You’ve read the book, seen the film, now buy the T-Shirt!

In the past this illustrious piece of clothing was available only to select clients, suppliers and staff. Now however, you too can own one of these exquisitely crafted garments. Available in M, L and XL for the measly price of ten pounds, show your 34SPride and buy one today!

Note: Not only do wearers of the 34SP T-Shirt radiate an undeniable air of geek cool, but they are also eligible to win a variety of special prizes, yet to be announced…

Previously a closely guarded secret of the 34SP.com team here is the official 34SP.com T-Shirt in all its glory, modelled by Phil:

For those of you interested in owning this amazing piece of geek haute couture drop an email into account@34sp.com.

Want to be the proud winner of the latest in high fashion? Yes, thats right the brand new designer 34SP.com t-shirt (pictures to follow next week).

All you have to do to win this once in a lifetime piece of haute couture is answer the following question:

“How many people does the ‘current’ 34SP.com team comprise?”. Nice and easy!

Just drop an email to account@34sp.com with the subject ‘Competition time’ and your answer in the content. A winner will be selected randomly next Friday.

Note: only present 34SP.com clients are eligible to enter. Only one entry per client.
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We’ve blogged about the Pacific Chinese restaurant before. Another favourite is the Pacific Thai buffet. It’s on the floor above the Chinese restaurant and you enter through the same door. Once shown to your table, you’re pretty much left to your own devices in the usual buffet style – go to the collection of food, pick up a plate or bowl, load it up and tuck in!

There are a few distinct collections of food on offer. The first table has soups, noodles and various additions to the soup – chilli oil and the like. The next is the main course selection, which has been different every time we’ve been there. Today highlights included a green vegetable curry, a red chicken curry and farmhouse duck. Phil’s a particular fan of red curry and had at least 3 plates on this visit! There’s a table with various dim sum to be chosen from, along with bowls of sauces to have with these; sweet and sour, sweet chilli and the rest of the usual suspects.

At the next table is a chef waiting to make spring rolls to order. She usually has a few standard ones prepared but if there are certain ingredients that aren’t to your liking, she will be more than happy to make a roll just for you. The spring rolls are very refreshing and Olly counts them as a favourite, consuming an incredible 9 on this visit!

I haven’t visited the Thai buffet in the evenings, but if you’re in Manchester and fancy a variety of oriental food for £6.95 at lunchtime, you can’t go too far wrong with the Pacific Thai buffet.

Today during our lunch at a local restaurant we discussed a spectrum of issues surrounding the environmental effects of modern living. Whilst eating lamb burgers and curly fries we put forward solutions to all things wrong with the world. Here are some of the issues covered:-

PROBLEM: Fossil fuels.

SOLUTION(s):
Self powered houses harnessing solar power, the roof could be covered in solar panels for example, and wind energy. Hydrogen powered cars expelling drinkable water as a bi-product. Nuclear power stations increasing the available electricity without any immediate issues. Wind turbines in favourable locations such as out at sea or my back garden.

In short we came up with the most unoriginal answers that were all flawed either by the nuclear waste that our descendants will have to clean up, the eco-volatile power used to create fuel for Hydrogen cars, wind turbines only working when its windy and are considered a nuisance by some and the fact that not all people want to alter their houses for the greater good.

PROBLEM: Litter and general household waste.

SOLUTION(s):
Recycling was the favourite solution. But I fear that this too is flawed, how do you define recycling? Is it shipped somewhere else and dumped? Is it too costly to recycle products? Is the power used during recycling eco-friendly?

We hit many barriers to 34SP.com saving the world, and so ate food instead.

We would be interested in hearing any environmental problems and potential solutions from you, our customers. Feel free to comment away!

Here’s a picture of some of our office Christmas decorations! Keith decided to make a dangly Christmas tree, and set some of us to work making paper chains to go around the ceiling here in the office. We all had to make those paper snowflakes from primary school, too. Phil and I tried to work out how to make a six-sided version, but that was too much to handle so we stuck to the traditionally incorrect eight-sided snowflake. There’s tinsel, too!

Merry Christmas if you celebrate it

As 34SP.com sits on the edge of Chinatown here in Manchester, we often pop over the road for our Monday lunches. Our favourite Chinese restaurant is the Pacific.

While Pacific offers a full menu (all written in Chinese with English version available) they also have an Executive Business Lunch – effectively a limited selection for a bargain price of �9.50 for 3 courses. First up we have soups; today the hot and sour and chicken and sweetcorn varieties were had. Next up we shared a crispy duck, and a fine example it was. Dim sum and hot appetisers are available if you’re not a fan of crispy duck. The meal can be made even cheaper by leaving out either the soup or the appetiser rouse.

Onto the mains. Today I had chicken with salt and chilli pepper on fried rice. Not too hot, but a good tang to it! The food is traditionally eaten with rice bowls and chopsticks, although the staff are happy to provide knives and forks if you’d prefer.

Little did we know before we went, but today was the draw for a raffle they’ve been holding over the past few weeks. To enter, you simply need to spend over �40 on a meal. The top prize is a return flight for two to Hong Kong or Beijing with �200 spending money. Second prize is the same trip for one with a meal for 10 for third place. There seemed to be various other prizes being given out during the draw, but it resulted in every table being full (thankfully filling up after we arrived) giving a friendly crowded atmosphere. There’s another draw on the 18th September, so a visit before then could end up being more than just a meal!

Today’s lunch was at one of the regular haunts of 34SP.com – New Samsi. New Samsi is one of Manchesters very few Japanese restaurants. Thankfully it is also excellent. The restaurant is located on Whitworth street, just across from the former UMIST building. Whilst situated in a converted warehouse, the restaurant has a contemporary airy feel, light woods with subtle lighting.

Mention Japanese food and many people invariably imagine raw fish and turn green; whilst New Samsi has its share of Sushi (maki, nigiri, sashimi etc.) the menu is quite diverse and by no means limited to fish.

Lunch comprises two options – sushi buffet or bento box. Sushi is a particular favourite here at 34SP.com (see Keith top left and myself bottom right digging in!). �10 gets you a bowl of miso, 8-12 mixed pieces of sushi (choice of the chef) and if you like, another serving of sushi once you’re finished with the first!

The other choice of bento box is also great value for money. Ranging from �6-�12 the bento boxes are large compartmentalised trays. Each little compartment is stuffed with something different: noodles, rice, chicken, beef, pork, vegetables, sauces, skewers and so on.

Whatever you choose, its a certainty you won’t leave hungry – Japanese also makes a nice change from the more prevalent Chinese eateries that abound the city centre of Manchester. A big 34SP.com thumbs up!

New Samsi

A very grey, and drizzly *summer* day in Manchester today. To lift the spirits lunch today was at the funky and continually reliable Eden Bar.

Eden sits on the edge of the Rochdale canal accessible from Canal Street by a small bridge. As you cross the bridge you also pass the permanently moored canal barge owned by Eden. Perfect for a cold drink on one of the five sunny days we get in Manchester each year. Today however, bobbing up and down in the rain did not appeal. Indoors we went.

Inside, Eden is a dark wood and candlelit affair (sometimes a bit too dark). Plenty of big leather sofas circle the edges to laze on once you have had your fill. There is also a well stocked bar if you were to make it an evening out.

Lunchtime at Eden comprises sandwiches, burgers, soups, pizzas etc. Bar food with a nice twist. Service is also friendly and fun – today we even had assistance naming the songs playing on the PA

The half pound lamb burger served with a nice big salad and side of fries should be plenty to keep anyone going for most of the day (and into the night!). Something lighter? The salami and emental cheese sandwich (again with a nice big salad) went down a treat today.

For lunch (or dinner) Eden is another 34SP.com favourite destination and well worth the trip, especially if you come on one of our sunny days

http://www.edenbar.co.uk/

To kick the week off (and to make sure everyone turns up!) Monday is a special day at 34SP.com – it’s free lunch day for the staff! Manchester is quite the foodies playground, we have a really diverse choice to pick from; everything from Japanese through Italian to Mongolian.

Today we visited Tampopo on Albert Square. Specialising in East Asian food (Thailand, Vietnam etc.) you are seated canteen style on benches and served pretty sharpish. If you’re on a budget they have a very good Gyoza (dumplings) and Ramen (noodle and chick broth) combo at around �6.

If you’re close to Albert Square and in a hurry we all recommend it.

http://www.tampopo.co.uk/