London 2012 will be a carnival, with parties from Hyde park to Highgate

Yesterday was Super Saturday in the eyes of the British Olympic contingent with seven potential gold medals dancing tantalisingly in the sights of the 2012 host.

So what better way to soak up Great Britain's day in Beijing than at London House in the heart of the capital? Here in the courtyard of Shichaihai, a lakeside residency where the next Olympic entertainer hopes to drive international investment and increase the number of overseas visitors and students.

The London 2012 set, including Locog chairman Sebastian Coe and the government's Olympic minister, Tessa Jowell, are bracing themselves for daily controversies presented by the British media once they pick up the Olympic flag and flame next Sunday.

They observed, with a mixture of sympathy and relief, the attack led by British journalists on the IOC and Bocog all week over human rights, protest parks and accusations of broken promises and lies.

'It's good to see Bocog get a lashing. We get it in the neck all the time. And it's about to get worse,' one Locog official said this week.

Indeed, London House itself came in for severe media roasting even before it opened 10 days ago. Newly elected London mayor and maverick politician Boris Johnson cut GBP1.2 million (HK$17.4 million) from the GBP4.6 million budget as soon as he displaced Ken Livingstone - he had considered axing it altogether.