The Weekend Starts On Thursday Nights

Lately that seems to be the case - its almost as if Fridays at work were meant for hangovers! With bingo the week before followed by a drinking sesh in Dublin I was wrecked by Sunday night but that didn't stop me going out again on a Thursday before a big weekend.

This time I was at a Jaguar Skills gig in Camden Town. I hadn't really heard of Jaguar Skills but when Sammy invited me and told me that he dressed up as a ninja I was sold. I was also pretty keen to go because I had never been out in Camden before (as it is on the complete opposite side of London to where I live) and it is famous for its gigs and nightlife. We met at a bar in Mornington Cresent just before the gig and had a few drinks there before we went to KoKo the club where it was held. After an intense bag search and coat check we headed straight to the bar for another drink before dancing to the support DJ.

The support DJ were called Mode Step and they were pretty good. As we were mucking around and dancing Lance's beer got knocked out of his hands and the floor became really slippery. I was trying to show Lance how slippery the floor was by sliding my feet around and then of course I demonstrated it in the best way and I completely stacked it. While I stacked it I then knocked my own drink out of his hands and it went all down my hair and face while I was sitting in a puddle of beer. All this and the main set hadn't even started. It was a pretty spectacular stack resulting in a very spectacular bruise on my leg. It is bigger then my hand! The positive side of things is a new dance craze has started. Its called 'The Bronnie Stack' and it will be seen across dancefloors in Europe. Watch out for it!

After that debacle it was straight to the bar and up for a bit of a sit-down before more dancing. Jagur Skills set was great and I have a new found love of the drum and bass DJ. It ended up being a pretty big night with lots of drinks and a late night trip home involving two night buses and a 20 minute walk. Getting in the door at 5am is unideal when you have to get up early for work because you need to leave early but I somehow managed to survive the day on 2 hours sleep.

The reason I was heading off early was so I could jump on a bus down to Bristol so I could go to Hawkesbury Upton to celebrate Sara's birthday. Due to Friday afternoon traffic the bus journey took about three hours which was a great chance for me to have a bit of a kip and perk up before meeting Sara and going straight to the pub to see some of her friends. I tried to back it up but after one drink I just hit the cokes so I could try and stay awake.

On Saturday I was treated to a sleep in before a yummy home cooked breakfast to line our stomachs before heading into Bristol about 2pm for the beginning of a long day of drinking. We had a few drinks down by the river front before heading to a nice little pub to watch the Man U match. This was not exactly my idea of fun but a few drinks and chatting with the girls passed the time ok. We then went into the city centre where more of Sara's friends met us and we headed to a club called Syndicate. It was nice to actually be out clubbing because apart from the previous thursday I hadn't been out for a dance in a club in a while. The day seemed to go so quickly and before I know it we were back at the house and up drinking in the conservatory until 5am.



The next day I barely made it out of bed (worst guest ever) before heading back into London on the bus. Note to self: Don't ever do another hungover bus ride. They are NOT fun. Once again at the end of a Sunday eve I was wrecked and in need of a week in bed. It makes the work week hard but then again I'm here to have fun and party so thats exactly what I am going to do!

Whats The Craic?

I think a may have mentioned in a previous post that Caitriona one of my work girls is Irish? Anyways if I haven't she is and she very kindly invited us to go visit her friends and family next time she went to Dublin. We scored a cheap air fare (9 pounds! oh how I love living a stones throw from Europe) so me Caitriona (Cat), Claire, MacLinden (another Claire but we just call her by her last name), Kate and I took a day off work and jumped across the pond for a long weekend.

After a bumpy landing into Dublin and a very slow bus ride into the centre of town we finally made it to Cats friends house. Lorraine and Finnula were kind enough to have us to stay and give us a bit of a tour of Dublin. We had a cup of tea and chat before heading into the city centre to grab a bite to eat. Before long we were wandering along Temple Barr trying to find a place to grab a pint. So it was only about 2pm before the drinking for the weekend started. We went to a pub called 'The Palace' just outside Temple Barr on Fleet Street which was a bit quieter so we could all chat away. It was fun meeting Cats friends and hearing stories about her when she lived in Ireland. We actually got a fair bit of ammo for teasing her a bit later on which I dont think that she was too happy about haha.







We headed back to Lorraine and Finnula's to get ready and a few more drinks before heading out into Dublin city for a night out on the town. The girls took us to a place called Copan which they deemed 'good Craic' which is basically Irish for 'good fun, good chat, good banter' where we met up with more of Cats friends and had a few (ok... lots Five pound long island ice teas). The night was spent on and off the dance floor and chatting away. It was fun to be out and about in a new city in a good club with good mates and new friends. After heaps of good craic at the pub we headed back to the flat and kept drinking and listening to the girls singing irish tunes and lots more laughing and chatting.

The next day we were surprisingly not very hungover so after a breakfast with the girls we headed off to check out more of downtown Dublin (minus the pubs). First stop was Trinity College which was a lovely campus and home to the Book of Kells. I didn't go in to check out the old library and the Book of Kells as it was around 10 euro but Kate went and checked it out while we explored the rest of the campus. Next stop was Grafton Street which is the main shopping district which leads up to St Stephens Park. It was a nice sunny afternoon so wandering through the gardens in spring was a good way to end our time in Dublin before jumping on the bus to Navan. The smaller town outside of Dublin where Cats parents live.







After an hour on the bus we arrive in Navan and head to Cats beautiful home. It was so nice to be in a family home and see where she grew up. Her parents Betty and Joe had been out that day but we had been left a yummy lasagne and salad for dinner and it wasn't long before we devoured that and got back into the drinks. Before long we Betty and Joe were home and we go to meet Cats parents which is always fun. We then decided to check out Navans nightlife and head into a pub in the town. We had planned to go to a pub and have a pint but they were all closed by the time we got in there so we ended up going to a pub/club time of place which was a bit seedy but still heaps of fun. We listened to live music before heading up stairs to the night club for a bit of a dance. We totally owned that dance floor by the way. Downtown Navan didn't know what hit them.





The next day we were treated to a full irish breakfast before heading off to Tara Hill which is about a 20 minute drive from Cats house. We were lucky with the weather again and it was a beautiful day to be walking around the countryside. Unfortunately Cat didn't really know much about the area but it was good to check out the scenery and get a whiff of the fresh air. Sadly our time in Dublin had to end so we went back to Cats place for a afternoon tea of homemade baileys cheese cake and tea before heading to the airport.






It was such a good break away and a great chance to see where Cat came from and where she used to live. I dont think I have laughed so hard and for so long in ages. The best thing is that I dont think it will be the last of our trips to Navan as Betty and Joe said we were welcome anytime and Lorraine and Finn said they would love to go out with us all again. Hopefully we can keep getting a few cheap flights here and there and pop over again during the summer. I wish we could just pop home so the work girls could meet all my friends and family and see what my life was like at home. Sadly though the 24 plane ride just doesn't stretch to a long weekend.

The Underground Rebel Bingo Club

When you hear the word bingo you usually associate it with old grey haired pensioners down at the local RSL but in London, like many things, Bingo has a whole new meaning. The Underground Rebel Bingo Club is a "secret" society that puts on club and bingo nights all around the UK and the states.

My housemate had heard of the Underground Rebel Bingo Club and it sounded heaps fun so we all bought tickets (a bargain at 7 quid) and waited until we found out the secret venue and went along for a night of shenanigans. A few days before the event we got the and email via facebook telling us the address and a few ground rules - no costumes, no cameras, no telling anyone where it is and no acting suspicious.

So we headed of to a secret venue and once we arrived we were given a Crayola Texta and our bingo score cards. About five seconds after we got our textas we were all covered in writing and pictures all over our faces, chests and hands. Not exactly mature but it was so much fun!! God knows what we ended up with on our arms but a few things were pretty funny. There were a few people with amazing artwork on their faces while other people around us had incomprehensible scribble.







A few drinks on the bingo started and it was definitely the most interesting bingo I had ever seen. The prizes were pretty interestig being a stuffed panda, umbrella with lights on and a cat dress up suit. The way they yelled out numbers is not to be repeated in writing. Lets say it was crude at best - although it certainly raised a chuckle or two. In between the four games there was a bit of a DJ set and we danced around to lots of good old school music and grabbed a few more drinks.

The last game's prize was a pretty good one - 100 bottles of Kroppenburg cider. Che one of our crew was lucky enough to win! He was lucky too because some girl had previously got up on stage to claim the prize but she was a bit of a dick and didn't have all the right numbers. She got booed off the stage (and ok I admit it I was caught up in the crowd and booed too) and Che was really disappointed because he only had a couple of numbers to go. After the girl finally got off stage and the numbers kept coming the next two were the one's on Che's sheet and he won. He had to race up to the front of the stage and hug the host to claim his prize. We were all cheering and screaming and pretty chuffed that we knew the winner. It made it a pretty good end to a really fun night. We stayed on after the bingo was finished for a bit of a dance before grabbing the last tube home.

It was one of the best nights I've had out in London and would be keen to do it again although hopefully the next time it would be on a weekend so the partying can continue into the night. Who would have thought such a simple idea could be turned into one of the craziest nights ever. If your a Londoner I recommend it is something you check out!