Forum Thermomix
Welcoming Center, Management and General Chat => Chit Chat => Topic started by: achookwoman on June 27, 2011, 08:08:37 am
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On our last day in London, we returned to Fortnum and Mason for Morning tea. This is a most beautiful shop with several floors. I only managed to visit 3 as I spent most of my time looking at the crockery and kitchen ware on the 1st. floor. Dh said that he would take me there for Morning Tea. This is an EVENT, not just drinks and an nibble on the side. The menu lists several special blends of their own brand of tea. We each chose a different blend. I chose Royal Blend and DH chose Assam Superb. Each arrived in silver tea pots, with silver strainer and silver holder for strainer. I drank 4 cups of tea and there was still plenty left. I could smell the musky aroma of DH tea which he thoroughly enjoyed. We had ordered short breads to go with the tea. These were perfect buttery fingers. There were 3 on the plate and I blush as I admit that I ate 2. On a previous visit I had scones and jam and cream. One was a fruit scone and the other plain. Not too large , but large enough for morning tea. They were cooked to perfection and were just warm. They were served with clotted cream and strawberry jam. DH had a slice of Demel Torte. I had a taste, of course, and didn't like it much. Bit stodgy without any particular character. As a promotion of their ice cream, they presented us with 2 tiny cones of ice cream. One was coffee and was delicious.
Then to shop. I still had some English Pounds left!!!!. Fortnum and Masons have a special service whereby you can purchase goods and they will pack then for you and 'ship' them home. The VAT tax is subtracted, and this partly goes towards the cost of shipping. I tried to select items that I couldn't buy in Australia. Because of the strict importing laws in Australia regarding food and organic products , such as leather and wood, I had to be very careful what I chose. Some of what I selected was, 8 5 inch squares of black slate on which to serve small hot dishes. Small round dishes to sit on the slate for a small seafood starter. Several tea towels with Fortunm and Mason
name on them. 2 very British mugs with English birds on the. (Cornish Cream had introduced me to them). A jug and egg cups and some metal spikes that you put into a large hen or turkey and they pop up when cooked. These can be used up to 500 times. That is a lot of turkey. I might have to leave these in my will to daughter.!!. I also bought a shower cap covered in lady birds. This is for the guest bathroom.
When I had finished it was lunch time. So down to the dining room. I ordered risotto with stinging nettles and DH ordered steak. There was a problem in the dining room kitchen and with the apologies came extra bread. They offered both rye and white sour dough and it was delicious. By the time the Risotto came, with a poached egg on top, I was no longer hungry . I ate a little of the Risotto and it was as good as any that I have had, but the bread had taken the edge off my appetite. Dh, who hadn't eaten as much bread, enjoyed his steak.
We walked back to our Hotel, to wait for the taxi to the airport and our 21 hour flight home. The package should arrive any day now.
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reads like an leaf out of your diary, and I can just imagine it. what a great experience you had chookie
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Chookie what a lovely experience. I could almost imagine myself there while I was reading it. Thank you. :-*
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Sounds lovely please post some pics.
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Trying to post pics. but got into an awful mess. Maybe Judy can help.?
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In flies JD - here it is. Lovely story Chookie, bet you can't wait for your parcel.
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Judy, thanks sooooo much. You are a real marvel. What would we do without you.
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No worries Chookie, glad to help. Pictures always add something to a story.
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My dh just loves Fortnum's he would be so jealous.
Love the idea of those slate 'dishes', think I need some!
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Which bird mugs did you get Chookie?
Years ago DH did some unpaid work for a friend and at Christmas we received a F&M Christmas Hamper as a thank you.It was wonderful delving into the wicker basket to see what goodies were in there.I still have the basket. ;D
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Thanks for the info on Fortnum and Mason posting home. We are visiting UK in Sep, makes it very tempting.
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Bedlam, you must go, also to the Wallace Collection. It is free, they have a nice Cafe and we attended a lecture about the Collection. The history of how it came about it like something from Dickens.
CC, I chose the mug with ducks and DH chose the one with lots of British birds.
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Could you please post photo's of your goodies Chookie 8)
Your black slate sounds interesting. I have in one of my magazines, a lovely french cafe serving croissants, scones and jams on those slate tiles. A beautiful way to serve them.
Loved your story, you had a wonderful adventure :)
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Thanks Maddy. I have lots of beautiful photos but am having trouble posting them. I took lots with the Forum people in mind as there were lots of good ideas on presentation. I am working on it and when I get really desperate I ask Judy to help. She is so efficient and willing.
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Chookie I love hearing about this.
I don't know what we would do without Judy, probably do as most of the rest of the world have to do...............battle on. :-* :-*
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Stopit right now chookie! I can't stand it F & M OMG. What a place. Memories!!!!!!!!!!!!. And now you will have them too. You are one lucky girl.
Gertbysea
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Chookie you have such lovely memories - thank you for sharing them with us, as it's lovely to hear all about what you saw.
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sounds like you had a lovey time...the slate plates are all over the place here too and you can even buy them on occasion in our supermarkets in the crockery isle....people use sauces etc also to write on them for deco with the dish placed on them
i hope you dont get hit with extra tax and fees when your package gets to oz..happened to my parnets a few times..they purchased some very expensive statues in italy once that were sent home the same by the shop where they purchased them and got hit with a huge fee when picking them up in oz..basically told htem they pay the fee asked or you dont get your items..to say the least they were peeved....really hope this doesnt happen to you!
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So long as the value is less than AUD1,000 they should get through customs OK, but if there are foodstuffs, wood, leather, etc. you may be faced with quarantine fees. I can give you details of a good and reliable customs agent if you need help with clearing the package.
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Thanks for the advice and offers of help, Cuilidh and Frozzie. The only item I might have trouble with is a packet of tea bags. The package was under the $1000 limit. When I came through customs on arriving home, I had 2 tins of tea in my suitcase. They said that I should have declared it, I hadn't as F&M said it would be OK.
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Chookie what lovely memories you have. It;s been so nice sharing your holiday with you.
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So long as the value is less than AUD1,000 they should get through customs OK, but if there are foodstuffs, wood, leather, etc. you may be faced with quarantine fees. I can give you details of a good and reliable customs agent if you need help with clearing the package.
i knew about food stuffs and animal products etc but not about the thousand dollar limit and customs fees ....thats why they would have got hit with a huge fee as the statues were well over a thousand AUD each...i never have this problem as im not in the habit of buying such expensive items lol...ill just inherit them!!! If I remember correctly they were aware there were fees but were a little shocked at how much it was. My purchases are generally kitchen bits and pieces, food stuffs toys, books or clothes so nowhere near that kind of amount... i also know that for alcohol (mum used to take back some european liqueurs etc on her visits over) that if you dont declare the exact amount and even if its only a few mls over the allowed limit they dont care they will charge you duty on all of the bottles again and dont allow you to say leave the bottle that makes you go over...a bit over the top if you ask me but anyway!
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I wonder if a quick tipple before you get to customs would be helpful to cut down the quantity of the liquor - it would certainly make you more cheerful as you wait in the queues.
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if i remember well i dont think it matters..even if you bring half a bottle back because you drank some on your trip they count it as a full bottle...money making (clears throat)....i really do hate some duty customs...i can understand for food stuffs or animal products as thats keeping the environment and people free from any kind of illness or infestation but some other things I dont get the over the top crack down other than it being about yet again making money!
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Especially when all this is happening at 2am and you didn't sleep on the flight. :-[
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Vat (value added tax) is always redeemable by those living outside of Europe. Fortnum & Mason should blush if they incur other taxes for anyone since they themselves practice tax avoidance here in England much to the wrath of the public who demonstrated against them this year.
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Decadent Dot its not so much the VAT, GST or TVA but more Australia and their super strict policy and all over the place fees and charges (they have to be the kings of finding ways to make you pay)...imo they pretty much make up fees just to get more money out of you...an example we paid fees etc on sending luggage from an airport in oz and when it arrived back in france they said there was a note saying the sender (ie us) had asked us to pay some ridiculous fee well DH gave them an earful and in the end they apologised for hte mix up and just blew off the supposed fee...i get it alot as my parents or I are always sending things back and forth from europe to oz either on our travels or just from one destination to the other and there are always extra fees involved on top of standard taxes where oz is concerned or nearly!! makes the blood boil but not much you can do about it except contest it and get around it where you can!! winge over lol!
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I believe I heard somewhere that Australia was the most "taxed" country in the world. I hope I am wrong, but I don't think I am. In fact, I believe I heard somewhere that one of our taxes was even taxed! Can't remember which one it was, but I'm not in the least surprised. In fact, come to think of it, one example may be our GST (VAT / TVA equivalent). As a small business, we automatically collect GST on sales, then we pay it back to the tax office, either monthly, quarterly or annually, depending upon how our businesses are set up. In the interim, it is in our bank account - and we get taxed on the money in our bank accounts ...
Having said that, this may be true for other countries as well. Maybe I should sit back and think of another example?
Haven't we wandered a long way off the track from Chookie's wonderful visits to Fortnum & Masons! Dear Chookie, I didn't mean to get so side tracked, sorry about that - your memories and stories of your visit are so much more important than my moaning about other, totally unrelated, subjects!
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Thank Cuilidh, but I would like to say a few words about the VAT tax also. My DH bought me a diamond ring while in South Africa.( my engagement ring had been stolen 50 years ago and never replaced). The expected VAT made it a good buy. I returned home with a VISA card and instructions how to redeem the tax. Yesterday I went to Melb. To cash it in. I was instructed to go to Travelex. Travelex told me I couldn't cash it in but had to spend it. So of to DJ 's who were having a sale and bought a sheet and tried to pay with the card. Guess what ? Didn't work. So today I will spend time on the computer, ( when I would rather be playing with my TMX) chasing my refund.
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What a story! One other thing I have learned about Australia is that it loves its bureaucracy (but they don't like people to know that) and employees / staff don't like to take responsibility for anything that is the least bit unusual. I would try contacting different people until you get the answer you want, then take down their name and note the time / date of the conversation and see how you get on then.
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Chookie, I'm so sorry to hear about your bad luck. I will keep my fingers crossed that you are able to sort it out today - ease your mind and then get back to the kitchen!!!!!
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Chased the VAT refund on the computer. The money has not been paid into the account yet. Wonder if it will ever be paid in. This was 10 weeks ago. Sometimes things are a bit slow in South Africa.
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Good luck, Chookie. We had a flight cancelled when we were away recently because of the second Icelandic ash cloud and that air fare hasn't been refunded yet, either. Hopefully we will both get our refunds "in the fullness of time".
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I do hope you both get your refunds. We were to receive one when Ansett went down and eventually got it.
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ooooo yes i do hope you botn get your refunds and quickly... and cuilidh if you want to see bureaucracy in action at its finest come to france...they are the kings of paperwork and red tape...at times it can take up to 1 year for your renewed licence to be done..which takes 10 mins on average in oz ie take photo wait 10 mins and you have your licence..and the list goes on...when that happened to me DH rang and went off at them and miraculously we had the licence within a week and also they never communicate between different offices even our local town hall..one department asked for a whole lot of paperwork and then another rang a few days later askig for the same paperwork so we said cant you just go down the hall and copy the other papers..they said no...and the list goes on and on..true kings of tying everythig up and making things difficult!