Saturday the 25th of October 2006
Dear Diary,
My day began leaving the small village of Hendy, that is situated in the Costa Del of South West Wales. It's was about an hours drive to Cardiff and I couldn't wait to get there.
I'd been looking forward to this day for weeks! I was more excited than a young boy getting a second hand Sega Master System for christmas! As I'd previously discussed with Fergi, I was even more excited than when Emyr "Tarw" Lewis had that drop goal in the Arms Park when I was a young Turk in my red Harp Lager Scarlets jursey eating pop and crisps.
I hadn't been able to concentrate at all during the last week...Carmarthen had been like a crazy, thug filled, drug consuming scene from Hell! That's all I could think about during my long, never ending journey on the M4, was the day ahead! I knew that the company that I was going to be in could not be blemished and seeing many of them after a long 5 years would be as if I saw them yesterday in The Old Monk! I knew that people like the 6ft Jap...who nurtured me for many years , Mike "the Jamie Oliver wannabe" Stephens, The Sex Pest, Rhys "Top Man" Bach, Ferg and the only English man who claims he is Welsh Falls would all be there. All close friends who used to gather in the now fallen, but never forgtten Ponderosa, to play "f**k the buss"would be together again. Not only was it Wales v New Zeland but it was a gathering of brothers!
After my long tedious journey of trying to catch the eye of parallel female motorists I finally arrived in Cardiff where I met Jamie and Russow. Nice to see them but I had no idea what Russ was talking about as it appears that since he has moved to Rhoose Point he has become involved in some strange Ghetto! "Wapnin!"...what's hppened to "how are you butt?" or "ow are 'ew luv?" as they say in Gorseinon! Anyway...I was told that we were meeting a bus full of Love Chickens in a Brains pub called the "Tav"!...I was a little weary as I'm only used to drinking Felinfoel Double Dragon ale but I thought to myself "when in Rome!" I walked into this small, smoke filled public house with the landlord cutting fresh black pudding and ALDI mature cheese, on the bar ready for the half time festivities...again, it wasn't what I was used to but I thought I'd throw myself into the deep end and ask for three pints of Carling Extra Cold! After drinking several pints of cold lager, and ripping my tongue off the ice cold glass, the bus arrived! Amongst the constant traffic noise of the city I could hear the deep, rumble of the bus outside. My stomach started churning with excitement and my heart staterd to beat at a irregllular pace...one, two, three, four...when was it going to stop...one after another, they all walked in, heads bowed, through the small door of the public house! Christams has come early! Although I knew many of them there were so many new faces that I was excited to meet and be introduced to!
The initial meeting had now passed and we were all in the swing of things! We moved from pub to pub, sang nostalgic anthems and chugged beer with long lasting friends. Nevertheless, I remained a little nervous as I'd never been to the place where everyone had always talked about since I was a young 'un in uni...I'd been told that many naive Chickens hadn't come out of the place alive but I had been assusred, over the previous weeks, that I would be nurtured and looked after in "KIWIS"! Feeling extremely naive, I walked inside and was immediately met by a sea of heavily intoxicated individuals...Their speesh was slurred, they were unsteady on their feet and they smelt of intoxicating liquor, in my opinion they were drunk....doh, wrong diary entry!...I couldn't believe I was actually there...it was "tidy"! Every one of my expectations were met! For all these years I'd heard Ferg and little Mr. Parry talk about "KIWIS" and that one day, when I was old enough they would take me there...that day had arrived! One by one, the Love Chickens were walking into the den of iniquity! My heart began to pound again and I wanted to experience everything...from the talented female that Taz met all those years ago to Big Will being extremely thoughtful and offering his pineappple cubes (not from a crisp white paper bag though!) to fellow urinators...neverthless, I thought to myself, I must learn to walk before I try and run! As Phill May once told me at a Llanelli Scarlets Youth presentation..."You are young but you will learn!"
I had travelled all those miles from Hendy to Cardiff, met people who were/are now like family to me, experienced new and interesting ways of life but most of all what touched me the most and what made my day is that I knew I would return there again soon and be a Love Chicken!
No comments:
Post a Comment