My throat is numb

It’s dry, it chafes, it hurts

Please do go away

Don’t let it be the curse

For tomorrow I could rejoice

In a juicey piece of pork

Make it a triple

Earlier this year, Tiesto hosted an intimate gathering at Indigo2. Unfortunately, I didn’t get my shiznit together and the opportunity became impossibility. After missing out, my goal of seeing Tiesto live three years in a row looked to be, very much in tatters.

Never doubt your heroes

Never doubt your heroes – and likewise their bottom line. With more fans to get on board, Tiesto returned to the main arena at the O2 to entertain a sell out 10,000+ audience – this time, me included. When fellow ravers began to tell me about Tiesto’s return to London, I knew he had become mainstream. Long time. Three years in a row, Tiesto… and he’s still searching for sunrise, his 7th in fact.

The venue

Friday had been an expected rush, with big room clubbing an ideal way to end a hard week’s work. The past month has been pretty sh*t actually. Behold the O2 arena, accessible by tube (Jubilee line) with a capacity of 20,000. Formerly the millennium dome (left to rot away in the docklands) – it has since been transformed to the ever so popular O2. All your favourite artists and bands have played at the arena – and now your favourite DJ’s.

The O2 is huge. The circular space with it’s exterior food and drink stalls emits a similar feeling to that of a football stadium. In terms of looks, the O2 is very industrial (as it’s surroundings), lacking the classical elements and appeal of Ally Pally (where Tiesto played in 2007).

The beats, lights and visuals

Supported by First State, Tiesto opened his set at 11.20am (earlier than expected!). ISOS7 was very much the theme of the opening mixes, with the odd classic weaved in (although far and few). Tiesto closed with Adagio for Strings and a confetti spray across the dance floor. Lighting and visuals seemed a little bright (squinting at a club WTF!) and less spectacular than the previous year. Pyrotechnics lacking somewhat – perhaps China saved them all for the Olympics. Tiesto vanished early at 4.30am – with Airbase taking rein of the decks. A bit premature for my liking – I was expecting to go all the way. People blatantly started leaving, which killed the mood totally.

6am, showered and in bed… 2 hours short of previous events and certainly not one for the record books. Still, the pics came out a treat:

Use protection in the clubs

Excessive action in the clubs can cause permanent hearing damage and tinnitus. The only sensible way to protect your ears whilst still have a banging time is to use ear plugs, such as the Etymotic ER20.

Feeling like a twat with rubber protection at a concert, I was mildly relieved to see another clubber flash his ear plugs during the molestation at the metal detection doors. Once plugged in, the volume was quite low and I wasn’t hearing a lot. However, once Tiesto came to the fore it got progressively louder and more lively. Deep into the night I thought I’d take the plugs out and have a listen. Quite a substantial difference in volume – I was shocked at the excessive noise without the rubber.

The main issues I noticed with the plugs is that conversation is difficult (voice needs to be more directional into the ear piece) and they get slightly itchy. Or my ears are just plain dirty.

Cost:

• Tickets, main floor standing: £35 + £5 (fee) = £40.00
• Pint of Becks (plastic cup): £3.70
• Bottle of water from the bar: £1.80
• Tub of Movenpick icecream: £3.00
• All day breakfast (massive sausage + bacon muffin, 2x hashish browns, unlimited ketchup!): £6.50
• Pair of ear plugs (Etymotic ER20): £8

Final mix

When Tiesto leaves early at 4.30am I do wonder if he’s planning on settling down. Hopefully not, as he’s still one of my highlights on my London calendar, for sure.

I haven’t blogged for a while, but the music always brings out the best in me – the urge to splurge.

PS: Tiesto’s podcast can be found here.

Nite.

Over the past month I’ve been hard at work doing what I enjoy, sampling London’s great dance and electro clubs. From innocent beginnings to uncontrollable desires, I’ve got the urge to splurge.

The clubs:

1. Egg London (Kings Cross)
2. Fabric (Farringdon)
3. Heaven (Charing Cross)

Introducing DJ Mazz v.s. Jase of Base

April kicked off with mass kiwi injection, the return of DJ Mazz with support from Jase of Base. A short but crammed schedule, these guys toured some of Europe’s treats whilst sampling a taste of London life. London offers a lot to many people in many ways. Jase asked me why I’m still here – on paper it does seem quite cliche. “Travel, freedom and music”. I’m not sure he bought it but it does boil down to one thing – perusing what makes me happy. Maslow’s heirachy of needs describes the top tier of life as self-actualization – when humans reach for their potential. I’m still far from this point but London has given me the room to grow, most definitely.

Egg Club (Kings Cross)

Egg is described as cool and trendy, with three rooms split across two floors (the layout is a little confusing) including an outdoor area. I chose Egg as an ideal starting point for Mazz and Jase – not overly “doof doof” and hence accessible to the masses. Lighting and smoke was in good supply – as well as the JD and cokes. The classic all nighter; I had a grinding of a time. A bit of a trek to find the club however, at the top end of York Way.

• Music (Saturday): house, minimal
• Cost: £15 at the door
• In bed by: 8am
• More info: http://www.egglondon.net

Fabric (Farringdon)

Dubbed as the most famous club in London (the last remaining “superclub”), Fabric was very much an impromptu act courtesy of DJ Mazz (and some airport mishap). A nice way to pop my Fabric cherry. Fabric is well detailed with dark stairwells and plenty of social seating. Spatially, Fabric felt huge, with 3 floors and pill pushes a plenty (“pills pills pills”). Definitely a much harder club than Egg with an excess of sausage.

• Music (Saturday): house, techno
• Cost: £16 at the door
• In bed by: 5am
• More info: http://www.fabriclondon.com/

Heaven (Charing Cross)

An openly gay club (now popular regardless of sexual bias), Heaven was definitely a spirit of the moment adventure. Superbly situated in central London, Heaven offers three rooms with variety to please most musical tastes. A bit of an eye opener for the faint hearted and unwary, Heaven is a sweaty beast. Everyone does their own thing and the feeling is safe and fun, with a full dance team and good lighting effects. For the record, I went with a female friend and she protected me from the elements. Jase had more male fondling at Fabric, anyway.

• Music (Saturday): trance, pop-house, R&B
• Cost: £12 at the door
• In bed by: 6am
• More info: http://www.heaven-london.com/

Closing

All in all, a very productive and satisfying month. A few firsts. A few seconds. Plus a third. From Kings Cross to Charing Cross – there’s places to please everyone in London.

See you less… miss you more?

I thought i’d been away from bloggin’ for a short while… but not for a whole two months! Gau chor. I’m happy with my progress thus far.

Jan you ary

After a forgettable new years, 2008 would be the year to beat. I got some audio Cantonese lessons on my iPod – not the same appeal of Tiesto, but still good. 4GB into my MacBook, wah so cheap (hooray for play.com and free shipping!). Two days waxing my snowboard in the kitchen – cleaning, filling, waxing and finally buffing. Broke my tennis strings for the first time in 16 years – I’ve really arrived in the tennis scene now :) Visit to sunny (yet raining) Cornwall; fish and chips, London dim sum and the broccoli soup that took 45 minutes to arrive. The company was worth it, in any case.

Feb you ary

The official birth of my new team at work. I am the lo ban… lots of new skills and things I’m not accustomed too – managing people. I have the expertise and now finding the power to become an inspirational leader. Three day snowboarding excursion to Austria – interesting company. New Sennheiser cans HD202 – amazing value! Waitangi Day in London – a drunken orgie of kiwis, wont be there next year my god! Valentines day, 11 girls in one session… nice (thanks Chen, lol). Baby Jess turns 2. Mazza Wazza in London – Borough market and high street shops – quick fu*ks a plenty! Tiesto is Live @ Indigo2 – I missed out on tickets and guttered that it was such a small venue (I didn’t make it three years in a row). Proves I’m not die-hard enough? Went to a metal-indie club instead. Hmmm.

Mar chaz

More outdoor tennis (it is still winter mind you) and the new strings going strong. My hair stylist was on holiday and her replacement butchered me… so sad. More snow action this month and Birthdays a plenty. It’s two years in the don for me… the best two years so far and going strong (except when I was 10 year old cheeky little monkey). Moved office at work – I can see tennis courts from our floor. Will give them a bash this summer for sure. Keep your ears open for da fresh new sounds.

NITE

Christmas 2007, less classical than your regular – but snowy all the same. Nested high in the mountains of the French Alps, the four of us wished for one thing this Christmas… please Santa fill your sac with our delayed luggage! Santa delivered, and on the eve of Christmas, we got our shiny new snow hardware – it really did feel like Christmas. We were children again with our new toys! I must admit, I never wanted to grow up. Wait… I still haven’t. Wow, my board’s so shiny and fast!

Previously

London airports ran manic leading up to the Christmas rush, delayed flights/baggage were a certainty and we were just helpless Eskimo pawns. Fortunate enough to get away on time, our luggage was stranded at London Gatwick for two full days of snow time.

Tignes, the resort

As a resort, Tignes (pronounced “Teen”) lacked character and colour. The runs were far from unique, rocky in parts and dispersed far and wide (meaning lots of walking and chair lifts). Many a day was spent on a chair lift. One or two runs were memorable, but overall, I doubt we’d return to Tignes ever again. And yes, the resort isn’t pretty, it consists of apartment blocks separated by dog shit covered snow and yellow ice. Foul.

Gear

Having our baggage delayed, we needed to purchase a few essential items to get us on the slopes for a decent ski holiday. New gloves (€69), pants (€89), socks (€20), helmet (€85) and later crash pants (€99) were necessary kit. Uncannily, I managed to break buttons and stitching on almost all items of new kit purchased. The butt protector on my crash pants was popping from the seams before I even hit the ice! Dang. Some special ability. I also broke a door handle in the apartment (that I managed to melt back together – shhh!).

Rudolf-DJ and Rammy-J came out to play, on Christmas day:

Food

We opted for the self-catering option this time round. It worked out slightly cheaper than fully-catered (£50 less), but for the effort and quality, fully-catered might be the way to go. As the dessert chef, I found myself without an oven, leaving me a little underdone. For my contribution, I cranked out some pancakes and a microwaved/grilled apple crumble. Brownies never got to see the light of day in Tignes. Accidentally I learnt how to make butter, by over-beating and hence splitting the cream.

We had a really fancy eat-out meal on the third night – Kangaroo Fillet and red wine for me! On receipt of our bill, we were given complementary shots – the spirit smelt and tasted like nail-polish remover, quite sick indeed (someone please tell me what it was – urhhh puke!).

Owning your own hardware, an eye opener

On the surface, it seemed that the only pitfall of having your own gear is lugging it from A to B. Boy, was I wrong wrong wrong! Some things to know:

1. Baggage can get delayed – bring essential items as hand carry (toothbrush, hand cream)
2. Snowboards are really sharp and will pierce the bag that suppose to protect it (if not packed neatly)
3. Winter sports insurance is a must, shit does happen
4. Fixing the scratches and dents will take time and money… fun to come!

Am I ranting?

Kinda feels like it huh? I did enjoy snowboarding once again, especially for Christmas, but obviously a few things were out of place and we had to make do with what we had. On a brighter note, we’ll be prepared for our next snow adventure…

Cost analysis:

• Flight, accommodation and ski pass: £469
• Food: £100

Total cost for 7 nights: £570 (excluding hire and hardware purchases)

NY’s is just around the corner… NITE!

A short excursion to Cologne in Germany, gave me a taste of xmas and it’s splendid offerings. Sunny and crisp (2 degrees during the day), the only downer was our rank smoky hostel. One night and a short day nap was enough to energise our bodies for 48 hours of walking, eating and drinking. Berocca was also a useful aid.

1) Printenmann – Christmas biscuit (€1.50)

Our first encounter was a seasonal German biscuit – it was hard, spicy and hard to digest. The taste, also known as traditional “Chinese five spice”, was odd, to put it nicely. We quickly moved on to more flavourable treats…

2) Krakaur – 12″ spicy sausage (€3.00)

Along with Bratwurst, the Krakaur sausage was very tasty and accessible to all market goers. Sweet yet spicy, we downed a few of these over the two days. Recommended for it’s taste and crunch. Treat.

3) Waffles with cream and cherries (€3.00)

The cherries tasted as good as they looked, juicy yet not overbearingly sweet. A subtle touch of cinnamon; the cream, fluffy and light. Treat.

4) Mulled wine (€5.00 including mug)

Super fresh, hot mulled wine (served in unique mugs) gave a good kick to cut the evening chill. Gotta love that warm alcoholic aroma. We also sampled a hot honey wine, less fragrant but easier to drink/inhale. Treat x2.

5) Brataphel – hot baked apple with Marzipan filling (€3.30)

Straight out treat. Only served in West Germany, the Brataphel is a hot baked apple with a nutty almond, raisin and cinnamon filling. Covered with custard and cream, the texture was soft, tangy and uniquely Christmas.

So there you have it! Very simple, very fulfilling. Very tasty. My five spices of Cologne. Merry xmas!

Cost analysis:

• Accommodation: £20 (1 night, hostel)
• Flight and all transport: £104 return

Average daily expenditure / food (exc. travel and accommodation): £21

Total cost for two days: £170.00 (€237.00)

I’ve been mixing some fancy JavaScript at work, with the aid of Tiesto and the Thrillseekers. Hot off the rack, Frontend DJ’s present “brownies” – adding to the mix of heavenly pleasures.

Our team organised an xmas “sugar rush” morning tea and I was keen to give my brownies recipe another crack (version 2.0). Version 1 (beta) came out great – a huge success and all on a whim. Version 2.0 came out a very different animal, tougher, rougher and slightly over-engineered. Still, adored by fellow frontend DJs. Other offerings included cake (almond flour based), random chocolate, crisps, cheesy sticks and a cheese platter.

Brownies are big business here in the UK. Borough Market is infamous for its brownies and wicked food stalls. Yep, I can’t take all the credit – the recipe is sourced from www.verybestbaking.com. Awesome.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, cut in pieces
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 large eggs, divided
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 3/4 cup white chocolate drops
• 1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping
• 3/4 cup chocolate drops

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 180° C. Grease 8-inch-square baking pan.

COMBINE flour, cocoa and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add 2 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Reserve 3/4 cup batter. Spread remaining batter into prepared baking pan. Sprinkle nuts and white morsels over batter. Drizzle caramel topping over top. Beat remaining egg and reserved batter in same large bowl until light in color. Stir in semi-sweet morsels. Spread evenly over caramel topping.

BAKE for 30 to 35 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares.

PS: don’t overbake your brownies and keep to the suggested temperature. The photo above is version 1 (beta).

December’s hit me pretty fast like a rushing backhand to the face… much anticipated yet appreciated. I’ve been a slapper. Ah December. Three weeks back into the swing of things, working hard as usual and enjoying it very much. It is however, time to get festive.

But first, I’ve found myself seeking answers to a few things:

1) What to cook during my upcoming France adventure, as chief dessert chef?

I found this very popular blog… I’m gaga over her cakes:
http://cookingismypassion.blogspot.com

2) How to improve conversational skills for those whom it nowt be natural?

“Stop your question trains and reward and relate”, says Dan:
http://www.charismatips.com/index.php

It was a nice dream, now back to earth

I’ve been trying to run this race, but running isn’t my strongest point. Especially in the fast lane. I couldn’t keep up, no matter how many attempts, the same conclusion. I was racing someone I could never catch. What a dreamer. After this realisation and back to earth, the thought now seems rather daft. My god. Stick to a sport that fits. It was worth the experience mind you… now time to grow and replenish.

Developing for the iPhone

Change of subject totally, but like it or not, the iPhone has sold buckets. More so, developing for Safari on the iPhone is definitely a hot topic right now. Joe Hewitt, the dude behind FireBug has released a useful API:

http://code.google.com/p/iui/wiki/Introduction

Indoor cricket

On the first of the month “Jonny Bond” was back to represent. Top scoring for the team (12, lol) in a top partnership (23) with second top scorer (“J nubie”, on debut) our team only mustered a woeful 50 something chasing down 14o+. Bondy bowled about 4 bouncers, 2 clean bowled and went for 7 runs of the maximum 2 overs.

Nite.

Finally got my scrobbling issue sorted – if you use a Mac with last.fm then you’ll want to use iScrobbler:

http://www.last.fm/group/iScrobbler/forum/35555/_/134630

Much preferred over the official last.fm client. Boo to that (it didn’t handle music on my secondary partition!).

Will I wash away, turning like a stone?
I need a place where I belong.
Call a setting sun to throw me down a rope
And take me to a place called home.

“Home” – Above & Beyond 2006

Jet lag is a wonderful thing. I’ve been up since 5am compiling notes about my recent trip to Kiwiland. Lucky the heaters come on at this time else I’d be freezing my nut. Please note – this post will be rather dry, as my Acer notebook now resides in NZ and I wont be uploading photos today.

Addiction by habit

These are a few things that I found myself eating and drinking most often in NZ:

1. Green spirulina, Feijoa and berry smoothies
2. Lift Plus
3. Cookie Time
4. Sakata Rice crackers
5. Sushi

Expectations versus reality

I expected the trip to center around my sister’s wedding and supporting my dad’s IT requirements. It was the “heavenly wedding” versus “nightmare wireless-network-all-in-one-printer-scanner-copier” holiday. Plus a whole lot of eating out and driving. Mission completed I say.

Highlights, lowlights, observations

1. I forgot to eat the golden kiwifruit my sister bought me
2. My most popular feedback was “wow your so tanned” (embrace your inner colour, mofos)
3. The house was very busy and I had to bunk with my two sisters; my two auntie’s slept in my old room
4. Hamilton is bigger with more traffic and houses, but still inherently similar
5. Everyone is pregnant, marriage really is the gateway to propagating the species – enter with caution
6. Baby Jessica pooped in the bath and we scooped it out with a Coke cup
7. Cat scratches are irritating yet fun – I taught Jessica to say “mau mau”
8. Mum’s persistence to hook me up with a dim sum girl rubbed me up the wong way

Travel itinerary

A short listing of what turned out to be “Trip Kiwiana 2007″, (spot the common themes):

• 18/10 Thu: left work early, in search of another world once forgotten, Sushi dinner
• 19/10 Fri: stuck on a plane for 23 hours + 3 hour transit
• 20/10 Sat: 2pm arrival in Auckland – a gay ol’ family affair with slapping and hugging. Sushi lunch, Master House dinner… wrecked
• 21/10 Sun: my favorite pastime – shopping at the Warehouse and Rebel Sport… bored, Ants&Ange dinner – twin filling lasagna, cake

• 22/10 Mon: Labour day – yum char in Auckland with the in-laws, home for BBQ dinner with Ants&Ange, cake
• 23/10 Tue: Sushi appointment with Irene
• 24/10 Wed: dental appointment, shopping for last minute wedding bits, Sushi lunch
• 25/10 Thu: actual dental appointment, wedding site inspection, Nandos and Metropolis for pre-wedding dinner/drinks
• 26/10 Fri: wedding day (!), windy but sunny, reception at Master House, cake
• 27/10 Sat: BBQ at home with family friends, visited Ying and her family massive, cake
• 28/10 Sun: iced chocolate with Jenn, tennis with Ben, auntie’s house for dinner, cake

• 29/10 Mon: attractions – Hamilton lake and Gardens, yum char at Master House and Wintec dinner, cake
• 30/10 Tue: Butter chicken curry for lunch (thanks Mrs P!), checked out the new Ming Express and auntie’s for dinner
• 31/10 Wed: Auckland catchup – ex-work colleagues, friends of friends and friends. Visited New Market Honda, Auckland Hospital, Dom road, Tanuki’s Yakitori, Ken’s Yakitori, Albany (x2) and Hillcrest in the shire
• 01/10 Thu: breakfast at Izzie’s, KFC lunch, Hamilton Museum for dinner, Mum’s birthday cake
• 02/10 Fri: Pattaya for lunch, Ants&Ange dinner, cake
• 03/10 Sat: 7am – Raglan surf with Cleary, Sushi lunch, BBQ at home with guest chefs and friends, cake, $150 fireworks
• 04/10 Sun: English style brunch, lunch at Wedges, Master Kong dinner with Ants&Ange

• 05/10 Mon: Original Thai dinner with Ants&Ange, fireworks
• 06/10 Tue: network scanner is finally working, yum char at Master Kong (gross), saw Alice+Will at the Kong, shopping/preparing for roast with Cals, golf range with Chih, Mum’s birthday cake
• 07/10 Wed: packing, leaving for HK, Sushi lunch
• 08/10 Thu: 6:45am awake in HK, shops not open quite yet… but shopping and eating like crazy all day (hairy crabs)
• 09/10 Fri: back in the UK, home by 8am, unpacked and back to normality, made Sushi for lunch/dinner with KK
• 10/10 Sat: general house cleaning and Tesco shopping
• 11/10 Sun: writing this entry, 9.04am, raining outside, 9.54am completed editing

Where to now?

I had an interesting conversation with Irene whilst I was packing… she picked up on my motivation for “searching for something”. Chih is banging a few buzz words back into my head right now, e.g. “self-actualization” and “Chi” – the name of a refreshing herbal soda drink. As I look at my feet at this very moment, I notice they’ve become very tanned from going bare footed back home. Physically, yes, but mentally, still some distance to travel, yet.