Masterclass

Carl had recorded live coverage of the Malaysian Grand Prix, which we watched at our leisure. Another win for Sebastian Vettel, a fine showing from Renault's Nick Heidfeld to finish third, a poor performance from Lewis Hamilton and an incident between him and Fernando Alonso were the highlights of what wasn't the most exciting of races.

After brunch, we went out for a ramble around Dún Laoghaire in the glorious summer-like weather. The place was swarming, with masses of people taking advantage of the nice conditions and queues everywhere for ice cream and frozen yoghurt and suchlike. It was all very much alive and kicking, despite a recent doom-and-gloom article in The irish Times which portrayed the town as slowly dying.

We'd been invited for an evening meal with friends across the road from Carl's place. A really pleasant time, with good food, fine company, and a masterclass from one of the company in the fine art of napkin folding. We joined the gang for one drink afterwards in the Eagles pub, but soon left them to their own devices, anxious to get away from the loud music and frenetic dancing.