Didn't we have a lovely time the night i went to Cardiff!

Well its update time. Back in 2006 when i started this blog after advice from a Zakynthos website quite a few others off that site also started their own blogs and i think i am the only one left who updates their blog at least once a fortnight i may be the only who updates it at all haha.

Well two fridays ago i went to Cardiff for a night out with my nephew Leighton. Its a good job we have the same dry sarcastic sense of humour and music tastes as its makes for a fun night. So after a drink at home off we went in to Cardiff town centre. First stop was a bar called "Pen & Wig" used by Lawyers, Accountants and Students, i noticed most of the students were drinking rose wine, have students become refined? Do students now have some class? NO, "rose wine £5.99 a bottle" good to see students saving some study book money LOL. In here i spotted 2 guys who were in my high school class for 5 years, God i've aged well haha.
We moved on to watch an up & coming band called "The OK", well i think that was their name. This was in a welsh club called "Clwb Ifor Bach" and no the songs weren't in welsh its just what the clubs called but they do get alot of wooly backs in there. I bought a round and we took our places stood on a step close to the band in a small room that had about 100 people in it. The band started up and during the second song a drunken women decided to use me to help with her balance and spilt my glass of Smirnoff & sprite over me, to stay i was stunned and about to rip her head off with a verbal onslaught of expletives was an understatement but i bit my lip, stayed calm and just stared in a way that would make Dirty Harry shake in his boots. She apologised over and over and offering drinks, i just stayed quiet staring then i smiled and said "its ok don't worry", What? i must be going soft in my old age, at least get a free drink, IDIOT! The band were ok but nothing i haven't heard before from a young indie band, they played all their own songs but on leaving not one song stuck in my head so thats not a good sign, my nephews band were much better in their day but being an actor starring in Torchwood his acting career came first, also drugs, drink, women and concert riots in the end broke up the band, What? oh yes, sorry, thats Guns N Roses, my mistake LOL.
We moved on to a bar called "The Old Library" it was Rock and Indie night in here which is what music we like. It was pretty quiet to start off with but that was ok as somebodies uncle was in there to entertain us. He was sort of like the drunk 50+ uncle that turns up at wedding and after a couple of Stella's ends up taking up the whole dancefloor due to his elaborate dance moves and of course his drunken legs not keeping him in one place. At one point i thought he was breakdancing but he had actually fallen on his ass after headbanging to Led Zepplin. Had quite a few in there and had a dance while taking the mickey out of the others on the dance floor and pretending to be Morrisey from The Smiths when "This Charming Man" came on, always the best part of the night.
Time was moving on and we decided to move on to watch some more live music but the band had finished and there was a cue, i do not do cues especially in the UK in January, way to bloody cold to be stood outside haha. We headed towards a bar near the taxi rank called "Lloyds", boy was that a big mistake. The people in there made the party clothes worn by the gypsies on "My big fat gypsy wedding" look very classy and stylish. I would say most of them in there should have been tucked up in bed with a bedtime story they were that young. Guys walking like they'd pooped in their jeans just to keep them from falling down. Nice sight seeing a guys ass hanging out with his under crackers showing, don't want to see a snotty kids skid marks thank you very much, thats why they're called "underpants" DOH! The girls weren't much better just the skirts were heading up towards their neck, any higher they'd be wearing a Snood. It was pretty bad and the music, god don't get me started on that. Apart from our last choice of drinking hole it was a great night all finished off with a king size donner kebab meat and chips with BBQ sauce, "it doesn't get much better than that" as Alan Partridge would say.

Valentines day, Well its a bit of a money making scam in my book so i prefer to do something different. Most people go out to a restaurant at least once a month so going out for a meal to me means nothing as you can do that anytime and it ain't that special. So, i like to do something that will remind you of that day. I pre booked seats for the premier of "Paul" the film about an Alien and 2 british guys in America. The papers had slated it but all i can say is not everyone likes the same thing and Helen and I laughed so hard we were crying, it was great, along with a x-large box of salted popcorn it was better than sitting in a restaurant.

Watched the brit awards, wish i hadn't. Liked Take Thats performance, liked Adele but can someone please tell me what Cheryl Cole is doing being nominated for Best British Femlae Artist when she hasn't sung live once. Also Justin Bieber, Best International Breakthrough Act, whats so breakthrough about a weak voiced teenager singing over a backing track, i,ve seen loads like him in the karaoke bars on Zakynthos and seen some alot better. Man that kids so sugar sweet its sickening. at christmas i saw his autobiography (very short read), then plugged endlessly on every tv channel you switch to and now a film, are you being serious? a film about a kid with an average voice and a haircut that looks like its still being cut by his mum with a bowl on his head LOL. I think the brits have lost their way and are a joke now. I remember a few years ago in the Best British Female Artist section P.J. Harvey, Kate Bush and Annie Lennox were nominated and none of them had released a single in years. Oh well it can only get worse, bring back Sam Fox and Mick Fleetwood i say haha.

Starting now to get lights, furnishings and paint together for bar and looking for flights to go over in March to start the work so its getting exciting, also the chain of events over here in the UK has begun, can't say to much yet as its just the first step but its looking good but most of the events will be taking place while in Zakynthos but by the time i get back in Oct it will all be sorted.

I'm sure there was more to write about but Judge Judy on the tv is putting me off and i've lost my train of thought but if i remember what i was going to write i'll update it later. Have to say though its not all Judge Judy's fault my memory is getting real bad, i have to write on a piece paper the night before what i have to do the next day but its ok as medical reports have shown that speaking welsh helps with Alzheimers, i didn't make that up its been proved. I don't know which is worse, not remembering things or dribbling over myself having to speak welsh LOL.

Galw'r heddlu! Mae fy hofrenfad yn llawn llyswennod!

Decisions, decisions, decisions!

Well its now time to start looking toward season 2011 and my 11th year on Zakynthos.

Lots of ideas for the bar but its getting everything either to the island from the UK or hopefully finding it on the island, either way its not going to be cheap but we shall see. The bar is having a complete make over but it will be in stages over the first 2 months, the outside decor should be finished by the 1st May but stage 2 will have to wait till beginning of June but should be fine. The inside of the bar is staying the same with all the rock memorabilia but got a few more things to add to it.

A new look menu but the drinks will be the same so all your favourite unique Oceanic cocktails are still there with a few new ones and still only using branded spirits in all drinks.

The concept of the bar is also staying the same, Chill Out, No TV's, No entertainment, No loud music just a place for everyone to relax and socialize without having to shout above the music.

I watched the Zakynthos episode of Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents the other night and i have to sat it wasn't the worst of publicity for the island as they kept on saying "Laganas" and not like other programmes and newspaper reports "Zante" but again does the island think these sort of programmes are good advertising? The BBC must have to get permission to film on the island. Tourism has dropped and dropped since Zakynthos hit the headlines all over europe about the sex games on organised trips (18-30's) and in the bars also the bars that got closed down for such events in Laganas. The reason the island was hit hard was because it stated "Zante" not "Laganas" Zante was the main headline and then Laganas was mentioned further in to the report where as it should have stated Laganas first then mention its a resort on the island of Zante. I watched Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents and didn't find it hard to watch, there was the odd moment with Brits with their bits out but in all it did focus on the 2 young people concerned and not on what happens in Laganas. The 2 young people were well behaved i thought so gave the resort a better face than it usually gets. If you had seen the next episode in Magaluf the 2 people on Zakynthos were angels compared to the group in the next programme. But as i've always said its not Laganas that makes the problems there, its the people who visit it and cause trouble.

At the moment here in the UK there are lots of ideas we are thinking over but its all down to a chain of events on how and when we are going to make these ideas happen but i am very excited about them and can't wait to start the ball rolling.

I've been watching Top Chef from america so i've had my chef's hat on again and decided to get back in the kitchen, also boredom led me to it lol. So out we went to Tescos at 11.45pm Friday night. Wow late night shopping is so good, no zimmer frames, no prams and no screaming kids, Bliss! Bought a load of stuff but wasn't really sure what i was going to make but decided to make a Spanish Beef Cake that i had at the Tapas Bar in Lanzarote and a favourite of mine Stuffed Marrow which i stuff with apple and pork. I must say i love cooking but isn't it messy, especially when your using meat, eggs and breadcrumbs, it just gets everywhere and sticks to you or is it that i like to work in chaos haha.

My Stuffed Marrow and Spanish Beef Cake.

After the taste sensation and success of my main course i looked at what was left in the fridge and went on to make a Sweet Potato, Parsnip and Apple soup with a Sausage meat, onion and basil dumpling. Once again a triumph. I don't see why these cooks get their own shows on TV, if an idiot like myself can pull any old ingredients together and make a meal it cant be that hard. I see my arch enemy Heston Blumenthal is opening a new restaurant in London and has a new show starting on channel 4, some of his new wonders at Mandarin Oriental are cucumber ketchup (so green sludge that tastes of nothing), slow cooked ribs (hang on thats not unusal), cured mackrel (has he lost his edge). I watched a documentary about Heston and he was serving some shell fish which looked perfectly normal but he served a side plate of a conch shell with an ipod slipped inside it with headphones for you to listen to the sea as you ate. What? So the food was just the same as any other restaurant but because you can get sea sick while your eating it you have to pay over the odds and he gets a michelin star lol Come on anyone can come up with a dish and get a michelin star if thats the case. "Here we have a blamanche made to look like a chicken carcuss and parsnips made to look like the bones from a filleted fish on a bed of green marzipan made to look like rotten cabbage served on a bustbin lid, its called Tramps Dinner" There you go how easy was that, now wheres my michelin star haha.

My michelin star winning Sweet Potato, Parsnip and Apple soup with Sausage meat dumpling.

So after my last 2 posts being almost as long as war and peace its just a short update today but we are now looking towards Zakynthos and trying to get the plans in action so hope your all looking forward to your holidays now and getting excited. We'll all be in the sun soon, woohoo!

Lanzarote, Did i like it? Read on.

Well in 12 years i've only had 1 holiday and that was to Tunisia (disaster) so Helen thought it was about time i had another one (not a disaster, she meant a holiday) so she searched and searched for somewhere your more or less going to get some sun. We thought about Egypt, good job we didn't, RIOTS! We had briefly thought about Tunisia, good job we didn't, RIOTS! We then decided on Cyprus but we couldn't get the rooms in the hotels we liked, so we agreed on the Canary Islands but i wasn't that sure as not a fan of anything Spanish apart from its food. I have worked in the past in Benidorm and on Ibiza, Majorca, Tenerife and Gran Canaria and didn't like any of those places so we opted for Lanzarote. I'm open minded so off i went with an open mind and to give it a go.

We arrived on the island at midday on Wed 26th to a blue sky and sun, ah bliss, just the start to a holiday you want. The transfer mini bus was a brand new Saab, Great. As we started to make our way to the resort i was then reminded of why i didn't like Spain. It is such a characterless place, huge estates of white buildings with not one curve just all right angles. These types of buildings stretched on for miles and miles along the coastline. the roads are excellent but again the roadsides were all manmade with palm trees planted all along and dark gravel surrounding them. With Greek islands its a much more natural feel to its whole look.

We arrive in Costa Teguise one of the smaller resorts and at our hotel. We were right on the edge of the resort which we liked and it was only a 10 minute walk to the centre.


Reception Hall in Hotel

The hotels natural beach and sea pool

We put our bags in room, didn't even unpack and off we went for a walk about. The resort wasn't that big but something was bothering me, where have i seen this resort before, then it came to me, Butlins! At the heart of the resort was a centre with all the restaurants, bars, supermarkets and tat shops. All roads led to this centre and along those roads were a few smaller centres and the odd bar. It was like someone from the Spanish gouverment had taken a holiday in the UK many years ago, stayed at a Butlins and said "Eureka" thats how we'll set up the Canary Islands, it was the same on Gran Canaria and Tenerife. Huge blocks of white apartments with roads leading off them to the entertainment centre. We had a look around and headed back but stopped at the last bar out of the resort nearest our hotel. More about this bar later. We went back to our room and chilled out after a long day of traveling and watched the sun set ready to start our holiday tomorrow.

Woke up threw back the curtains and there it was, grey horrible clouds, BUGGER! Nevermind, it will pass. Night time came, the clouds didnt pass.

The weather throughout our holiday wasn't great, 2 1/2 days of sun out of 7 days but its what you make of your holiday so we went on long walks, ate, drank and just enjoyed the break from the UK, at least you could still wear shorts and T-shirts even when it was cloudy.

BARS:-

I knew the island was cheap for booze in the supermarkets so you obviously think it will be cheap for drinks in the bar, WRONG! I don't drink much anyway but when i have a drink i like a few. I usually drink Smirnoff with sprite, the odd bitter or rose wine. The prices for Spirit and mixer or Cocktails were crazy, 4euro for a cheap vodka and mixer (not even Smirnoff), 5-6euro for a cocktail. Whenever we drank somewhere they always had a drinks menu so we'd have a look through and these prices seemed to be the norm for almost all the bars. Local beer between 1-2.50 euro for a large, 1.50-2 euro for wine per glass. But we got hooked on jugs of Sangria but i didn't like the original Sangria as its made with soda water so i would always go for it without.

Most of the bars in the resort were brit owned but also brit branded either with union jacks everywhere, signs saying "English family run" or "English owned" or british pub names like "The Bulldog" , "Red Lion" , "The Swan" or "The Ship Inn". Every bar that was aimed at the british, was owned by a brit and clearly marked as a british bar. We didn't see one british bar that had a Spanish owner. The Spanish run bars were aimed at every nationality and there was only 2 german bars, well you can guess who they were aimed at lol. We drank in the Spanish Tapas bars and tried the odd bar when out and about in the day when we got thirsty. There was a spanish chill out bar in the resort which we heard had live music, brilliant we thought lets go there, relax and maybe watch a singer playing accoustic songs, WRONG! We got there and the first thing i spotted was a huge TV, then i noticed a lit up dancefloor, then i spotted the sign saying "live music with DJ jose, Rap, R n B, house, garage", not very chilled out i'd say. If you class a DJ as "live music" thats like saying Cheryl Coles a great live singer when all she does is mime. Very disappointed.

So now about the bar by our hotel, it was called Sunset Sports Bar, now i wanted to watch Liverpoool and my rugby team The Ospreys and this bar was showing it. It was british owned and to be honest not a nice bar but it had the games on that i wanted to watch. Now i always remember the Spanish bar staff having an attitude and being ignorant but these days it seems that the roles are reversed in Spain and its now the brits who are like this. You would think they would be glad of custome but its far from it, they make you feel like its a pain to serve you and that we should be grateful for them being there. Was really shocked by the bad attitude, tutting and loud sighing whenever i asked them for a drink. They advertised the Ospreys rugby game, when it was time for the match to kick off it wasn't on a tv so i asked which tv it was on, the owner made such a big fuss about putting it on, the bar wasnt even half full for the one football match that was on at the same time, he had 3 x 32" TV's, 2 x 26" TV's and 2 x 15" TV's all showing the football, so when he made a fuss about putting the rugby on he turned on an old portable and put the rugby on that when not all the other tv's were being watched. If you don't want to show something then don't advertise it LOL.

What i liked was there was no crazy drinks promtotions going on, no lauging gas being sold in bars, no free shots and happy hour was just that a happy hour that lasted 1 hour. The people would drink where they liked the most not because of where was the cheapest or what they could get for free.

There must have been a mass sale of whicker chairs at some point as every and i mean every bar had exactly the same seats and tables, the seats weren't even comfortable and looked cheap and horrible, the guy who owns that whicker company must be a millionaire just off Lanzarote haha.

The local beer used to be years ago San Miguel but now its Dorada, Cruzcampo and Tropical. These lagers seem very popular and very cheap depending on where you drank you could find a large beer for 1 euro but i hate lager so not much use to me. Tropical beer seems to be the new kid on the block and would you belive it its made from Dogs, the bottle has a dogs head on it, amazing. Perhaps Zakynthos could make a beer out of their strays lol (ok that was a joke before we all go crazy shouting from the rooftops, i have a dog, i feed the strays)

Beer brewed from Dogs (JOKE!)

Ahhhh! refreshing Sangria!

RESTAURANTS:-

Well we were spoilt for choice to be honest, we always looked for places where the locals were eating and these places were always full so thats a good sign of good food. The first restaurant we ate at was on our second night and it was called "Patio Canaria" this was a very up market Spanish Tapas restaurant but it was well set up inside and had a warm feel to it. We had a starter of Garlic bread but on top there was very finely chopped thin layer of tomatoes and rock salt and they gave us 2 pots of local dips that were called "Mojo Verde" and "Mojo Picon" these were so tastey. I went for an Ox sirloin steak (med/rare) and Helen had mixed fish. My steak came out and it was like i had the whole ass end of the Ox it was that big and thick, tasted sooooo good. Helens mixed fish was gut busting huge, 1 full red snapper, 1 full hake, half of cod, 1 tiger prawn, 6 mussles in shells, 4 cockles in shells and Canary potatoes all washed down with a rose wine. Excellent.

Helens aquarium dish.

Then for a few nights we ate at a small street tapas bar called "Repikada". This was true tapas. You walk in, sit down, order your drinks then go inside and choose which tapas dishes you want from the 20 that were on show then wait for them to arrive. For me this was heaven, traditional food, traditional tapas bar and some of the best flavours i've ever had. We tried Paella, Tuna with onion sauce, Tuna with peppers, Spicey chicken, Chicken with dough pasta, chicken with olives and aubergine sauce, beef cake, breaded chicken covered with slasa and melted mozerella and plain ribs. We would have eaten here every night but we like to try different places.

Then on our last night we both decided we wanted a steak so i remembered seeing "La Vaca Loca" grill house that was always full and usually had locals in there. We got very lucky and caught the the last table available. We ordered a mussle, crab and prawn starter which was very very tastey and served in a large mussle shell wish i'd ordered more than just the one plate now, then the main course we both had Argentinian Sirloin steak which again was huge but they brought out a Argentinian steak sauce called "Cimichurri" for us to use if we wished, so we decided to give it a go, the bowl they served it in was empty by the time we finished with it, we smothered everything in it it was that good.

Didn't have a bad meal at all through out the whole holiday, the menus in restaurants were minimal which was great for making a choice and had something for everyone even though only having about 20 main courses, prices were very reasonable considering what we had and everything was cooked from fresh as you ordered it due to the amount of dishes you could chose from and the chef in most of the places is always on show as he's cooking, not a microwave in sight.

Patio Canaria Restaurant

Repikada Tapas Bar

La Vaca Loca Grill

We did some sight seeing we saw the largest Volcano on the island but when you've seen one you've seen them all, large mountain, hole in the top, a bit warm around it, volcanic ash and stone surround it, job done LOL. A visit to the island wouldn't be the same without visiting Puerto del Carmen the main resort. We took the local bus to the resort and my, what loveley buses they use, it was like the main new National Express coaches and these were just local buses, very plush. Before we decided to go there i had a look at it on the map which then had a resort map also which i instantly noticed the resort had 2 Mcdonalds and a Burger King, oh dear we all know what the resort is going to be like now don't we boys and girls lol. When we got there and drove through it our fears were right. It reminded me of Barry Island, Porthcawl, Blackpool and Weston-super-mare. Brit bars, amusement arcades, tat shops, fast food take aways and drunken loud brits, this was in the afternoon. No sooner i was there i was quite happy to leave so we had a coffee, walked along the promenade to the other end of the resort had another coffee and went back to Costa Teguise. All that was missing from Puerto del Carmen was stalls where you could win teddies and donkey rides on the beach haha.

Another volcano on another canary island
Puerto del Margate lol

So now time for a brief sum up about Lanzarote, the island i didn't like, the weather was rubbish, drinks were way overpriced apart from lager, wine and Sangria, brits were moody and ignorant and we got ripped off for milk in a shop 3 euro when we found it elsewhere for 83 cents. Food was fantastic, spanish people were friendly, loved the restaurants and we made the holiday good ourselves. Would i go back to Spain or its islands? Only if someone else paid for the holiday and my spending money LOL Its ok for the warmer weather and food buts thats all. Its to "Britified" for my liking, a new word i've come up with which means its got more in common with Britain than it has with its own country. Don't see the appeal of a place like that. I hated it when the Old Road in Kalamaki got a pavement.

And just a thought for Zakynthos, i spoke to a few spanish onwers while we were out and about and they all said the same thing, businesses are failing and closing in the resort and its all down to one thing. No its not the pound to euro, no its not the tourists not going there and no its not down to prices. Its all down to those horrble, plastic, clipped coloured wrist bands you see people wearing, All Inclusive. There were many business properties laying empty, shops, bars, restaurants all closed up and up for rent, if this is what it has done to a resort the size of Costa Teguise what will it do to Kalamaki? The 4 largest hotel complexes in Costa Teguise would take up most of Kalamaki resort but there are many more hotels and apartments in the resort but still Costa Teguise is struggling. So imagine if the 4 biggest hotels in Kalamaki went AI that would leave the resort in a terrible way. When will the local Zakynthian council take note of other countries and their resorts and see what the AI is doing to the smaller local businesses. Maybe they should take a look some day as its a sad state these places have got themselves in to and it would be hard to get back to the old ways. Even the Aquarium in Costa Teguise was closed down, that might have been because of all the fish on Helens plate lol.


Oh and even though the weather was pants, i got in the pool. In this pic i look quite calm don't i, well lets just say the water was that cold that my gentleman vegtables vanished in a milli-second of hitting the water HAHA!

Olla and Gracias to you all!

Has it been 2 weeks already?

Well doesn't 2 weeks fly by, it doesn't seem like it was only 14 days ago since i last updated. So where to begin, my memory is getting so bad these days lol.

I decided to start baking again so we could be healthy, and being as i've never made bread before i decided to make a wholemeal sundried tomato, sweet chilli and olive loaf which saying so myself was bloody lovely but by the time you've bought all the ingredients, taken 2 hours to make it and cost of gas it comes to 3 times the cost of a Mediteranean Loaf from Tesco, so why do people go through all that sticky finger muck, flour covered kitchen, leave it to rise next to their under pants in the airing cupboard hassle just to make fresh bread, what a pain, but i did have a sense of self satisfaction for making such a great tasting bread lol


While i was in Zakynthos my best buddy and Leeds supporter Dez contacted me about going to see The Cult (rock band) in Feb, now being as this was one of my all time fav bands there was no hesitation. So Feb the 18th came and off i went to Leeds which i must say is one of my favourite cities. You may know the band by the songs "she sells sanctuary" , "Rain" , " Revolution" , "Love Removal Machine" and many more. So, i made my way from Carmarthen to Leeds which wasn't to bad but 2 hour delay due to a horse that had been hit and killed on the track, Just run over it for good sake, tons of train can't move it? No wonder train travel is in such a state and don't get me started on the welsh rail network trains, Arriva Trains, whats the point in reserving a seat in a quiet compartment with a plug socket at a table when they don't have a quiet compartment, or plug sockets at tables and the don't even reserve seats anymore even though i did all the reservation procedures online when i booked the tickets but all the other networks do. I've also found a cunning plan that i use whenever i book a train journey. The train journey booked as a total journey came up as £128 but if you book each train seperate as single tickets its cheaper, so i booked from Carmarthen to Manchester then Manchester to Leeds and the same singles for the return journey and i saved, wait for it, £82, yep you read it right, tickets cost just £46. How can they charge so much for that journey booked as a complete journey when i was getting the exact same trains, CRAZY!

Got there in time for a bit of a rest, bite to eat then off to The Dry Dock pub to meet Dez, great pub, love it in there all rock music and rock type people. After that on too the Wetherspoons in Millenium Square where i was shocked to see a rapist, yes a rapist on the lose, i believe he lives in a place called Emerdale, very famous place i hear, well he had unwilling sex with his friends wife and there he was bold as brass having a beer in the bar, no wonder he was alone.

On to the o2 academy in Leeds and what a venue, think it holds between 1000-2000 people but it was such a nice size place with good sound, wherever you stood in the building it was like you were near the front of the stage, everything was clear to see and close up. They came on and did a few older tracks from when they were called Southern Death Cult and some new tracks but as soon as "She sells Sanctuary" started that was it down the front i went and in to the crush of the mosh pit (mosh pit-place where people go mental lol) I was expecting a few elbows in the face, couple of kicks on the shin, the odd fist in my mouth but i forgot one thing, we were all between 40-50 years old, Jumping up and down - no problem, pushing people around - no problem, lasting for longer than one song - no chance lol. It was really funny, if someone fell down a big circle would appear until someone picked them up then it would start again, if that was at a younger rock bands gig they would have been trampled over, after "she sells sanctuary" i was pumped up and ready for more but as i turned around all i could see were guys bent over puffing and panting trying to get their second breath, it looked like they were at the finishing line of the london Marathon haha. I got myself 2 T-shirts to wear in the bar this season and Duffy (not the welsh blond singer) threw his guitar pick in to the crowd and i got it woohoo! Anywhooo here are some pics from the amazing gig.

Booked in to hotel for the night and what a good price i got £25 for a night on the day, in advance you can get it for £18, ok it looks like a room from a luxury prison but it had all you need for somewhere to use as a base, i never spend much time in a hotel as there are better things outside to do no matter where you stay. This hotel is the Etap hotel and it was 2 mins walk from the edge of the town centre so couldn't fault it at all.

Dez stayed over as he missed his last bus so in the morning off we went to Leeds in door market for breakfast before we headed off to catch our trains but on the way who should we bump in to on the street but Adrian Chiles off Daybreak, ok what about the One Show? ok how about The Apprentice - Your Fired? well he was in Leeds for ITV coverage of Leeds v Arsenal anyway, so it was celebrity fest in Leeds lol.

I've only had one holiday in 12 years, yes i know i here you cry "you poor thing" well we decided to book a holiday. We were looking at Cyprus but we just couldn't find what we wanted (cheap haha) so we booked for Lanzarote leaving Wednesday as a friend said it was still hot when they went beginning of Jan and booze was dirt cheap, WayHay i'm there. Now i hate Spain, i hate the ignorance, i've worked in a few resorts around Spain and their islands, also been on the odd holiday to it but never been entirely happy wherever i've ended up, not like Greece, i've loved everywhere i've worked and been on holiday in Greece. Have never been to Lanzarote so going there with a clean slate and open mind but i have heard it called "Lanzagrotty" and i saw that "My big fat gypsy wedding" went there for a hen night, so it didn't fill me with joy. Never look at reviews as i just like to go and make my own mind up on the hotel and resort, as we all know everyone is different but i am now really excited to be going, lets hope Helen can find way to airport this time, bloody crappy satnav haha.

Sunday, so now we're right up to date, i decided to take my direct access motorbike test, i have to own up i've been riding on an old licence and times have changed but god that change costs. In all this licence could cost me all together at the most £600, bloody hell my bike in the UK cost me that. So it was a full day on a bike, started off on a 125cc doing basic technique, no problem, so the instructor decided to up the bike to a 650cc, did the same training, no problem, he said my handling was perfect of both bikes, so he decided to go straight to the roads. This is where the fun started. I haven't been on a UK road in 6 years on a bike, i haven't been above 40mph on Zakynthos as never seen a sign on a road thats above that speed limit and i abide by the laws, well maybe not all. There are hardly any road signs on the island, definately no roundabouts and traffic lights may as well not be there lol So we took a ride out with me following the instructor to our destination, it felt good, i was calm and enjoyed the ride but on the way back i had to take the lead aaaaggggh! So i had an earpiece in listening to his instructions, while concentrating on my riding and also having to use new techniques, my head was shot to pieces. Also he stopped me to go practice emergency stops and told me i had the most awkward riding style he'd ever seen and i could get failed on it on my main test but its what i'm used to riding like ever since i was 16, only come off twice in all those years so it can't be that bad. So now i have that on my mind also, god help me lol. We get to our destination and i tell him its the first time in 6 years since i've been on a UK road, well, you could see the blood drain from his face, you see at this point i should still be on a 125cc on the road while practicing but because of my perfect control with both bikes he left me on the 650cc, perhaps i should have mentioned that before we left the training ground haha. Great news though, i passed my first test, Theory test on Valentines day then my MODII test a week later but i'll be very honest i'm more worried about my riding now than before i passed. Will have to confront my fears but it is playing on my mind, i need a holiday LOL

The Kawasaki 650 i was riding, boy did it shift.

So thats it again for another fortnight so will update again after our well deserved hols, well i think i deserve it, see yah'll, have a nice day now you hear!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! This is a long update so get settled LOL

Yes, yes, i know its a bit late for the Merry Christmas but thought i'd wait and update both at same time just in case i got drunk over the chrimbo period haha.

So lets start with finishing work. Well, i left toys are us on the morn of christmas eve and up till then i had had a pig of a week due to the sodding snow, buses cancelled, 6 inches of snow, temps of -10 and then having to walk back and forth to work around 4 miles each way, with frozen hair, frozen toes and frozen ...... well no need to explain those parts, lets just say they shrunk quicker than the incredible shrinking man. On the first morning it snowed heavy it was so cool just me walking about at 7am without a soul to be seen, like Charlton Heston in "The Omega Man" or Will Smith in "I am Legend" (same film but remake not as good) as i approached my house there was the sign of life so i took a pic just to prove i wasn't the only idiot out in it.

My mother always loves christmas escpecially the decorations, from when i was a little boy (not much taller now) she used to dress up the house from top to bottom and decorate the windows and since we've moved to the new house and me being 31 years older she still has the same enthusiasm. The house is lit up like Santas grotto and the tree is not one of these ready decorated put up in 2 minute jobs with lights and baubles attached she puts every decoration on individually herself. Well done Mum i say, me myself id buy a twig wrap tinsle around it and job done LOL.

Helen joined us for christmas this year from christmas eve through to boxing day so we had another person to pull crackers with not just the dog, that damn dog always gets the prize end. I was totally exhausted on christmas eve so wasn't much company to anyone, i think the whole year had taken its toll on me what with working 9 months with only 6 days off and the medical tests i had, so i was looking forward to christmas day.

Christmas day came and my i was a lucky boy, lots of clothes which is great, the best DVD ever off Helen "An idiot abroad" is she trying to tell me something? A record player (remember them) that plugs in to your computer so i can put all my vinyl on MP3 and loads of food from M & S and i was lucky enough to get that M & S Christmas bombe cake with orange syrup centre (not that crap Heston Blumenthal one), they had sold out every morning 5 minutes after the store opened so i was determined to get one. I was late for the doors to open so rushed to food section and saw a sea of blue rinses crowding the dessert section, as they were just smaller than me i forced my way through throwing walking sticks and shower hoods behind me as i went and got to the top shelf where only 3 were left. Just as i was reaching for them i saw a little fragile old lady stretching to get one and i needed 2 so without a thought and being a gentleman i grabbed the worst looking pudding pushed it to back of shelf and grabbed the other 2 for myself and left the fragile old lady fight the others for it, well its dog eat dog world these days hehe.

I forget days of when we did things but we had a few drinks out in the daytimes, went to see "Little Fockers" at the cinema, my advice about anyone going to see it, STAY THE FOCK AWAY! its awful haha. I endulged in food after christmas having a Pizza Hut stuffed edge pizza, a delivery mixed keebab, went out for a lunchtime meal in a village pub next to a river (not all in same day of course), lovely little place and basically put on 5lb in weight but it will soon drop off now back to healthy eating again, always does.

New years eve was a bit of dilema, i'm not a christmas/new years person and most new years since i was 16 i've worked as a DJ in a club somewhere, i think ive only had 3 new years off since then as someone usually gives me a call to go a play somewhere but since i moved and changed numbers you lose touch with people, last year went to London as you all know and was great. this year it was either Cardiff, Swansea or Carmarthen, i know culture capitols or what LOL So we decided to stay in instead which ended up being a great idea as it was all warm and cosy and watched the new year in with my "An idiot abroad" DVD. Helen and i were crying with laughter, i haven't laughed so much since Phil (of Janice & Phil fame) drank 7 Amstels in Oceanic. If you haven't seen it (the DVD that is not Phil) then get it its brilliant, funniest thing i've watched in years. I also have the book of the show its Karl Pilkingtons diaries of his travels which a customer of mine called Malc bought for my birthday last year as it was his birthday on same day.

Now carmarten is a lovely place, bit small, everyones related and as i've said numerous times they speak that funny language, WELSH! So in this close knit little town they do things a bit different, Boxing Day is the big christmas night out and instead of New Years Eve being the big one its the night of New Years Day which i find a bit odd but who am i to question the villagers. So we went out New Years Day night for a couple of drinks. Started off in what i class as my local in Carmarthen called "Rose and Crown" it wasn't as good as during the daytime when i go in there, it was a bit loud on all fronts. You had a disco at the back of bar blasting out to the front, all the TV's had sound turned fully up for the rugby at the same time and some of the people were louder still, i actually thought the one woman was talking through a megaphone haha but the bar was getting quite busy so we moved on. On to most probably the best looking bar there but not the best bar "Diablos", a cocktail, guess how much? £5.50 (THUD) sorry i just fainted, how much? £5.50 (THUD) sorry for a moment there i thought you said £5.50 for a cocktail with only a double measure in it. I've paid less for a cocktail in my favourite bars in London. So after one swift drink we left and headed to "The Queens". Now i got in a bit of trouble the last time i wrote about my visit here as i thought it was an Emerdale Woolpack theme pub but i will be honest again about it, it was the best bar of the night and was very happy in there. They still have the old style set up of Lounge and Bar areas, music not to loud in the lounge so people could talk and very friendly staff and customers. They have also had a bit of a refurb since my last visit, they had changed a light bulb that wasn't working the last time and got 2 flat screen TV's in lounge but my favourite bit is still there in the bar, the tv you need to change channel with a stick like before remote controls were around. So after a drink in there we headed home but was a good night in all.

So now bang up to date, yesterday. Went on bit of a day out, roads were dead so took ourselves off to Cardiff where i took Helen for a walk of where i had spent my misplaced childhood. It wasn't exciting for me as i lived it but Helen thought it was great to see where i used to live, where i used to go camping, where i used to get free cakes from the sunblest bakery, where the corner shop was still like Arkwrights Open all Hours, where i went to school, where i set fire under a neighbours car, where i threw a firework through a neighbours letterbox, where i smashed a neighbours window with a catapult (not all the same neighbour), where i was accused of stealing 12 Raleigh bikes from, where my father caught me with a bottle of cider and a cigarette at the age of 6, awwww happy days LOL Also i taught Helen a bit of history that was made just 25 houses away from where i grew up. In 1946 Cardiff was meant to hold the Empire Games (now the commonwealth) but due to the WWII it was cancelled until 12 years later and the stadium they built for the 1946 games is at the top of my street.

From there on to Cardiff shopping centre but only stayed an hour as it was freezing and snow started to come in so we headed off to Swansea to go for food at the highest Bar and Restaurant in a building in Swansea and maybe even in Wales. Its called the "Grape and Olive" the restaurant has an italian feel menu and wine list but there are problems. First of all we were met by a lady on ground floor, didnt look happy but we asked if we could go up to restaurant she said yes but restaurant tables are full but we could wait in bar with a drink, so off we went to lift up 28 floors to restaurant.When we reached the top there was no one there at door reception desk to welcome us or to ask if we were eating, we waited but nothing so we went to bar. There was no knowing of which tables were the restaurants or which were the bars as all tables had Salt & Pepper grinders on them. We sat at an empty table which had used glasses left on it. I bought drinks and sat down. I approached the restaurant manageress about eating and she told me there wasn't any restaurant tables free but would come to see me when one was free. The problem was we couldn't tell what were eating tables and what weren't so we waited, 15 mins later, still no contact and she walked past us 3 times, still used empty glasses on table and noticed 2 other tables still had used empty glasses on them since we arrived. Its says on its website dinning for 220 people but at the most maybe 40 were eating. Absolutely lovely place and amazing views but really poor service and set up. They should have the areas sperated for eating and drinking but it was chaos. Even down to the barman, i asked for a Martini and he didn't even ask the simple qustion "which would you like?" he just poured out a Rosso and which in fact is the least popular of the Martinis so he poured that one is beyond me. By the time we had left which was maybe 30 mins later the manageress still hadn't approached me not even with a sorry. Anyway i will try it again but maybe midweek so its dead in there that way i may get some service. Here is the view anyway from the town side, the other side looks out across the Severn and who wants to see the sight of crappy brown sea LOL.

So this update has taken me 1 3/4 hours to do, thats crazy, i must learn to type faster. So now i need a rest, see you all in 2 weeks, tatty bye everybody, tatty bye.

Medical tests part 2!

Sorry my update is late folks but what with snow, medical trial and night shifts its been pretty hectic.

So the testing continued, as the days went on the testing became easier but on days 6-7 my ECG showed up a heart irregularity, it was called a Physilogical Artiria Rhythm ( i think that was how it was spelt LOL) now what that means i have no idea, i did look it up but found nothing solid and the nurse when taking my blood test did say "Do you have life insurance?" WHAT? So hang on, i've gone from 100% fit to choosing which wood i want my coffin made out of haha

While i was having my test i had 4 different nurses taking my blood samples, as i said previous on the odd day i had to have 12 needles and i always stuck to the same arm but some nurses were a bit easier going on my old veins than others, especially first thing in morning, you've had a good nights sleep, your feeling good that, JAB the needle feels like its rooting for bone marrow LOL but i have to say its only on the rare occasion.

This time also i didn't have to collect my pee every time i went, i would forget sometimes even though i had a plastic gallon bottle with me, i'd go in to a cubicle, place bottle on top of toilet and forget about it, DOH!

The food as ever was lovely, i think my favourite this times was sweet and sour chicken and favourite dessert was a lemon pie type thing with lemon cream mmmmmm.

Didn't sleep that much while i was in there but felt good after just 3-4 hours sleep, i was in the shower by 5.30am most mornings which is great as i knew there would be hot water there and no, dare i say it, pubes in the shower tray as i was the first to use it. Nothing worse than using communual showers, so there are plus points to not sleeping much.

In all as always Simbec is always a pleasure to go to, in fact i love it in there, all the staff like the security, nurses, doctors, reception girls, office staff, chefs and cleaners really are nice geunuine people who you can have a good laugh with even though i'm being tested, poked, pulled and proded all day it doesn't bother me at all, if they did holidays there i'd book in for a fortnight all inclusive hehe!

So thats it for another year of my medical tests, still waiting on my post medical results to come back to hear if the heart irregularity and samples are ok but i think it will be, i feel ok just ache a bit but then again that comes with old age LOL.

What do you want from me, BLOOD? Yes please LOL

Well i'm back in the Simbec medical clinic having my medical trial again and its all going well 5 days in. The first day was very manic what with having 12 needles within 10 hours and an ECG and blood pressure test before every needle but now i'm down to 1 a day with my tablets first thing in the morning, 4 more days to go and thurs its back to 12 needles again.

I have my usual penthouse suite here with a great view from my bed.

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I must say though that this time around the room has got a certain how do you say, farty ass smell about it, think these tablets must be having this effect cause im very gas free most of the time LOL. If methane could be stored and used at this moment i'd never have an energy bill ever again.

This morning for some bizzare reason we are having a carol concert, now with me being a reverend i feel its a bit to soon in the day and in the month, in fact i just wouldnt have it full stop. It will sound better than X Factor though that i'm sure of. I mean, im sure that X Factor is passed off as a singing contest and all that i've seen is average karaoke singers or droning turds, got to give it to her though Rebecca has got a voice but if she didn't have a mic stand to stand behind i don't know what she'd do. Again she has one of those voices like Mariah Carey, Leona Lewis and Anastacia at first its like wow what a great voice but after 3 songs its boring. Also has every song she's sung been down tempo? God her concert would be so dull like like Westlife and Leona all bloody ballads, BORING! I'm sure i must be watching a different show when i hear the judges making their comments and they're the experts, no wonder the charts are so crap these days. Can you tell that X factor winds me up haha.

This year at Simbec we have been blessed with the most wonderous christmas display, i was told that the window dresser that puts together the window of Selfridges in London was brought in to add some flare to the decorations and i have to say i was blown away, it was money well spent getting them in.

Well not much more to say really apart from all the staff and nurses here are as wonderful as every, always happy and chatty which is a great thing to have when your in here for 9 days or more and it always helps when the other victims i mean patients in the clinic are good people to get along with, never had a medical trial yet with a bad person on it, yet.

Oh yes i almost forgot, this time we were allowed 5 mins yard time on saturday for some fresh air which was so good to be outside and i hate snow so i must have needed some fresh air or it might just have been good to get away from the green gas that was in the penthouse, it always seems to be thicker first thing in the morning LOL.

So i will post again in a fortnight. As i said due to it being winter time i won't update it weekly like when its season time but i'll try to keep you all entertained until its time to be back in the sun again on Zakynthos.

Tatty bye everybody, tatty bye.