The Big O.E

The further east you go, the cheaper the beer gets...

jono_79 — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 10:51:00 GMT

Day 4 - Prague, Czech Republic.

We got up early to catch our train to Prague, a four and a half hour journey and the Dutchies were still not back. I guess that meant that they got in somewhere. We had said our goodbyes the night before, just in case.

As I've probably mentioned, train is my favourite way to travel and this time was no exception. We had good seats and it was a comfortable fast ride. When we arrived in the afternoon, it was pretty hot, a nice change from the greys and concrete skies of Berlin. It took a while, but we managed to find our hostel situated right next to the 'old town' and we couldn't have asked for a better location. Loads of old architecture, restaurants and cafes were about so there was never any shortage of ideas for food.

We decided to wander out into the city and were greeted by a bustling marketplace in the main square of St Wencelas (like the Christmas carol). Loads of stalls and people wandering around and no doubt, pickpockets. Luckily I always carry around infected syringes in my pockets, should any cheeky sod decide to lift my wallet. I call it my "porcupine surprise."

We wandered around the Old Town for a three or four hours until our stomachs demanded that we feed them. We found a classy floating boat/restaurant that was far more affordable than it looked. The exchange rate is 100 Euro = 2500 Korunas (or Crowns) so we had a big feed, a few beers each and tasty dessert for around 20 Euro. As I mentioned last time, the further east you go, the more affordable the beer becomes. In fact, it's cheaper to buy a beer in Prague than it is to buy a coffee.

Evening descended and we were still in the mood for exploring. We checked out the major landmark of the St Charles bridge, dotted with old statues, hawkers and somewhere in the realm of a bajillion tourists. There are several bridges spanning the river but this is by far the nicest.

Describing Prague as a place with old buildings, a fancy castle and stony bridges over a wide river doesn't really do it justice. Sure, you can reduce it to that, just as you can reduce Einstein to a guy who good at scientific equations. At night time it looks postcard picturesque as the sky darkens and the lights illuminate the buildings all around the city.

Day 5 - Prague, Czech Republic.

Our beds were superb so we felt a million bucks when we woke up the next morning. We decided to check out the castle and cathedrals as that's what you do when you visit medieval cities. Just as the Germans had invaded decades earlier, the German weather made its way to Prague and we were drizzled on all day. We shared some traditional Czech food -- goulash beef stew in a hollowed out bread bun and half a kilo of potatoes sliced into a kind of quiche. To call Czech food 'stodgy' is an understatement. Green vegetables are a myth used to scare children into behaving properly so if you're going to Prague, you'd better like meat and you'd better like bread and potatoes. Luckily I like all three.

There's no point in describing the Cathedral and castle we saw. They're always really impressive yet hard to define. The Wencelas (?) Cathedral was more ornate than most I've seen and was filled with detailed ornaments and stone statues of angels with golden-gilded swords. But like many cathedrals, it's the most impressive one you've seen until the next one.

The castle was more memorable but I found it hard to read the Czech history and get a feel for the country's struggle over the years for a couple of reasons. 1) There are lots of V's and W's in the language which can make it hard to concentrate and 2) Czech history doesn't really interlink with NZ or UK history so while I'm sure it's all very interesting (some royals got thrown out of a window and survived), it's like when Finland won the World Ice Hockey championships. Great for fans of Finnish ice hockey, kinda irrelevant for everyone else.

Afterwards, we strolled around some more, we went through some gardens looking for peacocks (nowhere to be seen) before we had to take shelter at the Senate to get out of the rain.

We then decided to do some beer tasting at a restaurant where we sampled a selection of 8 x 100ml beers with some not-so-normal flavours including; banana beer, coffee beer, nettle beer, and wait for it… bacon beer. Technically it wasn't bacon beer but rather a smoky beer. The coffee beer was my fave - I much preferred it to Guinness which was it's most similar flavour.

As far as beers go, Prague deserves it's reputation as Europe's best.

Day 6 - Krakow, Poland.

After failing to book seats on the fully booked overnight train, we decided to get a day train to Krakow the next day. It was quite a long journey; eight hours and thirty-eight minutes (to be exact) made longer by a fire in the front carriage of the train. Every time we pulled into a station, we could smell a kind of sulphurous smoke and then people would open the windows. A part of me thought that this was par for the course on a train heading to Eastern Europe but after a while, people began to move from the front carriage into our carriage as the smoke increased, so we knew it was no ordinary smoke.

This lead to a big delay as we apparently pulled into a station, removed the offending carriage before continuing on with our journey. I say 'apparently,' as I slept for the two hour period that this was happening.

Later, we had to change at a place called Katovice (Kat-toh-veech-chuh) which is the dreariest looking place I've ever seen. Old rusty tracks surrounded by buildings that looked like Communism never left. Old train notification boards that never knew electricity or digitalism. Everyone from the first train stood around on the platform as we waited for a joining train that never arrived. Eventually, we caught one a half hour later and we left the misty station.

So having started the day at 9am we got into Krakow about 8.30pm, and headed to the hostel apartments we booked. Unfortunately, we had the world's chattiest hostel staff member who told us what to do and where to go in Krakow for about an hour, which was pretty painful as we were starving from only eating breakfast that day. Anna and I can both talk a person's ear off, but I can guarantee you that we're nothing compared to this girl. Donkeys would be wary of their hind legs around her.

On the hostess' advice (we did listen to some of it, after all), we strolled around to an oldish part of town and tried the local Polish dish of Pirogi; a kind of dumpling that can be filled with anything from sauerkraut, cheese, meat, potato, or minced vegetables. We couldn't decide which ones to get, so we got a bowl of thirty pirogi filled with all the types to share.

Then we waddled home.

Day 7 - Krakow, Poland.

Took it pretty easy in the morning and did some washing. I'm not sure why I'm mentioning doing washing in this blog. Maybe because Mum will read it, and that's the sort of things that Mum's like to know.

Big event for the day was our day trip out to the Nazi concentration camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Everyone is familiar with Auschwitz, but you may not be familiar with the second, much larger camp of Birkenau and a third one Monowitz were constructed to 'cope with the demand' (for want of a better term).

It was pretty much a perfect day to visit such a place. The sky was monotone grey and the rain drizzled throughout. We got on the bus which played a 50 minute video about the camp -- to prepare us, I suppose. Apparently, much of the footage that we see about Auschwitz was taken by a lone Russian cameraman who volunteered to film it despite no military or camera experience. As the Nazi's burned much of the evidence about the camps, his footage became quite crucial in providing evidence for the Nuremburg trials, after the war had finished.

Auschwitz itself was quite busy, with several tour groups there. We saw what looked to be a school tourgroup of Israeli teenagers, some draped in Israeli flags, others looking decidedly bored. No doubt, this part of the tour was an important part of their historical curriculum so you think they'd be a little more interested but rampant hormones have a way of stopping teens from thinking straight.

Above the entrance gate, in wrought iron, are the words "Arbeit Macht Frei", ironically meaning 'work brings freedom.' I assume this was the kind of cruel joke that the Nazi's became famous for because the mass deception of the whole place was quite astounding. Jewish people were mislead that they were being relocated to these camps for a better life, so it was not uncommon for them to pack suitcases full of belongings, only for the contents to be sent away a week later, minus the original owner.

Specifics of the the tour are probably not worth going into too much detail. The whole place was, unsurprisingly, quite morbid and very affecting for most people. As we moved from room to room around the camp, our guide filled us in on the history and happenings of the place and it wasn't difficult to be saddened by it all. The statistics are bad enough, but I thought one of the worst rooms was a window display filled with thousands of children's shoes. Then in the adjoining room, a similar display of adult shoes. Only this time, tens of thousands of them.

No item belonging to the prisoners was not worth keeping. Suitcases of clothes were sorted, rings, jewellery and even tooth fillings were melted down to fund the war effort. Women even had their heads shaved and it was used to make soldier's socks. Pretty gross, really.

Many of the rooms had documents detailing experiments on patients. Often they were injected with Phenol, used to stop their heart, but other experiments included injecting syphilis and even leprosy into prisoners. If it makes for harrowing reading, it's even worse hearing in person.

Yet it gets worse. In a case of German efficiency gone horribly wrong, eventually they worked out a way to gas Jews, Gypsies and Slavic people en masse, so in some rooms they had the piles and piles of canisters of Cyklon-B, followed afterwards by the actual rooms where prisoners were killed. These concrete rooms seemed relatively unassuming, until you realise that the scratches and gouges on the wall are about the same dimensions as human hands…

You kinda wonder, why didn't they just fight back, or organise resistances? Well, they did, but the Nazi's had an answer for everything and one answer was "collective responsibility." If prisoners were presumed guilty of collusion, then 10 people close to them would be killed. Hard to plan escape when you're gambling with other people's lives.

Despite all the morbidity, there was a quiet dignity about Auschwitz. The buildings are well maintained, the grass is well kept and there are a few rooms where people have left roses on displays or flowers under memorials. (Special mention is made of a priest who volunteered to swap places with another prisoner who was sentenced to death by starvation). In a rare victory of poetic justice, there is a specially constructed hanging post out back where Nazi Commander Rudolph Hoess was sentenced to death by hanging. It rests upon the old site where interrogations were conducted.

After all that, we climbed onto the bus again and headed over to Birkenau.

It's simply enormous. Scarily so. The iconic railway track divides the camp through the middle - an image you may have seen in pictures or films. To give you an idea of the scale, you can't even see the end of the camp in any direction. It's 1.5km wide and over 800m long and covers 400 acres.

It was getting a bit cold in the evening, and the ever constant drizzle was adding to the lowering temperature, so we were glad to get back on the bus. The irony of feeling cold wasn't lost on us as Anna noted that this would be the worst place to be in the middle of winter. Prisoners wore outfits that were little more than pyjamas and usually didn't even have shoes, let alone socks.

Auschwitz-Birkenau was an incredible experience and well worth the relatively inexpensive outlay. On the bus back, the guide thanked everyone for their good behaviour at such an important site and reminded us that there is much more to see in Krakow and Poland, than just the camps.

When we arrived back in town, it was unanimously agreed that we should have a stiff drink and we found this amazing Mexican restaurant that served the most delicious food we have ever tasted. I always find it it a bit of a pointless exercise to describe food tastevia words - it's like trying to describe colour via smell but it was there was definitely a taste party in my mouth and I'm salivating as I type this.

As rapper Ice Cube put it; "Today was a good day."

And... we're back!

jono_79 — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 03:53:00 GMT

Right, thought I'd start using this again, now that I have some traveling news.

Day 1 - Berlin.

Got the flight to Berlin without any real incidents and touched down about 6pm. The German train network is pretty efficient and although not as pleasant/modern as London's, is was still a smooth ride.

We checked into our hostel and it was really cool. It was situated in the Turkish area of town and hidden down a side alley. Apparently Turks are the largest minority in Germany so you'll find more kebab places there than you will find German food. Not that German food is much to talk about. It's usually bratwurst in a bread roll, curried sausage in a bread roll or some other meat… in a bread roll. Occasionally, that meat will be pounded flat, and then it's wrapped in breadcrumbs. The taste is good (spicy bratwurst is brilliant); there's just not a great deal of variety or artistry - I suppose the Germans decided to put more effort into industry and war than they did into their cuisine.

When you think about it, as you travel from city to city, it's not often you see German food places, is it? Unlike Indian, Chinese or Thai, and I suppose Turkish kebabs.

Berlin is an interesting beast. It's quite a dilapidated city, lots of old buildings and lots of construction going on so it's covered in graffiti - no big deal as it makes the old, grey buildings look a lot more interesting. I imagine that spray can shops do a good business here --it's very much a graffiti-friendly city.

As we arrived sorta late, we decided to take a stroll around a random area of the city. We walked through a relatively uninteresting, leafy part for a half hour then took a turn into the middle of town and headed toward Checkpoint Charlie - where the American and Communist sections met. It was quite late at night, so not many tourists were around and while it's quite an unremarkable looking area, it holds a great deal of 20th Century historical significance.

Not far from there were some remains of the Berlin wall. I (stupidly) always thought it was designed to keep people out, but it turns out that at the rate that East Germany was losing people over to the other side, they decided to build the wall to keep people in. The early wall was actually put up overnight in 8 hours and was just some barbed wire around a 155km perimeter, which you can imagine, was not particularly effective. So, over time, the Communists put up fences, then later on, the wall and even a second wall spaced further back to deter those who who wanted to switch teams. If that weren't enough, watchtowers were put up in the city where armed guards shot down anyone looking to escape.

Quite sad, really, as if you went to visit some friends over in the East the night before the wall went up, you'd have been stuck there for 30 odd years with no way back.

Late in the evening, we went into a mall which was the only place open and ordered some food from a sports bar. We saw these pretty cool contraptions at particular tables where you order like 3 or 4L of beer that comes in a large pipe with a dispenser, so you can just pour yourself beer without having to get up.

German efficiency at it's best.

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Day 2 - Berlin

On the second day, we started early and went on a bicycle tour around Berlin. We met in the local square where we watched a bunch of gypsies steal someone's bag and run off cackling, while we got some food from a wasp infested local stall. The tour started about 11am and after being assigned to various tour guides, we had to choose our bike -- all of which were individually named and had their own personality.

I choose a bike named Buttercup and Anna chose one named Frankfurt. Our guide was a really cool Japanese-American (from Seattle) chick named Sumi. She lead us on the tour and was a great balance of humour and as you'd expect had lots of informative facts about the areas we rode to. Earlier on, we were keen to avoid the main Irish guide, Ciaran, who was typically Irish, spouting lots of jokes and lame humour, and while he was very charming, his effervescence was starting to grate after 5 minutes, so we thought it best to go with someone else as the tour was about 4.5 hours long. Luckily, Sumi turned out to be brilliant.

We rode all round the city tourist spots, including Brandenburg gate, Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Humboldt University (burning of the books), Alexanderplatz, the Reichstag and many more and got a pretty good idea of German history, pre both World Wars. Humboldt University was interesting -- every major German politician or scientist of note is an alumni of it. Also of note, were the statues on top of some buildings, which were removed as Berlin was about to be attacked in WWI and placed in local rivers for conservation. Many of the buildings in Berlin are reconstructed, but the statues in some areas are original, as if they accepted that they were going to be bombarded. So after the war, they were brought out of the rivers and returned to their original spots on reconstructed buildings.

Also of note, Germany finally paid off the reparations of WWI last October, so not only can they clean up their own mess, but their cleaning up everyone else's as well as they bail Greece and Ireland out of their Euro difficulties.

Midway through the tour, we stopped at a local beer hall for lunch and sampled more meat-in-a-bun and found our favourite beer on the trip thus far, "Erdinger Krystalwasser (Crystal Water)". Beer is reasonably cheap in this part of Europe and the further east you go, the cheaper it gets. It tastes so clean and apparently, in Germany, 'bier' in classed as a food, so it has none of the nasty preservatives that add to any potential hangover. (Interesting fact - after alcohol percentage, preservatives are the main cause of hangovers).

After our stop, we continued onto the other sights before finishing back where we started. Cycle tours, while "touristy" are a great way to see the city and good to get a bit of exercise as well. Anna and I have been careful not to drink too much and have been pretty active. I'm not sure exactly, but we've easily been averaging 10km - 14km walks a day, sometimes more.

Later on, we went back to the hostel and met some Dutch girls, Steph and Fien who were rooming with us. They were a bit younger and were all about hitting the clubs, which Berlin is very much known for. We decided to explore in the other direction of where we were last night and found a cool, edgy area of town with all sorts of arty alternative types. We found a funky, outdoor cafe which served food out of a bus, but decided to come back the next day and see it in the daylight instead. Dinner was Mexican which made me sweat through my shirt but was super-tasty.

We got back late-ish and the Dutch girls were asleep. I guess the clubs could wait for them.

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Day 3 - Berlin

This morning was all about the Rugby World Cup. Anna saw a poster in the Hostel common room advertising a Mexican bar showing NZ vs Japan at 10am. So the night before when we ate, we scouted the location so there would be no chance of missing any action. We were sure we had the right place, but couldn't see any TV's.

However, 10am rolled around and there were already about 8-10 people there including staff. A laptop was hooked up to a projector and they screened the All Blacks thrashing Japan 83 - 7. The service was really laid back, they brought us a German breakfast each and when Japan scored their intercept try everyone was given a free (frei) tequila shot which at 10.30am in the morning is not exactly the sort of drink you want. Still, in the spirit of the occasion, it went down the hatch (and nearly came back up again).

German service is brilliant. They don't expect you to pay up front and tell you to 'put your money away' and settle up casually at the end of the meal. It's pretty sweet as you never feel like you're being rushed to have a drink or to finish up when you're done. Usually, their spoken English is great and they're really friendly and laid back so it's impossible not to have a good time. As far as cool cities go, it's hard to top Berlin.

After breakfast, we went to the station to book our tickets for Prague. After that, we went for a stroll around some of the areas we touched on yesterday before hitting the renowned 'Pergamon' museum. As I understand it, as the German empire was expanding and the Turkish/Ottoman empire was contracting, the Germans had an agreement with the Turkish government and basically shipped entire statues, temples and structures to Berlin to be displayed in this museum.

The Pergamon museum lifts entire parts of the altar of Pergamon and is really impressive. There are many rooms filled with artefacts, pillars and works from ancient Mediterranean and Mesopatamean cultures and even has a partially reconstructed tower/walk of the walls of Babylon.

Considering that we almost didn't bother hitting it, we were really impressed with the stuff on display. Some of the scale of the works is amazing, not just because it's so well preserved/reconstructed, but also because over 2500 years ago, they were building stuff which stood the test of time.

Late afternoon rolled around and we decided to hit the outdoor cafe 'Kjosk' that we saw the evening before. Typically Berlin, it's cooler than cool, but unpretentious so it was great to relax for a bit. After that, we ate some stupidly large schnitzel before checking out a tip that Anna got from her workmate Ioane.

We went to a small bar called 'Dr. Pong' -- a ping pong bar. No, not one of those ping pong bars, but an actual place where you go and play table tennis against random strangers. Inside, it was decorated in a post-Communist fashion, which is to say the barren walls are either bare stone or covered in graffiti and people were allowed to smoke inside (something Europe needs to sort out, STAT). We watched the locals play table tennis before joining in occasionally. Bizarrely, the king of the roost was an obese man in a wheelchair who was practically unbeatable with his array of slices, topspins and swerve shots. Anna was competitive against him but I lost 21-3, with two of those points coming from unforced errors.

However, the main draw of Dr Pong is the table tennis tournament. Everyone who enters circles the table and then walks around in a counter-clockwise direction and hits the ball once to the person the opposite side of the table, while continuing to move in that direction. If you make a mistake, you have to sit down and it continues with people circling the table until only two players are left and then they play off in a real game. Pretty cool, we thought.

We got back and the Dutchies were getting ready to hit some exclusive bar that only posers and weirdoes can get into. Seriously, if your'e dressed smart, rich or 'cool', you'll be turned away. It's kinda counter-exclusive, which I suppose fits with Berlin's vibe. Despite much cajoling, we told them that they had a better chance of getting in without two nearly-mid-30 year olds but in actual fact, we were just pooped from walking all day and getting our arses kicked by a ping pong ninja in a wheelchair.

Next blog... Prague.

Brighton and Tate Modern.

jono_79 — Tue, 6 Apr 2010 20:43:00 GMT

Brighton - early Jan. As I mentioned in my last posting, Anna and I went to Brighton in January and it kicked arsed.

It was a spontaneous trip. It was a pretty uneventful morning when I suggested we take a day trip there. Within an hour, we had eaten breakfast, showered and were on the train to Britain's seaside town, that is apparently also the gay capital of the nation. The sun broke through the clouds and what was a grey dreary day became baked in sunshine.

The best way to describe Brighton is that it is very much like Wellington. It's got a beach walkway that runs along the shore, much like Oriental parade and it's packed with loads of cool shops and trendy places. The beach is actually made of stones, so that's a bit rubbish, but it means you can lie on the beach and eat without getting sand blown in your face or finding it's way down your bumcrack.

We basically checked out the town, and walked a long way down the beachfront. After that, we grabbed some amazing fish'n'chips (I hadn't had Fish'n'chips for quite some time at this point) and at them on the beach.

Brighton is known for it's pier landmarks so we checked them out before heading towards the Amusement park. This was definitely the highlight of the day as we played lots of old school amusement style games of skill and luck. I thought it would be cheesy and really poorly maintained, like most amusement parks, but no, it was actually pretty good.

After that, we checked out a few pubs, watched England beat Wales in the 6 Nations rugby match then caught a late train home. All in all, it was a damn good day. Brighton is a beautiful place with lots to see and do.

February sometime... Another Sunday in February, another dreary rain-filled day. Not so, unbelievers! Anna and I went for a walk to a secret location that turned out to be Britains Tate Modern Art Gallery.

Like most modern art galleries it was filled with displays and paintings that look nothing like the subject they claim to be. Modern art (especially minimalist abstract art), by and large, infuritates me. But if people want to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars on an 'idea' then more power to them. One day, it will become clear that the crumpled garbage that was so painstaking arranged, is simply junk that was thrown around.

Anyway... the Tate Modern was actually pretty cool, and there wasn't much shitty abstract stuff at all. It's an impressive brick building, quite imposing, actually. We checked out a big installation in the turbine hall which is one of the major attractions. The installation was a bit 10 metre high box where people were encouraged to walk around inside it as the further you went in, the darker it got. The whole 'theme' of this piece was gauging how people react when they are in a place where their sight is deprived. Do they walk normally? Or do they inch their way along? It was pretty cool, if ultimately a bit pointless. People bumped into each other and said sorry and then walked in another direction and tried not to bump into anyone else.

I hope the artist didn't get too big a grant for it. So people inside a big dark box will not move as confidently as when they can see. Not exactly rocket science.

The rest of the museum was pretty cool with lots of famous art and sculpture. Saw Andy Warhols stuff (and more than just cans of soup) and Jackson Pollock plus some others. I was quite impressed with the Russian Revolution (Stalinist) era art which was filled with propaganda and war effort posters. Pretty cool.

Despite whether you like art or not, the Tate Modern is a pretty cool place to visit. There were 5 or 6 levels open to the public so you can easily spend a whole afternoon there if you're so inclined. Later on, we had tea upstairs (as you do in England) and then checked out the surrounding area. Saw some BMX stunt riders doing a photoshoot which was pretty rad.

Golly gosh, old chum! It's been a while!

jono_79 — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 08:43:00 GMT

Hi guys! It's been a while since I've updated this so I thought I'd best bring you all up to date and write it all down for posterity. I don't know what posterity means, and I'm too lazy to type the nine words it'll take me to input google's search engine but I think it means 'remembrance for future generations' or something. So yeah, I should write stuff down for future generations.

What's happened since my last blog update:

- Christmas and New Years in London

- An interview at the BBC

- A day trip to Brighton

- A visit to the Tate Modern

- Lots of snow

- A trip back to New Zealand and Australia.

Christmas Day - Christmas day was pretty awesome. Anna and I spent it by ourselves and we cooked up a massive feed of roast pork and vegetables. Very, very tasty and followed by an equally tasty pudding which included a failed attempt at pavlova. Turns out you need a whisk to make pavlova properly, and a whisk we did not have, so it didn't rise properly and ended up being more of a pavlova slice. Hmmm...

Got some wicked presents; some Armani 'Attitude' perfume, a pair of Optimus Prime socks, some fancy moisturiser so I don't have to nick hers and an excellent pair of woollen gloves because at that time of the year, London was bloody freezing and snowing heaps. In fact it still snowed on occasion right up until I left for New Zealand.

Interview at the BBC - Well, I applied for a job at the BBC and when I didn't hear back I assumed that I simply didn't cut the mustard. As they say, assume makes an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me' and on Christmas Eve, I got an emails saying I had been shortlisted for an interview. Apparently hundreds (maybe thousands) of people apply to work at the BBC, so to get this far was a real confidence boost. I had to prepare a 15 minute presentation as part of my interview, so I spent the better part of a week and a half on that.

The BBC television studio is a kind of old but impressive building on the outside. I wish I had thought to take a pic of it. Inside, it's what you'd expect the BBC to be like. Loads of rooms and lots of busy people going about their business.

The interview went surprisingly well I thought, although I was a bit unfocused. Probably the result of not having been interviewed for five years. I didn't blow them away but thought I acquitted myself quite well.

In the end, I didn't get the role but considering the calibre of the competition, I'm not too worried. It was a good experience.

Right, will post this and talk about the other parts.

Merry Christmas, all

jono_79 — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:13:00 GMT

Tried to upload this blog last night but my browser crashes, so my Hemmingway-esque prose was consigned to the annals of cyberspace static. Or something.

Well, have finished doing what minimal Christmas shopping I had to do. A bit expensive to send stuff at the moment and to be honest, the British post service is a bit unreliable, so you all might just have to wait until I pop back to NZ via Australia in mid-February.

Sunday/Monday: Christmas shopping in London is not something I'm keen to repeat. It's wet, it's miserable, there's black ice all over Oxford street pavements, people have oversized umbrellas designed with the sole purpose of eye-gouging anyone within 1.5m of them and there are literally hundreds of thousands of people everywhere. Hell, maybe even over a million...

That said, the whole place looks very festive, especially on the main streets like Oxford and Regent street and around the boutique areas like Carnaby street, Soho and Covent Garden. I hoped to get a white Christmas over here, and so far it's looking like that'll be the case. To be honest, it's just like seeing snow back home but instead of it being 40 degrees on Christmas day, it's 4 degrees, maybe less.

Without harping on about the weather (how British), I'd say it's colder here than in NZ -- I attribute this to the fact that it's dark by 4pm, so the sun doesn't heat the day up as much. A good place to be a vampire, but not as good as say, Alaska or Antarctica.

Job situation is improving. More freelance work has been forthcoming and I'm currently doing an artwork test for a games company south of London. I have an assignment to do for them, due 17th of January. Hard to believe I've nearly been without work for a year. Time flies and all that rubbish. Thank god I got a two year visa and not a one year one is all I can say.

Have been looking really hard but it's too close to Christmas. Have met a few of Craig's film friends and am currently doing another media pack for another horror film. The guy writing the film is awesome -- he worked on the make up and blood effects for Kill Bill, Harry Potter among other things. Very talented.

Getting back into my swimming a bit so that when I go back to NZ/Australia, I won't be bulging out of my jeans. Haven't booked my tickets yet, but will be popping through Aussie either on the way to NZ or on the way back. Not sure yet. Whatever's easiest.

New Flat - Hammersmith: Have finally moved into my own place and it's great to have a bit of sanctuary. However, my room which I took without checking out is something of a jail cell, measuring 1.85m x 2.2m. It has room for a single bed and a chest of drawers and that's about it. It's very warm though as the house has some kind of automated thermostat or something, which is very handy this time of year. I'm living with Mike Gane, from Invercargill, Bridget (social worker) from Christchurch, Ant and Karen (couple, builder, nurse?) from Auckland and Malcolm (Irish, medic/ambo). All this way to live with Kiwi's eh? Heh heh heh. They're all good people though although everyone is doing their own thing this close to Christmas with work functions.

Have attached some photos of decorations around London-town as well as one of Anna and I in some snowy part of London. Have been seeing her for a few months now, so that's a bit of goss for ya, I guess.

And on that note, I'll sign off! Merry Christmas all, I'll try and get Skype set up and give you guys a buzz on Christmas day, if I can.

Merry Christmas, Love

Joe

Greetings all

jono_79 — Tue, 8 Dec 2009 01:34:00 GMT

Hey all,

Well, it's pretty grey this time of year now. Still a bit tough getting used to the day being dark at 4pm, but that's England for ya.

Not really a lot to report, I suppose. I've been looking for work now that my website is up and running but not with a great deal of success. I've been doing some freelance work for a my film company contacts which is good but not really enough to live on. My tax return from Australia came in pretty handy and the last three weeks have had a bit of work from Two Way but other than that, I'm basically living on the smell of an oily rag and bumming off friends.

Well, I've finally gotten around to putting up some photos of the trip so far. Feels quite a long time ago since I hit those countries.

Tuesday 24th November: A couple of weeks back I went to Emirates stadium to watch Arsenal play Royal Standard de Liege in a Champion's trophy football game. The crowd was at the capacity 60,000 people and as you can see in the photo it's quite a beautiful stadium. I'm not really a huge fan of stadiums being named after the sponsor, but that's the reality of professional sports. How else will the athletes afford their thousand dollar pairs of underwear and jewel encrusted watches?

The stadium was really cool and the game was an exciting one as Arsenal dominated. Lots of chanting and cheering and it was a great way to spend a Tuesday evening. I went with Heather, a friend of my mate Damian who knows her from way back. He put us in touch with each other for when her and her friends would have a spare ticket, so that was how it was all set up. About 5 of us went to the game and had a couple of beers before and after the match at their friend's house, not far from the stadium.

Bought a cheap "100% totally unofficial scarf" to commemorate the occasion as it has "Arsenal vs Standard Liege" on it. Will add that to my little box of touristy knick knacks.

Thursday 3rd December: Went to Comedy Karaoke with Anna and her friends and that turned out to be a great night. Funnily enough, it's a night where you pay to watch British comedians such as Kevin Eldon (Hot Fuzz, Big Train, Merlin), Chris Addision (In the Thick of it, In the Loop), Jessica Stevenson (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead) and a bunch of others get up and sing karaoke. Not make jokes or do a routine, but sing. Bizarre, but it actually works. Had a really cool night and was glad that I didn't have to work in the morning. Being unemployed has it's benefits, I suppose.

What else? Hmm, most of my days is spent looking for work. Sorta resigned myself to not starting anything decent until early next year, but that's the way it goes, I suppose.

Will end this here. Hope all is well with y'all. Enjoy the photos.

Jono

Photos: UK - London

jono_79 — Sat, 5 Dec 2009 03:29:00 GMT

London

Photos: Gibraltar

jono_79 — Sat, 5 Dec 2009 03:25:00 GMT

Snippets from Gibraltar

Photos: Spain

jono_79 — Sat, 5 Dec 2009 03:18:00 GMT

Selection of shots from Spain Trip

Hostels, Dinosaurs, Bath and Crackheads

jono_79 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:18:00 GMT

Evening all,

Have been doing quite a bit of house-hopping of late, after Notting Hill, I went stayed in a couple of hostels in the city, a part of an experiment to see what it would be like to live in them for a while and also to give my mates a bit of a break from housing me.

First hostel I went to was in Piccadilly Circus, right in the centre of London. It was a bit shit, really although I did room with a couple of interesting German guys, one studying history and French (perhaps feeling guilty?) and the other studying Islamic studies -- pretty interesting I thought. The main prob was that the social areas were miles away from any other part of the hostel, so people didn't naturally congregate together. Anyway, I only booked a few days there before moving to another hostel called "Clink".

Clink was much better. It used to be an old courthouse (and possibly jail) and it had a bar, better communal areas and the computers were set up in the actual old court. It was really cool. Met a few interesting types there too, as a result of the better placed communal area. A crazy canadian girl who sells irons on TV and a Californian guy who'd just traveled around Sri Lanka and India for a while.

On one of my days there, I finally got around to seeing the National History Museum and it was extremely impressive. The building itself is as impressive as the contents inside. When you walk through the door, there's a full scale skeleton of a diplodocus dinosaur which is about 17 metres long, so when I saw that, I did a small pee in my pants.

For me, the dinosaur section was the highlight, including a full scale teenage Tyrannosaurus Rex animatronic. It was eerily realistic (well, I guess it was, no one's ever seen a real dinosaur). It was a fascinating exhibit with loads of skeletons and cool factoids. However, I already know everything there is to know about dinosaurs, so I mostly just gawked at the skeletons.

The rest of the building is very good too, with sections on the animal and bird kingdom, water creatures, earth, space etc... Basically, it's a big science class, but much more interesting than being in a science class.

Friday October 9: Bath. Went to Bath with Craig and another guy Alex for what was a videogame forum meet. Took a while to get there as Alex arrived late, so we left late and got stuck in London traffic. Since we were in Craig's car, his music was on and it was hardcore heavy metal all the way.

The meet itself was a bit nerdy but it was a really good time. Played very few videogames actually and met a bunch of interesting people, several who work in videogames so I was able to get a few tidbits of advice about my portfolio and who to work for and not to work for.

About 40 people attended and we had a room hired out in a pub for playing games but unsurprisingly most people gravitated towards the pub and Bath's bars.

Considering how small it is, Bath has heaps going for it. Lots of cool wee shops, eating places and the town itself is beautiful, loaded with character and steeped in history.

Sunday October 11: Met up with my friend Beth, an English friend who I met in Australia and we did walked around Bath for the day. She lives nearby in Chippenham (15 mins train) and we met up after I checked out of the YMCA.

Went and checked out the Roman Baths which I heard was supposed to be amazing but I found it a bit underwhelming really. Loads of tourists and it seemed a bit 'dragged out', truth be told, with lots of exhibits about rather minor things. Maybe because I had done Classical studies (and got first in class, I might add) I sort of already knew it a lot about the Roman lifestyle etc...

However the Baths with the steaming water looked very inviting and were the highlight, it was just the supporting exhibits that weren't as good. Probably not worth the 11 pounds either. Still, it had to be done but I suppose if I want to see England's Roman heritage, I'll just go to Italy.

We walked around the rest of Bath which was as beautiful as everyone says it is. We got some lunch, ate some biscuits at a shop called "Ben's Biscuits". Probably in my top three biscuits I've ever had -- right up there with Aunty Kathleen's marshmallow cake.

Being England, it started to rain heavily which meant we had to take shelter in a nearby pub. Ended up staying there and catching up on the goss for a while before saying goodbye and I headed back to London.

Back in London - Anyway, so back in London, I stayed at Tim and Kelly's for a bit and managed to pick up a bit of freelance work. Originally, it was just fixing up an actor's CV but that lead onto doing a media pack for Molinaire Productions, a UK film company who've been involved with lots of films and won a Cannes Film festival award for "Man on Wire."

Basically, a media pack is what company's make when they're looking for funding for a film. It's like a mini-magazine that has info about the actors being cast, tax incentives for investors, data about the money that similar films have done etc... So I'm doing one of those for Craig's mate Brad, who's a producer at Molifilm. If that goes well, then there should be more work and at about 300 quid a pop, the money will come in handy.

So most days I've been going into Craig's work and working on this pack as well as doing one for Craig's film which is getting off the ground.

If anything, the contacts will come in handy should I ever wish to try and work in film/tv instead of games.

Currently - at the moment, I'm busy looking for short term accomodation to live in. Was quite keen to live in Clapham although down near the junction it gets a bit rough. Last week, my friend Anna and I were on the bus and she was telling me a story about some crackhead who broke his back riding his pushbike into a parked car. Anyway, some dude on the bus, probably a crackhead by the looks of him overheard and must've thought we were talking about him and basically abused the shit out of us for the rest of the bus ride.

A bit scary but not much point in engaging him really. If years of arguing with Dad taught me anything, it's that you can't have a rational conversation with someone who's off their face.

Anyway, he tried to follow us on the street so we went the other way for a bit before shaking him off at the train station.

So that's this installment of hostels, dinosaurs, Bath and crackheads. Tune in next time where hoping the episode will be titled: Jobs, Money, Success and Accommodation.

See ya's.

Joe

Hanging out with Hugh and Julia in Notting Hill.

jono_79 — Thu, 1 Oct 2009 04:42:00 GMT

Not really. But I am in Notting Hill and I have to say, if I could afford to live here, or if I thought I was cool enough, I'd definitely live in Notting Hill.

You see, if you walk down Portobello road, you'll see some of the coolest people wearing the trendiest clothes and giving the least shits about anyone. It really is rather funky and not like bits of London where people are trying very hard to be noticed.

Anyway, so I'm here staying with Suzy and Reece, friends from Wellington. I used to go to uni with Suzy and met Reece in Sydney when they lived there. They're staying in Reece's boss's apartment who must be something of a very wealthy man, seeing as he owns his own construction/property business. His wife is an art dealer, judging by the Damien Hirst painting just lying there on the floor.

That's right, a Damien Hirst painting. Probably the modern day equivalent of Andy Warhol. Incredibly pretensious and rather famous. He's also the weirdo artist who put a tiger shark in a formaldehyde tank and called it "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living". Make up your own minds, I guess.

So yeah, had a stroll around this unbearably cool part of town with it's funky markets and stalls. Checked out a store to see what was inside and nearly walked away with a new leather jacket. The guy in there kept going to his calculator and punching in some numbers and then giving me a reduced total (his English wasn't great). I suspect he was a genius level mathematician and not actually giving me discounts but punching in unrelated numbers to give me a new, lower total.

I barely walked out of there with my wallet intact. Lucky for me, I am a creature of impressive willpower and I went to subway and ordered a steak and cheese foot long sub instead. Phew.

Two journal posts in one day? Wonders will never cease!

jono_79 — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:05:00 GMT

Forgot to mention a few things in that last posting.

Thursday 17th: I caught up with a friend Michelle from Verdon. Hadn't seen her for about 13 years so it was good to find out what had been going on with her and her friends since the Verdon/Uni days. Had a few drinks and some kick-ass pizza in Shepherds Bush. Quite like Shepherd's Bush actually, it's a bit like Clapham but with more Australian's. Also has the biggest Westfield Shopping centre in the northern Hemisphere. It's definitely comparable in size to the one in Bondi Junction.

Friday 18th: Caught up with Gareth Larson, another mate from Invercargill and had a few beers with him and crashed on his couch, before going down the street the next morning to visit Tim and watch the All Blacks play the Wallabies. I thought they played really well, and that bit from the 70th minute where they went from one end of the field to the other was the best bit of rugby I'd seen from anyone in the last couple of years really.

South Africa are still the current No.1's, but I think the AB's will really improve. Besides, no other country in the world could lose 17 players after a world cup and still put on a pretty decent team. It'd be interesting to see how SA go if they lost a couple of key players like we did this year. Still, they deserved to win, even if all they do is kick goals. If I wanted to watch goals kicked, I'd watch football.

Enough about the rugby.

Anyway, after Craig and Linda's I'm half thinking of checking into a hostel for a week or so for a bit of variation, maybe meet some new people. My friends won't be here forever and a few are heading home next year (Gareth is leaving on Friday, actually) so it'll be good to get out and about a bit more.

I've also booked a trip to Bath in mid-October which should be really good. While I'm there, I'll pop over to Wales, if I'm not working. And the other day, friends and I booked trips to Hamburg (Germany), come December. Supposedly it is rated in the top 5 Christmas markets in Europe. Hooray, I think.

So even though things have been a bit quiet lately, it means there's a bit to look forward to.

PS - I also saw one of my favourite actors, Paddy Cosidine today. I half pointed at him and he saw me. I felt like an idiot for pointing (it was only half a point, honest).

Laters,

Still in London - job hunting time

jono_79 — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 03:02:00 GMT

Hey guys,

No updates recently because I haven't done a lot lately! It's pretty good having lots of free accomodation as I housesit my friends places. The downside is that I'm house-sitting on my own which means having to talk to the voices in my head.

Which would be great, if I didn't already know what they were gonna say.

I wondered sometimes if there's much point in being over this side of the world if I'm not doing much with my days apart from portfolio/job-related stuff. I did read a Buddhist quote somewhere though that life is like waves in the ocean that rise and fall. Life has natural rhythm with ebbs and flows that we should go along with rather than fight. It just so happens that my current flow is lying on a couch eating chocolate raisins from Sainsbury's and watching cricket highlights.

Didn't end up going to the Notting Hill carnival or to Wales with mates on the camping trip. Just as well, it rained torrentially and tents got flooded. The Notting Hill festival can apparently be a bit much, if you're going on your own. Over a million people and lots of pushing, shoving and "excuse me, your fingers are touching my testicles."

Apparently there has been quite a bit of violence at the NH carnival over the year. My mate Craig was saying one year, five or six people died from stab wounds. Brilliant (!). Anyway, I gave it a miss because it sounded like it was gonna be a bit of a mission and most of my mates were doing something else, so I just played some football with some guys who use the same video game forum as me.

So I stayed in Clapham for a couple of weeks, then after that, I went out to Southampton to visit Ferg, a friend from Aussie, who had gone back for a holiday.

Thursday 10th September: Southampton isn't a particularly exciting place. Honestly, I'd have to say it's like Invercargill, but with more people (a few hundred thousand) but probably not as pretty. Not that I'd call Invercargill a pretty city, but it does have it's moments.

It was good to catch up with Ferg, Arran (Ferg's "little" brother) and Liz (Arran's GF). First night I got there, we went to a pub called the "Jolly Sailor". I didn't see any sailors there, although it was on a wharf, where we could see boats sailing around. Apparently they used to film the tv show "Howard's way" here which I suppose it's of interest to people who can remember the 70's. Anyway, it was a good catch up and I had some traditional English cuisine; chicken and ham pie and it was superb. I could literally feel myself gaining weight.

Friday 11th: Went into town and had a look around, met a mate of Ferg's, Vince, and went out for lunch in town. Saw a statue dedicated to engineers on the Titanic who carried on doing their job so that others could get off the ship. Pity the designers didn't do their job and design a better ship. Also got the memory-lane tour from Ferg who pointed out various places he got kicked out of or venues he saw bands at. Cool.

Later we went around to Vince's house and he cooked us a meal. Now Vince is probably the most intense person I've ever met. He doesn't just like something, he 'FUCKING LAHVES IT!!' and swears and smokes more than everyone I've ever met in my life put together. But he was a good guy, and a very gracious host, cooked us a lovely meal and shouted some beers and we stayed up talking to the early hours.

Still, it cracks me up thinking about his swearing. His idea of censoring himself is saying "I fucking told that 'beep', fuck you, you 'beep-ing' 'beep'-headed fuck.' Apologies for the profanity, but that's literally how he spoke.

His fiancee Anna, by contrast said nary a peep but was a lovely lass. Didn't like foreign people though. Apparently they're stealing everyone's jobs. Better not tell them I'm not from around here. Ha ha ha.

Saturday 12th: Back to Ferg's for a BBQ and got to meet a lot more of his old school friends. Most of them are married with children now. I think Southampton is much like Invercargill if you stay, you'll get stuck there. It's really interesting meeting friends of friends as you hear a few stories and you can kinda see which ones have had an influence on them.

So yeah, the BBQ was really good and I created a malteser salad which is basically a whole lot of M&M's in a bowl with a few maltesers thrown in for good measure. Ferg's Mum, Terri (a very lovely and welcoming lady) put on a great feed and Ferg worked his usual magic on the BBQ.

Sunday 13th: Once Ferg finally woke up, we set off to Winchester, two hours behind schedule, so it was possible that I wasn't gonna get to see Stonehenge at all.

Anyway, we had a roast lunch in Winchester and had a look around the town and saw the Salisbury cathedral, considered one of the nicest in England. Very impressive and stands up well to a lot of the cathedrals I'd seen so far.

On the way back, I managed to convince the others we should really go and see Stonehenge. People had told me it was a bit of a let down, but I thought it was really quite cool. The stones were much smoother than I thought they'd be. They were transported from Wales apparently. Anyway, it was good to see a major historical site. Didn't see any druids though.

In the evening we got a few dvd's -- all of them pretty good. Was nice to sit down and watch a dvd. Hadn't done that for a few months.

Monday 13th: - took it easy and booked my train ticket back to London as Ferg wasn't going to have the car and was unable to drop me off, which was our original plan.

Tuesday to present: Have been housesitting at Craig and Linda's place in Raynes park. Craig, as I may have mentioned, owns his own independent film production company and has a pretty amazing dvd collection. Lots of gangster, murder and action flicks, plus a bunch of foreign films I've never heard of. Needless to say, I've been ransacking his collection.

So that's really all the news lately. I'm nearly finished with the website. Jones has got a half finished version up which I'll link you to when it's properly finished.

Not sure where I'm living next. Craig and Linda get back on Sunday I think, and I reckon I can squeeze and extra day or two out of them. I'm mastering the art of bumming off others like a real vagabond. Maybe I should grow a beard to match my transient lifestyle. Money is going okay but slowly dwindling thanks to my Australian tax bills. Soon I will have the financial ruin to go with the beard, worn out clothes and lack of abode.

Hope all is good with you lot. Love

Joe

Clapham, Theatre and Regents Park

jono_79 — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:40:00 GMT

Right, so currently I'm staying Clapham after a week in Raynes Park.

Tim and Kelly are away so I have a bed, which makes continues my pretty good run of sleeping spaces. So far, I'm yet to really sleep on couches very much at all. Nice.

Haven't done much lately - gone for a few runs, caught up with a few friends and watched the Australians lose every sport they play.

Last week, I caught up with Katherine, a friend of mine from Australia. She was in London for a few days before heading to Germany, Austria and other former Nazi regions for a two week motorbike trip. Took her around the sights of London (Westminster, Big Ben, Buckingham palace, St James park) and saw the sights again. Was a really good walk around and the weather turned up too. After that she was meeting a friend and they invited me along to go to the theatre.

I was a bit nonchalant about the theatre to be honest, as it was 45 quid although if there were tickets still available after 7pm, you could get them for 20 quid. Once again, I used the 'don't turn down the invitation to try something new when traveling' mantra and it turned out to be a good choice.

We saw a production called "Warhorse" -- a story about a boy who has a pet horse that ends up getting sold to the army at the onset of WWI. The boy fakes his age and enlists to join the English army to find his horse which has been caught up in enemy fire and deemed lost. The horse ends up being found by the Germans while the boy fights in the trenches looking for his horse. It was a really cool play actually. The horse was a puppet, but only in the loosest sense of the word. Animatronic would be a better description. It (the puppet) was about 7 feet high, and manned by 3 actors, who wore clothes that fit into the production. One controlled the head with a pole-like contraption, one controlled the forelegs and the other controlled the hindlegs. The horse 'costume' sat over the two actors controlling the legs and they also had a system of pulleys that manipulated the various joints of the legs.

Look here for a better picture of what it looked like: http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/45507/about-the-show/image-gallery.html It's an image gallery from the site.

So yeah, now I can say I've been to the theatre. Apparently it's not only for toffs and twats after all.

Other things of note have been going to Regents Park with Mike to watch the Ashes on a big 30 foot screen with thousands of people. It was a really cool day and well organised. Lots of booths around and plenty of space to sit on the ground and watch. England won too, so it was nice to see the Aussies lose. Not sure how they did though -- they dominated the bowling and batting stats (6 of the top 7 runscorers were Australian). The series was characterised more by bad performances rather than good ones. Still, a good win for England but the quality of cricket was not as good as the 2005 win. Perhaps a higher calibre of players back then (Warne, McGrath, Vaughn, Pietersen). Unsurprisingly, the British media are going on about how much they've always loved cricket and how brilliant the team are. No wonder the Aussies love to beat them so much.

Right, well that's all really. Jones has made progress on my site, so I guess the time for job hunting will be coming sooner rather than later. This weekend is the Notting Hill carnival which is supposed to be the 2nd best street festival in the world, with over a million people apparently. I have friends in Notting Hill, so might have to pay them a visit... Also have had an opportunity to go see Wales on a camping trip, but the Notting Hill festival only comes around once a year, so will do that, I think. Wales won't be getting invaded anytime soon, I don't think.

Nothing much to report, but I did play some cricket

jono_79 — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:17:00 GMT

So yeah, haven't really done much lately. Funds are slowly decreasing although I have been keeping an eye on them lately. The good exchange rate (1.97 to 1 the other day!) means my dollars go a bit further.

All I've really been doing is looking after Tim's place and trying to this damn portfolio out the door. It always takes longer than you think, but I should get it finished by this weekend, I reckon. Then I just have to wait for Jonesy to code my website up for me and I'll be able to start the job hunting properly, instead of just scouting websites for potential opportunities.

So cricket. Filled in for a mates team the other day and we got spanked. We made 116 all out after being 98 for 3. I was the not out batsman on 0, only faced a couple of balls.

They got there for the loss of one wicket although we put a couple of chances down. I also had the honour of being hit for the biggest six I've ever seen. I'm sure that when the ball came back down, it was covered in ice.

However, it was a really lovely days cricket. The ground (Kew Gardens) was very nice, the outfield very quick, although when we bowled there wasn't much juice left in the wicket so it became quite easy to bat on. Also, in between innings the other team put on afternoon tea which was delicious.

The coolest thing was the Radio Frequency scoreboard they had. They had a box which you punched in the numbers and the scoreboard updated itself automatically. Bloody cool.

It was a actual cricket club too - none of this "rugby in the winter, cricket in the summer" stuff. There was even a little bar inside the tearooms too.

So despite the result, it was a real enjoyable days cricket.

In other news, I'm also going to be house-sitting for two weeks when another mate Tim goes away to Italy and Spain. More free rent! It's in Clapham too and I know a few people there now.

Right, I'm off. Hope all is well.

Rye and London

jono_79 — Mon, 3 Aug 2009 20:59:00 GMT

Ahoy me hearties,

Monday: On Sunday night, got a text from an old friend from Invercargill, Mike Gane. We used to live on Anglesey street and play heaps of cricket together. Anyway, he was taking an early morning trip to Rye, a small and extremely quaint town in Kent County.

Once I managed to convince him that an 8am start was not a good idea, I agree to tag along and go for a catch up.

It was a two hour train journey and we had a good old catch up. I was about three or so years older than him at school and my last year of uni was his first, so I hadn't seen him much in the last decade or so, apart from once in Invercargill.

So we got to Rye and it was very English. We strolled around the cobblestone streets which were pretty painful to walk on, actually. We saw a small castle and a few clock towers and generally soaked in some Englishness.

Highlight of the day would probably have to be the Shepherds pie I had for lunch at the Old Bell pub, which was built circa the 1500s. The plate was probably a foot in diameter and there were heaps of chips and stew. Bloody delicious. Mike had a cod that looked like it weighed a ton.

Carried on walking after lunch, checked out a lookout point and then saw a few shops. There's not really a lot to do in Rye. You can see the whole place in a couple of hours easy walk. Bit of an old lady's town but worth going to.

Found a wee shop called "Simon the Pieman", named after the old nursery rhyme. Bought a bag of fudge with myriad flavours (chocolate is still the best) and scoffed them, letting the sugary goodness begin the assault on my teeth.

After that, there wasn't much else to do. So we went back to the Old Bell, which we thought was the best pub there and had a couple before heading back on the train at 6pm.

Was good to have a catch up with Mike. He works in the financial department at ITV (who make Coronation Street). If I get pressed for work, it's possible some graphics work might open up there.

Once I got back to London, it was back to Raynes Park (near Wimbledon) where I was staying with Craig and Linda, friends I met in Australia through Scott. I had been staying with them since the weekend, but neglected to mention that earlier in this blog.

Tuesday: Caught up with Tim Dove for lunch and got keys for his house as I will be house sitting for two weeks while he goes on holiday. Met up in Tower Hill, so I took a stroll across Harbour bridge and could see a few of London's sites. Didn't have my camera with me, so I decided I'd go back and do it properly another day.

Wedsnesday: Went into Craig's work to do some portfolio stuff. He owns a small film production company that make a few TV ads as well as some documentaries for bands and musical acts. They do a few videogame related ads/promotional things as well. Recently they filmed a short horror film and currently have three films in the formative stages.

Craig actually used to work as a foley editor, (i.e recording the people in recording studios who create sound effects for film), among other things, on a number of Hollywood flicks, such as Face Off (John Woo), The Village (M Night Shyamalan) and Kill Bill (Quentin Tarantino) but has branched off on his own.

So yeah, went in there and did a bit of portfolio work. Later on, went to catch up with Nick Jones in Hammersmith. He was having a get together as he leaves today (Monday) for home, via a big European trip. Caught up with him and his friends.

Thursday and Friday: Again, took it pretty easy. Did a few chores that needed doing. Bought a new phone as my last one had given up the ghost. Couldn't turn it on, so was unable to get numbers as they were stored in phone memory, not the SIM card. Doh! Didn't get a super fancy phone, as there's no real point. Stayed at Mike Gane's house for a night as Linda's parents were stopping through from Italy to the USA and needed a room for the night.

Saturday: Nick was having a BBQ for his leaving do. Before that, we went to a pub to watch the All Blacks lose. Lots of South African's cheering in the bar, which was teeth grindingly annoying. I comforted myself with the knowledge that SA is still a third world country and NZ isn't. Ho ho ho. Still, the AB's made a lot of basic errors although it was exciting to see them throw the ball around again. Had the passes stuck, it might have been a different result. Still, can't remember the last time I saw such a strong Springbok team. Maybe '95 when they won the world cup. They're very, very good. But the AB's can only improve.

So later on, went back to Nick's and the BBQ kicked off under the overcast British sky. Was a good night, met a few new people and had a good old chat to Jonesy and a bunch of other Kiwi's. Stayed there overnight as I missed the last train.

Sunday: Said my goodbyes to Nick and Leigh as they head for a 60 day trip around France, Spain and the Greek islands before going home. Went back to Raynes Park and shouted Craig and Linda some dinner as a thank you for putting me up for the week.

Monday: Today I'm off to stay in Camden Town at Tim's place. The same place I stayed in my first week of London. Tim and his GF are going sailing in the Greek Islands for a week before doing a small trip to Holland. No real plans, except to eat a bit better than I have been and carry on with getting stuff ready for the job hunting.

Hope all is well with everyone.

Edinburgh, then back to London

jono_79 — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 07:01:00 GMT

So Edinburgh was pretty cool. Lots of fat people, everyone smokes, and everything is deep fried. Luckily Steve's a good cook, so I ate pretty well.

Monday: Took a walk around Edinburgh city and a typical rainy Scottish summer day. The most annoying thing about the rain is that it rains for just long enough to get you soaked, or to make you put on a jacket, and then as quickly as the rain arrived, the sun comes out. I think I took my jacket off and on at least five times today.

So I went to Edinburgh Castle and it was brilliant. Probably one of the best things I've seen since leaving NZ, to be honest. It was built (if I remember correctly) around the 11th or 12 Century but has been added to, rebuilt, blown up/attacked many times, and just had general restoration done to it over the years. Such is the life of a castle - they're built over a long period of years, as opposed to one fixed period.

The end result is really impressive. There are cannons overlooking the city and you can see for miiiiiiiiiles. There's lots of buildings you can walk into, including the Scottish War Memorial (considered one of the best war memorials in the world), the Crown Jewels room, a war museum and some barracks, to name a few. I think there was even the birthplace of King James too.

The war museum was quite good; it had a video playing detailing Scottish military history over the centuries. Quite a lot of fighting going on over that way, no wonder they all get fired up at the drop of a hat! Must be in their blood.

Even the inscription on the crest outside the castle says 'be warned, those who provoke me' (or something to that effect). Quite the feisty bunch, them Scots.

So yeah, the castle was great and the tour guides were pretty knowledgeable as well. I asked if the castle was for sale (I'm quite interested in buying it). Turns out it's not. Damn.

Tuesday: Got up early and went for a drive with Steve, who drives all around Scotland for his job. It was pretty cool. We went to four different (tiny) places a few hours drive north to the centre of Scotland, the first being Ardeonaig. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Ardeonaig

-3.850708&spn=1.917342,5.751343&z=8

,+scotland&sll=56.618843,-3.761444&sspn=0.238389,0.718918&ie=UTF8&ll=56.418459,-3.850708&spn=1.917342,5.751343&z=8

The other places were too tiny to remember, but it was nice to see the Scottish country-side. Very much like New Zealand.

The trip was about 6 or so hours all up and we just chatted and listened to Steve's iPod most of the time. Was a cool day.

Wednesday: Didn't do much. Steve had a long drive up to Aberdeen and I didn't feel like a 9 hour drive, so I just stayed in and worked on my website/portfolio.

Thursday: Another day in, Steve was working from home, so took it pretty easy. In the evening we caught up with Hamish (Steve's brother), James Bingham and Paddy Cribb, all Verdon boys and hit the pubs on Rose st, which has about 37 bars on it. Such a cool place to go, it was really kicking.

We went to a great karaoke bar called "The Black Rose" which had it's fair share of heavy metal listeners. Turns out it had the best karaoke list of any place I've ever been and people get up and perform. There's no shitty Elton John or Cliff Richard here. It's all rocking stuff.

Steve got up and did a tune and then I followed suit with Red Hot Chili Peppers "Give it away" and then Pearl Jam's "Jeremy". Must've done quite a good job because a few random people came up to me and said I kicked ass. Tell me something I don't know...

Anyway, it was a big night and we all hit the bars with some people we met in the Black Rose and got home at the early hours. The Black Rose is the best pub I've been to in ages.

Friday - Steve "worked from home" again and we went and saw the new Harry Potter movie. It was okay, but pretty much nothing happens! Bit of a let down really. I booked my train tickets back to London as Steve wanted a clear house as he has guests for the next 5 or so weeks, so wanted the place to himself and Alisa. Fair enough. Ended up crashing at Paddy Cribb's house while he was away and just watched some shitty tv and taking a stroll around the streets.

Funnily enough, I bumped into another Verdon boy, Nick Ward (a few years younger, played cricket with him) on the streets of Edinburgh. I was sitting in a burger shop and he walked past the window. Small world, eh? He's from Winton, I think.

So Scotland was good. Will definitely head back in the next month or two, or while the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is on. Apparently the place is packed for a good month while the festival is happening, so I wasn't too worried about doing heaps of stuff or seeing Glasgow this time. Will check them out later as it's a pretty easy trip from London.

Scotland. More specifically, Edinburgh.

jono_79 — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 10:17:00 GMT

Ahoy, me hearties.

Not a lot has happened since Spain. I went back to London, stayed at my mate Tim's house in Islington and ate more than my fair share of gourmet hamburgers. Lots of nice places to eat in Islington and I found a great place called 'Fine-burger' -- aptly named because the burgers certainly are fine. Also the price of them is like a fine as well. You pay through the nose but very tasty.

Can't remember what I wrote last. I left Sheffield for London and caught up with mates. On the Sunday, we caught a train to Watford, who has a rubbish football team but the area is very quaint, and oh-so-very English. So Tim, Kelly (Tim's gf) and I visited their friends out there and we all drank Pimm's and ate a roast under the English sun, which turned to rain, which turned to sun and then rain. And then sun again.

During the week, I just worked on my resume and portfolio and took it easy. Booked a train ticket to Scotland and caught up with a mate for dinner out in Hammersmith. Didn't see any hammers or smiths. (Sorry).

Currently I'm in Scotland. More specifically, Edinburgh, as the title suggests. It was only a 4.5 hour train ride and I preferred that to flying, even if the other option was quicker.

Staying with Steve Duncan at the moment. Edinburgh is a nice place. Took a stroll around today and walked through 'New' town before crossing over and visiting 'Old' Town', which as the name suggests, is full of old buildings. I'll do it properly next week and visit the castle too.

Other than that, not much else to report. Will write more when I've had a better look around. Also gonna head out around the country when Steve goes to work on Tuesday. He's gonna drive near Glasgow and Dundee, I think, so I'll have a bit of a gander around then.

Sorry about the boring update! A bit tired right now -- went out for Indian. Supposedly Edinburgh's best. Very tasty. Then headed to probably the worst pub I've ever been to. Ha ha. It was called Frankensteins, and was rightly, quite monstrous.

La Linea and Gibraltar

jono_79 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:29:00 GMT

Saturday - early start, getting up before 7am and took the train to a Algericas which is very close to La Linea, where Ian's grandparents live. The train wasn't as nice this time and had strangers sitting either side of me. Long trip (five and a half hours) but got there without much fuss. Met Ian's grand-folks who graciously put us up and have been feeding us great food. Had sardines on the bbq and chorizo and other local food.

In the evening, hit the casino in Gibraltar and had a flutter on the blackjack table. Won a few hands but blackjack is a mug's game -- the odds just don't pay very well unless you bet high. Lost 50 quid, but no big deal as I had budgeted for it.

Sunday - chilled out. Watched the Wimbledon final. Took it easy as the last few days had been quite full on.

Monday 6th - Quite a busy day, was Monday. Got up early (8am, which is pretty early in Spain) and went into Gibraltar. Passports are a must heading in there but they don't really check 'em. First up we decided to do all the sightseeing things on the Rock. The rock itself is 413 metres high so to get to the top quickly we took a cable car that showed the surrounding views.

We walked around various sights on the rock that filled us in on the history of Gibraltar. First of all we saw the monkey enclosures. The Barbary Macaques are tail-less and unique to Gibraltar and are allowed to walk freely amongst the public. Supposedly you're not supposed to feed them because it makes them fatter than they already are. Needless to say, the monkeys were excellent. At one point we witnessed some fighting going on between some males so we didn't get too close, except for poor John who was stuck in the corner where they were fighting and screeching. Ha ha ha. Once he got out he admitted to nearly shitting himself. And who wouldn't? Those things screech like banshees. We got chased a couple of times too and while I think I could beat a monkey in a fight, I didn't want to get thrown out of Gibraltar for spanking a monkey. Ho ho ho.

Gibraltar has an interesting history, having been a point of contention in many wars throughout the centuries. Strategically it holds a lot of military significance due to it's place between Africa and Europe but if you want to read more, check this link on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibraltar which does a much better job of explaining it's Moorish, Spanish and British history than I ever could. Britain has ruled it since the 1700's when Spain conceded the territory and as such, even though it's only about 6.8km long, and surrounded by Spain, it's incredibly British. It even has it's own form of British pound.

Anyway, we went around other sights, such as the siege tunnels which covered (I think) a 400m stretch of land and was loaded with cannons to deter invaders over various warring periods. We also visited the Moorish Castle which was really impressive, although had quite a lot of reconstruction done to it. Finally, after we'd seen most of the sights, we walked back to the city centre and had a late lunch followed by some beers.

There's not really a lot to do in Gibraltar really, so we hit the casino again. I ended up getting roped into the poker table (Texas Hold 'Em) but gave it a go anyway, seeing it as a chance to apply John's tips he had given us throughout the holiday.

For those of you that don't really know Texas Hold 'Em, it's what you see on the TV these days. You get two cards and then you throw in money to see the next three (called the "Flop"), followed by two lots of one card (the "Turn") and (the "River"). From the seven cards, you have to make a poker hand.

I won quite a few rounds and even beat John from time to time, but that was more down to me having cards I couldn't lose with. Even managed to force a couple of players out by going 'all in' as I luckily got 4 of a Kind of Jacks with the last two cards. So at the end of the night I finished with more than 100 quid in my money belt. Not bad for a 25 quid buy-in. Was at the table for over three hours too.

So the gambling days are over, but really enjoyed it. Turned out to be a big night for all of us but it was a good finish to the holiday.

Tuesday 7th: Yesterday's walk around the Rock and casino antics left us feeling worse for wear so we just chilled out and got ready to go back. Went into La Linea to buy some chorizo sausage, flowers and wine for Juan and Christine (Ian's GP's) but couldn't get a taxi back. Took ages to walk home. There's not really a lot to see in La Linea anyway, to be honest.

Wednesday 8th: So all in all, it was a great trip. Probably could have done a little bit more but you gotta give and take, especially if others want to just take it easy. I think you have to do what you plan to do on the day, otherwise you run out of time to do it later. Still, I think we got a good balance of doing stuff, doing nothing and seeing the 'real' Spain, instead of just seeing tourist sites.

A plane and train trip later, we were back in England - where everyone was much fatter than they were in Spain. It was great to be able to speak the local language again. I felt like saying 'G'day' to everyone I met, knowing that even if they responded with 'Fuck off, you dick,' at least I would be able to understand them. While I got more confident with Spanish as the trip went on, it was a bit wearisome at times.

Thursday 9th: So now I'm back in Sheffield, trying to edit this video of my trip. Heading back to London on Saturday afternoon to stay with my mate Tim Coughlan from Uni. He lives in Islington which is a nice wee area. I think I'm gonna finish off my resume and online portfolio and start looking for games jobs. Not necessarily limiting myself to London either. I quite liked Sheffield and Leeds and wouldn't be against living there.

Right, take care all. Will update in a week or two or whenever I have anything of interest to say. The next week in London will be pretty quiet, just job hunting stuff but the week after, I'm off to Scotland to visit Steve Duncan and a few of the Verdon boys.

Jono

Barthelona, Valenthia (sic) and Madrid

jono_79 — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:37:00 GMT

Friday 26 June - Roasting day today, for a change (!). We kicked off the day around 11 or 12 and headed in toward Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia cathedral. It's quite a touristy spot there with queues stretching around the corner to get inside, so we gave the interior a miss. No big deal, as I think it's the exterior that everyone goes to see it for. Impressive doesn't really begin to describe this landmark. As it was the first cathedral I went to see, I didn't have the dreaded 'cathedral fatigue' that travellers often moan about, so I came away very impressed. Kinda hard to put the sight into words, so it's best to just check the photos I think (when I get them up, it's such a hassle to upload to this site).

After that, we decided to check out Camp Nou, the biggest football stadium in Europe, if I remember correctly. It holds about 95,000 and is the home of European Cup winners Barcelona FC. The fellas are not really huge fans of maps and looking like tourists which is unfortunate as we made three wrong turns and spent about two hours trying to find it, before I forced them to look at the map and pick a route to get there, claiming that the stadium better be open after all the walking. After all the tramping around, it turned out the stadium was closed due to U2 playing that week and they were constructing stages for the performance. Fuck Bono.

Went back to the hostel and had a few drinks with other travelers. Being a little bit far out from the centre of the city meant it was easier to just stick around the local area. A few drinks turned into a few more and John went to the casino again. I (stupidly) game him 50 Euro and asked him to turn it into 100 for me.

Saturday 27 June - woke up regretting giving John the 50 Euros, but it turns out he had a successful night and I got my 50 Euro back plus another 50 on top. Not bad eh? Not something I'll make a habit of though. We checked out of the hostel and got the train to Valencia.

As I've said before, trains are an amazing way to travel and this time was no different. The coach was very luxurious, with a movie playing from a telly on the roof. Whizzing along at 197 kph, we got to Valencia in about 3 hours and quickly checked in to the hostel. Wasn't as nice as the last place but it was very central and had a good vibe.

A nap followed for a few hours. Napping in the afternoon when it's too hot is easy to get used to and because places stay open much later, you don't feel so guilty about sleeping the day away.

Later on, Ian and I walked around Valencia town centre which, while it doesn't really have anything major landmarks of note, was still a very pleasant stroll. Did a bit of washing when I got back which dried in about an hour in the sizzling heat.

Sunday 28th and Monday 29th. Generally just looked around the city during the day, followed by a nap, then ate tapas in the evening. Found a pub that was playing the Wimbledon tennis and we watched Andy Murray beat his opponent in five sets. Went to a bar that stayed open late which had some cheap drinks. Turned out it was gay and lesbian night which explained why the barman was so friendly.

It's hard to say why Valencia is my favourite place I've been to in Spain. It's not too big and we didn't do anything in particular, it just has a lot of character and is a good size to wander around in. It's not as bustling as Barcelona and I think I like that. It's cleaner too.

Tuesday 30th - Set off via train again to Madrid which was a four hour journey. We were only gonna do two nights in Madrid originally but lack of flights to Gibraltar meant that we ended up staying another night, and skipping out Sevilla to save a bit of cash. Much smaller hostel this time which was a nice change, so it kinda forced us to interact with a lot of the other travelers. Met an Aussie guy who had been to watch the bullfights the day previous.

I thought about maybe going to see one of these despite being against animal cruelty. However there were no shows on but I took a look at the Aussie's video of the show which confirmed that it's not really something that I want to see. He said he'd never do it again and his girlfriend was in tears when she watched it. Supposedly the bulls live like kings until the day of their fight but the jury is out on whether that's okay or not.

Despite the skill and bravery of the matadors, it's pretty hard to condone attending. A show will generally have six fights with the best one being saved for last. It's pretty brutal to watch as bulls get swords stabbed up to the hilt into their heart. Normally it's supposed to be the coup de grace, but in the vid I saw, it wasn't the case at all and the matador had to stab the bull in the head with a knife a couple of times to finish it off. Other vids showed bulls losing control of their front limbs and coughing up blood. It's all a bit distressing, really.

Sometimes, although not at this show, they bring out a calf and encourage kids to throw spears at it. Pretty fucked up, any way you look at it.

Wednesday 1st July - rambled around the city a bit, taking pictures and being a tourist. A few beers in the evening with the boys and an American girl from the hostel. We followed John around trying to find a casino at two in the morning (fruitlessly) and ended up at an Irish bar opposite our hostel. This impacted the following day's sightseeing unfortunately. Felt sorry for the girl who had to catch her plane two hours after we all got in. Ha ha ha.

Thursday 2nd July - bit of a write off really, didn't do much except nap and eat and have a bit of a wander. Madrid is very busy with lots to look at and it's easy to just do nothing but wander and still have a good time. Scratch that. Just remembered that we did a three or four hour trek and saw the Palacio Real or the Royal Palace. Also checked out some gardens which had statues of what I presume to be Spanish kings from years gone by.

Friday 3rd- had to check into another hostel as we only booked two nights but we needed to stay an extra night in order to get a train to Gibraltar. I had already booked and found a hostel which was just down the street, but for some reason, John was looking up directions to the place on google. He insisted that I had the wrong address so I just went along with it rather than cause a bit of friction.

By now, I think we were getting used to being around each other a bit more and getting used to each others annoying habits. It's been a pretty argument-free trip, which is good but being around the same people ALL the time can be a bit hard.

Anyway, so we followed John to the next hostel and turned out it wasn't there. The address was right but John had a discussion with an elderly Spanish gentleman from which I gathered that there was no hostel and he lived on the third floor. Apparently he would have put us all up, but didn't have enough room for three. Gracious offer, but no thanks we said.

It wasn't too hot, only around 30 degrees or so but with a 20 kg pack on your back it was hard work. We found an internet cafe to check our directions. Found the actual place with google street view and turns out I was right after all. Resisted the urge to say "I told you so" and we made our way to Hostal Marlasca. A little more pricey but we had a room just to ourselves.

Due to wasting the previous day, we went out a did a lot more. The main thing we did was attend the Museo del Prado -- the art museum. Saw lots of famous paintings from various artists such as Goya, Raphael, Valasquez among many others. Took a while to get around the whole thing but it was an awesome experience with some amazing pieces of art. Like most museums, couldn't take any pictures (flash photography can cause damage to the paintings) but it's not something I'll forget anytime soon. Was really glad we went and saw it because we hadn't seen a lot of the arty side of Spain until this point.

Goya, in particular was quite interesting. His early stuff is all poncy and a bit boring, really. Just paintings of upper class folk having picnics or young boys throwing rocks. Something must have happened to him after that coz his later stuff is incredibly dark and murderous. Take for example, a painting of the god Saturn eating the head off a baby. Maybe someone called him a naughty name and he went of the deep end. Weirdo.

Back at the hostel, went into nap mode. Got up and went to find somewhere to eat at 11pm but Madrid on a Friday night is packed with people eating at that hour. Had to go to an Irish bar instead and order a steak sandwich at midnight.