The Meandering Gullbad Nogbee

mcdonald's buns are typically very flat

I bought this McDonald's back when I was in Lanzarote. I have just stumbled on the images in my Photosandbox./imagebank

I like the idea of trying different fast food around the world to demonstrate to myself how bland choices are when faced with the ever dominating global brands which affect our lifestyle and diet in particular. 

Don't get me wrong, my taste buds drool at the thought of a Big Mac as much as the next man. 

What I mean is when thinking about the mixed grills available for small change on the island in the back streets of Teguise, for example, the prospect of eating an overpriced bun which tastes the same as if it were bought in Croydon or Orpington, is amazing in spite of the massive logistical nightmare required to achieve such a feat, but also dreadfully boring because of the very same.

  

What makes eating a McDonald's in various countries abroad interesting is the relativly minor differences one can observe.  I recall in Athens, Greece, the bun was different.  Obviously it must have gone through various market trials and the buns they used there were more spongy and kept their picture perfect shape.  In the UK, the McDonald's buns are typically very flat and unflattering.

In Lanzarote, the bun was nothing special.  What was extraordinary to what is available in the UK, is that I was able to buy a beer to go with my Big Mac meal.  This was pretty cool.

End

I have finally got a dive watch

In September I finally got a dive watch. For ages I wanted to get a Citizen Aqualand and I tried buying one in Lanzarote. In fact, my dive mentor at the dive centre drove me all over the island looking for one but they were all double ticking indicating that the batteries were flat. The trouble with dive watches is that for batteries to be changed they have to be pressure tested.

In the UK this can cost around £50 to have the work done.
 

Anyhow, my dive mentor, took the time recently to help me get some cash back from an Instructor Development programme (another story to be told another day).

The funniest situation occurred when we went into a shop and asked the shop tender for the price of the watch I was interested in.  He said "220 euro's".  I explained that I can buy the same watch down the road for 180.  The guy asked me to think about the price and he would do likewise.
When he returned to the counter, he said, "I will give you a 20 euro discount.  The price is therefore 220 euros".  I said "No, that's the price you already gave me."  He denied it saying he had started negotiations at 240.   It was ridiculous and I walked out.

As it turns out I bought the watch online at Deep Blue.  It was exactly £190 and the battery is brand new.

Here are images of the watch and in particular the funky box it came in.  Very nice.

The best thing about the Citizen Aqualand watch is not that it logs you last four dives, has an alarm, has a wonderfully useful stopwatch, nor that it can give you the ambient temperature at any one time, but its blue and its shiny.  Oooohhhh shinnneeeeyyy!

 

End.

ash-flicked bubbles and vomit-fuelled foam

Last night I was talked into attending my first ever foam party. 

The foam party takes place every Friday at probably the only real night club in the town - Coyote´s disco pub. We all know what that means, right?  Old recollections of 'The Venue' in New Cross, 'The Works' in Canterbury etc. and you would be so wrong.  These places are better!

My arm was well and trully twisted when my new pal 'TorquayDD', said "So, are we going to the foam party later?"

I found myself saying "Yes, it's going to be a real laugh."  And although so wrong, on so many levels, I was right. 

In Costa Teguise there are a few places the British like to hang out, and at times I had best confess that, being British, I have in the interests of research investigated them all. 

Obviously I have taken these distasteful forays with a purely scientific approach to understanding how other tribes (within my own tribe) live, with their different cultures, different customs etc.  One question still unanswered is that I am still not quite sure why people come to a place like the rock only to sit in a bar eating fried food, drinking beer and tea, watching the x factor surrounded only by Brits - I think this is really odd.  It is just beyond me, but I am trying.

Back to the point.  The foam party can only be described as carnage.

The foam is generally cold and sticky.  I have been reliably informed that this is normal for foam parties.   Clothes get saturated.  In all the hullabaloo my feet were trodden on and my flip flops which have served me so well since the 22 March were broken.  Boo!  If one put a drink down, it was almost immediatly stolen.

The lights were good and despite my ears perpetually feeling like I have a pair of fingers stuck in them, the music was so loud, there was a physical effect as the heavy resonating beat forced itself through my bones.  I think, without wanting to exaggerate, my knee might just have occasionally bent in time with the music thereby creating a strange effect of a wobbly tall person badly imitating what a minority of people could possibly describe as a dance!   This went on for about 90 minutes.

So the conclusion, having seen a bunch of people who were either too young or in my opinion in some cases too old (insert my name) to be there smearing themselves with ash-flicked bubbles and alcohol induced vomit-fuelled foam:

I am sure that some who were there enjoyed it.  For me it was purely entertainment seeing how hedonistic people become, given the introduction of a drop of fairy and a big hair drier.  You must obviously empathise how I am just above all this sort of thing, operating on a higher plain.  Of course, it was a real chore seeing a writhing mass of wet dancing bodies all looking to meet new and interesting people.  

So the recommendation?

If you don't fancy seeing a group of people get wet and dance to the point of drunken exhaustion and if you don't want random people coming to talk to you in a slurd way, telling you why they want to be your friend.  Don't go.

End.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

body boarding in the waves of Famara

(Photo's coming)

My pal LE popped to the rock to see me last week.

It was a good laugh seeing him.  We hung out with a bunch of guys who have booked through Active Adventure, a booking agents who organise surfing, windsurfing, diving and trecking.

I took a few days off from the 6-day schedule and showed him around the island.

Whilst here, LE undertook his PADI Open Water course. 

The theme of the holiday turned out to be swimming.  Not just diving, but swimming in general.  In the sea, in pools, diving and also trying to body board, using cheap ten euro boards.  At it happens, it was a great lark and it is easy to see why surfing properly must be a good time. 

We started doing it in the small waves of Costa Teguise, but soon tired of the tameness.  We then drove to the two/three meter surf town of Famara.  The waves where not all that big, but they certainly were bigger than we had become used to.  We were at last body boarding on the waves of Famara.

In fact, I am so keen that I have taken Saturday off in order to learn how to surf.

Wish me luck!

 

 

 

 

las palmera

Sorry for the delay in writing.

Since arriving back on the rock I have been up to my eyes in diving, sun and generally going out and about meeting new people.  What a tough life...I hear you cry.  And you would be right.

One of the little gems which my pal SJ introduced me to is a little cafe in Teguise.  I am pretty sure I wrote about it before.

Essentially it is just off of the Lion Square.

This is the outside just after the Sunday market has closed.  Stall holders, artists, bohemians and the like meet and socialise inside and outside 'Las Palmera'.  I recommend it to you.  But only if when you go in, you tell the guys there that I sent you. 

This is the door.

This is the bar.

The guy in the hat is a really good bloke.  The whole place is filled with music, food, drink and spanish chat.  It is a really vibrant place.

It's only small but you can fit a lot in.

These are the Sunday afternoon musicians. 

Counting money.

 

 

This is the kitchen.  It is really basic but produces amazing grilled meat.   If there is a reason not to be a vegetarian, this place is it.   So I can't become a veggie just yet!

Better view of the grill.

Cheers.

End

 

 

windbreaks built from volcanic rock

As I drove down from Famara toward the salt works, I passed mile after mile of small semi-circular windbreaks built from volcanic rock.  The windbreaks surround one side of a dell dug from the pecan. 

The dells and windbreaks are to protect individual grape vines.

The uniformed rows stretch from the road in all directions and in most cases continue up the sides of the old sleeping volcanos.

The grapes produce a selection of wines which in my experience taste ok and do the job at a reasonable price.

The shapes are interesting to look at and I am told this method is distinct to the islands in this part of the world.

I can't help reflecting on how long each basin and windbreak must have taken to create initially and then would love to know how many centuries have passed with this method being adopted. 

Answers on a postcard please.