So on another trip originally to visit UAE & Abu Dhabi! Then scored a fairly cheap ticket to Istanbul so will use it as a base 2 go north & south! Oct 2012

I started thinking about going on this trip in August! Then I came across a ticket from Vancouver to Istanbul for $1100 for 3 months which I thought was a sweet price! After that I got greedy in my travel plans (as usual) & thought wtf if I pay that much for a tkt I may as well check out a few other countries close by that missed in 2010! So now about all that is guaranteed on this trip is that I’ll be leaving Vancouver on Oct 15 and return on Jan 15!!

Then after I decided on a ticket well still wanted to go on a trip promised myself I'd do to Toronto & Montreal! So that happened from Sept 15 to Oct 4 which was a day after my crazy trip to Tofino a cool chill place on Vancouver Island with my good fun close friend MJ (a real sweetheart)!

So anyway back to my current trip to the other side of the world! So tho been to Istanbul a couple of times! I'll be checking out the remaining Eastern European countries that missed last year! If u check this map u will see the countries that are east of Germany & Austria! Cuz really love the people from Eastern Europe and the countries are more interesting to me than Western Europe!!http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/europe_map.htm

My flight took me to Amsterdam where I had a 8 hrs stopover after an all night flight from Vancouver Canada! Well being from Vancouver where BC Bud is King so normally I’d be off the plane running to hit the coffee shops in Amsterdam! But I used my better judgement (yeah I still have some) & decided to hang out at the airport to catch up on my sleep seeing as I just got off a night flight! I also knew from a previous trip to Amsterdam that if I went to a coffee shop well have u heard the expression “like a kid in a candy store”?

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=like%20a%20kid%20in%20a%20candy%20store

Mom would have been proud of me! Cuz have a 8 hr stopover in Amsterdam on the way to Istanbul & not going into the city to a coffee shop!!! Cuz know Shit Happens & if I go may forget to come back for my flight! lol Also have a night layover on the way back thru here in 3 months! So will check out the coffee shops again then as been to them last year so know what happens cuz like a kid in a candy shop!! Plus need some sleep after an all night flight & tonight getting into Istanbul at midnight so will be sleeping at the airport again! Then who knows maybe couch surfing lol but it’s all good!!

http://whereisthefreespiritguy.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-can-i-say-life-is-friggin-amazing.html

Well then maybe u’ve heard the expression “pigging out” then change the word “food” for “weed” in the following definition http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pig%20out
Anyway u get the idea that I'd over indulge & probably end up missing my flight! Duh "No shit Sherlock!! I also knew that on my return flight back from Istanbul that I had an overnight stop in Amsterdam! Then I could maybe indulge to make up for missing out for missing on this flight!

So my flight made it to Istanbul at 1230 am so by the time I got my bag it was about 2 am or so! Also as a Canadian I was dinged $60USD for a 3 month multi entry visa! That sucked but what could I do? Tell them to screw off and get back on the plane?

But I knew before I left that I’d be sleeping at the Araturk Airport in Istanbul the first night! On the second night thought that I’d stay at this hostel that my friend Jasmina works in Istanbul! Jasmina is a Serbian friend, who lives in Istanbul & is a friend of a good Serbian friend of mine in Vancouver! Jasmina and I had been communicating on FB since she lived in Istanbul & I wanted to meet her!

(A bit of useless information is Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey with 8,8 million inhabitants, situated on both sides of the Bosporus, making Istanbul a city of two continents, Europe and Asia.There are 3 major parts of Istanbul. On the European side lies Stamboul and Beyoglu, divided by the Golden Horn a drowned valley about 7 km long. On the Asian side lies Üsküdar (ancient Chrysopolis) and Kadiköy (ancient Chalcedon). Larger Istanbul is 45 km wide and 35 long from south to north. The city continues all along the strait of Bosporus, which connects the Black Sea to Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean further south.)
So anyway Jasmina worked in a hostel on the Asian side of Istanbul so thought I'd stay there! But a couple days before I was to leave she told me that unfortunately her hostel was fully booked for the night I wanted to stay! So decided to book a bed in the Harmony Hostel on the European side where most of the tourists hang out! I had stayed at the Harmony Hostel when I was in Istanbul last year as someone recommended it to me!

So the first night I surveyed the Araturk airport for a comfy place to crash! But first I had to grab something to eat cuz they didn't feed us on the plane from Amsterdam! So I settled on a Chicken joint to eat & then I noticed that the Burger King next to it had nice padded bench seats! So I decided to sleep on one of those benches! But before I went to sleep I heard a couple of chicks talking with a Canadian accent near me! So I found out that they were a couple of nurses who worked at VGA hospital in Vancouver & lived close to where I live! They had been on vacation in Turkey for a couple weeks & had a late flight out on the same KLM flight that I came on! Anyway I had a so so sleep at Burger King!

The next day I paid 2 Lira (60 cents Canadian) for a Metro ride to the Tram line to the downtown area of Istanbul! Then when I got to end of the Metro line I was suppose to go to the Tram line! But was discombobulated and couldn’t figure out where the Tram line was located! So had to ask this one guy who asked around & walked me to the tram line! I paid another 2 Lira to get on the tram! Unfortunately it was morning rush hour! So I had to wait for 4 trams to come by so I could get on! Well next time I plan to get off the Metro earlier & catch the tram so it wouldn’t be so busy & I could get on! I was amazed that I could still figure out how to find the hostel from memory in Istanbul!

I was really disappointed in the Harmony hostel on this trip! I guess last year it was spring & the weather was nicer! I got to the hostel in time to have the free breakfast! The kitchen is on the roof of the building but shit I noticed that one of the walls was missing so it was like friggin cold with the wind blowing thru! Well got a dorm room with 4 other guys so I laid down and had a short nap in the afternoon! I was kind of disappointed cuz last year thought the hostel was cool! But in Oct it was kind of windy & there was a hole in the window & one of the windows didn’t close as it was broken! So had to get the guy working at the hostel to tape up the window cuz it seemed they were going to replace the broken glass!

When I got up I decided to try and call Jasmina to say hi! So I got the guy working at the hostel to call her and I spoke to her! She asked me if I wanted to come over to her place as she lived on the Asian side of the Bosphorous River! I had to walk down to the ferry dock and catch the ferry to the Asian side. Well that seemed easy as got the right ferry and made it across OK! But when I got to the other side Jasmina told me to take a cab to her place as it should only cost about 15 liras / $7 CAD! But the crazy driver didn’t know where he as going and got lost & kept drving around asking people! When we finally got to Jasmina’s place the meter was up to 25 lira which Jasmina said was a scam!! But hey hell had no idea where we were so at least we finally found the place! Jasmina lived in a nice little place that was quite modern!

We sat around and had some tea and she apologized for not having any weed to smoke! Well surprise surprise I had brought a bit of my own weed! So we had a smoke and Jasmina got wasted & guess I did too! Then she told me that her husband played drums in a jazz band and they were playing at this club in the shopping side of Istanbul! The main part of Istanbul is separated by the Bosphorous river and one of it’s tributaries in to the Touristy side with sights like the Blue Mosque. The shopping side with the bar & club scene around Tazim Square! Then there was the Asian side which was more chill & a cooler place to live! Not to mention it was cheaper!

Jasmina said we c take a mini bus to the Jazz Club in Tazim Square which is where the night life seem to happen! They didn’t start playing until 11 pm and lasted a couple hours! Then they could give me a ride back and wasn’t very far out of the way!

So we took one bus to Tazim Square to the Jazz Club! If u imagined a Jazz Club should be in a little dark bar place in an older building! Well u were correct as the Club was up stairs in a little place! The group was awesome as love Jazz music cuz it’s all so creative! The dude playing the lead guitar wrote the music but just for his bit on the guitar! The drummer (Jasmina’s husband), the saxophone and bass player all added creative parts of their with their instruments!!!!! Yeah so had a couple beers & enjoyed the music for a couple of hours! Then Jasmina’s Darin sp?? gave me a ride back to my cold dank dingy hostel on the European side!

The next couple days in Istanbul I spent trying to book a cheap flight to Riga, Latvia! Cuz wanted to visit a friend who lives in Riga that met while she was on a year work visa in Vancouver Canada!! Actually I was excited about going there cuz she invited me to stay at her parent’s house! Hell when I travel I like to do it on the cheap & nothing beats couch surfing especially in a local’s home!!!! So thought hey maybe I should take a small gift cuz tho I’m tight when it comes to myself! Well I do appreciate it when someone does some thing for me so like to repay them in some small way!!

So took a quick trip to the Grand Bazaar to check out something to get them something ! Then thought they will probably think “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts!!!” So I thought all piss on it as I’d wait to see how hospitable they were first before spending any $$ - now u can see that I’m quite cheap with my coin! Lol

Anyway as I was saying I thought the Harmony Hostel kind of sucks now! Shit the only common area to sit, talk, eat our free breakfast, read, use ur computer or the hostel’s computer was on the top floor! I thought it was a cool place when I was there last year in the spring! But shit in the fall when it was getting chilly well it was Cool as in cold! The room’s 4th wall seemed to have disappeared so it was now a cold windy room with 1 wall missing! But as the guy told me it could be worse cuz it could have been the wall facing the Bosphorus River where the cold winds would blow in from!!! Duh!! But hey it was either sit there or in the dorm room to socialize, read or eat!! But shit the Wifi didn't seem to work in our dorm which sucked! But we did pick up some unsecure network sporadically!

The good part about the Harmony Hostel and why I’d probably stay there again (when I come back to Istanbul in Dec & Jan) is the cool people working there plus the easy access to the Araturk airport! The other thing is the free breakfast provided plus in the evenings they always cook up a Pasta meal which they do cuz they want to not cuz it’s part of our hostel fee! The woman cooking breakfast is a no fuss, no nosense, lack of humor, non English speaking Turkish woman who had worked there last year too! But the dude who worked days there Insham or whatever was a real cool funny guy! One of the other guys working or at least hanging around there remembered me from last year!

Yeah they always cooked up a different pasta meal in the evening which was great! So guess I never ate at a restaurant or bought any food during my stay in Istanbul!! Which is why I'd brave the cold dingy rooms cuz the price was right!!

Noticed that it was kind of breezy in our dorm room the first night! So checked the windows and noticed that there was a small hole about 10 cm wide! Also the window didn’t close cuz the hinge was broken! So told the guy there and it was fixed up with a bit of duct tape- good old duct tape!!!! Then it was nice in the room!

There were basically 4 of us staying there for the 3 days I was there! A Polish dude Kris who was cool, a Mexican guy Fernando who was kinda young & a socially awkward American Max! There was also some Asian guy who kept to himself who could speak English but he was as friendly as Cancer! When I met him I asked where he was from just to be courteous and friendly! But the dude said he didn’t want to tell me – shit that was a first!! So we all just left him alone after that!

One night Ishan or whatever the dude’s name was said he’d take us to a bar! So the 4 of us and a couple of chicks were to this bar, restaurant, club kind of place! I figure the dude got some kind of kick back from the bar for bringing people to the establishment! But shit who cares cuz that’s the way business is done in a lot of places in the world! Anyway we all got a bit drunk and wasted so had a good time hanging out there with the others from the hostel!

So yeah the next day I woke up with a bit of a hangover! But shit had to catch my cheap flight to Riga! The flight was one way and meant I had to stay over night in Budapest! So a normal 3 hrs flight took me over 24 hrs!! Going to the airport cost me 4 Lira (about $2 CAD). I took the tram part of the way and then caught the Metro which took me straight to the Araturk airport (my hotel the first night in Istanbul)!

I was planning to sleep at the Budapest airport for the 1 night! But I got there about 4 pm which was too early to sleep! Also found the airport was quite small so there were a lot of people sitting in the few benches that were available! Plus the seats were all made of steel with no padding to sleep on! So it was not a great airport to sleep at - http://www.sleepinginairports.net/list.asp?region=1&country=Hungary&city=Budapest&terminal=International !

Like found this about the Istanbul main airport “Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul is a modern and spacious facility that has a lots of space to sleep in both before and beyond the security gate. The airport, which see 29 million travelers each year has been recently renovated and has cafes with large comfortable couches, free wi-fi, and a number of shops that remain open 24 hours.The airport itself is quiet between the hours of 10pm and about 4am when traffic really picks up. An airport that has the bulk of its flights scheduled for the daylight hours make that airport a great place to crash overnight.”

So thought shit man what am I going to do from 4 pm until midnight when I wanted to sleep! I had tried to book a bed at this hostel in Budapest that my friend Jasmina worked at in the city! But shit they needed a 2 night min stay so that wouldn’t work! Plus shit it was raining like hell plus windy! So I kind of wimped out (as it was near the start of my trip when I had still had a lot of $$ plus had to get my feet wet & then would take on any kind of thing to save money) & got the lady at the Info desk to find me a cheap room at this local hotel with free shuttle service! So basically got a hostel dorm style room & a shared bathroom & shower down the hall for about $50 CAD! So yeah got picked up taken to this sort of motel / hotel with free Wifi & breakfast! Then they gave me a free shuttle ride to this cheap restaurant a wanted to eat some Hungarian goulash & dumplings which I love!!! Hmmmmm

So yeah then spent the evening catching up on my travel blog ! Met an American couple who were doing their once in a life (their words not mine) trip for months! They had been to Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda so we swapped lies about our adventures in Africa! lol They seemed quite well to do (he owned a small IT type company & she was a lawyer) but anyone on a lengthy trip can only do it if on a tight budget cuz I know as do it all the time! They had to pay for a cab to get to and from the airport so they asked if I wanted to share a cab since we were leaving around the same time! But man I had negotiated a free shuttle to and from the airport so had to pass on their offer!

So that was my short sweet stay at a motel/hotel which will be my first and only stay like that! But hell sometimes a person has to stretch their pocket book to include something more! I don’t do it often but if I really needed to well can afford it but shit man like I say I’m frugal/tight!!!

Then it was off to Riga, Latvia to visit and hang out with a nice chill Latvian friend of mine Arta!

Yeah guess should post some pictures but that takes time & a good internet connection so hey stay tuned & keep checking back cuz will do it soon insha’allah!!!

Used Istanbul as base on trip to Ethiopia, E. Europe & Abu Dbabi! 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151120531770527.782489.751750526&type=3 

                       

What the Hell went down during the Spring & Summer 2011 !!!!!!

BTW: Here's an addendum (I put it @ the start not the end) which I add periodically to some of my Postings! Cuz if u think maybe that my postings are too long, unclear, bad English or whatever! Well all I have to say is "Fuck You" this Blog is a Journal for myself! Also it's to let my family & close friends know when I'm traveling in some crazy country that I'm still alive & not dead in some back alley or in some jail! Most don't really read what I write anyway & if they do & get some meaning out of this then cool! I personally don't give a shit about what the others think!!!

Shit in Feb was planning to go to the Philippines, Laos, China, Tibet, Mongolia & maybe North Korea! Well all dependent on getting visas of course but already had the Chinese visa which unfortunately had to let lapse since didn't go but wtf could I do! Cuz realized it was a bit early to go to Tibet as it was still winter!! So kept putting it off to wait for Spring to start! So in the mean time decided to go to Jamaica with my Jamaican buddy Hugh/Huge!!

Then had to hang around for May as was scheduled to get eye surgery ! So yeah had arranged to get my eye lids done! In 2010 had trouble with my eyes as couldn’t see very well for some reason! My vision was kinda blurry similar to when I think back at my life! No didn't do some crazy wild drug in Africa (I wish) but thought it had something to do with being in the Sahara desert area of West Africa! Shit I had also gotten a bad rash & itch (think it's a heat rash as still get it ocasionally now when it gets hot) so had to get my ass out of Mali so headed to Lebanon & Syria in the Middle East!!! So that ended my journey south to Bakino Fasi, Ghana, Nigera, etc so guess another time insha'allah! Instead of course ended up going to a few other countries like the Balkan countries in Eastern Europe, Georgia, Armenia & Germany & Holland!!! But that’s all history now!!!

So anyway found out that my Eye Doctor had to only zap my eyes with some laser to clear up the haziness in my eyes!! But what he also told me was my eye lids drooped a lot more than should do! So he said that I could get surgery done for free to have them lifted! Shit here I thought that I was stuck with these friggin’ eye lids cuz I was Japanese descent! But shit man if it was free why the hell not get it done! But the down side was had to wait for an opening which didn’t happen until May 2011!!!

So there went any plans to go traveling in the Spring of 2011! The spring weather was the shits as it f*ckin rained a lot! But did get the surgery but hell did the surgery ever hurt as they had to cut the shit out of my eye lids! Man the skin of the eye lids are really sensitive as I found out! Shit if I had to do it again I would pass on it!! Hell looking back I got it done cuz it was free & to improve my field of vision & not for appearance cuz that ship has sailed lol! As the doctor told me my field of vision should open up about 20%!!!! It was like looking thru a peep hole in a door & then finding I was looking thru a window!!! Well maybe not that much but wtf u get the idea!! It was an improvement as f*ck I didn’t get it done for cosmetic reasons!! Shit I was way beyond worrying about appearance !

So anyway there went most of the Spring! But will say wish the f*ck I had gotten the hell out of Vancouver for the spring of 2011! Cuz the Vancouver Canuckleheads got to the Stanley Cup finals! I don’t dislike hockey cuz grew up playing and watching it! But it wasn’t the Canuckleheads!!!! When I moved to Vancouver years ago I was impartial as to my view of hockey! Cuz was a closet Canadiens & Oilers fan! But soon grew to fuckin hate the Canuckleheads cuz that’s all I heard about in Vancouver! The crazy thing is most people were going ape shit over the Canucks but knew fuck all about hockey!!!!!

Saw a funny thing at the Sasquatch Music Festival speaking of the F*ckin Canuckleheads! At the festival a bunch of these crazy Canuckleheads fans wearing their jerseys! Well they were running around yelling "Go Canucks Go". The equally crazy Festival goers were thinking they were yelling "Grow Coconuts Grow"! So a bunch of the festival goers started yelling that!!

Anyway as the series went along I felt sorry for all the fair weather fans who were so desperate for a Stanley Cup!!! So I hoped that the Canuckleheads would win a Cup for the Fans & not cuz I liked the f*ckin idiots!!! But of course they did what they’re famous for & always do (which is why I have no respect for them) and that was fuckin CHOKE!!!! Cuz they’ve done it over the years! So the Stanley Cup finals went down as another choke, so maybe they should rename the team Vancouver Chokers!! But this time the fans got all drunk and rioted!!!! They tore the shit out of downtown Vancouver & gave the city a bad rap!!!! There were pics of people protesting to get rid of Mubarak in Egypt, Gaddafi in Lybia, demonstrations in Syria & then hockey riots in Vancouver! What a f*ckin joke as it make Vancouver look ridiculous rioting over friggin hockey!!!!
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/06/15/bc-stanley-cup-fans-post-game-7.html

So after the Stanley Cup playoffs and riots it was mid June & the start of Summer! But shit the weather was still the PITS!

But hey did make it to a few festivals & concerts!!! Also hosted a bunch of Couch Surfers from all over the world! Also met some new friends who I hung out with doing weed, drinks & going to various venues to dance a passion of mine!!! Also on Sundays went to the Hindu Temple close to my place in East Van to get some free Indian food!!

One of my fave people to hang out with in the Winter & Spring of 2011 was my Serbian friend Sanja! We get along great as she is really cool as nothing fazes her!!! She wanted to go some place together but with a Serbian passport she was limited without getting a visa. So one country she could go to was Cuba but I wasn’t keen on it cuz had just gone to Jamaica in the Caribbean already in Feb. So she went to Cuba with her husband (marriage to get a visa) at the start of June! Then she went to Serbia & Turkey for 2 ½ months or guess the entire summer!

At the start of summer around June 25 weekend my Jamaican friend Hugh/Huge had a Beginning of Summer Reggae Dance hall party. Hugh/Huge is a personal trainer and has a small gym across the street from my place! He invited a bunch of people he knew from teaching personal training at UBC plus others! He also had me invite some of my friends which I did! I got a bit shit faced and don’t remember much as usual. But figure the party was a success cuz his neighbors got pissed & asked him to shut it down around 2 am! Here I thought he had invited all his neighbors except a Barbados neighbor who he doesn’t get along with. But shit he really had the music pumped up so the entire neighborhood could hear it!

I decided to go to the Sasquatch Music Festival http://sasquatchfestival.com/ at the Gorge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gorge_Amphitheatre an awesome venue in Central Washington east of Seattle when I saw the line up!!! Anyway got a good deal on a 3 day pass as it was the Memorial Day long weekend in the US! Then found a rideshare with a guy for $25 both ways so couldn’t lose!! All in all had a good time there tho the people I went & camped with weren’t the kind I’d hang out with!!! But hey for 3 days they were OK as could handle anything!

So camped for a couple nights, got shit faced & got to hear some awesome groups play! Foo Fighters, Death Cab for Cute, etc. So guess the weekend was a success as also met a bunch of cool people who were camping next to us!! One thing that sucked at Sasquatch & will prevent me from going again is there is no In/Out! In other words once u go into the festival u can’t leave and come back for the day! They’re so fucking anal about bringing outside booze in. They want u to buy booze there then gouge u $12 a beer! Like fuck them cuz don't want a beer that bad plus u had to get a new wrist band every day if u want to buy booze! The f*ckin douche bags!! It’s basically a big drunk which is the opposite of what I enjoy doing at a music festival! Cuz to me music and chillin usually go together even if the genre is Punk! Tho have to say went to a Punk concert stoned once and it was strange to have all the pent up adrelaine jumping up and down on the dance floor. Shit got my toes bounced on a lot as I wore friggin flip flops duh!

Another thing that found strange (& disliked) is at Sasquatch u camp in one area & the festival is held in another area so u had to go thru a security check every day! The asshole security would tackle & be all over ppl at the festival if they thought u were smuggling liquor in to the festival! It's sucks to be stoned @ a festival & watch some poor schmuck get torn apart by the friggin Gestapo! But the camping was cool so can’t say it was a loss as enjoyed it but won’t go again unless they had 50 awesome groups!!

Then on the July 1 long weekend which is Canada Day went to Deadmonton in Alberta (the province next to BC) for a family gathering! Had an awesome time visiting and seeing family members from parts of Canada and the US!

The weekend following my weekend after Canada Day long weekend went to check out Ky-mani Marley http://www.kymani-marley.com/ one of Bob’s many kids! The concert was awesome as I went with J.M. a friend of mine who likes to dance, smoke, drink & enjoy herself! J.M doesn’t know many of my usual friends as she travels in a different circle than me!! But it’s all good fun hangin out with her as she's a hoot to be around as we laugh, dance, drink & smoke! In fact she got to be my fave person to hang out and party with tho she lacked the stamina to do it for more than 1 or 2 days like moi!

Hosted this American Nurse from the southern states as she worked in Seattle. She was a lot of fun and up to try a lot of new things! But she did like to do 420 & dance some reggae so we got along great! I get along great with Americans but dislike their countries foreign policies (doesn't seem to matter who's administration it is) & heavy handle tactics to protect their national security cuz not everyone is a potential terrorist or whatever!

AS usual I rode my bike a lot during the day & at night when ever I went somewhere! Would meet some people at Trout Lake a man made lake in East Van http://vancouver.about.com/od/beachesparks/p/troutlake.htm
which was a cool 2 hang out for things like Full Moon parties, etc. Also would head down to either Wreck Beach or 3rd Beach on the west side of Stanley Park! Hell would go hang out in the day time but would still be there until late at night! So of course had to ride my bike home in the dark without lights, wearing sun glasses (shit have no other place else to put them), listening to my mp3 player, usually wasted as take wine, music & 420 to the beach! So the ride is usually epic but it's all good fun as always made it home OK or at least wake up in my bed in the morning!

Wreck Beach http://www.wreckbeachcanada.com/wreckbeach.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvNZB_VkJ4Q
was always fun as meet some of my Thur night Astoria friends! A couple latinos and a mix of others who were always up for drumming, guitar playing or whatever! One of my Latino friends had a food booth ?? there! It was always a riot going down there to hang out! But the friggin ride back was painful as it was like 10 km back in the dark while usually half in the bag! So the same routine as returning from 3rd Beach but further to ride!!!

Then some time in July there was the Vancouver Folk festival at the Jericho Beach Park! http://thefestival.bc.ca/ Of course went to listen to the music but a lot of us went to the beach & never paid cuz why pay when u could hear the music on the beach! Many of the people came with drums and had a Drum Circle there on the beach!

About the last weekend in July there was the Caribbean Music festival at Waterfront Park in North Vancouver! http://www.caribbeandays.ca/ I always volunteer there cuz love the vibes & people working there! My Jamaican buddy Hugh/Huge always has a booth there! So this year I helped at the Beer Garden – mistake!!! Well enjoyed working at the Beer Garden as all my co-volunteers were cool and easy to get along with! However my trouble started when I started testing some of the Vodka coolers, etc as I never drink that shit! Hell I hardly drink that much at the best of times! But it was a hot day and so after drinking an assortment of stuff I was getting pretty shit faced! Don’t tell anyone but there was a long line to buy tickets and get drinks! So whenever someone said "oh shit do I have to get back in that long line again?" Well I’d give them a couple extra drinks so they wouldn’t have to get back in line! Shit made a lot of friends but that wasn’t my intention in giving freebies as just shit happens! My theory is always believe in having a good time & if a person(s) is cool & fun well I’d like to help them out! Made a couple of new friends from Caribbeans there so sure will meet them there again next year! Insha’allah!!

It wss an odd coincidence that a cool nice friendly American chick that I met in 2010 in Zagreb Croatia was in Vancouver that weekend for a wedding! So when she called me well I invited her to the festival! She found her way to the festival so left the Beer Garden to hang around the stage to get into the awesome music! Then when the music ended we packed up and went to the Rusty Gull pub about 3 blks away!
http://www.rustygull.com/
There was a Reggae band Mostly Marley playing there on Sunday evenings! So we checked that out and enjoyed our selves! http://www.clubzone.com/events/18891/vancouver/rusty-gull-neighborhood-pub/live-mike-henry-the-mostly-marle

The first Monday in Aug is always a holiday in BC which made for a long weekend! So of course there were a lot of things going on! There were music groups playing at my favorite haunts! The Anza Club which is about 10 blks away as they usually out the place for groups to have Reggae parties on Fri & African parties on the last Sat of every month!
http://www.clubvibes.com/vancouver/nightclub/anza-club.html
Then there’s the Astoria Pub which features the Thur evening Reggae Dance hall night with Ting who's DJ’ing! She lives in my 'hood so often see her around da hood with her young son! She's plays a lot of Reggae as her Guy lives in Jamaica!
http://www.clubvibes.com/events/vancouver/thursday-ting!.html?e=147662
Also go down to the Biltmore Club which is about 4 blks from my place.
http://www.biltmorecabaret.com/
It has a lot of Indie groups playing there so can always find cool music going on! But a lot of times if I don’t know the group it’s like Hit or Miss on whether I may be into it! One Wed night was walking home by the Club & heard some cool music going on! It was like “Toonie Tues” yeah OK so it was Wed but wtf! So paid my $2 and got to listen to 2 awesome groups & drink some cheap $4 beer for a couple hrs! Good value!!!!

Yeah so anyway had to be in Salmo in the mountains for the Shambhala Music Festival by Tues noon (to re-train but that was a waste of time plus shit got to find an awesome campsite & party for a couple days before the crowds invaded the festival) in far eastern BC about a 8 hr drive east of Vancouver. At first I had planned to volunteer there as I do most years so can free admission for the 4 day festival! But this year I figured shit why not get paid even if I had to do longer gigs! Cuz shit was going there anyways so why not get paid as could use the $$$ since I was hoping to go traveling in Oct! So I worked as a Stage Keeper (which I've done in past yrs) which is a person that hangs around the stage ensuring no one gets hurt or goes into the wrong part of the stage area! So worked 4 X 12 hrs shifts (yeah more work than done in a long long time)! But in reality it wasn’t really like work except getting up early was the shits! Cuz was usually half or totally wasted my entire shift as just danced around all day! I had 6 am to 6 pm gigs so getting up for 6 am was a drag! But have to be proud as always made it to work within 15 mins of starting! Plus we got our meals provided which helped so didn’t have to cook or buy food! There are no Beer Gardens or many ppl (that I know of) who get shit faced on booze! Cuz this festival is mostly for Stoners or on some other shit as u can buy anything anywhere any time there! So it’s like a smorgasboard of dope to be had!

I worked at the Fractal Forest stage which is built right in the trees & is the favorite stage for most ppl! I really enjoy it there but it can get very claustrophobic there at nights cuz the stages go all night & are f*ckin crowded! I also like to go to the Living Room as it’s on the beach (by the creek) so can chill in the water or lie under a tree! Also liked the Rock Pit cuz usually had groups playing as heard some awesome groups there from all over the world! Heard an amazing group from Russia, an Aborginial group from Aussie, etc. But in reality liked all 6 stages as each presented a bit of a different genre! http://www.shambhalamusicfestival.com/

Had to leave Monday for Salmo the ranch in the Kootenays mtns where the festival is held as it's about a 8 hr drive. Cuz wanted to get there before dark to set up camp!

So a German chick Sophia contacted me if she could score a ride there too as she was volunteering there! Also got a request from this Canadian chick who was traveling but would be back for Shambhala!! We left at 11 am Vancouver on Monday & didn't get to Salmo till around 1 am Tue due to a fuck up along the way! I let this Canadian chick (can’t remember her name) drive for a while – mistake cuz she was a real dildo! We got to Osoyoos and this idiot chick took the wrong hwy cuz she couldn’t friggin read the signs I guess! So we ended up driving to the US border crossing – duh!! Then she says what do we do now? Huh I woke up and thought shit where are we? We couldn't go back out cuz there were tons of cars lined up behind us! So we thought shit we’ll just explain to the US border guards what happened & sure they'd let us go back into Canada! This chick driving couldn’t drive & think at the same time! Fuck now that I think about it she couldn’t THINK period!! So we drove into the US and explained our situation! So they asked for our ID’s and of course no one brought their passports cuz who the frigg wanted to go to the US anyways!!! Well long story short it took us over a hr cuz Sophia was from Germany & she didn’t have a passport or proper ID. Well she got fingerprinted, photo taken and stamped an Rejected Foreign Alien to the US! So whenever she goes to the Excited States of America from now on she’ll have trouble! But she has no real desire to go there – smart chick! So we were happy when we got escorted back to the Canadian border crossing cuz thought Canadian Immigration officers were more human – wrong! Our mistake was telling them we were going to Shambhala! Cuz immediately they thought we had illegal shit on us!! So I was told since I owned the truck if I owed up to any illegal shit well it would be easier on us! So what the fuck was I going to confess to anyway cuz other than weed which I always carry on me! I thought we had no dope cuz knew can buy anything at the festival! So wtf was suppose to do even if we had some? Should I confess cuz wtf could they do throw us in the slammer, deport us or castrate us - well at least me duh didn't want that! Take oue dope away or give us a fine for any small amount we had, etc. Hell we were Canadians except Sophia but didn’t think we had any dope so I confidently said go ahead give it your best shot to find any dope in the truck! Well it took an hr and they didn’t find any thing! I have to say that Canadian border guards can be as big assholes too like Americans or any other place! But little did I know that the 2 girls had some ‘shrooms in their bags and were sweating! So anyway we got delayed and didn’t get to Salmo until real late! In fact couldn’t find the road into the ranch cuz they had no signs up that early as the festival didn’t start until Thur pm or Fri & it was only Tues early am! Well that Canadian bimbo left to find her friends to camp with & never saw her again which was no lost the friggin idiot! So Sophia and I camped together tho hardly ever saw her cuz we worked different shifts & jobs! But I kinda like doing festivals alone cuz then I don’t have to worry about staying with someone while at a crowded stage! Shit I like to dance or move around so don’t have to tell anyone if I go to a different stage or remain at the same one all day! I worked 6 am to 6 pm then went back to my truck to have a short siesta in the back of my truck as didn’t bother putting up my tent! Then partied from 9 pm to 3 am, headed back for 3 hrs sleep & woke up to do my 12 hrs work gig! When we drove back there were 3 of us again! As a chick Sophia was working with needed a ride back so thought hell why not help someone and get some gas $$ too! Had a good time and made $500 & my entrance fee paid plus meals (if I ever go again which I won't I may try to negotiate getting free dope too ha ha) which is a lot more than made in a while! But decided won’t do Shambhala anymore not cuz don’t enjoy it but have done it enuf so time to move on!

Plan in future years to spend my energy to go to Burning Man http://www.burningman.com/ at the end of Aug! I had a ticket already for this year but decided couldn’t afford to go to BM! As was hoping to travel in Oct for 3 months plus a trip to Eastern Canada so thought shit can’t afford to spend $350 on a tkt & another 1200 on getting to BM & other shit! So sold my BM ticket to someone a CSer I knew but don’t believe in gouging ppl so sold it for the same price I paid $350 which is still kind of steep!!

So to make up for not making it to BM decided to check out Alive at Squamish (had been there last year too) about the 3rd week of Aug. http://liveatsquamish.com/ So picked up a cheap tkt on CL and headed up to the 2day festival with J.M. my crazy fun lovin hangin out friend! She had never been to a musical festival so this was a new experience for her! Actually whenever we hung out it was a new or crazy experience for her (she usually drives her fancy car but went to a concert downtown once & took a bus which was a hoot for her & moi!!)! She was always up to smoking, drinking and having a good time! But she generally hung out with a different crowd than moi! She had some friends tat the festival that we met up with but unfortunately they weren’t too impressed with moi for some reason! Duh think they figured I was too weird , a Stoner or some shit! So didn’t hang out with them which I kinda felt bad about for her but met other random chill fun ppl! We slept in the back of my truck in the parking lot as didn’t have or want to pay the $$ for a camp site! But we met a few others camping there too so drank and partied most of the night with them! J.M. was a real trooper as think she enjoyed herself so I’d go to a festival with her again any time cuz as long as they like music it's cool! The funny thing is we had to leave before the last group Weezer came on which we really wanted to hear play on Sun night! But J.M. got a bad case of diahera (the runs) or whatever so we had to go! But u know wtf it’s all good as can catch the group another time! Insha’alllah! Cuz we realize that it’s about having a good time & not seeing all the groups! So we had an awesome crazy time!

Then on the Labor Weekend went to Seattle for a day to catch some groups at Bumbershoot! http://bumbershoot.org/lineup/ Went down with C a cool crazy African American chick that hang out with from time to time in Vancouver! C really knows her music and groups! She wanted to see this one group on Sat so we tried to make the 1 pm show! But we didn’t make it for various reasons! One being we got stopped at the border again for some reason! C thought it was cuz she’s American & I’m Canadian! So she thought the Asshole border guards (hate all border guards with a passion tho am polite to them I think) were thinking that she was bringing me into the US to get married so I could illegally get in the US! Didn’t want to burst ur balloon C but why the fuck would I want to become an American! I did at one time when I was younger and stupid but now I’m older and stupid but not that fuckin stupid! Shit I worked for Alaska Airlines in Seattle for 6 years when was married as I got free flts to commute as flew down to Seattle every Mon am and back to Vancouver every Tues PM! Loved the company, ppl and enjoyed my time there but become a citizen hell no!! I love Americans, Obama but hate their gov’t policies and foreign policies with a passion! But back to the festival! Yeah we had a great time as C introduced me to a group Little Dragon that loved! Also heard the Presidents of the United States of America & Starfuckers! Also heard this awesome marching band! So yeah had a great time as usual as think there are always a better line up at festivals in the US than in Canada! I notice that at both the Sasquatch music festival & Bumbershoot! Hope to make it to Cochella Music festival in LA area one day Insha’allah!

Then about a week after going to Bumbershoot on Labor Day went to Tofino http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofino,_British_Columbia with J.M. my fun loving, weed smoking, liquor drinkin friend! Who I went with to Live at Squmish & have hung out to do other fun things! J.M. liked to surf so went there to do some! But shit we hardly got outside cuz guess we partied too much! Cuz had our share of beer, wine, liquor, weed, ‘shrooms, etc! We stayed at a cool cabin and made it to the beach for a run! Also made it to the bar in town one evening to drink at a local establishment! So yeah had a fun time hangin with J.M. as usual but unfortunately felt bad that she didn’t get to go surfing tho I encouraged her to go! So anyway fun was had as always!

Had to hurry home from Tofino cuz a day after had a flt to Toronto & onward to Montreal! But shit man that will be another Posting not this one!

Anyway don’t have any pics posted at this time but keep tuned!