The Opening Ceremony

Spectacular. Probably the only word to describe the Opening Ceremony. You all would have seen the pictures - highlights for me, the Birds Nest created in people, the drumming lights at the beginning and the national outfit of Hungary. I've searched high and low for a picture but it seems event the Budapest Times is too embarrassed to show it.

I spent the first part of the night in the room with Tom (thanks for all the useful suggestions for conversation topics, turns out he really opened up - told me of his dismay at the young men of today and how image conscious they are and his respect for ancient Chinese culture). It may have been the fact I had to do his make-up as well as produce the segment, must have a soft touch. Below us, they bused in hundreds of thousands of people to watch the ceremony. With the top price of a ticket $900 dollars or three months wage, many people had to watch from surrounding areas.



Watched the countdown and fireworks from Pangu Plaza, overlooking the Olympic Stadium. Bill Gates has a 35 million dollar apartment in the same building (he didn't offer us his TV to watch the rest)





Then i tried to get back into the Olympic green, very tight security and had to go through mag and bag at every point, not sure what mag stands for but basically you have to scan your pass, scan your bag, scan yourself and then take a sip from every bottle in your bag and take a photo with your camera to prove it's not a detonation device - here's the photo I took.



I was lucky to get one of the best seats in the house for watch the rest of the ceremony - just like everyone else on TV