Dear friends,

I’m back after 3 years of absence! I promise to be more active with my blog from now on – I even attached a note "update blog" onto my monitor. Depending of how busy I am… or should I say "busy"… being busy is always a good excuse for not being able to do something.

Anyway, I will do short recap of what has happened to me in the past 3 years. Well, now I made it sound much more exciting that it actually is. Here we go! I’m working in the same place as before but with a new position (Facility Manager). I’m in a relationship for almost two year’s now. I still live with Riitta and Tony. Well, as you can see, anything seriously major hasn’t happened.

So, this is the end of my latest blog entry. I will leave you with a video clip  to a song that I cannot stop listening to. The artist is called Steve Mason and some of you might know him from this band. Enjoy!

Dear Friends,

It’s been a long time since I wrote something in my web-log. Well, better late than never, eh?  I can’t believe it’s more than four weeks since Christmas. I must say Christmas 2006 was the funniest Christmas ever. My sister was here for the weekend, and we organised Orphans’ Christmas Party. By orphans’ I mean those who couldn’t be with their families. So besides me, my sister, Riitta and Tony we had Anne-Mari, Pirjo and Simon to celebrate Christmas with us. Then on New Year’s night I had to do a night shift at work. Also that weekend we had friends over: Päivi, Minna and Anne-Mari. Just before midnight we all gathered in the reception and opened a couple (or was it more?) bottles of sparkling wine and went out on the street to watch the countdown and fireworks. It was unbelievably busy on the Dam Square and Damstraat! Almost like the Queen’s day in the end of April. Also for Epiphany weekend we had guests: Jere and Risto. And that was fun! We did all the necessary gay things and all the necessary happy hours. Who wouldn’t like cheap beer?!?!?!

So the beginning of the year 2007 has been very busy for me. I do apologose to those who I have neglected. I have only neglected you by not keeping in touch, I do think about you all the time! But why is it so damn difficult to spend, say, half an hour to write an email or two? Pure laziness!

The weather and the climate has gone crazy! In the beginning of January there was constantly +10 Celcius or more, one day even +15 C ! I am sure most of you have heard about the huge storm that swept over England, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany continuing to the east a couple of weeks ago. And of course on that day I had to work late shift, meaning from 4pm until midnight. It was unbelievable! The wind was so powerful I didn’t dear to cycle to work so I took the metro. Walking from home to the metrostation (takes two minutes) and from the metrostation to work (takes five minutes) was really difficult! I have never felt a wind so powerful! I’m not sure what exactly happened in the Central Railway Station in Amsterdam but it was closed in the afternoon so no trains were arriving or departing. A couple of hours after that the whole railway network in the Netherlands was closed and people started looking for a place to stay. Suddenly most of the hotels were fully booked in the city centre of Amsterdam, including us. What I thought would had been a quiet night in mid January turned out to be really busy, almost like during high season in August! And because no trains were running, our nightporter (lives in Uitgeest, near the coast) could not come to work. Can anyone guess what that meant: I had to work the night shift as well. I did almost a double shift! 15 hour shift! But it was actually quite nice: horrible wind outside but it was cosy and work inside the hotel at the reception. And at the end of the shift I was allowed to take a taxi home! Ta-dah!

It will be a busy spring here in Amsterdam. Loads of things to do! On February 5th Riitta, Tony and me are going to see Snow Patrol. Simon had booked me a ticket to see Scissor Sisters in April and of course in May 12th is the biggest thing EVER: the Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki!

Hope you all are well and happy!

Timo

Dear all,

Sorry for not having written anything for about a month. Life has been pretty hectic here with the new apartment, work etc. My colleague Lisa was on a sick leave because she pulled her calf muscle and I got some extra shifts to do. She’s better now and back to work!!!

I can’t tell you enough how beautfiful this new area is! Amstel river makes it very speacial. The river gives so much fresh air, and all kinds of activities. The street, Weesperzijde, that goes along the river is very busy. It is really funny in the morning to see people cycling to work in a line and in the afternoon the same people cycle back home again in a line. There are two rowing clubs by the river and today there was some kind of rowing competition. There are also loads of interesting restaurants such as Portuguese, Italian, Indian, Ethiopian, Croatian and of course Dutch. Our new local pub is called Hesp which is a quite typical Amsterdam brown cafe with 15 different kinds of beer on a tap.

Here some photos of the area. Enjoy!

Hi all,

This weekend we are busy moving to the new flat. Most of the stuff is now packed in cardboard boxes and tomorrow we’ll take the stuff to the new place. Photos of our new home will follow next week once we’ve settled in. Tomorrow Saturday October 7th the (in?)famous Hotel Casablanca closes its doors but don’t worry: Hotel Middle East will open its doors on Monday October 9th.

See ya!

Dear all,

As you already know I work in this hotel. One of our night portiers left suddenly and I was asked to fill in his shifts. That meant that I had to work three night shifts in a row. The work itself is not too bad. The tasks that should be completed during the night are pretty simple and do not require much effort. But it is the time of the day when the work is to be done. And the people with whom one has to deal with. Once the junkies and other low-lives quit harrassing tourist who crawl back to their hotels, they start harrassing hotel staff. One wants to "borrow" money, one wants to sell a bike he just stole somewhere, one wants to buy beer ("because the other night portier sells beer"), one wants to use the toilet or whatever different kinds of questions. The thing is to be firm and quick: no!

On Tuesday we got a digibox for digital tv. It is free for 6 months. But what a load of crap it is!!! There’s absolutely nothing to watch. The only channels we get through digibox I watch are VH1 classic, VH1 and MTV2. Last night Lisa, Pirjo and I had dinner in here. It was alright but compared to Getto or Coco’s it’s nothing. The startes were really nice though! And we didn’t have to pay anything since we got a gift from them because of sending so many customers there.

Hello there,

Today Riitta and me signed a contract for our new home!!! We will move in on October 7th. The house is located in the eastern part of Amsterdam, in a suburb called Oost/Watergraafsmeer. It is just a couple of minutes away from Amstel Station where there are the only skyscrapers of Amsterdam (a good landmark if you get lost on your way to us). It is also only 5 minutes from the famous Waterlooplein. The house itself was built 1895-1896. The rooms are high and spacious and the street is quiet. Completely different where we live now! By the way, we will live on a street named after him.

Photos of the apartment will follow later

See ya!

Hello,

Here’s a treat for you who couldn’t be present at Madonna’s FANTASTIC concert (actually also for those who WERE at the concert: something to remember!):

This video clip is the fantastic show opener. And in this video clip she performs one of her latest hits. And here’s one of her classics! Enjoy!

Daaaag!

Oh my god! She was absolutely amazing! She performed almost two hours nonstop, except when she had to change her outfit or to be put hanging in a cross. And what was most amazing is that she took the stage by herself, she would have not needed any dancers. She is full of energy and she’s got charisma. She is a wonderful performer. No wonder her career has lasted for almost 25 years and she is still going strong!

"I’m going to tell you about love!" The concert at Amsterdam Arena began with Future Lovers from her new album with an outro of Donna Summer’s classic disco hit I Feel Love. It was followed by a great dance tune Get Together. The third song Madonna performed was Like A Virgin and after that Jump, again from her new album. Then it was time for a short break after which she appeared on a stage hung in a cross. She has caused a lot of controversy (again…) with her performance but throughout the concert everything she did was tasteful and well done. The song she performed was Live to Tell. The next song was Forbidden Love where we saw two men, Jewish and Muslim, getting together. Some of the dance movements in this track was unbelievably convincing. There were two highpoints for me in this concert. The first one was her performance of Isaac. The set was beautiful and she made the beautiful song to sound even more beautiful! After this was one of her biggest hits from the current album, Sorry. This was followed by Like It Or Not during which she proved – even being a surprisingly small woman – that she has loads of charisma and she does not need anyone to fill th stage. What an amazing performance!

Then it was time for some more rock and guitars. She performed I Like New York with an electric guitar, with an outro solo you have never heard. She made the guitar scream in her hands! This was followed by Ray Of Light, one of my all time Madonna favourite. If I should mention one weak point of her performance I should say Let It Will Be which followed Ray Of Light. It is the worst song on her Confessions On A Dance Floor album and it felt a bit unnecessary to perform last night. But this was followed by the other of the highpoints: acoustic versions of Drowned World/Substitute For Love and Paradise (Not For Me).

After these two ballads it was time to start dancing again: the set became a roller disco dance floor with Music. Her dancers are amazingly talented! Music was followed by Erotica and a samba version of her 80s hit La Isla Bonita. The crowd went even more crazy when she performed one of her first hits: Lucky Star. The show ended with her latest massive hit: Hung Up. There was no encore but it was not needed at all. She came, she performed and she left, and it was amazing! "Have you confessed?" was on screens when she left the stage.

I had waited for this moment for more than 20 years and finally here in Amsterdam I saw her live. It is clearly the best show I have seen so far. There is no doubt that she is a brilliant performer – The Queen Of Pop!

Hi all,

Last Saturday, August 26th, Tony turned to 32. I have a feeling Riitta and I organised him a birthday party he will not forget soon. Earlier in the summer Tony had an idea to celebrate his birthday (he LOVES his birthday) in a boat cruising around canals of Amsterdam. Riitta and I decided to start finding out how much would it cost but it turned out to be very expensive (250 EUR an hour). We were almost giving up with the idea but then Riitta got a contact through which we were able to organise a boat. We decided to pretend to Tony that the boat will not happen, and it is too expensive. But ha ha: last Saturday we were actually able to keep it as a secret until half an hour before the start!!! First we took Tony to one of his favourite restaurant, Cafe Alverna, for dinner where he got a dessert (ice cream) while Happy Birthday by Stevie Wonder was playing in the background as the first of all of his birthday presents (organised by Riitta).

Tony with his ice cream dessert

After dinner we took him to Leidseplein where Captain Koen was waiting for us with the boat.

Pirjo, Minna, Okan, Diana and Teemu joined us for the canal tour. We sailed along Prinsengracht, Brouwersgracht, Singel, Herengracht, Amstel, Oudezijds Achertburgwal and Oude Schans. Here some pics. Some of the are rather dark, unfortunately.

After the cruise we went to one of our locals: an Irish bar Tara’s.

And guess what, after being a fan of her for 23 years I am finally going to see this woman tomorrow in Amsterdam Arena:

Besos y abrazos!

Hi,

Now I have the photos of gay pride 2006. Here are some of the best ones. Enjoy!!!