Back from Sri Lanka! And despite the greatness of that holiday, it is still lovely to be home, though new terrorist attacks wasn't exactly the homecoming present I had expected. Jesus, can't they leave us alone? I've got BBC News up, and at the moment they say it's a 'serious incident' yet the casualties are low, so there's a small mercy. The transport system has been ballsed up, obviously, so there's still going to be a load of worried people with friends/relatives stranded in the capital.

Anyway, it'll take more than terrorist attacks to make me shut up about how FANTASTIC the last eleven days were. Starting on 10th July, with our little trek down to Cardiff to see REM.

Actually, that was a quite a while ago now, so I don't really recall it too well as any clear thoughts have been shunted aside by the word AMAZING in large and sparkly letters. I'll put what I remember.

Preconcert happiness- as we pulled into the Park & Ride, (those huge LED signs on the motorway were advertising the park & ride for the stadium as soon as we crossed the border... I would have been so bitter at the constant reminder had I not been attending...) my CD (Elliott Smith, XO) just finished, was was great as I hate interrupting mid song. Upon removing the CD, Radio 2 came on and I instantly recognised the opening strummings of Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah, which both me and my father love. So we stayed in the car a few minutes to wait that one out. Something of a good omen, I feel.

This was followed by being dropped off in Cardiff to try and find the Ticket Office to collect the tickets. This was extremely unpleassnt, as it was a SCORCHING day and I needed to piss most urgently. However, the tickets were found, the facilities in McDonalds were used, and we made our way to the stadium and to our seats, buying a programme full of lovely photos of Stipe and co en route.

Yes, so our seats were crappy, but we had been expecting that. Peering down at the tiny speck of Johnathan Rice on stage took rather more effort than I was willing to expend, so most of his set was spent trying to make the camera work in the dark. (Despite Night-time mode, all pictures taken were shite so I shall not trouble you with them.)

Next came Idlewild, who I am fond of as they are Scottish and I own their third album and think it's rather good. The frontman was sporting a monster of a mullet that frightened me a wee bit, but it didn't lessen my enjoyment of them. At one point Mike Mills came onstage to join then in singing Sweet Home Alabama; they explained why, but with slightly dodgy sound and a thick Scottish accent I didn't hear. No matter, it was good anyhow.

Then were The Zutons, who I was a little apprehensive of as Leila said that they were not exactly sparkly when she saw them supporting Muse. Well, as I have previously suspected, Leila talks crap, as they were great. And my dad enjoyed them too, which is surprising as he doesn't usually put up with this modern rubbish.

Then, after a rather long break, came the legends themselves, and they did not disappoint. They stormed onstage with Bad Day, and to be honest from then on it's a bit of a blur as I was too busy being happy in the moment. The best bits I do remember are Everybody Hurts, which they dedicated to those who had suffered in the London attacks. Surprisingly, I managed not to cry, but I very much resented not having a lighter. I think I shall have to buy one specifically for waving at gigs.

Actually, all manner of wonderful stuff happened, that you can read in much more competent depth and detail, with setlist, here.

Though I don't think this review has gone into enough detail on how wonderfully they racked up the suspense before the encore; when they left the stage, the giant screens either side flashed through the names of every single place they've played in since October, (and blimey, that's a lot,) before slowing down and ending with CARDIFF in shiny colours.

And Stipe is as lovely, charming and engaging a performer as I expected- he should be, he's been doing this for so long. Second best gig I've been to yet. The first being Rufus Wainwright, obviously. I doubt that will ever be topped.

In the coming months, I hope to see Garbage, David Ford and Nada Surf, as they are releasing/ have just released new stuff and are touring the UK/ are promising to tour soon. Huzzah! (Want to come? As long as I know you and you are willing to pay for yourself, you can join me for any of these...)

While we're on the topic, lovely new Nada Surf song can be downloaded here.

And so, the next morning, tired but cheerful, we set out for the airport and Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, not such a good start, we arrived at Heathrow to find that Virgin hadn't notifed Sri Lankan Airlines that we were on the flight, so rather than enjoying the delights of Terminal 4 we had to hang around by the ticket office, on standby, for 3 hours.

Eventually we managed to get on the flight, which as usual reduced me to a green shivery lump by the end of it. I really don't travel well, even if there is Monsters Inc to watch.

The first four days we did a little tour of the country, with our own private driver and guide, Rahni (sp?), who turned out to be the fountain of all knowledge, and really nice as well. Due to political demonstrations we couldn't do the tour of Colombo properly, which actually suited me pretty well as I was exhasted and wanted nothing more but sleep.

We visited the Elephant Orphanage, which was the cutest thing ever, followed by these ancient temples at a place called Dumballa. They were all filled with lifesize statues of Buddha, which was a little creepy but beautiful nonetheless. The next day started early with an elephant ride, one of the most amazing things I've ever done; I was sat on the elephant's neck, feeding her bananas, as she was guided on a leisurely stroll around a lake (and through it at one stage), wildlife spotting and enjoying the gorgeous sunshine.

We climbed to the top of Sigiriya, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world, a mountainous palace thing. It was Hell, especially for my dad who suffers numerous back problems and such, but eventually we made it to the very top of the 1000+ steps, and the view and the feeling of achievement were worth the climb.

We went to some other ancient temples, which I was not terribly impressed by, and several craftshops where we were explained exactly how it was all made. At a jewellery shop we made the purchase of a sapphire ring, which is to be my mum's joint Christmas and Birthday present from my dad, and a teardop-shaped Moonstone pendant which I chose as a Christmas present for myself.

Oh yes, and we saw firewalkers, which were entertaining if a little disturbing. Plus there was a girl sat the seat in front of me whose face looked almost EXACTLY like that of my good pal Kerrie. I spotted her on the flight home as well. The resemblance was eerie.

When the tour was over, we spent 4 nights at a beach hotel, which was alright but not brilliant- the hotels we stayed in on the tour were 4 star and this one was 5 star, but it was the worst of the lot. The room was tiny, especially with my bed shoved in the corner, the food wasn't as nice and the service generally wasn't as good. Still, the pool area was fantastic, which is were I spent most of my time so I wasn't too bothered. It did, however, contribute to me suffering now with sunburnt shoulders.

Most of that time at the hotel was spent swimming, sunbathing and reading by the pool. The beach was just the other side of a fence, but there was an army of touts prowling just the other side, waving cigarettes and other junk if you ventured anywhere near; we decided it wasn't worth the bother. There were activities organised throughout the day, so my mum and I took part in the water aerobics which was surprisingly fun. OK, so maybe the slim, toned instructor had something to do with that.

We also attended a cookery demonstration, sari draping thingy which I was forced into trying on depite being soaking wet from the pool, and yoga, with an impossibly bendy instructor. There was also a wedding of an English couple which was lovely to watch as they had dancers and an elephant. I also made use of the gift voucher we were given to get a free back and spine massage, which was bliss, apart from when she made contact with my sunburn.

The journey back was uneventful, with no more mishaps at the airport. Got back home at about 10pm, to see my brother, who had proposed to his girlfriend while we were away, so I will soon get to be a bridesmaid for the first time!

And jetlag meant I woke up this morning at 5:40am, but I am in a good mood nonetheless.

Christ, I think I've written enough for the time being. If you're wondering how I can stand to write so much, it is because my mother and I are reading the new Harry Potter in shifts and it is currently her turn. I'm almost halfway through it so far, and so far I am enjoying it immensely- far better than Order of the Phoenix.

First day of work on Saturday. Wish me luck. It does mean, however, that I can't attend the GRK gig on the Friday night, but I think they've taken enough of my money already.