..and much preparation and celebration was underway.
So, the long-awaited company Christmas party rolled around again last Thursday - same venue as last year, but thankfully a different bus company (see the post from about a year ago). The theme this year was 1989, since that was the year the company was founded, which makes this its 25th anniversary and worth celebrating. As usual, this theme was interpreted in various ways - some photos here.
Undisputed winners of the team award were the A-Team of our office, with Milan as Hannibal: Martin as Mad Dog Murdock - no comment ;-): Aaron as Face: and a highly committed Jack as BA, complete with Mohican, specially for the occasion. Aside from the attention to detail of the costumes, complete with pop-machine guns, what really did it for them was the inclusion of the A-Team van (visible in a couple of the photos as they extract themselves from it). I did wonder what was keeping them, as the rest of us had come in from the bus long before. Eventually, all was revealed, as they made a grand entrance, lights blazing, horn tooting.
Now, the interesting thing at these shindigs is always that they aren't officially fancy dress - we just interpret it that way. So as they made their careful way in, attempting to not run anyone over, the people moving aside for them were rather stunned-looking people in evening dress. As the night wore on, they switched from unease to curiosity, and some brave souls ventured over to ask us what the **** we were doing. Ah, they were jealous really..
As for the other costumes - we had several Simpsons characters, Indiana Jones, Batman and the Joker, several videogame characters, and some representation of the French Revolution (1989 being the 200th anniversary). For myself, my most striking accessory was a flashing fedora, which was the devil to (a) get and (b) get working. What with customs trouble (importing from the States), a dreadful experience with the courier company (ParcelForce, whom I'll never use again), and a faulty battery pack, I began to believe the thing was cursed. But it got plenty of compliments, so never mind.
So, we did get there safely this year, as I mentioned - although the full-size coach was sadly underfilled, with only 15 coming from the London office. Same venue as before - the Conservatory at Painshill. So we knew our way in, and this year they had a special parking place for coaches, it seemed, just at the end of the driveway leading into the venue. The venue itself - a marquee - was decked out as a ski lodge this year. So that meant ski-lodge type decorations in the reception area, and I think they had the same decor as last year for the dining area - last year was the "Snow Ball", so they could keep it quite similar.
The bar was completely free this time, which was nice - but although there was a champagne reception, there seemed to be less of it later in the evening than there was last year. Thankfully, I preferred the wine this year, so that wasn't such a hardship for me. Why I preferred the wine this year I'm not sure, since I'm sure it was the same brand. Hey-ho, maybe last year I just got a bad bottle. The dinner menu, BTW, was exactly the same as last year, and fine for me - although the person beside me, who had to have the gluten-free option, wasn't so impressed. Afterwards, there was dancing - some nifty movers from our company again - and they had hot chocolate this year, which made a welcome change from alcohol for a while. Other entertainments included snow cones, a photo booth, and casino-style gambling - although I didn't fancy that, after having someone pilfer my chips last year. Hmph.
A good night was had by all, and by the time we left, the strong wind that had been billowing the roof all night had died down. And the bus dropped me within walking distance of home - fortunately, it was a mild night.
So, I groggily flew back to Ireland on Friday, to be greeted by a huge crowd at arrivals, who weren't waiting for me, but rather for all those people on the flight, most with English accents, who were coming for Christmas with their Irish relatives. Home-made banners abounded, and there was a real queue of traffic trying to get out of the car park.
Yesterday, thinking of dinner, we heard they'd been asking after us in Teach uí Bhriain, where we hadn't been for a while - so we decided to try there again. Although the owners, who'd been asking for us, weren't there, we were ably served and found our surroundings much unchanged. The menu hasn't changed either, but the food definitely has, and is now of much better quality. Still, I did like the old version of mushroom sauce, and found the present recipe quite bland. Otherwise, we were well fed.
Tonight though, we reverted to the Abbey Tavern, which we found buzzing and crammed - everyone was out, the last weekend before Christmas, I guess! There was more of an atmosphere here, with the restaurant full of families and the bar full of people watching some match or other, which provoked great excitement on occasion. We managed to get a table straight away, and promptly had our order taken. And then one of the servers murmered to us that it was on the house! As a Christmas present, and with us being regulars. An excellent meal it was, and we had a rather good cheesecake for dessert. The boss's little girl was dashing about trying to help, and had the goodness to ask us whether our meal was ok. Lovely to see them doing so well there, they deserve it.
Next planned meal out is Christmas lunch in the Oakwood Arms. Not sure whether we'll be out much in the meantime - apart from shopping!
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