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Asia Song Festival - Seoul, Korea

Posted on December 1, 2008 at 07:15 PM

Ok, so does anyone remember the "boy band" days? Nsync, Backstreet Boys, New Kids On The Block, or any other group with three or more members, singing and busting out choreographed dance moves? Well, in the United States, the "boy band" era, for the most part, has faded away. But in Korea--it is as strong as ever! I couldn’t BELIEVE how HYSTERICAL people were for Korean Pop (a.k.a "K-Pop"). I spent a whole day surrounded by thousands of screaming teenage girls. I loved how excited they were to see their favorite K-Pop singers, but I think I lost most of my hearing by the end of the day. Lol. Just kiddin.

The thing that surprised me the most about some of the "adoring", "sweet", and "innocent" teenage girls was the things they SAID they would do to their pop star if they could get the chance! Lol. I was thinking "Girl! You are like, 15! How do YOU know what THAT is--or how to do that -- where the HECK is your mother!" Lol. I guess I underestimated the Korean youth.

While at the festival, I learned about all kinds of FAMOUS K-Pop bands like: Girls Generations, Shinee and a whole bunch more! But, the ONE band that I heard about every single second of the day was TVXQ, also known as: DONG BANG SHIN KI. They have a fan club of more than 800 thousand in Korea ALONE --that's not including the rest of the world!

When I told some K-Pop fans that I hung-out with TVXQ, I was immediately rushed and touched as though 'I' were them! I guess I didn't realize how FAMOUS they were at the time. Lol.

Well, if you're looking for a festival you can go to for great dancing, great singing, and lots of excitement...then I HIGHLY recommend the ASIA SONG FESTIVAL!

p.s. When I returned to the United States, I came across tons of blogs asking about a particular picture with TVXQ and myself (click on link for picture).

People were asking why TVXQ was looking so mad or confused. It was neither. During the time of this picture, I was talking to my producer regarding my position in reference to the camera. Since TVXQ didn't speak English, they were just waiting for the translator (not in frame) to tell them what we were talking about. :-)

I had a GREAT time hanging out with them. They are all COOL dudes! We were laughing and joking around with each other almost the whole time. I hope I answered some of the questions that were asked. If I missed any... hit me up on my blog, and we'll talk!

Nate

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Ganesh Festival - Mumbai, India

Posted on November 24, 2008 at 12:20 PM

I usually try and find something good about each country I go to, but I gotta admit, to me, Mumbai, India was not a "Lovely sight to see". When you're in Mumbai, you have to go for the EXPERIENCE, not the vacation. There is A LOT of culture, a lot of BROTHERHOOD... Um, should I say, a tight community connection there. I felt like, a lot of the people didn't really have much except each other. They were really nice, and would share the little bit of whatever they had. I loved the kids there. They were so full of life!

The thing that surprised me in Mumbai, India was the poverty. I was taken to, what i've been told, is the biggest slum in the world. A large area of homeless people occupying abandoned buildings, living in shacks, in tents, etc. I was a little shocked to learn that, even though a lot of those people live in horrible conditions, they some how have cable in their residence! I was told cable is really cheap in India. But, THAT surprised me.

To be honest, most of the areas of Mumbai I went to were very sad. So many people are poor, and begging on the streets, but I've been told that a lot of the people are EDUCATED... COLLEGE educated. My guide told me that it is law for EVERYONE to go to school, but there aren't many jobs in India, which is why you see people living in "sub par" conditions. I was in the car one day going to the beach, and I passed by a slum, and I saw a young girl, on a side walk, pull down her pants, and take a crap RIGHT THERE! Broad daylight and all! Everyone around her walked passed her like it was no big deal. I thought the girl crapping on the side walk was a random occurrence, but then later that day I went to the beach and saw another little girl crap right in the ocean, broad daylight, tons of people around, and yet, no one seemed to care. Bizarre. But hey, I understand other places are different.

I feel like the GANESH FESTIVAL pulls the whole community together, and even though they don't have much, people are able to escape their troubles for one moment and LIVE in the music.

Nate

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Ibiza, Spain part 2

Posted on November 12, 2008 at 12:55 PM

Drinking in Ibiza has been taken to a whole new level for me! Normally, when I drink, I will go out to a bar with some friends, get a little tipsy, and take a cab home. That is the way MOST people do it, I thought; but in Ibiza, it's a whole different story. After partying all night at two of Ibiza’s hottest clubs (Amnesia, and Es Paradise), I was JUST about to go home, until this Spanish guy came up to me and said, "Amigo, don't go home, go to one more club first!" I was pretty tired, but I gotta be a trooper - so I followed him. 

I end up at this club called Pasha. To all my dudes out there, if you want to go to a club that packed with beautiful women, this is the place! I have NEVER seen so many gorgeous women under one roof in my life! They all roll in packs, so if you plan on going, you might want to have at least two guy friends with you for MENTAL support (if you need it, lol). Ladies, I don't know what to tell you! I don't look at guys; but I CAN tell you, any place where there's a lot of women, you'll ALWAYS find a lot of guys. So, try your luck and see what you can get. If you end up meeting your boyfriend at the club, you gotta hit me up, and let me know! Lol.

Club Pasha can be a bit pricey, so you wanna bring at least five to six hundred dollars with you. Here's why: It cost 65 Euros to get into the club, which is equivalent to about 93 dollars. Then, to buy a beer will cost you about 15 euros which is equivalent to about 21 dollars. So, I hope this helps. If you have any questions, about the clubs or need advice, send me a message and let me know!

Nate

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Ibiza, Spain

Posted on November 11, 2008 at 02:02 PM

My God!  So, last night was the first night of 'actual' shooting here in Ibiza, Spain, and all I can say is, it was crazier than I expected!  Shoot time started at 11:00pm, and from there we went to (what i've been told) the most famous club in the world--called club Amnesia.  Geez, this place looked pretty cool!  This club had about four MONSTER sized clubrooms that were each like the size of a basketball arena!  And, might I tell you, each room was PACKED!  Most of the people were from England, and I saw a good handful of Spanish as well.

I looked to different corners of the club and I saw people "making-out" as though they were in their rooms getting ready to have sex!  I was actually, slightly disgusted, yet, jealous at the same time!  Don't ask me how I could feel all of that at once!  The music most popular on THIS island is called HOUSE music and TRANZE.  It sounds like techno, but it encompasses a combination  of different sounds from other music as well.  Watching people dance was interesting to see because no one had a specific STYLE when dancing; they all just moved. 

So check this, I'm doing some dancing for the camera, and a big circle of people formed around me.  I'm dancing left, dancing right, this British guy starts break-dancing; and then I'm pulling different girls from the outside of the circle in the circle to dance with me.  It was a lot of fun.  I start to pull this one girl toward me, you know, smiling and laughing like EVERRRYONE else.  And outta NO WHERE, this Spanish guy pushes me--lol, I guess that was his girl I was pulling on. 

The camera was rolling, so I smiled and kinda gestured, "my bad", and laughed it off.  But once the camera turned off, I let my crew know, that if that guy has something to say to me, I'm not just gonna stand there... if you know what i mean.  Funny as it be, he disappeared in the crowd when the cameras went down :-/  Hm.   

Anyway, I was BACK to my fun in NO-TIME. :-) I danced a little more, had a few more drinks, and the crew and I were ready to hit the next spot.  Right as we left, there was a little gift shop right next to this club.  I saw this beautiful girl, who I just HAD to talk to!  We conversed, and she told me she was from Cuba.  And just to let you know... I LOVE Hispanic girls, especially the Puerto Ricans and the CUBANS! 

We talked, but there wasn’t a REAL connection there. You know when you find yourself fishing for things to say.  To be honest, she may not have been that interested, lol, but it was just the wrong setting!  It's kinda difficult to just RANDOMLY walk up to a girl in a gift shop and be like "uh, hi... what's your name" and expect to have a magical connection.  You AUTOMATICALLY become "THAT GUY" that she laughs about with her friends.  So, I peaced out. 

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Wacken Festival - Wacken, Germany

Posted on October 28, 2008 at 04:05 PM

Ok.  Think guitars, chains, every person you see wearing all black, tattoos, painted faces, masks, swords, "Metal music".  That is a TASTE of what I got when I visited the WACKEN festival in Germany. 

Every year, Germany's biggest festival is the WACKEN METAL FESTIVAL.  I'm not talking about the metal you can find on cars, or buildings; I am talking about the music!  A guy at the festival told me that metal was like hard Rock & Roll, multiplied by ten!  To be honest, I was a little intimidated to go to THIS particular festival because everyone I knew that heard of the Wacken Metal Festival told me that it was dangerous; the people were overly aggressive and violent.  So, you can see WHY I felt a little intimidated!

I took a SPECIAL train called the "Metal Train", that goes directly to the festival.  On this train, there are hundreds of people dressed in all black, with big steel toe boots, and spike shoulder pads.  When I boarded the train, I said to myself "heck no! This is gonna suck!" But, I was TOTALLY wrong on that!  Everyone was so nice, and receptive to me being there.  They told me how to party like a METAL HEAD (the name used to refer to people who listen to Metal music).  I immediately grew a strong connection to the PEOPLE, but the music would take a little more work!

When I arrived to the festival, I, at first, was not impressed.  I was told that the Wacken Metal Festival usually holds about eighty-thousand fans; and what I saw was hardly even ONE thousand.  How the HECK is THIS festival suppose to be fun when there isn’t anyone there.  Even though this festival didn’t have too many people, I didn't care, I was gonna have a fun time regardless.  Well, by the time night fall hit, people were rushing in by the hundreds.

I wanted to FEEL the vibe of being a metal head and I wanted to learn how to appreciate the MUSIC.  So, I decided to watch a metal band, and see what everyone at this festival likes about it.  By this point, the festival was packed, and it started to rain - there were mud puddles EVERYWHERE!  Lol. I rolled up my pants cause I didn’t wanna get dirty; but after a few minutes, I said, "who cares!  I am about to get dirty!" 

Then I watched a METAL band called "Three Inches of Blood".  They were so good that I felt the desire to jump in the middle of a HUGE mosh pit.  For those of you who DON’T know what a mosh pit is; it is a circle of guys and girls crashing into each other, while jamming to the music!  I had the greatest time.  Big guys, small guys, small girls, AND BIG girls were all in the pit crashing and laughing. 

Then I took it one step further and crowd surfed - that was a rush!  When you crowd surf, you don't really have any control to which way you're going.  It's like, you just gotta let go and enjoy the ride!  After this moment, I noticed I was enjoying myself at a METAL festival!  I spent a couple hours watching Three inches of Blood; when all of a sudden, I looked around and realized I was in the Middle of more than 100 thousand metal heads, banging their heads back and forth while yelling to the music.  Right then and there, I fell in love with the metal scene and realized I love it.  If you're thinking, "yeah, right, metal sucks."  All I have to say is, don’t knock it until you try it!

Ya BOY,
Nate

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Sumfest - Montego Bay, Jamaica Part 3

Posted on October 22, 2008 at 01:21 PM

"Boom", "Boom", "Block", "Block" was the LOUD sounds I heard from the BOOMING music at Jamaica's Sumfest festival.  The minute I arrived, I noticed about 8 policemen searching people after they walked through the metal detectors.  THIS, I liked!  I mean, think about it, you don't wanna go to a festival with thousands of people and NOT see THOROUGH security! Once I got passed security, my eyes were on PARTYING... you know, having a good time!  Lol. 

I saw shops and food vendors all over the place; which was good because I like to snack when I'm kickin' it at festivals!  Anyway, you know how at most festivals, or parties you go to, people act wild by jumping up and down, screaming the famous "Woooo" sound or fighting with each other?  Well, Sumfest was pretty unique because it was the exact OPPOSITE - everyone was real "CHILL". 

I saw this guy walking "carefully" through the crowd with three cups filled with beer in his hand - clearly, he JUST bought them from a vendor.  Out of NOWHERE, some random guy, accidentally, whaled his arms up in the air, and knocked one of the beer cups on the ground.  At this point, I KNEW what was gonna happen; the random guy was gonna buy him another beer or catch a "beat-down".  Nope!  Didn't happen.  The guy, now with TWO beers in his hands, just looked down at the ground where his beer dropped, looked up, and kept walking.  I couldn't BELIEVE my eyes.  But this festival was all about "peace, love and respect". 

I danced a little bit with some of the locals.  I don't really dance the REGGAE style, but you better believe, when the music turns on, I'm busting a move!  I was dancing with this one Jamaican girl, and she tried to do all this fancy Jamaican-style dancing.  I taunted her a little bit and said, "Girl, I don't know what you think you're doing, but you can't shake me!"  She said sarcastically "Really!?!"  She turned around where I ended up dancing BEHIND her; she bent over, then squatted low to the ground, somehow ended on top of me, did a move here, and a move there.  And all I know is my thumb STILL hurts.  Don't ask me what happened, it all went so fast.

After being broken by a Jamaican lady, I thought I'd get some drinks.  As I was walking through a crowd of people to find the alcohol vendors; I noticed that there was a lot of SMOKE in the air that had a DISTINCT smell to it.  I looked around and noticed that almost EVERYONE was smoking weed.  Now, while I was there, a Jamaican told me, that not EVERYONE smokes weed in Jamaica.  Well, from the looks of what I was looking at, he sure could've fooled me.  It seemed like everyone was high, which could explain why everyone was so chill!  But honestly, I DID see a good handful of people there at the festival having a good time WITHOUT weed.   

I eventually got my beer, and finally settled down enough to watch the performances.  All I can say is WOW!  I had SUCH a great time listening to the Reggae music.  There was this one guy named TARRUS RILEY who blew my mind away. His voice was so powerful.  He reminded me a lot of the R&B singer John Legend.  There were a lot of other great acts there as well.  If you want to hear great reggae music, I DEFINITELY recommend going to Sumfest!

Get more Nate at the official Fuse Excellent Adventure homepage!

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Sumfest - Montego Bay, Jamaica Part 2

Posted on October 20, 2008 at 01:00 PM

Ok.  Almost every time someone talks about Jamaica, somehow marijuana, also known as weed, is always tied with the conversation.  So, I thought I would see what the hype was about.  I went to a secret, illegal, Marijuana field, just miles outside of the city where my hotel is.  When I arrived, I couldn’t believe my eyes, ya'll.  I saw more weed then I've ever seen in my life.  The owner of the field told me there is about 70 pounds worth in the field.   

After he told me that, I thought this dude was your typical, drug dealer.  But after the first 15 minutes of talking with him, I understood where he was coming from - kind of.  He told me he graduated college with a degree in business.  Afterwards, he went into a career as an accountant, and it turned out, he hated his job.  So, he quit and started doing what he loves to do, and that is farming.  The only difference in THIS case is, the product that he's cropping just happens to be illegal. 

But he came off, to me, as a professional.  He knew all kinds of facts about marijuana; he told me he studied chemistry so that he knows how to cross [BREED] different style of plants.  He said he gets up early every morning and manages his crop.  I'm telling you guys, I was really impressed! 

I thought to myself "This genuine guy is NOT a drug dealer, he's a farmer!"  Well, until he told me he goes into the city and sales his weed by the pound.  Then, I came back to reality.  Although his marijuana field was pretty cool, it was still illegal, and something 'I', personally didn’t want to be a part of.  So, I told him peace, and took off.  I was hungry anyway.

Right after the fields, I went to get some grub at this restaurant called the "Hungry Lion". It was a real nice looking restaurant.  It had a very "Caribbean" feel to it and the food was great!  Just as I finished my meal, I was getting ready to go swimming.  Out of NOWHERE, this MONSOON style rainstorm hit, and I was trapped.  Now, I'm from Portland, OR.  I don't know if you know anything about this place, but it rains nine months out of the year.  So, I'm use to rain.  But, in Jamaica, the rain that stopped me from my adventure was NOT your typical rain!  But it was cool to see!

Finally, the rain stopped, and I headed off for some swimming.  I heard this place called "RICK'S CAFE" was a great spot for the back stroke; so that's where I went.  You guys!  This place was REAL cool.  They had an outdoor style restaurant/cafe setup, but behind it, were these 10 foot, 35 foot, and 90 foot rocks to jump from, and into the clear blue ocean.  Everything there was safe.  There were lifeguards, security to make sure people don’t push and get crazy.  So, I felt good about it.

Before taking a BIG jump off the rocks, I dipped into the water from the shallow side.  I wanted to get a feel for the water.  I loved it.  The water was CLEAR blue, very warm, but way too salty!  Lol.  I got enough guts to jump off the 10 foot ledge, but I'm sorry to say you guys; I chickened out and did NOT do the 35 foot jump.  35 feet looks a lot HIGHER than what it sounds!  When you get up there, and look down, the first thing that pops in your head is "HELL NO!"  Or at least, that’s what popped into mine! 

After swimming, I went to dinner at my hotel.  The food in Jamaica is really good.  It doesn't matter where you go.  I loved it in EVERY place I ate.  The only thing that MIGHT be a little different to you is Jamaica's "Island Time".  This is where service may take a little longer than what you're used to because they don’t rush!  Everything is on THEIR time.  But, when you're in the Caribbean, there's no need to rush anyway.  You're on vacation!  But just don't be surprised if you experience this.  Lol. 

With all this adventure during the day, it was finally time for me to check out Jamaica's biggest festival of the year - Summfest!   

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Sumfest - Montego Bay, Jamaica Part 1

Posted on October 20, 2008 at 12:51 PM

JAMAICA!

Jamaica, Jamaica!  It has been a dream of mine to travel to the Caribbean and explore the exotic nature Jamaica has to offer. But, getting there turned out to be a nightmare - here's what happened.

I left my apartment at five thirty in the morning (way to early for me to be up!) to catch my flight scheduled to leave for Miami at 8am. At this point, everything seemed to be on schedule. I arrived at the Los Angeles airport, checked my luggage in, and boarded the plane. Again, everything was great.

After about a 5 hour flight, I arrived in Miami and was so excited because I knew my flight to Jamaica would be leaving in ONE HOUR... so I thought. I walk to my departure gate, carrying my SPANISH 101 book, and I was ready to fly. Once I arrived at the gate, I heard a voice over the airport speakers say, "Attention. American Airlines heading towards Jamaica will be delayed one hour. We apologize for the inconvenience."

Immediately I sarcastically thought "Oh, great. Just what I needed. An hour delay!" Sigh. Oh well. I sat down, opened my book and decided to waste time by reading. About an hour passed, and once again, I was ready to fly! You won’t believe this, but that same voice I heard over the airport speakers - I heard again! This time the voice said there would be a 3 hour wait. Oh! At THIS point, I am really frustrated. At the beginning of my trip towards Jamaica, everything seemed to be on schedule. Now, all of a sudden, I am running four hours late.

Man, I was so annoyed.  I knew I had to wake up early in the morning to take you guys on my journey to Jamaica's hottest festival of the year; and I wanted to be well rested.  And at THIS rate, I wouldn't get into Jamaica until very late.  Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, it did!  Lol.  The flight was delayed three more hours.  By the time I boarded my plane, I waited a total of 7 hours in the airport with nothing to do.  If that isn't a nightmare, I don't know what is.

But it wasn't all bad.  I finally arrived to Montego Bay, Jamaica, and someone met me to take me to my hotel called "THE HALF MOON".  This hotel was the most impressive place I've EVER stayed in!  This hotel sat on 400 acres of land.  Swimming pools (yes, that is plural), tennis courts, exercise facility, gardens and individual suites that reminded me of apartment buildings.  When I got to my room, my jaw dropped.  This room was huge.  It had its on bar, a walk-in closet, walk-in shower, king size bed, air conditioning, and marble-type floors.  Oh yeah.  I was DEFINITELY dreaming again. 

The next morning, I woke up, and was ready to begin my brand new adventure in Montego Bay, Jamaica!

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Gnaoua Festival - Essaouira, Morocco

Posted on October 14, 2008 at 12:43 PM

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Castle Party - Bolkow, Poland

Posted on October 6, 2008 at 03:34 PM

Ok. Normally I would write a step-by-step experience on what I did in Poland. This time, I'm going to write about the most exciting moments for me in Poland!

At Castle Party (a Goth-festival) in Bolkow, Poland, almost EVERYONE dressed in their Goth-style clothing; which entailed wearing all black, possibly some spikes, big boots, funky dark make-up, and, if you were bold enough, dyed hair! When I first arrived at the festival, I was wearing a polo shirt and some jeans. I DEFINITELY did NOT fit in. So, I bought some Goth clothing and at THAT moment, my experience in Poland completely changed!

I bought a black leather style jacket with chains and belt loops, some patent leather pants, and some crazy wrist spikes. Oh, and some all black goggles!  Lol.  Once I put on this outfit, I couldn't walk more than a few steps without getting stopped by another party-goer giving me compliments on how cool I looked. Others laughed! And then there were a few people that approached me telling me that they had attended the festival for years and had NEVER seen a black guy that dressed in the Goth-style attire. They told me how cool they thought that was.  So, I felt pretty good about that. I kinda felt like a little celebrity because EVERYONE stared, pointed, and pretty much BEGGED to take a picture with me. Lol. I was like, "Uh, ok, no problem." 

Then, there was another moment that wasn't necessarily EXCITING, but more SHOCKING. 

I ended up going to a concert that a lot of people said would be the BEST one of the night.  So, I thought, ok, cool! I arrived at the concert early so that I can stand in the front and get the BEST experience possible. So-far-so-good! I looked at the stage, the lights dimmed, music started playing, and two BEAUTIFUL girls appeared on stage.  All of a sudden, the stage lights turned red, and the girls had needles in their hands!  They were piercing each others' tongues, backs, shoulders, face and every other part of the body you could imagine. 

After piercing each other, blood was all over the place.  I figured someone would get them some towels, but NOPE!  They were smearing it all over themselves, and licking the blood off of each other.  I guess they forgot their towels! Lol.  Anyway, just when I thought it couldn’t get any more graphic, a guy came out and stitched one of the girls' mouths shut!

So, with blood all over this girl’s face and body, she comes out to the crowd, grabs ME, and hands me some scissors.  I was like "Um, do you realize you’re bloody as hell, and you want ME to touch YOU?"  I didn’t say that of course.  Lol.  Anyway, she hands me a pair of scissors and points to her mouth, indicating she wanted me to cut the stitches in her mouth.  With bloody scissors in my hands, I did it.  Although the experience was shocking, it was actually pretty cool.

Check out pics, clips and more from Nate's amazing travels at the official home of Fuse Excellent Adventure.

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