Nov 20 2010

Burgers And Cocktails

Category: Anna's Photos,Eating Out — ChrisM @ 2:19 am

Not a lot to add about this photo, as I think I mentioned it all in the previous video. Again, they were taken on the 20th of April at TGI Friday here in Astana. For newcomers to this blog, I don’t combine photos and videos of the same event as this causes problems when Anna’s website automatically imports those posts.
Looking at her pictures now, it is sometimes easier to see how she has changed over the last seven months, as when we see her each day, so very little changes over night that you don’t really notice certain features developing. Anna that is, Irina’s face hasn’t changed that much (other than getting a little bit more beautiful) since April 🙂

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Nov 20 2010

TGI Was My Birthday!

Category: Anna's Videos,Eating Out — ChrisM @ 1:01 am

After taking Anna to the playground in the morning, we went to TGI Friday here in Astana. Although some friends comment on the prices, occasional staff attitude issues and better alternatives, I hadn’t tried the Astana branch at this point (20th April). The burger was tasty, the cocktail (custom ordered as the menu didn’t match what I remembered from a UK edition) well made and just right ratio of ingredients. Irina’s Mum came with us, Anna was very well behaved (I was a little concerned she’d try throwing the big girls ceramic plate on the floor) and by the end of the meal I was very glad we went there, and perhaps a little tipsy 🙂

We have since visited again once or twice, and given that there are other expensive restaurants in Astana, and sometimes you just want a Western style burger, I’d happily recommend you try it at least once – if nothing else you’ll at least be able to criticize from personal experience, if you don’t end up liking it 🙂

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Nov 17 2010

However, my site ( chrismerrim…

Category: Tweets — ChrisM @ 1:55 am

However, my site ( chrismerriman.com ) & downforeveryoneorjustme.com are currently unavailable on ADSL (we’re with Megaline, here in Astana)

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Nov 03 2010

Karra And Others

Category: Dasha&Kittens,Personal — ChrisM @ 9:57 pm

This morning, while Anna and I were at her regular Wednesday kindergarten, Astana TV ran a piece on black cats that I mentioned previously. Someone somewhere recorded it via a camcorder hooked up to the RCA outputs on a cable box, and left me the tape.
Anna, Muska, Karra and I all make a brief appearance (given that she has black fur and is a cat, Karra was on screen for the longest 🙂 ). Now all I have to do is hope some kind soul with a disposable YouTube account uploads it soon, so I can embed the video here!
The journalist is obviously speaking in Russian, so I’ll hopefully find a version with English subtitles. On a related note, checking YouTube will be a faster experience for us from next month, as we have upgraded to MegaLine’s Turbo Plus account, meaning we will get our first 20Gb per month at a speed of 1 to 8 Mbit/sec. Again, as with our current 1Mbit account, after those 20Gb have been exceeded, the speed will be throttled down again.
Hooray for faster internet! Though I’ll have to be careful as we will soon be able to exceed our monthly limit within about three hours of the first day of the month!

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Nov 03 2010

Rumours that Karra’s interview…

Category: Tweets — ChrisM @ 8:53 am

Rumours that Karra’s interview would appear on the Astana TV channel today between 7-10am have so far proved false. Watch this space 🙂

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Oct 28 2010

Friends, Guns, Roses And Burgers

Category: Eating Out,Friends,Pictures — ChrisM @ 2:35 am

These are the pictures I previously mentioned. DanD, Walton and I all met up with DanC (who was back in Astana for the weekend) for a meal and a few drinks. Although DanD and I had already been to this bar since the Guns n’ Roses chain had taken it over from Northwind’s management, we weren’t sure if the prices, ambience, layout and staff attentiveness were all just boosted for their opening week, or whether we could consider adding it to our list of regular haunts.
As it turned out, the G n’ R management seem to have noticed all the little issues that prevented North Wind from ever really filling up with customers, and addressed them from the very start. The layout of the bar and surrounding tables has been changed, the prices, whilst not cheap, are certainly a lot more reasonable than previously, and the menu (in both English and Russian) has enough variety (from traditional Western bar food to steaks and garlic bread) to meet most people’s needs. Both times we have been there, there was live music and the normal tables were full up with people enjoying themselves. Finally, the dance floor was occupied most of the evening.

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Oct 27 2010

Astana’s New Stadium

Category: Sport,Videos — ChrisM @ 8:29 pm

This is the last of the videos that didn’t quite make it onto this blog. It is actually from a few weeks back, when Dan and I went to watch Kazakhstan’s football team play Germany in the EUFA cup tournament league thingy. (Anyone who claims I’m not a true football fan can just go and… pat themselves on the back). I know the quality isn’t great, but I’m hoping two things will change that situation in the future – I’ll eventually find a streaming video app that lets me use the full 640×480 resolution of the video mode on this phone and secondly, once I’ve caught up with Anna’s pictures and videos, I’m hoping that new photos and clips recorded on our proper camera will be put on the site in a matter of days, not months, as sometimes occurs now!

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Oct 27 2010

Guns n’ Roses Bar – Astana

Category: Eating Out,Friends,Videos — ChrisM @ 7:24 pm

Looking for the Astana branch’s telephone number? Skip to the end of this post
Right, I am going to try and catch up with some of the videos and pictures that were recently uploaded to their respective media hosting sites, but didn’t quite make it to the blog (there was some sort of issue with the free WiFi at the time, either some URLs or ports appeared to be blocked). First we have a clip from the Guns n’ Roses bar here in Astana. It is situated where North Wind “pub” used to work from. This is the house band playing after a lovely meal. I know the quality isn’t great, but this was the best of the bunch. It was very unusual to see the dance floor full for most of the evening – more on the differences between the venue under its new Guns n’ Roses chain management and the old North Wind style later.

Just shot this clip (#qik) http://qik.ly/DH3r4

OK, depending on your exact search term, this site is either #1, #1 and #2 or even #1, #2 AND #3 when you google for Guns & Roses Astana. Having just re-checked their website (which has FINALLY made it into the top 10), there are no contact details given for the Astana branch. It looks as though they haven’t altered the site since this one opened. Unfortunately, the business cards they were (originally?) handing out also have an incorrect number on, so in case you want to make a reservation, please call +7 7172 591809 . No reward has been given for this post, but feel free to tell staff I sent you – a free beer once a month would be a nice start from them 😉

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Oct 22 2010

Just shot this clip (#qik) htt…

Category: Anna's Videos,Tweets — ChrisM @ 7:29 pm

Just shot this clip (#qik) http://qik.ly/DGyL3



Uggh, not good quality with the video, sorry.
This is one of the more sedate rides at Babylon Park in Mega, Astana. It rotates very slowly, so Anna tried to get out a few times, however it goes up and down unlike the other rides. The trampolining video seems to have been lost somehow, I’ll try and remember to record another one next time.

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Oct 21 2010

Snowscapes

Category: Kazakhstan,Pictures — ChrisM @ 12:55 am

It looks as though I’ll have managed to publish these two pictures before the snow returns again to Astana. The photos were shot in April of this year, just after we had returned from Britain. Even if there aren’t huge snow storms, the amount of snow on the ground means that just a small amount of wind is enough to start drifts in new areas on the road, and you will sometimes find small mounds of snow into mid-May, especially in areas that don’t get much sunlight through the day. You can wandering around in a t-shirt (OK, so local people will still have coats and hats on…), and suddenly find yourself walking through dirty snow!
The second picture shows the guard dog’s kennel, which strangely enough is only used during the warmer months. The rest of the time, she has an area sheltered from the extreme temperatures (which is also useful in the middle of the sweltering summer). I’ve just had a quick flick through the wintery pictures from the last 12 months, and can’t find any snow angel/butterfly ones. Something to remedy in a few weeks/months time when the snow returns to the city. (We’ve had a few random flakes, but it isn’t cold enough to settle on the ground at all).

From The Steps Into The House

From The Steps Into The House

Aynak's Summer House

Aynak's Summer House

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