In the summer time...

... when it's bloody hot!

Well, the rainy season has finished here and it's getting hot hot hot. I've never been so glad to have air conditioning! The bugs had a bit of a field day with me at the rock festival I recently attended but they have subsided a bit. I do have to run around my apartment every now and again squishing mosquitoes. It's quite hard actually - the minute I get close to getting one it zooms off. Very frustrating.

I got a new haircut to go with the weather. The guy at the place had limited English though so it's slightly shorter than I would normally allow (not able to quite tie it back yet) but never mind. I'll survive. I quite like it really. He bobbed and ducked around me like an artist producing a new piece. He also did some weird Japanese style thing, involving sliding the scissors down taught hair without actually cutting, that thinned it out then eventually declared the style's name was "Grated Bob". Makes me sound a bit like cheese. Maybe it was Graded and I misheard. Well, either way, there it is. It was quite a nice chain called International Designers (the 'International' made me hope they'd have some experience with westerners, unlike the last place - Butty Hair Shop). In the end a cut and dry only cost me 15,000 won, which is about 8 pounds. Not too shabby really, I'm sure the same thing would have cost me 50 pounds in London.

The rock festival I went to was lots of fun. I met loads of westerners, saw some good bands and had a good time. Highlights included the Chemical Brothers, Muse, a Korean ska band called Copy Machine, and Ocean Colour Scene. We also saw a New Zealand band dating back to the '60s called Human Instinct and the next day we met and sat and had a drink with the lead guy. He sings whilst playing the drums standing up. Impressive in itself but he also ran around the stage and jumped over things like a man half his age. He did own up to some battle scars the next day - but from his performance you'd never know he got hurt doing it.

The campsite was tiny, and rather than big fields it was in a sort of park with walking paths, trees, and many a water-draining ditch for drunk festival goers to fall into. I managed not to. Hoorah! It was strange being in such a small site compared to Glastonbury, Reading, and V. Never a problem finding our tents, especially once my Scottish friends had hung up a giant Scot flag between two nearby trees (my idea, why do I suggest these things). It was rather a Celtic festival one way and another - so many Scots and Irish folkies. Don't despair though, England was well represented too.

The weather was hot for the first two days (despite lots of sun-tan cream we all got a little sunburn). It rained a little on the Sunday but John and I were well prepared with sexy raincoats. We decided to up the sexiness with some green duct tape and it worked a treat. We had initially bought the tape to patch up our cheap tents if it started to rain (see previous blog rant) but, you know, fashion always comes before personal comfort. Of course it stopped raining almost as soon as we finished the final touches. Always the way isn't it? (I'm not the one with the Rampant Lion flag.)

The best part of the festival was, strangely enough, the food. Why English festivals consist mainly of greasy noodles, hamburgers, and chips is beyond me. Here we were treated to lots of stuff on sticks, bangers and mash, steak sandwiches, Indian curry and barbecue, traditional Korean fast food, and lots more. We were also able to get cheapish beer (well, the same price as in a local bar) thanks, I would imagine, to the festival being part subsidised by the Korean government. It was great not to have any of the ridiculous booze and food price-jacking I'm used to at festivals.

All in all a good time. I'm very happy to have seen the Chemical Brothers now, the animations for their set were mesmerising. Muse were great yet again, if a little tired from coming straight from a Japanese rock festival in Fuji.

Here's one last photo to tickle your fancy. I like it because it looks rather cool when opened up fully (if you click on it, which I think you can on Blogger). Check out the guy's arms and the purple light. Totally trippy dude....

P.S. Please excuse the poor layout - Blogger just isn't doiung what I tell it to. I though we were meant to be the masters and computers were meant to be our slaves, not vice versa!