The Valleys ... It isn't actually like that you know

Unless you've been living under a rock or the middle of a forest for the last few years then you've definitely heard of the abundance of so called reality television series that have been hitting the headlines, from The Only Way is Essex to Geordie and Jersey Shore its been pretty hard to avoid these headline grabbing shows.

Last week yet another of these shows burst onto our screens in the shape of the MTV show The Valleys, and all I can say is that I was shocked and disgusted by what I saw on my screen.

As someone who comes from the valleys of South Wales I sat and watched in horror as a group of fame hungry wannabes sauntered their way onto the screen declaring that they were going to be the next big thing.

Like I said, as someone who comes from the valleys I just wanted to point out that we aren't all like that, some of us are trying to forge a career the hard way by making our way up from the bottom and not sticking dead fish down our swimsuits or a dead octopus on our heads.

There were a few other points about the show that really got to me, firstly most of them aren't from the valleys, if what I've read is true then some of them live about a 10 minute train journey away from Cardiff. Secondly the way that MTV has tried to make out that coming from the valleys means that you live amongst the sheep is a far cry from what it is really like. Fair enough there are sheep but getting to Cardiff isn't the long slog they've tried to make it out to be, there are regular buses and trains (we aren't from the dark ages.)

Also when the "stars" of the show made absolute fools of themselves in a Cardiff night club it really annoyed me, due to the fact that i was once denied entry to the same place for being "too drunk" despite the fact I hadn't really drunk much (but that's probably just a very personal annoyance.)

The fact that this group of people believe that by moving to Cardiff is going to kick start their media or modelling careers is also an absolute joke. The closest you're going to get to the paparazzi in Cardiff is someone capturing a load of drunken people spilling out of a nightclub or munching a kebab down chippy alley on their mobile phone.

Overall it appears that MTV are making a joke out the valleys and using these poor deluded souls as fodder for their latest reality show. After seeing it I now take back anything I've ever said about the other similar shows on TV, as it is clear they just pick a group of people that they can take advantage of.

The second episode is currently sat recorded on my Sky box and I'm debating whether to watch it as I fear I may get too angry and shout at the TV, which is never good. The show almost makes me feel like denying the fact I come from the valleys as I may be tarnished with the same brush as these people, which really drives me insane.

All I can say is that the valleys aren't really like that and all MTV has done is select a few people that will clearly act up to the camera and give them some decent ratings. But then again we may have found the new Beyonce so it's all good (is say this with utmost sarcasm.)

Bouncer brutality, is it a license to hit?

Following a recent incident that I experienced it got me thinking about the way bouncers at nightclubs act towards customers.

We all know that bouncers are there to keep the peace at a nightclub and prevent anything bad from happening such as fighting, drugs or anything worse, but some of them seem to take their role as a bouncer as an excuse to behave violently towards people because they’ll be able to get away with it.

It’s understandable that when violence at a club erupts and is shown towards them or certain customers abuse them professional standards may slip, as a certain amount of force or behaviour has to be used to defuse situations and remove people from clubs. However when it is their job to act professional they shouldn’t act in this way from the offset.

Recently I was at a nightclub enjoying myself when some random person decided to kick me, feeling a little confused about the situation my boyfriend, who hadn’t been drinking that night, decided to go and report it to the bouncers. However instead of listening to what had happened and ejecting the person who had in fact assaulted me for no reason, the bouncers took it upon themselves to eject me, my boyfriend and my friend from the nightclub. They used around seven or eight bouncers to remove three people, who up until that point in the night had been enjoying themselves dancing and talking. The incident also left us with bruises on our arms and marks on our necks.

Now this situation doesn’t seem to be exclusive to this club or to me as a recent report in Durham found that between October 2011 and February 2012 there had been 25 incidents reported surrounding the bouncers at the Durham One bar. Within these complaints eight people had reported the force used by bouncers, one reported being punched in the face, one person said they were pushed as they were trying to get in and cracked their head and another person even reported a broken leg. Police however couldn’t do anything surrounding many of these claims due to the lack of CCTV evidence.

Although I can’t vouch for these claims and I am completely unaware of their validity, you can see that where bouncers tend to use the excuse that professional standards slip slightly due to certain incidents, they appear to just treat everyone the same without asking questions.

Recently the fly on the wall television show Bouncers, based in Newport South Wales showed the dislike that many of the bouncers in the area showed towards customers. Yes there were people fighting and appearing to abuse door staff, but that didn’t justify the way that everyone was lumbered into the same category. This being that they were all troublemakers due to them having a drink.

I would appear that yes sometimes bouncers are put in a tricky predicament, but that doesn’t automatically give them a license to hit or assume that everyone is the same. If allegations against bouncers were taken more seriously then maybe this type of behaviour would calm down and they’d realise that not everyone is a violent drunk, and maybe people would find a newfound respect for the club door staff.

Me, Wales and a drama fuelled weekend ...

Well this weekend I had a rather eventful trip back to South Wales for a friends birthday and to visit my family.

The weekend was fuelled with too much alcohol, overpriced clubs/drinks, drama, a lack of sleep and crazy taxi drivers.

So Friday was when it all began when me and my boyfriend left for South Wales at 6am in order to arrive early. So after travelling for two and a half hours and feeling as though someone had sucked all the moisture out of my eyes we finally arrived in good old Newport, and surprise surprise it was raining (nothing new there). This however was not the end of the travelling as we were now required to get on the bus, now I hate the bus due to it stopping so much and being filled with people who either:

A) Smell.

B) Sit next to you even when the bus is completely empty.

So after finally arriving in Abercarn, I returned to my parents house feeling sick so therefore couldn't eat, which is something that annoys me at the best of times and annoys me even more when there's a cooked breakfast awaiting. I ate it later.

So skip forward a few hours and it was time to go out, this was after the incident of trying to dry my hair with a hot brush as my sister had taken the only hair dryer to Ibiza. Seriously who has one hair dryer in a house with three girls?

So arriving in town it was all going well, everyone was drunk, there was some drama that I stayed out of considering it had nothing to do with me, it's all ok now though! But then of course my stupid wisdom tooth decided it wanted to make another attempt to escape into my mouth and rip face/head/jaw apart ... Therefore at around 2am I left, and this was after purchasing a bottle of wine, so in our best Bonnie and Clyde (slight exaggeration) attempt me and my boyfriend smuggled it out. I have since discovered that he can apparently fit anything into his jeans ... Always a good quality in a person during a night out.

So yeah that was all fine and then it came to Saturday, and after waking up at half 8 and having minimal sleep me and the boyfriend ended up going up the pub with my auntie ... Always a wise thing to do with a lack of sleep and a trip to Cardiff in line. Seriously we should have been napping.

So at around 7 we went to my friend's house, this was after the devastating news about Amy Winehouse which had just put me into a state of mourning (it's ok I held a musical tribute the next day whilst packing).

So after a few too many glasses of wine, cocktails and shots and a little bit of drama before we left, involving me losing my wallet, only to find it in the middle of the road where I had clearly dropped whilst getting out of the car, and one piece that won't be named we finally headed off to Cardiff in a hummer limo (how exciting!!) ... Where we were told off for standing out of the roof, seriously don't make the window flip upwards if you don't want people hanging out of it!

So all was good we had a few dances and drinks and many photos, before we got charged an absurd amount of money to go to Revs, and even more absurd amount for drinks (£5 entry and £15 for a bottle of wine, which was the cheapest drink .... SHOCKING), we soon left and headed to Burger King. With another bottle of wine in my boyfriends jeans.

Now Burger King was another annoyance due to it having human faeces smeared across the men's toilets which made me want to vomit everywhere, seriously a restaurant that apparently checks its toilets every 15 minutes shouldn't have crap all over the walls! Then some nosey cow got involved in my conversation saying she didn't want to hear us talking, even though she had been listening for the last half hour. This obviously resulted in a Nikki Graham-esque "who is she?" when she refused to butt out. She was soon quiet though after she was quite loudly told to "GO AWAY."

So after this we finally got into a taxi, which was half hour late ... Typical.

Now when we got dropped off was when it all got a bit dramatic and dangerous ... After the driver shouted numerous times when I asked him to drop me off at a certain point, claiming he wouldn't do it, even though this taxi cost £80 and he was half hour late, I asked for his licence number and taxi number, which he told me was on the front of the bus and I could get it once we stopped.

So after stopping and having a bit of a to do with another passenger, I went around to get the number, where the taxi driver attempted to run me over, not once, not twice ... But THREE times! All because I wanted his number to make a complaint.

Now if he had given it to me when I asked, which he is required to do by law then everything would have been find, I would gone home passed out and then gone for Sunday lunch. But now his three attempts to run me over had obviously left me completely shook up and petrified, so the police were called.

Now the police came the next day and all has been resolved and hopefully the taxi driver with excellent people skills will not being driving his taxi much longer.

Me - 1

Taxi driver - 0

But yeah that was my weekend!

Laters!!! 

Welcome to South Wales

Originally posted on www.the-experts.co.uk

South Wales has a lot to offer for anyone considering spending the weekend in Wales or longer. Whether it's a short trip or an extended holiday, South Wales has a lot to offer, and the positives definitely outweigh the negatives.

South Wales has a lot to offer and one thing that cannot be ignored is its beautiful scenery. From fields that stretch on for miles and miles full of wildlife to the huge Welsh hills, it can definitely be said that Wales is beautiful. You can capitalise on these beautiful landscapes by visiting places such as Caldicot Castle & Country Park with its medieval castle and 55 acres of parkland, gardens and grounds, which is a sure fire hit for any countryside lover. There are also plenty of places in Wales for the family (if you are holidaying with your family) and many of them are free, such as St. Fagans National History Museum where the whole family can experience centuries of Welsh history in acres of beautiful land. There's a Big Pit: National Coal Museum where you will be taken 300 feet under ground for a tour of real mining conditions. These are just two of the many great things Wales tourism has to offer. If this isn't really your thing, South Wales is also the home to two huge shopping cities, Cardiff, the Welsh capital and Newport. Both cities have just undergone huge revamps and are homes to some of the best High Street fashion retailers, vintage/charity shops and restaurants from around the world. A must visit for anyone spending their holidays in Wales.

The main negative about South Wales is the weather. If the weather is nice, then you will have an absolutely amazing time, but if it's bad, then you could possibly have the worst time of your life. However, as we all know, this can happen anywhere in the world. If you are planning on visiting Cardiff, remember that it does have a huge student population and binge drinking culture which can get a little out of hand. This is true of many major cities, so don't let it put you off. So, when you are thinking of your next holidays, why not consider Welsh holidays?