Category Archive

1 St James’ Park
Specifically the fact that it is in the centre of town. God botherer, BBC pundit and former Toon Star Gavin Peacock described it as being “up on the hill, in the centre of town – where the church should be.”

Gavin, you enjoy your church and I’ll worship at mine.

On match day, the whole city knows there is a game going on. That feels right. None of your out-of-town, flatpack, identikit, blando, modern grounds here.

2 The Ouseburn Square
There are various pubs that could have made this list but all the best ones are in stumbling distance of each other. It used to be a triangle, now it’s a square. The Free Trade wins for views and old style grubbiness, The Tyne for cosiness and friendliness, The Cluny for music and the arts and The Cumberland for outside drinking and ping pong played like you’ve never seen it before.

3. Tyneside Cinema
Our arthouse cinema has been on its holidays in the the ‘heed while its old home is done up. Excitingly it’s due to re-open in the Toon this Sunday. I’m not sure what to expect of the new look site but I think we’re still going to get velvet curtained loveliness. I just hope that fabulous street level coffee bar comes back too.

It was always one of the few places you could get a decent coffee without feeling like a corporate shmuck. Being surrounded by old Italian gadgeys reading foreign newspapers only added to the cosmopolitan feel.

Update: Tickets now on sale for first flurry of films in the new place.  Not exactly arthouse but I just booked two seats in the classic circle for the Indiana Jones flick. Can’t wait.

4. Hall 2 Sage Gateshead
Believe the hype. I tend to dislike places that other people harp on about just because I am awkward bastard but the Sage is breathtaking. It genuinely is. Absolutely awe inspiring (see my pic above). But the best bit is not the cavernously beautiful hall one, it’s the intimate hall two. The best place to watch music in Tyneside. Nah forget that – I can’t believe there is a better place in any city anywhere.

5. High Level Bridge
I could have gone for the iconic Tyne Bridge, the flash new Millennium Bridge but for me it’s the High Level every time. Solid, sturdy, unflashy and it suited Michael Caine a treat.

6. Civic Centre Rabbits
I like to think of them as our version of Ninja Mutant Hero Turtles. Fearless Urban Geordie Rabbits. The first time you see them you’re so surprised. Then eveytime you pass after that you can’t help but search for them.

They’re nearly always there. Brave little feckers. (Not to be confused with the Toon’s vampire rabbit)

7. Heaton Park/Jesmond Dene
Stretching from the comparatively mean streets of Heaton to the leafy suburbs of Jesmond – an absolutely gorgeous strip of green that really does make you feel like you’re deep in the heart of the country. In my early twenties I can recall getting very drunk with mates and deciding it would be fun to sleep on the rocks by the waterfall. Twenty minutes later we got spooked. Three hours later we were back in Heaton after incredibly getting lost walking home.

Oh and don’t miss the Shoe Tree.

8. The Metro to the Coast
Sun is shining? Head to the coast – you can be there in 15 minutes. The Metro is our tube, the only difference being is it’s actually pleasant to ride.

Old jowly tosspot Harry Redknapp reportedly said he didn’t want to manage Newcastle because he liked being by the coast. Look at a map dickhead.

9. The Monument
Speakers corners, meeting place and busker venue all rolled into one. The statue itself is pretty cool too but its just the space that really makes it work. It’s loved by Goths and office workers alike. The Christmas market is just too tasty. I am still losing the weight.

10 Baltic Viewing Platform
The art isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I know there is always something there that I enjoy seeing. But the best bit is still the view over the river and its bridges. I could do without the nanny state glass screens but still – nice. Very nice.

Feel free to add to the list in the comment box.  I am a bit short on restaurants - any ideas?

Update: Quite by chance two other Toon bloggers have posted their favourite things.  Look here and here for tales of Tyne Gods and post boxes.

An emotional post over at Cikgu Tans, describe Kenny’s run up to Chinese New Year, here in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Kenny is a Chinese Malaysian PHD student studying in Newcastle with his young family.  His writing, in English is first rate and it’s fascinating to read of my home city from a foreign perspective.

Anyway, as Chinese New Year approaches he is understandably feeling home sick.

He writes:

Chinese New Year 2008 for my family in Newcastle (NCL) will be a quiet one and perhaps the coldest one. This will be my first time in my life not to celebrate CNY in Kuching with my parents and this will also be the first CNY for little Aidan. I wish I can be back at home to celebrate CNY together in Kuching so that I can bring my little Aidan to collect some AngPows and to show him to my relatives.

He adds:

I MISS HOME, I MISS MY PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS, IN-LAWS, SIBLINGS, NIECES, NEPHEWS and OTHER RELATIVES, CLOSE FRIENDS etc.
I also miss my dog (Lucky), my terrapin (Ah Hock), my ….what else did I leave behind anyway…well. I guess I only have 2 pets.  I MISS LAKSA, KOLO MEE and KUEH CHAP.

ARRRAAHHHH. It’s turning me mad. I can just smell the aroma… I want laksa, I want laksa, I want laksa…..If only someone is selling the Sarawak Laksa paste in Newcastle…

Later in the comments section Vrouw says:

Yeah Tan, I am also very homesick. Kuching is the best but then again a lot of people want to get out of the place to overseas and us being overseas want the opposite. Yeah, I still have two laksa paste with me, you didnt bring some over meh???

So, the long and short of it Kenny and his lovely family don’t have Sarawak Laksa paste for Chinese New Year - it seems that being away from his family and home is the big problem but a little SLP might just soften the blow.

Any ideas from anywhere?  Can it be bought in Newcastle?  Any local restaurants selling it?  Is anyone living somewhere where it can be bought and can send it over?

All ideas welcome.  The big day is Thursday, with CNY celebrations on Sunday in Newcastle.  If we can find the paste then the sooner the better - even if it just means that Kenny and family have the paste to enjoy in the Year of the Rat.

Okay some pinging of Asian/Food Bloggers - please help if you can or spread the word.

Eating Asia, Masak Masak, Noodles and Rice, Chubby Hubby, Yummy Corner, Weird Meat, Noodlepie, Vkeong, A Whiff of Lemongrass, My Local Cuisine, Malaysia Best, Backstreet Gluttons, Eatinout, Malaysian Food Review, Kampungboy City Gal, My Sarawak, Kuchingfest, Sarawak Dot Com, Boy from Limbang, The Real Leng Luis, Mum Mum.

I’d often wondered about this dilapidated pool on Tynemouth beach.

Pre the bout of research that I am just about to divulge, I assumed it was some ancient relic that had been used by conservative Victorian ladies in even more conservative attire.

Turns out it was in use as late as the seventies. If I am not mistaken 1976 was something of a heatwave. Check out the fabulous first film below of the pool in full use that year. The beach looks more like Spain than the UK. And look at those crowds.

Did we just get soft after we discovered holidays abroad? I can’t comprehend swimming in the north sea now but I spent most of my school holidays, up the coast at Hauxley. I don’t even remember it being particularly cold.

Or was the ‘76 heatwave enough to transform Tynemouth into Tenereife for one season only?

Now? Well apparently in 1996 some genius had the idea of filling it with rocks and making it into a rock pool. I can only assume that it had already fallen into disrepair and no cash was available to keep it open for swimming. Either way it seems like an extraordinarily bad idea.

Anyway, enjoy the films below plus this gem of a link from the year I was born, which has it all (glamour, kitsch and Malcolm Macdonald).

And here’s an even earlier film from the sixties. It’s all making me feel quite nostalgic.

The best thing about travelling?

Well it doesn’t work for short trips, but if you’ve been away for as long as I have, then you see it all very differently when you return.

I am rediscovering how beautiful Tyneside as I see it with fresh eyes.

In the meantime, I’ve been talking a lot over Skype to ourwoman who is following me soon. Our conversations often take the form of the places we’ll go and what we’ll see when she arrives.

Searching for links to pics to send, I came across this set by Ray Byrne. They are beautiful. I am truly jealous of his talent.

The shot above is also one of Amble Harbour, a place I spent many of my summer holidays as a kid.

I’m looking forward to getting out to the North East coast for bracing walks. After Vietnam and Nicaragua the air seems so pleasingly sharp and cool. Summer is not how I remember it.

Believe it or not, I’m cold.