central and Wemyss Bay / Gourock.
- Between Balloch and Renton.

Okay, it's a bit windy out but I've never heard of them stopping the trains because of wind or a bit of rain before now. I remember being in a train travelling to Helensburgh where a combination of high wind and tide had the waves breaking over Craigendoran Harbour and hitting the train windows. Yet, the trains ran on without any bother.

So they won't be running trains between Glasgow and Paisley for yet another day! How very convenient of another excuse to surface and give them yet more time to finish off the engineering work they started on the 27^th of December. If you ask me, they're full of it - wind that is or am I thinking about bullsh1t!

Happy New Year From Fort William

We woke up on New Year's Day in Fort William to yet another fairly grey and damp outlook but, undeterred and after a decent breakfast, we drove round to the Nevis Range ski resort to take the gondola up Aonach Mor for a bit of a cobweb-breaking wander around the mountain and then lunch in the Snowgoose Restaurant.

Loch Linnhe On New Year's Day

The gondola cable car system transports visitors over 2.3km up to 2,150ft on the north face of Aonach Mor, the eighth highest mountain in Britain, in about 12 - 15 minutes. That's only just over half-way to the summit but you can get some pretty good views of the surrounding landscape on the way up.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great and the cloud was swirling around up there along with a little light drizzle. Not exactly brilliant weather for a stroll. There are a couple of shortish strolls from the gondola top station out to some viewpoints. You can go west to the little hummock of Meall Beag, where you can get some good views of Carn Dearg Meadhonach and Carn Mòr Dearg on the back side of Ben Nevis. These two peaks form the lead in to the Carn Mòr Dearg Arrete route to the top of our highest mountain.

Carn Dearg Meadhonach from Meall Beag

We climbed the Ben by the Carn Mòr Dearg Arrete route some years ago and it's well worth the effort as the views out over the Aonachs and Grey Corries are excellent and you don't need to trudge up that boring tourist path. On top of that is the perceived danger of walking along the arrete itself and then the stiff climb up a boulder field to the summit. The other walk on Aonach Mor takes you north out to the little top of Sgurr Finnisg-aig where there are some good views out over Corpach and the Great Glen, weather permitting.

Feeling a bit damp and cold after both walks, we headed back to the Snowgoose for a bowl of hot soup and a roll to warm us up. It's a bit like a motorway café half-way up a mountain but the food is definitely better. They do a good range of hot and cold meals, catering for tourists, walkers and skiers alike. A cup of steaming hot tea and a cake to follow and we were ready to head back down to civilization.

Eating Out

We'd spotted a little restaurant in Cameron Square, called simply -No4-, the night before and after a shuftie at the menu, we'd booked a table for our New Year's evening meal. Situated just off Fort William's High Street, -N^o4- is a quiet little place with a touch of old fashioned colonial style, from the prints of India around the walls and the fact that the waiting staff were all pretty obviously from around there too.

However, you won't find any curry dishes here as the food is most definitely focused on local Scottish produce such as salmon, venison and lamb. Lorna had a Caesar Salad and I had more soup to start and then we tucked into a Chicken Forestiere and a Braised Lamb Shank on crushed potato with a rich port sauce and a fairly decent serving of fresh vegetables on the side. I was pretty stuffed by the time we'd scoffed that lot but Lorna finished of her meal with what looked like a very tasty Sticky Toffee Pudding.

If you fancy a bit of civilized dining with good food and service, then you might well find it worth trying. Strangely, or maybe not after the night before, most of the bars were closed so we headed back for an early night.

No Trains Today Again!

It'll have to be the bus for us again today…

Services for Wemyss Bay/Gourock are starting/terminating at Paisley Gilmour Street.
This reduced level of service is expected to continue throughout today Tuesday 8 January.

I wonder how long this will continue for and it's bound to cost ScotRail passengers as people find alternative methods of transport.

We Hates Network Rail!

We're still having to use the bus to get in and out of work as the idiots at Network Rail still haven't finished the two-day work programme they started on the 27^th of December last year. While all the media focus has been about the fiasco on the west coast main line, we're still without a train service between Glasgow and Paisley on the Wemyss Bay/Gourock line, which must count for thousands of commuters every day.

This is all the information available today…

There is currently no estimate for a normal train service to resume between Glasgow Central and Paisley Gilmour Street. Services between Glasgow Central and Paisley Canal are expected to remain suspended throughout Monday 7 January.

How on earth can someone estimate the work at two days and then still not be finished after 12 days! We definitely hates Network Rail!