2k7 to 2k8 (aka NYE)

Now that all is said and done I can come clean on how much I spend on my New Years Eve ticket; £111.50 (including p+p and booking fee!). I did miss out on the £40 tickets by virtue of wanting as much money left available for the Paris trip. Who knew the NYE tickets would sell out so fast! Nevertheless, it was worth the money; Hedkandi, in the Indigo down at the O2 Arena. It was a bit of a no-brainer when Melissa came up with the suggestion early November. The Hedkandi Ibiza weekender we went on earlier in the year was my single most enjoyable moment and any way to relive those 2 1/2 days would get my vote.




Sadly Dani missed out on the tickets too but either, she didn't have pockets as deep as mine, or, she wasn't as dumb as me (delete as necessary), and Gemma wanted to spend the night just with her boyfriend. The rest of the bunch made it though and for this adventure Cat came along too.




Dumb ole me, left my camera at home that night. I thought it a wise move seeing as I intended to get good and drunk and didn't fancy minding a £250 camera, plus I'd just taken delivery of my new phone; Sony Erricson K850i, a 5 megapixel camera phone. I thought that would do a good enough job for the occasion. Boy was I wrong. The bloody thing is rubbish in night situations and New Years Eve celebrations happen at night. D'oh!




The night started off in the Val, then moved onto the Dome. The Indigo was not what I was expecting, a basic theatre hall design, not the open hall I was expecting, with tiered upper level and seatless stalls area, which was the dancefloor for the night. Our first mission upon getting there was getting a drink. The mission of the night! Each visit to the bar cost at least 30 minutes. I was actually 1am before I'd got my first drink! The tunes were banging though! Only one tune sucked and that was that Faithless rubbish!



Light shows, indoor fireworks, dancers; Hedkandi is all about the performance of the night and I sorely missed my camera to capture the experience. Oh well there is always next year!

New Faces; same good times.

It's a little known fact, but today is my BIRTHDAY. Yep. tha Squishmiester is a year younger! Yay me, but more on that later.

First. I need to continue my mission to catch up......


Saturday 22 December.

Bless Charlene. She tried so hard to arrange a night out with over one month's notice but it still didn't happen. Her plan was for everyone to travel to Bas-Vegas (Basildon Festival Leisure Park), for eats and a night of merriment in Jumpin Jaks. In hindsight it think that plan failed because the 'eats' was to be on the fly rather than a restaurant meal. In the end I think only Charlene and Kirsty ended up there.

The alternative night was no easier to arrange with some going for an early dinner in Romford and others going to the face lifted Faces nightclub; that team being me, Catherine, Melissa, Dani and Jon. It was may first visit to Faces in months and the first since the reopening. I have to say I do not know what they spent the 4 million pounds on exactly, but that ain't stopped the play being popular. It definitely thinks of itself as a West End club.

I drove as I needed all my spare cash for the Xmas presents I was getting the next day, and went to get Catherine. She was not ready, needing have a few drinks before leaving. We met the others in the Val(entine), and it was the first time I had seen Dani since Ibiza. It was good to see her, and her outfit was way cool too!





It was a good night. Although I don't think we found a 'spot' and flitted between both rooms. The girls spotted the celebs that night; James Alexandrou (Eastenders' Martin Fowler) and Jade Goodey.




Ther rest of the photos are Facebooked here

Lucy's birthday!!!!

First off, sorry to Lucy for this entry being so late and then sorry to Vicky for not uploading the photos sooner. She was expecting them the next day!!

I start this post the way most have stared recently.....
Two Saturdays ago (lol) I joined Lucy for the celebratory night out for the merrimentation of her 22nd since birthitude! Needless to say I was not the only one there that night; her boyfriend Richard, Vicky M and Catherine came too. And later that night, Charlene and Dave as well!

Romford, Brannigans, played host for the night and I hadn't personally been there since its refurbishment, but was disappointed that it was only a 'lick of paint'. It also didn't seem to be as busy as in the 'good ole days'. Lucy has always liked it there, probably due to her 'rock' orientated music tastes not being catered for in most nightspots, where Brannigans has a very broad musical palette, enough for anybody.

I do remember one point during the night where someone in the club must of had really bad guts or some crafty bugger had some stink bombs, but either way, me and Cat had to run from the dance floor to the safety of the r'n'b room while Lucy, Richard and Vicky were outside having a cigarette. We two stayed in the r'n'b room for the remainder of the night. Vicky found us, after Char and Dave had arrived and found us late on.

I hadn't seen Lucy or Char for months beforehand so enjoyed seeing them again, I'd also promised the jump up and down on Char's head for being out of my life for so long be never did. I still will though!




Hope you had a nice night Lucy. Love ya always xxx

The lure of the fire water

I guess I'll live to be a hundred and still not truly understand the attraction of consuming large quantities of 'falling down juice' then spending the following day feeling like caca!

Oh well.

On Friday the original plan was to go Tiger Tiger in London as a Facebook friend, with the same name as me, had invited me for a 'leaving' do, but I was not able to rustle up anyone interested in going. There was interest from Channa and Sarah to hit the bars of Brick Lane, however. Hence, a new plan evolved; a simple plan. Channa and Sarah had never been to the bars there, and it is one of my favourite places to go! I love it when a plan comes together!

We 3 were to meet at Liverpool Street station, but I was to wait 25 minutes for the 1st of the ladies to arrive >:( It was only a short walk to the Cafe 1001. Once there I was shocked by the transformation; not in the decor or clientele, but in the atmosphere and 'essence' of the place. Before the smoking ban, the place had a seedy feel, with lots of groups huddled around the tables, piled on the well worn, leather sofas or scatter cushions, propped on the lower edges of the concrete pillars; all lit softly by candles or table lamps, with the DJ playing his non commercial funky house, loud enough to prevent normal conversation. But now it felt sterile, looked clean (although the furnishing were just as tatty as ever) and was nigh on empty. It was the first time I've chosen where to sit, usually I sit where I can. It was still a good night though.

I sent a MMS the Gregg to show him how empty the bar was and he rang me soon after to say that he would come down and join me, now that he had finished work. We all checked out The Big Chill bar before catching the last train home. It wasn't until I was home that I realized how drunk I was. 'Never again!' (Ahh, who am I kidding!)









more photos on Facebook, here.

Shaking my groove thang in Romford

Me, Channa, Cat

Last Friday night I was out for a drink and a dance with Channa and Catherine. The night was to take place in London for one of Channa's work colleges' birthday but Catherine has an aversion to London at the moment; finding the guys too creepy and the journey home too troublesome. So we ended up in Romford, in a club I'd never been to before or even heard of; Opium. It kinda had a Moroccan feeling with its styling cues, also with its many booths with cushioned floors and added scatter cushions.



We first went to Edwards though, where we had a run in with one of the bar staff. Whilst at the bar Channa made an offhand comment about being before a guy next to her which this barmaid overheard and aggressively responded that she would get us thrown out if we gave any more attitude! I asked for her name because I found her reaction over the top, and her manner, rude. She refused and attempted to explain her actions away. Long after me and Channa we still brooding over the episode.





Unfortunately Channa became a little worse for wear later on during the night, a victim of a lack of track time with drink. And we were worried about Cat earlier on! We all left about 1.30 as all 3 of us had work the next day.

My weekend; 'Tarantino' stylee (all back to front y'all)

With all the recent excitement I missed Squish Pages 1st birthday! I know! Squish Pages turned one on August 17th and I missed it! I'll have to have a belated birthday celebration this coming Bank Holiday weekend once I've thought about what to do.

In the mean time.... I had me a rather busy weekend. On Sunday I had to go to a friend's (Ruth - I used to work with her at Barkingside) mom's stone setting. I was at the Jewish Cemetery up near Waltham Abbey and as it was my first time at a Jewish funeral I was unsure of what I should do and when. Her daughter, Laura, made sure I felt included telling me to stay near her dad for guidance. We first had to file into an oval shaped room, men one side, women on the other, then the Rabbi sang verses out of a book. After about 15 minutes of that we all ventured outside again, paid respect to the rose bush planted in Ruth's mom's honor, then onward to the grave stone. It was a huge, double width and made of white and black marble. The Rabbi did another verse joined in by a lot of the men, then everybody dispersed. Next stop, to Ruth's for tea. I had to pass because I was actually badly hungover after the Saturday night I had.....

....Guildford was the scene. Me, Dan H, Dan B and Gregg, the players. It was the do-over for the July attempt to meet up and 'wet' Dan H and Bec's son Harry. The added bonus this time, Dan H had had his birthday during the week. We all had dinner, then when to a pub named 'Pews' for drinks. And for the whole night the drinks kept flowing. After the pub was the club where there was more drinking. I thought I should slow down at this point as I had to drive early the next day but it was already to late. I was seeing double. And for the last 45 mins of the night I had to sit down. I was wrecked. The walk, (stagger) back to the hotel was a hoot too, but that's another story.

I know I've said it before but I'm never drinking again. I slept all day Sunday after returning home. Never again. Well until next time anyhoo.

The T4 Party on the Beach Weekender (July 20-22)

It's seemed like a good idea at the time. And it was a journey made twice before: Drive to Bristol a couple of days before the Sunday for a full weekend of fun. I remember first time we (Me, Gregg and Neil) attended T4. It took me barely 2 1/2 hours to get to Bristol.
This year it took me 2 1/2 hours just to cross London!!!
Another 4 hours to get to Reading, and the whole journey took just over a whopping 7 1/2 hours!!!!!!!

There was a very good reason for the slow journey. It was the day the heavens opened. The rain we got was, quote, '10x heavier than heavy rain'. In fact I had to drive through a 'lake' very early in my journey, the water level easily lapping the top of the wheels!!

Needless to say the drive was very dull and tedious an agonising. I was hungry, because all the service stations had closed due to flooding and I was neigh on delirious when I arrived at the hotel at 8:05 after leaving Ilford at 12:30. To be fair Dan, Gregg and Neil, did no better. Their journey started from Kings Cross. They too had to deal with 'river crossings' and delays, just the same, and arrived about and hour before me.

Neil, Dan, Gregg

'Onwards and upwards'; we still had a quick sauna and swim before hitting the town. Food was paramount because till then I had eaten nothing all day and was starting to see dead people! We ended up in a Witherspoon mainly because we knew they would still do food at 10:30 at night. We wound up next to this crazy woman who was only a few years older than us but looked about 20 years older! She was mad!! We finished the night in Chicago Rock Cafe on the port because it seemed the liveliest bar.



On Saturday we pottered around town; the port front, the shops the Arnolfini museum. We had a late lunch in a bar the was a boat permanently moored. It was called 'Apple' and specialised in cider, which we all sampled along with the rather sumptuous food that was laid on. Back to the hotel for another dip and roast, and we were on the town again. We checked out several bars and pubs early on in the night before going to club Oceana. Dan and Neil had never been to Oceana before and me and Gregg took delight in showing them all the themed rooms. Sadly we only got a far as the 'Boudoir' and stopped for drinks. And there we stayed. We met 4 lovely young ladies in there and ended up chatting away till nearly closing time, when we all went up to the disco room to dance away the final minutes. Two of the girls lived not to far away so we all jumped in cabs to keep the drinking and music going. At 5:20 Dan recognised that we should get some sleep as T4 was only hours away.











I think we were packed and checked out by 12 on Sunday and drove the 20 odd miles to Weston Super Mare. The ever lovely Vicky met us there after getting the train that morning. The beach was a little soggy but the weather was bright and the sun beat down as the day wore on. We saw Akon, Amerie, Mika, Girls Aloud (rubbish, although the ginger one would get it), Badly Drawn Boy, Kaiser Chiefs, Natasha Bedingfield, The Hoosiers, Athlete and Just Jack. Vicky hot footed over to the second stage to see Mark Ronson and I heard Dizzee Rascal whilst we were queuing up for food.






The drive home was no better. The M4 was closed because of an accident and it took me and Vicky 6 hours to get home. Dan, Gregg and Neil failed to reach London in time for the last trains home, so Gregg had to stay at his girlfriend's while Neil had to stay at his parents, having to miss his next day at work. Poor Dan had to drive on to Canterbury in Kent. Even now I'm too scared to ask him what time he got home.

Same again next year? :)

More pics here on Facebook