Nick, Steph, Ilya, and I played some Innovation last night. We played in teams with Steph and Nick going against Ilya and myself. There were two things that went against us early; The ages progressing quickly, and Ilya being new. With the quick progression Ilya was overwhelmed by the options he had, and since he was reading all the cards for the first time and seeing them work for the first time didn’t realize the combinations. I was trying hard not to tell him exact cwhat to do, especially since I didn’t know what he had in his hand. I was left behind in the quick teching up, which was ok for most of the game, as I was able to strategically use the age 1 cards to block Nick and help Ilya. This didn’t work out in the end, as Nick and Steph were able to help each other out really well on the points, and at the same time take out many of our point machines. Steph and Nick ended up winning in age 9.
Steph and I have started trying to cook Thai food since we got back from Thailand. I started off with a simple dish – curry. Normally this wouldn’t be simple, but since I’m using pre-made curry paste, it is very simple. I added in some tofu, butternut squash, and potato as the primary ingredients. It was ok, but not something I’d really look forward to eating again. The curry paste was red curry paste, and wasn’t the best brand.
We then got together and stopped by Ranch 99 to get the authentic foods. We got the makings for Tom Yom, a hot and sour soup. We also grabbed some of the better curry pastes. The Tom Yom first attempt turned out decently well with just Steph and I doing it. The ingredients were the spices plus some mushroom and tofu. The second attempt had Nick helping us out. We bagged the spices in some cheese cloth, which worked great. Normally one had to avoid eating the spicing materials, but with the cheese cloth bag for the spices, the flavor was great and we didn’t have to avoid the spices. I also added in potato, butternut squash, and carrot. The potato did really well, the butternut squash was moderate, and the carrot wasn’t very tasty with the soup. I think it was too sweet to go with the hot and sour flavor of the rest of the soup.
We got the ingredients for the next attempt of soup, and some curry ingredients as well at the California Avenue Farmers’ Market. I’m looking forward to trying it out.
Adam, Chris, and I played Tzolk’in and Chris won both times. He really showed what a good early game setup can get you if you put the time into it. I think I’ll try for his method in future games. He got lots of people quickly and lots of farms, which game him the ability to use all his food for lots of decent placements.
Steph, Tina, and I played a few games of Race for the Galaxy so that Steph could unwind. She has been working hard lately and needed a short break. We each won a game, so it turned out well.
This was a very good book, and very different from Ender’s Game. The mystery part of it was very nicely done, but the part I like more is the ethical parts. The way they talk about the cultural differences and how to get around many of them is very interesting. It is assumed the other race is very close to human, but there are still many major differences.
We had a relaxing morning and played a good bit of poker. We checked out of the hotel and I went to pick up my jeans. Steph also went to get the jeans, but she wanted more changes done; she should get them in a week or two. We took a pair of cabs to the airport and ended up getting there relatively early. We hung out in the airport and studiously spent the rest of our Baht.
The flight was late getting in, so we were going to be late to Taipei. That means that we were going to be late for the connection. They held the plane for us and we made it.
We got back and we took the Supershuttle to Beachhead. We hung out at Beachhead for a bit and then everyone went back to their own place.
We went down to the river, to a park by one of the ferry docks. It had a lot of people a stage set up and a great view of the river. We wandered through everything and saw a few parade float style boats tethered to the moorings along the park. Many of the krathongs that had been put in the water had already gone out, but it was still very pretty. We wandered past the ferry dock and decided not to head down to Wat Arun. We kept walking and got to one of the large bridges. We took the stairs up to a fantastic view of the river. From the bridge we could see nearly all the parade boats and a few places that had begun launching lanterns in mass. We Also saw a few places put out a couple of fireworks. We decoded to head back to the park where we got separated for a bit. There were a lot more people and the boat that was tethered had launched. We then got some snacky food and Steph launched a krathong. I got to see a burnt out lantern come down in the park and it was a rather peaceful sight. We walked over to Khaosan road and got some food. Then we decided it was time for a massage. Adam went to the hotel to read and the rest of us went to a massage parlor close by. They were able to get us in with Steph and I getting back massages with oil and the others getting foot massages. Both Steph and I had trouble with the giant pants and how they tied which was amusing. When we exited the massage parlor the lanterns were still going at a fast pace and it was very pretty to watch.
After that Steph and I went to the room and fell asleep.
I’ll post the pictures other people took here when I get them. My phone was dead that evening.
We decided to take it easy before the festival started. I took a nap and the others went up to the pool area. Afterwards everyone, except Jeremy went to the Cozy Bar. Jeremy got sick again or his sickness got worse. Steph gave him some antibiotics so he should hopefully not be too bad on the flight home.
We played some poker at the Cozy Bar and had some food as well. Many people, including me, had their phones already go dead so we got a few people who were going to take all the photos. We did a run back up to the rooms and headed for the river.
Nick Adam and I went to the weekend market to look around. There are over 15000 stalls and it covers the area of several city blocks. I found it interesting because it was a big mix of locals and tourists. The stalls had almost anything you can buy in Bangkok. We wandered around for a while and picked up some food and drink. Then Adam and I wanted to have a nice sit, and Nick went off on his own. After that we went to the pet area under Nicks recommendation. It was cool they had lots of puppies, a few kittens, bunnies, lizards, mice, sugar gliders, and other rodents. They also had all sorts of pet clothing there. We walked around a bit more, I got a set of wooden cups, and we decided to leave. We texted Nick and Steph to tell then we were leaving and had some sweets while waiting for them to reply. I got some amazing Thai ice tea ice cream with pumpkin and jelly. Nick decided to stay and Steph had just got done with the ear infection clinic. We got in a cab where the driver didn’t speak any English and told him to go to Khaosan road. We got dropped off there and walked back to the hotel.
It's an Exciting World 