Ireland

Not even a week in Ireland for us, but that’s okay because the Smirnoff team in Dublin had a lot of stuff in store for us. A photo shoot with some of Ireland’s biggest models, a dinner party at one of Dublin’s best Thai restaurants - Diep la Shake - a city tour, a fashion show at Trinity College and a Diageo tour of the Guinness museum.

The first thing we did when we got to Dublin was check into our hotel and map the city to see where we were. Considering I change countries almost three times a month, I do really well with getting myself around these places. The team got together and we took the public transport to the Diagio office, which was also part of the Guinness headquarters. After our brief about what we were going to be doing in Ireland we had a Q and A session and I tell you it was one interesting conversation. Questions about leprechauns, rainbows, drinking, Saint Patrick’s Day and clover leaves started flying from everyone’s mouth and I guess it was a bit typical. Either way the answers were all answered with disappointment and we go on to doing more serious things like check out this Guinness factory.

I have never been to a beer factory before the Guinness one and come to think about it I haven’t even been to the annual beer festival that’s held annually in Montreal, but I will next year. After spending a couple of hours running around the place and discovering the world of beer making, we ended the tour on the top floor and savoured a tall glass of Guinness and for some reason it just tasted that much better.

The Irish team did a really good job in showing us around the city with a city tour that gave us the luxury of jumping on and off buses that came around every 20 minutes. Luiza, her best friend from Brazil Marina, and I got on to the bus and went around the whole city stopping at museums and historical places. I like the idea of having this kind of system because it gives people like me the opportunity of seeing all the famous places and interesting things to do in and around Dublin. At one point we noticed a crowd waiting outside a hotel and I decided to wait and see who would come out and to my surprise it was famous band member and one of the actors from The Sopranos show.

Smirnoff was sponsoring a fashion show at Trinity College with cocktails so the Smirnoff team got almost front row seats to see some of Dublin’s local fashion gurus at there finest. It was my first fashion show, except for one I was in a long time ago, so it was nice to see a show from the audience’s point of view. It wasn’t really my thing because most of the clothes were things I would never wear, but they did have a couple of things I could see people wearing. Like everything in life it was a great experience and something I can say I did on this great experience we’re all on. A couple of days later, the team took us to dinner at a Thai restaurant called Diep la Shake where we met two models and to my surprise they were there doing what they do best - modelling. Trinity College is a really old school and the campus was amazing. It made me wish my school had such historical background.

Soccer game

We hit the Olympic stadium of Berlin where Italy beat France in the last football world cup. This stadium was nothing like the one in Argentina. If you’re in Europe, you owe it to yourself to check out a soccer game, and if you don’t like it then do it for the pictures and experience. The crowd in these stadiums are like lions and the people take the game really seriously.
All in all Berlin is one of my favourite cities I have toured on the Smirnoff journey, I would love to come back to this city and see what it looks like in a couple of years. The team that took care of us did a sweet job and I got to experience things like a European soccer game, the air guitar show, May 1st festival, Carnival 2008 and all the night life, Good times in Berlin...

Bike Tour

Near the end of our trip Luiza and I decided to rent bikes and ride around the city. This is a really cheap and efficient way to see the city, in approx 4 hours we saw everything we wanted to and had some time to check out ones we came across while riding. One of the places I suggest is the central park it’s massive and makes the one in NYC look like peanuts.

May 1st Demonstration

For you guys who don’t know what happens on May the 1st in Berlin, I’ll give you a really short idea. On this day people gather in Krosbrug and protest about capitalism, have a massive party in the streets, a demonstration and a couple of blocks down they block everything off for DJs to set themselves up on the streets and people can go for a beer and meal. I’m telling you I love Berlin… these kind of things are awesome, kind of reminds me of Montréal with the jazz festival and grand prix weekend. Anything that gets the community out of the house and exploring is always good for the people and their well being. Unfortunately there was a tiny riot where people threw beer bottles at the police. I found myself waiting at the wrong washroom while it was going on and it was totally a real experience - it showed me how sometimes things get out of control. If anything it was cool to be in the middle of it and have that excitement however, I like to play it safe so I left shortly after it began. May 1st rocks. It's this massive street party with hundreds of people and good food. Ania, Luiza and I stopped at a friends DJ booth and danced for a while, it was cool to see people in broad daylight having a good time in the streets.


While we were in Berlin, and this is more a reminder to myself, Kung Takashi and I played this card game Kung bought a couple of times and had a blast. I just had to buy myself a pack and sent it home as a memory. The other thing we did together was watch the series Lost, and lost we were… that show is probably one of the best ones I have seen on TV in a while. It was also nice to watch a TV series after a while of not really watching TV. The boys and I lived together for two weeks and we did everything together from cooking meals, cleaning, watching Lost and exploring the city.

I know, carnival in Berlin who would have thought? However, this carnival was nothing like the one in Brazil, don’t worry nothing can out weigh that experience. Berlin kicked ass though. I got to the area called Krosburg, it had a massive demonstration that consisted of half the city being shut down, and this was going to be one massive event. Unlike the Brazil carnival where its main focus is music, Berlin’s carnival was all about people and their cultural differences. If you ask me, this is the perfect way to get a community all together, people can show off where they are from and learn a bit about others. This festival was massive with thousands of people and at the end of it all everyone meets and parties with 5 Camarote that are club owned and dance in the streets. Towards the middle they had a market to buy almost anything you can think of and the food…. let me tell you this, they had food from every corner of the world. I remember getting South African BBQ and it was so good. I picked up some souvenirs and a couple of things for the family back home. This Carnival was full of colours, well organized, and had food, music and the whole community jumping. At one point I remember the DJ saying ‘everyone get down’, and about 500 people crouched super low. Then when the music got louder he screamed ‘JUMP’ and everyone started to jump. It was just one of those things where you had to be there to experience. If you’re going to visit Berlin, make sure you hit there around that time - it’s something you don’t want to miss.

Our performance @ Stage (Air guitar show)

We had Hummers to drive to the show and the Smirnoff Ten showed up in style. We had a blast while in the VIP Lounge downstairs where everyone chills out before they hit the stage. It was nice to see how people relax before their big performance and it was nice to find myself in their shoes for once… we practiced our show for two days and at the end of it we got it the way we wanted it. Myself, Ania, Ben, Steph and Audette performed an air guitar version of RUN DMC’s ‘Walk This Way’ in front of a crowd of about 400, and trust me this is one experience I will always remember on this trip. Going out in front of all those people was a bit nerve-wracking, but at the same time it was a thrill and we did a super good job. The Smirnoff Team got 2nd prize which is really good and if we were asked to do it again I am sure we would. All in all it was a great experience at a cool venue, but most importantly we had fun and met some great people.

Nightlife in Berlin

25

The nightlife in Berlin is awesome and if there is one spot you should check out it’s this hidden bar/club called 25. Now have you ever heard of a venue that runs from Thursday until Tuesday and not closing? I haven’t and I guess that’s why this place was so intriguing at any time of the day, you could just pop in have a drink and dance, and that’s exactly what I did. The music they played is more of a minimal techno, which kind of makes sense - imagine super hyper trance or psychedelic music going on for 5 days… The crowd is around early 20’s to early 30’s, and everybody is welcome. There are also massive swings where people like to chill out on and the venue is half inside, half outside right next to a canal. It’s a really cool joint.

The Buungaloo

Now I loved 25 because it was a really chilled out joint that you can go to at any time of the day, however if your looking for something a bit more upscale, this is where you want to be seen. The Buungaloo consists of four dance rooms and an open-air terrace. As you walk in you’re kind of forced to walk up this kind of catwalk and back down, it gives you a chance to look around and it gives the people already there an idea of who’s coming in. The first floor is where all the action is, it has tables to put your drinks on, stairs to dance on, a massive dance floor, the cat walk (which is also used to show off your dance moves) and it really gets everyone going because there are so many levels to it. On the second floor you get another room that’s simpler, with more commercial music where people can sing along to all the major hits. The third floor consisted of a private white VIP Lounge that lets you take off your shoes slip into some slippers and lay down on luxuries couches while you drink with your friends. The fourth floor is more of a roof bar with open air and heaters in case it gets a bit chilly at night. It’s more of a social floor where people can enjoy a cigarette while they sip on their cocktials. Over all the Buungaloo had great music and when I didn’t like it I had the option of walking to another floor, the people really knew how to dress and were friendly. The VIP Lounge is a great place to relax and the roof top was a perfect place to meet someone, over all it’s a great place check it out.

Watergate

Watergate is an awesome place to check out while in Berlin. What I liked most about this place is the outside terrace, where people can chill on leather couches and enjoy the gorgeous view of the city. Watergate is centrally located and has 2 floors spinning techno of all kinds and on special nights they have r&b and hip-hop. The bar is massive, giving the customer a good chance to get a drink in a reasonable amount of time. The crowd is really varied as well. Watergate is one of those places you can stay at until the sun goes up or if you just want a nice place to have a drink and it also gives you many options while you’re in one venue.


And last but not least…

Stage

Stage is a venue where live performances are frequently featured including the Smirnoff Ten’s performance at the air guitar show. This venue is one of the only clubs I know that has a swimming pool ready to cool the crowd off in case they get too excited. There are two main rooms, one for the performances and one where people can sit at the bar or relax on couches. On the plus side they serve food in the bar and its quite cheap and good. The music was good and the people were friendly enough for me to sit down with and have conversations about everything and anything.


Now that I have given my list a good glimpse I get a sense that I really got to see many different layers of this gorgeous city they call Berlin, and I tell you this city has everything for anyone and you can find a party at any time of the night or day.

Berlin!

The first thing I would like to say is guys if your thinking about doing a Euro trip you must, and I repeat, must add BERLIN!

I have to tell you, when I found out we were going to Germany I was that excited, I didn’t know much about the country and I just wasn’t as interested as some of the other places we have been. Boy! Was I in for a treat? So far we have been to London, Scotland, Ireland and Germany in Europe, and surprisingly Berlin is at the top of my list so far. Who would of thought? It is always like that… the place you least suspect to be cool ends up being the city you would see yourself living in. Berlin is awesome, the city is great, the night never stopped and the people were open minded and friendly. So lets start with Berlin itself… unfortunately we only got the opportunity to check out one city in Germany, but that’s okay because Berlin is massive. The fastest way to get around town is the underground tube. They run all night, so after going out you can easily get yourself home and slip into bed before the birds start chirping. The city is jam packed with touristy things like Berlin wall, you can find it all over the city painted in graffiti and signed by the world and I couldn’t resist signing it. The parliament has a really cool story behind it; in World War II the roof was blown off so instead of building a new one like the old one, they added this see-through dome which people can walk around it and see the congress in session. The city was 80% destroyed in the war and everything that survived is pretty much still there for the world to see, but what I like about this city is the architecture. They have mixed the world with the new and it looks so cool, instead of just starting over, they kept as much as they could and added to it. The city itself is amazing, and get this, Berlin has over a thousand bridges and there are canals everywhere, which is really beautiful and gives the city a nice touch. Berlin is an awesome place I would actually want to go back. If I had to live in Europe, Berlin is definitely somewhere I would consider.



When we got to Berlin, we were briefed about what we were going to be doing while we were there and what to expect. I was in charge of managing a team of five people to perform at a concert… Well, it wasn’t really a concert, more of an air guitar show. I didn’t understand why they picked me to manage the team, what kind of experience do I have in the music industry, let alone air guitar? But I was in for it all the way and kind of excited. They also organized a tour for us, drinks in historical places, city tours in Hummers instead of buses and to top it all off a massive farewell party at one of Berlin’s best hot spots - the Buungaloo.

Radio

The next day we had to do a radio interview for a local radio station telling them a little bit about our experiences around the world and our reactions to last nights party. 40 mins of talking on the radio is long but we were three people from the Smirnoff Ten and we had a lot to talk about. When we were all done I asked if I could announce the next song coming up and they let me… good times. Some of the things I talked about were my best party: which will forever be the Bahia Salvador 2008 Carnaval, and the best country: to this date that is Thailand. It always feels good to reflect on this massive journey we’re taking around the world.

That same night we were taken to some bars in Glasgow to see the best nightlife. We must have walked in to about 3 pubs and 2 clubs that night and as hard as it might sound I felt like I got a pretty good over view of their nightlife.

The next day we moved to Edinburgh, which is a smaller city very famous for its history about an hour away. An hour away is not far but for some reason it felt like a completely different place, I was amazed how different Glasgow and Edinburgh could be even though they’re so close to each other.



After we settled in we were taken out to see what Edinburgh’s night life could offer. I found that the people here dressed up a bit more and it to be a bit more fancy. The clubs we went to had a different type of crowd and people looked more relaxed here. We went to a pub called Dragon Fly, which had some impressive cocktail making and décor. Everyone got a different cocktail; beer just wouldn’t cut it in this place. After this we went to a hip-hop venue called Medina, it was an underground club that played really good music. The team got together and started singing and dancing to the music. Towards the end of the night we went to one last club that was much bigger and played techno and house music. We stayed there for a while and before we knew it our stay in Scotland was over. It was short but it was fun while it lasted.

Both cities have their own unique style and they both have something different to offer its visitors. You definitely have to experience both cities if you’re going to go to Scotland, with the train It will only cost you £10 to get from one city to the other. Glasgow felt more like a big city whereas Edinburgh felt more historical and fancy. All in all Scotland might have been cold but it was definitely cool.

Scotland!

When I found out I was going to Scotland I immediately started thinking about my grandmother Mackenzie and how I still had some family over there in Glasgow. Even though it would be impossible to find them, I still felt like I was going to a country where my family once left for the new land. I have to tell you as grateful as I am I was a little disappointed to find out that we were only going to be in Scotland for a total of 6 days and covering 2 major cities - Glasgow and Edinburgh, and to top it all off a Smirnoff cabaret event.


We left London’s King Cross train station for a six hour train ride to Glasgow. Now we have been travelling by air, and in some cases boat, so to take a train across the U.K. was going to be a new experience for me. I’ve never really been on a train - at least not one like this - and I have to tell you I really felt like I was on a Euro trip as I watched the beautiful landscape from my window seat pass by. Taking the train rocks because you can sit with your friends and it’s not like an airplane where you feel all clustered up and have no Internet access. I wonder what people did 1000 years ago for fun? Scotland made me think about a lot of things, this country with such a rich history is a perfect gateway into the past with old castles, cathedrals and churches that date back some 900 years ago. This is what I think about when it comes to Europe.



We got to Glasgow where I was greeted by a close friend of mine from Brazil called Saira. It’s always good to see a friend on this journey of ours, it brings the experience to another level.
One of our missions in Glasgow was to go to and film at the Smirnoff Electric Cabaret event. This event was all so exciting for me, they had Smirnoff women passing out water, hats, feather boas, fake moustaches plus there were make-up artists to paint your face, and more. The bands playing were brought from all over the U.K. to rock the house, and even though I hadn’t heard of any of them I was there in the midst of the crowd having fun. The event was a blast and it was especially nice to have a friend to celebrate it with.

Disneyland

Well, so we collectively decided to go to Disneyland towards the end of our stay in Japan. However, it ended up being just Luiza and I, I have to say something about about Luiza for a second. This chick is so cool and I love living with her, her Brazilian energy and my Canadian fusion together is just nothing but good vibes. North America and South America living together learning about our cultures and differences but most importantly our similarities. She has a beautiful soul and when she walks into the room you feel her presence. So we took the JR line to Disneyland and when we got there we had the choice of Disneyland or sea…looking for the most adventurous one we asked a couple of people and they all lead us to Disney sea. We got to experience a live performance of jazz, which was just spectacular, and a performance from the Little Mermaid. We rode the rollercoasters like Indiana Jones, and tower of terror.


Takashi, Kaori (who is this phenomenal singer and a close friend of Takashi), Stephanie, Luiza, Ania and I went to a club called Yellow. Club Yellow was different because for the past week I was going to hip-hop parties so to experience a drum and techno night by this band called Swayzak was nice. Once again just like in the hip hop clubs this place was bumping with people loving the DJ, that night Luiza and I danced our asses off.

Tokyo………… I don’t want to leave! Good times here and more importantly good vibes, the people spoke English the food was amazing, the parties were full of passion and the city is buzzing louder then New York and London. No wonder it’s expensive and that the people work a lot and long hours but the clubs and night scene is like a place where people can just go to escape and let loose. Are you guys ready for Europe? I sure am…

MTV Week

The next week in Japan was spent with MTV. We had a tour bus day with Teppi where he showed us around the city with his filming crew. When we got to the MTV studio they gave us each a flag representing our home countries, got a quick brief and we were on our way. While we were on the bus Teppi gave Ania, Luiza and I a challenge, we had to go to a store in Harajuko and find a shirt we liked. Unfortunately the ones I wanted were quickly picked by the girls so my selection got that much smaller, I went with a black and white shirt that had a Japanese symbol on it representing a Japanese king also known as Tono. The team voted and it was between dancing-Luiza, samurai - Ania and king-Kareem hahahaha…Luiza got up and started to dance and stole the show… then again who can beat a Brazilian dancer, well done Luiza!



After the challenge we went to a meditation house where we all sat on the floor and meditated for a small period of time. Actually the master lit some incense and we sat there until it was out. The catch was that if you moved, the master would come and tap you or if you put your hands together like they do in India when they greet some one saying namaste, the master would come and tap you on your back. He gave Teppi all he had but when it came to the girls he went a little soft. It is said that when you get tapped it's like the devil is leaving your body so I guess Teppi had a big one!



The day was spent cruising all over Tokyo experiencing different things in Tokyo, I can go on forever but to make it short…the team that lost the challenge in Shanghai had to go on a massive drop zone ride at a 50 year old theme park and film their facial expressions on the MTV cameras but if the footage was not of MTV satisfaction we had to do it again, they strapped John with a camera and on the second take we got it. When we got to the top we had an amazing view of the city while our bodies were lifted in the air getting a little airborne. Some punishment for losing in Shanghai… it was more like a reward!



So much happened in Japan … one night Akona, Ben and I went to Club Asia to do some filming for the Tokyo film and got to interview the DJs. That was really cool because we had a monopod and I filmed like a superstar. I really feel like I grasped the whole night and with monopod I got the action of every angle. I love my job and the work I do because I feel productive and most importantly I am contributing to our universal goal creating good content. What made this night original was the collaborations of artist and generals of music. I got the opportunity to interview the DJs thanks to my press media all access pass. When we got to see them we all relaxed on the couch and had a conversation with key questions, I love real people. Like when I went to Mexico I was interviewing local celebrities left right and centre and they all had nothing to say or were more concerned by how they looked on camera. Not these guys, they had kids, families and jobs, but lucky for them they truly love what they do and they don’t let the fame get to them and it shows. That night was a good night in Japan I worked hard, got to interview some really cool down to earth people and left late or early enough for the first train back to Roppengi.

Stephanie and Takashi were the producers for the video in Tokyo and found some cool spots for us to check out and film. We went to one spot called ‘Ninja’ where everyone is dressed up in costume and the venue looks like a gateway into an old school style Japan city. Prior to that we went to a place called Belta Salone, which looked like a secret lounge area because Stephanie had to have her fingerprint scanned prior to us going there. It even said her name when she scanned her finger. It was cool, it kind of looked like a James Bond movie. We got inside and the venue had a bunch of different style rooms with virtual simulations of golf, Nintendo Wii, karaoke, lcd/plasma screens and really nice couches. I liked that concept because you can go to this secret place with your friends and have a good time doing loads of active stuff while you enjoy your cocktails. One night Diageo took us out to a sushi place right above the restaurant where Kill Bill was filmed, I tried to take a picture of me doing some crazy ninja movies but it just looked silly.

Concert of a lifetime

While John and I were in Shabuya we went to some of the local music stores like Tower Records and HMV to get some club flyers to find something original. While we were going through over 100 flyers I came across a flyer for a concert called Springroove 2008. It had a great line-up… but the ticket was something like 11,000 yen which in Canadian dollars you subtract the last two 00 and you get 110 bucks ouch! That’s a dent in my pocket! Lucky for me I informed the local Diageo team about the event and a gentlemen by the name of Yoshida kindly told me he would get back to me, little did I know I would have 4 tickets for the Smirnoff hip-hop lovers to go and experience. Yoshida if you’re reading this, thank you once again because that had to have been one of the most memorable things I have done on this trip.


Akona Benjamin III, Luiza and I set sail at around 1pm and got there about an hour later, it was cool because we got onto the JR line and took the train outside Tokyo to city called Makari to the Makuharimessa arena. The train was packed with people and teenagers in their funky outfits all excited for this massive spring festival. We got there a little early so we found a place on the floor and watched the masses walk by. I love going to festivals in cities: I went to one in Argentina for Tiesto, one in Brazil called Experience and now one in Japan called Springroove, and every time I felt like I really got to know the local people and music scene. … It was truly an unexplainable overwhelming experience. Every song I memorised not intentionally but just because I love commercial music was preformed live before my mesmerized eyes. All the classics form the last couple of year's…good times and all in Japan who would of known?!

Cherry Blossom

I don’t know if someone planned it that way but when we got to Japan it was the beginning of spring, which means cherry blossom season. When people told me that they wouldn’t last for long I didn’t anticipate them to be completely gone in a little more then a week, that’s why while they blossom the streets and parks are packed with people admiring their beauty. One night Luiza, Stephanie and I went to Euno park where you can find a couple of really long park streets with people everywhere taking pictures and sitting down on the grass - it was a nice feeling. We took the cameras with us to capture the moment and asked a couple of people about their experiences.