It's been a hectic few days! Spent Friday night answering fan mail -- managed to get through a nice chunk of the mountain of mail which was awaiting me upon my return from the States. On Saturday Bas and I went to see one of my grand-aunts, Nora, then went to see "Guys and Dolls" again. We saw it not long after it first opened, 6 months ago, and wanted to catch Ewan McGregor and the original cast again before they're replaced in a couple of weeks. We managed to get great seats in the middle, seven rows back. It's a top-notch play, great songs and cast. McGregor's singing voice isn't as strong as a lead musical actor's should be, but he was perfect apart from that. The actors were all first-rate, especially Jane Krakowski -- the undoubted star of the show. We met with one of Bas's friends, Sarah, afterwards and had dinner at Wagamama's, then went to a 30th birthday party for some of her other friends over on Fulham Road. Had a good night, lots of drink and chat, and got to bed about 03.00.

Spurs were playing West Ham on Sunday at 1.00pm, so I had an earlier start than I would have liked. Got a steak and guinness pie from the Square Pie shop in Spitalfields Market. I love Square pies, and the mash that comes with them is DEEEEE-licious!!!! But they didn't have mash when I went -- they were awaiting the delivery!! Oh, well, at least the pies were there! I decided to eat it on the train up to Tottenham, but the train was packed and I had to stand, so that plan went out the window! It always angers me when the trian companies don't put on extra games for fans on match days. They KNOW thousands of fans are going to be piling into the trains, but they don't even bother to put on extra carriages, never mind extra trains! Madness!!!!! I ended up eating my pie on the platfrom at Bruce Grove. It was cold by then, but still scrumdiddlyumptious!!

Met the small group of friends I go to the football with in our regular pub, had a couple of quick drinks, then headed up for the match. I hate early kick-offs -- you don't have time to get into the real football mood and the atmosphere is never the same. The game was a scrappy, messy affair. Spurs took an early lead but played poorly. It looked like we were going to escape with the three points, but then West Ham equalised in the last minute -- a gutter!!!!! There's nothing worse in football than sacrificing a last-minute goal!!!

It was my uncle Derek's 37th birthday, so I stayed out drinking with him after the game. He's less than four years older than me, so we grew up more as brothers than uncle and nephew. We had a good few drinks with the others, though by the end of the night only me, Derek and a guy called Brendan were left -- the rest had all filed home for an early night! We ended up in Belushi's in Covent Garden, then in a club called the Metra in Leciester Square. Got home about 01.00, but it felt much later, since we'd started so early!!

Derek stayed in my flat. We headed out earlyish on Monday, had a quick bite, a few more drinks, then went to the Ivy for lunch. I don't bother much with high-class restaurants, but I like to indulge every now and then, and since it was still Derek's birthday (in his mind, at least!), I thought I'd treat him. It's a nice spot, very good food, but nothing overly special. I think most people go there to spot celebrities -- our only celeb (apart from myself, of course!!!!) was Carol Vorderman, from Channel 4's Countdown programme. Had another couple of drinks after that, and then it was back home to bring my blog up to date.