Well well, once again I have let my blog go unattended for a while, and once again I have so much to write about.
Last thing you read, We were about to head on to China, all the passport and visa problems had been sorted and there was nothing else to worry about. well, not the case....
Because my old visa was missing, I had to obtain what is called and exit visa. The British embassy told me all I had to do, and their instructions I followed to the letter. I had a letter which I was to present to the consolate for the ministry of foreign affairs at the airport, he would then approve my application that the British embassy had faxed to him before hand. I would then give him my passport and $25 dollars and I would have a shiny exit visa. I was naive enough to believe that Russian diplomacy could actually go so smoothly.
We arrived about 4 hours before check in time (6 hours before flight departure) and looked for the place to speak with the console. What we found was a talk box like the ones you see outside of a block of flats... hmmm. I pressed the button and waited. After much debate it turned out that the fax the British embassy where supposed to send had not been sent, my application could NOT be approved, and I couldn't leave the country. This felt like a shot in the chest. We'd been through so much shit to get this far, nothing is gonna stop us now surely??? I got onto the phone to the British embassy (feeling incredibly pissed off) and demanded to speak to the desk officer. I got a call back from a very helpful guy called Nick. Nick told me that the British embassy HAD sent the fax and that the console must've received them. He then phoned the consular office and tried to sort the situation.
He phoned me back about 30 mins later with more bad news. The guy who was supposed to approve applications had gone home, and no one else in the office was authorised to do so, "Im gonna see what I can do" he said.
The whole episode continued for hours, the occasional glimmer of hope and then all hope snatched away again. Time was running out and the situation had become what Nick called "a diplomatic do-do". Around 20 minutes before check in closed Nick phoned again to tell us that the desk officer for the consular office would come and look at our papers, our last chance, another glimmer of hope....
Snatched away, no was the answer. We both broke down in tears, no way we where going to china, no way could we even leave the country!
We went to the Aeroflot office to see if we could refund our tickets, maybe get some money towards a flight home. Instead we discovered that we could change the date on our tickets, free of charge!!!!! FKN BOOOOOO!!!!!!!
We moved the date forwards a couple days and everything was back on. Got back onto the phone to Nick and he sorted out a new application letter for me and faxed it too. Awesome guy.
All sorted you might think, well not quite, I wont go into more detail (you're probably bored already) but lets just say that when we arrived about 10 hours before our new flight to collect my visa the ministry of foreign affairs denied receiving the application again.... Luckily we had enough time to sort it all out this time, and about 3 hours before check in opened I HAVE A FKN EXIT VISA!!!!! We danced.
Now the reason I had to go through all of this is because UK is not a Schengen country. Belgium is. Schengen and Russia have an agreement which states that if a member of either territory is without visa in a situation such as ours, they don't need an exit visa to leave the country, just their passport. Hence Lucy did not have to go through any of this hassle. We knew this, the MFA knew this, the embassies knew this, but the passport control at Moscow airport did not. I got through no problems, and as I turned to see how Lucy was doing I saw her being taken off to some office somewhere. My heart skipped a beat.
I knew that they would figure out why she had no visa, and why she didn't need one. Problem was would they figure it out in time. I was running around the huge departure lounge for what felt like hours. Going from the departure gate, to passport control, the the MFA office, back to the gate, over and over. Eventually I heard "DDDAAAAAVVVVEEEE!!!!" from the other side of the lounge, I heard it again. Thank fuuuuuuuk. We both had tears in our eyes but we hugged more tightly than ever before. I don't mind admitting that I was scared, I dunno what I would've done.. The thought of us being separated is terrifying. I dread the day when I have to go back to UK and leave her in Belgium. I'm so smitten its unreal. Ooops, anyway, We boarded the plane, we taxied, we took off, WE'RE GOING TO FUKIN CHINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The flight was easy, I think I hadn't been able to properly relax since the passports went missing and now everything was sorted I just crashed. Woke up about 30 mins before landing and watched the beautiful landscape unrolling under the plane and Beijing coming into view. Landed and we both started cheering again. Even as we walked off the plane everything felt different, more modern, more Asian. when we boarded in Russia it was snowing and here in Beijing its warm, clear blue skies. Noice.
The airport felt futuristic, so clean, so shiny, so many adverts with Jackie Chan...
We left our bags at left luggage and found the bus into the city. The bus takes you from a modern terminal, along a newly constructed road, and into the modern, tidy, part of the city (no accident for sure) But we both enjoyed it, Beijing is very very beautiful.
We arrived at Beijing Railway station bang in the centre of the city. Bustling doesn't even begin to describe it, People everywhere. We made the 20 minute walk to our hostel through the business centre of the city, We both looked in awe at the massive shiny buildings, the modern-ness of everything. As we got out of the main business area the other side of Beijing came through. Small shops selling bits n bobs, people living their lives on the streets, playing mah jong and dominoes on the pavement. 3 wheeled Rickshaws and bicycles everywhere. coooooool
We reached our hostel and crashed......
Woke up early evening, it was a beautiful clear night, warm and still so we took a walk to get some food. Found a nice restaurant with a very interesting menu. Shark fin, birds nest, pigs trotters, Turtle WHOLE!!!! We went for a chicken dish, some noodles, and rice. Total cost? About 70 RMB, less than a fiver. After eating we continued walking and found our way to the walls of the forbidden city. Its closed at night but we took a walk around the moat and straight away fell in love with it. The water was still and we could see the stars reflected in it, the
silhouette of the ancient buildings and weeping willows was awe inspiring. I felt more calm, more happy, and more content than I have in a long long time. Being in an amazing place like this with someone I love so much is something that will stay with me forever. We walked slowly around the walls before returning to the hostel.
The next morning we got an early start, first order of the day? renting bikes =D When in Rome etc...
Cycling around Beijing is like nothing else, sometimes the roads are 5 lanes wide in each direction, traffic moves constantly, even at traffic lights, people just stand in the middle at junctions, its insane, and massive amounts of fun. Very dangerous probably, but I payed 80 something quid for my health insurance, so I'm gonna fukin make the most of it!
We made our way back to the forbidden city, this time to look inside. We locked our bikes at the south gate and went in. WOW!!! This is something else.... The buildings are sooo beautiful, the place is huge! The first gate you walk through you are met by a huge courtyard, buildings on every side and a river running through the middle. Across the bridge is the temple of supreme harmony, and a gate for you to walk through to the next courtyard. All the buildings around the side are used as museum space to display all the various artifacts from the palaces. All kinda cool shit, too much to describe, Ill show the pics.
As you walk from from the outside of the city inwards the temples and gates become smaller, more intimate, still just as beautiful though. When they called it the forbidden city they really weren't kidding, Its huge in here. The only real downer was the number of tourists. I would've loved to have found a corner to just sit and relax, contemplate the surroundings, but every attempt at solitude is scuppered by another tour group. Regardless, I still find this place so amazing. Somewhere in the middle is a garden area, the main feature is a semi man made hill with a temple on the top. It was used for some ancient ceremony of which I cant remember the details.
After hours of walking around the various corridors and paths we found our way out and took our bikes into the city. If you ride south from the forbidden city you soon reach Tian'anmen square. This is the biggest public square in the world, and my god is it massive. The north side is some kinda temple type building with a massive painting of Mao on and large concrete seats all around for watching various processions etc during celebrations and such. And to the north is a large gate and Mao's mausoleum. We rode all the way round and on the south side are shopping streets and also Hutongs. Hutongs are essentially slums, some more run down than others, I think that some are "maintained" for tourists but we decided to delve a little deeper. This feels way more real than the other parts of Beijing we'd seen so far. People are definitely poor, but certainly not miserable, these places are lively and friendly, sure we got a few stares but its understandable I think. The streets are lined with tiny 1 story houses. None of them have toilets or anything and people all share public toilets, poo-ing is communal here....
We walked around for hours, getting more and more lost, eventually we stumbled on a "safe" hutong area which was lined with American tourists all queuing for rickshaw rides. We made our way back into Tien'anmen square, found our bikes and headed to the hostel, tired.
The next day we got bikes again and this time headed towards Beihai park and the white pagoda, just to the west of Forbidden city. This place is amazing. So tranquil. Its a large lake with an island in the middle, the lake is surrounded by weeping willows, and the island also. The lake itself was covered with Water lilies, unfortunately we are too late to them in their full glory but still an awesome sight for sure. The island is a hill covered with temples, tea houses and gates. On the summit is the white Pagoda. We fell in love with this park in seconds. The noise of the city is far away and it feels as though your in the countryside somewhere.
We spent hours exploring the island, following all these little paths that criss-cross it, feeling more and more relaxed. It feels like the park has been designed specifically for becoming the most relaxed person ever and it works! I could spend days here I think.
After the park we headed back into the Hutongs for more exploring etc. Hours later we emerged and found our way towards the shopping areas of the city. With the Olympics coming up, Beijing is busy modernising the centre, new shopping centres being completed and the metro is being expanded enormously. One of the streets has a huge outdoor food market and despite all the warnings we decided to try some of the local delicacies. That night we ate snake (chewy), scorpions (Crunchy), various types of seaweed (salty), deep fried ice cream (very good), Candied crab apples (sweet and crunchy), and silkworms (Most disgusting thing ever!!!) Also on the menu was cows stomach, squid, octopus, Penis of some animal, sea horse on a stick, starfish, Sea Urchin, and a tonne of stuff I have no idea. We played it pretty safe.
The next day was gig day!! We spent the day, again looking around the hutongs before taking the metro to club D22. We arrived about 1 hour late because we couldn't find the fkn place and when we arrived there where 4 people in the club. The owner, the sound guy, and a couple regulars. We said hi and sat and chatted for a while. I had about an hour before I was due to play so we went an got a bite to eat. When we got back to the venue there was 5 people!!!!
I played my set regardless and had real good fun doing it, I would've liked a few more people there but the sound guy and the owner where cheering loads and Lucy kept coming up and giving me cheeky notes <3. After the gig everyone cheered and we sat and had another drink while everyone tried to persuade us to stay in Beijing.
We are both falling in love with this city, its so beautiful, and such an amazing mix of styles, modern one time, old and traditional the next.
The next few days unfortunately our opinion changed. We had been very lucky so far with pollution but it all changed with the winds. I have never seen such dirty air in my life. At times you cant see one side of the street from the other because of the browny grey mist. Its actually made us both quite ill, right now Lucy is trying to sleep off a horrible headache and temperature, and I've got what feels like hay fever X10. I can understand why people walk around with masks on. We've been trying to visit the other things we've wanted to see but the pollution really takes it out of you, exhaustion kicks in quickly and we've found ourselves crashing out at like 6 pm for a couple hours every night. Its a massive shame IMO. This city is magical and one of the most beautiful places Ive ever been, and its ruined by this smog. I really hope that the problem is sorted soon.
One other thing worth mentioning is the food. Its nothing like the Chinese that you get in your good ole chinky restaurants... no surprise there. Its actually quite spicy most of the time, a common feature is cold noodles dishes, and often meat comes on the bone, something I'm not so keen on. But its nearly always delicious, and always cheep. One thing popular in Beijing is hot pot cooking. You are brought a massive metal pot with very strong and spicy stock/soup in. This is placed on a gas heater on your table and heated till the soup boils. You then have loads of different things to put into the soup, meats, vegetables, ginger, bamboo, all sorts. Its pretty good. Sometimes you see some pretty crazy stuff on the menu too, all the bits n pieces of animals you wouldn't normally want to eat, and some animals you wouldn't want to eat at all. We've managed to learn the symbols for chicken, pork, and beef, so we can stay safe of anything too risky. Another funny thing is the translations of what the dish is. A lot of the time you'd think that its just been mangled in babelfish a load, here are some great examples from a place we went in a few days ago:
The self made animal skin is frozen
Old Vinegar stings the head
Binaural Spinach
The palace explodes the fresh water shrimp
Soy beans are a little pig
Old Grandmothers scalloped kidney
The turban sprinkles acid
If you have any idea what of these might be, Id love to know, some good track names though me thinks.
So not much else to say, hopefully we'll feel a little better tomorrow since its our last full day in Beijing. The day after we take the 11 hour train journey to Shanghai and more adventures.
Hope to see everyone soon, I get back on the 4th and will be sleeping until the Armouredcore night at the horn on Monday the 5th. See everyone there?
Much love to all.
PS, Pete will love this, I was unsure how to spell "Centre" so I did a search on Dictionary.com.
It turns out that the spelling "Centre" is in fact a British variation on the correct spelling of "Center"....
Sunday 28 October 2007
Monday 8 October 2007
Moscow
OK, So ive actually been kinda dreading the thought of having to sit and start to write this entry to my blog,So much has happened since the last and its gonna take a lot of thinking to remember it all, however,Ive started this fkn blog and I'll fkn finish it, even if it is the death of me!!!
So last entry was leaving Wageningen to go to St Petersburg. Our plane departed from Amsterdam at some silly early time (ah the joys of cost-cutting travels) but because of train time restrictions we had to leave for Amsterdamat about 10 pm. We arrived at the airport around midnight and had about 6 hours of waiting for our flight.Time can be passed easily in airports if you have the energy and a little imagination. We ran around all over theplace playing stupid games and acting quite childish =D. We had races in wheelchairs and tried to float bubblesinto international zones. We'd stand at one side of customs control, Lucy would blow some bubbles and I would layunderneith and blow to give them height. Then we'd both blow as hard as we could to try and reach the otherside of passport control. We managed it once before an over paranoid security guard told us with a very serious face that we should "stop right now!" After we had passed through passport control ourselves we sat and watched Brazil on my Laptop, Guido also came and met us again since he works at a swatch shop in the airport. We chatted with him for a while and before long it was time to go and board our plane.
The flight was fine and we arrived in Berlin at 8 am. We collected our bags and decided to check in as soon as possible, get it done an out the way etc, also we both thought it would be cool to look around the duty free shops that airports always have in their departure lounges.. Well, every airport except Berlin aparently. The departure lounge here is fkn tiny, they have a seperate one for each departure gate and they arent big enough to hold as many people as the plane they're about to board can. Man I fkn hate Berlin airport!!!! We both sat in a corner, hugging and feeling pretty shitty, but thank god eventually we could get onto the plane.
Flight to St P was also easy, I think we slept but I cant remember now..
When we landed we where both like "OMFG!!!!! WE'RE IN FKN RUSSSSSIIIIAAAAAA!!!!!" felt amazing to have made it this far. We had to spend a while waiting to get through passport control,this was the moment of truth, they could choose to just refuse to let us in if they wanted. Fortunately all our documents were ok and we were allowed through. Cue much dancing, jumping, cheering etc. We collected our bags and were greated by Gromov. A guy Ive met on the internet and he is an absolute diamond. He even had a sign saying "TechDiff" when he came to meet us. We climbed aboard a small orange van which was our "bus" and we headed towards St Petersburg and got our first view of Russia.
St Petersburg is a cool town, its really run down in places, quite often its hard to tell if a building is abandoned or not, and 90% of the time it isnt. The city just looks a little broken, like it could do with a lot of TLC.
We arrived at Gromovs and crashed out straight away. The next day was Gromovs birthday but we woke late. Since it was a week day there wasnt so much to do. Gromov had a bottle of Vodka (yay..?) so the 3 of us worked our way through that pretty quickly over dinner. We decided that wasnt enough so we walked to a nearby shop and bought another bottle and a beer too. Those also disappeared rapidly and before long all 3 of us where pretty hammered. Dont remember so much from here on..........
Woke the next day with a veery curious feeling in my head, and acidy feeling in my stomach and a bizarre desire to cook a full english, MY GOD! IVE GOT A HANGOVER!! (shhhhhh) Walked to the shop to buy all the provisions required. Couldnt find proper bacon, proper sausages, no black pudding, and had to improvise some kinda bastardised version.If your ever in Russia, be sure to check that your sausages havent been double wrapped in plastic before you throw them into your frying pan. It was only halfway through cooking mine that I descovered theyd all been individually wrapped and Lucy ended up peeling them for me, Peeling sausages in Russia.......... What a sweet girl =D
We visited the city a couple times, it felt like a mix between Prague and Kiev. Still felt very european. We saw some cool old stalinist style architecture and saw the cathedral of the resurection, a classic russian style multi coloured ice cream jobby. Gromov had given us some stickers to promote the party he'd organised so we had fun sticking them all over the place, although we were slightly careful, not wanting police attention etc.
So, onto the first Russian gig. The venue was small but seemed pretty cool. The PA was a good size and monitors all over the stage, a definate good start. The Line up was, Toiminto (Finnish Dub step), sc/kr (Russian noise stuff), Gromov (Damn good Breakcore/raggacore) TechDiff (thingy stuffs with bobbles on top UK OMFGBBQ!!!!!), Mirra + Fay (Russian Breakcore DJ with romantic female vocals (wierd)), Made in Made (Russian Raggacore), and Toiminto did a Breakcore DJ set to finish. Night was awesome. People in St P go insane!!! There wasnt so many people, maybe 200, but the atmosphere was good. I played at about 2 and was maybe the best set Ive played. Crowd went mental, I was fkn loving it tbh. Felt sooooo good after the disapointment of the NL gig. During the night Gromov had been handing out free copies of my EP and after my set people kept coming up and asking me to sign them, hehehe, was kinda cool, if a bit silly. Definately a good night.
The next day had to get the train to Moscow for a gig that night. We packed our stuff and Gromov took us to the station. While waiting we ate this kinda fried-bready-type-stuff-with-meaty-substance-inside-type-thingy. Dont remember what its called but its really fkn good. Lucy reakons its the best cheep food shes eaten in russia, and I think I agree. Not been able to find it since =(.
We boarded the train and found our cabin. Its small but not too bad. This time its only 2nd class, 2 bunks either side. We shared with a quiet lady, and later a fat, snoring, pig type man. The train journey was about 8 hours in total. We spent some of it asleep and the rest looking out of the windows at the countryside flying past us. Only now did we get a small glimpse at real russia. Small isolated villages with run down looking houses, Poor doesnt even begin to describe it. It felt almost like seeing back in time. We slept for the last part of the trip and woke up about 30 minutes from Moscow, it was dark outside. When we arrived we were to be met by a guy called PoWeR, the party organiser who'd payed for our train tickets.
Well, where to start.... Power is one of a kind. Ive never met anyone quite like him, and hopefully never will again. Dont get me wrong on this, he's nice enough, just incredibly annoying and slightly childish. Anyways, He met us at the station and we went straight to the club, Still with all our bags. Power likes to gives his nights a theme, tonight was "night of the living trash", basically electronic music with Troma films playing on some projector screens. Club was cool, again quite small, PA was pretty shitty this time =/.Power took us to a nearby shop to buy some food, we got loads of salad type stuff and even some small octopus' in a sauce. Not eaten these before, kinda chewey like squid. We went back to the club and sat in the "chill out room" to eat our food. The chill out room was fully UV with "Bad taste" being projected onto a wall and a DJ playing Atari Teenage Riot mixed with Trad Polka music, Not exactly chill out, we laughed tho.My set went good, couldnt really hear anything since there was only 1 shitty monitor but people liked it. Looked like there was quite a lot of people dancing at some points. Lots of screaming "Tetsh Deeefff" and stuff, was good fun. Afterwoods Lucy and I escaped the club and went to a nearby coffee shop. Theres a chain of cafes here called Shokoladnitsa and theyre fkn awesome. I recomend the Jelly with wild Berries. We had a short walk around the area, our first proper look around Moscow. First impressions: seems really exciting and lively town. After the party we got a Taxi to Powers house on the outskirts of Moscow. We crashed out pretty quickly, sooooo tired. It was good to have a proper double bed to curl up together in too.
Woke up late with that hazy type feeling and was glad to doze for a while. Unfortuntately we were interupted mid-doze by Power Blasting out fkn Jumpstyle with this big stupid fkn grin on his face. Lucy and I were still naked in bed and he wouldnt even leave the room to give us a chance to dress. I got up and tried to distract him so Lucy could at least put something on. I told him I needed to get some Saline for my contact lenses and we also needed to go and meet the next person we'd organised to stay with. I got ready to go but the door was locked, aparently his brother had gone out and locked the door from the outside..... This was about 2 pm, It wasnt untill around 6 that we could actually get out. We walked to the shop and got the saline I needed. Then on the way back Power said we'd have to wait for his girlfriend before we could go to our next host. Loooooooonnnnggggg
Eventually she arrived and we could get going. We walked to the nearest metro with all our bags and headed towards the centre, a little help from Power would've been nice. We eventually found the right address but our new host Derrick was out... shit. We'd told him we'd arrive much earlier but due to all the pissing around with Power we must've missed him. Next followed about about 4 hours of pure stress. I dont want to go into the details, lets just say that Power was testing our patience more than anyone ever had before. Finally Derrick arrived and we moved our stuff into his flat.
Derrick was someone we found on Couch Surfing. A networks of people willing to house travellers for a few days for days for free. He works at the Phillipine embassy in Moscow and is a couch surfing fanatic, his record is 11 guests plus himself in a 3 room + kitchen apartment. Fortunately while we there he only had 2 other guests, 2 students from Austria who's names escape me right now.
Our stay there was pleasent enough, he had a pet cat called Misha which took a severe dislike to me but we had a large bed and we where in easy reach of central Moscow, time to be touristy for a week or so untill we move on to a different host. (Sounds kinda parasitic no?)
We took a walk into central Moscow towards the Kremlin. We saw St Basils and walked past and onto Red Square. Its quite an impressive space, bigger than I imagined. We stood with our backs to St Basils. To the left is the Kremlin and Lenin's Tomb, In front of us a grand gateway, and to our right a huge shopping centre called the gum centre. Its used to be a very classic looking building but now its all decked out with lights and looks a little gaudy. Shame.
Moscow centre is absolutely nothing like either of us expected. I imagined an old town, loads of historical buildings and loads of cool little shops. I was massively disapointed. The centre is full of nothing other than designer boutiques and mobile phone shops. Within 3 minutes of the Red Square there are 3 different shopping centres, all full of the same Prada/Gucci/Amrmani type shops. All expencive and all kinda depressing. All reminders of the past are hidden away or destroyed completely. If you walk to the left after leaving Red Square and walk for a couple minutes you'll reach a square with large statue of Marx in the middle. Directly oposite is the Tsum centre, the most expensive of the shopping centres. Seems a poignant example of modern Moscow to me.
Still we had our fun, we walked around the centre poking fun at all the hip young kids in their trendy expensive clothes. Im so glad Lucy is here with me, I think without her Moscow would've got depressing very quickly, but together we laugh and find humour in it all. I feel so lucky to be with her.
We've not gone into the Kremlin yet, I dont think we will either. Its about 350 roubles for entry (Ј7) and from what everyone has said, it really isnt worth it. Im not one for museums and neither is Lucy. Ive seen the outside and thats enough for me. Not gone to see dead Lenin either, probably do that tomorrow. There's not really so much else to do in Moscow. Nothing affordable anyway. Im still stunned by how expensive it is here, London prices if not more!! We got bored of Moscow quickly. Still, another gig to go which is cool.
This time it was organised by Gromov again and Mirra and Fay too. I was feeling pretty rough for this one and so didnt stick around for much of the night. I feel bad for not seeing everyones set to the full but I felt like I had flu or something. It was mostly the same people as the St P gig, Toiminto, Gromov, Myself, Mirra & Fay, a couple others too. A really cool guy called Atarix played, he's a really nice guy and really positive and motivated. Definately gonna try and stay in touch. I think I played well considering how shit I felt. I got to the end of the 40 min and people wanted me to keep going so I managed to stretch it out for another 30 mins or so before my soundcard crashed. People were going pretty mental, loads of screaming and stuff, I think I could see about 30 or so people going for it through the set so thats cool. After the set we sat in the back stage area for a while, chatted to Gromov and drank the free champagne =D Then we went and found a Shokoladnitsa to chill out in. The night wound down by 6 am so we said our goodbyes to Gromov again (hopefully meet up in Beglium) and headed back to Derricks house.
The next evening Derrick had some of his friends over and we all ate unusual food and drank unusual drinks. We had both types of caviar, pickled egg plant, something called sala (i think) which is kinda like lard but creamy and good on bread, tiny pickled onions too. We also a few different types of Vodka, schnaps, some strange dark ale from Siberia, sure there was something else but for some reason my memory is a little hazy.
The next day was time to move on to our next host. A nice lady called Gulsum. She was a little odd perhaps, but nice enough to give us a bed to sleep on. This time we were quite far out from central Moscow, maybe 20 minutes by Metro. She lives in a large apartment building on the 17th floor, you can see loads from so high and I took a few pics of the skyline. We were only due to stay here for a few days before our Train to Beijing deprated, but thats where it all went wrong..
Now I was under the impression that travel was supposed to be difficult, hard work, and stressful and so far we've had it easy. Everything has gone to plan. People have been there to meet us, No flight delays, plane sailing so far. Next thing for us to do was go across Moscow to Novoalexseevskiya street to collect our train tickets for the Trans-Siberian express. We got there no trouble, presented our passports, and got our tickets. We jumped around some more, laughing and cheering etc. We headed back to the Metro station and started our journey home. We had to make a change at Prospect Mira station. It was here that Lucy went to get something out of our bag when she realised....
"OUR FUCKING PASSPORTS HAVE BEEN FUCKING STOLEN!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Yup, Our passports, Russian and Chinese Visas, Russian Registration cards all gone along with about 3000 rouble (60Ђ) This was the start of a nightmarish few days.
We headed straight to the UK embassy first but by the time we got there it was about 6 pm and the embassy was closed. The night time guards instructed us to come back the next day. We returned to Gulsums feeling vewry depressed. Cue first sleepless night of many. Fortunately we still had our cash cards so we wernt completely fucked. We went back to the UK embassy at around 8 am the next day and they gave me a couple sizeable forms to complete. They told us we'd have to report our passports lost with the police so that we could obtain a form vital to our passport aplications. Sounds easy enough no?
The Moscow police are something I wouldn't wish onto my worst enemies. In Russia, when you reach the age of 18 you have 2 choices. If youre clever/rich enough you can go to University. If you're poor or thick as pig shit you either join the army or Police. The only thing I can think of which shares the same attitude as a Moscow police officer is a Chav.... shit. So we spent the rest of the day getting abuse at every police station we went to. The next day we went to our respective embassies and asked for help. They couldnt suply us with translators for some bullshit reason and the best they could do was write us a letter for us to present to the Police, hmmmmmmmm.
So off we went to the the police station again, and gave our letters to the police man (boy) on reception. He read through the letter explaining we'd lost our passports. He then help out his hand and said "Passports please"........
Eventually we got to speak to someone more senior, I say speak to, infact we just got shouted at in Russian. Every police station we tried we got the same, loud vocal abuse and laughing. We need a fkn translator!! We spent the whole day being sent round the houses, exhausted, stressed and depressed we made our journey back to Gulsums. I had been very sick for the whole day, something I ate had a massive disagreement with my insides. I was experiancing gut emptying on a scale only Steve Hancock can understand. By the time we got on the metro home I had poo-ed out everything ever and was feeling weak as hell. Somewhere on the metro I blacked out. I came around to Lucys face looking worried with tears in her eyes. It was such a comfort, until I could focus I felt so scared but to see her face helped more than I can ever explain. She dragged me off the train at the next station and sat with me till I felt a little better. She held me up and kept me concious for the rest of the journey home. She gave me her jumper to keep warm as we walked to Gulsums flat. She lay me down and helped me get to sleep. I dont know what I'd would've done without her. It doesnt bare thinking about.
The next day we woke early. I was still feeling shit but good enough to walk so off we went. Lucy had persuaded Gulsum to act as translator and with her help we got out police letter and could complete our passport aplications. Lucy's Belgian passport took 20 mins to make, my UK one took 2 days and along with my exit visa from Russia cost around 10 000 roubles (Ђ300). Fortunately I'd made about Ђ600 from the gigs I played here so wasnt such a problem.
By this point there was no way we could get our Chinese visas sorted in time, the train was due to leave on Friday the 5th. We took our tickets back to the booking office for a refund which fortunately gives us enough money for a flight instead. We've booked ourselves onto a flight in china which arrives on the 13th. 1 day later than if we took the train. Not bad going at all imo.
So now we sit in limbo. We've both had enough of Moscow. Right now we're staying with a friend of one of the party organisers and waiting out the last 3 days till our plane leaves. Its nice to just relax for a while and catch up on all the sleep lost from the last few days. We have to go into the city to collect our Chinese visas (provided theyve been approved) and go and maybe go look at dead lenin, but other than that its R&R until China.
Im sure there is loads missing, loads Ive forgotten, but I gotta save some of it for when I get back to St A. Im just so glad to have Lucy through all of this. I wouldve been lost without her so many times. I have no idea whats gonna happen after all this travelling is over. =(
Fair play if you've read all of this, please leave a message so I know you're all still OK. Missing everyone a lot. How did the night at the Horn go?
Take it squeazy <3
So last entry was leaving Wageningen to go to St Petersburg. Our plane departed from Amsterdam at some silly early time (ah the joys of cost-cutting travels) but because of train time restrictions we had to leave for Amsterdamat about 10 pm. We arrived at the airport around midnight and had about 6 hours of waiting for our flight.Time can be passed easily in airports if you have the energy and a little imagination. We ran around all over theplace playing stupid games and acting quite childish =D. We had races in wheelchairs and tried to float bubblesinto international zones. We'd stand at one side of customs control, Lucy would blow some bubbles and I would layunderneith and blow to give them height. Then we'd both blow as hard as we could to try and reach the otherside of passport control. We managed it once before an over paranoid security guard told us with a very serious face that we should "stop right now!" After we had passed through passport control ourselves we sat and watched Brazil on my Laptop, Guido also came and met us again since he works at a swatch shop in the airport. We chatted with him for a while and before long it was time to go and board our plane.
The flight was fine and we arrived in Berlin at 8 am. We collected our bags and decided to check in as soon as possible, get it done an out the way etc, also we both thought it would be cool to look around the duty free shops that airports always have in their departure lounges.. Well, every airport except Berlin aparently. The departure lounge here is fkn tiny, they have a seperate one for each departure gate and they arent big enough to hold as many people as the plane they're about to board can. Man I fkn hate Berlin airport!!!! We both sat in a corner, hugging and feeling pretty shitty, but thank god eventually we could get onto the plane.
Flight to St P was also easy, I think we slept but I cant remember now..
When we landed we where both like "OMFG!!!!! WE'RE IN FKN RUSSSSSIIIIAAAAAA!!!!!" felt amazing to have made it this far. We had to spend a while waiting to get through passport control,this was the moment of truth, they could choose to just refuse to let us in if they wanted. Fortunately all our documents were ok and we were allowed through. Cue much dancing, jumping, cheering etc. We collected our bags and were greated by Gromov. A guy Ive met on the internet and he is an absolute diamond. He even had a sign saying "TechDiff" when he came to meet us. We climbed aboard a small orange van which was our "bus" and we headed towards St Petersburg and got our first view of Russia.
St Petersburg is a cool town, its really run down in places, quite often its hard to tell if a building is abandoned or not, and 90% of the time it isnt. The city just looks a little broken, like it could do with a lot of TLC.
We arrived at Gromovs and crashed out straight away. The next day was Gromovs birthday but we woke late. Since it was a week day there wasnt so much to do. Gromov had a bottle of Vodka (yay..?) so the 3 of us worked our way through that pretty quickly over dinner. We decided that wasnt enough so we walked to a nearby shop and bought another bottle and a beer too. Those also disappeared rapidly and before long all 3 of us where pretty hammered. Dont remember so much from here on..........
Woke the next day with a veery curious feeling in my head, and acidy feeling in my stomach and a bizarre desire to cook a full english, MY GOD! IVE GOT A HANGOVER!! (shhhhhh) Walked to the shop to buy all the provisions required. Couldnt find proper bacon, proper sausages, no black pudding, and had to improvise some kinda bastardised version.If your ever in Russia, be sure to check that your sausages havent been double wrapped in plastic before you throw them into your frying pan. It was only halfway through cooking mine that I descovered theyd all been individually wrapped and Lucy ended up peeling them for me, Peeling sausages in Russia.......... What a sweet girl =D
We visited the city a couple times, it felt like a mix between Prague and Kiev. Still felt very european. We saw some cool old stalinist style architecture and saw the cathedral of the resurection, a classic russian style multi coloured ice cream jobby. Gromov had given us some stickers to promote the party he'd organised so we had fun sticking them all over the place, although we were slightly careful, not wanting police attention etc.
So, onto the first Russian gig. The venue was small but seemed pretty cool. The PA was a good size and monitors all over the stage, a definate good start. The Line up was, Toiminto (Finnish Dub step), sc/kr (Russian noise stuff), Gromov (Damn good Breakcore/raggacore) TechDiff (thingy stuffs with bobbles on top UK OMFGBBQ!!!!!), Mirra + Fay (Russian Breakcore DJ with romantic female vocals (wierd)), Made in Made (Russian Raggacore), and Toiminto did a Breakcore DJ set to finish. Night was awesome. People in St P go insane!!! There wasnt so many people, maybe 200, but the atmosphere was good. I played at about 2 and was maybe the best set Ive played. Crowd went mental, I was fkn loving it tbh. Felt sooooo good after the disapointment of the NL gig. During the night Gromov had been handing out free copies of my EP and after my set people kept coming up and asking me to sign them, hehehe, was kinda cool, if a bit silly. Definately a good night.
The next day had to get the train to Moscow for a gig that night. We packed our stuff and Gromov took us to the station. While waiting we ate this kinda fried-bready-type-stuff-with-meaty-substance-inside-type-thingy. Dont remember what its called but its really fkn good. Lucy reakons its the best cheep food shes eaten in russia, and I think I agree. Not been able to find it since =(.
We boarded the train and found our cabin. Its small but not too bad. This time its only 2nd class, 2 bunks either side. We shared with a quiet lady, and later a fat, snoring, pig type man. The train journey was about 8 hours in total. We spent some of it asleep and the rest looking out of the windows at the countryside flying past us. Only now did we get a small glimpse at real russia. Small isolated villages with run down looking houses, Poor doesnt even begin to describe it. It felt almost like seeing back in time. We slept for the last part of the trip and woke up about 30 minutes from Moscow, it was dark outside. When we arrived we were to be met by a guy called PoWeR, the party organiser who'd payed for our train tickets.
Well, where to start.... Power is one of a kind. Ive never met anyone quite like him, and hopefully never will again. Dont get me wrong on this, he's nice enough, just incredibly annoying and slightly childish. Anyways, He met us at the station and we went straight to the club, Still with all our bags. Power likes to gives his nights a theme, tonight was "night of the living trash", basically electronic music with Troma films playing on some projector screens. Club was cool, again quite small, PA was pretty shitty this time =/.Power took us to a nearby shop to buy some food, we got loads of salad type stuff and even some small octopus' in a sauce. Not eaten these before, kinda chewey like squid. We went back to the club and sat in the "chill out room" to eat our food. The chill out room was fully UV with "Bad taste" being projected onto a wall and a DJ playing Atari Teenage Riot mixed with Trad Polka music, Not exactly chill out, we laughed tho.My set went good, couldnt really hear anything since there was only 1 shitty monitor but people liked it. Looked like there was quite a lot of people dancing at some points. Lots of screaming "Tetsh Deeefff" and stuff, was good fun. Afterwoods Lucy and I escaped the club and went to a nearby coffee shop. Theres a chain of cafes here called Shokoladnitsa and theyre fkn awesome. I recomend the Jelly with wild Berries. We had a short walk around the area, our first proper look around Moscow. First impressions: seems really exciting and lively town. After the party we got a Taxi to Powers house on the outskirts of Moscow. We crashed out pretty quickly, sooooo tired. It was good to have a proper double bed to curl up together in too.
Woke up late with that hazy type feeling and was glad to doze for a while. Unfortuntately we were interupted mid-doze by Power Blasting out fkn Jumpstyle with this big stupid fkn grin on his face. Lucy and I were still naked in bed and he wouldnt even leave the room to give us a chance to dress. I got up and tried to distract him so Lucy could at least put something on. I told him I needed to get some Saline for my contact lenses and we also needed to go and meet the next person we'd organised to stay with. I got ready to go but the door was locked, aparently his brother had gone out and locked the door from the outside..... This was about 2 pm, It wasnt untill around 6 that we could actually get out. We walked to the shop and got the saline I needed. Then on the way back Power said we'd have to wait for his girlfriend before we could go to our next host. Loooooooonnnnggggg
Eventually she arrived and we could get going. We walked to the nearest metro with all our bags and headed towards the centre, a little help from Power would've been nice. We eventually found the right address but our new host Derrick was out... shit. We'd told him we'd arrive much earlier but due to all the pissing around with Power we must've missed him. Next followed about about 4 hours of pure stress. I dont want to go into the details, lets just say that Power was testing our patience more than anyone ever had before. Finally Derrick arrived and we moved our stuff into his flat.
Derrick was someone we found on Couch Surfing. A networks of people willing to house travellers for a few days for days for free. He works at the Phillipine embassy in Moscow and is a couch surfing fanatic, his record is 11 guests plus himself in a 3 room + kitchen apartment. Fortunately while we there he only had 2 other guests, 2 students from Austria who's names escape me right now.
Our stay there was pleasent enough, he had a pet cat called Misha which took a severe dislike to me but we had a large bed and we where in easy reach of central Moscow, time to be touristy for a week or so untill we move on to a different host. (Sounds kinda parasitic no?)
We took a walk into central Moscow towards the Kremlin. We saw St Basils and walked past and onto Red Square. Its quite an impressive space, bigger than I imagined. We stood with our backs to St Basils. To the left is the Kremlin and Lenin's Tomb, In front of us a grand gateway, and to our right a huge shopping centre called the gum centre. Its used to be a very classic looking building but now its all decked out with lights and looks a little gaudy. Shame.
Moscow centre is absolutely nothing like either of us expected. I imagined an old town, loads of historical buildings and loads of cool little shops. I was massively disapointed. The centre is full of nothing other than designer boutiques and mobile phone shops. Within 3 minutes of the Red Square there are 3 different shopping centres, all full of the same Prada/Gucci/Amrmani type shops. All expencive and all kinda depressing. All reminders of the past are hidden away or destroyed completely. If you walk to the left after leaving Red Square and walk for a couple minutes you'll reach a square with large statue of Marx in the middle. Directly oposite is the Tsum centre, the most expensive of the shopping centres. Seems a poignant example of modern Moscow to me.
Still we had our fun, we walked around the centre poking fun at all the hip young kids in their trendy expensive clothes. Im so glad Lucy is here with me, I think without her Moscow would've got depressing very quickly, but together we laugh and find humour in it all. I feel so lucky to be with her.
We've not gone into the Kremlin yet, I dont think we will either. Its about 350 roubles for entry (Ј7) and from what everyone has said, it really isnt worth it. Im not one for museums and neither is Lucy. Ive seen the outside and thats enough for me. Not gone to see dead Lenin either, probably do that tomorrow. There's not really so much else to do in Moscow. Nothing affordable anyway. Im still stunned by how expensive it is here, London prices if not more!! We got bored of Moscow quickly. Still, another gig to go which is cool.
This time it was organised by Gromov again and Mirra and Fay too. I was feeling pretty rough for this one and so didnt stick around for much of the night. I feel bad for not seeing everyones set to the full but I felt like I had flu or something. It was mostly the same people as the St P gig, Toiminto, Gromov, Myself, Mirra & Fay, a couple others too. A really cool guy called Atarix played, he's a really nice guy and really positive and motivated. Definately gonna try and stay in touch. I think I played well considering how shit I felt. I got to the end of the 40 min and people wanted me to keep going so I managed to stretch it out for another 30 mins or so before my soundcard crashed. People were going pretty mental, loads of screaming and stuff, I think I could see about 30 or so people going for it through the set so thats cool. After the set we sat in the back stage area for a while, chatted to Gromov and drank the free champagne =D Then we went and found a Shokoladnitsa to chill out in. The night wound down by 6 am so we said our goodbyes to Gromov again (hopefully meet up in Beglium) and headed back to Derricks house.
The next evening Derrick had some of his friends over and we all ate unusual food and drank unusual drinks. We had both types of caviar, pickled egg plant, something called sala (i think) which is kinda like lard but creamy and good on bread, tiny pickled onions too. We also a few different types of Vodka, schnaps, some strange dark ale from Siberia, sure there was something else but for some reason my memory is a little hazy.
The next day was time to move on to our next host. A nice lady called Gulsum. She was a little odd perhaps, but nice enough to give us a bed to sleep on. This time we were quite far out from central Moscow, maybe 20 minutes by Metro. She lives in a large apartment building on the 17th floor, you can see loads from so high and I took a few pics of the skyline. We were only due to stay here for a few days before our Train to Beijing deprated, but thats where it all went wrong..
Now I was under the impression that travel was supposed to be difficult, hard work, and stressful and so far we've had it easy. Everything has gone to plan. People have been there to meet us, No flight delays, plane sailing so far. Next thing for us to do was go across Moscow to Novoalexseevskiya street to collect our train tickets for the Trans-Siberian express. We got there no trouble, presented our passports, and got our tickets. We jumped around some more, laughing and cheering etc. We headed back to the Metro station and started our journey home. We had to make a change at Prospect Mira station. It was here that Lucy went to get something out of our bag when she realised....
"OUR FUCKING PASSPORTS HAVE BEEN FUCKING STOLEN!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Yup, Our passports, Russian and Chinese Visas, Russian Registration cards all gone along with about 3000 rouble (60Ђ) This was the start of a nightmarish few days.
We headed straight to the UK embassy first but by the time we got there it was about 6 pm and the embassy was closed. The night time guards instructed us to come back the next day. We returned to Gulsums feeling vewry depressed. Cue first sleepless night of many. Fortunately we still had our cash cards so we wernt completely fucked. We went back to the UK embassy at around 8 am the next day and they gave me a couple sizeable forms to complete. They told us we'd have to report our passports lost with the police so that we could obtain a form vital to our passport aplications. Sounds easy enough no?
The Moscow police are something I wouldn't wish onto my worst enemies. In Russia, when you reach the age of 18 you have 2 choices. If youre clever/rich enough you can go to University. If you're poor or thick as pig shit you either join the army or Police. The only thing I can think of which shares the same attitude as a Moscow police officer is a Chav.... shit. So we spent the rest of the day getting abuse at every police station we went to. The next day we went to our respective embassies and asked for help. They couldnt suply us with translators for some bullshit reason and the best they could do was write us a letter for us to present to the Police, hmmmmmmmm.
So off we went to the the police station again, and gave our letters to the police man (boy) on reception. He read through the letter explaining we'd lost our passports. He then help out his hand and said "Passports please"........
Eventually we got to speak to someone more senior, I say speak to, infact we just got shouted at in Russian. Every police station we tried we got the same, loud vocal abuse and laughing. We need a fkn translator!! We spent the whole day being sent round the houses, exhausted, stressed and depressed we made our journey back to Gulsums. I had been very sick for the whole day, something I ate had a massive disagreement with my insides. I was experiancing gut emptying on a scale only Steve Hancock can understand. By the time we got on the metro home I had poo-ed out everything ever and was feeling weak as hell. Somewhere on the metro I blacked out. I came around to Lucys face looking worried with tears in her eyes. It was such a comfort, until I could focus I felt so scared but to see her face helped more than I can ever explain. She dragged me off the train at the next station and sat with me till I felt a little better. She held me up and kept me concious for the rest of the journey home. She gave me her jumper to keep warm as we walked to Gulsums flat. She lay me down and helped me get to sleep. I dont know what I'd would've done without her. It doesnt bare thinking about.
The next day we woke early. I was still feeling shit but good enough to walk so off we went. Lucy had persuaded Gulsum to act as translator and with her help we got out police letter and could complete our passport aplications. Lucy's Belgian passport took 20 mins to make, my UK one took 2 days and along with my exit visa from Russia cost around 10 000 roubles (Ђ300). Fortunately I'd made about Ђ600 from the gigs I played here so wasnt such a problem.
By this point there was no way we could get our Chinese visas sorted in time, the train was due to leave on Friday the 5th. We took our tickets back to the booking office for a refund which fortunately gives us enough money for a flight instead. We've booked ourselves onto a flight in china which arrives on the 13th. 1 day later than if we took the train. Not bad going at all imo.
So now we sit in limbo. We've both had enough of Moscow. Right now we're staying with a friend of one of the party organisers and waiting out the last 3 days till our plane leaves. Its nice to just relax for a while and catch up on all the sleep lost from the last few days. We have to go into the city to collect our Chinese visas (provided theyve been approved) and go and maybe go look at dead lenin, but other than that its R&R until China.
Im sure there is loads missing, loads Ive forgotten, but I gotta save some of it for when I get back to St A. Im just so glad to have Lucy through all of this. I wouldve been lost without her so many times. I have no idea whats gonna happen after all this travelling is over. =(
Fair play if you've read all of this, please leave a message so I know you're all still OK. Missing everyone a lot. How did the night at the Horn go?
Take it squeazy <3
Monday 1 October 2007
Moscow!
Yes I am still alive. Russia is awesome, but alas internet is a rarity and intenet cafes are EXPENSIVE!!!!
I ust realised that it has been a long long time since my last blog entry and that was before I entered Russia, maybe you where all thinking Id been kidnapped by some mafia types, or maybe arrested and interrogated by KGB. Well alas no, Im having a noice noice time and I'll put a proper blog thingy up in a day or so. Lucy is also alive and well, sweet an lovely as ever =D I feel so lucky right now, I cant begin to describe it.
WOW, there s soo much to tell, Ive played 3 awesome gigs since last time I wrote anything, seen so much and done so much. Its tempting to get started now, but have to leave in a sec to go and collect out train tickets to china, we leave in 4 days!! and will be in China in 10!!
so, prepare yourselves, next time I post something it will be a long ass read, but loads of cool stuff to talk about.
Love to all of you, missing you all, anyone comng to Belgium for the last gig? Would be cool to see some peeps. Otherwise I have a gig at the Horn start of November and Another in Cambridge on the 8th with life4land types. will be a good un.
Take care.
I ust realised that it has been a long long time since my last blog entry and that was before I entered Russia, maybe you where all thinking Id been kidnapped by some mafia types, or maybe arrested and interrogated by KGB. Well alas no, Im having a noice noice time and I'll put a proper blog thingy up in a day or so. Lucy is also alive and well, sweet an lovely as ever =D I feel so lucky right now, I cant begin to describe it.
WOW, there s soo much to tell, Ive played 3 awesome gigs since last time I wrote anything, seen so much and done so much. Its tempting to get started now, but have to leave in a sec to go and collect out train tickets to china, we leave in 4 days!! and will be in China in 10!!
so, prepare yourselves, next time I post something it will be a long ass read, but loads of cool stuff to talk about.
Love to all of you, missing you all, anyone comng to Belgium for the last gig? Would be cool to see some peeps. Otherwise I have a gig at the Horn start of November and Another in Cambridge on the 8th with life4land types. will be a good un.
Take care.
Thursday 20 September 2007
Monday 17 September 2007
Wageningen-ingeningeniingeg
WOW. Over 2 weeks and no blog stuffs. I bet you are all sooo worried about me.
Well, happy to say Im still alive, and even happier to say im not in Prague. As nice as it was of J to put me up for so long, and as nice as the people he lives with are, I was keen to get going after not too long. I felt like I had lost my momentum. Prague is cool, but when everyone around you is stressed, the rain is falling, and you're feeling lonely, then its time to get moving again.
Arrived early morning in Amsterdam to be met by Guido, a guy i met from slsk. Hes a really nice guy and very good conversation. He kept me company for the hour or so (felt like ages) until Lucy's train finally arrived. Man, Id been waiting for this moment for like 2 weeks!!!!!!
SOOOOOOOOO good to see her again, cant begin to describe it. The last weeks had dragged and dragged an no amount of talking on MSN or sending each other emo-mails could make it any easier. Ive missed her so much, but finally the waiting is over =D
So, we went into amsterdam, with Guido as our expert guide we perused the many sex boutiques and viewed the many women residing in shop windows by the canals. Amsterdam is fkn funny some things here you couldnt even imagine.
Its a dirty city, dust n grime everywhere. everyone cycles too. We didnt get to see so much of the place because we where eager to get some rest. I had been awake for about 30 something hours by this point. So we said our goodbyes to Guido and away we went.
We got a train to a place called wageningen, and then a bus to a small town called Renkum. Not even a town... a village at best, tiny and dull. We met up with another guy from slsk called lennert (soz for spelling) who was awesome enough to prsuade his mum to house us for a couple nights. We hung out, listened to some music and played with Laptops etc. We also got a tour of the village, this took about 5 minutes. Aparently the most famous thing to have happened here was some grave robbery. couldnt find a postcard unfortunately.
Next we went back to Wageningen to meet a guy called Sander (ribtickler) who is part of the crew organising the gig I played here. Hes found us a really nice place to stay, its a room in a bungalow which is part of a type of hippy/student type comune. You know the type, campfires, "art" LOADS of animals and the world famous dangerous kitchen. None the less everyone here is cool and its a nice place to live.
So a gig to talk about. The last one wasnt anything to write home about, (so i didnt) but I guess this one was a little more special. The line up was: TechDiff, Ribtickler + D A Tist, King pin, FFF, DJ Floorclearer, Society Suckers, Dr Bastardo and Lady Scraper.
We arrived at about 7:30 and met Society Suckers and Dr Bastardo, we all sat around and ate lasagne, veeery breakcore! SS is cool, very odd perhaps but defiantely a nice guy (I think he has a thing for Lucy!) Dr B is also a legend, hes from UK and seemed quite shy but also a good bloke.
The venue was cool enough, lots of space and the PA was pretty large. I was on first at about 23:00.
Man, id been building this gig up in my head a lot, getting excited and nervous about playing along side some pretty well known names. silly dave.... silly silly dave.
Turns out Id been building myself up for a massive disapointment. Id been shifted down the bill untill I was first to play, and Id kinda forgotten that the first to play, no matter how good the line up, still means an EMPTY venue. I think when Id finished my EPIC 30 minute set, there was approx 20 people just arrived. =/ Ah well...... SS came an had a little dance at the end, made it a bit better, a little easier to swallow too.
I was pretty down by the end of the night so got a lift home, got a quick chat with FFF who seemed a really cool guy. Anyways definately educational.
So the next day we had a look round Wageningen, its quite a small place and most things were closed coz it was Sunday, but I guess its pretty or however you wanna discribe it.
Today we've just chilled and got ready for the long journey ahead of us. We leave in 30 minutes (21:30) and we'll arrive in St Petersburg at 15:00. Long trip!!!
Wish us luck and Ill update this blog from there..
Love an kisses!!!
Ill put some pics up when we arrive in Russia.
Well, happy to say Im still alive, and even happier to say im not in Prague. As nice as it was of J to put me up for so long, and as nice as the people he lives with are, I was keen to get going after not too long. I felt like I had lost my momentum. Prague is cool, but when everyone around you is stressed, the rain is falling, and you're feeling lonely, then its time to get moving again.
Arrived early morning in Amsterdam to be met by Guido, a guy i met from slsk. Hes a really nice guy and very good conversation. He kept me company for the hour or so (felt like ages) until Lucy's train finally arrived. Man, Id been waiting for this moment for like 2 weeks!!!!!!
SOOOOOOOOO good to see her again, cant begin to describe it. The last weeks had dragged and dragged an no amount of talking on MSN or sending each other emo-mails could make it any easier. Ive missed her so much, but finally the waiting is over =D
So, we went into amsterdam, with Guido as our expert guide we perused the many sex boutiques and viewed the many women residing in shop windows by the canals. Amsterdam is fkn funny some things here you couldnt even imagine.
Its a dirty city, dust n grime everywhere. everyone cycles too. We didnt get to see so much of the place because we where eager to get some rest. I had been awake for about 30 something hours by this point. So we said our goodbyes to Guido and away we went.
We got a train to a place called wageningen, and then a bus to a small town called Renkum. Not even a town... a village at best, tiny and dull. We met up with another guy from slsk called lennert (soz for spelling) who was awesome enough to prsuade his mum to house us for a couple nights. We hung out, listened to some music and played with Laptops etc. We also got a tour of the village, this took about 5 minutes. Aparently the most famous thing to have happened here was some grave robbery. couldnt find a postcard unfortunately.
Next we went back to Wageningen to meet a guy called Sander (ribtickler) who is part of the crew organising the gig I played here. Hes found us a really nice place to stay, its a room in a bungalow which is part of a type of hippy/student type comune. You know the type, campfires, "art" LOADS of animals and the world famous dangerous kitchen. None the less everyone here is cool and its a nice place to live.
So a gig to talk about. The last one wasnt anything to write home about, (so i didnt) but I guess this one was a little more special. The line up was: TechDiff, Ribtickler + D A Tist, King pin, FFF, DJ Floorclearer, Society Suckers, Dr Bastardo and Lady Scraper.
We arrived at about 7:30 and met Society Suckers and Dr Bastardo, we all sat around and ate lasagne, veeery breakcore! SS is cool, very odd perhaps but defiantely a nice guy (I think he has a thing for Lucy!) Dr B is also a legend, hes from UK and seemed quite shy but also a good bloke.
The venue was cool enough, lots of space and the PA was pretty large. I was on first at about 23:00.
Man, id been building this gig up in my head a lot, getting excited and nervous about playing along side some pretty well known names. silly dave.... silly silly dave.
Turns out Id been building myself up for a massive disapointment. Id been shifted down the bill untill I was first to play, and Id kinda forgotten that the first to play, no matter how good the line up, still means an EMPTY venue. I think when Id finished my EPIC 30 minute set, there was approx 20 people just arrived. =/ Ah well...... SS came an had a little dance at the end, made it a bit better, a little easier to swallow too.
I was pretty down by the end of the night so got a lift home, got a quick chat with FFF who seemed a really cool guy. Anyways definately educational.
So the next day we had a look round Wageningen, its quite a small place and most things were closed coz it was Sunday, but I guess its pretty or however you wanna discribe it.
Today we've just chilled and got ready for the long journey ahead of us. We leave in 30 minutes (21:30) and we'll arrive in St Petersburg at 15:00. Long trip!!!
Wish us luck and Ill update this blog from there..
Love an kisses!!!
Ill put some pics up when we arrive in Russia.
Wednesday 29 August 2007
Prague, Chez Justin
Yup still in Prague, Gonna be here for another 2 weeks too.
Arrived at Justins a few days ago, J is truely awesome for giving me and a person he doesnt know a roof to reside under. Man, this is a lush flat and the amount he's paying to live here is criminal. Anyone up for a flat share in Prague?
Feeling a little down right now, Just got back from the airport after seeing Lucy off. She goes back to Belgium for 2 weeks. We meet up again in Netherlands. Its amazing how important someone can become in such a short amount of time. Really gonna miss her for these weeks coming. I've got a lot to do untill then so hopefully my brain will be too busy to dwell for too long. Hope so anyway =( Regardless, I'm amazed at how smitten I am, how strong my feelings are is still a surprise.
I'm putting some tunes together right now for a release. A guy in Russia who runs a small record label wants to release a 30 min EP by yours truely. Its nice coz I dont loose control of the tracks, they will still be mine to do with what I choose. He's gonna give me about 100 copies to sell while Im out and about which could provide a bit of extra capital. Only downer is I've got all of 2 days to get everything finished, time for some major graft I think.
Anyways, back to the matter at hand.
Despite my initial concerns about Prague being quite a depressive city (judging by its inhabitants) its actually a lot of fun, or at least, we've had a lot of fun here so far.
Went back into Tesco where the same security guard decided he wanted to search me again. I emptied my pockets, turned them inside out. Then removed my T shirt, hoisted down my shorts (forgetting that I'd gone against boxers that morning) revealed my nekid ass and "presented" myself for further examination. The guard blushed and asked me to leave. I went in the next day as well and to my delight discovered that the guard had now been demoted to till bitch. I feel a small victory.
Seen most of the city now, The old town is really pretty, a tad touristy perhaps, but nice to look at. There is a big hill in the west of the city which we climbed a couple days ago. There's a nice statue at the bottom, a decaying guy, pretty cool. The view from the top is awesome. Nearly all of the city is visible. Saw a red squiral on the way down, the first I think I've ever seen.
At the bottom of the hill there is a square with a large fountain. We removed our shoes and soothed our aching feet. Then the main jets kicked in, firing water 20 feet into the air. We danced around getting absolutely soaked through. The locals seemed slightly bemused, probably down to the strange smile like expression on our faces. A rare sight in these parts.
The city at night is so relaxed. Loads of cafes, bars, and street venders. Lots of Casinos too. We ventured into one briefly but I guess there is some kinda dress code. We got A LOT of strange looks. Its a shame really, I fancied playing a few hands on the poker tables. Prolly for the best though. I only ever seem to win when I'm the dealer....... Wierd huh?
Been to a couple bars, nothing heavy. J took us to this noice little place near a park where you can sit on the roof and look at the greenery. Lucy and I also found a funny little place on our quest to find a cheep shot of absynth. Now, Im sure I've drank this green devil before, but chances are it was at the peak of a session and fairly un-memorable. This time I was sober, and I am never gonna forget that taste. This stuff is FKN foul. Was unsure I could handle a shot so took a sip first and Im glad I did. If Id necked it I would've had to sprint outside to puke. (J told me about Smellybels bouncing shot, and I think that wouldve seen a repeat performance) So we both sat there for about 30 mins, sipping these shots of filth. I think we got about 2 thrids of the way through before both admitting that we did not want to drink any more. Im expecting a chorus of "PUSSY" but meh... You know about how little I drink and this stuff is far beyond my limits.
And today...
Woke up early and headed for the airport. Its a really nice space actually, and a lot less chaotic than Heathrow or Stanstead. Its a massive building and was almost empty too. I got the impression that a lot of money had been spent on developing an international standard airport for this country without ever having the thought that maybe not so many people would actually want to travel here. There where over 200 check ins in the departure area, and 2 of them where open.
So now I realize I'm waffling.. who want to hear about Prague airport?!?!
Landed another gig in Russia which is cool, I now have 2 in Moscow and 1 in St Petersburg. Also in the process of arranging a couple in Beijing which I really hope comes through. Its slightly frustrating, a couple things have fallen through while Ive been out here. The possibility of playing in Prague seems to have disapeared, and the event organiser from Vienna seems to have disappeared off the face of the planet. And yet at the same time, Ive been offered 3 gigs in the UK, all of which I've had to decline because of travelling. I still have 5 confirmed and a couple possibles to look forwards to but I want more more MORE!!!
Anyways. All the best to anyone who reads this.
Keep riding dem schwingers und die roundabóténgeighen. LUV!
Arrived at Justins a few days ago, J is truely awesome for giving me and a person he doesnt know a roof to reside under. Man, this is a lush flat and the amount he's paying to live here is criminal. Anyone up for a flat share in Prague?
Feeling a little down right now, Just got back from the airport after seeing Lucy off. She goes back to Belgium for 2 weeks. We meet up again in Netherlands. Its amazing how important someone can become in such a short amount of time. Really gonna miss her for these weeks coming. I've got a lot to do untill then so hopefully my brain will be too busy to dwell for too long. Hope so anyway =( Regardless, I'm amazed at how smitten I am, how strong my feelings are is still a surprise.
I'm putting some tunes together right now for a release. A guy in Russia who runs a small record label wants to release a 30 min EP by yours truely. Its nice coz I dont loose control of the tracks, they will still be mine to do with what I choose. He's gonna give me about 100 copies to sell while Im out and about which could provide a bit of extra capital. Only downer is I've got all of 2 days to get everything finished, time for some major graft I think.
Anyways, back to the matter at hand.
Despite my initial concerns about Prague being quite a depressive city (judging by its inhabitants) its actually a lot of fun, or at least, we've had a lot of fun here so far.
Went back into Tesco where the same security guard decided he wanted to search me again. I emptied my pockets, turned them inside out. Then removed my T shirt, hoisted down my shorts (forgetting that I'd gone against boxers that morning) revealed my nekid ass and "presented" myself for further examination. The guard blushed and asked me to leave. I went in the next day as well and to my delight discovered that the guard had now been demoted to till bitch. I feel a small victory.
Seen most of the city now, The old town is really pretty, a tad touristy perhaps, but nice to look at. There is a big hill in the west of the city which we climbed a couple days ago. There's a nice statue at the bottom, a decaying guy, pretty cool. The view from the top is awesome. Nearly all of the city is visible. Saw a red squiral on the way down, the first I think I've ever seen.
At the bottom of the hill there is a square with a large fountain. We removed our shoes and soothed our aching feet. Then the main jets kicked in, firing water 20 feet into the air. We danced around getting absolutely soaked through. The locals seemed slightly bemused, probably down to the strange smile like expression on our faces. A rare sight in these parts.
The city at night is so relaxed. Loads of cafes, bars, and street venders. Lots of Casinos too. We ventured into one briefly but I guess there is some kinda dress code. We got A LOT of strange looks. Its a shame really, I fancied playing a few hands on the poker tables. Prolly for the best though. I only ever seem to win when I'm the dealer....... Wierd huh?
Been to a couple bars, nothing heavy. J took us to this noice little place near a park where you can sit on the roof and look at the greenery. Lucy and I also found a funny little place on our quest to find a cheep shot of absynth. Now, Im sure I've drank this green devil before, but chances are it was at the peak of a session and fairly un-memorable. This time I was sober, and I am never gonna forget that taste. This stuff is FKN foul. Was unsure I could handle a shot so took a sip first and Im glad I did. If Id necked it I would've had to sprint outside to puke. (J told me about Smellybels bouncing shot, and I think that wouldve seen a repeat performance) So we both sat there for about 30 mins, sipping these shots of filth. I think we got about 2 thrids of the way through before both admitting that we did not want to drink any more. Im expecting a chorus of "PUSSY" but meh... You know about how little I drink and this stuff is far beyond my limits.
And today...
Woke up early and headed for the airport. Its a really nice space actually, and a lot less chaotic than Heathrow or Stanstead. Its a massive building and was almost empty too. I got the impression that a lot of money had been spent on developing an international standard airport for this country without ever having the thought that maybe not so many people would actually want to travel here. There where over 200 check ins in the departure area, and 2 of them where open.
So now I realize I'm waffling.. who want to hear about Prague airport?!?!
Landed another gig in Russia which is cool, I now have 2 in Moscow and 1 in St Petersburg. Also in the process of arranging a couple in Beijing which I really hope comes through. Its slightly frustrating, a couple things have fallen through while Ive been out here. The possibility of playing in Prague seems to have disapeared, and the event organiser from Vienna seems to have disappeared off the face of the planet. And yet at the same time, Ive been offered 3 gigs in the UK, all of which I've had to decline because of travelling. I still have 5 confirmed and a couple possibles to look forwards to but I want more more MORE!!!
Anyways. All the best to anyone who reads this.
Keep riding dem schwingers und die roundabóténgeighen. LUV!
Wednesday 22 August 2007
Prahahaha
Wooot, Finally arrived in Prague after a couple of delays
This is a wierd little country, I think its in the running for the most depressed population compotition. Everyone here has a massive frown on their face, and the bus from the airport was filled with people who looked as though they where on the verge of tears.
We were both feeling tired after the journey so crashed out as soon as we got to the hostel (which is one of the cruddiest looking places you`ll ever see) But its cheep so whatever.
The next morning I was up at 7 on the hunt for some aspirine. I found myself in a tescos in central Prague. After a hunt for headache pills, i walked back out of the shop, and was aprehended by a security guy who accused me of shoplifting.
After about an hour of interogation in Czech which wasnt so helpful, and more questioning by police I was alowed to go. Its a long story, not gonna spend the time to type it now.
Anyways...
Prague is a cool city, i get a kinda wierd impression of it, asthough there is a lot of stuff going on, but hidden away from the eyes of visitors. Hopefully I`m here for long enough to see some of it. The country feels asthough its being forced to evolve and adapt to slightly more modern times. Most of the place still looks old and beaten up from past times.
Have some pics, more to follow..
Incidently, just realised that you`re only seeing half the pics. To see the whole thing, right click on em and copy img source and open in a new tab.
Love to all =D
This is a wierd little country, I think its in the running for the most depressed population compotition. Everyone here has a massive frown on their face, and the bus from the airport was filled with people who looked as though they where on the verge of tears.
We were both feeling tired after the journey so crashed out as soon as we got to the hostel (which is one of the cruddiest looking places you`ll ever see) But its cheep so whatever.
The next morning I was up at 7 on the hunt for some aspirine. I found myself in a tescos in central Prague. After a hunt for headache pills, i walked back out of the shop, and was aprehended by a security guy who accused me of shoplifting.
After about an hour of interogation in Czech which wasnt so helpful, and more questioning by police I was alowed to go. Its a long story, not gonna spend the time to type it now.
Anyways...
Prague is a cool city, i get a kinda wierd impression of it, asthough there is a lot of stuff going on, but hidden away from the eyes of visitors. Hopefully I`m here for long enough to see some of it. The country feels asthough its being forced to evolve and adapt to slightly more modern times. Most of the place still looks old and beaten up from past times.
Have some pics, more to follow..
Incidently, just realised that you`re only seeing half the pics. To see the whole thing, right click on em and copy img source and open in a new tab.
Love to all =D
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