Leon and I spent alot of time honing our Ping Pong skills.
Thursday was spent seeing 28 Weeks later at Tinseltown. Rob came with and then we went off to Club 23 and listened to some tunes and played pool till late.
Friday being the last night Leon was in town, we went out with Rob and hit up a Japanese restaurant before going and playing some 5 pin bowling on Granville. As usual Rob got the higher score but I'm gaining on him.
We then went over to some friends of Rob's and drank, played Guitar hero and watched some silly Youtube stuff. We then got kicked out and headed home.
Final day, we went to Granville Island for a goodbye brunch. Shan's mum Christine came out and we had a great brunch.
Finally it was time to say goodbye. Thanks for coming Leon, it was awesome. Come again :)
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Seattle 4, Jaime and Leon 0
On Tuesday last week, Leon and I went down to Seattle. We caught a bus down which was surprisingly easy and also organised a hotel with lastminute.com (which i would actually recommend to travelers). We crossed the border with very little difficulty and saw the forests of Washington. We arrived in Seattle and grabbed some lunch before locating our motel. Signed in with no probs and then headed for the Space Needle. We went up, conquered it and laughed down at Seattle from our lofty heights.
After that we went to the Experience Museum which contained some fantastic music memorabilia. They had one section devoted to Jimmy Hendrix (woo!). The ticket was also a double pass and allowed access to the Sci-Fi Museum. I was in Sci-Fi heaven. It was amazing what they had there, oh the sites. If your ever in Seattle, go and see it. Hell its worth it even if your not a fan of music. Sadly, they did not allow cameras inside to take pictures so the only pictures we got were of Leon and I "Rocking" out in the kids section:
Thankfully we achieved these sites, seen as they were before the night happened. As we were soon to realise that we had completed our site seeing allotment.
The following does contain embellishments (along the lines of the fish gets bigger every time you tell the story) but at least 90-95% of it is true. Leon can back some of it up, but he remembers less.
Leon started out ahead of me to find a bar as I had to deal with some stuff back at the hotel. I met up with Leon at a place called the See Sound Lounge. He'd had a beer or two before I arrived but not overly much alcohol. I started with a beer and we chatted to the bartender. The place was dead (it was a Tuesday night) so the bartender was happy to have some company. We switched to spirits (which was our first mistake). Americans, seem to pour drinks strong. He filled my drink half of vodka and half with orange (boy it was strong). While we were chatting he made us a shot of some description. It was good. But I could tell that it was strong, but not how strong it was. We order some more and he kept making us some more free drinks. It came time for him to close so he politely asked us to leave and so we left. Leon had seen this bar up on 2nd called Lava Lounge. So we headed in there.
Through the door we walked into Tiki styled bar. It looked pretty cool. I ordered us some drinks and I kid you not, she poured 3/4 full vodka and a skeric of orange. And then Leon saw the shuffleboard table. Leon ran over waving his arms saying "shuffle board, its shuffle board" and started talking to the people playing. Turned out that it was two American guys (Bear and Sim) and two English girls. Already I was feeling like I was in the middle of a joke (These two Americans, two English and two Australians are playing shuffleboard in a tiki style bar, when ...). It was shuffleboard on the table. Bear described the game and it was easy to pickup the scoring system after playing lawn bowls and curling (thank you Australia and Canada). And thus Leon and I challenged Bear and one of the girls to a game. We drank some more and then "last call" occurred. And so i hit the bar and bought drinks for everyone playing. We lost bad, i think it was 11 to 4. And then we were kicked out onto the street. We chatted with the players for a while longer and then somehow ended up going back to Bear and Sim's motel to play texas hold'em while they waited for a friend to arrive.
I remember feeling quite drunk at this point. And then they brought out the PBR. If you've never had Pabst Blue Ribbon its like drinking XXXX, and if you've never drunk XXXX its just how you imagine it would be. They gave me the cards and I remember dealing out the cards (everyone whos anyone knows I am a crap dealer) I had a Queen and a 6. I then dealt out
a 2, an ace and an ace. Then someone said "you forgot to burn and turn", so I discarded the 2 and out came another Ace. The whole room erupted in a "omg" and then I knew it was time to go (stomach told me so). We fled and after a blocks I realised that I had left my jumper back there. So I returned and somehow got in, claimed my jumper and then Leon and I escaped into the night.
We drunken stumbled more like and someone ended up in the wrong part of town (which I have been told is a lot of places in Seattle). When we were trying to get our bearings, a nice old African American wandering past said "You guys aren't from around here", "no, we're visiting", "well unless your here to buy some crack cocaine, I think its best you leave". We said our thanks and piss bolted up the road. When we felt it was safe we returned to our drunken stumble. We passed a car with three girls in it, who decided to laugh at us. Leon took exception to this (at this point leon and my story diverges, talk to him if you want his side) and started yelling "why are you laughing, stop laughing" which only made them laugh more. I tried to pull him away "Leon we have to go, come on leon we have to go" and he wouldn't bloody budge. So I went and found a long stick and thus I started poking him with it. This finally got the message and we left. We then finally managed to get back to our motel. I promptly hurled and then Leon followed suit. We then feel asleep.
Embellishment ends, reality creeps back in
That was the 2nd most drunk I've ever been. The 1st was a party at Falsedan's (which several of you would probably remember). But recovering from Tuesday was the WORST hangover I have ever had. And Leon was worse off than myself. Breakfast was awful and site seeing was impossible. We managed to get on the early bus back to Vancouver. It felt like it was double the time it took to get down. Honestly, I wish that Wednesday never existed. Shannon can attest to our fragile state.
Fair enough Seattle, you win this time. But next time, I will conquer you.
So a good time had and Seattle a fun place to visit :)
P.S Leon and I saw this ad for a beer at a Pub (TM).
After that we went to the Experience Museum which contained some fantastic music memorabilia. They had one section devoted to Jimmy Hendrix (woo!). The ticket was also a double pass and allowed access to the Sci-Fi Museum. I was in Sci-Fi heaven. It was amazing what they had there, oh the sites. If your ever in Seattle, go and see it. Hell its worth it even if your not a fan of music. Sadly, they did not allow cameras inside to take pictures so the only pictures we got were of Leon and I "Rocking" out in the kids section:
Thankfully we achieved these sites, seen as they were before the night happened. As we were soon to realise that we had completed our site seeing allotment.
The following does contain embellishments (along the lines of the fish gets bigger every time you tell the story) but at least 90-95% of it is true. Leon can back some of it up, but he remembers less.
Leon started out ahead of me to find a bar as I had to deal with some stuff back at the hotel. I met up with Leon at a place called the See Sound Lounge. He'd had a beer or two before I arrived but not overly much alcohol. I started with a beer and we chatted to the bartender. The place was dead (it was a Tuesday night) so the bartender was happy to have some company. We switched to spirits (which was our first mistake). Americans, seem to pour drinks strong. He filled my drink half of vodka and half with orange (boy it was strong). While we were chatting he made us a shot of some description. It was good. But I could tell that it was strong, but not how strong it was. We order some more and he kept making us some more free drinks. It came time for him to close so he politely asked us to leave and so we left. Leon had seen this bar up on 2nd called Lava Lounge. So we headed in there.
Through the door we walked into Tiki styled bar. It looked pretty cool. I ordered us some drinks and I kid you not, she poured 3/4 full vodka and a skeric of orange. And then Leon saw the shuffleboard table. Leon ran over waving his arms saying "shuffle board, its shuffle board" and started talking to the people playing. Turned out that it was two American guys (Bear and Sim) and two English girls. Already I was feeling like I was in the middle of a joke (These two Americans, two English and two Australians are playing shuffleboard in a tiki style bar, when ...). It was shuffleboard on the table. Bear described the game and it was easy to pickup the scoring system after playing lawn bowls and curling (thank you Australia and Canada). And thus Leon and I challenged Bear and one of the girls to a game. We drank some more and then "last call" occurred. And so i hit the bar and bought drinks for everyone playing. We lost bad, i think it was 11 to 4. And then we were kicked out onto the street. We chatted with the players for a while longer and then somehow ended up going back to Bear and Sim's motel to play texas hold'em while they waited for a friend to arrive.
I remember feeling quite drunk at this point. And then they brought out the PBR. If you've never had Pabst Blue Ribbon its like drinking XXXX, and if you've never drunk XXXX its just how you imagine it would be. They gave me the cards and I remember dealing out the cards (everyone whos anyone knows I am a crap dealer) I had a Queen and a 6. I then dealt out
a 2, an ace and an ace. Then someone said "you forgot to burn and turn", so I discarded the 2 and out came another Ace. The whole room erupted in a "omg" and then I knew it was time to go (stomach told me so). We fled and after a blocks I realised that I had left my jumper back there. So I returned and somehow got in, claimed my jumper and then Leon and I escaped into the night.
We drunken stumbled more like and someone ended up in the wrong part of town (which I have been told is a lot of places in Seattle). When we were trying to get our bearings, a nice old African American wandering past said "You guys aren't from around here", "no, we're visiting", "well unless your here to buy some crack cocaine, I think its best you leave". We said our thanks and piss bolted up the road. When we felt it was safe we returned to our drunken stumble. We passed a car with three girls in it, who decided to laugh at us. Leon took exception to this (at this point leon and my story diverges, talk to him if you want his side) and started yelling "why are you laughing, stop laughing" which only made them laugh more. I tried to pull him away "Leon we have to go, come on leon we have to go" and he wouldn't bloody budge. So I went and found a long stick and thus I started poking him with it. This finally got the message and we left. We then finally managed to get back to our motel. I promptly hurled and then Leon followed suit. We then feel asleep.
Embellishment ends, reality creeps back in
That was the 2nd most drunk I've ever been. The 1st was a party at Falsedan's (which several of you would probably remember). But recovering from Tuesday was the WORST hangover I have ever had. And Leon was worse off than myself. Breakfast was awful and site seeing was impossible. We managed to get on the early bus back to Vancouver. It felt like it was double the time it took to get down. Honestly, I wish that Wednesday never existed. Shannon can attest to our fragile state.
Fair enough Seattle, you win this time. But next time, I will conquer you.
So a good time had and Seattle a fun place to visit :)
P.S Leon and I saw this ad for a beer at a Pub (TM).
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Ready to Röck
Leon had managed to score a DJ set at Sanctuary in Vancouver through various channels (thanks Rob). Here was the poster:
Leon is of course DJ Dasein from Australia. His set went off.
Heres Leon getting introduced:
And Leon just going off!
Its been ages since Shan and I have gone dancing so it was fun to get out and listen to some great music. Danced for the full set while other pikers kept leaving the floor and coming back.
Monday was a day of recovery and I was glad to have it free. Then we planned our trip down to Seattle.
Leon is of course DJ Dasein from Australia. His set went off.
Heres Leon getting introduced:
And Leon just going off!
Its been ages since Shan and I have gone dancing so it was fun to get out and listen to some great music. Danced for the full set while other pikers kept leaving the floor and coming back.
Monday was a day of recovery and I was glad to have it free. Then we planned our trip down to Seattle.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Here comes a new challenger
So we woke up late and decided to go to the Museum of Anthropology before Leon arrived. Its always wonderful to see the old artifacts. Guy had a field day taking many pictures of masks. Shan also happy to be with her new camera in the museum took some happy snaps as well, especially Raven and first man (sculpted by Bill Reid).
Leon called from the airport so I headed home and waited for him to show. It was tops to welcome yet another traveler to our home. Once he got his stuff stashed away, we went and joined Shan, Guy and Anna at our local Japanese place on 4th. After a yummy meal, we got some more shopping done and then headed back and took it easy for the rest of the day. And thus started the great ping pong championship.
Earlier last week Shan had purchased a ping pong set that you can attach to almost any table. So we all had a few rallies but it ended up being Leon and I constantly battling it out.
We then went out for Mexican at our favourite Mexican restaurant Las Margaritas.
From there we came home and enjoyed some local wares, sat back and listened to Keating the Musical (which I had been wanting to hear) and various other silly tidbits. We introduced Leon to the Colbert Report and there was much rejoicing.
Saturday we recovered from the night before and prepared for the board gaming session we had planned for that night. It was the first official GUGS north (nicknamed JUGS.... stop smirking). We had Rena and Elwood over and played some old favourites.
Sunday came and we said our goodbyes to Guy and Anna. It was sad to see them go but it was great to have them visit. Thanks for coming guys, it was a blast! Anytime you want to drop by, feel free :)
Leon called from the airport so I headed home and waited for him to show. It was tops to welcome yet another traveler to our home. Once he got his stuff stashed away, we went and joined Shan, Guy and Anna at our local Japanese place on 4th. After a yummy meal, we got some more shopping done and then headed back and took it easy for the rest of the day. And thus started the great ping pong championship.
Earlier last week Shan had purchased a ping pong set that you can attach to almost any table. So we all had a few rallies but it ended up being Leon and I constantly battling it out.
We then went out for Mexican at our favourite Mexican restaurant Las Margaritas.
From there we came home and enjoyed some local wares, sat back and listened to Keating the Musical (which I had been wanting to hear) and various other silly tidbits. We introduced Leon to the Colbert Report and there was much rejoicing.
Saturday we recovered from the night before and prepared for the board gaming session we had planned for that night. It was the first official GUGS north (nicknamed JUGS.... stop smirking). We had Rena and Elwood over and played some old favourites.
Sunday came and we said our goodbyes to Guy and Anna. It was sad to see them go but it was great to have them visit. Thanks for coming guys, it was a blast! Anytime you want to drop by, feel free :)
Sunday, June 17, 2007
It starts, the quickening!
They descended on Vancouver on June 6th. Guy and Anna that is, not a bunch of immortals (that incident was way over by 1985 and was over in New York). We picked them up from the Airport and proceeded by cab back to our place. We gave them a chance to catch their breath and then took them for brunch at Sophie's Cosmic Cafe. After finishing off a tasty meal we went down to Granville Island and showed them around. While there a crow decided to swoop me. Which reminded me of Macquarie University and the magpies that used to attack the international students.
The next day we showed them around town briefly before going to the Vancouver Aquarium. Guy went nuts with his Camera, as did Shannon as this was her first trip to the Aquarium with her new Camera. We were lucky enough to see the Otter's hold hands like in the youtube video and from the webcam. Some of Shan's pictures from the day can be seen on Flickr.
Later that night we went down to Bard on the Beach and saw Taming of the Shrew ... Spaghetti Western version. It was awesome. Lots of laughs and great transition to the setting. As always an enjoyable play up until the final message.
Tomorrow was going to be Hive overseas reunion.
The next day we showed them around town briefly before going to the Vancouver Aquarium. Guy went nuts with his Camera, as did Shannon as this was her first trip to the Aquarium with her new Camera. We were lucky enough to see the Otter's hold hands like in the youtube video and from the webcam. Some of Shan's pictures from the day can be seen on Flickr.
Later that night we went down to Bard on the Beach and saw Taming of the Shrew ... Spaghetti Western version. It was awesome. Lots of laughs and great transition to the setting. As always an enjoyable play up until the final message.
Tomorrow was going to be Hive overseas reunion.
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