Amsterdam!

Yay, finally I got over to the continent. I can get to Amsterdam and into a hotel from Cardiff airport quicker than I can drive to London or my office in Bedford. I haven't been there for over 20 years and its still one of the best cities on the planet (not that I can remember much of the only other time I was there).
I booked a hotel room online which looked OK and in a good area, then read the reviews (which you should never do after you've booked). Bad, bad reviews for the Quentin England hotel, but what can you do?
It was really easy to find, just a 10 min  tram ride from Centraal Station, looked OK from the outside, but whoa...my room in the attic on the 5th floor and tiny. Anne Frank would have had more space in her house.

Not a canal boat, a hotel room.

This time I planned to see the the museums and cultural sites which I didn't get to when I was a youngster (it was mainly bars, coffee shops, nightclubs and the Heineken tour last time). Unfortunately both the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh museum are being renovated, the van Goghs moved somewhere else and a small section of the Rijks still open with Rembrandt's greatest hits still on show. So I went in...culture done.


The red light district district seemed tamer than I remember. The sex shops have basically disappeared, but the girls in the windows are still there. The narrow streets are teaming with Chinese tourists early on and crawling with Brit lads on stag nights and Arabic kids later on. But there are still great bars and restaurants in there, and the Dutch are very accommodating to tourists. I hit a few bars and settled into one for lots of conversations and beers with locals and other tourists. Fun night, thank god for Febo and frites.

Dutch barmaids...friendly, tall & blonde

Saturday I met up with Susan who I worked with at Fuji in Australia. She's now at Fuji Europe in Dusseldorf
which is a 2 hr train ride away. Great to catch up and get the work gossip. We decided to explore the local neighborhoods not on the tourist trail. Such a cool city, I really want to find out a way to go and live there. Great markets, tried Surinamese food. Cool cafes with great food, funky bars, beautiful canals, bikes everywhere - I don't know how I didn't get knocked over.
Beer o'clock was around 2 and set the tone for the rest of the day. So chilled and relaxed despite the weather. Took Susan to a coffee shop for the first time. They're still everywhere and don't seem to have cracked down on tourists as I had heard. No photos inside, sorry.

Susan and me

Sunday was chillaxing again, found more great places for breakfast, pity the coffee isn't so good (unless you ask for double shots), but still it has to one of the best cities to hang out in. Cannot stress that enough. Good food everywhere too, so didn't want to go back to Cardiff, but Amsterdam's only 2 hrs away for me, lots more tips back I think. So cool.

Back to reality now...shit weather, shit coffee, pre-prepared food, traffic and Christmas...its relentless here already, don't know how I'm going to handle December.

Bbbrrrrr....

I can't remember that last time it's been over 10C. The locals say its gotten really cold this for time of the year, its only spring. I had to buy gloves today.
Just got home from the Castle where they had Guy Fawkes night fireworks. I'd forgotten about bonfire night, we used to have it when I was a kid and Dad would let off fireworks and crackers in the back yard. You can still buy fireworks here...in supermarkets. Any time. And still buy bangers that used to blow kids' fingers off. But sparklers, the type you put on birthday cakes, are considered dangerous. Go figure.

For a country that's obsessed with health and safety (there's even a law called DSE that determines how you work in front of a computer) they were pretty slack with firework safety tonight. There were about 10000 people in a park tonight and when they let the fireworks off at 7pm (already pitch dark) the wind was blowing over the crowd and so were the sparks, landing on everybody. No fire risk though, it was raining as usual.      
                                                                                             Otherwise, its been business as usual. Having the NHS for a customer is an exercise in dealing with red tape. Things get done, but very slowly. I should have been finishing up a job about now and starting the next, but that's probably going to be not happening until the end of January. Probably not home for Xmas.            

Just got home and the X Factor is on TV. God, its awful. So many talent shows on TV here, and they have really run out of talent to put on them.

Connected..at last!

Finally, I have broadband, and I feel like I'm back.
Talk about first-world problems! I've only had a mobile broadband dongle since I got here and the signal has been so bad. It drops out all the time, or down to dial-up speed. Imagine that...dial-up internet. So 1999. Can't survive with that.
Now I'm back on Skype and I can see you (except SG) so I don't feel so isolated any more.

Skype me, skype me now.

Trouble is, this work laptop has a partition, if I'm doing work, I have to remote into the office and I can't Skype. I have to log out of work and reboot to my private partition. More first-world problems.
To get broadband, I had to get a landline, but the bonus with that is I can make free calls to Australian landlines, so if I don't have your number drop me an email here.

God, I need botox or something. It's all the stress, or the shitty weather.
What else has been happening? Just work, work and more work. And lots of driving to get there. Its what I thought it would be like, so no surprises. The project managers are still disorganised, so I'm subtly taking over to get things done.

Our friendly operators are waiting for your call.

I've been catching up with my friends on weekends, last weekend I went down to Charmaine & Ian's in Hampshire for a dinner party on Saturday night. Lots of fine wine and intellectual conversations. Not sure that my republican sympathies and anti-monarchy stance were overly appreciated by the Tory locals, but hey, I'm still Australian. Actually I think I'm becoming more patriotic here. I got Sky TV with ESPN in time for the AFL finals (classic GF) and I'll have to upgrade Sky again to get the Aussie cricket. I record Grand Designs Australia.

I've never really been into golf on TV, but the Ryder Cup was nuts.
Back to London next weekend, so this weekend is at home, shopping most likely. I need some warm clothes now, its autumn which means rain....as if there hasn't been enough of that. Also should do some real food shopping, I've gotta get some of my new obsession...turkey bacon (or turcon as I call it) the halal substitute. I had a TLT the other day. Crispy turkey...mmmmm
6 pm now...pub time, down to The Packet for a few pints with the weird Welsh locals. They still won't teach me any swear words in Welsh, so they'll have to put up with my foul Aussie language.

Drunk dialling......

Alright, had a shitty week at work so when I got home I thought I go and see the presentation for the Welsh Olympic ans Paralymic athletes at the Senedd (Welsh parliament) building down the bay, which I can see from my window. I was meant to start at 4pm, I got there about 6pm. Well, 2 brass bands, 3 male voice choirs band a clarinet player later, there was no sign of an Olympic medal on stage. All I wanted to see was the Welsh girl with achondroplasia who some gold medals in the Paralympics.
Turns out she's not really from Wales anyway.
I'm convinced that gatherings of people here have the smell of bacon and vinegar.
So I went back to the bay for a beer.
At one of the bars I got into a conversation (about the price of a pint at this bar...£4...that's London prices!) with a couple from out west in Pembrokeshire which is where my work is right now. They were great, and I will catch up with them when I'm out there. They, and their friends love Australia (they've never been) and wouldn't let me buy a drink. I did have to wing it during rugby conversations.

Speaking of London prices, I spent last weekend in that great city with my mate Jason and his partner Rachael and new baby Selby. Lots of good food courtesy of Jason who is a fantastic cook (Guinea fowl, Cromer crab) and lots of Jason's own cider. Also did a street food market in Hackney (the street food thing is big there, and pretty good) and a tour of about 8 north London pubs that do only real ales (into them) and ciders (not the fizzy sweet ones). Lotsa fun. Can't wait to go back.

Anyway back to tonight. Dropped into my local, The Packet, for a quick one on the way home. Ordered a drink and this bloke heard me and asked where me accent was from (which happens a lot) and got me join join his friends for a drink. They were all Welsh speakers...Geraint, Dewi, Sian, Glyn and every other Welsh name you can think of. They wouldn't let me buy a drink, but the conversation always turned back to rugby. It got a bit weird when Dewi invited me back to his place for dinner.
So I legged it. Hungry.
 I got a kebab on the way home. So ashamed. Watched a very funny QI and thought I would start calling home. No credit...aaarrggh, but I gathered writing a blog is better than drunk dialling. Thank god for spell check.

Life on the Road

Reality has hit now. I'm in full swing at work, and been given my own project to start on, which is good. I've forgotten what working is like, given my last 6 months in Australia were pretty much spent on my couch at home waiting for something to do, or getting coffee down Acland St (how much do I miss a good flat white  and Monday's sport section for the footy analysis) or even going to the gym.

The major consequence of doing my job in the UK is driving. And I mean lots of driving. Lots. Going up to the north of Wales is about 200 miles depending on the myriad of routes you can take inland, or over 240 miles if I go back into Lloegr (that's England for the non-Welsh speakers) and up the motorways. Don't ask me what that is in kilometers, all I know is that miles tick over very slowly.

A month ago I'd drive through a quaint little village and think "oh, that's quaint, I wonder if its full of quirky personalities like in the Vicar of Dibley?". Now they are just annoying. You have to slow down, or get stuck behind a truck (can't say lorry) as it tries to turn a corner. I'm sure the scenery is quite spectacular through the Welsh countryside, I don't notice it now, besides its always PDR.

I have seen some things though, usually during the week when it doesn't rain. There's an old walled town called Conwy near where I've had to go for work. There's a castle that's sort of cool (left) and the UK's smallest house (right) there. Glad they only charged a £1 to get in. It was small.


The motorways are good when there's no-one on them. People seem to drive at two distinct speeds - too slow or too fast. You have to keep the radio on for traffic reports, but once you're stuck in a traffic jam (or queue as they put it politely) you're stuck. I've been advised to keep food and water in the car as you can be stuck for several hours or more if you're unlucky.

My view for 2hrs on the M4

Last Monday was the August Bank Holiday, which is meant to be the best of summer. So I decided to take the whole day to drive up to North Wales up the coast and check out the beaches and towns before work on Tuesday. Torrential rain for the whole day, what else should I have expected? I got out of the car at Aberyswyth and my umbrella got turned inside out and broke. And I got completely soaked. I had to buy a new umbrella and a raincoat. And it took 8 hours to get there in thunderstorms and traffic. My best public holiday ever.


Rare day working from home today. Got Sky installed today. Already set up to record some of the weekend's AFL matches. Won't be able to watch them live because I'm going to London (yay) for the weekend to catch up with my mate Jason.
They only installed Sky TV though, broadband and phone are going to take another month. Why? Its just the way its done, I've given up questioning. Tonight I'm spending quality time getting to know 400 new channels.

British Summer

I'm back up in North Wales for work this week, staying in Llandudno again in the Empire Hotel where Fuji employees stay when we're up here. The Empire is one of those old fashioned hotels, lots of narrow hallways full of furniture, small rooms that are over decorated and terrible bathrooms. Most people staying here are on their summer holidays, and most of them are pensioners so you can't help dodging the walking frames and electric scooters. Everybody dresses for dinner in the dining room...except for me. After a day at work in a suit and tie I have to change into jeans and T shirt...and thongs (careful not to call them that here). Last night I was shown my table which was around a corner where all the dressed up people couldn't see me. At least the food is good.
They can't understand why I don't want a full fry up breakfast when I stay in hotels. Its odd that I just want cereal and toast. Breakfast is the best meal of the day here, and baked beans are a treat. Although last week at a hotel in Norfolk I had kippers for the first time. Too fishy and too salty for breakfast.

Summer in the UK has been all about the Olympics as you'd expect. Glad its over. The BBC coverage started off being fair and unbiased but as they started winning more gold it became unbearable. I even missed Eddie McGuire. Australians didn't get much coverage, except when GB beat us. The papers were worse than the TV. I did find this in the Times, though, a bit snarky I thought.

I did go to the Olympics - the bronze medal football game between S Korea (2) and Japan (0) at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Great stadium and fantastic atmosphere. We sat 10 rows behind the goals, not bad for the cheap tickets. The stadium is in the city centre so all the pubs are full before and after games. I'd driven back from Norwich (5 hours) that day and was starving by the time I got there. Food choices poor: I would have killed for a pie, all they sold was bacon sandwiches.

Barry Island glamour

I completely understand why millions of Brits fly to Spain and Greece for summer holidays. The weather here is crap, and its been an average summer. Its usually cloudy during the day, rain more often than not in Wales and because of daylight saving the warmest time of the day is about 7pm. And the beachside holiday towns I've seen are sort of tragic. I don't know if they've been neglected, or they have just given up. Case in point is Barry Island (of Gavin and Stacey fame) near Cardiff. They could really cash in on the G&S stuff but don't bother. Its just amusement arcades, fish and chips, soft serve icecream cones and bad pubs with beer in plastic glasses. The cafes all serve the same food, photos of eggs, chips and beans in their windows. If you were British, I'm sure you'd know what eggs, chips and beans look like, you've eaten enough of it in your lifetime.

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Still, people still flock to the seaside, usually fully dressed. I haven't seen anyone swim yet. I hope it does warm up, there are some beaches in the west of Wales that look really beautiful - sand dunes, blue water and waves. But I think if I'm still here next summer, I'm going to Spain.

All OK now

My furniture arrived on Friday. All brand new, not to my taste but who's complaining...its all here. Its that glass and chrome look that's popular here, I think its a bit "60 Minute Makeover". I suppose you could call it "Designer Warehouse Chic".

I caught up with Ann & Raj at Charmaine & Ian's dream home in Hampshire last week. Ann offloaded a doona cover on me (I refuse to say "duvet" or "garridge" for garage, which is a petrol station, or "hoover" for vacuum) and some other handy stuff.




I'm watching the Olympics, so over team GB, but must admit their cycling team are good. The response from most locals I get when I open my mouth is "So, how many gold medals have the Australians won?" They know its only one and are loving beating us. So they should, all the lottery money going in to sport, buying the best coaches from all over the world, hometown advantage and all that.

I went into Cardiff city centre today, there's a little train that leaves from a station about 200m from home. It takes about 3 minutes from the Bay to then City. PDR all day and bucketing now. City is full of people going to GB v S Korea Olympic football tonight, there are a lot of pubs, bars and restaurants and Millennium Stadium is right in the city. I'm going there next Friday night for the bronze medal football game. I hope GB win tonight to get to semi final but lose semi because they will play for bronze then.

Shopping again tomorrow for household essentials. Luckily Cardiff is a city of superstores and retail parks so I can pick up everything cheap. I'm a Tesco fan now. Supermarkets are a lot better here than home, but as expected fruit & veg is not that fresh. The locals love superstores.

Big two weeks of travel and work coming up. I'm going to change work cars, the big diesel VW Passat they gave me is a beast to drive, and not very practical in cities or driving country roads, and I can hardly get it into my parking space.