The LambCutlet Disorganisation

Sunday the 22nd of February arrived and it just seems to be Sod’s Law that when the night before you wish to sleep a bit more and stay tucked up nicely in bed, you’ll no doubt be awake nice and early! My final day in Latvia was to be no different and was wide awake just before 9 a.m. and saw that Inese had likewise been up for some time and already doing various chores in the nice and warm kitchen, as the old cooker which was well fuelled has now be delegated to act as a fireplace.

As we sat at the table, having our sandwiches and tea for breakfast, I asked Inese if there could be a slight change of plans and head into Rīga and do some last minute souvenir shopping. I recall Inese saying she was quite fond of a piece of silver pendant she saw in a traditional Latvian jewellery shop in Vecrīga and I thought the least I could do was to get her that (obviously the initial hint whilst in the shop didn’t click!) for her hospitality and I’d be able to get something for Nykky and Booey, my two female friends back in Blighty.

Only vaugely remembering that the jewellery shop was more or less opposite Pēterbaznīca, I checked with Inese to clarify where it was and what it was called. Turns out it was called “Galerija Tornis” situated on Grēcinieku Iela 11-14. Knowing where we were to go, I made sure all my belonging were packed into my bag and that I had essential things like plane tickets and passport on my person, since I won’t be going very far at all if I didn’t have them! Another thing to do was a crash course in Latvian; aside from what little I had picked up in my week long stay, was how to say “Thank you for your hospitality” to Inese’s Aunt who’s flat it was I had been staying for the last 8 days. Though I did just about manage to get the pronounciation right, there was no way I could possibly remember it in such short time, so Inese suggested just a simple “Liels paldies” which transliterates to “Big thanks” or “Many thanks”. :D

Time was now 11 a.m. and I thanked Inese’s Aunt before we headed out of the flat for the last time. The skies were clear and air was a little warmer, though still below 0°C and the pavents definately still icy underfoot so one still had to keep their wits about them my bag’s weight was a bit tricky to counter balance due to the distinct lack of friction. We waited for the last time our trusty Nos. 2 tram though my 5 day trams & trolley bus ticket had expired so needed to spend 0.20 Ls for the journey into Vecrīga.

With a brief tram ride and crossing over the still frozen Daugava; we disembarked at 11. Novembra Krastmala, went down through the underpass and out across Latviešu Strēlnieku Laukums. Before we knew it, we were at our jewellery shop that is the “Galerija Tornis” in Vecrīga. The lady inside was most helpful though unfortunately didn’t speak English and my command of Latvian was far from fluent so arm-twisted Inese into being our translator! :D

After over an hours deliberation and pretty much mulling over everything they had in the store, I ended up chosing variants of what Inese had picked out for herself though with additional necklaces for the pendants which Inese didn’t require. Not being a girl myself, and therefore not too sure what exactly girls want in such things I would say my presents were very pretty, sporting a traditional Latvian “Thunder Cross” design. As I sorted out the payment via trusty old MasterCard for the jewellery, I managed to have a flick though the brochures I was given and please to learn that they had their own website called “Baltu Rotas”.

It appears that the founders, Inita and Vitauts Straupe are amongst the best-known Latvian jewellers and their replicas of ancient Latvian, Baltic and Scandinavian jewellery, plus reinterpretations of traditional motifs & symbols in modern designs, are well known for their craftsmanship and have quite an impressive list of owners:

Many of Inita and Vitauts designs are in the collections of such well-known people as Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Hillary Clinton, Finland’s President Tarja Holenena, Denmark’s Queen Margareth II, Ireland’s President O.Grimson and his wife, Latvian politican Vaira Paegle, solist of the band “Brainstorm” Renars Kaupers, leader of the folk band “Ilgi” Ilga Reizniece, leader of the band “Mumij Troll” and others.

The lady serving us (though I’m not sure if it was Inita Straupe herself) requested my autograph so as to authorise the card transaction which I promptly signed and Inese translated on the lady’s behalf that my purchase, on what would otherwise normally be a slow Sunday, had made her day! What a way to make me blush, though I would say I couldn’t have left without getting anything at all considering the amount of time she took in guiding us through all the jewellery available and history lessons on what various pieces were for and why they are designed the way they are.

Anyway, time was now 1:15 p.m. and was probably a very good idea that myself and Inese head to the Rīgas Starptautiskā Lidosta if I didn’t want to miss my flight at 3:45 p.m. though having to go straight back to work the next day since it would be a Monday… trust me, it was tempting! So we headed by foot to 13. Janvāra Iela so that we could catch the bus to take us to the Rīgas Starptautiskā Lidosta as the 8km was just a bit too far to walk, not to mention it would have taken too long anyway. However, we’d just missed the 1:22 p.m. and had to wait another 20 minutes or so till the 1:52 p.m. though no need to panic as it still got us to the Rīgas Starptautiskā Lidosta for 2:22 p.m. which was plenty of time as I need not check in till 3:20 p.m.

The bus arrived bang on time, which if my memory serves meant a perfect record in time keeping for Rīga’s public transport infrastructure and only cost 0.20 Ls for the journey too. The seeds of doubt whether I really wanted to part Latvia were already setting in. ;) There was however quite a commotion as we tried to board the bus with what I assume were rather blue words in Latvian and on checking with Inese what the heck was going on, it turned out that at the other end of the bus a gentleman was giving the rude people whom were impatiently forcing their on the bus and not letting a lady with a pram off first a good earful!

Realisation did then dawn on me that in my 8 days, there had indeed been an utter lack of prams, something which can’t be said about Northampton, which seemed to have more prams than people which were often pushed along by mothers very keen on blocking other people’s path slowly plodding along 4 prams abreast! Also, I noted the lack of seeing any disabled people in wheelchairs in that period… where in interogating Inese, she explained that the public transport system from trams to trolley buses to trains and general access like public buildings and footway system weren’t exactly conducive for such people in being able to get about freely, so more often than not means they are housebound. :( Though in my opinion that was a good thing as far as prams were concerned, since parents should carry their kiddies on their front or back like they do in South-East Asia, such as 香港 (Hong Kong) which remain blissfully pram free! Regarding disabled access though, I’m sure that will not doubt have to change given Latvia’s ascension to the European Union come 1st of May, 2004.

It wasn’t long till we arrived the Rīgas Starptautiskā Lidosta and first thing to do was to go to the Air Baltic check-in desk to check in my bag as it was too big as hand lugguage and to be issued with my boarding pass. But as the old saying goes, “If anything can go wrong, it will”… It turned out that my E-Ticket (online booking without an actual paper ticket) was causing issues with the computer booking system and required 3 people; 2 from the airline and 1 from the airport discussing amongst themselves who’s problem it was to resolve, after what seemed an eternity (though actually just 10 minutes) to get straightened out.

With that panic over and still some time to kill as it was only 2:30 p.m., Inese suggested we could grab a quick lunch and drink so we headed to the upper level to the Restorāns LIDO, owned by our dear friends and seemingly omnipresent Lido group. It was a buffet type affair and some fresh fruit salad with a glass of fresh orange juice did me, though Inese opted for something more substantial and had hot liver stew with a glass Kvass, though it was me this time getting a little distracted as the waitresses looked rather sweet in their Latvian national dress styled uniforms. As we enjoyed the food and drink, Inese asked if I had any change left, to which I enquired why and was told that if one was to retain small change from the country they were leaving, it was a good omen that they would some day return. Sod’s Law bites my arse again and I had unwittingly just managed to spend every last santim. :(

3 p.m. was looming so it was time for yours truly to pass through the gates of no return. Inese told me to send her an SMS once I’d arrived safely back in England, which of course I would have done even without her saying so. I thanked her for putting up with me for the last 8 days and told her to take care of herself and not worry about starting her new job at the Latvijas Transportlīdzekļu Apdrošinātāju Birojs, so with a hug and a kiss, we parted ways…

So now it was time to get on the plane and passport control turned out to be very quick and wasn’t long till I was at my terminal with the AR7 ready and waiting to take me from Rīga to København. Thankfully there wasn’t much in the way of delays with missing passengers or some such, so the plane was soon on it’s way taxiing onto the runway and before we knew it, we were flying out over Rīga. As we got up to cruising altitude heading west, this meant we stayed parallel to the coast till when we flew over what I guess is Liepāja and out into the Baltic Sea, where I had to bid Latvija fairwell!

The remainder of my journey was fairly uneventful though on landing in København, Mother Nature decided it’d be a good time to snow though everything so far had been running like clockwork, which I like! Aboard the 737 to Birmingham International Airport, I didn’t get a window seat this time and had the company of a pleasant Lithuanian lad whom didn’t speak any English, but was off to visit England to visit his brother for a fortnight. That much I did manage to figure out! :D

By now, it was already the evening and from 9000m we were treated to a rather lovely sunset, going completely dark by the time we were flying over the British Isles taking a slightly odd route as it seemed like we overflying York and coming into Birmingham from the north, and not the east like I expected. Regardless, the 737 arrived on time touching down at 6:30 p.m. U.K. time and I popped Inese a quick SMS letting her know I had arrived in one piece. Also took the time to make a few phonecalls to Dad and a few others that I’m back, whilst we everyone waited dilligently for our bags to come off the plane.

Passport control on the way back in was completely painless and as I had time to spare; unlike the rush whilst I was flying out, I decided to pay the incompotent National Express employee whom made a balls up of my coach ticket. Initially just as reluctant to issue a refund as 8 days ago, making excuses that I would have to post it at my expense to National Express’ Customer Service to be refunded… he gave in pretty quickly after I refuse to let him serve any other customers till he resolved my request or for him to get one of his area managers to resolve it on his behalf. Mantra I learnt whilst working in Customer Services… The customer is always right. ;)

Though with my fun at making poor employees squirm over, I knew I had truly arrived back in the U.K. as only here could an hourly train be over 30 minutes late… The train did finally arrive, and got me back to Northampton, The Home of the Saint’s Rugby Club!

As for tomorrow? I do believe it’s that thing called work! :D

If there was one thing I’d most wish I could smite from the Universe, it’ll be spammers as even in times when humanity is in need, they are still up to their tricks occasionally even fooling otherwise intelligent people:

Just as you wondered whether human nature could sink any lower, the spams start arriving requesting money for charities that don’t exist.

So far, we’ve seen two different examples of these, designed to capitalise on the misery of hundreds of thousands of people affected by the tsunami that swept the coasts of the Indian Ocean early this week.

They invite you to donate funds into dubious bank accounts with dubious fake “charitable names”.

So watch out for these dubious emails, and if you want to contribute, make sure you do so by giving to a recognised charity.

Emphasis mine.

So do check out whom you are donating to first before sending your much needed cash to those that actually need it. Three organisations which would be a good start are UNICEF, Oxfam or your own country’s Red Cross & Red Cresent Societies as listed on the IFRC’s portal. If you are an U.K. taxpayer, don’t forget to claim “Gift Aid” where the good old Inland Revenue will top your donation with at least 28%! Nationals of other countries should do likewise if your government offers similar schemes.

Finally, to pre-empt possible Phishing techniques or other nasties used by spammer whom are trying to capitalise on this disaster… Get Firefox to keep yourself safer from such exploits and for those with older Firefoxes, update them to the current release!

21st of February dawned and marked a full week and what would also be my last full day in Latvia. The air was still a rather spine tingling -15°C though there was no threat of heavy snow, just the odd blanket of cloud so basically a fine, if rather “crispy” day. Myself and Inese got ourselves washed and ready, scoffing a few sandwiches washed down with a mug of hot tea. Can’t go on a trek on an empty stomach now can we? ;) Despite being a little rushed, we managed to get the tram into Rīga and from their via foot to the Centrālā Stacija sometime around 10:20 a.m. and waited for Arta. Today’s plan was to catch the 10:35 a.m. train from Rīga arriving at Sigulda at 11:40 a.m. but like all plans, those needed revising pretty sharply. Arta had been held up and unfortunately didn’t meet up with Inese and I at Centrālā Stacija till sometime around 10:40 a.m. by which time our train for Sigulda had already left.

Still, with the three of us together, we mulled over the timtable and saw that there was a train at 11:51 a.m. arriving at Sigulda at 1:09 p.m. taking 13 minutes longer as it called at all stops along the route. Not too bad and at least there was a train! However there may be the possibility that we won’t be able to spend so much time sightseeing once there, though it only seemed sensible that we should go anyway and “play it by ear”. So with that, we got our tickets from the ticket office costing 0.71 Ls each for the outbound journey.

Now with an hour to spend, one of the girls thought it’d be a good idea to grab a table at one of the restaurants in the Centrālā Stacija to have a sit down, get a drink and perhaps something to eat for an early lunch. All I recall was that it was a Turkish place on the upper level of the Centrālā Stacija. Inese thinks it’s called the Madžar but that name sounds more Yugoslavian or possibly Hungarian to me. In any case; Arta, Inese and myself ventured inside the prettily decorated restaurant and was promptly served by one of the waiters, directing us to a table in the far right hand corner by the windows overlooking the railway platforms of Centrālā Stacija.

Another waiter soon came asking us what we wish to order, we just asked for a large larger for me and tea for the girls if memory serves whilst we pondered some more over the menu which contained far too much choice for some hot food. As we deliberated, the Inese and Arta had already taken a shine to the two male waiters, being rather pleased at how their trousers showed off their behinds… wouldn’t catch me eyeing up the guys! Anyway, back to the serious business of ordering food… I personally settled on a beef shashlik as it looked yummy and spicy where as the girls chose something much milder. Don’t recall exactly what, but something along the lines of chicken with rice and a soup, which was to be shared between the two of them.

The food didn’t take long to arrive either which was a good thing since the time now was about 11:10 a.m. and we wouldn’t want to miss yet another train! The girls were certainly tucking into their food as I enjoyed the tender pieces of beef with grilled onions and peppers quite liking the delayed burn of the spices on my palate. Arta asked if my food was too hot to which I answered it was quite mild really and could have done with some extra chilli sauce to spice it up a bit more! I guess it’s all relative nd it is usually those that live in hotter climates that eat anything highly spiced. Granted, living in the Baltics or other such cold places, having an Indian Mutton Vindaloo or Caribbean Jerk Chicken would have one sweating so much freezing to death from hypothermia wouldn’t be out of the question! :D

Time now had just gone 11:30 a.m. so with food and drinks finished, we asked for the bill so that we could get ready for our train. Back down on the ground level having left the restaurant, the girls needed to go “spend a penny” (well, 0.10 Ls actually) and I waited outside for them. With everyone regrouped; Arta, Inese and I headed out to the platforms and boarded our train which was already at the station. Sure enough, at 11:51 a.m. the train started chugging it’s way out of Rīga heading towards it’s terminus, Sigulda.

With over an hour to spend, Arta came up trumps (literally) with a deck of cards and suggested we play a certain national Latvian card game called “Zole”, (diminutive form being “Zolīte”) which by a stroke of luck is played by 3 people, the dealer against the other 2 and the rules, though fairly simple are best explained by someone else. Theory is all well and good though in practice it seemed I was only good at loosing in this game with only the occasional flash of beginner’s luck saving the day on the odd occasion. Still, it made time pass pretty quick till all of a sudden Arta piped up pointing out the window at some huge complex which on second look turned out to be a bobsleigh track but apparently wasn’t open today so no adrenaline rush for any of us today! :(

The clock ticked 1:09 p.m. and we had arrived in Sigulda, the Switzerland of Latvia! Coming out of the train station with no idea where on I was supposed to be heading, I just followed the girls. Good plan or what? ;) As we walked along Raiņa Iela, even as a hardened urbanite I couldn’t quite get over how pretty the place was with picture postcard scenes of Sigulda Baznīca and my little friends the ducks came to join in on the fun too! :D From there we headed down Gaujas Iela and even met some cyclists slogging hard in bottom gear coming up the valley in the opposite direction. From our vantage point over looking the valley, I managed to take a snap of Turaidas Pils way across the other side of the valley meaning we all still a fair bit of walking to do! Soon we were at the bottom of the valley with a bridge over the Gauja River to cross, which we did and then carried on our trek along Turaidas Iela.

The route took a sudden change through footpaths of the snow laden forest, passing a water spring in a small cave and even a little stream. Eventually, we reached our first destination… Gūtmaņa Ala including the spot, according to legends where Turaidas Roze met her lover. As with all legends, there are always slight variations but it does go something like this:

The legend says that there was a beautiful maiden in Turaida castle named Maija who loved the Gardener from not-too-distant Sigulda castle. Every eligible bachelor, including a Wicked Foreign Soldier, sought for Maija’s hand–but she loved only the Gardener from Sigulda.

One night, in order to trick her, the Wicked Foreign Soldier forged a note from the Gardener asking Maija to come to Gutmana cave (a rendezvous point between the two castles). There he planned to rape her and force her to marry him. She arrived expecting a loving embrace and kiss from her beloved Gardener but instead found a deceitful ambush and a trap. The Wicked Foreign Soldier brought a companion and together trapped Maija helplessly in the cave. When she saw that there was no way out and that the men intended to take from her the only thing she had to give her truelove–her purity–she made a clever, yet costly deal with the foreigners.

From her pocket, Maija removed a delicate silk handkerchief saying: “This handkerchief is magical. If your sword can swiftly pass through its silken threads without stopping, you may have me forever.” With that statement she sealed her fate and wrapped the handkerchief around her neck. The naive Soldier, thinking he had easily won, withdrew his sword and with a swift stroke passed the blade through the handkerchief–and Maija’s neck–thus killing her. The Soldier’s moment of triumph turned to instant defeat.

Maija’s devotion to her truelove is remembered in Latvian legend and folk songs.

Centuries later civil documents were discovered in Sigulda’s archives which proved the historicity of this tragic event. According to these documents, the Soldier was eventually caught, tried and hanged for his crime.

Yet this could never bring back Maija… The Rose of Turaida.

A bit different from the version Arta told as she mentioned a magic scarf rather than magic handkerchief, plus the magic scarf was supposed to make her immune from the blow of the sword which the foriegn soldier/evil baron/generally nasty but dim man wanted to believe and ultimately scoring a huge own goal by slaying his object of desire.

Onwards we went up Turaidas Iela and soon had Turaidas Pils in sight with the time just gone 2:30 p.m. so we had covered quite a distance in a little over 1 hour! It did however take till 2:50 p.m., a further 20 minutes before we actually were in the Turaidas Muzejrezvāts proper and the entrance fee itself was a nice round 1.00 Ls. The 41ha site has loads to see with a number of highlights. One is the grave of Turaidas Roze where newlyweds visit her grave on their wedding day and lay flowers in the hope of experiencing the same fidelity and eternal love she demonstrated to her beloved, though obviously with a happier and less gruesome ending! Another are the ruins of Turaidas Pils itself and as for the rest… well, you’ll just have to find out for yourself though the Turaidas Muzejrezvāts‘ website has a nice virtual tour. :D

Having spent just over an hour on site, the time was closing in on 3:45 p.m. and all of us decided it was best to make our way back to Rīga. Asking the nice lady at the control booth at the entrance of the Turaidas Muzejrezvāts, it transpired that there was a minibus due around about 4 p.m. which goes directly to Rīga, a bonus as it meant there need not be another long trek by foot down the valley to Sigulda from Turaida to catch the train! So we all duely waited…

The minibus did finally arrive, a little bit after 4:10 p.m. and by a stroke of luck just happened to be 3 seats left; one each for Arta, Inese and yours truly. The girls nattered amonst themselves on the back row whilst I sat a few rows in front watching the scenery go by as we sped westwards despite the icy driving conditions where the equivalent in Blighty, roads well cleared of snow and ice would have drivers crawlling along at pathetic single digit speeds, metric or imperial.

The 3 of us made it back to Rīga 5:30 p.m.-ish and it was time to get some dinner to fill now empty stomachs and quench thirsty throats! Centrālā Stacija was just across the road from where we alighted the minibus and elected to go to Pizza Jazz as it good value and tasty. Inese picked a table and double checked with Arta what they wanted to drink and eat, them myself and Arta went up to queue and be served. The girls once again shared their food, getting a 9″ ham & pineapple pizza, which may have also had mushrooms on it whilst I opted for something spicy yet again in the form of a 9″ chilli beef & pepperoni pizza all to myself. Mwhahaha! :D Fearing any beer would probably send me straight to sleep and thus making rather poor company, I opted for a nice glass of fresh orange juice whilst the girls shared a large pot of tea.

With food on the table; we ate, drank and nattered amongst ourselves though there was light relief in the form a pigeon which had seem to have got rather lost and flying around the inside of Centrālā Stacija and the little kids in the restaurant rather excited with this moderately unusual occurance! I did manage to pursuade Arta in trying small slice of my pizza having had a bit of theirs, to which she did remark it wasn’t quite as spicy as she feared and that it was indeed quite delicious. Couldn’t get Inese to do likewise though! :D

Rounding off the first half of the evening as food and drink had been consumed, Inese figured that her and I could go watch a movie since Arta needed to be going soon as she had other errands to do. Still, all 3 of us did head a down along 13. Janvāra Iela to Forum Cinemas. I was flexible in what the 2 of us were to watch and let Inese take her pick, to which she chose a girly one that is Intolerable Cruelty, a romantic comedy starring George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones and so on. The time was only 6:30 p.m. give or take a bit and Inese managed to tempt Arta to join us for a make-shift picnic in the cinema hall on one of the upper floors for a sip of hot tea from Inese’s trusty thermos and some sweet pastries, where I was having terrible trouble with the latter and making a right mess with the crumbs all over what was a nice clean carpet! :(

Arta soon had to make her move though thanked Inese for the goodies at our impromptu picnic and we said our goodbyes. Myself and Inese then headed to the correct theatre for our showing of Intolerable Cruelty and I’ll spare any plot spoilers by fast-forwarding to 9:30 p.m. where we left Forum Cinemas and discussed what to do to conclude my last full day in Latvia. Inese’s suggestion was a good one… The best view in Rīga! Difficult to say “no” to really, even though I was already most impressed with the ones at the top of Pēterbaznīca just a couple days ago.

We headed to Elizabetes Iela for the Reval Hotel Latvija where the Ladies’ loos, though I had to make do with the view from the Gents’ which I would say isn’t too shabby at all! Now the time had just gone 10 p.m. we decided to brave the Skyline Bar at the top of Reval Hotel Latvija and spend the last hour before heading back home. The waiter got us a decent window seat overlooking Rīga at night and on asking what drinks we wanted, I fancied a large larger whilst Inese decided upon a “Sex on the Beach”… Ooh la la! ;)

Inese and I chatted, covering mostly what I thought of my visit to her country and so forth. She also had a small moan about the Skyline Bar in that the service if you’re a local is rather subpar, as you tend to get ignored in favour of the foreign businessmen (or the women that seem to be attahed to them) whom are more able and/or willing to flaunt the cash, to which I replied if I wasn’t foreign enough to get half decent service then there would be no hope for either of us! :D 11 p.m. arrived and I got the attention of a waiter to settle the bill in full and we then made our way back to the chilly night and caught the trusty tram back home.

So… this is almost it and reaching the conclusion of my travels in Latvia where my flight leaves at 3:45 p.m. the next day so even with travelling plus checkin time, meant we could have a good long lie in! :D

The 20th of February marked the final day of my first week in Latvia with just the weekend to go before I headed back to “ye olde Blighty”. The weather was just the forecasters had predicted, moderately overcast skies. Rather odd weather to visit the seaside… especially considering the air temperature was a rather chilly -15°C! Inese and I were going to Jūrmala to see the sea ice; so in reality, the colder the better! Just had to make sure one was well wrapped up as the Arctic winds will; with near certainty, be blasting across the Rigas Jūras Līcis and not being well protected against the elements would have meant one was more than likely to get a servere case of “brass monkeys” with the added effect of wind chill!

We both got washed and dressed plus grabbed something to eat and drink for breakfast having awoke sometime around 9 a.m. with the intention to get a train 10 a.m. or there abouts. On heading out of the flat with, Inese took a right turn instead of our usual left. Though it took me by surprise, it turns out there’s a train stop just a few minutes walk away and would indeed seem rather silly to head into Rīga for the Centrālā Stacija to get a train that calls at a station near Āgenskalns at Zasulauks which is on the way to Jūrmala. During the short walk was another surprise as since the last thing I expected to see whilst in Latvia was a little bit of Chinese sovereign soil in form of the 中國駐拉脫維亞使館經商參處 (Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Latvia). The oddness was down to the fact that all the other embassies in Rīga are on the other side of the Daugava.

On arriving at the station just after 10:30 a.m. and double checking the timetable, it seemed we had literally missed our intended train by just a few minutes. After a minor panic that there may not be another train for quite some time potentially meaning a trip to the seaside was off, we were both relieved that there was another train in 20 minutes or so, due to arrive at Zasulauks from Rīga’s Centrālā Stacija at 11:04 a.m. and with this information in hand, Inese went to the ticket office and purchased 2 single tickets heading towards Tukums so that we could alight at Majori. The 25km or so train ride was to be a brisk 25 minutes, arriving in Majori at 11:29 a.m., pretty good going considering the cost was just 0.75 Ls! As we waited in the hall, Inese found it’d be a good idea to fire a brain teaser at me and asked what was peculiar about one of the shops in the train station. After giving it a good look up and down, only noting it’s wares were perhaps on the slightly gaudy side, I was completely flummoxed and demanded the answer. You could very well have been in the wrong country, she said. On examining the shop again, I realised what she meant… all the signs were in Russian, written in Cryllic. Simple when you know! ;)

Sure enough, the train arrived on time and Inese explained that if it looked a bit archaic, it’s because most of the trains serving Latvia are still of Soviet rolling stock, which cunningly LDz’s own website proudly displays. The lack of a raised platform, meant there was roughly a 1m near vertical climb in a matter of a few steps in order to board the train, which can be quite tricky if your old and inflexible like me! Still, rather have a train like that which works than the excuse of a train service back in Blighty which often comes to a screeching halt if there’s so much as the wrong type of leaves on the rails… Anyhow; once aboard, we idly chit-chatted away the time and it wasn’t long at all till we reached our destination.

As one can see on the map of Jūrmala, Majori is next to the Baņķis on Lielupe River. From Majori’s train station, Inese and I walked along Jomas Iela towards Dzintari. As we strolled along the former promenade, we took the opportunity of visiting one of the local shops (called Fēnikss, if memory serves) to grab half a dozen pīrāgi, or speķa rauši as they are sometimes more formally known. At 0.09 Ls each, they seemed pretty cheap at first though the 6 obviously totalled 0.54 Ls which isn’t actually much less than the train ticket from Rīga, which relatively makes them sounds rather expensive. Ho hum.

Having walked along Jomas Iela for roughly 40 minutes, we turned left and headed towards the beach and was greeted by it’s snow covered glory and I even felt confident enough to head out about 100m into the sea on top of the sea ice! Though obviously not as busy as it would be during the sane times of the year to visit the seaside (hint: summer), I was still quite surprised with quite how many people there were! Some playing with their dogs out on the sea ice probably getting a bit too close to the edge of the watery stuff for my liking and families with their little ones. Though I think Inese and I were sui generis as we seemed to be the only ones stopping for the odd picnic along the frozen shore of the Rigas Jūras Līcis… Must have been something extra in the tea or pīrāgi! ;)

After close to an hour, we decided to head back in land having left Dzintari behind and was closing in on Bulduri. Walking through the streets, we could see the many seaside villas which had been newly built or acquired by those with some money to spare. On arriving at Bulduri’s train station somewhere around 1:45 p.m., we got our tickets for Bulduri to Zasulauks at 0.60 Ls each. As we waited for the 2:10 p.m. train, Inese decided to pop to the shops and grabbed some more snacks in the form of a large bag of crisps and a drink. At 1:58 p.m., the 1:26 p.m. from Rīga arrived bang on time, so I kept a look-out in the other direction for our train which was due any time soon.

We arrived back at Inese’s home in Rīga around about 2:45 p.m. and took some time to have a little rest to warm up before the rest of this evenings adventures unfolded. As time was rather short before we had to head out again, Inese cooked a quick but tasty meal of chicken with mixed vegetables spiced up with some ginger. Everything was all a bit of a rush as we had to meet up with Arta since the girls were going on a girl’s night out to celebrate Sandra’s birthday, which they couldn’t do the night before; the day which was actually Sandra’s birthday, as it was a lecture night. However, before Arta and Inese could indulge in any of that, they had to get some presents which obviously meant some shopping had to be done!

So with a freshly full & warm belly, myself and Inese jumped aboard the first tram to take us into the centre to meet up with Arta. All three of us finally met up with each other around about 4 p.m. in the vicinity of Centrālā Stacija and the first present was dead easy to choose since there was a fresh flower store right near by. If there is a surefire way to a Latvian woman’s heart, it’s (apparently) achieved by giving flowers and is suitable for any occasion, not just romantic ones. However to avoid any potential faux pas for those whom have just read the previous sentence, odd numbers are for happy occasions, and even numbers for sad one. Got it? :D

Between the shops at Origo and Centrālā Stacija, Arta and Inese did manage to get the remaining items which included a card, a necklace, some nice smelling soaps for the bathroom and finally a pretty scarf. Not to bad for a hour and a bits work, even if it took what seemed like 3 laps around the shopping centres. :P With the girls happy with what they got, it was time to double check our plans for later. The plan was to to meet up again at 9 p.m. for the Salsa at the venue on Skārņu Iela opposite Pēterbaznīca, though I had to keep myself amused for the next few hours as my attempts at trying to contact Michael twice via SMS earlier in the day had been greeted with no reply what so ever. Oh well.

Did my impression once again of a “nomad without a clue” as I criss-crossed the streets of Rīga quite grateful of the fact that unlike old Blighty, everything doesn’t shut their doors (with exception of drinking-holes anyway) at 5:30 p.m. sharp! I couldn’t resist at taking another snap of a certain quaint little house at night, though my attempt at capturing the Kaķu Māja at night proved too difficult for my El-Cheapo™ DigiCam… perhaps another time someday. After loosing track of time completely, I was brought back down to earth with the old grumbling stomach syndrome and on checking the time was a little shocked to find it had gone 7 p.m. and figured it’d probably be a good idea to grab something to eat (yes, again). Having recalled Inese mention a place called Dickens’, on checking my trusty “In Your Pocket” guide for Rīga discovering that it was, and I quote: convincing British pub… it seemed blatantly obvious for me that I couldn’t pass this up if only for the giggle factor.

Situated slap bang in the middle of Vecrīga on Grēcinieku Iela, Dickens’ Pub actually did take some finding… I personally blame the building works which was going on in that area which altered the view of potential landmarks. Once inside though, I was pleasantly surprised at the accuracy of it’s decor and layout in general though to be honest such “traditional” pubs are a rare breed back in Blightly having mostly been replaced by trendy Continential European bars. There was a pretty good selection of British ales and dutifully ordered “a pint”, as opposed to “a large one” neatly side-stepping any potential double entendres as the barman was a rather well built chap. So with myself seated at one end of the pub, reading though my little guide whilst sipping away at my pint, the other facts of Dickens’ as mentioned in the guide seemed spot on too. Just barely one table away at the bar were two British gentlemen in their 50’s I’d say discussing business and one quite casually asking the other where he could change £200 cash into Latvian Lats, with the other just as casually pulling out 200 Ls and making an exchange saying there’d be no banks open till tomorrow anyway, plus the fact he likes a “big wodge” on him anyway, further double entendres notwithstanding. ;) Likewise, drapped on the arm of one of those gents was a local woman (though she sounded more Russian by her accent) obviously looking to improve her English. However, the poor lass did have to endure this gents hand switching positions from halfway up her sweater and halfway down tthe back of her skirt… all in public like, what a disgrace. Shame on him! ;)

With the first pint down the hatchet; the next order, via one of the nice waitresses was yet another pint, but with some grub this time in the form of a nice plate of chips since my liquid dinner was filling me up quite well already. As I waited, I took the opportunity to “spend a penny” and was further awed by the fact that even the toilets were of the authentic British style, complete with a bank of urinals and non-mixer water taps at the sinks, since in Britian only the most decadant households and establishments would even dream of having mixer taps, yet apparently standard fare in even the most humble Latvian abode! However, the broken cubicle door complete with no hinge was more likely the work of Brits that had “a few too many” though I thought the headrests at eye-level on the wall where the urinals were, was a fantastic humourous touch. Not implying that Brits are complete alcoholics at all; no sir, would never dream of it! ;)

Penny spent and back at my seat, the food shortly arrived and was pleased to be able to tuck into a plate of chips tasting very much like the “genuine article” back in Blighty, even if they were perhaps cut a little too thinly and more resembled French fries. I had noticed the various television screens dotted around the pub doing their usual broadcast of, yes… you’ve guess it… Football! Perhaps this British themed pub impulse wasn’t such a great idea afterall. Anyway, with food scoffed down, I figured I’d move from my little corner hidden nearly completely away to venture in the front of the pub and prop myself up at one of the free bar-stools right by the bar. By the 3rd or 4th pint, overlooking the pub and studying the various groups of people coming in and out, whom they were interacting with, what they were talking about, et cetera, et cetera… a curious thought entered my head. Since most of these people frequenting this pub are expats, I for the first time since arriving in Latvia thought about myself being an expat and if that’d be a good route to pursue for future plans. There was something akin to a homesick feeling, but I knew that wasn’t for England as I’ve grown rather tired of it and not specifically for 香港 (Hong Kong), well not as it is now and what it was is history. Can’t say I had any direct affection for 中國 (China) either. So a little bit of a pickle, nomad without a clue?

Whatever I felt, Inese had earlier sent me an SMS notifying of a change of plans with the meet up delayed till 10 p.m. from 9 p.m. so I just ordered a final pint and sip away till the time was right as given the amount of cursing those coming in were doing, it was a little bit on the nippy side and probably wise to stay indoors! 10 p.m. did come and I met up with just Inese somewhere in the centre of Rīga with her explaining that celebrations overran a tad though had a very enjoyable time with the other girls. Unfortunately the Salsa had been missed and given the time plus that it had been a long day, I elected for both of us to head homewards via the trusty old trams!

Once back home, Inese went into a bit more detail about the trip to Sigulda tomorrow with herself, Arta and I. On her asking what I managed to get up to so as to keep myself amused, we had a good long chat helped along with some Rīgas Melnais Balzams and tea for me. Alas, tomorrow will be yet another long, though exciting day so it was time to get some kip till the morning sun beckons us once again.

The watchword for 2005 on the CPU arms-race between AMD and Intel will for once not be about MegaHertz (well, GigaHertz really) but about multicore CPUs bringing to the mass market what us dually PC users have been known for ages… 2 are better than 1! The guys at X-bit labs have the lowdown on these new beasties from AMD, Intel and VIA.

In AMD’s case, this new technology will come to market in the 2nd half of 2005 via it’s server/workstation line of processors branded as “Opteron”, currently codenamed “Egypt”, “Italy” and “Denmark” and will arrive as the 800, 200 and 100 series respectively. Then filtering down to the desktop market, “Toledo” will probbaly be first marketted under the “Althon 64 FX” brandname. The mobile market isn’t left out in the cold either, and that segment should see “Roma” and “Albany”. The infrastructure is pretty much in place as the chips will use HyperTransport for inter-chip communications plus they will use exisiting sockets, with only a BIOS update required so that motherboards can detect the new CPUs correctly.

Intel’s is a little more interesting as it’s current Pentium4, previously codenamed “Prescott” is one very hot potato with it’s specification stating it consumes a stonking 115W, whilst just a little bit hotter than 72°C when clocked as 3.8GHz, falling way short of the 5GHz Intel had hoped for that generation. It’s initial successor, “Tejas” would ultimately suffer the same issues of monsterous power consumption and how to keep the damn thing cool, so the new Intel roadmap for 2005 brings a curious dualcored item under the codename “Smithfield”. It turns out that this desktop CPU would be based on the exisiting NetBurst architecture, as used with all current Pentium4’s albeit with extraneous transistors removed to save power and have HyperThreading disabled.

However, this still means that the new “Smithfield” processors will still have a total power envelop of about 130W, about 65W per core and will be branded as x20, x30 and x40 for 2.8GHz, 3.0GHz and 3.2GHz models respectively. Clockspeed is unlikely to go much higher till Intel moves these from their initial 90nm process, to the finer 65nm one as lower voltages and smaller transistors usually mean lower power consumption. What is interesting though, is that “Smithfield” will support Intel’s “Vanderpool” technology, which is a virtualisation technology and allows a single CPU to run more than one operating system as any given time. Intel’s own demonstration showed such a media PC where one instance of the operating system was being configured with setting changes, driver updates and finally a reboot all whilst the other instance of the operating system carried on humming along showing some digital video. Admittedly, this probably won’t be officially announced till Microsoft release their next version of Windows, codenamed “Longhorn”.

The x86 server/workstation front, the Intel Xeon brand, is rather bland with more or less the same type of thing what is to come on desktop. “Dempsey” will be the vanilla Xeon, targetted for 2-way configurations whilst “Paxville” will be the Xeon MP and targetted for 4-way or more. Virtualisation technology will again be supported, but will be called “Silvervale” and these cores, unlike their “Smithfield” desktop counterparts, will support HyperThreading which means “Dempsey” and “Paxville” will be able to execute 4 threads per core. Other differences include the support for FB-DIMM which allows server class systems to be configured with vast amounts of RAM (excess of 8GiB) without the need for motherboards to have masses of copper traces and/or many conductor layers, reducing cost and improving performance. The new memory type will also make the processors agnostic to exactly what type of memory they are using and thusly allows new types of memory to be used without the need to design a new memory controller, which currently resides on the core logic on the motherboards themselves. Dual Independant Bus will also be new for these future Xeon’s and is a point-to-point interconnect topology between the chipset “North Bridge” and each of the physical processors. This innovation alone could bring significant improvements to Intel’s multi-processor systems, as the current implimentation is a single shared bus which isn’t able to provide the bandwidth required by data hungry CPUs, hence the need to strap large amounts of expensive L2, and sometimes L3 cache.

Though for technological marvels, Intel have left the best two till last. First up is “Montecito”, the first dualcored processors of the Itanium 2 family and has an absolutely stupendous 24MiB of L3 cache which takes the transitor count of the core to an amazing 1.72 billion transitors, all packed into a space of 580mm². Even for it’s huge die size and clocked at a swift 1.7GHz, it still only consumes around about 100W making it a little less power hungry than the first generation of Itanium 2’s, yet increase performance by 2 to 3 times depending on the workload by virtue of a modest increase in clockspeed and having 2 cores where each one is able to execute 2 threads via a HyperThreading like technology. It all works as Intel have already showcased a 4-way “Montecito” system able to process 16 simultaeous threads!

The next ace up Intel’s sleeve would be of the mighty little Pentium-M family, a respin of the trusty Pentium3 core designed specifically for the low power consumption needs of the mobile market, yet not completely cripple performance whilst doing so. For example, the current signle-cored “Dothan” consumes at peak, 27W at a clockspeed of 2GHz giving similar performance to a Pentium4 clocked up to 50% higher. In the mobile market, only VIA has similar power consumption figures yet doesn’t have the performance and though AMD has similar performance clock-for-clock, those cores consume 35W which is some 30% more which in the real world means hours less battery run-time… Not cool! The dualcored Pentium-M codenamed “Yonah” by the looks of it will be quite a multimedia monster as it’ll be sporting massively improved SSE2 and SSE3 instruction units and it’s dual cores will only have a peak power consumption of less than 40W. During most of the time, one core will be disabled taking power consumption to below 20W yet clockspeed will exceed 2GHz. As the guys at The Inquirer say:

Other improvements, especially to IDIV will only add to this, you can probably encode a DVD on a flight, and still have battery life left over to watch the movie because this all will only consume 31W. Yonah, you go Grrl! Sorry about the lack of decorum, but it will be that good.

Now if only Intel would make say a 6-cored “Yonah” and market that as the ultimate desktop/workstation/server CPU… :D However, I’m sure some variant of “Yonah” will probably be used in single processor configurations as per “Dothan” now, in the blade server market.

Last of this processor roadmap crystal-ball gazing for what’s due to be released is VIA. It’s forthcoming Esther certainly isn’t going to win the performance crown as even when clocked at 2GHz, it would only be about the same as a Celeron 1.2GHz. However, it’s trump card is that it’ll only consume a tiny 15W peak. It also supports SSE2 and SSE3 though more curiously appears to use Intel’s 800MHz Quad Pumped Bus, and theoretically could be “drop-in” compatible to the existing Pentium4 infrastructure. In any case, it certainly sounds like a good CPU for the embedded, low-cost blade or cluster market.

Roll on 2005! :D

The media spotlight is obviously currently focused on the Southern Asian earthquake and following tsunami which to date has claimed in excess of 23 000 lives, with thousands still missing and millions homeless to only be further threatened with the outbreak of disease due to a complete breakdown of basic amenities. However I would like to urge people to donate to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement since your donation will also be able to help those in the typhoon struck Philippines, war ravaged countries, the Americas which endured the wrath of hurricane Ivan and many, many other relief projects which the group undertakes.

Depending from which country you are donating from, it may be wiser to go to your own country’s website as listed on the IFRC’s portal since for the British Red Cross; your donations, assuming you are a U.K. taxpayer, will get at least a 28% boost via “Gift Aid”… The good old Inland Revenue basically donates the bit of tax you paid for the amount which makes up your donation! So don’t forget to claim “Gift Aid” if you can! Anything to make Gordan Brown squirm. ;)

So go on! Get donating! :D

With roughly half of Planet Earth having already had their Christmas morning and half currently enjoying their Christmas morning… so happy holidays and all that, especially for those that celebrate the other denomiations of Winter Solstice festivals such as Yule, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, 冬節 (Winter Solstice Festival) (where you only get the day off if you lived in the 中華民國 (Republic of China), et cetera.

Though you can always trust the amazing Santa-Grack™ to spread the festive spirit!

Oh, and on the subject of how 2004 was meant to be the year of phpBB, Paul “psoTFX” Owen updates all of us on the status of the eagerly awaited 2.2:

This year should’ve seen the release of 2.2.0 … unfortunately our personal lives intervened and prevented that. For that I appologise. But I will give you a quick update before I rush off for a mince pie and check the position of Santa.

All being well (and time being available) we plan on having Beta-1 ready to fly by late January to early February. Now, this may mean some things we wanted in 2.2 will not make it. I can’t say at this time just what those features may be since I’ve yet to sign off on the “final feature” list. There is no set beta cycle time, it will depend on you our userbase. The quicker you find bugs, report them and help us by responding to questions, etc. the faster we can complete the cycle. I intend their to be three beta’s, so we’ll release according to “that” schedule.

So get yourself a Bertie Bear whilst you wait (X’mas hat not included)! ;)

East or west, regardless of calendar system, if there’s a set of dates that can be agreed upon… it’ll be the timing of the equinoxes and solstices. Likewise, across the many cultures of the world, celebrations are typical around this time of the year and the Chinese usher in the arrival of winter with the 冬至節 (Winter Solstice Festival).

Traditionally, it was a time for farmers and fishermen to stockpile foodstuffs and other essentials in preparation of the coming winter. The day also has deeper symbolism since in 陰陽 (Yin Yang) philosophy, the lengthening days signify a greater influx of 陽 (Yang, masculine nature) from our good old Sun. In modern times, it’s a time for families to get together and is also the last festival in the Chinese calender till 春節 (Spring Festival née Chinese New Year).

If you were expecting a seasonal dish, then you won’t be disappointed. A simple little dish called 湯圓, which are little balls of glutenous rice flour which have been cooked in a broth of ginger and yellow rock sugar (an unrefined cane sugar) and served hot. Sometimes the 湯圓 may have a sweet filling such as ground red bean, sesame or peanut. In anycase, all very yummy tasting and just what the stomach needs on a cold winter’s day. :D

Good old phpBB has had avatars since version 2.0.x but what the Dickens is this “gravatar” nonsense you may very well ask? From their own homepage:

A gravatar, or globally recognized avatar, is quite simply an 80×80 pixel avatar image that follows you from weblog to weblog appearing beside your name when you comment on gravatar enabled sites. Avatars help identify your posts on web forums, so why not on weblogs?

How does it work then? Their FAQ has fielded that one already:

I don’t get it. How does it work, in layman’s terms?

Think of gravatar.com as a dictionary that associates email addresses and avatar images. When you leave a comment on a weblog and provide your email address, the weblog can use your email address to look up your avatar. Since the dictionary is available to anyone, a single avatar image can represent you across many different weblogs.

Feareth not ye peon of thy spam, as they’ve got that covered too:

Is my email address really safe? I do hate spam so.

Yes. There is no way that anyone can harvest your email address off of a gravatar enabled site unless the weblog owner explicitly chooses to display it (which has no impact on the gravatar system). Since your email address is one way encrypted via the MD5 algorithm before being written to the HTML, it is impossible to determine the email address that was used to generate the MD5 hash.

As I think it’s all rather “kickin’ rad!”… gravatars are here on this blog. ;) Not got an account yet? Well go and sign up then! :D

This time, we’re getting a double whammy:

The PHP Development Team would like to announce the immediate release of PHP 4.3.10 and PHP 5.0.3. These are maintenance releases that in addition to non-critical bug fixes address several very serious security issues. All Users of PHP are strongly encouraged to upgrade to one of these releases as soon as possible.

For changes since PHP 4.3.9, please consult the PHP 4 ChangeLog. For changes since PHP 5.0.2, please consult the PHP 5 ChangeLog.

… and upgraded I dutifully have; so if there’s any b0rkage, then please feel free to let me know by commenting here! :D

For reference, the issues were uncovered by Hardened-PHP and they have a full advisory regarding PHP4 ≤ 4.3.9 & PHP5 ≤ 5.0.2 plus affected functions.