Ginger DJ Rob

Our post-Valentine's Day evening out went well on Friday. We booked a table at Shanghai Blues in Holborn just round the corner from The End. The food and service was really good but a bit pricey. The music was a little annoying with some jazz vocalist be-bopping and scatting. For some reason the toilets, looking like a posh opium den, had better music. Chinese gnomes The British Museum was also very local and we were lucky to get tickets to the First Emperor exhibition for the terracotta army. It was still busy even at the strange time of 10:30pm but a better set up than the Tutemkamon event. Going to museums isn't exactly the sort of thing to put on Facebook as a hobby but just seeing the roof was worthy of a mention. The Chinese over-sized gnomes were really impressive and beggars belief that the tomb had over 100,000 clay statues as an army, admin staff, entertainers and animals to accompany the emperor in his after-life. The curators had even mocked up what colours the st...

Holy plastic bricks Batman! Looking forward to seeing this game when it's complete. Last blog entry I mentioned a couple of Chrimbo holiday outings. The Tutankhamun exhibition at the O2 Dome was quite good. We hadn't been to the Dome since 2000 and they've added the Vegas factor with shopping outlets and restaurants. One or two old exhibition items from the Millennium experience were still there including the colour sensory room. Queues for the King Tut thing were ridiculous even with the timed entry and once in the amount of people per session almost spoilt the viewing experience. We had seen quite a few similar items in New York but there were a few treasures which made up the ticket value. Now looking forward to seeing the Terracotta Army exhibition which the British Museum released evening tickets for 10:30pm. I'll report of this in February. I am Legend was ok. Will Smith is the possibly the last man on Earth trying to find a cure for vampire like zombies. There...

Kerry spotted this 'art' in the Guardian and, with a bit of research, discovered a bit of local history which is no longer available to the public. The news-story was the seller's claim that Bonham's refused a £1m bid from Damian Hurst for a piece of Walter Potter's work. Shame we moved here too late to see the stuffed animals in Victorian past-times . If anyone's seen this or know where any of the pieces can be seen please tell me! Tonight I'm taking part in my employer's (real) pantomime. Apparently its a long institute tradition where I have a non-speaking/singing part. Full report later.

Headache had gone but a 6am alarm wasn’t very enjoyable in preparation for our ferry across to Picton on the South Island. The weather wasn’t all that appealing either rain hadn’t let up all night for our 3 hour crossing. As soon as we boarded, we took some motion sickness pills and booked some cinema tickets for Transformers which turned out to be quite good. Both of us felt ropey a third way through and I had to seek fresh air before returning to the movie. As soon as we docked we headed for Nelson, Kerry’s home some 12 years ago in a convoy of campervans. It was field after field of vineyards of Marlborough country. We stopped in Havelock for lunch, world capital for green shell mussels. All the shops had comedy mussels doing the activity the shop represented. Landscape changed to Twin Peaks like country with hardly any cars around. As we approached Nelson, Kerry’s memory started to activate. Personally, I was surprised how built up the place was from her description and headed out...

Our first task to find a campervan site near to Wellington ready for the next day ferry which turned out to be a motel with a powered carpark. After that we caught a bus into town for shopping then the main reason for choosing this time to visit NZ, the Wearable Arts Show. Wellington had a better vibe than Auckland even though it was raining. A lot of cool shops around the Cuba Street area again set amongst the tattoo parlours and sex shops. With a recommendation from some shop assistants we checked out Fidels for lunch for the best milkshakes. Décor was styled on the bearded dictator’s country. Next we explored the arty dock area where the national museum, Te Papa was situated. It was free entry luckily as only the Maori art and earthquake simulator was worth the visit. On to the main event, the World of Wearable Art (WOW) show was just the other side of the dockside. Wellington is a compact city and easy to get around by foot. The events place was buzzing with entertainers like ju...

One very lazy day for Saturday and a rushed evening to see old Uni mate James, who did the London marathon and Paul & Sarah in London. Met James in the Lizard Lounge with booze buddy 'Drunk' Jim who we discovered lives just two streets away from us! Good to see Paul & Sarah as well on a quick break away from their Ibizan home. Sunday isn't worth a mention and Bank Holiday Monday was an excuse to visit Beaulieu since we would be moving to Brighton. Motor museum was ok though not worth the £15 entrance fee. We saw Jason Orange from Take That with his four daughters(?could have been unshakable groupees?). Job news Another coulple of let-downs today. Looks unlikely that Plumbase will be hiring since the manager sounds like he hasn't found anyone to his satisfaction or the job's unfillable. The Boxharry job has gone to someone else so I'm left with just one interview next week to look forward.

Whilst Kerry had her mop chopped in Notting Hill I turned into Mr. Sensible and did my Xmas shopping. By 1pm I had got almost everything I needed. This gave me plenty of time to mooch around and visit the Game On exhibition at the Science Museum. With a ticket time for 4pm entry I was given 1hr 30 mins to look and play. Highlights for me were rekindling memories of playing, the arcade machine, on the N64 and, a classic Spectrum game I used have as a kid. Lowlights were having my arse whipped on (the guy had obviously been there all day). Loads of games were available to play plus lots of things behind perspex glass to ogle at including a ZX81, the first Pong game, promotion stuff for GTA such as a baseball bat and the game's plot on post-it notes. Staff were a bit clever checking ticket times and booting out hangers on. I left before my alloted time as my feet had taken quite a punishment all day. What was weird for me was walking around a museum experiencing antiques within my...

Whilst Kerry had her monthly mop chop I decided to view the Brazilian art exhibition, Tropicalia at the Barbican . This was the first time I'd ever been to the Barbican and the building site entrance and dull concrete didn't impress at first. After the confusing entry, more disappointment came with no photography being allowed so have used their website graphic above. However, this exact graphic had nothing to do with the art inside which was slightly disappointing. Instead the majority of the art displayed were old 70's experimental concept art to test other senses. With no photos allowed I tried to take notes along the way. First up were some welder-like goggles with circular-mirrors attached to the front then another pair of goggles on the opposite side. Next a tray of sports related balls, tennis, ping-pong etc. Random or what. Further on a TV screen showed a film of a moustached man laying a see-through sheet of plastic over a woman and touching her through it. My ...

Laputa Guardian statue at Ghibli museum Originally uploaded by Ginger DJ . Started the day with breakfast in the ‘Finger’ bar. Cool white interior and swivel stools plus bonus for having cornflakes. However, hotel had no idea of what bowls to use as we resorted to cappuccino shaped cups. Background music grated us within 2 mouthfuls of food playing boring jazz music with ‘be-bop-do-wah’ lyrics. Took the subway across Tokyo heading for the Ghibli museum and got a little confused along the way with trains stopping and Japanese announcements about trains we should have changed. Managed to catch the community bus just in time by legging after it in the pouring rain. A quick queue and presentation of vouchers and we entered the museum. First impressions were of the many floors and windows then the detail of the artwork used to make it so unique. No photos were allowed so even more souvenirs had to be bought. There were 2 or 3 rooms which looked like organised junk rooms fu...

PA112489F Originally uploaded by Ginger DJ . Woke in our B & B room to the sound of trickling water from the outside koi carp pond. Kerry not enjoying the hot spa water smell from the bathroom and has to hold her breath in case she gags. Breakfast was hideously expensive and the dining room was like what I imagined Glen Eagles would look like. Still no hunting trophies here either. At least they had cornflakes at about £4.50! Bought a 3 day travel pass then went up the mountain to the Hakone Open Air museum. Amazing sculptures against magnificent mountainous views. We stopped and soaked our tired tootsies in the hot spa for a great foot soak with views of the stained glass windowed tower. Foot towels supplied at 100 yen (50p). Picasso had a separate hall dedicated to his art though his pottery was a bit crap really. After the art we went further up on the train with only the cable car to go. Unfortunately, Kerry’s nerves gave in – poor lass so we headed down to...