LUK€

So Thursday was my birthday.. 29.. The big almost 30 but famous for little else!

I’ve fallen behind so slipped into the trap of retro-blogging where I struggle to remember the detail from quite a few days ago… But I’ll give it a crack.

It’s kind of weird to spend your birthday by yourself and as a result it took a while to get into the swing of it. I jumped on a train to Leiden, another little cute canal town but this one has universities so it makes it a little more lively. I saw my first windmill and hit some clothes shops walking away with a tshirt from the uk.. Can’t win them all.

I then kept the train ride going to Amsterdam.. Holding onto my wallet and prepared for filth on every corner I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a little dodgier than Den Haag but I think a lot of that is mental. Tom had organised for us to me to join a corporate sailing and dinner function with the big Australian so I had to be back in The Hague late arvo. So I walked up to Dam Square which seemed to be the ‘centrum’ of town.

It was.. Tourists standing in small clusters.. Pidgeons taking off in close proximity to my face.. I wandered some more and found a brasserie type place to eat overlooking a massive construction project.. I had a Warsteiner and a club sandwich.. Marvelled a little at the attitude of an American businessman for whom ‘the card machine not working’ constituted a breach of his personal values.. Carry some cashola douche!

Hotfooting it back to the Hague a little behind schedule to meet the sailboats.. By this time the weather had turned from magical to p155ing down and sailing looked increasingly unlikely.. But I still didn’t want to be late.. The train got closer to Amsterdam but not as fast as the sailing deadline approached.. No time to grab a respectable change of clothes for dinner I arrived back at Den Haag Central with maybe 10 minutes to go. Tom suggested I get a tuk tuk down to harbour as the quickest way to go so I climb in the back of this black tuktuk with flapping sides. I exained I was late and he took the challenge up with vigour sliding the three wheeler around some sweeping corners and suitably harassing the bmw’s in front.. After a wild and breezy ride we found the yacht club with enough time.

Due to some confident misrepresentations I found myself on a nimble racing yacht with 3 other novices and a really experienced captain..

For those not on facebook, you should be able to see photos I uploaded at the following links:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=117341&l=e4d4a&id=555745079

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=117427&l=786e0&id=555745079

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=117436&l=de6ef&id=555745079

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=117438&l=17d72&id=555745079

I really struggled to get up this morning, well get going at least.  Something about not having to make a breakfast call meant that I kind of took it really slowly… but hey it’s my party.. so I figured that was fine.. to a point.

After some breakfast, a little bit of lonely planet recon, some checking of emails etc I finally got ready for the world.  By then it was 12:30 which sounds late, but it doesn’t get dark here until late.. so really I had plenty of daylight.  Jump on the number 24 (after remembering to be on the right side of the road and looking in the right direction) to Centraal Station with the strip ticket I picked up in the supermarkt the night before.  With no real plan I decided to go where the people were and headed for the centre of town.  As I walked he city unfolds in details, the coffee chains that I’ve never heard of, the design shop filled with funky furniture and the strip shop which sells comics!  After a couple of hours of wandering the streets, and stopping for a beverage in Grote Markt which was prime for watching some people and giving the blisters a rest.  (putting elastoplast on them has created a goey mess on my birkenstocks which creates more blisters, the only solution which I can find seems to be covering my whole foot with elastoplast..)

Den Haag.. it’s time.. so I hopped on the number 1 tram to Delft.. the home of Vermeer who painted “The Girl with the Pearl Earring”, and also the “Venice of Holland” because it has a bunch of canals.. but no gondolas, or many Italians that I could see.

It’s hard at 1am to try and remember it all, and describe it, but my photos will say a lot of it.. It’s a beautiful quaint little town, the canals a wonderful centrepiece of each street (straat), with crammed together architecture dating back to 16/17/1800s which is just stunning.

They are pretty Vermeer mad here, and everything somehow relates back to him, the Old Church (Olde Kirk) and New Church (Niewe Kirk), the museum to his life.  I grabbed a brie pannini and pepsi max and sat on the canal and took in the serenity.

I took a canal tour on a boat filled with Candians and Dutchies who were all 60+ so I sat quietly in the corner and pretended not to understand anyone.  It was an interesting ride (if not completely daggy - I saw the laughter of a few locals at the boatful of idiot tourists) led by a lovely young blonde dutch girl who translated about 30% of the highlights into English.

I was going to go to the Vermeer museum but by then had had enough and I trammed it back to Den Haag Centraal Station, and back on the bus to spaawaterstraat, which I nearly lost there for a minute.  By then my blisters were annoying and I needed to try and fix all my gooey elastoplast, have a beer and chill for a little while.. which I did.  I guess I was relieved and if not a little proud of myself, that after such a tardy start to the sightseeing, I came away with a great experience and feeling for Den Haag and Delft.

Tom was back after work and we jumped on the bikes back into town for some food.  Suddenly I felt incredibly Dutch and part of the culture.  We found a table among hundreds in a big square in the city, fed by little bars and restaurants around the edges, a real Dutch piazza.  I went for Dish of the Day: Salsa Burger which was actually really nice, if a little spicy for a burger.  We pondered life, love, commerce and the local talent until nightcap time.

Onto The Square bar where they dealt us some Cognac and some local company for a few laughs. Marije and Fleur and friends kept us entertained for the next few hours until the cold and refreshing bike road home.  I’m now coughing like a trooper from cigarette smoke and the cold night air.. but it was good fun.. a nice night out.

Today started early.. a little too early as some random roomies of mine decided on a bit of a late entrance circa 4am. One bunkmate seemed to have attached to herself a slightly drunk Aussie guy who was keen of a bit of loving, or at least wanted to be around just in case.. They proceeded to have a bit of a “discussion” whispering as quietly as drunk people do, on and off for the next couple of hours.. although the highlight was his mate coming in turning the light on and call him a softc… and a weak c… ! You go Aussies spreading our good reputation around the world! (I do have to admit to being confused about why he was weak when he managed to be sharing the bunk with the lovely young sheila?)

After that I managed to pack up all my stuff and check out in search of more low-lying areas. I managed to jam myself into the second tube train that came along (with my pack) and got to St Pancras station, the new home of the Eurostar (as seen on Top Gear!). After coming to the conclusion that I should’ve booked a ticket further in advance, I then came to the conclusion that it was too late to do much about it.. and to keep moving forward, rather than hang around in London, though I paid a penalty for it.

So onto the 10am Eurostar to Brussels without much time to spare, I found myself seated with a lovely couple, one of whom happened to be a member of the European Parliament. The other was also in the same business, but we didn’t discuss that.. the focus was more on cutlery, or lack thereof.

It was certainly different to cruise through Northern France at high speed, through areas that are reminiscent of impressionist paintings. And even more so into Belgium where the architecture and changes became more evident. Jumping out at Brussels Midi I had to make my way then to the Hague, in the Netherlands. There was an hourly train, which I had just missed, so took some time to wander around in search of a toilet, then had a Quick burger (note: the Giant aint so giant) and then found a little strange airport/train lounge type of pub for a beer.. I figure when in Belgium..

So after waiting around there for too long I decided to jump on the train to The Hague (Den Haag). This was a slower train, more like your average Vline, bit old but nice enough. The scenery between Belgium and The Hague became relatively straightforward - cows - bike paths - paddocks - repeat. It’s quite amazing to see the number of people stopped at level crossings on bikes.. and all ages.. grannies as well.

On arriving at Den Haag Centraal I took Tom’s advice and grabbed the tram to the beach at Scheveningen which is like this tripped up St Kilda Luna Park crossed with Surfer’s Paradise.. ok not really a good example but it’s beachy and a bit kitch.. nevertheless the beer was cold and the sun was shining, so even the dodgiest places seem ok.  After a quick one and a bit of people watching.. including some short shorts that should come with warning signs, I headed back to town to meet Tom.  After a visit to the supermarkt and laughing at a bunch of dutch phrases, we retired to the backyard for a few quiet beers and about 9:30 decided it was time to cook some pasta… which was good.

Well tomorrow is approaching.. perhaps tomorrow is always approaching.. but in this case tomorrow takes me away from the heartland, the land of my ancestors to the land of clogs and dykes. (DIY comedy)

I haven’t quite decided, will depend a little on how I wake up but I’m heading for a 10am or a 1pm Eurostar to Brussels, and then keep on moving to The Hague to meet up with Tom.  I took in a few more landmarks today though at a slightly slower pace, one that befits a man of my blister, although plenty of steps on the imaginary pedometer.

I thought I’d make use of my double-decker time and grabbed the bus to Harrods, where I found a lovely parka-vest for 459GBP.  It was reversible, which has to be worth at least 450!  But as I can be at times strangely hypnotised by the lovely clothes on offer, lots of Armani, Zegna, Hugo Boss which has to look good on.  Anyway bit like a David Jones only a tad more ridiculous.. I resisted the urge to buy a Harrods teddy bear, golf tee, or tea set.. as hard as that was.  Then I found myself in the wrong part of town, with a one-way bus that went the wrong way.

Eventually I navigated my way via underground to Victoria station and by the overland (crazy logical English names!) to Twickenham, the home of Foster’s EMEA.  After a quick tour of the office (housed in the ugliest building known to man- we’re talking worse than AXA) I took in a very local pub lunch with a colleague and plotted taking over the world.  After making it back to the big smoke and learning that I’d missed U23D on Imax, it was the Tait Modern Gallery, which is in a great building, with a few floors of free galleries of modern art.  Quite a few reminded me of the Guggenheim collection that I saw in Melbourne a few months back.. Lichtenstein, Kandinsky, De witt, Andy Warhol..  some great stuff, but I was a little tired for too much reflection and those two floors of art just about finished me off.  I would have liked to have taken photos of the good stuff so I don’t forget.

I came back and had a shower, as has been my routine, and went in search of some dinner pretty close by, and the manager at the restaurant was from Keilor Park.. had to happen really.. anyway my fortune cookie warns me that “What looks like an appealing offer may not be” which is a little vague given I’m constantly innundated with options and choices at the moment.. but I guess I’ll just have to be suspicious of everybody!

Until next time over and out.. I look forward to hearing about the budget tomorrow.. more money for asylum seekers and community legal centres Kevin?  Surprisingly though London is much nicer than I imagined, lots of Notting Hill type houses in rows, and heaps of just really cute streets like Degraves.  It could be that it has been record warm weather, sunshine always helps. Until next time.

just picked up a uk sim card so you can get me on +44 750 12955 78.

I made it to the other side of the planet. It’s a long way and after about 33 hours I made it to a bed. The flight from Singapore was ok just long. Caught a couple of movies and some sleep, and saw India, Poland, Germany and Holland from
the air.. Quite amazing.

In a pretty clean looking backpackers not far from Victoria station.. Work on the underground meant that my trip from Heathrow took a while, but so far my instincts are proving correctly. Going for a desperately need shower, whatever that looks like here, then exploring the nightlife!

So still killing time at Changi airport after flying at midnight, arrived here about 5:30am.  It has a very airport feel.. but on the nice side.  The bathrooms are clean with a man there to keep it that way I guess.

First long-ish haul flight.. and first trip on a 777.  Apart from the completely beige interior, and being slightly squashy it wasn’t bad.  I thought about trying to go to sleep but there was food coming, so watched Arrested Development (the banana stand stalls one), then Ali G, then Little Britain.. although I cut that one short after the fat-suit sketch turned a little saucy for the lady sitting next to me.  So I snoozed between like 2 and 6 melbourne time, and while i’m a bit of a space cadet.. I don’t feel too bad. 

The next leg from Singapore to London is looking better as I managed to pick a window seat (and it’s daylight!) which means I can either sleep against the wall (rather than strangers) or look out at the big blue.  I don’t actually know how long this flight is because I haven’t done the time-zone maths.. but maybe that’s a good thing.

So back to the musac and 80s pop while I wait for the 747 to arrive.

Purchase: SD cards for my Nikon!
Note: You’re probably not going to read any books, let alone want choices.

Just mucking around killing some time and using the apple shop’s connection… it’s 28 degrees.. raining.. but i’m confined to the airport.. already fell for the “still on melbourne time” thing and had a nervous moment.. then realised.. 

Dear Friends!!

Only 4 sleeps to go and I’m off to Europe for a break-neck non-stop silly 30-day adventure including the Monaco GP, Acropolis Rally and sharing rooms with stinky backpackers… and I’m getting EXCITED!!!

Any hot tips for: London | The Hague | Amsterdam | Stockholm | Paris | Monaco | Venice | Rome | Athens | Berlin | Barcelona | Madrid | Singapore Airport

ALSO anything you want me to get you that is small and light or postable? Give all the instructions, and I’ll do my best..

I’m planning on a proper chilled-out wintry Ascot Street party when I get back in lieu of a 29th birthday, so keep June-July free!

If we don’t catch up I wish you all a top month!

Luke

Contacts:
EMAIL luke *at* lukephillips.com
MOBILE +61403162423 - it’ll be on occasionally, if I get a Euro pre-paid I’ll put it on the blog.
BLOG www.lukephillips.com will be reincarnated as a contact point, and of course there is www.facebook.com.