How annoyed am I? Much as I am looking forward to Korea, it doesn’t make turning down the invite I got this morning any easier:

“As I’m sure you already know AOL is the official sponsor of Madonna’s Drowned World Tour, and we would like you to join us for her first UK show on Wednesday 4th July at London’s Earls Court. You are also invited to the exclusive pre-show VIP party that we are sharing with Warner Music artistes and executives.”

Poo.

I emailed my excuses and buried myself in Metro for 10 minutes, sulking. They had this rather weird “top tips for making contact on the tube” feature that read more like a sexual harassement workshop. Of the 8 tips they recommended, one was “Accidentally brush up against someone you fancy. Look them in the eye, put on your deepest voice, apologise and smile,” and another was “If you’re getting into a crowded train and someone you fancy is getting on at the same time, get close to them. You’ll be forced up against them and it’ll be an opportunity to smile at them and make contact.” Sounds like dirty old man tactics.

Had lunch with Sue, a good friend from when she worked at PCW a couple of years ago. She used to be our news reporter, when we still had one, but went home to Canada with her husband about a year and a half back. Soho Pizzeria was boarded up, with scaffolding and tape over the windows, and we didn’t entirely believe the ‘open for business as usual’ signs, so we ended up in Masala Zone on Marshall Street, which has been open about a month and always seems busy. The service was pretty awful, but the food was great, and certainly reason enough to go back. Sue insisted on paying, which was nice of her, and we agreed to meet up again next week before she goes back home.

I had to dash off for a meeting, so the goodbyes were fairly truncated, and got back to the office to find my Korean agenda in my inbox. In arrive in Seoul on 2nd July and travel around until the 7th. I can’t help wondering what the food will be like - as a non-meatie it’s been pretty awful every time I’ve been to the Far East. There’s a fair smattering of Hiltons and Hyatts on the accommodation list, though, which means there should at least be something edible in the mini-bar, even if it’s only cashews and Toblerone, but there’s one day spent in a “folk village” called Yongin, that did cause a bit of concern. With Google’s help, though, I’ve since found out it’s “the home of the true Korean heritage where many features of the Korean culture have been collected and preserved for succeeding generations to see and learn about.” In other words, it’s a theme park.

This evening, I met Paul, Trevor and Jon in the Village, and then went on to Mildreds in Greek Street. Eating out twice in one day is very naughty. As usual, the vegan burger of the day was excellent - Rocket, Cummin and Chilli today - and the chips were up to their usual standard, too.

That kind of marked the end of the evening. I had to get back for the car. Chelmsford council has a nasty habit of locking it away if you don’t catch the 2130 train. As it happened, we got the 2200 and arrived just in time. We drove home in a feint aroma of pub smoke and chlorine: my HipZip had run out of juice this morning so I’d used the pool at the gym for the first time since joining and the shorts I’d used and then thrown across the back seat still weren’t quite dry.

Got home to find my windows sparkly white and some paint on the polished woodwork of my front door. The painters have let in a few more daddy longlegs, but at least they’ve finished.

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