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Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts

Tuesday, 13 September 2011

The BDSS Hols 2011

T'was Long Overdue!
If you follow us on Twitter or Facebook you will know that we, The BDSS ladies, have recently just returned from a week long holiday in Tenerife. Aaah, it was so sunny and hot whilst we were there; and we are still looking tan-tastically brown and sun kissed from many days lounging on the beach, soaking up the rays and just generally feeling sensational in our bikinis.

To say we had a fabulous time is an understatement; we can hardly finds words to describe just how much fun it was, therefore we think it only fitting to describe it using a fraction of the hundreds of pictures we came back with (and we mean hundreds!)

Sel preparing the holiday post
Before the trip
Now, we had a 'situation' that we needed to consider since when we found and booked the holiday, we were unable to as friends as it was apparently aimed at couples or families. But this opportunity was too good to pass us by so ... we became girlfriends. Not the 'hey girl!' kind but more like the 'this is my life partner'! (which is not entirely a lie - we're down for life!)

Anyhoo, let's not dwell on the minuscule details ... ;p

Beautiful
The Resort
So, our trusty Thomas Cook cabin had the privilege of taking us lovelies to our destination. It was so dreary when we left as per the usual British weather that it was extra refreshing when we arrived at the resort.

The resort itself was clean and comfortable and our room overlooked an endless view of the Atlantic Ocean. The only problem; we felt as though we had jumped into a new series of Little Britain meets Benidorm! We arrived at our resort early evening and we noticed a gleaming sign in the lobby saying 'Tonight Karaoke!' (and other fun stuff). Si being eager to get the party started spotted it and said that we should check it out, so we thought - let's go! 

Looks even prettier on the way out!
So we freshened up, went out for a bite to eat and headed back to the resort with what must have been high hopes as all we found were children dancing on stage singing along to 'Aga-Do', 'Steps' and dancing the conga train whilst the adults remained at their tables clapping.


Whilst we were sat at a table drinking the cocktails we hastily ordered (and downed) to drown our sorrows, we all had the distinct feeling that somehow we did not belong at this 'kind' of resort. Maybe it was the way the patron's looked at us as we entered the room (as if we were aliens or worse, locals!). Or maybe it was the fact their stares lasted a little too long (ok true say, we were looking fabulous!). But it definitely was the fact that not one of them raised a polite smile on eye contact which nearly threatened to pop the 'happy holiday' bubble.

A disappointing experience, to say the very least and we vowed there and then that it was not one that needed repeating. We realised that being the only blacks in the resort (or village!), the resort would be used for sleeping purposes only!

Our sh*tty trusty little runabout
The Car
So we hired a car the next day which would enable us to do just that! Our little Citroen C5; it was sh*t but saved our holiday! Debs and Si as the nominated drivers were reminded of their first ever cars with the tough pedals and gearbox that might as well have been a 100Kg gym weight!

You have to know that this was the first time either Debs or Si have driven outside of the UK; on the 'wrong' side of the road! But it made for great adventure as we set off on our second day trying to find a beach and simultaneously avoid the wing mirrors of parked cars or simply plummeting off of the winding, Formula One, cliff edge style roads! Si says Debs was much better at adjusting to it since her first attempt saw her pull over to the side of the road in a panic; sweating and screaming "I can't do it!"
Debs on the other hand felt quite chuffed with herself with the first trip out of the rental compound and then onto the beach but later that night had suggested a drive (which considering what the resort may have had in store seemed to be a fantastic idea) in which we got lost and found ourselves heading miles into the centre of a very dark & unfamiliar island. With the help of our Sat Nav (i.e. Sel), we managed to find our way back to the resort safely. 


Playa del Duque
By Day...
We hit the beaches - Playa de San Juan, Playa de Fañabé and Playa del Duque, all in the region of Costa Adeje; in search of that perfect combination of sun, sea, sand and ssss .... sangria! We literally laid for hours on sun loungers and would only move to turn over or to take brave dips in and out of the cold Atlantic sea.






Beach Babes!
Sel absolutely loved the days we spent lounging on the beach and then heading back and getting ready for a night out! No kids, no men or work related stress; a prescription of endless fun and R&R.

Not to mention she was with her BDSS ladies, the laughter and pure nonsense was endless!!

Bi - and not a minute too soon!
Bi was the final BDSSer to join us 3 days later and we were waiting for her to arrive and dump her bags so that we could whisk her straight off to the beach.

Bunch of Posers!
 We met some lovely people and none more so than Giamp and Raphaele who became honorary BDSSers for the week and joined us on many a trip. They were Italian, with only one speaking decent Spanish and minimal English and what with us being British and Debs doing the majority of the most basic Spanish and absolutely no Italian, where it not for Google Translator we would've have missed out!!

Cute, no??
Si soaking it up!
Debs was on point!
Sel finding her inner model!

The Motley Crew!
One of many beach-side dinners!

By Night...


We partied! From Los Cristianos with its numerous bars playing everything from salsa and reggaeton to dance, pop and funky house. It was here we found Magic (which should have been called Illusion instead!) Las Americas on the other hand had more of a variety a number of plush wine bars to the downright typical British clubbing precinct which was home to Veronicas (which to Si resembled a night on the town in Maidstone with its cheap shots, bar hopping, drunkenness, people falling over, the smell of sick and bad dancing!) and Tramps which ... says it all really!!



Bailando!

VIP is how it's done in Tibu
The highlight of our clubbing experience was Tibu in Las Americas. Not only was it plush but there were sexy androgynous dancers, live music and the crowd was very nice (but for a few coke snorting crazy eyed looking people).






We had a fabulous time. Sel and Debs podium danced, Bi was being woo'ed by a guy with his heart on his sleeve (more on that later) and Si had a fabulous marathon dance with another Italiano - it was so hyped, we can't remember the last time we were still going hard at minutes to 6.00am!

We then went for chicken and chips in SFC (Spanish Fried Chicken?!)

Night after the Tibu night before!


The Food
The food was truly a spectrum of the most wonderful flavours and unbelievable portions to the downright questionable. I mean, whoever heard of  Chinese & Indian BBQ Buffet?! A dodgy concept actually turned out alright (maybe the hungry was no longer discriminating) but Sel's reassurance was restored some when we saw the owners sit down and eat their own produce (so, no one's pet cat then!) 


Back to the portions; they were HEALTHY to say the least and you certainly got your money's worth. Lazing on the beach all day is hungry/thirsty work so we were all to ready to stop by many a restaurant and to refuel.

The Men
You know the feeling when you're really excited about something and you don't know what to do with all that pent up energy? Well then you'll understand that we became quite open-minded with respects to the local 'talent'; expect we were not exactly overwhelmed with Spanish stallions. More like eager beavers and love sick ponies haha!

for the singles amongst us (and also the attached ladies who enjoy a bit of eye candy) no such Spanish men were to be found! In fact, we noticed the overly groomed look of some of the Spanish men which lead to questions around sexuality; not that we're saying that the metrosexual male looks gay, it was just extremely difficult to determine half the time!

Other variants of men we encountered were the Italian kind. Our Italian buddies, with whom we went to bars, beaches and dinners were lovely but were more like honorary girlfriends than the stallions we had envisaged. But who cared, we had more fun with them than we could have imagined!

The men we did encounter wear their hearts (or maybe another part of their anatomy) on their sleeves!  Debs had just the one dance with a guy because before he could finished spinning her around he went in straight for the kill!, I mean WTF man!! Sel was in hysterics as all she could hear was "Justa waan, justa little waan!" with Debs screaming "no, no NOOO!! 

Another BDSSer hadn't even danced with this guy; just sat and talked with him but before she knew it; he could not "live without her" and he also tried going in for a kiss! We have video evidence of him being told to behave haha!

Some of them had been through heartache and we found out about it ... over dinner! The mood suddenly darkened a little where it seemed as though we had found ourselves in a therapy session, where the theme was wicked ex girlfriends and destroyed lives.

Bizarre! It was such a contrast to the BDSS dating culture at home. The only excuse to go in for a kiss on a first dance would be blind drunkenness (in which case you would not get a dance in the first place!) but most appeared to be pretty much sober.

It was all good fun BDSSers and so overdue as until then, we had never all been away together which is kind of hard to believe. As in the wise words of Jay-Z it will be "onto the next one, onto the next one" - any suggestions??

Plus there was a big tune out there. When this song came on everyone went absolutely mad and rightly so as it's a great track! It most definitely became the theme tune to our holiday: 


We would like to use this opportunity to say thank you to all our regular readers for regularly stopping by the blog and we appreciate your presence x

Sunday, 10 July 2011

Reasons To Be Cheerful!

Reasons to be cheerful!
It was my birthday on Saturday and now I am 28! Upon reflection I would say I have definitely got to know 'who I am' during my twenties, but of course I am still learning. It feels a little weird as I keep thinking gosh I am nearly 30! Back in the day 30 onwards was really a 'big peoples' age to me, but now I'm embracing the close of my twenties and definitely looking forward to all the great things I'm sure the years ahead will bring. For some reason during my birthday weekend I have had the Ian Dury & The Blockheads tune 'Reasons To Be Cheerful' in my head, and it got me thinking of the things that make me cheerful, so I thought I would share them with you.....

Friends and Family

Where would I be without my friends and family? I have so many special people that illustrate my life from past and present, who have most definitely shaped the person that I am today. Just watching my children makes me cheerful. I was really touched that I received so much Facebook messages on my birthday from some people that I haven't spoken to in years but who had actually taken a minute to just think of me. I have a friend who I've known since I was 8, and even though she is Nottingham and I am down here and I can't remember the last time we actually spoke we always write to each other. The day before my birthday I got a 4 page letter from her and it was actually really cool to just have a different form of communication in my hands. We have been doing this since we were young as we use to write to each other in the 6 weeks holiday from school.

Religion/Spirituality

Having been brought up by an atheist I was always encouraged to follow my own convictions when it came to religion and my beliefs, therefore I have an open-mind and respect when it comes to religions aside from Christianity in which I am most familiar with. I would say that I am still on a path in regards to my relationship with the Most High, but I find much comfort in what I believe and also in what I am still learning. My Mum once said that she is glad that I have my faith because not believing is very lonely, and I'm thankful that that path wasn't for me.

Looking Good

There is nothing better than putting on a new outfit, having your hair done and feeling great! I love bargains so it's even better when I'm looking great on a budget! I recently brought a pair of beautiful Kurt Geiger shoes and cannot wait to rock them to see Fela! Even though I will probably buckle at some point during the day!

Eye Candy


There is something about a good looking man with locks. The other day at the leisure centre I saw him, he was like a chocolate Adonis, handsome face, athletic physique and gorgeous eyes and locks that framed his face - yummy. Oh lawdy! Our eyes met and we had a pleasant gaze, until my toddler decided to shout “MUMMY” and broke whatever daydream I was in. We had a chuckle and went about our business, there really is nothing like eye candy.

Great Food and Drink

I love great food and wine, my favourite food is lobster and steak, a perfect combo in my book. There is a franchise of restaurants in London called Belgos, or The Big Easy on the Kings Road is also great for this culinary delight. At the mo my favourite dessert is a blueberry loaf cake that Tesco sell. I am ashamed to say it but I ate most of this by myself yesterday even though it can serve up to 10 – hey, it was my birthday!

Holidays


There is nothing like being away from it all, and being somewhere new. I'm fortunate enough to have had some great holidays, and I'm very excited to be going away with my BDSS ladies in a few weeks to relax and have some fun – whoop whoop! I would love to go to Jamaica though and I am extremely jealous of my grandfather who flew out there today.

Brilliant Books

One of my all time favourite books and films is called 'Like Water for Chocolate', if you want an pulsating romance to keep you on the edge of your seat , check out this novel! I watched it when I was 10, and read the book when I was in my teens. I could honestly read it over and over because it's so exhilarating. I also would recommend 'Your Blues Ain't Like Mine' by Bebe Moore Campbell mother of Maia Campbell, it's a great book and I couldn't put it down when I read it.

Beautiful Songs


My musical taste is very eclectic and love a range of music from rock to opera, some of my favourite songs are Louis Armstrong 'We Have All The Time In The World', which just makes me feel good and reflect on life. Sam Cooke 'A change Is Gonna Come' is a masterpiece, 'Take My Breathe Away' by Berlin reminds me of my youth, I remember always wanting to get my childminders daughter to play it. 'Ave Maria' a song I've always envisaged having sung at my wedding, which I just think is beautiful. 'One More Chance' by Biggie, which makes me think of school days, and the first rap I ever knew off the top of my head. Peter Tosh 'Creation' I love this track, take a listen! The list could go on and on!

Zumba – Brazilian Dance!

Now I'm not an exercise addict, but us BDSS ladies have recently discovered Zumba, when I first tried this out I must say it almost made me drop and shout “I can't do this no more!” But what made me persevere was the many older ladies that I was surrounded by, who weren't even shedding a drop of sweat. After a few more lessons I was hooked, and it makes me very cheerful especially once I've completed a class and feel revitalised. Because the tunes are so good if I close my eyes tight enough I can sometimes imagine I'm at a rave, especially if I go down low enough!

There are many other things that make me cheerful, I could be here all night, but instead I would like to know what makes you cheerful?

Ciao!