鈥淚鈥檓 thinking of going on holiday to Bangladesh,鈥� remarks Dean as we get stuck into our first round of drinks

The obvious question is: 鈥淲hy?鈥� 鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 there,鈥� he explains. 鈥淎nd I imagine they have quite good curry.鈥�

Gary and Steve explain that Dean has a penchant for, er, exotic locations. Dean reels off a list of previous holiday destinations including Mongolia, Nicaragua (the beer鈥檚 weak but prices are low: 20p a taxi fare), Papua New Guinea, Lithuania (he鈥檚 done most of the Baltics), Namibia 鈥� 鈥淎nd Dudley,鈥� Simon chips in.

But Dean won鈥檛 be distracted from his list. He鈥檚 even been to Caracas, the so-called murder capital of the world. 鈥淲e went there on the last day so that if we did get killed at least we鈥檇 had a holiday first.鈥�

Gary鈥檚 not been anywhere quite so extreme but he had some unusual experiences in Japan. 鈥淲e ended up in an eel restaurant. They didn鈥檛 speak a word of English so we just ended up eating a load of eel.鈥� If only they鈥檇 known the Japanese for 鈥渃hips鈥�.

Just as the tapas arrive, Dean adds that in Korea he 鈥渞eally wanted to find some dog, but it鈥檚 not as common as you might think鈥�.

Gary shakes his head. 鈥淒og? It鈥檚 alright as a starter, I suppose 鈥︹��

Simon reveals that he鈥檚 鈥渕ore of a curry man, or maybe Italian.鈥� But Dean鈥檚 on to Hong Kong now, where he ate snakes. 鈥淪nacks?鈥� Simon enquires. Dean yells: 鈥淣ot snacks, snakes!鈥� To be fair, it is quite noisy here in the Queen鈥檚 Head & Artichoke. We move on to foods we don鈥檛 like. 鈥淭here鈥檚 only one,鈥� says Dean, looking revolted. 鈥淪alad. Urgggh!鈥�

Gary says he鈥檒l eat anything, but he adores fish. 鈥淚 actually took a load of fish into the office the other day.鈥�

鈥淥h, so that鈥檚 what the smell was,鈥� says Simon, adding, cryptically: 鈥淚鈥檓 a bit weird with aubergines.鈥�

Moving swiftly on, David Bellamy makes a welcome, albeit random, entrance into the conversation. He鈥檚 making a guest appearance at Alumet鈥檚 sustainability open day in June. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have organic beer and a farmers鈥� market, and David鈥檚 opening our new garden,鈥� says Dean. He adds: 鈥淒avid Bellamy. I mean, how much more sustainable can you be?鈥� Before agreeing to this gig, was Bellamy informed Alumet鈥檚 staff have been merrily tucking into snakes and dog?

Chosen watering hole

The Queen鈥檚 Head & Artichoke, Regent鈥檚 Park Ambience: After work drinking for media types and suits  Topics: Holidaying in the world鈥檚 murder capital, eating dog, David Bellamy Drinks drunk: 17 Sols, six gin and tonics, 1 Leffe

Who attended:

Gary Summers, managing director
Dean Walton, sales and marketing director
Steve Smith, contracts director
Roxane McKeeken, 好色先生TV

Topics