Those aspects of my life beyond work which may have value or interest to others
It seems some of you still have not managed to find the hidden “site within a site” with all the information about my life beyond work. Email me if you are still frustrated and I’ll provide the access directions! In the meantime:
Sports
In 2012 there were the Olympics and with my past passion for martial arts it was great to see some Taekwondo at the Excel centre. I also did a bit of local Olympics volunteering for London Borough of Richmond. I recently completed my try-out to become a member of the volunteer pack for the Rugby World Cup 2015 – fingers crossed!
I haven’t been to as many rugby matches at Twickenham stadium as I would have liked to, but I do get along occasioanlly. I have been to further shooting sessions – and didn’t do too badly even although I didn’t score as well as I did at my very first session.
I switched allegiance from Virgin Active Gym at Twickenham and but regularly go along to Zumba, Pilates and yoga classes at another local gym. I haven’t managed to do any deep sea fishing since I was in St Lucia in 2010 – but in 2012 I did rafting and elephant trekking in Thailand. And in summer 2013 I was in Florida and did some excellent river fishing. I did my third Race for Life (raising money for Cancer Research UK).
Twickenham Rugby Stadium Catching big fish in the Caribbean
Travels
Most of you will know that I stopped most my international work travel when the kids were young – but now that they are older I’m on the road again! Watch this space. On the social side and in the UK, I’ve been to my favourite place in Dorset (Sandbanks) and made a few trips to see family in Christchurch(also in Dorset) and Cardiff and friends in Brighton and Cornwall.
Although I have many fond memories of my many past visits to family and friends in Barbados my most recent trips to the Caribbean were to Antigua in 2008 and St Lucia in 2010. In May 2009 I did a tour of Italy – revisiting my favourite city Rome and also Florence and seeing Siena and Assisi for the first time. I also visited Malta again. In May 2011 I finally did a tour of the Amalfi coast – visiting Sorrento, Ravello, Amalfi, Capri and, of course, Positano. It was great fun in Sorrento – what with Piazzo Tasso, Teatro Tasso, Bar Tasso and Hotel Tasso I felt quite at home!
During 2012 I took a trip to Thailand – we rafted down rain-swollen rivers, trekked on elephants through the jungle and explored monkey-filled mountain-top temples. In 2013 I went to Iceland, Germany and Florida and in 2014 I returned to Italy – to do a sailing course in Sardinia.
Assisi in Italy Cardiff Castle Christchurch Priory, Dorset
Beach in Dorset Popeye Bay in Malta Positano – at long last
Ravello Church courtyard in Sorrento Sunset in St Lucia
Rafting in Thailand Elephant trekking in Thailand
Music and the arts
Most years I return to the London Military Festival at Kneller Hall (although it has now moved to Twickenham riverside) which has featured Jules Holland and Status Quo in the past, the Thames Festival and the Notting Hill Carnival. There were numerous theatre visits in London and locally (particularly Richmond Theatre, the Orange Tree in Richmond and The Rose in Kingston). There were too many to mention all of them (although most are reviewed in the MayB and KimT blogs).
I went to the ENO to indulge my passion for opera with Onegin and saw a film screening of Tosca and a local production of Aida. I’m waiting to see Madame Butterfly at the Royal Albert Hall – my absolute favourite – for the fourth time in 2015.
Kneller Hall, Notting Hill Carnival Richmond Theatre
No recent repeats of gigs such as AC/DC, The Steve Miller Band or old favourite Whitesnake (apart from seeing Micky Moody at the Eel Pie Club a while back) although I’ve become a bit of a regular at the Bear Cat Comedy club in Twickenham. In 2013 I saw Bryan Ferry at the Royal Albert Hall although the acoustics weren’t great although they were good when I attended the amazing TEDxAlbertopolis recently. Beyoncé was incredible at Chime for Change and I enjoyed Rihanna at Twickenham. I’ve frequently been to the local Motown nights for some dancing too and indulged my passion for Motown in 2014 when I saw The Four Tops and The Temptations at the Royal Albert Hall.
Eel Pie Club, Twickenham Bearcat Comedy Club Whitesnake
Community
I was elected as a parent governor at Grey Court School in Ham in 2009 and served on the strategy and finance committee and took responsibility for health & safety. I stepped down from this role in October 2012 as the school converted to academy status and my daughter transferred to another school. Since then I have helped to run the Whitton Village Facebook page which is great fun and becoming a valued part of the community – we have nearly 3,000 likes!
Grey Court School, Ham Whitton Village on a sunny day
Out and about
There have been numerous days out with friends and family – even a few with clients – and some I have written about in blogs. Amongst these trips I have been Virginia Water, Legoland, The Crazy Bear Club and Thorpe Park and also revisited favourites in London such as London Zoo and the Millennium Wheel. And I absolutely loved the new cable car in East London. I was also very lucky that one of my friends who has some light aircraft took me flying a few times – and I even took the controls for a short while as we flew over the Channel to Le Touquet. I also went boating on the Thames – in the rain.
Crazy Bear Club, Beaconsfield Waterfall at Virginia Water, Surrey
Le Touquet Cable car in East London
Alfie the Chihuahua is now the star of the popular London Dog Blog which I started at the beginning of 2012. He’s getting on much better with the cats now.
Alfie the dancing Chihuahua A young Alfie in his Dennis Alfie at the Jubilee Celebrations
the Menace shirt
So, as you can see, I remain busy and happy and I hope that you are all doing the same! 2014 is just around the corner – here’s hoping it’s a good one.
Kim Tasso – December 2014