Number 17 Completed in great style!

So, going to Italy was on the list, and when I mentioned to Geoff that I might struggle to do it, he said  "Hang on, isn't your birthday in the Easter Holidays?"  I confirmed it was on Good Friday, and from then we started discussing and organising the trip.

We flew out to Rome on the 8th of April, joined by Geoff's lovely girlfriend Emma for our four nights there.  Then on to Florence, Bologna, Verona and Venice as two Gentlemen.

It's pretty impossible to express the love and wonder I felt for Italy.  Each of these places with its own individual character and charm.  It's important to remember that Italy wasn't unified as one "Country" until 1871, and that the character and traditions of each region are still incredibly important to the people who live and work there.

I think the highlight of the holiday was spending my birthday on a Wine Tour around the Chianti Region of the Tuscan Countryside - Grape Tours . Meeting with the wonderful characters whose passion for the region is infectious, and tasting the amazing flavours of the wine, food and indeed the olive oil which takes one tree per bottle to produce (I've never eaten grass, but without coming over all Oz Clarke on you, it really did have a grassy character to it).  The group we were with were also a great bunch of characters, and our tour guide was brilliant.  Both the producers we visited farm organically, and use a minimal amount of sulphites (preservatives) in their wines meaning despite drinking all day on my birthday, I had no hangover the following morning!

I ate rather too well, drank more than is advisable and learned a huge amount from my friend and Tour Guide extraordinaire Geoff.

By the time we left Venice, both having been eaten alive by mosquitos (Geoff moreso than me as his blood is apparently tastier than mine), we were ready for home and our own beds, but I certainly have plans to return, probably later this year if I can get it sorted :)

Here are a few shots that I've got round to processing from the trip - there will be many more to come which will be added to my FB Photography Page in the next few weeks.

Number 16 Achieved in style

Visiting the Netherlands was one thing I thought I could do quickly, in a weekend.  I did, but now I want to go back and see more.

Amsterdam was, probably thanks to a combination of the time of year and the weather, not as crowded or full of tourists as I'd been informed or feared it might be.

I flew out from Bristol on Saturday morning after a fantastic gig at The Fleece by my good friends Kikamora.  Slightly bleary eyed, but a lovely slice of cake and some orange juice soon perked me up on the flight and I started to get excited.  The views from the window were rather lovely as we left the Westcountry:

An easy minibus transfer to the hotel and I was all set.  Quick shower, then I walked to the Museum Quarter and queued for the Van Gogh Museum.  Once inside I was delighted to see that there was a special exhibition of Impressionist Landscape art including Monet (a personal favourite) and Daubigny (unknown to me, but his use of light in the sky won me over immediately).

The Van Gogh part of the exhibition was breathtaking, particularly the self portrait section which showed the range of emotions and indeed hats, that he was capable of depicting.  It was slightly eerie being stared at by several pairs of eyes staring out of the same face.  My favourite of the self portraits was this:

Irises, was particularly wonderful, in my opinion a far better and more delicious painting than the more famous Sunflowers.  His range, particularly in terms of sketching, and painting after other artists is astounding and I got a print of the Japanese style Flowering Plum Orchard as it's wonderfully different.

So, from the museum I wandered on towards the centre of the city taking photos as I went and soaking up the relaxed atmosphere, narrowly avoiding being run over by motor scooters which are strangely allowed to use the cycle lanes.  Crossing roads and walking on the wrong bit of the pavement is a risky business, but once used to it I was fine.  I then stumbled upon one of the Coffee Shops that had been recommended to me - The Bulldog.  It was busy and the heady scent was overpowering just outside.  I looked in, then decided to wander for a while longer before entering into Amsterdam's tolerant culture.  I saw a couple more coffee shops, bars and lots and lots of restaurants.  Strikingly there were a lot of Argentinian Steakhouses which I was sorely tempted by.

I retraced my steps and this time walked straight in, looked at what was on offer and decided that the words "Space Cake" were both appealing and suitably gentle.  I'm not a smoker, never have been, so the thought of smoking just because it's not tobacco didn't appeal.  I got a cappuccino and my cake, took a photo while it was still boxed and there was still a paw print on my coffee:

I ate the cake slowly in nibbles, and sipped my coffee.  The atmosphere was noisy and convivial and smoke-filled.  There were all kinds of people, from seasoned smokers to first timers and everything in between.  I wandered slightly aimlessly for a while afterwards, taking in the fresh cold air and the lights of the city.  Then I was struck by how hungry I was.  I found a great little place doing Dutch Pancakes and had Dutch Cheese, Dutch Old Cheese and Ham.  It was delicious and filling and exactly what I needed.

I then went in search of the Melkweg which a few people had recommended for live music.  Unfortuately it was closed and wouldn't open until later in the evening, and I was starting to feel tired after the late night/early morning combo, and the flight and all the walking.

I took a casual stroll back towards the hotel, making a few wrong turnings, but eventually finding myself back on Beethoven Street and standing opposite the marvelous Citizen M hotel which was very funky indeed:

  

I relaxed, watched telly then had a wonderful night's sleep.  I got up early next day, aware I only had until the early evening to fit more fun in.  I went back to the Museum Quarter and spotted that Moco had an exhibition of Warhol and Bristol's famous son Banksy.  It was funny to come that far from Bristol to be confronted with art the style of which you could see for free on many a street in the city :)  Still, it was a good exhibition with some lovely touches and quotes from the artists too.  Here are my highlights:

Then I decided more culture was needed, so off to the Rijks Museum.  A fantastic and impressive old building filled with diverse treasures from all over the world.  It would be tricky to show you all the wonders that I enjoyed, especially as I didn't photograph them all.  However, here's a dog, a monkey cuddling a kitten, and some wonderful marquetry for you:

After a quick stop off in the gift shop to browse but not buy, and collecting my bag from the cloakroom I was back onto the street and decided to head back to the hotel to check out (I'd booked a late check in for 4pm to give me a bit more time not carrying everything).  On the way back I stopped for lunch and a beer.  Pancakes again, this time bacon, and topped off with delicious Shenkstroop and a nice dark beer with a Jester on the glass.  Then the most amazing apple tart I've ever tasted, loaded with cinnamon and gorgeous pastry and washed down with a second beer.

Once back at the hotel I quickly packed, made sure I had everything and left the room behind and set off once again towards the city to while away the time before I needed to be back at the airport.  I wandered slowly, took photos and mooched about.  I stopped off in The Amsterdam Cheese Company to get a present for a cheese loving friend and the assistant noticed my camera, told me the camera she had and proceeded to write on the back of my receipt the name of a lens shop she recommends I visit next time I'm in town.  She was very sweet and friendly and served me with a smile.  I then stopped off at a souvenir shop to grab a few things for friends and a t-shirt for myself.

More wandering/getting lost later, and getting to see more of the canals and the city, I then decided to grab a cab to the Airport and start the journey home.  A moment of slight panic when one of my trays came through fine for me to take but the other got diverted for the second check.  However, they handled it brilliantly and I wasn't forced to empty anything or feel like a criminal.

Another quick beer before boarding which I didn't realise until I had almost finish it was a 7% IPA, no wonder it was tasty!  A fairly smooth flight, easy bus journey, then disaster struck!  I'd missed the last train home.  However, the wonderful lady I'd bought the cheese related presents and other things for was willing to come and get me and get me home despite it being a) A school night and b) Late at night.  Wednesday is an absolute star and deserves all the praise for not allowing my holiday to end in an expensive holiday stay and having to phone in to work to let them know I wouldn't be in until late.

So, that's another item off the list, now to get excited for Italy :)

Slightly amended number 7 is complete!

I decided that rather than creating a website, which would require external technical advise, time and effort, as well as money for the domain name etc.  I'd set up a Facebook Page for my Photography.

You can find this page at Howard Sinclair Photography and give it a like, and if you want to share the pretty pictures, invite your friends to like it too.

I'll continue to add to it as time goes on, and hopefully open up some new categories of photography from meeting new people and getting fresh ideas.

I completely forgot about number 6!

My second half marathon was trained for and completed, and I forgot to blog about it!!  It feels like ages ago now, but I managed to beat last year's time by over 15 minutes, and even managed a sprint finish for the last 100 metres of the 13.1 miles.  Here's a pic of me with my medal after the race.

This time I ran for Stroke Association and the just giving site is still live if you feel like donating to a fantastic cause.  On the morning of the race I discovered I had no safety pins to attach my race number to my t-shirt.  My Delicious Freak badges came in very handy :)

Very happy with having improved my time and felt fantastic after the race.  Unfortunately most of the good work put in has now disappeared under a layer of beer and good cheer, but I'll be training for the next big thing soon :)

If anyone fancies training with me and is local  to me, give me a shout, the loneliness of the long distance runner isn't just the title of a book!

Numbers 20 and 21 Completed (with a little bit of Cheating and combining two into one!).

Well, Rachel managed to graduate and leave Cardiff before I had chance to visit her at Uni and go drinking with her.  However, by a stroke of luck, she managed to come down to my Nephew's University Town for a night while I was there.  This meant we had a proper "Bad Uncle" night out in Exeter with plenty of drinks, giggles and of course live music.

The Sorry Head in Exeter is a fantastic pub with great beer (discounted thanks to Dan's membership of the Rock & Metal Society), lovely bar staff and a cracking band playing 90s Grunge and Alternative Rock.

Rocking out to covers of Pearl Jam and Nirvana tracks that awakened me to music other than Radio 3 and my older sister's record collections of Abba, Shakin' Stevens and other such things with my awesome Niece and Nephew, both musicians in their own right, was something of a proud uncle moment.  It reminded me that music is a journey, and that whatever point you're on in that magical mystery tour, it reaches parts other things just never quite get to.

There was laughter, mickey taking, drinking and pure fun.  I have a feeling the 3 of us will get together there again some time in the new year.  In the mean time, a definite reminder for me that spending time with my "niblings" is a vital part of keeping me vibrant, young and alive.

Sadly (or fortunately!) all of our phones died at various points in the night, so we have no photographs to share with you.  However, the memories will live on with me for a long time - happy days on Planet H :)

Item 5 - It's in the planning stages!

Ok, so one of my 40 things before I'm 40 was to record at least one song at Real World Studios, the home studio  of Peter Gabriel and also the birthplace of parts of Marillion's last two albums and parts of Steve Rothery's Ghosts of Pripyat album.

Well, that idea has developed somewhat and got a bit bigger and a bit more exciting.

I decided to contact Real World and find out a bit about their pricing and the space available and what's included and what's there.  I discovered that although the prices are certainly not cheap, they are not overly prohibitive either, and include overnight accommodation at the studios on the day of recording as well as a 12 hour recording day, two of which should be enough to get the foundations of an album well and truly off the ground.

This, coupled with the stunning Yamaha C3 Grand Piano in the "Big Room" and Bosendorfer Mini-Grand in the "Wood Room" and the 360 degree tour which the studio coordinator emailed to me, got me thinking - how about we record most of my next album there?

So, I talked to the rest of the team - Becky, Patch and Duncan and as you might suspect they were all as up for it as I am.

Now, clearly, I will need some help with funding this venture, and I will again be turning to the wonderful Kickstarter, and the fabulous fans who have supported me thus far, and hopefully some new people who'd like to come along for the ride with this one.  One of the bonuses of using Real World is that we can have an extra person or two along for the ride with us, so one of the Kickstarter Pledge items will be the chance to spend the day or two days in the studio with the band watching the album take shape, and an overnight stay into the bargain!

In the mean time, just to get your interest going, here are some pictures of the studios.

13, 18 and a slightly amended 19 are completed.

Between 31st of May and 15th of June I had the wonderful pleasure of spending a couple of weeks in Hong Kong, exploring it further and enjoying some things I didn't get round to last time around.

This time, I got to spend some time on a couple of beaches, and I swam in the South China Sea, which was warm and comfortable to swim in, unlike the numerous swims off the UK I've had in the past.  There are no pictures of me actually swimming as my travel companion was too busy soaking up the sun, but she can vouch for me that I swam, so you'll have to take our word for it.  I did, however get a few shots of the beaches, so here are the picturesque bits :) 

Repulse Bay

Big Wave Bay from the Dragon's Back

Repulse Bay

So, what about the Big Head Hat stall, I hear you cry?!  Well, unfortunately it was no longer trading, so there was no opportunity to buy another travelling hat from there.  However, I'm determined to find a hat that fits on some of my other travels, perhaps the Italians and Dutch understand the plight of the larger-headed man?!?  

That said, I did frequent Stanley Market twice and came away with some lovely bits and pieces for friends and family.  Also, this time around I took on the mantel of Geoff Pugh  
t-shirt buyer extraordinaire and I think I may have bought more than he bought on the Blues Brother's Road Trip!  Here's a shot of one of them which I particularly liked:

A number of others with messages like "Don't grow up, it's a trap" and the one I'm sporting today which has the word "Artist" all over it, and most cost less than 50p!!

The holiday as a whole was refreshing, breathtaking and will stay with me for many years to come.  The weather was changeable, and we had our fair share of rain, but it was "proper" rain, rain drops coming down with such force that you could feel their weight and their surprising warmth, clouds hanging ominously in the sky and stunning flashes of lightning too.  Thankfully, most of this was witnessed from the comfort of the hotel room, 20 floors above the city.

A nation of strong contrasts, from the congested streets of the north of the island, the shopper's paradise of Kowloon, and then, the peaceful, beautiful and picturesque south of Hong Kong Island where I swam in the sea and found this little gem of the craft beer revolution:

If I do visit again, it will probably be on the way to somewhere else, perhaps Australia, Thailand, Vietnam or one of the many other exotic places that Hong Kong gives easier access to.  In the mean time I'll leave you with one of my favourite pics that I managed to capture from the hotel room.  It was a dark night and it was only once I looked back at the photo on the camera, I realised I'd captured the red sails of a "Junk" sailing in the harbour which is just visible through the skyscrapers.

Huge thanks to my travel companion and local knowledge guru Wednesday who was lucky enough to do most of her growing up in this fascinating and beautiful country.  Here's to more adventures!