darryn, Author at darryn dot net

Bulldog

I forgot to say – on Friday night I went into the Bulldog, on the grounds that I can’t mock a place without having been there. Now I can. I went to the “nightclub” Bulldog on Leidseplein, not any of the coffeeshops. It was a total sausage fest, the ten or so women in the… Continue reading Bulldog

abode

I went to have a look at a room yesterday in De Baarsjes, not an encouraging experience. Despite the 2

Amsterdam

I arrived at Schipol airport yesterday afternoon, and conveniently there was an immigration office before passport control. I cam to them and explained the situation. The lady said “don’t worry, you are Australian” and I was stamped and let in. The weather was pretty horrible, quite dark at 3pm, raining and cold. Due to these… Continue reading Amsterdam

Leaving London

Tomorrow morning I am flying to Amsterdam and hopefully I will be let into the country with a minimum of imprisonment. Breigh tells me that the Netherlands is even colder than here in London, so I am a bit scared, not to mention sartorially under-prepared. So tomorrow is the big step out of the comfort… Continue reading Leaving London

brother-in-law

I can’t believe I forgot to post about this. On Michelle’s birthday her boyfriend Luke became her fiance when he proposed marriage. The ring is an antique with a ruby surrounded by diamonds. Michelle is very happy, as are the rest of the family including myself. Congratulations, Michelle and Luke.

Jailbird

I am writing this from a detention holding cell in London’s Heathrow airport, in my trusty moleskine. My uneventful 13.5hr flight from Hong Kong landed at 04:50. After walking through kilometres of corridors I was at passport control by 05:20, and was in detention from 5:25. I was not given any explanation and was left… Continue reading Jailbird

Hong Kong Day 1

I woke at 9am, and went in search of coffee. I walked all the way down Nathan Rd from Mong Kok to Tsim Sha Tsui (>4km) and finally found an open restaurant with a picture of coffee on the window. The coffee was strong and effective. Wide awake, I kept walking and it was not… Continue reading Hong Kong Day 1

Append considerable flavouring to your aliveness!

God Bless the open access point! I am sitting on my bed at the Dragon Hostel in the Mong Kok area of Kowloon. I am drinking a beer which cost me HK$8 ($1.41 Aussie, €0,88). The place is clean, but as it is about 1:30am I don’t know what the other residents are like. I… Continue reading Append considerable flavouring to your aliveness!