Are Bloggers Geeks?

Before you all shout in unison: “DAMN RIGHT YOU ARE GEEK BOY!” allow me to examine the evidence. Barely a week goes by without a reference to an influential blog being mentioned in the media or top bloggers such as Perez Hilton being interviewed as if they are experts in their chosen field. And maybe some of them are. But despite this, sometimes I feel embarrassed to admit that I have a blog as I can just see people’s poorly hidden reactions, based on their preconceptions. They think that I’m either a geek with delusions of grandeur but nothing interesting to say, or someone who probably sits at home stroking a white cat whilst planning cyber-world domination.

But do they have a point? Six months on from the launch of this blog which started with Online Hating, a rant against the pitfalls of online dating, Continue reading

Mistaken For An Undercover Cop

The pixelated face caused problems at customs

It had been a while since I’d seen my oldest mate, so I was willing to go out wherever he wanted when he visited me for the weekend in London just before Christmas. He’s the same age as me but married with kids and envies my freedom, as you would if the nearest you came to late night action is answering a 2am call from a little person who thinks he’s seen the bogeyman and wants to sleep with the light on. Or between mummy and daddy in their bed.

Being a serious clubber in his heyday, of the dancing badly variety rather than the baby seal killing type, my buddy was adamant that we should re-live our youth and visit a hard house dance club. Okay... I promised to look for some white gloves and glowsticks, Continue reading

My Date With An Actress

No, not her, she was busy

It had all started off so well. I met an old friend for drinks on a Friday  evening and we had noticed a couple of nice girls chatting in the corner and struck up a conversation. Despite the fact that they had arranged to meet a couple of blokes, we soon skillfully prised away the ladies from their clutches. Well, they kept going outside for cigarettes, so it was their own fault…

So there I was getting on fabulously with the taller girl (as if I have to take the taller one); life couldn’t get any better than this! She told me that she was an actress. Of course, she was a little known actress, not as stunning as Angelina Droolie or Halle Boobly (who is?), but still desirable in my (drunken) eyes. She was currently ‘starring’ in a Bodyform tampax ad apparently, although surprisingly, wasn’t roller skating through a park or abseiling down a cliff face in the commercial. Continue reading

From Holiday To Homeless

In One Easy Step

It seemed like a great idea at the time. I was to take a much-needed sabbatical from work, escaping from the rat race for 6 weeks or so whilst simultaneously moving out of my house and storing away my belongings to save myself several hundred pounds in rent and bills. That should mean that the effective cost of the holiday was much less than if I had kept the room. Genius.

I left for India seemingly safe in the knowledge that, although I’d heard on the news that rental costs had increased, it had never taken me too long to find somewhere to live in London in the past. How hard could it be? I had allowed myself a few days to find somewhere upon my return.

The first problem that I encountered was a missed return flight, meaning that my first day of house hunting was wiped off due to the delay. Whoops! When I finally made it back to the Big Smoke, I checked myself in to the cheapest ‘hotel’ that I could find, my room coming complete with a water leak Continue reading

Malled To Death

Three Days in Doha

I completed my sabbatical with a brief stopover in Qatar’s capital city; a chance to experience a new culture and my first stay courtesy of a http://www.couchsurfung.org host. I arrived early enough to see much of the city in my first day. There are countless skyscrapers with more half-built, as the desert state aims to compete with Dubai in the coming years. Qatar has the highest average income per person in the world, with little taxes, meaning that the Qataris benefit from sizeable disposable income. Doha is a city where consumers are king and queen, with several enormous malls housing designer labels and everyone driving around in the latest luxury 4×4 Land Cruisers. Continue reading

The Sinister Masseur

Tour of Sri Lanka – Sigirya, Anuradhapura, Colombo & Negombo

The Lion Entrance at Sigirya Rock

Julia, my new travel buddy, and I continued our sodden tour across Sri Lanka’s ‘cultural triangle’ with a visit to the 1st Century BC rock caves at Dambulla and then Sigirya, an expected highlight of the trip. We witnessed the floods from our bus and then via a tuktuk that was on its last legs. Or maybe that should be last wheels… Whatever, it let the rain in, wouldn’t change gear unless the driver used two hands (!) and had a manual windscreen wiper. Surprisingly it made the journey intact and we took advantage of a break in the rain to climb the 1500+ steps to the summit of Sigirya rock. Unfortunately it started to rain again as we approached the first steps; the rain water cascading down the steps in a waterfall. Let’s get wet again then… It wasn’t as tough as I thought it would be, and the rain clouds cleared when we were at the top, Continue reading

WANTED: One Ark For Tour of Sri Lanka

Tour of Sri Lanka – Dalhousie (Adam’s Peak) & Kandy

Yes it’s a flood, not really worth staring at in my opinon

I have a confession to make. There I was, complaining about the poor internet speeds in Sri Lanka, when it becomes apparent that I had actually picked up a virus on my memory card whilst in India and transported it on to unsuspecting Sri Lankan computers! Sorry about that.

On my travels I had been persuaded by other travellers to take the 7km hike up Adam’s Peak, one of the foremost pilgrimage sites for Buddha fans in Asia. The sunrise looked amazing from the video footage that I saw, making the tiring 5500+ step climb a worthwhile experience. Continue reading