GOOD KAI

So here I was sitting in the waiting room at a Dental Surgery in East Twickenham, leafing nervously (I'm a dental phobe) through their glossy mags and there it was, this tiny picture of a kitchen. Washed oak cabinetry, contrasting black worktop, not your usual outfit but I really liked it. I quickly snapped a pick aiming to google further at home. I also sent the image to my husband who equally agreed it looked great. We'd been tossing up the idea of putting in a new kitchen for a while. Our current one had its own unique set of issues - falling kick boards, hideous aqua green composite sink (what were the previous owners thinking?), dishwasher was starting to accumulate rust, all the freezer drawers had snapped, but more importantly it was severely lacking cupboard space due to the poor design. So when the opportunity came a few months later to renovate we decided to jump right in to re-do the whole kitchen. We also in this time had a water softener for the house instal

Sonne Hotel, Lakeside, Zurich "I never know why they come in such large denominations' he says curiously. The chap behind the foreign exchange counter comments as he hands over a small bundle of 100 Swiss Franc notes. (He's obviously never been to Zurich). Switzerland, the land of the highest consumer spending rates in the world, well they do after all pay a generous minimum wage (18 Euro) and they are proud of their low unemployment stats, but that needs to come from somewhere right? No reprise for the eager traveller either, just as well it is an incredibly beautiful part of the world.  View from The Sonne Hotel Kusnacht, Lake Zurich Zurich is a short plane flight from London, less that 2hrs from Heathrow actually, and there are some cheaper flights available if you ferret around a bit online. My main modus operandi this time, while in Zurich was to taste some of the best pies in the planet, from New Zealand pie company Pie Tribe . Before going any furthe