Bailey's Blog: At last! An update!

Hey All, sorry for not updating the blog for a while - it's been a hectic week!

Firstly, Desford came 7th at the Masters contest in Cambridge. We were very dissapointed as the performance went extremely well. Admittedly, there were a few errors and we weren't surprised that we hadn't won (despite 4Barsrest's Predictions) but to come 7th was a little unfair. Still, that's banding. Next time, we could come off the stage unhappy and walk away with the top prize!

Anyway - on to the tour....

The trip out took AGES! Our route was Birmingham - Dubai (7 hours), then Dubai - Jakarta (10.5 hours). Needless to say - we were ready for some rest when we got there, but no - we had to wait up to an hour to get our visas, then on to a coach for 40 minutes to the hotel. The hotel was very comfortable and the breakfast was great - just what we needed.

Here are some pics from the Jakarta trip - there will be plenty more over the next week or so, and I will also set up a full photo album with everyone's pictures from this site!

Martin, Deb, Rhys and I waiting for our visas in Jakarta airport.

Kevin "Sid" Steward (our conductor) and Pete Smith (the senior half of the band's management) looking very well all things considered!

Nick and Mike in the Visa queue.

Dean, Mark, Herbie and Kenny - four of our more experienced banders - waiting patiently!

The arrival of Clarence "The Cornet" Mansell. Clarence played with the band years ago, and is a bit of a legend in his own bathwater. Currently Clarence lives in Thailand, teaching his slow melody skills to the kids of Pataya. Richard Adams in the background, who has lived in Singapore for the last few years. I first met Richard when he was teaching and freelancing in Birmingham.

Be warned!

At the hotel - Pete and David Smith read the riot act to us. Apparently we weren't allowed to be drunk on stage or something....

Cake of the Month! What a great idea! I didn't try it...

Louise, Simon and Alex kick back and relax in the bar. We were all there for a while....

I'll put up another post shortly with some more pics from the Jakarta leg of the trip...

Tonight's plans? Well currently we're in Bangkok, I slept for 14 hours and then had Thai Green curry at 6pm for breakfast! It really hit the spot. Shortly, we're all off to Patpong to see the sites!

I'll be in touch soon!