The Haggis

London EuroPride 2006

2006-07-11T06:24:00.000+10:00

Turkey

2006-07-11T06:00:00.000+10:00

Tamarama BBQ

2006-06-11T06:16:00.000+10:00

Dan and Jennifer

2006-05-01T19:32:00.000+10:00

Had not one but two visitors in Amsterdam a couple of weekends back which was great. Jennifer, a friend from Sydney, arrived on the Thursday night and stayed until the Monday night. She was visiting from London where she now lives. Dan had set off before Jennifer but did not arrive until the Friday since he was coming all the way from Oz via Hong Kong. Dan stayed until the night before I headed to Scotland and carried on his world tour - last seen heading towards Hamburg.

Had a blast with Dan and Jennifer with much of the time taken up with just wandering around the narrow streets of Amsterdam. We headed one night to Bitter Zoet which had a Crime Jazz night on. We caught the tail end of the live Jazz band before the audience area was turned into a dance floor and the DJs began. Was a mixture of house, electonica and hip hop. Some of the music to my taste and some not so haggis orientated but we danced around anyway. The rest of the time was spent hanging out, drinking far too much beer and shooting some pool. A perfect weekend.

Busy

2006-05-01T05:27:00.000+10:00

Has been such a busy few weeks that I havent had time to update this. Will be giving all the news tomorrow but in the meantime a few headings and a pic for those hungry for news of the haggis.

Dan and Jennifer.
Airport Crisis.
Small World.
A Scottish Wedding.

10 pin

2006-04-20T21:52:00.000+10:00

Forgot about the disco bowling that was had the weekend after my bday - great fun - must do again soon

Slack bitch

2006-04-20T20:33:00.000+10:00

Ok Ok.... I know that haggis has been a slack bitch recently and has not updated his blog... he is going to rectify that now...

Quick recap of what has been happening over the last six weeks...

I arrived back in Sydney just in time for Mardi Gras in Sydney. I ended up arriving 15 hours later than I had planned thanks to Schipol airport being closed for hours due to a snow storm which meant by the time I got to London that the plane I was meant to be on was somewhere over eatern Europe or thereabouts. Got put up in a hotel and headed to Sydney the next morning. It is the first major delay I have had in 2 years of being a travelling hag so wasnt too bothered.

On the night of Mardi Gras went to the Cricketers Arms in Surry Hills to meet friends and down a few beers before heading to another pub before heading to the Shift with Brad, Tim and Steve for a night of dancing and merriment.

The following week was my birthday so on the Tuesday (the big day) had drinks and a yummy dinner at the Rose in Erskineville with friends - much beer, wine, chat and laughter was had.

Hmmmm - what else happened in March.... I had a great Sunday down at Elizabeth Bay with Richard and Brad - much drinking and silliness was had in the Park including the shaving of my head which brought on a nice new hair style for me (see the pic below).

On the Saturday before I left had a nice afternoon sitting outside the Rose with the boys and again as seems to be a theme in this post much drinking and laughter :)

This trip to Amsterdam has flown by with not an awful lot happening on the social front. I have been pretty good with my visits to the gym so hopefully soon I will be thin and beautiful - in the meantime I am about to undo some of the good I have been doing since I have two visitors arriving this weeekend. Jennifer arrives from London tonight while Dan who set off before her arrives tommorow afternoon from Sydney. I am looking forward to a crazy weekend - yay!

Next Thursday I head to the UK for a wedding in Aberdeen then head to Elgin until Tuesday - Happy Birthday Mum for the Monday ! - I think the Monday night we will be going out for dinner to celebrate. Then on Tuesday it is time to head home to Sydney for a month - YAY!!

Cold Amsterdam

2006-03-02T01:36:00.000+11:00

Heading home to Sydney in a few hours - nice to be going to the warm - snow in Amsterdam today.

One month to the day.

2006-02-27T08:24:00.000+11:00

Not happy :(
Had my neighbour here in Amsterdam shouting at me today for something totally not my fault, she is an interesting person - I leave it at that. Apart from that this weekend has been nice and quiet. I was out on Friday night with people from work, followed by dinner. The sensible thing would then to have gone home but I had not been out in Amsterdam since arriving so headed to gayville. Had lots of fun but the cumulative affects of alcohol caught up with me and headed home. The rest of the weekend just chilled out in my flat which was nice - me time.

The rest of this month has been pretty boring from a social point of view - just been working pretty hard this trip so looking forward to a more social month ahead. Should not be too difficult with my birthday, Mardi Gras and friends leaving partys to attend. Think on the evening of Mardi Gras I am going to a dance party with Brad and Tim which should be a lot of fun :)

Think I have my plans for the next few months worked out. March in Sydney, April in Amsterdam, May in Sydney, June and half of July in Amsterdam with a weeks HOLIDAY in Turkey for my sisters wedding in June - no computers in sight I hope - just family and a pool and some cocktails :)

Next report will be from Sydney :) - the long flight home starts Wednesday night - thank goodness to be heading back to the warm - I should have packed more clothes - has been close to freezing almost this entire trip.

Love and hugs to everyone xxxx

Australia Day

2006-01-27T19:06:00.000+11:00

Had a very nice Australia Day 2006 - chilled out in the morning - that could read as recovered from slight hangover - then met Mich and Pete and Bald John in the afternoon at the Cricketers in Surry Hills for the annual dog race. Very strange - a main road is closed for about 10 mins as all the local dogs are raced down it. This year the event was augmented by a rather ugly streaker - and he wasnt even well hung ;)

After the shock of seeing naked male flesh I wandered down to Darling Harbour bumping into three friends on the way. Then after a few hours of catching up with friends we watched the fireworks which were pretty fantastic.

I am now in Perth - was speaking to Dug online on Australia Day morning and thought feck it - so got a flight here - will be good since we havent caught up in ages. I also called Ian who is working in Perth at the moment - funnily enough... he just arrived in Sydney... hehe - piss up in a brewery springs to mind. Anyway, I am here for a week and will just work out of Dougals place - back in Sydney next weekend for Brads Birthday bash.

Ice-cream and chocolate

2006-01-24T09:40:00.000+11:00

Just to reiterate what we all already know.... if you are feeling a little down then Ice Cream and Chocolate do work!!

Words

2006-01-24T09:24:00.000+11:00

It is strange that I have only been back in Sydney for 25 days since so much seems to have happened since New Years Eve. I arrived back on the morning of Hogmany (NYE) and had no idea what I was doing that evening. After catching up with a friend during the day I met up with Pete and Michelle and went out for drinks on Oxford Street and we ended up celebrating 2006 in the Columbian. It was just what I wanted - not too busy but a nice bunch of people and a few drinkies. After a few more beverages then met up with another pal and danced my butt off for almost 2 days straight - hurrah.

There was a quite a temperature differential - left Scotland and there was snow on the ground - Sydney..... 46 DEGREES !!!!

Since New Years I have been getting used to being in Sydney again and it has been harder than I imagined in some ways. My head is having trouble readjusting to actually being somewhere for longer than 3 weeks. I have had fun catching up with friends and am looking forward to moving house soon. I have decided to wait till I am back from my next trip just so I can afford to buy some nice furniture for the place.

Am off to Amsterdam again in mid February... think I have Valentines Day on the plane... probably just as well. I will be in Amsterdam for 3 weeks and have been trying to work out what to do with my weekends... perhaps Paris or Antwerp.... or if I dont get my act together... Amsterdam.

All the best to everyone for 2006 !!!!

Lazy

2006-01-23T22:51:00.000+11:00

Have been so lazy with updating the blog recently.... will get to it in the next few days. Thanks for the comment Mr Ben - tried to e-mail you but no success. Send me a mail if you want to keep in touch :)

Dublin December 2005 - Great Craic

2005-12-19T01:57:00.000+11:00

Las Vegas

2005-12-05T17:39:00.000+11:00

Just some photos - text to follow

Los Angeles and Disneyland

2005-12-05T17:27:00.000+11:00

San Francisco

2005-11-29T17:48:00.000+11:00

Waiting for the cable car to take us from near our hotel to Fishermans Wharf.

Great pic of the famous bridge.

Busy Castro area - tempted to sing a long a sound of music but we headed out for dinner and drinks instead.

Me in Castro.

Brad, me and the Ben the bar man - hmmmm - not sure how much info to put here but suffice it to say that at one point in time I am leaning across bar snogging Ben - very nice boy - will not mention anything about tops coming off and .... fun time in Daddys anyway.

My other conquest in Daddy's - the night was a lot of fun.

The Bay bridge at night.

Me at the bottom of Lombard street.

Everything is big here - big drinks and big hot men of Abercrombie and Fitch in the background.

Walking along Fishermans Wharf.

Alcatraz.

Trying not to look cold on Alcatraz island.

Coogee BBQ and party

2005-11-29T17:33:00.000+11:00

Couple of weeks ago I ended up heading to Coogee for a nice spring BBQ followed by drinks. Finally getting round to posting the pics.

Photo time

2005-10-22T21:31:00.000+10:00

About time I posted some more photos...

Mae having a gay ol'time at a party in Bondi :)

The Irish jokers...
Me and Ka having some kitchen time...
At the noodle markets in Hyde Park...

Jeepers

2005-10-20T20:34:00.000+10:00

Look outside and it's beautiful - walk outside for lunch - it's damned cold!!!

Lagged haggis

2005-10-20T18:03:00.000+10:00

Just arrived back in Amsterdam and finally have time to update my blog - was feeling guilty since Gar and Dan have just updated their blogs and thought I should get mine updated with a bit of my news too.

The last three weeks in Sydney have been so busy and now that I am back in Amsterdam I have had time to digest all the events and put things into perspective. Firstly, I am so over the travel - was thinking about cancelling my visit to the states next month since I seem to have permanent jet lag at the moment and it all was becoming too much. What I have done instead is to arrange to come home to Sydney a little earlier after Xmas so I arrive back on New Years Eve! So looking forward to that since feel it is a little symbolic and definitely plan to be in Sydney next year a lot more than I was this year!!

The rest of my time back was action packed with everything from dance parties to meals out with friends, to house warmings to drinks etc etc. It is always such a rush to see everyone and exciting too but a little tiring as well when you take into consideration having to work as well!

The flight back to Europe was pretty uneventful except for the nightmares I had on the second leg from Bangkok to London - cant remember exactly what they were about but damned scary anyway - hope I wasnt calling out in my sleep and scaring the other passengers.

So I am here in Amsterdam and it is strange to be back since the last time I was here I was with a friend so feels quite strange just chilling out by myself again. It is quite nice actaully - am having a quiet time and being reasonably healthy - trying to avoid the fast food and the beer and do a little fitness. I head to Scotland next Thursday (another flight - arggghhhh) but will be nice to see the family for a few days. Get back to Amsterdam on the Sunday for a few days more work then head off on the Wednesday night and arrive home in Sydney on the Friday morning.

Been quite reflective recently since it has just passed three years since I nearly lost my work visa in Australia. I got a great job just 2 days before I was flying out of the country since my visa was expiring. Have been thinking what my life would have been like if the call about that job had come a couple of days later or not at all. Not sure where I would be or what I would be doing but am thankful that it all worked out in the end and now a happy haggis that visas are behind me and am a true blue aussie now - well a resident at least :)

Bought myself a new digital camera on my most recent flight into Sydney and have a few pics to put up which I will do over the next few days - will be taking a lot more pics now since the camera is small enough to carry around with me so will be snap happy from now on.

Best get some work done - yawn!

International Haggis

2005-09-24T13:00:00.000+10:00

Plans for the next few months....

Sydney, Australia 24 September - 17 October
Amsterdam, Netherlands 18 October - 28 October
Elgin, Scotland 29 October - 30 October
Amsterdam, Netherlands 31 October - 2 November
Perth, Australia 3 November - 6 November
Sydney, Australia 7 November - 25 November
San Francisco, USA 26 November - 28 November
Los Angeles, USA 29 November - 1 December
Amsterdam, Netherlands 2 December - 15 December
Dublin, Ireland 16 December - 18 December
Amsterdam,Netherlands 19 December - 23 December
Elgin, Scotland 24th December - 5th January

Home to Sydney for a while 6th January :)

Longest chat ever

2005-09-19T04:00:00.000+10:00

Spent Friday night out with a few friends from work then headed off to meet a few Amsterdam boys for even more drinkies. We went to a few bars that I had been to before then ended up in a club called Exit which I have wanted to go to but never got round to - it was a lot of fun - I think. Suffice it to say that my memory of events towards the end of the evening are slightly blurred but judging by the Saturday morning hangover I think I had a good time.

I had no idea what I was gonna do this weekend so was pleasantly surprised when I got talking to a handsome guy from Sydney online. This ended up being the longest chat ever - we chatted for over 14 hours with him staying up all night. I even had Dominos Pizza delivered to the room to help me through. By 3am my time I had to get some shut eye since I knew I had some work docs to read today. Have managed to avoid reading them so far but now have no choice - better start now...

Another blog entry

2005-09-11T21:30:00.000+10:00

Well just to prove the cynics wrong I am going to make sure that the last blog entry was not a once a year kind of thing. The only major thing to report is that I definitely did curse the Amsterdam summer with my last entry as today it is cloudy and a lot cooler. This is actually a welcome change as long as it gets nicer again during the week like the forecast says.

In Berlin they have bears all over the city while in Hamburg they have some guy called Hummel carrying buckets of water - mmm - weird I say - anyway this pic is cute :)

Summer in Europe

2005-09-10T22:13:00.000+10:00

After being back and fore to Europe many times over the last few months I finally have discovered that summer does exist in the northern hemisphere. It may be late but it seems to be here to stay for the moment (hopefully I have not just cursed it).

I had a fantastic week in Germany visiting a friend from Sydney who has been on holiday in Europe for the last five weeks. I arrived in Berlin and stayed there for a few days before getting the train to Hamburg. The train journey was exceedingly fast and on time unlike in the hell of Sydney transport. Dan almost walked me into the ground in Berlin but it was a great way to see the city. We did get lost a couple of times but thankfully we always managed to get back to our hotel. This was my first time in Germany and it was nice to experience some of the history of Berlin. The Brandenburg Gate was very impressive as was the Reichstag and it was interesting to see the difference which still exists between the East and West. Some of the wall is still there and its quite amazing to see how it split the city right down the middle of some streets. The Jewish memorial (where the pic above was taken) was quite different and impressive and is right in the centre of Berlin.

I was surprised by how little english is spoken in Germany but thankfully I managed ok, mostly thanks to Dan who speaks German pretty well. I did manage one day on my own and managed to get fed and do some shopping without too much drama. In Hamburg we spent our time wandering around and doing a lot of shopping and found the place to be a beautiful city. I am reliably informed that there are more bridges in Hamburg than in Amsterdam and Venice put together so you can imagine that with a lot of water around the place is very picturesque. I met a few of Dans friends in Hamburg and they were very hospitable which was great. My German has come on leaps and bounds (starting from zero it wasnt too diffcult to improve).

I have been back in Amsterdam for a week and it was very nice to have Dan visiting for a few days before he headed on the last leg of his holiday before heading home to Sydney. Amsterdam is such a different city when its sunny with everyone including myself taking the oppurtunity to chill out on the Museumplein in the sun. This weekend I am just chilling out in the apartment and its nice to be relaxing after a hectic few weeks.

Am hoping to keep the blog up to date this time and will see if I cant get some pics posted of my travels soon.