Bournemouth, what a surprise!

After living the daily grind of London, week after week, its always nice to get away. But sometimes, you don't want the hassle of airports, immigration, and long waiting times before departures to leave the city. Sometimes you just want to jump on a train. No security. No 2 hour wait before departure. Just grab a backpack for a weekend, and just get out!

This weekend's destination was Bournemouth. What a pleasant surprise! Bournemouth is on the southwest coast of the UK. Its main attraction? The 7 mile sandy beach. What? Sand??? The only beach in the UK that I've been to was in Brighton, and the beach was filled with small pebbles. Not something you want to bury your feet into or place your back against to catch some rays.

Going into the weekend, the weather didn't sound promising. It was going to be a high of 16-18C (60-65F) and overcast. Maybe even a chance of light rain! But as I've grown accustomed to in the UK, you can never trust the weather forecasts!

It ended up being a lot warmer, with a lot of sun! We even had to buy beach towels just so we can lay out in the sun properly! We also bought a nice picnic bag and enjoyed a beach picnic both days!

The city centre is also quite nice, with a very nice park separating the beach and the town. The night life isn't that bad either! Very good hip hop at a place called Klute which also doubles up as a sushi restaurant called Funky Sushi (Sushi wasn't bad, not the best, but decent) The DJ was playing ol' school hip hop and the crowd didn't seem as pretentious as the crowds in London. Lots of locals!

All in all, it was a brilliant weekend away, only a 1:45 min train ride for less than 35 quid! Can't beat that, especially for a beach getaway from the fast-paced, polluted ol' city of London!

Silent Disco Rocks.

Have you heard of it?

I haven't. Until 2 weeks ago. We were walking past our favourite area in London, South Bank, when we came across an interesting dance party. A bunch of people wearing headphones in a club-like atmosphere, singing to the music. Thing is, it wasn't as loud as you would think. No deep bass, no screaming into each other ears. It was something we had to try.

Fast forward to this past Saturday. We luckily scored the last few tickets to this brand new experience.

We walk in. And our instructed how to use the wireless headphones.

Volume control on the left. 2 channels to choose from on the right. Virtual dj rooms if you will. We line up to grab a tasty beverage, but instead of yelling into each other ears with drink orders, we simply use our normal tone of voice. Why? Because the music is played via headphones!!

Imagine a club without loud music, but people continuing to party and dance? Its the strangest experience because even when a sing-a-long tune comes on, all you hear are people's voice singing along loudly, without any music in the background!! Why? Because the music is played via headphones!!

Imagine a crowd of people dancing together, in complete silence! 2 people could also be dancing to two different tunes! Why? Because you can choose what music you can listen to via headphones!!

I think the best part was removing my headphones, and just sitting there, appreciating all these people dancing and singing along, with their headphones on. Its pretty hilarious and fun to watch.

All and all, a truly amazing and unique experience and one I definitely recommend!