Reading Roars!

The eastern end of Broad St is a good place to loiter, these days, for freebies. Recently, free fruit juice samples were presented to passer-bys. I can’t recall the name of the product, but it’s said to contain the five portions of fruit a person is recommended to consume every day. The juice’s marketers should work on the brand, I think, for a more fruitful outcome.

Late Sunday afternoon, free samples of The Observer were offered outside The Oracle, making this particular news junkie very happy indeed.

Initially, DVDs were given away with the Sunday papers (the newspaper is dumped, unread, in many instances, with the DVD sold on eBay). Today, an entire newspaper was offered for nothing. It’s a competitive market.

And what did I think of my free Observer? I liked the neat, condensed format and the bold style. The content wasn’t bad either (great article about excessive packaging in the UK). But I still prefer its website GuardianUnlimited, still the best news site around alongside BBC News and, ahem, this little site here.

It’s the start of the Chinese New Year, and what better way to celebrate locally than by going out for a nice Chinese meal (sure, I’d rather be partying in Shanghai, but never mind that). On Wednesday evening, myself, two colleagues and a visitor from Redmond dined at the contemporary Chi Oriental Brasserie on Caversham Road, Reading.

When I entered the restaurant I got a nice whiff of pine furniture (at least I think it was pine). Very postmodern, I thought. We were seated at the far end of the restaurant, a good distance away from the sound equipment being set up for the Bee Gees tribute band lined up for 10pm.

Drinks were Tsing Tao and green tea. We ordered the food straightaway, having been recommended already a set meal. While we were talking about public transport in Seattle, among other things, our ears were pleasured by the soothing sounds of the Bee Gees tribute sound check. We decided not to stick about until ten.

The starter, when it came, was not bad: crispy seaweed, satay chicken, barbecued spare ribs and sesame prawn toast. Crispy aromatic duck followed, arriving with pancakes, spring onions, cucumber and Hoy Sin sauce. Finally, the main course was served: chicken with cashew nuts in Yellow Bean sauce, beef slices with peppers in Black Bean sauce, King prawns in chilli sauce, vegetables and egg fried rice.

The meal came to £35 per head, minus drinks, which I thought was rather expensive for what we got. The food was good, but a little simple for my liking. The service and setting were satisfactory. As for the Bee Gees tribute, however, well I guess our love wasn’t deep enough to hear them perform.

Fed up of your Sunday roast? Then get yourself down to the Global Café on London Street. Every Sunday afternoon, a stunningly African menu will be offered at this most cosmospolitan of Reading cafés from 2pm to a dazzingly late 10.30pm.

The menu features:

If Kahumbari proves too challenging for the little ‘uns, then a kiddies meal of chips and sausages is available instead.

I can’t wait to try these winter warmers. Read my review soon.

According to the South East Public Health Conservatory (SEPHO), only 35% of Thames Valley men undertake five half-hour sessions of moderate exercise per week. Women are less active, with 24% achieving the recommended amount.

Furthermore, SEPHO found that adult obesity in the Thames Valley had risen to 18.9% of the population over 2000-2002 from 16.9% between 1994 and 1996.

These are worrying statistics. They tell me that, yes, size does matter, and it’s a burden we can do without.

Reading, Reading, the team everyone’s, er, dreading.

In a thrilling FA Cup encounter, the Royals overcame Premiership side West Bromwich Albion 3-2 as Leroy Lita thumped in a hat-trick (50′, 65′ and 93′). The result means that Reading will play Birmingham in the fourth round. The Blues will lose, no doubt about it.

Read more in the BBC Sport match report.

IT IS TIME THAT Reading were outed. Time that they emerged from the closet and told the world what the world has known for many weeks. That when the 2006-07 Barclays Premiership season kicks off in August, Reading will be playing in the top flight of English football for the first time in their 135-year history.

There. It has been said. No more self-denial, no more coyness when the dreaded P-word — promotion — is mentioned in the increasingly tedious aftermath of another Reading victory. Five months into the Championship season, the statistics do not lie.

Quite right, Mr Russell Kempson of The Times. Let us all revel in the excellence of our local side, for the Royals’ promotion will be a significant event in the rich and varied history of Reading.

Yes, you read that right. Football is such an important element of British culture that Reading FC’s swift ascendancy should be recorded alongside Huntley & Palmer’s domination of the biscuit industry in the town’s annals. Reading’s footballing cathedral, the Madejski, is like Reading Abbey - both roofless structures are architectural icons of the town. And while the former marked a glorious age hundreds of years back, the other now represents a new epoch of grandeur. Rejoice, rejoice.

(Reading defeated Coventry City 2-0, by the way, a result that leaves them unbeaten in 28 games).