In Your Pints!

Our two teams ruled Pub Quiz Wednesday night! Our team got the bottle of wine, and the other team won first prize, the case of Paulaner Beer. Good job, everyone. :)

As you can see, our team was in the lead for while! Luckily, it was short-lived, and we settled nicely into our "get the wine" groove. lol

Tuesday Soccer

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I finally have shin guards. Well, I have very cheap, minimal coverage shin guards, but they serve their purpose. We hit the field again last Tuesday, and as the game progressed, I began to realize I was best off being goal keeper, so that's exactly what I did.



Steph and Liam facing off

Steven(the one who kicked me the first week)

David and his new bright orange cleats lol

Let Them Eat Quiche!

Did I mention Bryan's a chef?

So of course I HAD to ask him to cook something. Originally it would've just been for he and I, but I mentioned wanting quiche, and not having an oven, and asked Smitha if we could cook at her house(and feed them too), and then Katie said she'd bring dessert, and one thing led to another, and we ended up with about 6 of us. But he was fine with it, and we had a blast.
Monday night seemed to work best for everyone, so after work I headed to the Asok area in Bangkok, met up with Bryan at Tops Market to pick up our groceries, and then promptly walked over to Smitha and Kent's apt. We were going to try to do it without a crust(because Bryan insisted that "baking wasn't his forte" and it wouldn't turn out), but we found a "just add water" mix for two flaky crusts, so I said I'd make the crust. Thank God for Betty Crocker.


The quiche was going to take about an hour to make and bake, so Kent poured us each(except Smitha) a glass of wine, and we snacked on the delicious fruits(mangosteen and ranbutan) that Pookie brought over.

After what seemed like an eternity, the oven buzzed and we all sat down to our amazing food. I scarfed down FOUR pieces.


The quiche was SO good. Mmm, mmm, MMM!

Couchsurfer #3

Bryan.
Sushi Chef from Arizona, and my third American surfer. He arrived late Wednesday evening, on the 20th, so I offered to pick him up at the airport, as finding my apt in the dark when you've never been here can be a nightmare. Luckily, his flight got in 45 minutes early, so we were able to catch the last Airport Link train into the city instead of taking a cab from the airport.
Thursday he spent the day trying out the bus system, trying every new food he found, and exploring. Stephanie and I met up with him after Ladies Night at Coyote's, and we had an irritating cab ride home(traffic and an idiot driver).
Friday I was off work at noon, so Bryan just slept in and we headed into the city when I got back from work. I took him to MBK to wander around, then to Siam to see a movie, but there wasn't anything new playing, so we hit Si Lom for some coffee before heading to The Saxophone for some awesome live music and delicious curry.
Saturday I took him to Koh Kret, where he tried more "exotic skewers," watched some Thai dancing, munched on some crunchy green fruit, and even got to watch some of the pottery being made. That was a treat. :)






Sunday He explored on his own, then met up with me after church for noodles on the street with some of my church friends.

Ladies' Night

Last Thursday was Ladies' Night at Coyote's Mexican Restaurant, so Stephanie and I headed out to meet 5 other friends of ours on Sukhumvit road for some delicious food and some free margaritas. Fun was had by all.

Puppy-sitting

Two weeks ago(I know, I'm behind), we had a long 4-day weekend. Most of my coworkers went on vacation somewhere, while I, due to other financial priorities, stayed home. My coworker, Tommo, was going to Koh Samet, and asked if I'd feed his dog while he was away for the weekend. I agreed, as I'm just a nice person like that, and didn't really have a good reason not to.

Say hello to Shirah.



Cute dog..kinda like Lucy on crack, though. Haha

Bear with me..

Internet's down. Why? Because it's Thailand. More exciting posts coming soon.

In other news:
~I bought shin pads yesterday. Tuesday afternoon soccer, here I come.
~Tomo, one of my co-workers, and his 20yr old girlfriend got engaged last weekend. More on that later.
~Monsoon season is in full swing, but that didn't seem to hinder me from getting a sunburn today.
~"Modern Family" is my new favorite show. Look it up. Watch it. Laugh. Thank me later.

Bye for now!

Such talented little artists..

To give my little munchkins something to occupy themselves while I gave retests, I had my students draw fish tanks in their notebooks, and made a list of various different ocean creatures they needed to put in their tank(jellyfish, whale, shark, octopus, piranha, squid, etc.).

*Ever had a student who reminded you of an animated character? :D

#1 - Bright from P5/2, AKA Hammy the Squirrel from Dreamworks' Over the Hedge














#2 - Por from P5/3, AKA Francis the (male)Ladybug from Pixar's A Bug's Life













#3 - Ice from P5/6, AKA Dot the Ant from Pixar's A Bug's Life

Where my alcoholics? Let me see your hands up!

Every other Wednesday night is Pub Quiz night at the Paulaner Beer Garden. My coworkers and I go, forming two separate teams(Tony Christie Fan Club, and In Your Pints[my team]), and join the other 5 or six teams that show up to compete every week. The weekly first prize is a case of beer, which doesn't motivate me since I don't DRINK beer, but it's fun to play, and when you have a good round, it's an awesome feeling.

There are 5 categories with 10 questions each, plus two bonus rounds. Each bonus round has 4 clues(2 points each), and the answers are all related(the "connector" is the last 2 points).

The 1st clue was "a 1980s movie with Brooke Shields"
- I didn't know the answer, but my team said Blue Lagoon.
The 2nd clue was "a tool"
- (hammer? wrench?)
The 3rd was "an insect in the sub-order Caelifera and the order Orthoptera"
- (butterfly? roach? ladybug?)
The 4th was "someone who is well traveled, is knowledgeable about various cultures, and embraces their multicultural surroundings"
- (entrepreneur? gipsy? embassador?)

We couldn't figure it out...til all of a sudden it hit me:

COCKTAILS!

#1 - Blue Lagoon(already established by my team, but the only cocktail I hadn't heard of)- Vodka, Blue Curacao, and Lemonade












#2? Screwdriver - Vodka and Orange Juice











#3? Grasshopper - Creme de Menthe, Creme de Cacao, and Fresh Cream(and Vodka)












#4? My team was totally stumped by this one, but I was like, "Duh! Cosmopolitan!" - Vodka, Triple Sec, Cranberry Juice and Lime












We aced that bonus round, being the only team to get all ten points for the round.

Thanks to me and my alcoholism, lol.

Cheers!

Soccer!

Two weeks ago my coworkers reserved a field at a nearby sports complex for a game of soccer amongst each other, open to anyone who wanted to join in. I thought, hey, why not? Could be fun. And it was! But it was also quite exhausting, and a good kick in the rear to remind me how out of shape I am.

Before:




After:




As you can see, I was injured. Steven(the blonde with the tattoos all over his arms) was on me like white on rice every time I got the ball, and he got in one(whether accidental or intentional, we'll "never know") good kick to my shin, and without shin guards, it proved quite painful. I finished the game, with a slight limp, then iced it when I got home. The actual visible bruise didn't surface until a week later, and this week that bruise has begun to fade, and another, more centralized bruise has surfaced.

I've passed up playing the last two weeks, needless to say. If I can come up with some shin guards by next Tuesday, maybe I'll join in again. But we'll see.

Comment ça va? Ca va bien!

After misplacing my ATM card last week, and trapsing all the way to the Siam branch to order another and withdraw my paycheck, I had the pleasure of spending my Saturday afternoon with a Cambodian Frenchman. I know, weird, right? His mother is French, and he grew up in Toulouse, France, but his father is Cambodian, so he looks like his dad and speaks like his mother. His name is Julien, and he sent me an email through the couchsurfing network asking if I would be available to show him around the city while he was in the country doing a visa run from Malaysia. So we met up around 4:30pm at the BTS, had fried chicken and rice on the street, chatted for hours at Starbucks(where he was a huge help with some key French grammar points), and then split a delicious pizza and some roti(thai pancake) before calling it a night.

By a landslide..

Election weekend has just passed, and the results are in. Despite the persuasive ads by the yellow shirts..



the red shirts have won.

For now.