Toby Atkin-Wright

Off to Halal Buffet for tea tonight with Andrew, just next to Jimmy Chung’s on Whitehall Street in Dundee.

http://www.halalbuffet.co.uk/

Under a tenner for unlimited food and drink. Food was ok, but not exactly wonderful. Indian starters good, pizzas mediocre (with an oddly crispy base), mac cheese & chips bland, limited selection of curries were unexciting, and puddings forgettable. But they had Vimto on draught — both fizzy and still — so it wasn’t all bad.

Would be hard to go there again knowing that Chung’s is just next door.

Off to Dundee for a shopping trip today. We parked in the Overgate Centre car park; while Andrew locked up the car I looked out the side of the multistory and took a couple of photos of the roofline of the building opposite. Nothing too thrilling, but when I have a camera in my pocket, I’ll point it at things and snap away.

 

Ten minutes later, as we came out of a shop, I was approached by a couple of red-shirted security staff, who asked me what I’d been photographing. Being somewhat bemused by their query, I asked what the problem was, and they told me that photography is banned in the Overgate Centre, that the carpark comes under that rule too, and that I’d been invading the privacy of the people who live in the flats opposite. I’d apparently been observed on CCTV using my iPhone as a camera. I asked how I should have known that photography was banned, and was told that there were signs at the entrances to the shopping centre.

I told the red-shirts that they were being rather silly, and wandered off to see if I could find an anti-photography sign by the doors. I couldn’t find any such sign, but while I was standing outside the Overgate, I took a photo of the sign on the doors showing what was banned. At which point a red-shirt approached me and told me that I wasn’t allowed to take a photo of the Overgate Centre doors.



I told the chappie not to be silly, as I was outside the Overgate so the (mythical) rule about photography didn’t apply. I asked if he had a copy of the rules, and he told me that no, they didn’t have the rules, but if I wrote to the shopping centre they could confirm that photography was banned. He got a bit stroppy with me, so I took a photo of him and called him an oik, which was rude of me, but factually true. He then called me an oik, which I found rather amusing.

I gave up and wandered up the High Street.

Edited to add: I wrote to the Overgate, asking for a copy of their rules, and received no answer.

Off to Dundee for a shopping trip today. We parked in the Overgate Centre car park; while Andrew locked up the car I looked out the side of the multistory and took a couple of photos of the roofline of the building opposite. Nothing too thrilling, but when I have a camera in my pocket, I’ll point it at things and snap away.

 

Ten minutes later, as we came out of a shop, I was approached by a couple of red-shirted security staff, who asked me what I’d been photographing. Being somewhat bemused by their query, I asked what the problem was, and they told me that photography is banned in the Overgate Centre, that the carpark comes under that rule too, and that I’d been invading the privacy of the people who live in the flats opposite. I’d apparently been observed on CCTV using my iPhone as a camera. I asked how I should have known that photography was banned, and was told that there were signs at the entrances to the shopping centre.

I told the red-shirts that they were being rather silly, and wandered off to see if I could find an anti-photography sign by the doors. I couldn’t find any such sign, but while I was standing outside the Overgate, I took a photo of the sign on the doors showing what was banned. At which point a red-shirt approached me and told me that I wasn’t allowed to take a photo of the Overgate Centre doors.



I told the chappie not to be silly, as I was outside the Overgate so the (mythical) rule about photography didn’t apply. I asked if he had a copy of the rules, and he told me that no, they didn’t have the rules, but if I wrote to the shopping centre they could confirm that photography was banned. He got a bit stroppy with me, so I took a photo of him and called him an oik, which was rude of me, but factually true. He then called me an oik, which I found rather amusing.

I gave up and wandered up the High Street.

After enjoying our team Christmas lunch back in December, we determined that there was a definite need for regular work outings. So today ten of us wandered down to the Invergowrie Inn for lunch. While we’ve occasionally lunched there before, it has never been with such planning, or with such numbers. It made a fine change from sarnies in the office kitchen, or trips to the food van that lurks outside Discovery House.

Our next team lunch is scheduled for mid-February, and will be at the Invercarse Hotel on Perth Road. I’ve eaten there a couple of times in the past; good food and a nice dining room, with views down the garden towards the Tay. It seems to be a favourite with oldies, which is a good sign that they do a decent cup of tea.