THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30TH – FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1ST, 2017 – JOHANNESBURG, AFRICA TO ABU DHABI TO COLOMBO, SRI LANKA:
Got about 4 hours of sleep and then got up for a quick breakfast. Had a message from the promoter that the hotel still said we had to check out at 11 am. We didn’t, but at 11 am, the hotel shut down our keys. We all had to go to the front desk and have new keys made. Finally, a little after noon, we got a message that we could check out at 4 pm. We stayed until 4:30 pm as planned.
The WiFi was out ALL day again at the hotel. Unbelievable. We all had so much work to do before flying to Sri Lanka and couldn’t accomplish anything. I hooked my mobile phone up to my laptop and used T-mobile as a hotspot. Thankfully it is free but very, very slow!
Had a phone call from our promoter in Sri Lanka saying there was a hurricane headed for Sri Lanka and he needed to move the show to Sunday. Said they can’t set up the production outside because of the torrential rain and that the only indoor venue available was for Sunday night instead of Saturday night. I told him if there is a hurricane headed that way, our flights will be cancelled and I needed to deal with that first. Then he said that there was only rain in the area now. I told him I’d call him back. I got on the phone with Jason because he also has an opening act on the show – an ABBA tribute band.
There is a cyclone off the coast of Sri Lanka but it has already passed by and headed South. But, the rains are still there. We agreed to move the show to Sunday night but it means that we will perform, go back to the hotel for an hour or so and then head to the airport to fly home. Going to be brutal! Jason’s band changed their flights and they will be flying with us on part of the trip.
I walked over to the Italian restaurant at around 3 pm to get something to take back to the room to eat. I tried calling for Room Service but that was a waste of time! Jason and some of the guys were in there and said they had just discovered that the WiFi in the restaurant was excellent. With Jason’s help, I was able to check everyone in for today’s flights on our mobile phones!
We met in the lobby at 4:30 and departed for the airport at 4:45 pm. The drive to and from the airport goes past what we call several “shanty towns”. There are just rows and rows of “tin” standing up to make a small hut and that’s where the people are living. There are a few port-a-potties sitting around but I’m wondering how they have them cleaned. I guess that’s why the crime rate is so high in this area…so sad!
Because we had checked in online, our check in went much quicker. We got a really nice lady and although she was fast, it still took over an hour to get everything tagged. Then we had a really long security line and Immigration Line. I didn’t have time to do any shopping at all like I had planned. ☹ I did try to exchange my Rand for Sri Lanka currency but was not successful.
When we were standing in line, it was evident that “someone special” was checking in at the counter beside us. There was a large entourage including someone who was identified as my “chief of security”. Turns out it was someone “famous” in the “Fast and Furious” movies. Since I’ve never watched one, I don’t have a clue who it was but the musicians recognized him.
We boarded and then waited and waited and finally the “actor” and his group came on board. Then we waited and waited some more. This is my first flight on Etihad Airlines and I was hoping for a great experience. Not so! The seats in Business class were tiny so I can only imagine what the guys in coach suffered through. The food was not good at all either. I watched one bad movie and then decided to sleep since it was a 7 ½ hour flight. Sleep was absolutely impossible. The seat was so terrible and the aisle was so narrow that every time someone walked down it, they hit me. Plus the guy across the aisle might as well have been sleeping with me he was so close! And he looked just like Santa Claus with a huge white beard…except he had a bandana style turban on his head.
I finally gave up and fired up my computer, purchased Wi-Fi and settled in to work. At least the Wi-Fi was great. Jason was in the seat behind me and was snoring away. I hated him for being able to sleep! At one point the male flight attendant knelt down beside my seat and said he was so very sorry but “the lady” said I was making too much noise with my typing! I asked him if she also asked him to wake Jason up and tell him to stop snoring! I kept right on working and suggested she put in her ear plugs.
We landed early and since it was just a connecting flight, I thought we would just get off the plane and go straight to the gate for our next flight. Not so. We had to go through another security scanner. Since we went through one just before boarding the flight, I don’t know how they thought we could have picked up something “dangerous” while on the flight. Makes no sense at all!
We landed in Terminal 1 and were departing from Terminal 3. While we were waiting for everyone to clear security, Howard and David walked into the Etihad Lounge to use the restrooms. Everyone cleared security and they still had not come out. I was going to walk in and find out if they had decided to stay but they walked out just as I started to walk in. David had slipped in a puddle of water on the tile floor when entering the lounge and went flat on his back and hit his head! Scared Howard to death and it would have me, too. He says he’s okay but I’ll bet he is going to be sore tomorrow! The actor had been walking in right behind him and the girl with him started yelling at the staff, saying “That’s a law suit. Get that water cleaned up immediately”. I told Howard he should have taken a photo of David on the floor and the puddle of water in case he does have any issues!
Jason met his group that is performing on the show with us on Sunday night — “Farewell…The ABBA Tribute” and introduced everyone to us. Nice people!
We walked a very long way to Terminal 3 and the Etihad Lounge. It’s a nice lounge with great Wi-Fi and food. Had about 2 hours there and I ate a little breakfast because I’m praying I can sleep on the 4 hour flight to Colombo. Hopefully we won’t have a lot of turbulence due to the cyclone! This flight does not have lay-flat beds for seats, so I’ll have to be really tired to sleep at all.
We boarded on time and the seats definitely do not lay flat but they do recline farther than normal first class seats. I tried to sleep most of the 4 hour flight and I think the Bellamys did too. We landed pretty much on time and all went through Immigration and then picked up all our luggage and equipment. We almost made it through Customs when one of the agents pulled us over. I showed him our manifest and he still sent all of us back. We spent the next hour showing our Customs registration and arguing with officials. This happened last time we were here and I had warned the promoter that we didn’t want it to happen this time. He assured me that everything would be fine this time. Ha! We finally left Jason and one of our promoter’s staff at the airport to fight it out with Customs and we left for the hotel.
The arrival at the hotel was mass Chaos! I missed most of it because I was just trying to get everyone checked in and into their rooms after the long 2 days. They gave me some beautiful flowers and gave leis to all the guys. There were dozens of staff members there to greet the Bellamys (and of course take photos and get autographs) which quickly drew the attention of the hotel guests who decided to get in on the unofficial “meet and greet”. They had cold towels waiting for us to wash our hands and a delicious “welcome drink”.
I finally got all the keys and had luggage delivered to each room. We all met downstairs for the most amazing buffet I’ve ever experienced – even bigger than the one in Kuwait. Those of us who were here in 2014 definitely remembered it. There is one long wall of seafood and salads and soups. Then an entirely different room with hot food and meat that they will grill for you on demand. Then another wall of dessert! There was this one thing that a chef was cooking and he talked me into trying it. It was coconut milk and rice flour that was poured into a “bowl” and cooked and an egg added and cooked. It was delicious! Sort of like a crepe only better.
I came back to my room and have been working for about 4 hours now. The time difference is 11 ½ hour AHEAD of Nashville time, so makes it tough as far as work hours. Going to bed soon as it’s almost 2 am. Back at it tomorrow.
It’s supposed to rain tonight and all day tomorrow and part of Sunday. We saw a lot of trees blown down on the drive from the airport to the hotel. Tomorrow we are going to a famous “market” and shoot some footage for the Bellamys Reality Show and RFD promos. Also going to a pharmacy and stock up on antibiotics which are available over the counter!
Jude
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2ND – DAY OFF IN COLOMBO, SRI LANKA:
Woke up much earlier than I wanted to because of – guess what? – construction! Evidently they are reclaiming land in the harbor and building like crazy. Had breakfast with David and Howard came down shortly thereafter. David said his shoulder is sore from his fall but otherwise he is fine. Howard got 7 hours of sleep last night which means he is finally “turned around” on his time – just when we are heading home!
I went to the little hotel gym and it was “okay” but no air conditioning and was miserably hot. Worked out as best I could with what they had available and for as long as I could stand the heat. Better than “nothing” and I couldn’t jog as it is still raining.
Howard, David, Tim and I met Jason and Abid (from the promoter’s staff) in the lobby at 1 pm. Abid had arranged a driver and took us to several “markets” to video and shoot photos. First on the agenda was a stop at a market that had King Coconuts – the Bellamy’s favorites. Besides rows and rows of fruits and vegetables, there was also a section for “meat”. There were cages of live chickens and they were being killed and cut up right there. Thought I was going to throw up. There was a huge section of fresh fish as well.
We left there and went to another market and it was rows and rows of clothes, purses, shoes, etc. Everything was crowded, noisy, and “smelly”! Great for filming and photos though. There was a little band of local musicians playing on one corner and they were extremely loud. We figured out that they were playing “Battle Hymn of the Republic” but evidently only one of the musicians was actually playing the right notes and in the right key. What they lacked in talent, they made up for in enthusiasm!
We stopped at an area with “Golden Buddhas” and shot a lot of footage until the security guard made the Bellamys take off their cowboy hats. We had already removed our shoes as instructed.
We stopped at a Pharmacy to stock up on antibiotics. They are available here over the counter without a prescription. Expiration dates aren’t until 2019 and 2020, so we tried to get enough to last us until our next visit. Then we stopped for lunch at a local restaurant. Abid is also a food critic and knows the best places to eat.
Last stop was one more pharmacy for a few more antibiotics. There is supposed a pharmacy at the airport which I’m SURE we will hit before leaving. There just wasn’t any “souvenir” type shops anywhere near the hotel so I’m praying the shops will be open at the airport at 2 am before we depart at 4 am! I had planned to walk around near the hotel but it started raining so hard we could barely see the road when we were driving back to the hotel.
The radio station has offices right across the street from our hotel, so we popped in there for a short visit and on-air interview. Turned out to be a really nice visit and the DJ did a great job with the interview. There were these beautiful “Christmas trees” being set up in the building and they were made of various colors of what looked like “ribbon” that was swirled. Turns out it was hard plastic instead of ribbon. I’m going to be looking for one online!
Got back to the hotel around 5:30 pm and I worked until 8:30 pm when I was beginning to get hungry. Went downstairs and most of the guys were just finishing up dinner. David came down before I finished but we never saw Howard. He probably had room service! The best thing on the “buffet” is still that “egg crepe”!
Worked again until 2 am and have to get up early to get in a good jog along the beach – if it’s not raining! The show tomorrow night is SOLD OUT – 3,800 fans and people have been trying all day to find tickets.
Jude
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3RD – PERFORMANCE IN COLOMBO, SRI LANKA AND THEN A LONG FLIGHT HOME:
Slept for 5 hours, skipped breakfast and went for a jog instead. I ran along the beachfront but it was nearly as “scenic” as it was in February, 2014 when we visited the first time. Just too many fences and construction noise due to the land reclamation. But, I was able to jog for what I think is 3 miles based on my time. It was HOT already and no rain in sight. At one point, the beach front was blocked off entirely and I had to go on the sidewalk by a busy road. I swear Tuk-Tuk drivers kept pulling over and yelling at me to ride with them. Guess they don’t see a lot of “joggers” over here!
Showered and went downstairs for “brunch” (which turned out to be “lunch” because there were no breakfast items on the buffet). The lunch buffet was actually better than the dinner buffet, especially the sushi. I had left my book on the table last night at dinner, so I was asking if anyone had found it. One of the waiters came up and pulled it out from under the cashier’s stand and gave it to me. I gave him a 1000 Sri Lankan Rupee which is only about $6.50 U.S. You would have thought I gave him $100. Then throughout the time I was eating, different waiters kept coming up to me and saying they found it and put it at the stand. LOL. I just thanked them and kept eating.
Several of the boys were down there eating too. Dink is feeling vindicated about Alabama losing to Auburn because Auburn lost to Georgia last night. My “friend” who makes the “egg crepes” was there today but wasn’t making them. He said he wasn’t making those today because it’s a “Buddhist Holiday” and he was preparing steak in an amazing sauce.
Sound check was being delayed by at least an hour because there was a ball in the venue last night and the production company couldn’t load in until after 5 am this morning. Tim and I decided to walk over and everyone we talked to thought we were crazy for walking that far. Turned out to be less than a 10 minute walk and except for the extreme heat, was a nice walk. The venue was still being set up and “ABBA” still had not done their sound check because they were waiting for the acoustic guitar that was supposed to be provided as part of their backline. I checked out what is going to be used as “backstage” and how my one guest from India was going to be accommodated.
Then I decided to walk back to the hotel by myself. It was pretty much a straight show, so I wasn’t worried about getting lost — at least not too much! The Tuk-Tuk drivers drove me nuts trying to get me to ride with them and then a man in a suit started walking with me. He asked me where I was from and I told him the USA. He said he was here for 2 months working at the World Bank and was going home next week. He asked why I was here and I told him about the concert. Then he asked for a ticket! Fortunately we really are completely sold out, so that took care of that situation. He also said he is staying at the same hotel where we are staying. He was a little bit to “inquisitive” for my comfort, so I started lying about everything I told him! He did say there is a huge “festival” in the park by the venue and they have about 50 elephants there. I would have loved to see it, but have too much work to do to take time out to walk over. ☹ He also told me not to cross the street to my hotel – where he said he was also staying – but to keep walking on the same side as him. I ignored him and crossed over and he disappeared and NOT into “our” hotel.
When I got back to the hotel, I told the Bellamys about the festival and Howard repeated his experience with meeting the same man on the street and hearing the same story. Evidently the guy had some type of “scam” going but whatever it was, it failed with us!
Once back at the hotel, I had a meeting with Creswell (the man from India) and he is still trying his best to confirm some performances for the Bellamys in 2018. Hopefully he’ll eventually succeed.
I purchased some candy from an amazing candy shop downstairs and will take it home to Zac and Zoe. Worked for another 4 hours and then met the guys downstairs to go over to the show.
We were supposed to be picked up at 7 pm and be at the venue by 7:30 pm but there was a misunderstanding with someone and no one picked us up. We finally arrived at the venue at around 7:45 pm – barely time for the Bellamys to meet Creswell and grab their guitars and go on stage. Sri Lanka fans are very supportive but more of a listening audience than a party audience. They are seated and definitely do not dance. There were 3,800 tickets sold but a LOT of people standing in the back and sides of the room.
I noticed that there was a man with a huge commercial video camera filming so I asked who it was. Evidently, he was supposed to be shooting the show to project on the big screens. Only they weren’t working! They started working about 4-5 songs into the set. The quality on the screen was great and I started taking photos from the screen. Only the cameraman kept the camera on David’s face almost the entire time. For whatever reason, he would not move it to show anyone else!
Bellamys performed for 90 minutes and we had the van waiting for them to rush back to the hotel. Jason had to stay with “Abba Forever” as they were performing after us. I would have loved to stay and see their show but there just wasn’t enough time. We were back at the hotel by 10:45 pm and everyone ate a quick dinner. Had my 3rd shower of the day, packed, worked and met everyone in the lobby to go to the airport at 1 am. Our flight departs at 4 am, goes through Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Atlanta and arrives Nashville at 11 pm!
It’s been such a great tour. Jason – who put the whole tour together for us – and the promoters in Sri Lanka and Africa were all wonderful. And, of course, The entire Bellamys group are so easy and fun to work with!
Hopefully the trip home will be uneventful!!!
Jude
DECEMBER 4TH – VERY LONG TRIP BACK TO NASHVILLE:
Everyone met in the lobby at 1 am and we departed for the airport. We had to put all our bags through a security scanner before we could even enter the terminal. Then once we were inside, the first thing we had to do was to put everything through another scanner! Check in was an unbelievably long process and I’m not sure why. We had 3 agents helping with the check in on Etihad Airlines. Everyone got checked through to Nashville except for Howard and Rocky and their boarding passes wouldn’t print for Atlanta and Nashville! Several agents worked on Howard’s and finally got his printed but never could help Rocky with his. By the time we finally finished up, paid over $600 for a couple of pieces of excess, and went through Immigration, it was only about 30 minutes until we boarded.
I managed to change my money but did not have time to do any shopping. The flight from Colombo to Abu Dhabi is about 4 ½ miserable hours. I tried to sleep the entire flight but only managed to sleep about 2 hours. It was very turbulent over a couple of areas. Once we landed in Abu Dhabi, we said good-bye to Jason and his “Abba” group and headed for the gate. Again, only had about 30 minutes prior to boarding. We’re on Etihad Airlines again from Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam – about a 7 ½ hour flight. The aircraft is definitely nicer than the Etihad flight from Johannesburg to Abu Dhabi. But, every other seat in business class faces the back of the plane and all 3 of us were in backward facing seats. I’ve flown like that many times before but this was a first for Howard and David. Howard said he kept getting up and going in the wrong direction to the toilet.
I slept about another 3 hours on that flight and then worked the rest of the way. Movie selection was really terrible. We landed on time in Amsterdam and had a couple of hours to spend there. We had to go through another security scanner as soon as we exited the plane but did not have to go through a passport check which was a surprise. I hiked a very long way to find the KLM Lounge so I could work for a while. The lounge was crowded and seating was difficult to find. I finally found a long counter with some stools where I could sit and work for about an hour. Had to leave there 30 minutes before boarding time because it’s such a long walk to the gate.
Rocky was able to get his boarding pass in Amsterdam for the flight to Atlanta but still can’t get his boarding pass for Atlanta to Nashville. Seems ridiculous that it’s so difficult just to print one slip of paper! Jim got selected for an “extra security check” prior to boarding the flight to Atlanta. This flight is on KLM and a very strange configuration for the seats as well. Business class section is 2 – 2 – 2. There are about 8 rows of seats behind the cockpit, then the galley and restrooms and then 1 more row of business class seats and then the coach section. Howard and David are seated together in the little section between the galley and coach, so I can’t even see them on the flight!
Flight from Amsterdam to Atlanta is 9 hours. I ate the meal and watched a bad movie then slept for 4 hours. My intention was to work the remaining 5 hours only to my surprise the flight doesn’t have WiFi. I can’t remember the last time I took an international fight and WiFi wasn’t available. I’m going to have hundreds of emails to deal with once we land in Atlanta. But, it will be late at night when we land and we’ll have to rush to make it to the plane! Very stressed that there is no WiFi.
We landed on time and didn’t have any problems going through Immigration or Customs. We decided to split the equipment up between 9 carts and everyone take a piece through – which is what we should have done in Sri Lanka. Less chance of being questioned when it’s done that way. However, it was so late at night when we came through, I’m not sure anyone was still there from customs.
We had about an hour before boarding our flight to Nashville. That was a short 35 minute flight but probably the “hardest” one of all. Still amazed that all our equipment and luggage made it home with us. Everyone is glad to be back in the good ole USA!
Jude