Sandy Burton was the most widely loved person I have met in 71 years. If the cliche “not a mean bone in her body” retains any meaning it must apply to her. She was also, in all circumstances, stylish. Look at the snaps in The Correspondent. I remember encountering her and Robert Delfs in the tunnel leading into the Forbidden City on the night of Tiananmen (in June 1989). They were running out of the Square hand-in-hand and she had her sunglasses on her head as usual. I thought then, gosh, she always looks great. “Don't go in there, Jonathan,” she warned me. “They're going to kill a lot people.” Right as usual.

From Arthur “MacArthur” Hacker

I would like to thank the Foreign Correpondents' Club for staging an exciting Scottish Cultural Evening. George Mackenzie as Colonel Commandant of the Hurlestone Highlanders (23rd Foot and Mouth) put on a fine performance worthy those great stand-up Scottish comedians of the past, Sir Harry Lauder, Will Fife and that clown Ramsay MacDonald.

However myself and my guest for the evening, a wee Scottish lassie, agreed that it would have been more appropriate if Scottish cuisine had been served at this Scottish Cultural Evening rather than prawn cocktail (a Sassenach starter) and chicken, particularly during a Bird Flu epidemic. What's wrong with bubblyjock or famous grouse? A wee slice of crowdie would have been preferable to some sort of insipid French junket. A few wee lumps of that auld-farrant sweetie grundy would have been preferable to After Eights. The FCC menu made me greet.

Where was "Your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain of the pudden race!" the exquisitely scrumptious Haggis? A Scottish banquet without Haggis is like Dim Sum without Fortune Cookies.
However I am aware that it might have been difficult to find the ingredients of Haggis at short notice.

Two hundred fresh sheep’s paunches (stomachs) and plucks (lights, heart and liver in one piece with the windpipe attached) cannot be found at the drop of a sporran in your average Hong Kong delicatessen. The other ingredients onion and oatmeal are readily available. Like any fine dish Haggis is very time consuming to make. Cleaning a paunch takes about twelve hours, so the paunchless Haggis is acceptable.

You can generally get away Mock Haggis. Here is the recipe (for two):

Take the meat from two mature BigMacs and mix with finely chopped liver sausage, onions and "the halesome parritch, chief of Scotia's food,” lumpy porridge. Put mixture in a buttered dish and steam for four hours. Saturate with Scotch before serving on a bed of mashed potatoes. This should be consumed with a few drams of malt whisky unadulterated with water. An infusion o' the ole' stag's breathe helps eliminate the taste of the BigMac .

Up your kilt!

From Absent Member George Mackenzie

I just wanted to say how wonderful it was to come back and revisit the FCC - my favourite Club. It was good to see so many of the old “gang” still there..A few even remembered my number.
Amazing ! They must have been trained by Mr “Memory” Liao.

Despite the fact that the new Main Bar feels a bit like entering Grand Central Station in New York, I got the hang of it and I guess it leaves more space for tables and for the food waiters to move about.
I'm glad the Board of the day saw fit to hire Gilbert Cheng as General Manager. After all, Gilbert (and Sammy) have been there since at least 1971-72 and know how everything works, know all the staff and how they think and feel and know the form for cutting deals with suppliers etc.

Gilbert is running a really top class operation. I'd give the FCC 5 Stars for service and management, just like the Mandarin. Unlike the Mandarin, though, the FCC has kept the prices for food and drinks at fantastically low levels.

The food is of excellent quality as well as great value for money. Chef Alan Chan deserves a big pat on the back for his and his team's good work. I spent so much time in FCC, as I was living next door in the Ice House (well-managed by the wonderful Angela Lee), that I was able to observe and study the ways of the staff and how they operated in considerable detail. I was most impressed and I loved it when, one night, Shirley gave a couple of the makee-learnee new bar staff a right telling-off for getting it wrong. I told the Captain that Shirley ought to be Officer-in-Charge of the bar. His reply: "She is."

Shirley is great news. You've hired top notch lass in her.

The gym, sauna, steam bath and whirly-pool are great value but, hardly used, it seems?

As for the rest of the Club, I've never, ever, seen it so full of people, eating and drinking in every bar and restaurant, every day at lunch and dinner. You must be pulling in the lolly. Mind you, at FCC prices, it doesn't pay to stand around hungry, or sober.

Allen Youngblood and his musicians are also good news. My old friend Bert, of UPI, would be proud of what’s been done to “His place”.

My only real reservation is about the new “high tech” taps in the men's loo. It took me a while to fathom out how the damn things worked. There are simpler taps that look like taps and work like taps and which also shut selves off to save water.

All in all, Gilbert is to be congratulated on running and managing what is now a really top 5-star Club. Please pass on my congratulations and best wishes to all the team, not forgetting your efficient front office staff or quiet Mr Pong, who mops out the gents.

Thank you all for the welcome home and for making my visit so memorable.

May you all keep breathing and stay warm to the touch.