Season 2010 review (at last)

Just a quick non review related sentence, if anyone goes to Toys R Us and sees a Sony Ericcson W910i phone with a set of headphones and a Guns N Roses logo as its main screen or has already got it you git, its mine ya bugger give it back! Such a pain.

So lets see if i can remember the season, these days i'm lucky if i can remember yesterday. Well, i started the season thinking that this season i better set myself up for a struggle, UK economy was rubbish (still is) Greek economy was worse than UK (still is). The first thing i noticed was the price of things in the local supermarkets, most people used to go abroad to buy cheap booze and cigs to take back with them but you can buy your booze at stupid prices now in the UK, so items that were alot of supermarkets bloodlines like booze weren't being touched which through the season would hit the traders hard.

The resort when i turned up looked alot better than most seasons it was quite clean and looked quite fresh. My bar on the other hand looked like it had been hit by every natural disaster known to man along with a few stray cats strutting around like they owned the place. With a swift kick up the ass of the cats and a bit of Mary Poppins clean up magic the bar was ready to open.

May i was expecting to be very quiet but from the first day i had hit double my daily target which was a good feeling but i take a day at a time and never take anything for granted any day can be a fluke or lucky. May continued in this fashion which gave me a good set up for the season but then the tax hit from 19% to 21% but didn't change my prices.
The season just kept getting stronger and stronger through june then another tax hit 21% to 23% still kept my prices the same due to the UK economy and wanting to give my customers value for money which i think is what kept the bar full most nights due to getting a very large measure of real spirit for very little money also a pint bottle beer for less than a pint in the UK. Its was great to see so many regular customers back and also at least 50% of my trade was new customers which is the way you want your business to be, if you just rely on regulars all the time at some point your business will fade away. The internet did help with trade but no more than other years about 20% were from different websites that had read good things about the bar and the other 30% were from word of mouth within the resort and walk by trade. Out of all those customers i only had one couple who never came back for a second visit but then again they were very rude to me when i was only being polite to them so it was no great loss. Thats the best thing about running the bar alone, i meet ever single person that comes in to my bar so i can then see who returns and who doesn't, its a great feeling to see people return.
Through the season i changed my menu 3 times as i kept on coming up with new cocktails, next year i'm sorry to say the smoothie cocktails will not be available as it was just to much of a pain in the ass to make LOL especially when most nights it was manic in the bar then an order comes in for 4 different smoothies aaargggh! A plus point out of this came the confectionary cocktails i developed and new for next season i have the Banoffee pie cocktail. The cocktails i devised were the best sellers all season and it was a close call between Oceanic cocktail and the Fry's Turkish Delight cocktail to which was most popular. I know a few people have e-mailed me for recipes and i will get round to replying very shortly.
Before i knew it my season was coming to an end but with a bang and phut as everything started to go wrong, computer blew, amplifier blew, tree lights blew, bar flooded, high winds and heavy rain hit bar trade badly when i was still making double target in beginning of Oct but i still carried on, the bar would have only closed if it had collapsed as my regular customers no matter what the weather still came in for drinks even if it meant catching a taxi.

It was very sad to see so many businesses close during the season and even more i would think won't be open next season, no matter who the people are or where they're from you wouldn't wish for their business to close and if anyone is happy about the fact that a business closes down or wants a business to close down then those people should be ashamed of themselves as one day it may happen to them.

So thats about it for this topic all i can say is it was my best season out of my 4 on the island so far wiith Oceanic and have another 2 seasons left on my lease which i will complete no matter how good or bad the next 2 seasons are.

I am also looking forward to getting back to start the refurb but in saying that the people i went to see about quotes for a new roof didn't get back to me after 3 weeks and still haven't so god knows how long it would take for them to build it haha.

So all thats left to say is "Roll on 2011".

Don't forget i still update through the winter but usually fortnightly as all i do is play with toys LOL.

I have got some pics to post that i've taken through the season so that will be in the next topic.

Observations i've made lately! (God here he goes again)

So i've been in the UK for a week and made some realisations ad observations. Oh and before you say anything my seasons review will be the next topic i post.

So since i've been without my laptop which was end of Sept beginning of Oct i think i can honestly say if it wasn't for Tripadvisor, my e-mail, using it to download music/play music and watch programmes i've missed i don't really need one which then brought me on to writing, do kids still use pens in school and do they know how to spell properly? No one wants to have anything hand written anymore its all via e-mail or text, then there is the spelling L8tr=Later (wow one letter less thats much quicker) Ur=Your (ur is what i used to say when impersonating a thick person) *$=Starbucks(yeah like i'm gonna figure that out)Srsly=Seriously(that just looks like someone hitting any keys), now i do use LOL=Lots of laughs but no wonder the kids are looking more like Kevin & Perry's everyday they don't need brains anymore as its all done for them with preemtive text and spell checker.

This then brought me on to my childhood and teenage years, i'd never pick up my landline phone and tell my mates "i've just farted loud" but with facebook people seem to let their friends know the slightest movement they make sometimes even their bowel movement haha. When i was a kid I used to write to friends i'd met on holiday with a pen & paper, remember those days, they used to be called "penpals". Me and my friends used to meet and cycle 12 miles to Barry Island ( yes Gavin and Stacey fame) now kids don't even leave their bedrooms to talk and meet with mates as they can use cams and socializing networks, as technology increases socializing decreases. As you can see i've been doing alot of thinking lately about "now and then".

So its back to Toys R Us as i've seen some amazingly bad things, two things really made me laugh. I think i saw a Cheryl Cole board game and i think it went like this, you start off as a chav, get found on a crap TV show with a girl band, mime most of your concert, marry a half decent footballer, get him to cheat on you just before you go solo, get sympathy from the public so your sales rocket, judge on a crap TV show and mime on it when the crap wannabes have to sing live, game over.
Also saw a book and i read autobigraphies "Justin Bieber: First step 2 forever, My story", Brilliant! It goes something like this, mum and dad do the birds and the bees, i was an embryo, i crawled, i walked, i went to school, i got spotted, i was hyped up, i'm just growing soft facial hair, the end! I look forward to the follow up, my voice breaks, i do drugs, found with a lady of the night, make best friends with Macaulay Culkin and Britney Spears, the End! haha.

Oh also noticed another thing, i've not seen sun since i've got back LOL.

Back in sunny uk, i think not!

Guess whos back? Yep and god is the UK crap LOL. Well the last time i updated i was sat in an internet cafe in Greece, now i'm sat in an internet cafe in Swansea and guess why, my new/old laptop that is a Samsung that i've used only a dozen times has given up the ghost before i've even used it this winter as the motherboard has gone, What the F@*K is a motherboard and why does it cost as much as a new laptop? sorry for the swearing LOL Its just that in this fine month of Oct 2 laptops worth over £1000 have gone Bang!, my amplifier costing £400 went Phut! The chain on my Yamaha Virago went Twang! The Bar got flooded out for nearly 12 days (but still opened) Whoosh! My Greek bank took my savings out as i hadn't used it for 2 years but kept the account open but can't give me my money back, Robbing Bastards! And still i have a computer geek sitting opposite me picking his nose and munching on it only this time he's pastey white HAHA!

On a plus point i start to work at Toys R Us next week, Woohoo, watch out talking buzz lightyear i'm coming to teach you naughty words LOL.

Time for a holiday!

Well thats it for another season, the Oceanic is closed till 2011.

After last night i closed the bar, tucked it up all warm inside and now look forward to 2011. The weather spoilt the end to a brilliant season but what can you do. So now i have a few days holiday before heading back to sunny south wales and playing with toys all winter at Toys R Us.

Just about to pay my accountant Oct V.A.T. then thats me with a clean slate with everyone.

Still no laptop so at the net cafe. Its strange but i don't have the same writing ability sat here as when i'm in the comfort of my own home, my home must inspire me more instead of being sat opposite a computer geek playing online games slurrping on a frappe LOL.

So the next update will be from the UK and will be my review of the season which as you all know was my best season so far.

Now i should know by now that everything here on Zakyntos is slow but i had a company come in to measure up for a quote on the building work i want done, they said i would have a quote the next day, 11 days later still no quote ready, no wonder businesses are closing.

The resort is like a ghost town now and looking forward to having a walk around to see whats left open and to eat and drink in a few places i don't get to during the season due to closing so late.

So thats my last update from this beautiful island and going to watch Zakynthos F.C. on sunday, i've always said i like a good laugh haha Its a local derby so i'm told so should be fun. The last time i went to watch them it was against Kefalonia, watching the supporters was better than the game.

So i'll say "Asta la vista baby, i'll be back" thats a bit of a naff signing off isn't it but my artistic juices are being drained due to the keyboard hero opposite me picking his nose and having a good old munch, Blurgh!

Cloud rain and more cloud.

Well i'm sat in the internet cafe once again with it being black cloud and heavy rain outside, BORING!

Well its been a quiet week since saturday because of the turn in weather as most of my customers all season have come from the far end of the resort so in this weather they don't venture much further than the Drunk Corner area as not knowing if they are going to get caught in rain but i'll stay open for the few hardcore regulars that come in every night no matter what the weather.

I've just looked out the door of the cafe and its monsoon rain, big old fat drops and at a fast rate, its raining that hard its splashing back up in the air 2 feet, bugger, got loads to do today and forgot my water proofs LOL.

Well i've been in contact with Toys R Us and i start back almost as soon as i land 1st Nov so looking forward to playing with all the new toys, i mean doing some hard work haha.

Well had my first company come in to measure up for the refurb so waiting on a quote from them, only another 6 companies to go, lets hope its not the usual case of wanting it done in March 2011 and its completed by Oct, also i hope they're not going to be silly with the price, fingers crossed.

Not got much to say today as not done anything due to weather and rain is easing off so better make a move while i can as it looks set in for the day.

See you next week for my final update from the island. See yah later folks.

A week to forget and remember!

Well i'm writing this weeks update from a net cafe in town due to my laptop having a major meltdown. Now i'm not to worried about not being able to get on the net but i lost all my songs, pictures, movies and my paperwork including my sitcom and autobiography, bugger! Along with that my motorbike needs a new chain as the one thats on there could cause an accident, oh pooh! and to top it all off my amplifier went grrr, bang, somebody shoot me! All this happened within 4 days, so today bike is getting its new chain and laptop and amplifier are in a skip with a screrwdriver through them LOL.

Thats the bad week but on the other hand the bar is still full even to the point i used my emergency chairs and then had to borrow 5 more chairs from the roof garden restaurant across the road this week which i'm amazed at but i think after yesterday and todays change over it will get alot quieter but can't complain at all.

The taxman commeth and boy is it a biggy but then again you can't have a busy season and not expect a big tax bill, lets hope they don't hike up the tax rate to much by next season.

Kalamaki is starting to look like a ghost town now, places are starting to close and the tourists are less and less with each change over but i still have 2 weeks left open then its Toys R Us time woohoo!

Well time to go as this has now cost me 3 euro LOL

Its October, the finishing post is in sight!

Well, hasn't the season flown my jolly little readers? Where has 5 months gone, its gone in a flash this season but i suppose when your that busy time flies.

So the cold nights are drawing in and its time for the Oceanic to get in to cosy comfy mode. Gone are the sofas from outside, gone is the prep area from inside and now inside i have the chill out lounge, outside the bar has been weather proofed so no matter what the weather gales, monsoon rain, tornados, plagues of locusts, meteor showers, the Oceanic bar will stay open till the end, well the 21st at least.

I had a card delivered about 2 weeks ago from Ireland from a lady called Christine who was on holiday with her husband in 2009 and she had a very bad toothache, so i sent her to my dentist in Zakynthos town where he sorted the complaint out and she was fine after. In that card was this green good luck stone which i thought was so nice of her to send to me a year after they had been here, well i'd really like to thank Christine as its working as the bar is still full up till today so lets see how October fairs.

Didn't do my TTT (Traditional Taverna Tuesday) this week as it was my birthday on Tuesday, if it wasn't for someone putting on Tripadvisor that it ws my birthday i would have forgot about it LOL. It was also a young mans birthday called Malk on the same day so it was a great night, with cake and a free buffet for all my lovely customers to enjoy. I'd like to thank the Kalamaki Bakery on the main strip for supplying the buffet, they all loved it and i lived on it for 2 days after mmmmmm. Also a big thank you to Lesley and Andrew for coming over from Kefalonia to visit me on my birthday, that was so kind.

Now in saying that i did go on a TTT the week before which was a bit of a strange one to be honest. I ate opposite the fish taverna that helen and myself went to the week before. So i sat there ordered Saganaki and out of the dishes they said were on the menu that day i had a grilled pork cutlet also i treated myself to some wine. From the kitchen out come my Saganaki (lovely) then they brought out my wine, now its the first time i had seen wine that had the colour of vinegar and vinegar that looked like red wine, very confusing. To make me even more confused as i looked up across the road i saw my waiter crossing the road from the fish taverna with my pork cutlet, whats that all about? haha

Which is the wine?

So just 3 weeks left open then 4 days after i leave for the UK, Got some building work to do on the bar before i leave ready for its refurb next season thats weather, timing and quotes permitting, need to get out next week to get a few builders to come and have a look at what i want doing then see what prices they come back with but will be doing a fair bit myself, don't worry its staying a chill out bar just making it even more relaxing for next year.

Just before i forget i'd like to thank all the holiday makers that have made trips over to Kalamaki from Alikanas/Alykes, Tsilivi, Argassi, Vasilikos and Aghios Sostis just to drink in my bar, i'm very thankful to you all for making the trip over.

Right then time to make bangers and mash, what a life a lead, doesn't get much better than this LOL.