Reading Roars!

It seems as if Reading’s coffee-crazy consumers cannot get enough of the bean, as Starbucks is to open a second outlet at The Oracle.

Starbuck’s second, to be located on the first floor of the shopping centre (concrete has been laid down for this purpose; previously there was no floor), will join BBs Coffee & Muffins, Cafe Giardino, Caffè Italia, Caffè Nero, Coffee Republic, Costa Coffee, Prêt a Manger and The Oracle’s bars in offering the nation’s favourite stimulant.

What we really need, in my opinion, is for these services to provide late-night coffee. Then we really will have a continental culture.

Now, I have to be careful. I love Google, but I’m working for one of their rivals, so must-tread-carefully-here. Oh whatever, I will say it: Reading is now available in high-resolution on Google Earth, the most magnificent application I have seen all year.

Google Earth allows you to see the world - the whole world - close up, as snapped by satellites.

Type in Reading, UK and you are whooshed across the globe towards our wonderful town. Reading opens up before you, in all its digital glory. And not a cloud in sight (not sure how the Google techies managed this). Try entering your postcode. You are transported to that locale.

Now what? You can rotate. See Reading upside down! You can zoom in and out. Your current altitude and grid reference are printed on the screen. What’s Reading like at 5,000ft? Zoom in and see. What’s it like at Everest height - 29,000ft? What’s stopping you?

You can drag. In fact, you can drag until, well, you find it a drag, really. Drag from Reading to Rimini to Riga to another city beginning with ‘R’. Or wherever.

And now the ooh bit. You can tilt the map. Now we see Reading’s topographical features. Now you see that the Thames Valley is indeed a valley, with the hills rising north of the town. Simply put, Reading is in three dimensions. The last time I saw the town so clearly from this perspective, I was looking out from a United Airlines 777 on our approach to Heathrow.

And now more oohs. Click buttons and the town’s roads and services are labelled. Leave a placemark with a message for other Google Earth online users to see. Measure the distance from one end of a road to the other. You also need a machine powerful enough to run it. And you must have broadband.

Google Earth’s Reading is not perfect, however. Several small parts of the town are mysteriously “greened” out. Why aren’t these areas covered? These will be addressed in future, I’m sure.

Time to return to my map. Now whose swimming pool is that, I wonder?

See also:

I am pleased to report that Reading now has a juice bar: Fuel, outside HMV at The Oracle.

Despite having had three coffees already, I decided on having yet another lift-me-up. This time, however, I was to have something ridiculously healthy and energising. Straining to look at the menu - the text was small, so not very clear - I chose the Energy Boost Super Smoothie, containing:

Mango, banana, low fat coconut milk, 100% tropical juice, non fat frozen yogurt with energy fuel

The energy fuel, says the menu, contains:

Guarana: awake + alert + renewed energy

So that’s the guarana explained (so what’s the tropical juice??). I thought I’d go a step further, to acquire superhuman powers, and opt for a supplementary “Super Fuel” with my Energy Boost - the Total Health Fuel, containing:

Over 50 vitamins and minerals: give your body, mind and soul Fuel’s unique total health fix!

My soul could do with an extra kick, I thought.

Ordering the magic potion was somewhat confusing. I wasn’t sure where to stand. Two other people were also perplexed. Customers shouldn’t have to ask “is this the queue?”!

A brief wait after ordering and I got my GB£ 3.65 smoothie. It was quite nice, though very cold. Too cold, in fact, given that the outside temperature was four degrees celsius. In fact, I’m sure it was the drink’s iciness rather than guarana that sharpened my focus.

My overall impression is that Fuel is good for Reading. It is what we needed - though I do find it a little odd that it has opened in December, rather than Spring/Summer, but I’m sure it will work ultimately. Just keep it simple, Fuel people!

See also:

On Saturday evening I dined at the Beijing Noodle House (West Street) to celebrate a colleague’s birthday. So did I get an Olympic meal? Read on…

The menu featured many Chinese dishes, as expected, but also Japanese and South-East Asian items.

My starter was “mouth-watering” pork dumplings and I chose Indonesian Mee Goreng - deep-fried noodles with chicken and shrimps - for my main meal. To drink I ordered the Chinese beer Tsing Tao.

The pork dumplings were indeed “mouth-watering”. While my table companions were happily digging into their chicken satay, my mouth was salivating over the vacant spot on the table where my starter should have been.

My dumplings eventually did arrive - after my main course was delivered to the table. So I started on the Mee Goreng. Verdict? The noodles were like cardboard and quite bland, not spicy, as advertised on the menu. The chicken and prawns were alright. I was looking at my friend’s Singapore Laksa with envy; it looked divine. The dumplings were better, much better: hot and drippingly delicious.

The price came to a tenner, which was pretty fantastic. My overall impression is that the Beijing Noodle House is a good Hong Kong-style restaurant. The food won’t set your tastebuds alight, but the choice is good and you will have much cash left over for your assault on the town’s bars.

So we were warned to stay away from The Oracle. To The Oracle I went, cash-a-jingling and with a broad smile on my face. No one was going to take my shopping Saturday away from me.

Passing through the Riverside, there was much merriment around me. Kids were whizzing happily on a temporary ice rink installed by the river. I was toying with the idea of putting on a pair of skates myself but it seemed that grown ups weren’t allowed..and I can’t skate anyway.

Inside the shopping centre there was a flash Lexus parked on the ground floor. Maybe the carparks were full. Well, it’s that time of year, after all.

The only reminder of a perceived threat supposedly came in the form of a police helicopter, noisely circulating overhead. The loudest noise of the afternoon, however, came from the ringing cash tills. Well done, defiant consumers of Reading!

Another game, another three points.

Reading FC scorched Brighton 5-1 at the Madejski to maintain their lead at the top of the table. Forward Dave Kitson scored a hat trick. The Royals’ other two were provided by an own goal from Brighton’s Charlie Oatway, and Stephen Hunt.

It was Reading’s seventh straight win in the league. They stand unbeaten in 22 games. Reading are to The Championship what Chelsea and Barcelona are to The Premiership and La Liga, respectively.

The only puzzle is, with such a (relatively) magnificent side such as this, why are home games so poorly attended? The attendance at the match was 18,546. The stadium capacity is 24,200. What’s going on?

Online directory service Yell.com, headquartered locally, has enhanced its mapping functionality. You can now zoom in and out of a map, click and drag to move it and select an aerial photo view.

I gave it a whirl. I searched for the company name Carluccio’s in Reading - where else - and hit the Search button. A mere three seconds later, I got a positive search result: Carluccios Ltd on Forbury Square. That’s the one!

A biggish map of Reading was displayed when I clicked on Map/Directions. Conveniently, a yellow arrow showed me the location of Carluccio’s. On the map, there were also small red icons of shopping carts in various places. Were these abandoned supermarket trolleys? No explanation could be seen. I zoomed out and the trolleys disappeared. Hmm, I thought. Maybe this was a real-time map and the trolleys were collected in a nanosecond.

I clicked on Aerial photo view and an aerial version of the same map was presented. The yellow arrow was still there. Not sure how useful an aerial snap is, unless you are intending to parachute in for a coffee, but it’s great to see Reading from above nevertheless. And, as you can drag your way across the town using your mouse, you can have fun trying to spot your house, too.

Now, I think I will get that coffee…