Men's Lifestyle

With Father’s Day only a few short days away, you’re probably looking for the perfect gift for the big day on Sunday. If you’re anything like me, then you’ll have bought all the usual things before, and you’ll be wanting to come up with something you know he’ll like, but something original too. Shock Top have come up with the perfect combination, something all dads love, with something all dads need. This Father’s Day get your dad some beer and socks, in this unique gift set, featuring novelty socks along with Shock Top Belgian Beer.

Styling The Socks

First of all let’s talk about the socks. They’re charcoal grey with printed images of orange slices and accented with a blue heel, toe and top. Since the base colour is charcoal, it’s a staple colour, so even with the novelty orange slices, these socks will go with most clothing which your dad will own. This means that there’s plenty of options when it comes to pairing the socks to fit in with an outfit.

It’s the summer, and we’ve been having some really great weather of late. The sun is out, it’s warm, so what better way to show off the socks than with a pair of chino shorts. I would style these with a light pair of chino shorts, and nautical tee which is perfect and on trend for this Summer. If shorts are not something you like to wear and you prefer jeans, then these will obviously work with a pair of jeans too. They’ll create a more relaxed feel to your casual outfit, and will work well with any wash.

Finally you can dress up the socks at work with your usual clothing if you work in a casual and friendly office. It will create a talking point as soon as someone spots the orange slices, which will brighten up your look. If you usually dress a little bit on the conservative side, the socks may change some people’s opinion on you, and you can show them that you have a fun personality.

The Beer

The beer comes in the form of 4 bottles which are 340ml in size and is a perfect accompaniment for the socks. It’s Shock Top Belgian White, wheat ale with real orange that gives a zesty taste, perfect for the Summer. It’s an award winning beer and comes in at 5.2% vol. which packs a punch without being too strong.

With Shock Top you’re getting something traditional, fun, tasty and practical all in one go. It’s something he’ll probably need, with something he’ll more than likely want. You can get this limited edition gift pack for the first time in the UK exclusively at Ocado for £15.99 here.

Post written in collaboration with Shock Top

So day 3 in Madrid began at the Palacio Real de Madrid, aka The Royal Palace. It actually began at the Plaza de Oriente, which are gardens right outside the palace. I had done so much and seen almost everything in Madrid by my final day, the last things on my list were to see the Palace and Cathedral, both 10 minutes from my hotel, and then I had the rest of the day free, but decided to do the two tourist bus tours to see as much of Madrid as I could where I could not walk to.

The Royal Palace is so cool. In my first couple of days I did not see many tourists, but when I got to the area with the Palace and Cathedral there were loads, they must hide out here. The cathedral is really big and also worth going to see.

For lunch I had spotted this nice little place which was a chip shop, selling cones of chips. Since I love chips I had to get myself a little cone, which was more than enough for a little snack to keep me going before doing the bus tours.

The Madrid bus tours are worth doing too, the hop on-hop off buses run regularly through the city, and there’s two routes; Classic Madrid and Modern Madrid, and I did both. The modern Madrid tour was mostly things I had already seen, but still worth doing as you get a seat and a view from the top of a bus. Tickets cost €21 for 1 day, and you can use them on both routes for the entire day, I think it’s definitely worth the money.

I finished off the day with a stroll around Puerto Del Sol, and then chilled out at Plaza De España with an ice cream.

Check out some of my photos below…

Michael 84 In Madrid

Madrid Day 2 – Hard Rock Café, Plaza De Colon

Madrid Day 2 – Estadio Santiago Bernabeu Tour

Museo de la Selección Española Visit – The Spanish Football Museum Madrid

Short Break To Madrid – Day 1 – The Sights

Read More

On the 2nd Day in Madrid I did so much! I went to Museo de la Selection de futbol, done the Santiago Bernabeu tour and finally to finish off the day I went to Plaza De Colon to check it out, and the Hard Rock Café happens to be in the area too. I had to get myself a Hard Rock T Shirt, I have a bit of a collection going on, so I needed to keep it up.

Here’s a couple of photos from day 2 of looking around Madrid. Check them out below…

Read More

As you’ve seen on my 2nd day in Madrid I went to the Spanish Football Museum, but I had plenty of time to do other things, so I decided to check out the home of Real Madrid, the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

I never really planned on going, it was always going to be an extra if I had time since I didn’t know how long I’d be doing other things, but I went, and I’m glad I did.

It’s just a short Metro ride from the centre of Madrid, then once you’re off the Metro you’re more or less there. There was a short queue, and when I got to the ticket office the girl told me “The full tour is not available”. This was not a great start.

After going up to see panoramic views of the stadium, I thought that was the end, most of the stadium was sectioned off, and I thought that’s all I was going to see. But when I went down a few levels there was another opening, and then I got closer to the pitch, to the museum and a good look around the whole place.

I think that the only things which were missing were going pitch side and going into the presidential box, but I got to see the press conference room and the museum which is highly impressive and stocked with trophies, as you’d expect.

There was a chance to get a photo with the Champions League trophy, as well as a fun photo with a player which I got a print out of, and then you’re into the club shop to end the tour…They know how to sell in Real Madrid, someone has to pay for those World class players! 😉

If you’re in Madrid it’s well worth going, I am really glad I went.

Check out all the photos below…

Read More

One of the things I most wanted to go to while in Madrid was the Museo de la Selección Española de Fútbol, or Spanish Football Museum if you prefer the English. This is a museum for the Spanish national football team who I’ve supported since I was a kid, so it was a big deal for me to go to see. It’s also the training camp for Spain and basically the headquarters for all things to do with the Spanish National Team. The biggest problem was that it’s not in central Madrid, it’s not even close. It’s in Las Rozas, which is not easy to get to without a car. The Metro does not go there, it’s pretty out the way, and according to Google and Apple Maps, it takes an hour to walk from the closest train station to it (It’s basically surrounded by motorways). The only option was a taxi, which was expensive at €35 (one way!) but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me.

I asked at my hotel reception if they knew where it was, they had not heard of it. I showed them on Google maps, they still had no idea. I asked them if a taxi driver would know, they said “definitely!”. I got in a taxi and he did not know, the sat nav could not find it, only the street it was on. I eventually got there, and asked the taxi driver (in Spanish as he spoke no English) “Is this the first time you’ve been here” and he replied, yes! haha!!

I got there and was at the training pitch, had a look around, and asked where the museum was, and finally got there and got in. It only costs €6 which is worth it, even when you add in the taxi fares I had to pay. Since basically nobody knows about this place, I had the entire museum to myself. Only in the last 5 minutes a Spanish guy and girl were there, apart from that I had the total run of the place which was so cool!

The Museum has everything…From the history of the Spanish team to the modern day, the futsal which Spain have always been good at, and the Olympic team too. There’s so much for any la Roja fan, and of course the more modern things, such as the winning of Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012, and of course, the trophies and medals are on display.

I also seen on social media that the players were there training the day after I was there 🙁 I can’t believe I missed that, but still such an amazing experience which most people don’t get 🙂

I have so many photos I can’t upload them all, but check out some of the best ones below…

Read More

I am back from Madrid! I have wanted to go to Madrid for a long time, but have always been put off because you can’t fly direct from Newcastle. I decided to finally bite the bullet and go, and flew from Edinburgh, and of course had to make sure that I could make the flight and all my travel matched up.

I left at around 6AM for my long journey, got the train up to Edinburgh and then my flight to Madrid, everything went smoothly which is always good. I got into Madrid Airport at around 4PM, and made my way to my hotel which I got to at about 5PM.

I don’t want to write too much about my hotel because I’m going to write a post about it, but it was amazing! One of the best hotels I have stayed in, right on Gran Via, in a large room with King size bed, and views of Plaza De España! If you follow me on Twitter/Instagram you’ll have already seen it 😉

By the time I got unpacked and settled in I went out sightseeing around the centre of Madrid. It was after 6PM but since it’s the summer Madrid doesn’t actually get dark till nearly 10PM, so plenty of time to see a lot of things.

If you don’t know or have never been to Madrid, Gran Via is basically the main shopping street in the centre of Madrid, think of Oxford Street in London. There’s lots of high street shops, but also a huge number of restaurants, eateries, bars, theatre and everything you need.

To the South of that is Puerto Del Sol, which is a big square, which is connected to Gran Via by lots of streets with yet more shopping experiences.

I went into Primark, check out the photo below and you’ll see why! This is the 2nd biggest in the World, but it definitely looks the most impressive by far!

So to get acclimatised with my surroundings, I went all the way up Gran Via when it turns into Calle de Alcalá and to Cibeles, which is the big palace and has a fountain on the roundabout.

From there I walked down to the Prado Museum which had a massive queue, but it’s not my cup of tea anyway so I wasn’t planning on going in. On the way back I went around Plaza Puerto Del Sol and checked out the square and surroundings, then headed back to near my hotel to Plaza De España and chilled there for a little bit.

Check out all the pics below…

Read More

Hey guys!

OK first of all, I have a new hair colour…It’s darker brown! 😀 I love this colour, and haven’t dyed my hair in ages, but I’ve finally got round to it, a bit too late, it needs to be cut so I’ll end up having to dye it again. I used to buy Excell 10 which I really liked, number 4 “Natural dark brown” which was dark, but then they stopped selling it, so I had to switch to Nice n Easy, I tried their same colour but it didn’t seem to be as dark, so I’ve went darker to 3.5 and I love this colour, so I’ll be keeping it 🙂

A while back you’ll know I got a few things from ASOS, these jeans and some nautical tops. We’ve finally had some good weather, and will hopefully get some more going forward, so I was able to style these items this week and took a couple of shots.

How Skinny Are ASOS Super Skinny Jeans?

As I’ve already mentioned, I misread these jeans and thought they were just regular skinny fit, which I quite like, but then when they arrived I realised that they were actually super skinny. What’s the difference? Well the name tells no lies, they really are super skinny, they’re skin tight! 😀 The legs really are like drainpipes, clinging to your legs, but the waist is quite regular and the denim has some stretch in it, making them comfortable. The leg opening is tight too, luckily they are made from soft denim, so are comfortable to wear.

The jeans are ecru in colour which I really like for the Spring/Summer, and have really cool distressed patches which I really like. If you’re looking for advice on light colour or white denim, check out my what to wear with white jeans guide.

The Outfit

I wore these jeans with another ASOS item, the navy nautical T Shirt. This came in a two pack with the other being a colour reverse of this one, a white base and navy stripes. I think colour blocking this darker top with the ecru jeans looks really nice. It’s finished off with my Ugg suede shoes in blue, these are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever owned, I can’t quite believe they count as shoes and not the more comfortable trainers. I also wore my Ray Ban Aviators along with my D&G Watch.

Hopefully we’ll get lots of sun this year so we can all wear lots of summer fashion 😉

Michael

Do Not Go To The Botanist On A Saturday Night For A Drink

You have been warned. Don’t go to The Botanist on a Saturday night for a drink. We were out at the Weekend and met up with some friends who were already in The Botanist, so went to the bar for a drink.

The Botanist is a bar-restaurant which is fairly new in Newcastle. They take space in the old Monument Mall building, with the entrance a small side door next to Jamie’s Italian. Once you’re in, there’s stairs to climb (they also have a lift), and you’ll have to walk up a couple of flights of stairs to get to the bar. They’re numbered, I think there were 53 if I remember. Once inside the place looks really nice, and the ceiling and rest of the décor is a bit of a feature. The layout is cool, with tables and the bar in the centre, and it has a nice upstairs. They had a live band when I was there on Saturday night, who sounded pretty decent. The drinks are mostly cocktails, with a couple of other options, but this is seen as a place to grab a cocktail, so everyone in the place is ordering and drinking cocktails.

The service…What service? Calling it slow would be so much of an understatement it’s untrue.

Saturday night is of course a busy night, that’s to be said in most bars in Newcastle. This was a reasonably busy Saturday night, but it was not extraordinarily busy, just your average Saturday night bar busy. We were there for around 20 minutes, did not get served, and then left. When you say a bar is busy you’re probably thinking that the bar is packed and it’s 6 or 7 deep of people, with lots of movement. This is not what busy means at The Botanist. I was at the front of the bar, with a person either side of me, and saw the guy next to me who was there before me get served. I stood for around 15 minutes and still did not get served. That’s not too unusual, but what’s unusual is that in that time the guy standing next to me STILL had not got his drinks! The barman who was in front of me was making cocktails, but I have no idea where they were actually going, because nobody at the bar seemed to be moving!

This was the most bizarre experience at a bar I have seen. The bar staff seemed to be making drinks (3 or 4 serving), they looked like they were busy working, but looking around nobody seemed to be moving away from the bar and nobody was drinking. I actually have no idea what to make of it. I go to so many places which do cocktails; Jalou, Revolution, Alvinos, Browns…They all take a little time, but it’s nothing like The Botanist! It’s genuinely the longest I have been at a bar and nobody at the bar actually got a drink! I let my mate stand where I was for 5 or 10 minutes, we still didn’t get served, the guy who I was standing next to STILL didn’t have his drinks, so we left.

If you want to go to the Botanist because of the cool décor my advice would be go, take a couple of pictures, then leave and go somewhere else for a drink. Since I didn’t get a drink I can’t tell you what they were like, other than expensive, which is not a surprise for a place like this, and would not be so appalling if you were able to actually get one of their expensive drinks.

You can pay a visit to their website here, it’s much better than wasting your time visiting it in person. Maybe you can order drinks a few weeks in advance, or B.Y.O.M (Bring Your Own Mojito). Needless to say I’ll not be hurrying back.

On a positive note I now have a new found respect for the other bars which I thought took their sweet time, but they’re actually quite rapid. Check out my other Newcastle Bar Reviews here.

Michael

The friend zone, what a place to be. What can I say about the friend zone?

It’s not a place you want to visit too often that’s for sure, but if you happen to not be a douche and you’re actually a nice guy, it’s a place which you can find yourself in a fair bit.

Read More

Hey!

How’s you weekend been? Mine has been a pretty good one!

It was the Grand National yesterday, did you have a bet? I’m not really a betting man, I know that betting has been getting really popular in the last year or two because of apps and cash out etc. but I have never really been interested in betting. I always say I only bet 3 times a year; The Soccer AM Dance Off (which was not on this year!), The Grand National and Eurovision. It’s became my tradition to have bets on these three events, ever since I was a kid we always bet on the Grand National, it’s pretty much a tradition for so many people, if you ever have a bet, it’s going to be on that. I always bet on a couple of horses, it makes it more interesting when you’re watching the race, there’s nothing worse than it being boring and never hearing your horse’s name, or it falling at the first fence. This year I won! I usually do well, but one of the horses I backed was the winner, Rule The World, obviously named after me ruling the world 😉 It was a massive 50/1 so I have been on cloud 9 since yesterday when I won, it’s true what they say, money won is twice as sweet as money earned 😛

Last night I went out in Newcastle with my friends, and it was a good night. We hit the usual spots including Browns and Alvinos, and watched the boxing in The Monkey Bar which was really good. I managed to watch the George Groves fight which he won, then straight after the main event, Anthony Joshua who won in a knockout in the 2nd round.

Last night I wore some Spring suede style, one of my favourite jumpers from GANT, a cable knit, my suede jacket from Mango, PRPS Selvedge denim jeans, Kurt Geiger shoes, and a white Mango shirt.

I still have loads of Rekorderlig left, so I might have to have one or two of them tonight, and watch a film later on. But first, football 😛

Have a great Sunday 🙂