Andy Pandy Was Fifteen Minutes Long
Oct. 20th, 2025 01:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeIt's been another busy week, with the onboarding of a potential new client and my uncle interested in resurrecting the Victorian football book I researched twenty years ago. I have a call with him next week about this, while I will need to edit a story for a forthcoming anthology in which I am included too. On top of this, of course, is my three other clients as well as a load of other admin I need to do and it's all getting quite overwhelming again.
Wolfie didn't make it back until Monday, his flight having been cancelled on Sunday. This saw him stay in a Britannia Hotel near Manchester Airport, having to endure a lumpy mattress and a 4am start for a 6:45am flight. Lugging the suitcase back and forth did his knee no favours, and he ended up struggling to walk for most of the week. He did, at least, get to his minor operation on Tuesday where they removed a mole on the back of his leg. The stitching looks quite impressive and I was surprised at just how quick it was. On Thursday, meanwhile, I had my final dental appointment to deal with the periodontitis I'd picked up, and this proved to be far more involved than the previous visits. We had intended to go out for a meal afterwards, with my appointment being 6-7pm, but with Wolfie's leg and me not being allowed to eat for an hour afterwards, we decided to get takeout instead. We got two pizzas, but they only brought us one garlic sauce.
The same was true on Friday - we were toying with going to Fuerst Wiacek, but in the end just stayed in. This didn't mean I haven't done anything though as I went out on Saturday to meet up with Striper and Kanda. They were in Berlin pretty last minute and dropped me a message on Wednesday asking whether I wanted to meet. As I had a free weekend, I thought I might as well, but I wanted a lie-in first. Consequently, I hooked up with them shortly before 4pm, after I had walked with Wolfie to belatedly pick up his Warhammer products from the shop and after my friends had checked into their B+B Hotel near Alexanderplatz. They were getting a coffee at Coffee Heroes and once drunk, we ended up spending a good hour in Deiters, the fancy dress shop where Stray Jim bought those bobbies hats ten years ago. My friends wanted to try on a load of different clothes and ended up buying quite a few outfits, partly at my encouragement. After this, we looked at outfits of a different kind, making our way up to Blackstyle for some fetish shopping. We must have stayed here for an hour or so too, befriending a nice guy called John behind the counter. We met him as I was reticent about showing people my naked pony play pictures.
This was Striper and Kanda's first trip to Blackstyle, so they took the opportunity to try things on and buy some bits and pieces. Then, we decided to go for dinner. I had already sent my friends a detailed itinerary of things to see and do in the city, as well as a screenshot of Seebass's extensive restaurant list. After a little deliberation, it was decided that Vietnamese food was fancied, so we headed to a place called Umami PBerg which was quite close by. When we got there, it took ages for us to get seated as a party of about 47 was waiting outside the door. The temperature was a bit bitter, but not overly so, so we decided to sit outside underneath the electric heaters. It has been a sunny weekend - probably the last decent weekend of the year - so we thought we'd dine al fresco. The food itself was okay, although the duck in my golden curry with potatoes and carrots did taste a little strange. The same was true with my spring rolls, but my friends seemed to like the food so the whole thing was a success.
Despite my friends not drinking alcohol - and being able to taste the alcohol even in non-alcoholic beers that are brewed to a strength of < 0.5% - we ended up hitting a few bars, namely Manifest and The Castle. Both were nicely full without being rammed, with a decent if steady atmosphere. My friends didn't like loud spaces either and this was why we eventually ruled out going to Schöneberg, knowing that the gay bars are somewhat lively. I was the only one drinking, but they did enjoy mango and peach flavoured soft drinks in Manifest. They drank theirs quickly though, leaving me to struggle through my second beer, but there didn't seem to be much rush. After this, we went to The Castle as I noticed they did a decent mock Shirley Temple and mock gin and tonics at reasonable prices. We also toyed with going to a specialist Mocktail and Cocktail Bar, but the prices were eye-watering. En route, having taken the M10 tram, we got off at Bernauer Strasse, where I got to show them the Berlin Wall. It was dark, so it was hard seeing stuff, but they admitted this was a much better visit than their trip to Checkpoint Charlie earlier in the day. We played some of the testimonials by the memorial and I feared the voices would be too loud that late at night, but no-one complained.
We ended drinking until around 1am and I headed back to their hotel to pick up some crisps they had kindly brought over from Ireland. I left possibly meeting up on Sunday open-ended, but in the end, they went to the zoo and I was having something of a cozy day. I had wanted to go to Qualgeist with Wolfie but he wasn't feeling it, which made me feel down as we barely go there any more. We also barely do bondage any more these days and I really miss it. I'm hoping this will improve now that Wolfie's foot seems to be on the mend.
I did go out last Sunday too, with the idea that Wolfie would meet up with us, but due to his delayed flight, that was a non-starter. I met up with Al Song and Notefox at Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian-themed restaurant at Mariendorffplatz. This place was much busier this time than it had been when we visited with Procyon in early September, while we grabbed a vegetarian sharing platter. This wasn't quite as good as the meat one we had had before, but it was still a tasty dish, while the unique spongy Ethiopian bread was a great compliment to scoop up all the morsels. There was a wide variety of flavours and afterwards, we bought a few drinks in BRLO, where I managed to rack up some reward points in their new app. Wolfie and I were talking about going to BRLO today, but time ran away from us and I was feeling quite bloated after a dense and rich Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich. As part of my cozy day on Sunday, I have ended up watching episodes of the old Victoria Wood sitcom dinnerladies. I remember watching this with my family at the time, in 1999 and 2000, and so it's one of those nostalgia hits, particularly when the theme tune begins. The programme has stood the test of time pretty well, although there are a few dodgy areas on trans and gay stuff, but the show certainly had heart and it's given me a warm feeling to be reacquainted with it again. It was very much about sex though, I was surprised just how smutty it was in a BBC One kind of way.
There had been a hope that Wolfie would come with us to the Festival of Lights, which ended on Wednesday. Alas, with his foot and operation, this wasn't to be, but I did sneak out myself on Wednesday to catch a few more displays. It was quite a last-minute thing and I didn't leave the house until 8:30pm, so I decided to go to Potsdamer Platz, which was only a 20-minute train ride away. This was a good choice as there were about six displays here, including a visual light show on the side of a building, a UV light experience based around marine life in an alleyway, and a music light show that was shone through a fountain. This was the highlight for me as the water dispersed the light in wondrous ways, creating a kaleidoscope effect that was very beautiful. After this, I decided to try and squeeze in a trip to the Oberbaumbrucke, where they were projecting a light show onto its far side. Getting to see it was quite involved as it involved walking behind a warehouse building, while loads of amateur photographers on their mobile phones hindered the view, but I did get to see it. The snake and arms like Mr. Tickle theme was less fun, but there was a lot of people projected onto the bridge too, which provided a stunning backdrop, particularly when trains chugged overhead. It was a nice way to end The Festival of Lights, and saw me see nearly all of the 38 exhibits on offer.
Wolfie didn't make it back until Monday, his flight having been cancelled on Sunday. This saw him stay in a Britannia Hotel near Manchester Airport, having to endure a lumpy mattress and a 4am start for a 6:45am flight. Lugging the suitcase back and forth did his knee no favours, and he ended up struggling to walk for most of the week. He did, at least, get to his minor operation on Tuesday where they removed a mole on the back of his leg. The stitching looks quite impressive and I was surprised at just how quick it was. On Thursday, meanwhile, I had my final dental appointment to deal with the periodontitis I'd picked up, and this proved to be far more involved than the previous visits. We had intended to go out for a meal afterwards, with my appointment being 6-7pm, but with Wolfie's leg and me not being allowed to eat for an hour afterwards, we decided to get takeout instead. We got two pizzas, but they only brought us one garlic sauce.
The same was true on Friday - we were toying with going to Fuerst Wiacek, but in the end just stayed in. This didn't mean I haven't done anything though as I went out on Saturday to meet up with Striper and Kanda. They were in Berlin pretty last minute and dropped me a message on Wednesday asking whether I wanted to meet. As I had a free weekend, I thought I might as well, but I wanted a lie-in first. Consequently, I hooked up with them shortly before 4pm, after I had walked with Wolfie to belatedly pick up his Warhammer products from the shop and after my friends had checked into their B+B Hotel near Alexanderplatz. They were getting a coffee at Coffee Heroes and once drunk, we ended up spending a good hour in Deiters, the fancy dress shop where Stray Jim bought those bobbies hats ten years ago. My friends wanted to try on a load of different clothes and ended up buying quite a few outfits, partly at my encouragement. After this, we looked at outfits of a different kind, making our way up to Blackstyle for some fetish shopping. We must have stayed here for an hour or so too, befriending a nice guy called John behind the counter. We met him as I was reticent about showing people my naked pony play pictures.
This was Striper and Kanda's first trip to Blackstyle, so they took the opportunity to try things on and buy some bits and pieces. Then, we decided to go for dinner. I had already sent my friends a detailed itinerary of things to see and do in the city, as well as a screenshot of Seebass's extensive restaurant list. After a little deliberation, it was decided that Vietnamese food was fancied, so we headed to a place called Umami PBerg which was quite close by. When we got there, it took ages for us to get seated as a party of about 47 was waiting outside the door. The temperature was a bit bitter, but not overly so, so we decided to sit outside underneath the electric heaters. It has been a sunny weekend - probably the last decent weekend of the year - so we thought we'd dine al fresco. The food itself was okay, although the duck in my golden curry with potatoes and carrots did taste a little strange. The same was true with my spring rolls, but my friends seemed to like the food so the whole thing was a success.
Despite my friends not drinking alcohol - and being able to taste the alcohol even in non-alcoholic beers that are brewed to a strength of < 0.5% - we ended up hitting a few bars, namely Manifest and The Castle. Both were nicely full without being rammed, with a decent if steady atmosphere. My friends didn't like loud spaces either and this was why we eventually ruled out going to Schöneberg, knowing that the gay bars are somewhat lively. I was the only one drinking, but they did enjoy mango and peach flavoured soft drinks in Manifest. They drank theirs quickly though, leaving me to struggle through my second beer, but there didn't seem to be much rush. After this, we went to The Castle as I noticed they did a decent mock Shirley Temple and mock gin and tonics at reasonable prices. We also toyed with going to a specialist Mocktail and Cocktail Bar, but the prices were eye-watering. En route, having taken the M10 tram, we got off at Bernauer Strasse, where I got to show them the Berlin Wall. It was dark, so it was hard seeing stuff, but they admitted this was a much better visit than their trip to Checkpoint Charlie earlier in the day. We played some of the testimonials by the memorial and I feared the voices would be too loud that late at night, but no-one complained.
We ended drinking until around 1am and I headed back to their hotel to pick up some crisps they had kindly brought over from Ireland. I left possibly meeting up on Sunday open-ended, but in the end, they went to the zoo and I was having something of a cozy day. I had wanted to go to Qualgeist with Wolfie but he wasn't feeling it, which made me feel down as we barely go there any more. We also barely do bondage any more these days and I really miss it. I'm hoping this will improve now that Wolfie's foot seems to be on the mend.
I did go out last Sunday too, with the idea that Wolfie would meet up with us, but due to his delayed flight, that was a non-starter. I met up with Al Song and Notefox at Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian-themed restaurant at Mariendorffplatz. This place was much busier this time than it had been when we visited with Procyon in early September, while we grabbed a vegetarian sharing platter. This wasn't quite as good as the meat one we had had before, but it was still a tasty dish, while the unique spongy Ethiopian bread was a great compliment to scoop up all the morsels. There was a wide variety of flavours and afterwards, we bought a few drinks in BRLO, where I managed to rack up some reward points in their new app. Wolfie and I were talking about going to BRLO today, but time ran away from us and I was feeling quite bloated after a dense and rich Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich. As part of my cozy day on Sunday, I have ended up watching episodes of the old Victoria Wood sitcom dinnerladies. I remember watching this with my family at the time, in 1999 and 2000, and so it's one of those nostalgia hits, particularly when the theme tune begins. The programme has stood the test of time pretty well, although there are a few dodgy areas on trans and gay stuff, but the show certainly had heart and it's given me a warm feeling to be reacquainted with it again. It was very much about sex though, I was surprised just how smutty it was in a BBC One kind of way.
There had been a hope that Wolfie would come with us to the Festival of Lights, which ended on Wednesday. Alas, with his foot and operation, this wasn't to be, but I did sneak out myself on Wednesday to catch a few more displays. It was quite a last-minute thing and I didn't leave the house until 8:30pm, so I decided to go to Potsdamer Platz, which was only a 20-minute train ride away. This was a good choice as there were about six displays here, including a visual light show on the side of a building, a UV light experience based around marine life in an alleyway, and a music light show that was shone through a fountain. This was the highlight for me as the water dispersed the light in wondrous ways, creating a kaleidoscope effect that was very beautiful. After this, I decided to try and squeeze in a trip to the Oberbaumbrucke, where they were projecting a light show onto its far side. Getting to see it was quite involved as it involved walking behind a warehouse building, while loads of amateur photographers on their mobile phones hindered the view, but I did get to see it. The snake and arms like Mr. Tickle theme was less fun, but there was a lot of people projected onto the bridge too, which provided a stunning backdrop, particularly when trains chugged overhead. It was a nice way to end The Festival of Lights, and saw me see nearly all of the 38 exhibits on offer.
