London

London is an amazing city. I lived there from the end of 1983 to 1989, first in Camberwell and later in Clapham & Fulham before settling in Stockwell for 2 years. I guess the city was different then (for example, there was no London eye) and a lot of the things I enjoyed aren´t possible any longer.

I had a couple of part-time jobs when I lived in London first running a rehersal studio for bands and then as a photographer (6 months) and then a photographer´s assistant. My main activity was making music.

One thing I loved about London was the markets, because they were really cheap and interesting.

Portabello Road was the place to go to find vinyl records (especially bootleg recordings) but Brixton Market, which was close to my home, was also good. East Street Market had the best food. It had a 24-hour bagel shop (it still exisits!) which we would go to a 6am when the underground night clubs finished.

Camden was best for clothes and fashion. There were also a lot of "Theives Markets" simillar to El Bio-Bio market circa 2000.

 

Write a short post about something you would like to do or see if you went to London. Say why?

A Family Meal

Hi Fau Bloggers:

Today I'd like you to write about a family meal you remember. The family meal I remember was in about 1983 or 1984 (I think. My memory isn't as good as it used to be!!). It was in a Hostel my father managed in a little village in Scotland called Coldingham Bay. It was a couple of tears after my mother had died and possibly the first time the family had gathered together since her death, The whole family was my dad and my 5 sisters (Terri, Clare, Moira, Lizzie & Fran) and my 3 brothers (Adie, Colin & Ged). My nephew Dan would have been there too. I can't remember what time of the year it was so I can't remember if we were celebrating anything special or not. I think there was turkey or vegetarian meatloaf (nutroast) on the menu. One of the reasons the meal is so memorable is because my sister Moira and brother Adie started a food fight that got really crazy. It was so epic that it took us ages to clean up afterwards. I mostly remember it because of my dad's reaction. He was always very strict at mealtimes when we were younger but, on this occasion, he just sat there laughing. I think he had finally realized that his children were all a little bit crazy but in a good way. Below is a picture of some of my family in 2010.

This is Coldingham Bay.

Write about a family meal you remember.
Say:
When and where it was.
Who was there,
What you ate.
Why it was memorable.

Mention anything else you think is interesting or important. Try to write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my post and on the posts of 3 classmates.

A Country You Would Like To Visit

Hi FAU Bloggers!

One thing I have been lucky enough to do in my live is travel abroad frequently. Since my first trip abroad to Amsterdam as a 20-year old to visiting China last year, I have managed to visit a number of countries, mainly in Western Europe and South American. All in all, I've visited 24 countries, which includes the UK, which is 4 countries, but not including Ecuador where I spent 5 hours in a frontier market town, or stopovers in airports (Canada, Russia) or countries I drove through without really stopping (Belgium and Luxenberg).  

Anyway, having already had the chance to visit amazing countries like Japan, Turkey, Costa Rica and New Zealand, I think the place I would most like to visit is Cambodia, mainly because I would love to see the Angor Wat buddhist temple. I don't really know much about the temple except that it is considered one of the 7 wonders of the world, and, is the biggest religious structure on the planet. Apparently, Cambodia isn't as developed as other countries in the region and it has a problematic past in terms of politics. In recent years, tourism has been on the increase and Cambodia is seen as a quieter more relaxing destination than its neighbours Thailand and Vietnam.

If I could travel to Cambodia I'd like to go with my wife. Ideally I'd go for about 3 or 4 weeks. Angor Wat is so big it's recommended that you allow at least 4 days to explore. Cambodia also has amazing beaches so I'd also plan to spend some time chilling at the beach. The other place to visit would be Phnom Penh, the capital city, in order to soak up some Cambodian culture.

 

What about you? 

Write about a country you would like to visit.

Say:

Which country it is,

Why you would like to visit it,

Who you would go with,

How long you'd spend there,

Which places you would visit.

Mention anything else you thing is interesting or important. Try to write at least 200 words. Leave a coment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates. 

Something you did last weekend

Hi Fau Bloggers,

Today I'd like you write about something you did last weekend. I actually had a real busy weekend catching up with friends and making music. However, the thing I'm going to talk about is walking up San Cristobal. I did this on Sunday afternoon at about 5pm. I went with my wife and a Chilean friend called Pedro. This is the 2nd consecutive Sunday we've done this walk. I enjoyed this activity for a number of reasons. Firstly, it's good exercise. Secondly, I enjoy being in the natural environment (although the air quality was extremely bad in Santiago over the weekend). Also, I have an interest in birds and I like to see how many different species I can spot. My wife and Pedro have known each other for years and they are both good talkers so I just drift in and out of their conversations. It gives me time to think without having anything around to distract me. There were lots of other people doing the same walk plus some runners, cyclists and skateboarders. The walk down was quicker than the ascent because we took a short cut. When we reached the bottom of the hill we went straight home because most places were closed because of the elections. Including the walk to and from home to the hill, we took about 2 hours.

ps. Not my photo:)

Write about something you did last weekend.

Say:

What it was,

Who you did it with,

What it involved,

How long you did it for,

Why you enjoyed it.

Mention anything interesting or important. Try to write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

A Social Media Site

Hi FAU Bloggers,

Today I'm going to write about a social media page I visit frequently. I could write about a number of music-related sites that I visit regularly but I thought it would be good to write about something different. The site I’m going to tell you about is an Instagram site in Spanish on the topic of healthy living called healthychoicebienestar (https://www.instagram.com/healthychoicebienestar/). It's a site that publishes healthy, plant-based recipes but with the added bonus of often providing information on the nutritional value of the ingredients and other beneficial properties they may have. I guess I visit this site 2 or 3 times per week. The meals are often quick-cook recipes that are easy to follow, and, as the name of the site suggests, are very healthy. I actually know about this site because it’s written by my wife ☺. She only began it at the beginning of this year, in January. She resumed it to coincide with Veganuary, an annual challenge for people to go vegan for a month. She put up a post every day for 31 consecutive days, and has carried on posting frequently since then. One of the best thing about the site is that I get to eat all the delicious food that you can see in the pictures on the Instagram page.

Write about a social media site you visit frequently.

Say:

What it's called,

What it's about,

How you discovered it,

Why you like it,

How often you visit it.

Mention anything interesting or important. Try to write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

A Holiday as a Child

I think the first time my family went on holiday I was about 9 or 10 years old. We went to a little village on the coast of the Irish Sea in North Wales called Criccieth. My family at that time consisted of 5 sisters and 2 brothers as my youngest brother, Ged, hadn’t been born yet. The cottage my parents rented was actually in the countryside about 5 miles from the coast. I remember seeing different landscapes and we did something different each day. My family loves walking and I remember us walking through fields and forests. On our walks, my father would tell us all about the different vegetation and wildlife (he knew a lot about trees, plants and birds). We also spent time on the beach. 

The great thing about the beach at Criccieth is that it has sandy parts that are great for paddling (or swimming if you are very brave - the water is freezing!) and other parts with rock pools. I remember playing in the rock pools and catching small crabs and shrimps. Criccieth also has a castle. For me as an 8-year old it was really fascinating and us visiting it was one of the highlights of the trip. I guess we stayed in Criccieth for about a week and it was in either July or August. Luckily, we had great weather and I remember having a great time. Here are the only 2 photos I have of that trip. I think this first photo is the only one of me and my brothers and sisters from that period.

Write about a holiday or special occasion you remember as a child.
Say:
Where and when it was,
Who was there,
What you did,
Why you remember this occasion.
Mention anything interesting or important. Try to write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

A Photograph (or two!)

 Hi Fau Bloggers,

Today I'd like to write about 2 photographs I like. One is a photo of me, the 2nd a photo I took. 

The first photo is a photo of me from 1980 when I was 20 years old. It was taken in a photo booth in Leeds (a city in the North of England). I was at a Punk/New Wave music festival with a couple of friends. I like this photo because it reminds of when I was young & innocent (ha!ha!). I was quite fashion conscious at that age. I was a big fan of David Bowie and I often wore make-up and quite outlandish clothes (often with styles copied from Bowie). My hair was dyed red. It used to be curlier but the dye make if frizz out. Nowadays, I look around FAU and see lots of interesting fashion statements and, in my experience, it's always good to remind yourself of what you were like when you were younger.   

The second photo is of a waterfall in Zhejiang Province in China. I visited the waterfall in July 2022 with my wife and a Chinese friend called Vera. It's actually the highest waterfall in Asia and their are 2 other beautiful and impressive waterfalls nearby on the same stretch of river. My wife and I were living in Wenzhou which is in the same province but a couple of hours away by car. We went for the weekend and stayed in a really nice, rustic hotel which has a cave cellar underneath where the owner makes traditional Chinese alcohol called Bai-jiu, the Chinese equivalent of Pisco. We walked from the hotel to the entrance of the park with the waterfall, which was about 10 kilometres, which took us a while because it was really hot. The park was beautiful and unspoilt except for the carved steps. It seems there are carved steps everywhere in China. I like this photo because it reminds me of a fairytale image or something from Lord of the Rings. 

Write about a photograph (or 2!) you like.

Say:

When the photograph is from,

What it shows,

Why you like it,

What it reminds you of.

Mention anything else you think is important or interesting.

Try to write at least 175 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.