5 Things You Didn't Know About Me!

I try to keep my blog based around my business and business topics which I feel you will be interested in. But I'm mindful that sometimes it's nice to get to know the person behind the blog.

I know you can do so by going to my website and reading the About Me page and following some of my random Tweets on Twitter but today I thought it might be fun to share 5 things you definitely wouldn't know about me! 

       1.  I was on TV as a contestant on Blind Date in 1988 and Catchphrase in 1981!

Saturday night in the 80s involved wathcing Baywatch, Catchphrase and Blind Date and then heading out to the pub for the night. No - I've not appeared in Baywatch. But 2 out of 3 ain't bad! Blind Date was great fun and really interesting seeing behind the scenes of the ITV studios. I failed dismally, wasn't chosen and I thought I seemed quite arrogant - something which horrified me. So I had to make amends and was over the moon to go on Carchphrase with Roy Walker and I won and went through the "M" square and won a wonderful holiday to Hong Kong and Bali. Both Cilla Black and Roy Walker were lovely people and made all of us feel so welcome. I'm sure one of the satellite channels repeats them from time to time - if only I got paid royalties! Idid have a video of both shows but am quite pleased it was lost years ago!

      2.  I'm a PADI Divemaster and absolutely love scuba diving!

I learnt to dive in 1993 with The London Scuba Diving School which was set up by Ian Pattison and he become one of my best friends. The diving club he set up was really sociable and we went on some great diving trips around the UK and on some of the best holidays in The Red Sea in Egypt. The photo on the left was of me with Ian Pattison and the captain and our divemaster with a huge Tuna which we caught on one of the dives. It was really tasty that night with rice and veg! I have so many wonderful memories from those days. The PADI system is great and it makes it very natural to work your way up through the levels. I stopped at Divemaster because I never wanted to be an Instructor. If you ever want to talk diving adventures get in touch and if you don't yet scuba dive and would like to, then get in touch with The London Scuba Diving School - they are fantastic.

     3.  I can count to 10 in Cantonese!

In 1975 my Dad got a job in Hong Kong and at the impressionable age of 9 I jetted off to the Far East with my Dad, Mum and my sister. We lived there for two years on the 25th floor in a nice, three bedroom apartment called Baguio Villas. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet I found this photo which is almost the exact view from our apartment!
The swimming pool was the one I learnt to swim in and my sister and I used to cycle round these roads all the time. Happy days. Because it was so humid school would end at 2pm and so every afternoon I came home and would spend hours in the pool.
There was a small shanti village down below our block, on the beach and we used to go down there and meet the local Chinese children. They always had a huge stock of fire crackers and they would give us a few and we would all swap swear words! The swear words I know in Cantonese are not repeatable. The Chinese are professionals when it comes to their swear words!!

So here is one to ten in Cantonese:

1. Yat
2. Yee
3. Saam
4. Say
5. Ummm
6. Lock
7. Chat
8. Bat
9. Gow
10. Sup

My daughter will be learning Mandarin at her school and I've decided to learn Mandarin too. With China set to become the world's leading power I figure it makes sense to have a grasp of their language even if it's just basic. If you too would like to learn, I highly recommend Yangyang. Her DVD - "Learn Chinese with Yangyang" is very good.

     4. I met Tom Cruise and did a rendition of "Top Gun" with him!

My friends own Daytona Motorsport and in 1996 they invited me and my wife to pop in to meet Tom Cruise. He'd been filming Mission Impossible and he loved to wind down at the end of a film shoot by racing round a kart track. Daytona used to have a circuit in Wood Lane, West London opposite the BBC TV Centre. I'd had a late night race booked and my friend had asked if he could change the date as he needed the track. But he only gave me 24 hours notice! Which is why he was kind enough to invite us along.  I'll never forget seeing Tom Cruise sauntering over to us and me being introduced as the guy who had been booked and he thanked me for letting him race.
Me being me - those of you who know me well know I'm no shrinking violet - just looked him straight in the eyes and said "You asshole; you're lucky to be here. You just did a fly by past my control tower at over 200 knots. I want some butts!"
The guys from Daytona froze and thankfully Tom cracked up laughing. He and I then went through a rendition of the Top Gun dog fight scene: "Voodoo one, Voodoo One! Woods been hit, Woods been hit!" Can you imagine! Me doing "Voodoo one, this bogey's all over me" with Tom Cruise! It was awesome.
And then my wife grabbed Tom and gave him a big kiss. And whilst they were having a photo taken, arms round each other, I jabbed Tom in the chest and said "Hey, has my wife got F*** Me written on her forehead?" and Tom lost it laughing and we had the best night. He told us loads of stories about Top Gun and Cocktail and he was just the nicest guy.

    5. One night I woke up in Prison! 

I was 21 and a stockbroker in London and was like many young people working in the City. I used to go out most nights and we sure knew how to party. This particular night an American friend who I'd made in Hong Kong was in London and he and I went out drinking. It was a Wednesday night and we met at a cocktail bar in Covent Garden called "Rumours". We decided to try to drink our way through the entire cocktail menu. I don't remember much past a Bloody Mary - I never was any good at drinking!
The next thing I remember was waking up in my mate's bedroom. It was very white. White floors, white tiled walls and there were no windows. Obviously very hungover it didn't register at first. I noticed my jeans were wet from the lower thigh down. I thought I'd peed myself but checked and hadn't. My head was agony and I had the worst hangover of my life!I then looked over to the door and that's when it hit me like a haed on car crash! There were 3 little bars across a small window in the door and no door handle - I was in prison!!
I sat bolt upright and tried to think. I could only remember being in Rumours and nothing else. I then began to panick. I was worried about having a criminal record. As a stockbroker, under the FSA rules you had to be a "fit and proper person". Anyone with a criminal record was out. I suddenly felt pain in my right wrist and looked down to see a very sore line around half my wrist which had been bleeding but was now caked dry. I knew it must have been a handcuff rub mark, which heightened my panicked state!
I jumped up and knocked on the door. Within seconds I heard "Mr Armour, we'll let you out in a moment."
A nice police man unlocked the door and escorted me to the front desk where I was reunited with a plastic bag of my possessions; watch, wallet, tube pass.
I quickly asked the officer, "What am I doing in here?"
The policeman laughed as did the desk sarjeant. "We found you in Hyde Park, in a puddle drinking Meths with 3 tramps!"
I was shocked and he went on to tell me that I was very keen to stay with them and seemed to be enjoying myself!
I then asked, "Have I got a criminal record?"
"No, not at all. We took you in for your own safety to sober up. You wouldn't tell us where you lived and you weren't too happy about us taken you in. Sorry about the handcuff marks; they should heal quite quickly."
I apologised profusely and very embarrassedly took myself home for a quick soak in the bath before work.
As I travelled to work I felt horrendous. I'd never had such a bad hangover in my life and thankfully I was in such a state when I got to the Stock Exchange my boss saw the state of me, thanked me for making the effort to turn up and sent me home for the day.
Needless to say I've given up drinking Meths and most of my friends now are NOT tramps! ;-)

So there you have it. 5 things you definitely wouldn't have known about me!