Jul 27 2007

Trip Planned

Category: Amsterdam,Friends,Personal — ChrisM @ 3:22 am

Unfortunately, ChrisD is not able to make it over to Kazakhstan this year. On the plus side, I am meeting him in Amsterdam for a few days of relaxation, and then travelling onto Britain to see family and friends. (My brother’s birthday is something I was hoping to get back to the UK for, and now it is sorted 🙂 .) Unfortunately Irina does not have enough holiday left to come as well, but we will all be back in Britain around Christmas time.

Anyway, my travel details are as follows :-

Leaving Astana 21st September 08:50
Arrive Kaliningrad 21st September 11:00
Leave Kaliningrad 21st September 12:50
Arrive Amsterdam 21st September 13:55

Spend 3 nights in Amsterdam, at an apartment with a view of the canal, that belongs to the Hotel Amstelzicht.
Then on to Britain…

Leave Amsterdam 24th September 18:20
Arrive Birmingham 24th September 18:40

3 and a bit weeks in Britain to say hello to family and friends. Hopefully fit in Evesham and Cheltenham, then Swansea (well Clydach actually), then down to Falmouth for my bro’s birthday.
Then…

Leave Birmingham 16th October 06:25
Arrive Schipol 16th October 08:50
Leave Schipol 16th October 16:15
Arrive Kaliningrad 16th October 19:15
Leave Kaliningrad 16th October 21:35
Arrive Astana 17th October 05:15

(All times are local)

I am going to miss Ira like crazy, but I am looking forward to the break immensely, and it will be really good to see Nick, Mum, John, Dad, Jan and some Cheltenham friends as well.

Pink Badger

Why that random phrase? One of the main reasons I am posting this flight information is so that if family want to know the details, or I am not at home, I or they can just search for a unique (I’m pretty sure I did not include it anywhere else 😉 ) phrase on this blog, and know they have the right post immediately.
You never know, perhaps pink badger is also a popular search engine search term, and I will increase this site’s traffic…. Not too likely though.

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Jul 25 2007

Eagle Eyed Ira Spots Flooding (Pictures)

Category: Personal,Pictures,Weather — ChrisM @ 9:58 pm

Many thanks to Irina for spotting the following pictures covering the ongoing problems in Gloucestershire with the recent flooding.
Continue reading “Eagle Eyed Ira Spots Flooding (Pictures)”

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Jul 23 2007

BBC Reports On Gloucesterhire Flooding

Category: In The Media,Personal,Videos,Weather — ChrisM @ 9:03 pm

Glos Gloucestershire Cheltenham Gloucester Evesham Tewksbury Flood Floods Flooding

Gordon Brown was interviewed in Gloucestershire, regarding the government’s response to the flooding afflicting the country, and Glos. in particular.
This was then followed a reporter in Tewksbury describing how life was right now for its citizens, with serious commentary; the people playing in the water in the background did not help to add any gravity to his words however 😉

You can also find a BBC text report on the situation here.

Hmm, it looks like the audio is out of sync slightly there, I will have to return to my old method of ripping the video from our satellite receiver, apologies.
Anyway, with more rain forecast, I hope everyone will be ok over there.

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Jul 17 2007

Spitoons

Category: Kazakhstan,Personal — ChrisM @ 4:06 am

It is strange what concepts or ideas can sometimes inspire a post on my blog. A couple of meandering witterings ago, I mentioned I needed a spitoon having uttered two dirty words, as far as I am concerned at least. Anyway, as I was not sure how to spell it (in case you care, both spitoon or spittoon are apparently OK) , and I do not always trust FireFox’s built in spell checker, I popped over to Wikipedia, and bought up the page on spitoons.

Now, should the need ever arise, I can talk for, oh at least 30 seconds, on the subject of receptacles to spit into §. So why exactly did it fire my poor synapses momentarily? I think Kazakhstan needs a lot more public spitoons (or just plain rubbish bins) to prevent spit from just collecting on the pavements, and making otherwise respectable men look like British chavs in just a few seconds.

OK, what I really wish for is spitting to be frowned on a lot more over here, but as that has a snow flakes chance in hell of occurring, I would truly be happy if people just spat into something, rather than where I walk. It is like being back in the Lower High Street in Cheltenham. ahem, sorry, make that the ‘West End‘ LMFAO 🙂

OK, random suggestion over, just one more thing I especially liked – a quote from the Wiki

If you expect to rate as a gentleman
Do not expectorate on the floor

Now how do I say that in Kazakh, and where do I find taxi quickly enough afterwards to prevent a beating for being a smug self righteous bar steward 😉 ?
§ (Because we all know that anything found on the internet has to be true, don’t we 😉 )

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Jul 12 2007

Prince Harry In Cheltenham

Category: Personal — ChrisM @ 9:54 pm

Thanks to an eagle eyed Pates Reunion attender, it was noticed that a paper reported the same night the reunion took place, Prince Harry and his girlfriend were in Twenty 4 Seven in Cheltenham. The night before, the two were spotted in The Retreat in Suffolk Parade, not too far from a couple of places I used to live.
I was wondering why they had chosen Cheltenham at first, but apparently she attended Cheltenham College. Anyway, it sounds as though the people out and about in the same area as the couple were relatively well behaved…

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Jul 08 2007

Alex Safe & Sound

Category: Friends,In The Media,Personal — ChrisM @ 8:04 pm

We have just received a text from Alex, of Dryad Musings fame, and she is back in Britain, on the coach back to Cheltenham. So no unexpected 24 hour delays in Kaliningrad this time, which is a huge relief. Early this morning, we saw her off at the airport (they did not seem to mind her 28 kilo suitcase, luckily), and it would appear that the cigarettes and vodka did not receive undue attention at the UK airport 😉

It was really good to see her again, as we last met at Christmas. Although it was sad to see her go, we will hopefully be meeting up once more this coming December, if all goes well. We may even be able to persuade Ira’s parents to come and visit England with us!

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Jun 20 2007

Gas Pipe Disruption – Though Not Where You Think

Category: In The Media,Personal — ChrisM @ 9:03 pm

Police take action over attempts to disrupt the construction of a gas pipeline.
Just another day in Iraq? Not a very surprising head line to read perhaps?
Well, this is not regarding terrorists/freedom fighters in Iraq. No, this concerns my home countries – England and Wales!

Around 30 people have been protesting about the construction of a pipeline between Pembrokeshire and Gloucestershire (the county Cheltenham is in, where we lived prior to Astana), and the A40 (that eventually leads onto London) has been closed around Brecon, as the authorities attempt to evict the protesters.

Grab more info at the BBC article on their web site.

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Jun 13 2007

Picnic In The Park

Category: Eating Out,Friends,Personal,Pictures — ChrisM @ 1:48 am

We recently went to a restaurant in the park near us (named, with some unique inspiration, Astana Park) with Walton and Assel. The place is based around the theme of a famous Russian film set in the desert, hopefully Ira will be able to inform me of its name in the morning.
Ira and I had not been there before, so we didn’t know what to expect. The food was good, the vodka must have been OK, as I forgot I took the following picture 🙂

Walton Assel Cafe Astana Kazakhstan

When Alex gets over here in a week and a half, I’m hoping we can return the restaurant again. The service was a little slow, and it was yet another example of a place in Kazakhstan where ‘starters’ and ‘main courses’ arrive in a random pattern, but the waitress was pleasant in her attitude, when Ira and I went back there last week.

By the way, the post title is a reference to an annual event back in Cheltenham, where people went to Pitville park, with a picnic, and listened to some bands play…

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May 30 2007

British Humidity

Category: Weather — ChrisM @ 12:48 am

In the winter, one of the main reasons that Britain seems colder than it is to many people not born there (my wife included!) is the dampness (humidity) in the air. Although Kazakhstan can occasionally dip as low as -40 degrees centigrade, when it hovers around the minus 10 or 15 region, I can honestly say I’m happy in ‘standard’ British Winter clothing. (Obviously my in laws think I’m mad and about to catch a cold, but there you go…)
The opposite is also true – come summer time in Britain, anything above 25 degrees, at least in Cheltenham, just feels so muggy and close that you do not feel at all comfortable.

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May 26 2007

Cheltonian Chastised

Category: Personal — ChrisM @ 2:33 am

Matt Parker, who is from Cheltenham, created a website to assist people in London rent their homes out to visitors during the upcoming Olympic games. However the organising committee of the 2012 London Olympic Games have threatened him with legal action, citing the fact that he is using the Olympic brand without permission and is not an official sponsor.
He stated “It’s me and my website and I hope they reconsider and take a more lenient stance”.
Not wishing to lose the site, and presumably some sort of income it generates, he has modified relevant sections of the site.

Fair play for coming up with the idea, but not too surprising his knuckles were rapped if he attempted to associate the site with the Olympics in any way.

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