03/04/2008 Singapore:
Arrived in Singapore for my first stop on a two week tour of Asia very jet lagged after a long flight from London. Walking out into the heat the first time always gets me, it is just like opening an oven door, so humid as well, I love it! Actually, I love Asia full stop, the people, the vibe, the scenery and lets not mention the food, my favourite food on the planet!! There goes my waistline for the next two weeks!
As usual with all big Asian hotels, it is stunning. We, and by we I mean my boyfriend James and I, head to the room to freshen up then head off to have a little look around and find something to eat. We find a nice place by a river and stuff our faces full of local fish and rice, delicious. I am not gigging that evening so we get an early night.
Next day we decide to do a bit of sightseeing, that’s the great thing about touring you actually get a chance to see the countries you visit even if it is only a day or two. Most weekends I see the airport and the club and that’s it. I have been to Singapore a few times but James had not, so we head off in the searing heat to see what’s going on. We don’t last long, it is roasting, we seek refuge in a Buddhist temple which is beautiful, it is decorated with hundreds of mini Buddha’s, flowers and a lush garden in the centre, so we hang out there for a while.
That evening we are picked up around 1am to go to the club, I am playing at Ministry of Sound. I usually play at Zouk in Singapore so I wasn’t sure what to expect this time. The club was a in a nice location, next to loads of bars and other clubs, the venue looked great. It was on 2 floors with about 5 rooms. They had a festival just the day before so they told me the club may not be as busy, but it filled up slowly and by the time I went on it was rocking, the sound system was excellent as with all Asian clubs, I wish all venue owners took so much care over their systems as they do over there.
Shanghai:
Next morning we are up very early to catch a flight to Shanghai. Aarrgghhh… nothing worse than having to travel early after late night. Thank God for business class and flat beds! 6 hours later we arrive in Shanghai feeling slightly better than when we left. I am playing that night so it’s straight to the hotel to chill.
 Around 2am we are picked up and head to Attica, the club is in a tall building with the most amazing view over the city and I must say the sound system is probably one of the best I have heard, EVER!! Once I am behind the booth I do not want to move, it is a dream to mix on and I just go for it, I usually play 2 hours but I play 3 on this night. The crowd is very mixed, some people in suits and party dresses they don’t look like hard core clubbers to me, but to my surprise they are loving it and get down to some serious dancing, when I take it harder and more techno edged they love it even more, I am having a ball and to my chagrin the 3 hours is over in no time. I go to bed happy.
The next couple of days I have off so James and I go sight seeing in search of bargains and bootlegs but we change our minds and leave the rip offs behind. The language barrier in China is a big problem but very funny at the same time, James and I hunt down a place to eat off the beaten track and walk into a rather strange place where everyone stares at us, well, me probably. I find I am attracting a lot of attention in China which makes me a little edgy. Anyway somehow we manage to order some food but we have no idea what it is, it comes and it is actually delicious. The staff stand around and stare while we eat.
Bangkok:
Next stop is Bangkok. I feel very at home here. I love Thailand and have been going nearly every year for 17 years, last time I went I did a detox, I spent a week not eating anything and having 2 colonics a day!! You feel amazing afterward I highly recommend it.
After a 4 hour delay in Shanghai airport, a fierce migraine and a dodgy curry we arrive in Bangkok. Bangkok is hot, steamy and BUSY. I thought it couldn’t get any busier but the traffic seems to have doubled in the last year, everyone seems to be racing around, buying, selling, shopping.
Bed is the venue I am playing at it is a bar/club, when we arrive it seems very bright and they have a very cheesy house cd playing I am mortified. I am cornered by a camera crew and do a lengthy interview with some really dodgy questions, there is nothing worse than being asked for the millionth time, “what is it like being a female dj” aaaahhhhhhh……I hate that question, it is ridiculous. I ask them to turn the lights down, I get on the decks turn the volume up and slam on a fierce new Jamie Jones remix, the mostly European crowd run onto the dancefloor hands in the air, going for it. I go into a really deep house/ minimal set then into some tech house, they are loving it, the sound system has a good bottom end so I am dancing away myself and really enjoying it.
I carry on playing till way after closing time and head back to hotel totally knackered. It’s funny because often you can be playing and feel fine and awake and as soon as you finish you realise how tired you are. The next day we spend shopping eating, a trip boat trip along the river past the royal palace and a fabulous foot massage for about £3, genius.
Seoul:
Another long flight and we arrive to the freezing cold, underdressed I may add. Seoul is quite the opposite of Thailand and the vibe is very calm. Both James and I are exhausted, it’s been a week of long flights and very late nights. We get to the hotel in the morning and stay there all day in bed vegging out and sleeping. In the evening we are taken to a Korean bbq place, this is one of the best meals I have ever had, the meat is divine. With my stomach full I am ready to go to work.
Seoul has not really got a scene as such so it’s always tricky playing to these kinds of crowds they can either love it or hate it. I am taken up to car park then shown into a dark room with decks set up, they tell me to get my first record ready, I am totally confused and they are not explaining clearly what is going on, anyway before I know it I am being lowered down, the dark room I am in is actually the dj booth, as I am being lowered the crowd slowly comes into view, I feel like bleedin’ Madonna, there are lasers everywhere and the crowd go nuts I slam on my first track and it’s going mental, all a bit too over the top for my liking but fun never-the-less.
Tokyo:
Tokyo is one of my favourite cities in the world. It is all about extremes, new meets old. I love Japanese food and the whole culture. It was my fourth time to Tokyo so I feel I know the place. I always stay in Shibuya which is the centre where all the good shops are, it’s manic, so many people, it’s were all the schoolgirls and kids hang out, all dressed in their various outfits, it’s amusing to see. I feel like a giant over there though, nothing in the shops fits me, they laugh when I ask then for a size 41 shoe - they only go up to 38!
I have a couple of friends in Tokyo so I put them on the list and arranged to meet them at the club. We arrived in Tokyo around 4pm and I was due to play at 6pm as it was an afterhours, I was exhausted and had to really get it together to go and do my job.
Womb in Tokyo has been going for ages, it is awesome, a proper club, one huge dark room with a killer sound system. I was really excited to be playing, my Japanese mates were all down the front screaming and the crowd were very up for it. It was so dark you couldn’t actually see the crowd which I quite liked, I got into my groove and it was over really quickly, I fell into bed straight after.
 This was the final stop so we had two more days to enjoy Tokyo. To say we shopped till we dropped is an understatement. You can get such cool stuff over there. I got the latest Bose speakers to use with my lap top - they won’t be out in UK for ages they say. My friend took us to an amazing restaurant where we had a really interesting selection of food, we over ordered and made real pigs of ourselves.
The next night the promoter arranged for us to go the best sushi place in town, we had a private room booked all to ourselves. There was no menu, the sushi chef just comes in and says what he thinks we would like then just keeps bringing dish after dish. It was the most delicious, amazing sushi I have ever tasted, the difference was so huge from other food I had tasted in the past.
So with that flavour lingering in our mouths the next day we boarded the plane home. All in all an enjoyable trip, very tiring but well worth it. Words: Smokin Jo
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