Christmas is Coming!

 Well. it's about three days to Christmas and I am feeling quite festive despite the lack of evidence. The living room looks very nice and I have bundles of Playmobile to bestow upon
Gracie. I did quite well. Last year we got her the doll's house and all the different rooms. To be honest she hasn't touched it.

She is really into My Little Pony, fairies, unicorns, princesses etc. So I got her a range of all that and two knights and a dragon to boot. So I am fairly certain these toys should verily catapult her into a fantasy world of fun. Whether that is healthy or not, I am unclear.



(How is it that when I click to watch a song on Utube by oh-so cool and indie band, Hefner, I am forced to sit through an agonizing Thai advert for Oil of Ulan in loud, shrilly voices, for fuck's sake?)

Initially, I was jubilant at the start of this present leisure break. I fear, I overindulged heavily, and felt like fucking shit for about 4 days; fat, dying, useless. Then last night I got out to a secret game night at Jonny's which was a blast. Today, I got up and did a bunch of exercise and seem to have my mojo back. It's great! I had a peaceful day of feeling good about myself. I know it's the 30 minute bike ride at the start of every day that can keep me feeling good.


So, there is a Christmas dinner at Pete's restaurant booked and I am sure a game night soon. Actually, I have a new Imperial ship, The Decimator which I am dying to try out. The Imperials normally get whacked (only once have they won, with Harry and Jonny in command), so I am keen to balance the game.


Merry Christmas, one and all.

Gaming!

 It's the lead-up to Christmas and I didn't need much encouragement. Today, I looked to Toys4Thai on the Net and ordered a bunch of Playmobil for Gracie. I got unicorns, princesses, knights, dragons, fairies and Santa and a snowman. It's a nice bundle of everything,

It's Saturday and I had a peaceful time at home. I do a lot of stretching right now pretty much throughout the day. and I continually drink water.

However, with every quaff of beer, my girth doth groweth.

I did 10 mins on the exercise bike today.

Coming into a pleasure storm of days off, what with English camps, exams and New Year coming up.

I am in much need of rest.

Today, I laminated a ton of LOTR cards and could for the first time build my fabulous Silvan Elf deck and play the first set of adventure packs, The Hunt for Gollum" for the first time. The decks are rad, and the process of learning a deck is a weird experience. "Hey! I know this card. It does this!"

Pete's last night and lasagne and chips with a bunch of imported ales; German light and dark and a couple of Aussie Cooper's Stout. Good night and great to see the friends I have here. They are an excellent lot, up for laughs and merry making. Jon, Pete, Brian, Harry, Arun are all top notch people abd we've had some right laughs already.

The game nights are surreal and awesome. Sometimes I wonder about myself, living in a tropical paradise, hosting cutting edge board games, as they are released, to a wonderful crowd of enthusiastic friends. It's quite a sight.

Descent. Dungeons and Dragons.

Star Wars X-Wing. Tense gaming.

Happy people enjoying fun company time friendship together,

Navigating through the asteroids was never his strong point.

'Sisco friends so cool. Hippy happy hap wipe days of leisure with the dreamy soperific Carcassonne.

The Crew.

Zombies

 Everything is zombies right now.

I just finished watching all of The Walking Dead. It took me about three weeks and was a lot of fun.

Added to this is my latest game, which was recommended by someone at Battlefield Bangkok, the game shop in Bangers. We played our first proper game last night. Well, almost. I overdid it on the wine and fell asleep about halfway through the game, but what we played of it was epic fun. I think I was so overjoyed at not being the evil overlord that I play every fortnight in Descent, that I got a bit carried away. A damn shame because it was great fun. I can see this coming back to the table very soon. Arun, Harry, Brian and Jon all come over for the game.

The gaming area is now on the balcony at the front of the house. I got a light put in so we can play into the night. It works well so far.

 I definitely need to cut back on the booze, as I really feel my age now and I want to live as long as I can. I have been using the exercise bike and I did a mean green juice two days ago. I mean to continue and get healthy. I have managed to get to the local market on my way to pick up Grace from school. It gives me just enough time to get there, buy the veggies and get to the school. It's the way to go.

School is winding down a bit now with exams approaching and we will get a much needed few days off. I need a break and to do nothing for a while.

I am onto The Two Towers now and the bit with Pippin and Merry with Treebeard. It's great stuff.

Grace and Oi are both fine and we exist happily in our little bubble in Sunnyview.

Let's hope it continues.

Hills and Sheep

A week before a fall off of work as we are due for some days off from school.

It's quite welcome, as I need a rest.

Life has been quite good though. Got a game of Star Wars X-Wing in last Saturday which was great, and D&D style Descent is still in full swing and all of us are getting better at it.

Carcassonne Hills and Sheep arrived yesterday. Apparently it's spiffy, so I'm looking forward to trying it out. In fact, a game is scheduled for this Friday with San Fran pal Karen and some lucky other people.

Grace is great but still very full-on.

Both Oi and I have been wonderfully engrossed in The Walking Dead TV show. I'm nearing the new episodes having ploughed through 4 seasons in about 2 weeks. But, what a trip! It's a great story.

I'll be looking for something new. Harry recommended WD.

I bit to busy to play LOTR after work. Too tired really, and would rather rest. When holidays come I shall get going with it.

Listening a lot to David Bowie.

Chicken Kebab

 

School in full swing and going well.

I bought an exercise bike so I don't have to go out on the bike and get bitten by a dog. I have been furiously cycling but the girth is yet to diminish. Sweat pours off in buckets however.

Talking of dogs, I rode into one the other morning on the way to school. Dumb fuck sitting in the road licking its arse when two other dogs started chasing it. It span around and went straight into me with a welp. I couldn't have given a shit, such is my conditioning here.

Gaming is steaming along and occupies a lot of my time. LOTR card game is just awesome and regular games with the fellas here are great, but life often gets in the way.

Grace is at a new school now - the catholic joint in town. Our daily patterns have had to change and I have to pick her up every day and Oi now works private class 3 nights a week. She does it because she wants to and enjoys it. Fair enough.

So we are pretty busy and trying to stay on top of things. Thanks the Lord I have my hobby room to chillax in.

I'm seriously into The Walking Dead right now thanks to Harry, and listening to a lot of Bowie - "The sun machine is coming down". Walking Dead is amazing. Best I have seen in ages. Actually the only ones I like is this and Vikings. Game of Thrones is okay but drags on a bit with endless conversations about nothing.

Friday nights everyone heads to Peter's restaurant. He's from Portsmouth, a teacher in my school, 3 kids and a restaurant. I don't know how he does it. Great food and beer though on a Friday. He does import beers so that's what I drink for my treat. Nice chicken kebab too.

Term 2

Here we are. Back at school.

It's good for me. To work. Stops me from killing myself with over indulgence.

Monday was hit and miss, but I came home and revised my lesson plans and had an easier time of it today, and that should set me up for the rest of the week.

Game nights have been on a back burner and has been playing on my mind. I have prepared my next quest in Lord of the Rings Card Game, Into the Pit. I took it into work today and had a quick play through. I got the gist and will go at it until I defeat it. These quests are a great challenge, and are no mean feat. This is all solo play, you understand. Anyway, it concerns traveling through the mines of Moria, if anyone can remember what that is. I did myself a great service by reading Fellowship of the Ring to enrich the experience. I am now onto The Two Towers, but it is the first book that I truly love, though Lesley and an Internet commentator spoke of the Hobbit war at the end of the story, of which I was completely unaware and was devoid in the movies.

I have about 7 games now, yet 3 remain unplayed. It is difficult to make the time, effort and gather people together. It's a slow process and I am in no rush, only to experience it.

It was good to meet up with my assistant, Port, who is a fine Thai fellow. I have injected a lot of humour into this weeks classes, with plenty of references to beautiful, handsome and clever students and making everyone suitably embarrassed. But I always pacify and reward, unless there is a cocky asshole who will subsequently take the full front of my verbal assault to the amusement of the class. No mercy to disruptive cocksuckers I'm afraid. Zero tolerance.

My first two subjects this term (self-chosen) were the Space Exploration Timeline and Water. Quite fun and fact driven. Perfect for exams.

Today, I got offered a 3 day job on an island! 1200 Baht an hour, 6 hours a day for 3 days. I can take Oi and Grace too working for the Thai government teaching local fishermen who operate a Homestay set up. Awesome, and even I can see this is a bit special. It's a tiny island in the Gulf of Thailand inhabited only by local folk. I said to Oi if she came along I would give her all the loot.

TV. Watching The Walking Dead and Transparent which are both great fun, but I deeply love Transparent. It's wicked.American Jewish Californian humour at its twisted best.

The End of the Holidays

It is the final week before going back to school and the start of the second term of the academic year in Thailand.

It has been a most pleasant time, and I have given enough time to idle pursuits.

Tonight, I'm listening to Lou Reed and a splash of Bowie from the early 80's.

Watch Human Universe with Brian Cox for awesome science.

Grace started at her new school today; Niramon. It's a catholic school and one of the best in town. It looks fine and she took full control of her first day. She's been great.

We had three days in Hua Hin 3 hours North of Chumpon. It's a tourist destination and suitably horrid. Expensive, people asking for money every five paces and rip offs galore. Still, we had an okay time and Grace got to ride on a horse a couple of times.  I think Thailand has lost the plot when it comes to tourism.

Lots of board gaming going on. Normally we will play twice a week. Either Star Wars or Descent, though Carcassonne has been creeping in lately. Several games lie waiting to be introduced; Dominant Species, Pathfinder and Blue Moon Legends. All of which are apparently fantastic. I take my time to learn the rules and watch multiple videos on Utube before I think about bringing it onto the table. Good fun.

It's been glorious and I have spent a fair time quite loaded this hols. I like to indulge and wander about the house, deciding if I should have a coffee, and then what movie to watch.

I finished The Fellowship of the Ring and have just started The Two Towers. I have never been so blown away by something like this before. I highly recommend a read. The movie missed all the best bits in the Bleak Lands, the Old Forest and Tom Bombadil.

Heigh Ho!

LOTR

I've been reading The Lord of the Rings. It is breath-taking. I kind of read it when I was fourteen, but I had no awareness of what I was reading. I could live in these pages. In fact I intend to, for quite some time. I loved it when they meet Tom Bombadil and then get caught by the barrow-wights. And the journey between Bree and Rivendell is spellbinding. I'm currently at the council of Elrond, but everything makes so much more sense when you know the whole story through the movies. The extra content is fascinating. A shame so much was left out of the movies.

I've spent days floating around the house, drinking coffee, tea, stepping outside to gaze at the jungle over the garden wall, reading, watching selected movies, cooking up huge spag bolls, and other leisurely pursuits. It's been grand.

Games

I haven't been active on the blog lately. I find I can put sporadic comments quite easily on FB for the most part. However, sometimes I feel reluctant to put something down as the wider audience may find offence, so I will save my more private thoughts for the blog. I am glad it still has a use. I will attempt to write more often.

Since I have been acquiring and successfully playing these board games I have been quite busy. All the cards involved need to be laminated and there are monster and hero figures to paint and rules to learn. It's been great fun and I am really pleased that Harry and Arun have taken to the games so well. Although the pool of potential players is relatively small, there is rarely a night when it is not a full house that someone is left out wanting to join.

Normally I will host twice a week. It's fairly demanding for me too, organizing and getting everything ready, but it  gets easier and easier as experience is gained.

The main games played are Descent and Star Wars X-Wing. Descent makes a great night of dungeon questing and a lot of grog is drunk before the end. Star Wars requires more thought. I made a huge star map board for it which looks a treat.

The other game which I play solo is The Lord of the Rings Card Game. It's a spell-binding game, but so hard!

Come September

It's been a long time since my last blog. There's no excuse, I just suppose life The building work, which did it's very best to destroy me is all but finished, though not yet, you'll be pleased to learn. Yes, the builders always seem to need to return for something, after days of absence. Fuck them. They had been ok, but nothing more. Gaming has been dominating my days. Not computer games, indeed they have diminuished almost to nothing, but table top board games. I am concentrating on only three; Descent, Star Wars X-Wing and Lord of the Rings Card game. All very different and intreguing experiences. Arun and Harry are big fans. We play Descent (Dungeons and Dragons (simplified) once a fortnight, and have just started X-Wing, but which we were all blown away after the first full scale game. Wow. What fun. I have 2 impressive fleets of Imperial and Rebel ships that go head to head in a grand dogfight. Mind-blowingly fun. The last game is LOTR card game. So far I have only played solo, and is very involved, difficult and strangely appealing. It's hard as fuck but I love it. The artwork is superb and the feel of the game is great. That's all for now.

Friday Comes Around

It's Friday again. It's been quite a fun week at school after a disastrous start. I made a lesson on The Hobbit which sunk like a leaden balloon. I had to change tact and switch to The Animal Kingdom which went down a storm. So strange how two plans made simultaneously had such opposite rections. But there you go. The building work is still continuing and although obviously great, it a bit of a pain in the butt. That being, the house is like a bomb site with stuff everywhere and no space to do anything. I keep having to go out to get away from the noise and closeness of people. Still, the end is in sight. Pink Floyd dominates my musical intake and wine has replaced beer. Cheap and not bad on the palette either. Lovely Lesley has been experiencing similar treats.

Don Comes to Town

Don will arrive imminently. He is now an illegal citizen and will soon depart the this country for good. He's heading to Laos. Probably not a bad choice. The building work carries on and is, frankly becoming a pain in the derriere. They are good chaps, of course, but not being ablr to cook and feeling restricted in my own home is a bore. The house has been full of people for about four weeks now and is a nightmare for someone of my delicate misdonmenuer. STill, it will be great when it's finished. Watching Grace these days is amazing. There is so much going on inside her head. I attempt to influence her slightly. She has been watching The Lord of the Rings these past few days, and enjoying it. I am in a bit of a fantasy glut at the moment which may not be very healthy for her as princesses, monsters and castles seem to be the main subject of conversation. And then there is Big Bad Barry who lives in the local pond in what is, Sunnyview. The worst thing about Sunnyview is exactly that. It's name. It conjures up images of Four Marks where dear Joel used to live; the most devoid, characterless village in Christandom. Though we did our best to destroy it. Sunnyview is great for kids, but heaving with gossip and neighbourly disputes. I've been off work for about two weeks and there is innane sports week going on; three hours of cheering practice and dancing, 2 hours for lunch and a five minute running race at the end. Oi is well into her school, possibly to her detriment. Fortunately she has been recognized as an excellent teacher, not hard when everyone else is bone idle. And because of this she has been earmarked by the Thai establishment as someone they should keep. This may lead to good things for her in the future; like earning 2 pieces of coal a year instead of one, but we shall see. Meanwhile there is a mass exodus of casual teachers going on. On the 12th of August anyone seen to be border running is out.

Sports Week

More holidays as it's Sports week and we don't have to teach, just sign in and escape very quickly. So, I've been at home while the building work has been going on. This has been okay, but I feel a bit restricted about wandering about outside as I like to do. Still, it's time off and I've been laminating cards, playing the excellent Lord of the Rings card game and eating lots of sandwiches. The extension looks awesome I should say. The kitchen is going to be huge. It's a galley with a worktop either side. The door at the end leads to a newly constructed covered area which will be paved and to be home to a large hardwood table for outside activities. It's going to be great. Grace is so active it's hard to remain calm with her. Moments of cleverness had me playing Snap and the matching card games with her, and she loves exploring the games I've bought.

Building Work

It's a few days at home for us all. There is building work going on. We are doubling the size of the kitchen at the rear and putting up an outside roof with a tiled area for outside lunches and parties. We also had the rear wall reinforced and a drainage system that picks up water from all around the house and discharges it into the street at the front. The builder is a family friend and a lovely guy. They work fast and hard. Every day there has been substantial progress made. The roof is up already and the existing kitchen stripped and one wall knoked down to ajoin the extension. All quite exciting really, as all these things (buying the house, having extensions etc. are suddenly a reality). A bit different to the normal renting, living from paycheck to paycheck as is the norm.

Indeed, I have positively spoiled myself with games from Battlefield Bangkok. The kind chap, Chris from UK, I believe and a Tai Kuondo expert runs the shop and is super kind with lightening  efficiency. My games are ordered from overseas, arrive and are dispatched the moment I transfer the money, which isn't a lot for a few games. I just ordered a paint set from Games Workshop (Peter may remember) to coat all my lovely Descent fantasy figures. I bought a super lamp for close-up work; very bright and looks like a robot.

There is a package arriving tomorrow with two expansions for Descent (Trollfens and Halls of Nerekhall) and two entire fleets of Star Wars ship, with which I can commence galactic warfare. In the mail is 2 core sets, X-Wing and TIE fighter expansions, 2x B-Wing expansion, Millenium Falcon and Slave 1. I will be able to conduct a fleet of 7 TIE fighters or 4 X-Wings in a single battle. Quite awesome.

There are more ships on back order (they have to make another batch) of Vader's ship, Y-Wings (my fav), TIE interceptors and Rebel transports, as seen in Hoth escape in Empire Strikes Back.

I have been spending soothing moments neatly trimming the various cards and really look forward to painting goblins and heroes. I envisage a captivating experience.

Actually, one reason for getting these games is to break up the "drinking every night" culture that exists here; to do something different, though I, for one, got blind on the initial game. I blame it on my nerves.

Enough.

Descent Pix

 

Harry

 

 

Arun

 

Jon

Descent

Hosted the first game in Descent last night.

As night fell, a massive downpour and powercut sent by God did it's best to deter the young adventurers. Two were forced to turn back. Jon and Harry came riding through and an emergency call to Arun saw him coming to the rescue. Thus, the brave party consisted of three fine warriors; a fighter, a mage and a thief.

Many beers were drunk, the party fought bravely and sent the mighty Ettin, Mauler to his death. Arun getting the final death throw in with his handy knives.

It was a lot more fun than I expected actually and I drank way too much beer, forgetting all restrictions in the blinding fun that ensured.

I woke up downstairs at some early hour and crawled into bed.

In the morning receiving condeming look s from wife and daughter.

Oh well. It was huge fun.

Mid Term

Coming up to exam week thank god.

It's been lots of work and what with Grace, there has been little time for any escape.

I started lifting some weights which has revitalised me somewhat though as soon as I sit down from working, I immediately feel very tired, and in no mood for any activity as I would like to do.

I have been waiting weeks for my Star Wars spaceships to arrive which is a bit of a pisser and I have not felt the urge to attempt getting friends together for my other games. I expect I will be dead before that time arrives. Horrific, I know.

I love these games that I have bought. I hope I get passed the point of merely gazing at all the pieces and imagining actually playing a game. Bloody Hell.

I actually watched a movie two nights ago. First in ages. It was shite but quite fun; Non Stop with Irish rogue Liam Neeson. I think they have lost the abilty to make movies. The French Connection lies in my collection awaiting a viewing.

Board Games

Always loved games and now, with the discovery of Battlefield Bangkok, I now have a direct link to the world of games.

My superb table and uber comfy chairs are being delivered today. The room has air con and we are almost ready to launch.

Here's a flavour of what I have on offer so far;

 

 

Game Room

We went out looking at furniture today. Grace ran around trying all the bed and chairs. Oi found a bed she likes and I found a really cool table and chairs for board games. I'm uber-excited and hopefully tomorrow we will go back with a big wad of cash and make some purchases. Luckily, we both like staying at home and are happy to invest cash into making our home as great as possible. Once we have the building work complete and have the outside tiled dining area complete with uber-great drinking table we will be able to have fun times outside.

More board games have been ordered from Bangkok.

Building Work

Saturday morning and the garden is full of workmen.

The rear of the garden is falling away as we are on the edge of the site. Thus, a retaining wall has to be erected. Funnily enough, retaining walls were the first diagram I drew when I started work at EHDC (East Hants Darts Club). So I know a little bit about them.

In addition to this, we will also extend the kitchen and create a roofed outside area with drinking table etc. And a roof over the balcony on the first floor. I plan to get an exercise bike as I keep getting bitten by dogs when I venture out on my bicycle.

All quite exciting really and Oi is getting mighty proud of her home, and Grace just skips about like a princess demanding olives and assorted snacks.

I bought Descent: Journeys in the Dark board game, mail order from a kind American chap in Bangkok who runs Battlefield Bangkok games shop. I have been play testing it ready for the launch of the Chumphon Winkle's Patch Chinese Board Games Club. The two air con units we hauled up from Hat Yai will finish off the prestigious Games Room. Oi has kindly agreed to me taking command of an entire room! I got the drill out and put up my Edward Hopper and Henri Rousseau pictures. I'll probably get a couple more made as they are cheap to produce. I have my eye on the Dark Assassin card as a possible picture. I already have the wonderful Carcassonne game, which was my carefully selected present to myself when we went to England three or four years ago. My cherished treasure, and Oi plays it online on the ipad every day, then there is Descent which brings back D&D style dungeon crawling, and then on order is Star Wars X-Wing minuatures game which gets top reviews for being super easy to play but incredibly fun. It means I get to collect stuff again which was such an exciting part of my youth - collecting stuff. Back then

I have finally voluntarily graduated to Pink Floyd as my music of choice. It just sits awesomely with whatever activity I am doing. This week I had a molar removed which is still horribly painful. Oi suggested I took a day off work which I did and spent a very pleasant day laminating cards from Descent. I am definitely venturing back into hobbies from my early teens and now I have been able to cancel all but one of my private classes which is a Godsend. The one i kept (an hour on Friday evening) is just to keep in touch with the kind people who run the language centre.

It definitely knackers me out at my day job; 22 teaching hours a week, Wed, Thurs, Fri 5 hours of class. Fortunately I am in total control of the classroom and now have a fellow gamer Thai assistant to help me. His name is Port.

I also hit the secretary at school with a bunch of requests; new whiteboard, various things fixed - all of which have been done. And I've been knocking out some pretty good lessons which have gone down well; plenty of speaking exercises and reading to sort out the kids who never got it sorted. I have also issued writing exercises and publicly scorned anyone with bad hand writing.

Oh Well. that's enogh for now.

10:47 Saturday night.

I rearranged my study/gaming room. I kind of claimed it and then decided today to put another table in it to create a harmonious 90 degree workspace. PC on one side, and then handy extra table immediately to my left for project work; right now laying out the first game in my newly acquired Descent game. Heroes, monsters and spell cards are neatly piled up waiting for a test run of this new game sent to me by a great American chap who runs Bangkok Games shop.

Tonight, I rushed down to Home Pro and bought a lamp for my study. It's fantastic, as you can probably predict. And just adds some dignity to the room. As if serious study goes on here, which of course, it does.

Having become rich, I now have ample of all my requirements. I bought the litre bottle of Gilbey's gin for the first time, 2 kilos of museli, 2 packs of coffee and a bottle of Famous Grouse whisky.

It was a good thing to do and probably soon to repeat. I have hit an efficiency mode. Suddenly in my life I am awake again, able to travel, buy anything, stop extra work and Party!!!

It's great!

House

On Monday, Oi bought the house. For cash.

She took the day off work and met the various people, bankers, etc and headed for the Land Registry office where it was carried out. She heard woops and gasps as she declared she would buy it outright.

It's awesome for her and Grace, and me too. They will be okay now in this regard. There is still a ton of cash left over and we can both enjoy some shopping.

I just ordered a D&D style board game from Bangkok which arrived today. It's pretty exciting opening a box of floor tiles and plastic monsters. I want to get some paints and make them super cool. Then get some folks over to play over a few drinks.

A camera is also on the cards at some point.

School is going well, but I have been suggesting to my new boss that we reduce this academic learning of general knowledge, science and maths and do more conversation. It must have been some halfwit's idea...running before they can walk. I am sure in an international school it's a good idea, but most of these kids live on the farm. Easy and fun conversation will be better for them. Still, we shall see, and I have been enjoying the extensive research I have done of origins of the universe and planet Earth too. Melvin has been invaluable for this, though I am usually asleep before the show ends, or I become aware that I haven't taken anything in for the past ten minutes.

We are both concentrating on cutting back on intensive work from our schools and enjoying our precious family time together. Oi may decide to do something else as the fuckwit at her school drives her to dispair.

Grace is fine and raving about fairies most of the time. She is incredibly articulated and an absolute joy to us both. She is definitely a fully fledged third member of the family issuing demands and suggestions at all times.

I have painted the front gate with primer as we both prepare for extensive refurbishment at the house. We have to get the rear garden beefed up as it is falling away, being at the edge of the site. And we will have the kitchen doubled in size so we have plenty of room to cook and store all our pots and pans. We are going to base the decoration on the cool stuff at the Nana Beach Resort. Varnished bare cement finish and hardwood shelves. If it goes according to the iamge in my head it should be great.

We also popped in at a local plant shop and aim to purchase a veritable jungle to surround ourselves will and block out beastly neighbours. Actually, Sunnyview is a very pleasant place to live. And in Thialand that means a lot.

Wrath of Ashergard - Wanted board game

 

Rich

I have suddenly become rich, to a degree.

The sale of the house in Southsea went through and via SWIFT cash has been arriving in Thailand. A huge chunk to Oi, who will buy this house on Monday, coup permitting and a wee transfer to a new account I opened, which means I have a vast stack of cash to dip into as needs arise.

The coup kicked off last night, just as well as I had a couple of Singhas. No school today. Not that the fuckers bothered to inform their foreign staff.

I rushed over to Tescos and bought lots of yummy food like ham, peanut butter, cereal and coffee and chocolate and McVitie's Chocolate Digestives.

I spent the day sifting through PC games and managed to cut the lawn with a pair of shears Oi bought in Homepro. She is also experiencing shopping euphoreia.

Tonight, in embarassing overindulgence, I rode into town and picked up a litre of gin (cheapee Gilbeys, not Gordon's - just not worth the extra 400 baht) and a bottle of Famous Grouse - first time I've seen it in Chumpon. Then I got some beers. Don't worry the spirits will be supped slowly.

Meanwhile I have been trawling the Net for board game shops in Bangkok who may sell some rather appealing D&D style board games. They deliver, and I believe the chaps here in Chumpon may be up for an evening of board games with beers, so it's worth investigating. When Peter was here we had a cracking game of Carcassonne with 3 players. It was scary good fun. Even Peter was mildly blown away.

So Oi will buy the house very soon which is awesome for her and Grace. They will always have somewhere to call their own. I saw John Entwhistle say the other day that riches came too late. I kinda feel the same as I have no desire for anything except good food and a few nik naks. Still, it's all good and very fun.

Desperately into Warhammer Quest on the Ipad right now. Even contacting the company for future updates. PC is more problematic. Too many choices, though I still love Duel of Champions.

Music is great and very into the Who right now watching old concert footage and differene3t version of A Quick One While He's Away (the one one the Stone's Rock and Roll Circus).

Vikings has ended and I am in a bit of a void on TV watching, though I have been enjoying a very passive Grey's Anatomy, restarting at the first series.

A Sad State of Affairs

A public holiday and a chance to relax.

It must be said that Thailand is in such a state right now.

The political stand-off goes on between the yellows and the reds. Job losses are starting to filter through as it takes its toll on the economy. 5,000 losses at Thai Air and 30,000 in the motor manufacturing sector, and that's only what I am aware of. Multiple countries, like Japan, are pulling out and no sense can be had form the Thais, who seem so different in how they think from the rest of the world. T'would appear greed and deeply ingrained corruption rule the land and the as one party cannot accept the other they would rather burn the country than allow the other to claim victory. Madness, and yet it can be found at every level of Thai society as all Westerners here now and have to deal with on a daily basis.

China is getting mighty aggressive in the South China Sea, setting up oil rigs off the Vietnamese coast and mutiple ramming incidents with just about every nation is ASEAN. Wankers.

School is great but really hard work 50+ kids in a class and so tiring. So far I am keeping up with it and enjoy the laughs with the kids and my new assistant, Port, is a great guy.

Trying to play games in my spare minutes but have trouble getting into them right now.

Listening to The Who a lot, and enjoying Game of Thrones now that Vikings has ended.

Work Work Work then Holiday

Three days back at work then a holiday.

Wow. It was gruelling, and yet I really enjoyed it. This year I am teaching M2 and M5  (13 and 16 year olds) and I have a male assistant named Port. He is a gamer and a DOTA 2 player, which is a hardcore team game played worldwide. He's a nice guy. Quite nervous at the start but seems like a good bloke and normal.

Added to this class sizes are 50 students. I laid down the law stating that anyone messing about would instantly be kicked out and marked as absent. Having a Thai in the room should sort out behavoir.

So, Friday and a holiday. Just as well as my body is aching from working again.

I have spent the day gaming and searching and acquiring new games and playing old favourites, namely Panzer Corps.

Last night I went down to the town and met up with the boys. It was a lot of fun and the folks here are a crack. A big crowd of English and Americans and everyone gets along fine.

I'm quite keen to knock out some lessons on Powerpoint and develop my approach to teaching older kids. So far it's been fun and my secong year at this school has all the Thai people there that much friendlier towards me, as is usually the case.

The money from the house sale in Southsea came through and later this month we will buy the house in Sunnyview that we are renting now. That will mean an instant saving of 6,000 baht a month in rent which will be awesome. I also got a 3,000 baht a month increase at my school so we will have a lot more cash. Hell, maybe we can even like, go somewhere!

Game heaven at the moment. The list is;

Panzer Corps
Might and Magic Duel of Champions.
Blackguards (new one, downloading as I type)
Warhammer Quest (ipad)
Shadowrun Returns

All great.

TV. Vikings just ended season 2 and was fucking amazing. It's a must watch.
Game of Thrones is watchable but pretty boring.

Planning to extend the kitch at the house and we have to shear up the back of the house as the ground is falling away as we are on the egde of the site. Oi's family will do it to reduce costs. Having a bigger kitchen will be awesome as we both constantly cook. Then I will make an outdoors drinking corner.

Looming School

Indeed, school is just a heartbeat away, and I am in near dread of the prospect.

It's been a pleasing holiday.

Tom came to stay last week. We headed up to Cabana beach and stayed at the Nana Beach Resort. It was sublime. Grace loved the pool and pricy bungalow. Tom stayed in the cheapee rooms down the road but lounged about in the expensive one during the day.

It was very fun. We had lots of drink with my Chumphon buddies who came up for the day and had Indian curries and White Russians in the evening.

Back at Sunnyview, Grace danced around Tom and we hit the pool a couple of times. I made Tom sit through six episodes of Vikings. It is compelling we both agreed. I am stunned by that show, and Ragnar Lothbrook is just awesome. Watch it.

It was great to see Tom (it's been a year) and we were mirthful and full of joy. I played some priceless Fry and Laurie sketches and the new 20-12 show which was fun.

He headed off to Koh Tao to continue his adventure.

In the meantime my house in Southsea has been sold. This lets us buy the house in Sunnyview with cash left over.

I celebrates tonight by buying a bottle of rum and a bottle of Gordon's gin.

This holiday has been mainly spent at home and I played plenty of games and really enjoyed it. I just love fantasy turn-based games. This summer I played;

Might and Magic Duel of Champions
World of Tanks.
Warhammer Quest
Borderlands 2
Card Hunter

All very compelling and fun.

I have been watching Viking and season 4 of Game of Thrones, and season 28 of Survivor which Oi likes.

Days have been spent drinking morning coffee, cooking baked spuds, taking Grace to the swimming pool, town, Natalie's house.

I made friends with a German chap in Sunnyview called Patrick. A good and clever guy in the diving business here.

Health Drive

Holiday is going well and after a pre end of term booze fest that lasted a few weeks I have managed to get on a health drive. This past week I have basically eaten only salad, and tons of it. My fatness came off very quickly. I have also been partaking in mild exercise, bike rides and walking about Sunnyview. Booze is still about but no heavily moderated and taking days off at a time. My body reacts quickly and very positively to the change. I also made a determined effort to cut out snacks which also worked out very well. And I guess from being with Grace 24-7 I get exercise from her.

Last night however I went to a BBQ of a German chap living here in Sunnyview. All my buddies were there. That's Martin (Irish), Mark (the Micheal Caine lookalike), Patrick (the German), Colin (lovely guy from Peterborough), Andy (don't really know him from Northern UK), Arun (great youngish lad from Blackburn and runs the private teaching class with his girlfriend where I work part time), Chris great English chap who loves cricket, ale and medieval battles. A great Saturday afternoon evening.

Now I am not working it gives me a chance to think, explore new ideas and do plenty of research on various projects.

Oi is fine and really enjoying her job at the school. Gracie is bouncing around is is happy all the time. We do our best to keep her stimulated and learning.

Holiday Mode

I am on holiday...almost. We have been ordered to sign in every morning through all of March. Strange? Selfish? Wasteful? Certainly, but it's no great shakes for married me. I am at home anyway taking care of Gracie while wifey toils away at her school.

Being on holiday is wonderful, of course, and everything is done at a very leisurely pace. Coffee, TV, games, yoga, bike ride, walking about Sunnyview, all done like some Hollywood star.

Tom came to see me. It was so wonderful to see him after a year and we had a fun time. I took him to Cabana beach where we met up with my ex co-worker from San Fran (like Tom) and ate incredible pizza and lots of beer. The were both suitably impressed with the pizza, which is the best I have ever had; very authentic, thin, crispy and Divine toppings. We took the beach road home enjoying the afternoon ride amongst the tropical background and lush beaches.

Horrific state of events on the global scene right now. We are indeed entering a most evil phase where Man's technical ability far outdoes his emotions and manner. The aircraft disappearance is an extraordinary event to witness. There are so many possibilities as to what happened. A very dark matter indeed.

Been gaming big time and relishing Deus Ex Human Revolution - Director's Cut. A wonderful adventure with highly addictive upgrades to your person. A Bladerunner experience. 

Another such game, Shadowrun is a sci-fi turn based detective yarn and a joy.

TV. Twenty Twelve is fun, Vikings - very enthralling and exciting.

Working from Home

Marking time. We can do this at home. One could sense the distane at our glee as we arrived early morning to pick up the exam papers and flee back home. Jumping back on a motorcycle and shooting out of the school gates draws slow glares from the native teachers forced to stay there. I picked up some toasted sandwiches from 7-11 on the way home. Brewed a big pot of coffee and got stuck in.

At ten thirty I rode over to Tesco to pick up some mushrooms for the enormous spag bol I am about to make (as soon as Oi gets home with the Basil). All looking good.

I am preparing for some hardcore gametime. These days there are so many awesome games one has to be very careful to only play a select few, and to properly appreciate them as we did in days of yore. I have some nice titles awaiting play, quite unusual choices too; strategic, turn-based, fantasy, sci-fi. Yes, a very interesting mix. Also some casual ones for when the going gets tough. Like so many things these days, there are so many options, everything seems to lose it's value. Movies become unwatched, albums unlistened to, games unplayed. It's the curse of acquisition and being more addicted to acquiring than actually playing. A very strange phenomenon.

Don, Tom and Patrick are all on Koh Phang Nang, though I fear I will be unable to join them. It would be more than my monthly budget just to get there and stay a couple of nights. I fear it may have to be another time.

More marking tomorrow...

Trying to Rest

It was the students test today. I went into the school. Although void of any character, the other Western teachers are great and we had a good old chin-wag to pass the time until the exams started. Everyone is quite mature and discussions often head back to the 80's and such. A rich crowd of individuals for sure. David, Karen, Les and Jason are all very different from each other, but also very entertaining.

After 5 hours with Gracie tonight I was desperate for a cider so rushed into town and got there just before he shut. Thank heaven. Taht sweet, sweet nectar.

First Unofficial Day of the Holidays

It's Saturday morning. I am quite free now really, though odds and ends remain. I have to waltz around the school on MOnday for about 30 minutes as my students do my exam, then I have to sign iun for the next two weeks every morning, and I have my private classes that will continue throughout the holidays. But, more or less, I am now on holiday.

Along with this goes looking after Gracie as Oi, being Thai, doesn't get too much holiday and will have to go to her school, and I will have to take care of Gracie who will be on holiday. A daunting task, though Oi has agreed to take Gracie to school some days so I can have some time to myself.  By the end of a busy day with Gracie I am ready to retire. She's hard work and wants to do things all the time, whereas I just want to relax in a chair and watch Downton Abbey.

I imagine in years to come it will get easier.

There's a few things I want to get started in the holidays. I want get get a table and chairs for outside, so I can sit in the garden and enjoy the quiet. I also want to do some gardening to make my little "Drinkers Corner" as tranquil as possible.

Then there's the cooking. I plan to get some hummus and chilli on the go very soon. Also, plenty of walking and bike rides. That should keep me healthy and busy enough.

One shall also attempt to get through Downton Abbey, more of Breaking Bad and some new ones I've discovered. Namely, The Pillars of the Earth and series 2 of "House of Cards" with Kevin Spacey.

Enjoy.

It has to be said how ridiculous the world is now.

The whole structure of civilisation is profoundly wrong that it is like a falling bird, unable to fly. Man simply cannot live by these means and it's totally out of control.

This perpetual state of failing governments, stress by economics and endless work.

I'm not sorry, but the fundamental laws of how Man lives are wrong. The Fall is so evident. The tragic, deliberate mistake. The design flaw which will make Man disappear like very other species so far. So capable, yet so ruled by such base desire.

Strange how we can't avoid the massive tsunami that we created. We can't escape from peaks and troughs, summer and winter, good times and bad.

And just one very short story in a universe.

AD&D: Long Lost memories of first adventures.

Sunday

Though feeling fat and useless, I managed to cut down on the booze this weekend and enjoyed moderate amounts to relative satisfaction. Yet, I am horrbily aware that I must soon circumvent an energy push to mould my loathsome mass of swadled flesh into some kind of a shape. Being in ones 40's, one is acutely aware that toppling over dead at a moments notice is a distinct possibilty. It's a terrible fight for Man and work is the biggest enemy. Designed to keep you indulging in abuse as precious moments are so hard to find. Having young ones adds to the desperate scene. Any form of escape taken in haste.

Argh!!!

Added to this, I have been experience ugly addiction to Might and Magic Legacy, restarting 3 times to build up the perfect party of Orc Barbarians, Mages, Elf Druids and Paladins such as to devestate any cumbersome wandering monster on the Asha Plains and beyond. I haven't felt or enjoyed such addiction since....? Thief? System Shock 2? I can't say. By the way, a new Thief game is to be released in a couple of days, tragically lacking the original voice of Garrett.

Steam

Approching the end of term and it can't come soon enough. I am in a kind of vortex of self depreciation which is directly proportional to the final, gruelling days of work.

I'm pretty tired but partying thing up a bit to much in my free time. I'm feeling a tad fat and out of shpae. Of course, I am planning a major return to fitness once the holidays begin and I shall be back on the juices and plenty of exercise.

Oi will be working all of March which means a fair proportion of my time will be spent with Grace who will be on holiday too. I need to keep one step ahead of her and have taxing events organised as soon as she wakes up, then I might get to chill out in the afternoon. We shall have to see.

It will be another month before we can get away due to Oi's school but I hope to get about a bit on the bike and keep myself fairly active. Looking forward to some major cooking too. Am planning an early batch of hummus and some red kidney bean chili.

The app Steam on my PC is proving dangerously addictive. I have purchased a few RPG games of yore, as right now I am thoroughly enjoying Might and Magic Legacy X and have extended my gaming to a few other titles. I have quite a backlog of games waiting to be played. As I have felt before, I am more addicted to buying these games than actually playing them. Luckily, I thought better of it and downloaded a couple of them off Kick Ass Torrents so saved myself a few quid. Work great too.

Anyone, in need of an RPG romp through the forests and castles of some imaginary land, might like a few of these games, namely Spellforce 2 and M&M Heroes VI.

Saturday Grace

It's a long weekend, though I have to teach some babies tomorrow at noon for two hours, which kind of screws up my game plan, but never mind.

Oi has taken herself off to the school to learn Burmese leaving moi to be with Princess Grace. It's hard work, trying to relax from work and fulfil all the demands of an aspiring princess. I've hit the stimulants which may counter act the situation and make matters infinitely worse. 

Added to this, and not wanting to go out today, as I rode many miles yesterday to the National Park swamp and Sari beach, I want to play some games. I have spent a few coppers from my UK account to get a few, new game titles that have caught my senses. I've picked up some nice titles.

Might and Magic X Legacy. Awesome RPG old style game play with new tech. Very fun with wonderful leveling up skill upgrades. Elves, barbarians, mages the full bit, blowing the crap out of every goblin or drak elf that dares to wander within spell range. Very absorbing and entertaining.

Car Crash something. Brilliant demolition derby. It's a Greenlight game, funded by dweebs and under continual development by sad Germans in a Berlin basement. But what fun! I read countless wonderful reviews and it sold me. Every want to smash up cars? This is the game to do it in.

Deux Ex. Human Revolution - The Director's Cut. This is as awesome as Bladerunner as a movie and set in a very similar environ.

I picked up the Tom Clancy Ghost Recon games of yore. You know, the one where you raid the ganja plantation. No, not that one! That was Far Cry 3!

World of Tanks still gets play and is recommended to anyone as the best game of all time.

Great games and all second or third tier.

Two weeks 'til freedom!

Freedom

Wow! Tomorrow is a public holiday and I am so pleased. I'm at the end of the road and toatlly exhausted having worked the past three weeks straight. Don't ask me why, it just happened.

To celebrate this momenous ocassion Karen, my co-worker from 'Sisco and I headed to the "Fish Tank". A booze shop full of aquariums and strange-looking, giant fish. They have a good liquer area, and I secured a bottle of Gordon's gin to make us for last weeks near death experience with Contessa gin. Rat poison in a bottle. It made me very sick for about four days. Beware, fellow adventurer of what evil mixyure has ended up in a bottle of handsome gin. 'Tis like something from Fafred and the Gray Mouser and the streets of Lankhmar, surely.

Along with the pretty gin came eight flagons of Savanna Cider too boot. As of now, I am two-thirds through and taking a breather from intoxication.

Looking forward to some rest. I will also cleverly do some teaching research to avoid cataphrophy next week.

Already I have sought exciting clips of Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark to whet the appetites of my students in their thirst for all things great.

Almost Over

Just a couple of weeks left before things start to slow down at school, though I think they have various bastard events lined up in an attempt to control us during the holidays. We shall do our best to avoid and not attend any such event. It's been quite a fun year really. The guys at work are great, even though we have been treated appallingly by our Thai superiors. I swear they would lock us in a cage if they could get away with it. Our boss, Rojo, who has six foreign teachers under her command has not mentioned anything about the end of term tests that we have to write and distribute. We have to work it out ourselves while she stomps around looking miserable or eating incessently at her desk with her ancient co-workers. She's a real fuckwit. She's as equally likely to glare at you or smile depending on her state of mind as you pass her in the corridors. Don't worry the feeling is mutual and everyone scarpers when they see her coming. The other day when she came in to tell us that no one was allowed to go home, everyone picked up their bags and went home, leaving her standing in the middle of the room in an angry haze of loathing and muted fury.

Two weeks and a day left to go...

Slave Pits of the Undercity

Exhausted

It's Saturday evening. I was forced to work all day by the idiot right-wing school director. It's horribly nationalistic here; ranting speeches and prolonged clapping every morning at assembly. Sometimes I imagine that they are marching into civil war, proud and strong. It's sad.

I have a case of Beer Lao that Lesley very kindly secured for me when he went to Makro. I went over to his place and after a chat brought it back on the bike. Beer Lao is not half bad, with a dark reddish colour and a distinct hoppy flavour. This makes it leagues ahead of the dreadful competition that Thailand allows its populus to drink. A rich few holding the tastebuds of an entire nation for a few extra Baht. Surely, a crime against humanity, if anyone had the sense to realise it.

Dominic has been about of late and his daughter, Natalie has become Grace's best friend from in the suburban oasis that is Sunnyview. Dominic insists it's Sunnyville. Somehow we must solve this mystery.

Elections tomorrow here in Thailand and it is tittering on blood and death on the streets. We shall see.

I am exhausted and working for the next 8 days straight. Oh dear me.

Gin and Tonic

Gin and Tonic

 

 

 

Fruit Fly, stay away from that lime,

 

Fruit Fly, stay away from that lime,

 

 

 

'Cause that lime is for my Gin and Tonic.

 

That lime is for my Gin and Tonic.

Review: Mum's trip

 

Grace, Jonathans and Sonya.




Mater will be nearly home by now, and it's a time to reflect.

It was a great duration. A short stay but busy and also very lucky. Due to the Thai protests, Oi and I both had most of the time off work.

Jonathan and Sonya were awesome. I do remember them from Ireland and seemed lovely then. This time was the same, but for longer, and I got to know a bit about them.

Blessed with devine luck we took off for an island. Koh Payam off Ranong in the Anderman Sea. A beautiful island. A long pier at a small settlement that reminded me of a pirates locale. It was tiny and bustling. Bars, food shops, hippy clothes shops, a gang of motorcycle taxi drivers looking suitably wrinkled under the all-day sun. The odd farand hobbling around on crutches, and a few with white slings or plasters. Our ride to our residence is worthy of note. Four or five motorcycles carried us across the island. First on a narrow concrete slab road that took us to the other side, I'd say for about 4 or 5 kilometers. It was all very scenic, winding and up and down. As we approached the resort the road became a dirt track and went suddenly uphill. It hit a slight crest with magnificent primary jungle trees and lush scrub, then dropped steeply down the other side, that makes for hairy riding.

Our Bungalow

The Restaurant, Koh Payam.

When you arrive after parking the bikes halfway down the hill and proceeding on foot, the beach is laid out to your left as you walk in to a shady, spacious restaurant with a long open bar, perfect for drinks, breakfast and a late lunch.

Part 2 later....

Mum's Last Day

Mother

Mum arrived with family friends, Jonathan and Sonya.

By lucky chance with all the protesting Oi and I have had time off work. There was a window when we could get to an island. We headed for Koh Payam in nearby Ranong by the Andaman Sea. What a gorgeous place.

We had 4 days in island paradise. I got so fit from all the walking about, along jungle paths and up into the hills, that all my aches and pains have vanished, if but for a short time. We spent time in the sea, riding kayaks, exploring the island on motorbikes and plenty of eating in restaurants. It has to be one of the best islands I've been to, and the first in a very long time. I am hoping we can return there very soon.

Jonathan and Sonya had an amazing time and its nice to see just how stunned they were, never having expereinced anything quite like this before. I was stunned. It's what Thailand's all about - island living.

Back at home now and more protests means more time off work. Oi has so whole week off which is super lucky as she can spend time with Mum.

Grace has been having a ball with grandma here and two new friends to annoy.

Last night I showed them the movie, Dean Spanley, as an appertizer. I also let Jonno listen to Alan Watts for a space.

Gamewise, I have been enjoying the oh so classic Panzer Corps. A table top, traditional wargame, only for the great thinkers and strategists of our time.

Koh Payam