I can't believe I've already been back to Singapore a month since my trip to Ibiza!! I dont know where the hell this year has gone. It's gone by sooo soooo quickly. I was actually writing the Hanover writeup from my mom's place in Holland a few days before my trip out to the lovely spanish island...and now a month later I'm back here.......damn...!!
I was up to visit my mom and spend some time with the family before I made my way down to the legendary Ibiza!! =) I've always wanted to go to Ibiza. I remember listening to that annoying song by "The Vengaboys - We're going to Ibiza". I actually fucking thought they were singing..."Oh we're going to Eat Pizza." ...Then my sis said...it's "IBIZA!!!!! Not Eat Pizza!!".... DUUUUUHHHHHH!!!!!
Then the famous english movie about Ibiza hit the stores. "Kevin & Perry Go Large!!" A real classic movie!! And it showed some scenes of Ibiza's party scene and some of the superclubs! It was all just CRAZY. Nothing like what I've ever seen and I was just blown away! I remember thinking..."Now THAT is a party!"
So on Sat 25th Sept, I flew on my own from Dusseldorf,Germany which was the next town an hour away from my mom's place in Holland. When I was sitting at my gate at the airport waiting for my flight, I kinda started to notice that the majority of people boarding my flight was uhmmmmmmm about 60 or 70years old?!?!? I was actually begining to think to myself..."Am I on the right flight??????" I thought Ibiza was supposed to be PARTY ISLAND!! I was expecting people already drunk and singing and being CRAZY even before getting on the plane!! haha
Sun was setting over Ibiza airport, the sun goes in and the party begins!!!
When I arrived at the airport. Another flight landed too. And then came the reaaaaaaaallll party people!! I think majority were italians on that flight....how did I know...Big sunglasses,tanned,hair all oiled up like they swam to ibiza?!....and the ultimate give-a-way! They were talking with their hands!!! hahahah
So I checked into my hotel up in Talamanca. A more quiet area with a nice beach away from the busy Ibiza town and all. Not even sure WHY I had one??? Half the time in the day you were out on the beach. And at night you were partying til the early or late hours of the morning!! I freshened up and went straight out to meet one of the very few YOUNG ppl on my flight. He knew a couple of ppl who worked in Ibiza so he said he'll show me around for the night since I was alone and all my other mates were only arriving the next day.
So me and Sascha and his mate Nikki walked around Ibiza town and went to check out some bars and stuff. The VIBE and the ATMOSPHERE was just so amazing! Think everyone there is just on holiday and knows that it's all about partying thats why it's got such a cool vibe. I mean it was exactly what every one tells me...."how amazing it was....and beautiful the island was....beautiful beaches...people....amazing clubs...and how the music was fantasitc....and EXPENSIVE!"........ One drink say a Vodka cranberry was 15 - 20EUROS!!!!!! A beer was 12 - 15euros......and water was 10 - 12euros!!??!? MENTAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!
Chiringito on Es Cavellet. Food looked REALLY good there!So I checked into my hotel up in Talamanca. A more quiet area with a nice beach away from the busy Ibiza town and all. Not even sure WHY I had one??? Half the time in the day you were out on the beach. And at night you were partying til the early or late hours of the morning!! I freshened up and went straight out to meet one of the very few YOUNG ppl on my flight. He knew a couple of ppl who worked in Ibiza so he said he'll show me around for the night since I was alone and all my other mates were only arriving the next day.
So me and Sascha and his mate Nikki walked around Ibiza town and went to check out some bars and stuff. The VIBE and the ATMOSPHERE was just so amazing! Think everyone there is just on holiday and knows that it's all about partying thats why it's got such a cool vibe. I mean it was exactly what every one tells me...."how amazing it was....and beautiful the island was....beautiful beaches...people....amazing clubs...and how the music was fantasitc....and EXPENSIVE!"........ One drink say a Vodka cranberry was 15 - 20EUROS!!!!!! A beer was 12 - 15euros......and water was 10 - 12euros!!??!? MENTAALLLLLLLLLL!!!!
Had a fairly quiet night as I knew the next few nights ahead when my mates arrive would be a LONG few days and nights! haha Early that morning, my friend Stefan from Hannover arrived early that morning and we met up with a whole bunch of other people from the Cocoon label and we ended up at Es Cavellet (pronounced "S CA-VA-EY!")
By the way this was a GAY and NUDIST beach!?! No Im not GAY...nor am I a NUDIST!?! It's somthing very strange when you come from Asia...topless I can still deal with but nude...hmmmmm......It's not always a pretty picture lets just say!! I mean there were some pretty hot women topless/nude and also some fit guys letting it all hang loose. But then again majority are some really big fat older couples. No offense we'll prolly be like that when we get alot older but...yeah I wouldn't wanna be parading around nude like that.
After a whole day of sitting at the beach around naked people, we decided to go home get changed and head out for dinner and see where the night takes us. We hit the famous Pacha after dinner at about midnight as there was a Cadenza party going on that night and all the guys were like,"No no...we won't have a late one...coz Monday is gonna be a big night with Cocoon Party closing and all that".......Uhmmm well lets just say we all rocked home about 4 or 5 in the morning...thats early for Ibiza...but LATE considering everyone was planning to have just ONE drink! hahah! Pacha reminded me alot like Zouk in Singapore. I remember reading once that the owner of Zouk was a huge Pacha fan and modelled Zouk on Pacha infrastructure.
Michel Cleis warming the night up at Candenza night at Pacha,Ibiza!
Seafood Paelllaaa!! Yummm yummmmm!!!
By the way this was a GAY and NUDIST beach!?! No Im not GAY...nor am I a NUDIST!?! It's somthing very strange when you come from Asia...topless I can still deal with but nude...hmmmmm......It's not always a pretty picture lets just say!! I mean there were some pretty hot women topless/nude and also some fit guys letting it all hang loose. But then again majority are some really big fat older couples. No offense we'll prolly be like that when we get alot older but...yeah I wouldn't wanna be parading around nude like that.
After a whole day of sitting at the beach around naked people, we decided to go home get changed and head out for dinner and see where the night takes us. We hit the famous Pacha after dinner at about midnight as there was a Cadenza party going on that night and all the guys were like,"No no...we won't have a late one...coz Monday is gonna be a big night with Cocoon Party closing and all that".......Uhmmm well lets just say we all rocked home about 4 or 5 in the morning...thats early for Ibiza...but LATE considering everyone was planning to have just ONE drink! hahah! Pacha reminded me alot like Zouk in Singapore. I remember reading once that the owner of Zouk was a huge Pacha fan and modelled Zouk on Pacha infrastructure.
Michel Cleis warming the night up at Candenza night at Pacha,Ibiza!
After a late night, its Monday 8am and I recieve a call from my friend, Harbi from Germany, he had just arrived to party and was wondering where my hotel was and all. He heard I was there with the gang and didn't wanna miss out on the fun!! haha How cool is that, "Im going to Ibiza over the weekend to catch up with a friend!" haha.... For me was more like I flew half way around the world!!....Some of the guys from Hannover were there too and they were like," WHAT THE HELL YOU DOING IN IBIZA!??!" haha
I spent most of the day with Harbi just walking around and chilling on the beautiful beaches, didn't really do that much as we knew it was gonna be a LOOONGGGG night and needed to conserve our energy! All our other mates were at the Gay & Nudist beach again and I had enough images of old naked people to last me the trip...so didn't need anymore!! =) haha Come night we went for dinner nearby our hotel and had some amazing Spanish Tapas!! Lambchops...Mussels in a tomato based sauce....fried calamari....and my all time favourite, PAEELLLLAAA!! After stuffing our faces with amazing food we set off on our amazing clubbing experience!!!!
I spent most of the day with Harbi just walking around and chilling on the beautiful beaches, didn't really do that much as we knew it was gonna be a LOOONGGGG night and needed to conserve our energy! All our other mates were at the Gay & Nudist beach again and I had enough images of old naked people to last me the trip...so didn't need anymore!! =) haha Come night we went for dinner nearby our hotel and had some amazing Spanish Tapas!! Lambchops...Mussels in a tomato based sauce....fried calamari....and my all time favourite, PAEELLLLAAA!! After stuffing our faces with amazing food we set off on our amazing clubbing experience!!!!
Seafood Paelllaaa!! Yummm yummmmm!!!
First up on the checklist was to hit the notorious DC10 for the Circo Loco party!!! I've heard soooo many stories about this legendary club!! All my DJ friends or friends in Europe always tell me soooo much about this place. And true to their words....DC10 was just MENTAAAAAAALL!!! It was 10pm on a Monday when we got there and it was RAMMMMED with people and the music was just mindblowing!!! Prolly one of the BEST sets or music I've heard in a LOOOOOONNGGGG time!! Definetly one of my FAVOURITE clubs in the world without a doubt!!!
Flyer for DC10's Circo Loco!! Entrance to prolly one of the BEST clubs in the world I have to say!
DC10 has a reaaaallly coool vibe to it. It has had a VERY notorious history on Ibiza!! I remember walking into the club and the ENTRANCE was soooooo tiny and it was really hard to get in!! After squeezing through the entrance, you are in the mainroom and the music was just soooo deep yet...pumping....the sound going through your body. Every bleep and beep and drum you can really feel it going through you. Heading out into the terrace of DC10 it was just as crazy....rammed with people!! You had to be there EARLY to get a good spot right upfront!! The music was light,funky and bouncy....and it just made people wanna dance!!!
(L - R) Mainroom music was just UNREAL one of the best minimal sets I've heard in a LOONGGGG time!!! DC10 Terrace was RAMMED with people and the music was just really uplifting.
We left DC10 close to 1am and headed to the main event of Ibiza that night. I think it was prolly the party that EVERYONE was talking about. Monday night at Amnesia, Cocoon's Closing Party!! All my german mates were at the dinner with the organizers of the party so we met up outside Amnesia and went in together.
From outside, Amnesia just looks like any other big club...but when I got in I was like...WOAH!!...I mean it was just frikkin HUGE!!!!!!
(L- R) Sven Vath owner of the Cocoon label rocking the mainroom dancefloor!!
The terrace of Amnesia which was just HUGE!! Wait til you see it in the day!!!
This is 11am on a Tuesday morning!!! MADNESSS!!!
The terrace of Amnesia which was just HUGE!! Wait til you see it in the day!!!
When you got in to Amnesia it was like.....HOLY SHIT THIS PLACE IS HUGE!!! I mean really it's just clubbing on a MASSSIVE scale!! The place was slowly starting to fill up and by 2am the place was RAMMED and pumping!! I mean it was just amazing!! The vibe and atmosphere in the club was just unlike no other I've ever experienced!!!! I mean just look at the pictures it was just packed with people dancing,sweating,grooving and just having a good time!!! And then when you think it couldn't get more AMAZING then this. Daylight slowly starts to break into the Terrace over the clear rooftop and as it gets brighter and brighter.....you see THIS!!!
This is 11am on a Tuesday morning!!! MADNESSS!!!
People dripping with sweat, dancing away....everyone there just loving it and enjoying the moment!!!!! I suddenly think to myself......"THIS is what it's all about!! I'm in IBIZA!! HELLLL F@#$KING YEAH!!"...I get the goosebumps and I start dancing again like crazy even tho I was soooooo tired from the long night!! Ahhhh man it was just something soooo sooooo special!!!!
Taken from next to the DJ console, Sven Vath the founder of Cocoon , ends the night and season of Cocoon's Party Animals in Ibiza!! SPECTACULAR!!!
It's Tuesday afternoon 12pm Me, Stefan and Harbi stand in the carpark waiting for all the guys from Cocoon to decide what they are doing before we head to the Cocoon After Party at Ushuaia (Ushu-aya) which was happening pretty much in an hour or so!! Note that we have been partying since Monday night 10pm!!! We were EXHAUSTED!! But that didn't stop the party animals!!
We went back to the hotel....got freshened up....a change of clothes and out we went to Ushuaia!! it was 3pm and the warm up DJ was playing some AMAZING deeep deeeeeeeeeep minimal techno tech house.....Just warm beats with bleeps and tingles....nothing too crazy!!! I think that WARM UP DJs often have such a hard job and people don't realize it but are there only to see the GUEST DJ. Warm up DJs are what keeps people at the party or makes them leave....they can't play too boring...or too hard...it has to be JUST PERFECT!!.... They kinda set the way the night is going!! And the way this guy was building it up....it was gonna be a hell of an afternoon/night on the beach!!!!!
Ushuaia Beach Club! Another amazing ibiza moment as you sit on the beach and watch people dance to some amazing music!
We went back to the hotel....got freshened up....a change of clothes and out we went to Ushuaia!! it was 3pm and the warm up DJ was playing some AMAZING deeep deeeeeeeeeep minimal techno tech house.....Just warm beats with bleeps and tingles....nothing too crazy!!! I think that WARM UP DJs often have such a hard job and people don't realize it but are there only to see the GUEST DJ. Warm up DJs are what keeps people at the party or makes them leave....they can't play too boring...or too hard...it has to be JUST PERFECT!!.... They kinda set the way the night is going!! And the way this guy was building it up....it was gonna be a hell of an afternoon/night on the beach!!!!!
Ushuaia Beach Club! Another amazing ibiza moment as you sit on the beach and watch people dance to some amazing music!
It was just realllly such an incredible day. Just sitting on the sofa beds at Ushuaia as the deep minimal and tech house music just gets you grooving and you're chatting to random people and telling them, "I'm from SINGAPORE." It never fails to amaze people!! haha =) Then the legendary Sven Vath comes takes over from the warm up DJ and right away you can sense that people know it's gonna get crazy now!! Sven play's some tracks that even I was so surprised he would play....but it really just shows how versatile he is as a DJ and not just sticking to one genre or sound.
Time flies sooooo fast in Ibiza and before you know it, 8 hours past and Sven is still going on and I was DONE!!! I was WRECKEDDDDD!!!.. After all the partying and dancing the body needed to have a rest!! I staggered home.....My body feeling like I've just done a whole 5 rounds with the current muaythai champ Yodsaenklai?!!? Sheesh!! I was HURTING!!!
Woke up around 9am on Weds morning. You would have thought I would be asleep the whole week??! But I got about 8 - 10hours and I felt pretty good actually. Got up and on my way to breakfast at the hotel...and another day of just hanging out and lazzzzzing around by the beach!! =) Seriously....this was HEAVEN for me. Amazing dance music......some seriously crazy parties..... amazing people/friends.... really I wish I didn't have to leave the next morning =(
After dinner with the guys from Cocoon, I got in the car with the boys and one of my friends points out to me,"Do you know Butch? Maybe you can bring him to Singapore to play next time." I was like,"Yeah of course I've heard of Butch...I have a few tracks from him. Great producer!" So we started to chat and all that. Butch told me he was in Ibiza to pick up an Award for Track of the year in Ibiza 2010!! A pretty biiiiig award if you ask me!!
We all arrived at Space and it was Kehakuma nights on a Weds in Space. This was also a closing party for Kehakuma and the line up for the night was nothing short of SPECTACULAR!!! I was sooooo sooooo glad I got to go to this party!! It's almost like every favourite DJ in one night!! But like what my buddy Stefan said,"Every night and every where is an amazing line up!!!" Which is true....you end up wanting to go to EVERY PARTY!! which means....NO SLEEP....and spending a TRUCK load of money!! hahah
When we got in, it was still fairly early, and it was slowly beginning to get busy. We walked into the mainroom and M.A.N.D.Y were already banging out some big room tracks. Space was cool...but it was missing something?.......I was expecting something reaaaaallly amazing...coz they used to do these club night here in Singapore associated with Space....and you had this great expectation of the place...and to be honest....it was.......OK.. haha sorry!!
Maybe I was tired..or just not in the mood yet...???...But I think after Amnesia and seeing how amazing it was that night...really that was hard to top! Like one of my friends Frank who was with me said,"There's nothing SPECIAL about it anymore...it just feels like a club and it could be anywhere in the world...doesn't have that Ibiza feel to it!!"..But he did say, before they put the roof over the terrace area in Space...the Sundays at Space parties were legendary!
Time flies sooooo fast in Ibiza and before you know it, 8 hours past and Sven is still going on and I was DONE!!! I was WRECKEDDDDD!!!.. After all the partying and dancing the body needed to have a rest!! I staggered home.....My body feeling like I've just done a whole 5 rounds with the current muaythai champ Yodsaenklai?!!? Sheesh!! I was HURTING!!!
Woke up around 9am on Weds morning. You would have thought I would be asleep the whole week??! But I got about 8 - 10hours and I felt pretty good actually. Got up and on my way to breakfast at the hotel...and another day of just hanging out and lazzzzzing around by the beach!! =) Seriously....this was HEAVEN for me. Amazing dance music......some seriously crazy parties..... amazing people/friends.... really I wish I didn't have to leave the next morning =(
After dinner with the guys from Cocoon, I got in the car with the boys and one of my friends points out to me,"Do you know Butch? Maybe you can bring him to Singapore to play next time." I was like,"Yeah of course I've heard of Butch...I have a few tracks from him. Great producer!" So we started to chat and all that. Butch told me he was in Ibiza to pick up an Award for Track of the year in Ibiza 2010!! A pretty biiiiig award if you ask me!!
This is the track that won him the award. It's sooo soooo funky and a totally differen side to the usual Butch productions and tracks. Again....a great DJ/producer showing versatility....not sticking to one genre/sound.
Booka Shade later on in the evening playing some realllly pumping music!!! Look forward to seeing them at Zoukout 2010
Maybe I was tired..or just not in the mood yet...???...But I think after Amnesia and seeing how amazing it was that night...really that was hard to top! Like one of my friends Frank who was with me said,"There's nothing SPECIAL about it anymore...it just feels like a club and it could be anywhere in the world...doesn't have that Ibiza feel to it!!"..But he did say, before they put the roof over the terrace area in Space...the Sundays at Space parties were legendary!
We went back into the Terrace area of Space and Nick Curly was opening the night and doing the warm up and wow he serioulsy did an amaaazzzing job warming up the night. Like I said, warm up DJs are soo under appreciated. While standing around chatting and dancing....Nick Curly suddenly drops Butch's track, "No Worries". I was like...."HOW FRIKKING COOL IS THAT!" standing next to the guy who produced this track!!!! And to see the crowd absolutely going crazy at the track was just soooooo cool!!! Congrats on winning the track of the year Butch you deserve it!!! A very special and memorable moment for me!
The terrace room filled up preeetttty quickly!! And Nick Curly really building the night up soooo perfectly!!
Next up was Radio Slave another talented producer/remixer/DJ that I really like. He took it up a notch and realllly rocked the dancefloor leaving everyone begging for more!! And more they got!!! Next up was Guy Gerber & Seth Troxler who were doing a back 2 back set. Usually back 2 back means one DJ plays 1 or 2 tracks...and then the other DJ plays another 1 or 2...... it sounds simple...but the DJs really gotta compliment each others style...sound..vibe. When done right, it is really amazing!!!! We were all actually kinda curious how the two of them would sound back 2 back....but I gotta admit......... it was pretty fucking spectacular!!!!!
Seth Troxler & Guy Gerber back 2 back .....MAGICAL!!!
I seriously think this was the most amazing set I've seen or heard in a LONG LONGGGGG time!! Guy Gerber playing some of his tracks.....adding sounds....loops....beats...vocals over certain tracks when Seth plays....Seth doing the same and the two of them just keeping the night and the flow soooooo perfect. It just got higher and higher....and people were just screaming for more!! From a DJ point of view...it was really reallly just amazing what they were doing. It was only me and Harbi left from our group and we both were just dancing and dancing and dancing. Guy Gerber without a doubt is one of my favourite DJs. And together with Seth Troxler..........the night was just MAGICAL!!!! I was blown away!!!
As I mentioned......time flies in Ibiza! 5 days have passed and next thing I know it is 6am!!! Me and Harbi both had a flight to catch at 9am!!!! We had to exit the club quickly before everyone left and there were no taxis left!!... We rushed back to the hotel........a quick shower....packed our bags..... met up in the lobby and we were OFF to the airport feeling very very rougggghhhhhh and also very sad we had to leave the amazing island.=(
All I can say is....Ibiza is an AMAZING AMAZING place. Memories of the place are gonna last FOREVER!!! I dont think there is anything else like Ibiza! I really hope to make it back there again next year....or every year!!! =)
What I really miss about Ibiza is, the people who go there know their music, know their djs and know the scene!!!... They know what night which DJ is playing..they know what kinda sound the DJ plays. They don't go out to a club and go..."Ohhh I thought it was gonna be hip hop/retro or trance!"..... They don't go up to the console to the DJ playing techno and REQUEST for fucking HIP HOP?!?!?
It really is an island for the hardcore clubbers and electronic dance music lovers!!! Everyone there is on the same page....same frequency...... they are there to appreciate the electronic dance music scene!!
As I mentioned......time flies in Ibiza! 5 days have passed and next thing I know it is 6am!!! Me and Harbi both had a flight to catch at 9am!!!! We had to exit the club quickly before everyone left and there were no taxis left!!... We rushed back to the hotel........a quick shower....packed our bags..... met up in the lobby and we were OFF to the airport feeling very very rougggghhhhhh and also very sad we had to leave the amazing island.=(
All I can say is....Ibiza is an AMAZING AMAZING place. Memories of the place are gonna last FOREVER!!! I dont think there is anything else like Ibiza! I really hope to make it back there again next year....or every year!!! =)
What I really miss about Ibiza is, the people who go there know their music, know their djs and know the scene!!!... They know what night which DJ is playing..they know what kinda sound the DJ plays. They don't go out to a club and go..."Ohhh I thought it was gonna be hip hop/retro or trance!"..... They don't go up to the console to the DJ playing techno and REQUEST for fucking HIP HOP?!?!?
It really is an island for the hardcore clubbers and electronic dance music lovers!!! Everyone there is on the same page....same frequency...... they are there to appreciate the electronic dance music scene!!
Ibiza 2011. See you there!!!
