clubbing (rotter)dan

Well well well what a ball i have been having.

Met a guy called Ognen who took me out clubbing in Rotterdam. we went to a club called The Betty Ford Clinic, which is held on the last sunday of every month. so really quite lucky to have seen it.
the picture above i took with my camera at the club.
the place went off!! it was huge and would be on par with a sydney dance party. the upstair oom was the size of the dome and downstairs was the size of the main area of ARQ.

anyway, they had this strange thing where you buy tickets for drinks at one counter, and then go to the bar with your tickets. the tickets cost 1.10 euros each... and 4 tickets gets you a beer, 6 got you tequila etc. so i had about 5 beers, 2 tequilas and a mahito. so needless to say i was rather tipsy, but danced the night away.

we left the club at about 2.30pm and went to the metro.. we ran down the entrance corridor to only find that the station was closed and the barricade doors had shut. we went back up the escalators to the street level to find the roller doors there had closed behind us. so we were trapped there. had to climb up o this ledge and climb over this wall to get out.. had visions of falling and being splattd on the station entrance below... thankfully i made it.

we had to walk all the way back to the rotterdam main railway station to catch the train back to delft where Ognen lived. so got a bit of a tour of rotterdam while i was at it.

stayed the night at ognens place and then caught the train back to amsterdam in the afternoon...as we woke up at 12ish.

spent this afternoon recovering form a nght of drinking.... only way to do that was to have some more beer. i think i have drunk more beer in the past 3 days than i have inthe past 3 months. but hey....when in europe...

went to dinner at wagamama and lo and behold, the waiter was the guy i shared a room with in berlin, when i went there with david, tomi, frank and eduardo a few years ago and met andreas. so was good to see him again.. and to find out that frank has moved back to paris and that david and tomi are somewhere in barcelona.

jen has just left to go back to london so its just Jon and i now. going to go to a cafe for a bit and chill out.

im spending a lot of time thinging of how i can stay here.. i feel so at home in amstrdam.. and now i dont have a job back home, im really feeling this is my one opportunity to do as i have dreamed of most of my lfe.. but its the whole working visa thing that im not sure on. maybe i just need to find the right guy to marry.. hahahah.

get your freak on

well.... and they said it could never be done.

went outlas night to a straight jazz/funk/RnB/Hip hop club.. yes matt and alex.. i was in a straight club!!! had a great time. my friend Jon was amazed that not only was i keeping up beer for beer but i was drinking them quicker than he was. saw 2 guys there that were just totally the hottest guys i had seen all day.. and neither of them fitted my usual types.. go figure.

had to augh we were on the dancefloor and Jen and i were thinking.. gee this song sounds like a remix of Joan Jetts I love rock and roll.... turned out it was, and we just went off !!

got home at about 2-2.30 and being rather tipsy i fell asleep rather quickly.. bt then woke up at 730am bugger.


its freezing cold here but at least today the su is ut so might warm up as the day goes on. heres hoping.

Fetish Dan

well..didnt i arrive in amserdam at the right time... this week is Kink Week here. just found THE best clothing shop in amsterdam full of fetish and goth wear. so couldnt help myself and bought some way cool clothes. got two vests (both like flak jackets.) a nice pair of punk shorts... and a tshirt that h strappy ring harness things on it.

Noice Kimmie !!

London To Amsetrdam

Hahaha.. I spoke too soon. The London to Amsterdam flight was the flight from HELL!!!!
Picture this…. I get n board the aircraft, tired from the 32 hours I have already been travelling.. The migraine is just bearable, ut I thnk its only an hour flight so ill be fine. I discover that my seat is in the 2nd last row. And joy of joys, I have two 2 year old girls in the row behind me, a passenger fails to board, so we have to remove his luggage…the twine brats are screeching and screaming at the top of their lungs, their piercig sirens are cutting through my head like red hot pokers in stereo. We are delayed on the ground 40 mins, and they are screaming for the entire 40 mins. one of the twin girls cannot decide where she wants to sit. With Dad who is sitting in the window in the row behind me, or with granddad who is sitting on the aisle directly behind me, or with mum who is sitting cross the firebug behind me.. So this little she-devil is pushing past granddad and knocking my seat even 2 mins. (PLEASE !!! Someone kill me now)
Finally we startt o pushback, and the twins must be strapped in… this just encourages them to both howl and cry…at top lung capacity… they were so loud that the flight attendants had to turn up the safety demo volume just so we could hear.. (my head is about to explode…!!)
I resign myself to the fact im going to be in agony for his trip, and set about trying to meditate and try to drown out the toddler harpies. (with only marginal success)
Finally I land in Amsterdam… only to have the luggage carousel jam and luggage spews all over the floor. They ix it, but don’t clean up the bags laying on the floor, so I have 1 bag, but the ther hasn’t appeared. Thankfully after 15 mins decide to go check the pile of bags on th efloor..and hooray my missing bag is there (thank god)
So when I finally got to Jons place….and met his friend Jennifer.. The result of being on my own for over 35 hours kicks in and I start talking at 100 miles and hour…i
Had ½ a beer and decided that alcohol at this point was not a good idea. I had a blissful shower..and hey.. I didn’t get stuck in the shower cubicle this time. We set out to g drinking on the town for the afternoon (well Jen and Jon did….thinking of changing my name to a “J” Name to fit in what about Jack…Jordan…Jared ??) I decided that coffee and coke was good enough as I had to stay awake until at least 9pm.
By 8 pm I was fading fast and so dragged them to the supermarket (before it closed) to buy supplies so I could cook breakfast)
Go to love impulse buying. Jen grabbed some lollies from the cash register counters..only to discover when we got home and she shoved one in her mouth, that they were cough lollies.. Hahaha
Managed to stay awake until 9.30 and then crashed like a log. Slept 12 hours !! Wooo hoo!!
Out to face the bleak and cold day (yesterday was so warm.. Today is freezing!! )

Sydney to London

Well.. Here I sit at Hong Kong airport. Wow this place is huge. Typing this on my new laptop, which I haven’t had the chance to use on the first flight, as there was no in-seat power. But did buy an inseat power adaptor at Sydney airport for the next flight so that from now on I will always have one and can also use in cars…should I ever need to use the laptop and drive at the same time.
Had 4 ciggies already in the space of an hour. Staying close to the lounge so I can go have 2 more before boarding, was so surprised by the Qantas economy.. They had video on demand and so I watched movies and TV shows all the way. Bought a pair of cheap noise reducing headphones.. Man I never realised how loud the jet engines were until I turned those on. You cant hear the plane at all and the movie sound is crystal clear. Also means I can use with my laptop too.
Anyway, as per usual, seated near all the weirdos. The girl in front was pissing herself laughing most of the way. I reckon she was also watching Little Britain series three. Fuck that was funny.. Had not seen it before. Thought Ting Tong from Ping Pong and Bubbles were my faves this go round. Then watched most of series one of Ab-Fab.
The woman next to me played solitaire for 7 hours and only got up to got the toilet just before landing.. Man.. A woman that can hold it for 8 hours.. Who would ever have thought.(even I went twice) ..
The guy behind me was playing Madonna in his headphones soooo loud I could hear it in the row in front… (Sue….. I so was thinking of you…… especially when he started singing it out loud! Funny how people forget where they are)
The fussy old Italian couple across the aisle kept playing musical chairs. And the old Italian man actually sat sideways in his chair for at least 10 mins and just stared at me.
On the plus side, the immigration guy (Gavin) at Sydney openly flirted with me. What a shame I was leaving the country eh/ he was totally a babe, muscles and tanned and well, best I stop there or ill get all worked up.
Well.. We board in an hour.. And I have a 13.5 hour trip to London ahead of me. Luckily I haven’t slept yet so will play a little Sims2 and then take a sleeping tab and knock myself out for at least half of that. Shall sign off now and will continue this from London.



Well.. Arrived in London, sitting at a restaurant at Heathrow…..enjoying (somewhat) my first of many meals alone. Arrived here with a whopping migraine… thank god there’s a chemist here. Have taken 2 ultra strong pain killers..lets hope I don’t fall asleep somewhere.. Tee hee.
Anyway, the flight from Hong Kong went pretty quick. I started to watch just one movie…. Transamerica (great movie by the way, hope Felicity gets an award for that) but fell asleep before it finished. Woke up with only 4 hours to go, so played a bit of sims and watched a bit of star trek on the laptop.. God I m sooooooooooooo happy I had it with me.. We landed before I knew it.
The most frustrating thing is I know it is only really about 30-40 mins flying time from here to Amsterdam, and yet from when I landed I still had about 8 hours until I get out of the airport at Amsterdam. (godverdammer!!)
If it wasn’t for the headache, I’m sure I would be checking out he spunks here.. Although have seen a few that I would think…oh my god what a hunk…but head too busy pounding and stomach churning.. Although I must admit, took the tablets about 20 mins ago and already feeling a bit better. Never know I just may find something to amuse my time with here at the airport.


You know you have arrived in Europe when even at the airport, you are asked if you want smoking or non smoking in the restaurant.
Already trying to think in German and Dutch to practice. Thank god for Madonna, I can now say ‘I’m Sorry” in Dutch too. So can add that in front of my “I don’t speak dutch” since everyone there assumes I’m dutch… I have been told that in Amsterdam if they hear you speak English they will automatically switch to English, but not for me.. I ask in English and 7/10 times they will respond to me in dutch.. I’ve been told that I could pass for dutch or German or Slavic…. So hey it’s a compliment I reckon.

Can hear some Americans behind me ordering breakfast…. What on earth is a breakfast burrito ? Only in America I can say (speaking of which saw 2 beautiful American punk/skater boys at HK..think ill enjoy america a lot.
Oh well.. 3 more hours until we board the flight to Holland. It always makes me laugh that where the plane lands there is closer to Rotterdam than Amsterdam and the last 20 mins of the flight is actually spent driving back to the terminal.
Just called a mate Alex back in Sydney.. He just got the job of his dreams.. Im so proud of him. Not sure how the test team will cope without him, as he was the only other person there with test experience… and just found out the person who is taking over what I did (form Brisbane) is going on holidays during the test cycle.. I cant believe the unprofessionalism.. But hey.. I can just not worry.. But cant help it. I still even now care deeply for the project and even now feel frustrated at whats going on there even though I no longer work for them. (yet again, flight centre let go the people that actually really care about the work and the company and take a personal pride in making it all work. Let it go Dan, let it go)
Anyway.. Will end up here and let you all know how I went getting to A’dam later.. Schipol Airport ALWAYS has funny stories….. Hoping to have at least one since nothing exciting has happened so far.

what a friend we have in J....oseph.

well.... amazingly i manged to get totally everything bar pic up my ticket today. so shall hop to the city in the morning to pick it up.

THANK GOD FOR JOSEPH who really saved my bacon today and ran me around from mall to mall to get all that i needed to get. im now armed with games galore on the laptop, to while away the long hours at airports...if i can find a suitable power outlet to use (hoping they have power on the flights too.) and have packed DVDs to watch (coz the plane movies are usually so boring..execpt this time they have Brokeback Mountain showing on QF so ill watch at least that)

got dvd of Little Britian and toothpaste for Andreas. But can you believe no shops in Sydney sell Aussie Bum Swimwear...sorry Ollie.

ran to doctors to get scripts for sleeping tabs, for the flights

got space bags to pack all my clothes in. well i think i am getting slightly better at packing although i just know i over packed. 2 pairs jeans, 2 cargos, 2 shorts, 2 pairs shoes, 6 socks, 12 t-shirts and 2 long sleeve undershirts and 1 pullover and a thin jacket.... since i recon i will prob by some stuff overseas i didnt want to take too much.

bought a crumpler laptop bag... almost fainted at the price but hey, i think it will be worth it.

thankfully i didnt have to go to the interview today or i would never have got eveything done. but they have expressed genuine interest in me and want to interview me the first business day after i get back.. so hey, at least i look good on paper. and i know i can handle any job they throw at me.

going to dinner with friends tonight as a farewell kind of thing (basically Paul and Joseph thought i shouldnt dine alone on my last night...which is really sweet. and Joseph and i think Danny will see me off at the airport. (nothing worse than going to the airport alone..although i usually cry at the airport, but its been bob usually seeing me off.. going to be a little weird this time.) couldnt help but think of Bob when we were at Bondi Junction..as so many memories of Bob relate to there. (yes im moving on..stop nagging)

Joseph and i counted how many spunks we saw today at eash shopping centre... im worried why my count was way higher than his???? in Bondi Junction alone, i got up to 36 and he was still around 14 or so. eek!

have basically vaccum packed all the clothes.. have a fair idea about toiletries, but really i can buy what i need there.

debating on whether to take my roll along cabin bag as well as the crumpler bag.. but i think i can fit all i need in the crumpler which means if i buy too many clothes i can just get one overseas.

well.. not sure if i will write more before i go.. but will be definately writing blog stuff down so i can pour the adventure onto the internet when i can.

next stop - AMSTERDAM !!!!
(i cant believe my total journey time is going to be 32 hours. 8.5 to HK, 13.5 from HK to LON and 1.5 to AMS. add in all the layover times and its 32 hours. im going to go crazy! maybe i will have a shower at HK to feel fresher.)

remember y'all..... ik sprakt geen nederlands, and ik bin niet me frau pederson !

Mayhem and Madness and Unexpected Stress

Sigh, nothing goes to plan does it.

went to book my trip today.. hoping to leave friday.. all flights booked out for at least a week, via all possible routings, exept via Hong Kng on this Thursday.. so 24 hours less to get ready and get packed an dbuy all the things i need to.

plus i have a recruitment agent putting me forward for a job for when i get back, lord knows how i will find time to run around tomorrow and get all my supplies, basically pack my bag, and do a job interview. sigh. just as well i am used to multitasking.

the prob is that i need to get my eurail pass and NO ONE at Flight Centre Corp knew how to book one and get it there in time.. so now i have to get the pass delivered to Amsterdam and hoping that it wil make it in time.

anyway... im booked to leave Sydney on Thursday so will need to be at the airport at 11ish in morning. 2.5 hours connection in HK and then on to london.. at least i got a premium economy seat from HK. however..... the 5 hour layover in London waiting for the Amsterdam flight is prob going to do me in. although im sure i have done this layover before.

its very exciting but at the moment im just stressing more than getting excited.. i mean its only a trip to Europe, not like its the first time.. i usually only get excited in the trip to the airport.

im sure im going to have multitudes of amusing stories about my trip.. usually i find all the little hassles and annoyances of the upmost amusement.

Look out world ! Here i come!

well.... today folks i get to go buy my ticket.

bastard ex-employer..... they made me redundant 2 weeks before i got 5 years service, and theres nothing i can do about it. oh well.. karma will win in the end.

so my basic itinerary is set. although i will just book the first flights and the rest will be open dated.

Sydney - Amsterdam on BA
use my train pass to go Amsterdam - Hamburg - Berlin - Zurich - Milan - Venice - Rome - Hamburg
then fly to London, then fly to Washington DC and then spend a couple of days in San Francisco before heading home. im deciding if i should stop in Auckland on the way home to go speak to a prospective employer

Stay Tuned for updates on where im up to.

Scattered Thoughts and Ramblings of a Madman

Untitled
the heart that sings its unheard song
whisperings to the souls in reach
the sands of trust trickle slowly
upturned before completion

lovers come calling
like the tears of a clown
with bittersweet memories
of the unforgotten past

winding pathways of endless tomorrows
crash and collide with todays revelations
as the highway of life stretches on
over countless horizons

sleepless dreams like stolen glances
shepherd thoughts to soaring spirals
another sign ahead is lit
obscured by turbulent uncertainties

taking comfort in uneasy solitude
the courage to be one throughout
the yearnings to be many
and the burnt black road continues.



Streams of Life
slipping through the streams of life
surviving though the pain and strife
choosing paths to lead the way
to change the dawn into the day

cluttered mnds with scattered thoughts
changing ships in shifting ports
weeding grass thoughout the maze
hiding from obscuring haze

lonely valleys surround the heights
the beauty's mixed with tragic sights
battles fought on friendly ground
endless silence in the sound

heartache filled with envied joys
subtle plots in overt ploys
dreams a' scattered on the land
ones own chances in ones hand

hopes in grasp we forge through life
through all the pain and strife
gleaning to the paths of right
heading up into the light


The Watcher
as the people are coming and going
i sit and watch without them knowing
i watch their moves, their style and grace
the varied look on every face
some are short and some are tall
some aren't worth the look at all
some are mean and some are nice
and they're the ones i look at twice
i see beauty etched in evey pore
which makes me watch them even more
and still i sit and watch you all
as you walk by and down the hall

Black Tuesday

Well.... after a full on week last week working 53 hours.. and the week before that working a 18 hour shift.... was feeling on top of the world, did a modeling shot for a mate of mine.. cant wait to see the pics (was a fetish gear shoot done in the freezing cold in the back streets of Alexandria Industrial Wasteland)

Started the day ok today... went to Brazilian Ju Jitsu at lunch.. hey even won a few bouts.. not bad for my 2nd proper lesson. (have been doing these "self defence classes which taught a bit of it, which got me interested in doing it properly)
had a meeting at 3pm... only to be told... im being made redundant. so now im unemployed. eeek! bad timing i guess. what really cheezed me off is that im 2 weeks away from 5 years service.. and they are only paying me 4 years in redundancy payout.. but i reckon i can fight that in court. is it worth it for 2 grand ?

if only i knew what i wanted to be when i grow up? Do i do I.T or do i do Travel Industry since my background is both. sigh. thinking of going on a holiday to Europe for a few weeks.. get the head together and decide what i want to do for work...esp since i wont be getting a holiday for 12 months in a new job. sigh.

anyway... heres a pic taken on sunday... before the bombshell.