Under the Neon Light

"Maybe I'm just jealous, man, everyone at the beach is perfect, you know tanned, white teeth. I've got white skin and tanned teeth. NOT my environment. You put me under a neon beer light, I look pretty cool!" - Bill Hicks (Relentless)

 I happen to agree with those sentiments. So here are some of my Neon light pictures.

This particular haven is in Bergen (Norway). I have been drinking there since  it was owned by an Englishman called Vic. In those far off days it was called the Viking bar and has since gone through "Lilliken" to end up as "Irisk Pub". If you like pool, bare floors and a total lack of decor then this is for you. In other words this is a serious drinking place

I used to ask Vic how a Brit came to be running a bar in Bergen and he used to say that he woke up here one day and has been trying to earn enough money to get back. But it's hard because he had to pay Don, the pianist. Don is also English. So I ask Don what a good blues pianist like him is doing in a pit like this. He said that he too was trying to earn his passage back home but that it's hard because Vic didn't pay much.

And then one day Vic, quite literally disapears. There were rumours that he'd fallen out with the local mob and that he was reconsidering his position at the bottom of the nearest Fjord.

The last time I was there the barman was still a Brit, well nearly, he came from Newcastle.

The guy is Edwin. How a Filipino finds himself in Norway is a long story.

But that's not what this page is about. The bar belongs to the Orion Hotel and although not the greatest I happen to spend an inordinate amount of time at that hotel so it merits a mention.

And of course the barman who has endured my company for so long. One curious thing that happened at the Hotel at the height of the tourist season; I came down for dinner to be told that the restaurant was closed because there were too many people and the chef couldn't cope!

They closed the restaurant permanently shortly after that and I stopped going there.

Now for the flip side of the coin. The bar pool at the Manila Hotel at South Harbour in Manila, Philippines. There is nothing like ice cold beer served in a 28C environment.

The Hotel has a hell of a history attached to it and is luxury taken to a new level

The barman who would prefer to remain nameless but anyone who puts us with me night after night deserves his picture here.

Cheers !

Under the neon light in Lancaster PA.

... and the Hard Rock Cafe Melbourne Australia

This was a fairly good night out in Leer, north Germany. Anita is such a fun party girl that she can even defrost the normal reserve of even the most dour Norwegians.