It's not pretty

The inventor of instant noodles has died in Japan aged 96. I take this to indicate that instant noodles are good for you. Although Momofuku Ando died in Japan, he was actually born in Taiwan it appears. And although the instant noodle industry may seem like small potatoes to us in the west, it's worth noting that Ando's company "Nissin" sells 85.7 billion portions a year, and he was working up until 2005. How cool is that?

You know something that really bothers me about children's clothes - the fact that all retailers seem to have this idea that only girls need them. Tesco is the worst offender. They have litterally 10 times as much clothing on sale for little girls as boys. Are they under some illusion that boys are kept naked until adulthood? Or do they think that parents of boys only want to dress them in the same thing every day? Woolworths is another major offender. All shops seem to offer far more girls' clothes than boys however.

My father says that the retailers have probably done research and found that people buy more clothes for girl babies than boys. I can't that think this can be the case. All babies get dirty at the same rate, and they all need to change clothes as often. As a consumer I'm constantly dissapointed with the lack of choice offered to me by Tesco et al. I would spend more money with them if they offered what I wanted. I think Tesco has got it wrong - Bastards. And you can never get a parent and child parking space there.

The most expensive baby clothes on earth appear to come from Monsoon. I like Monsoon clothes because they are a bit different, and if I was a drug dealer or rock star, I might even buy baby clothes there. This weekend however, I bought a jacket and trousers in the Monsoon sale at 75% discount, and it still cost me over £12. Who has that kind of money to spend on clothes that only last 3 months?

This weekend I lost my beret somewhere. Mother will be pleased about this because she hates my beret, but I liked it and it really annoyed me. Don't worry mother, I'm planning to find another one.

We booked tickets to Taiwan for Chinese New Year and I've booked the time off work. Apparently children in Taiwan have a ceremony when they are one year old. The child is placed on the floor with a number of objects just out of reach. Each object represents a career. The idea is to see which object the child picks up first. Since Dumpy will be 11 months old when we are there, I'm hoping we can do it while we are there and take some pictures.

And finally, if anyone would like to give me the cash, there is an anti aircraft platform 7 miles off the Essex coast for sale. It's not pretty, but the owner declared independence several years ago and it is now home to an internet company. Of course, no one actually recognises the platform as a sovereign state and it does fall inside british territorial waters, it would still be cool though wouldn't it?