Just another blog... pool, physio and parties
7. nov 2009 13:01, MikkelIn a very unforseen twist of fate our social life down here has ended up revolving around the pool tables of Kamala... I never played the game very much (or very good) become I came to Thailand and Marianne virtually never touched a cue before she arrived, so it was never an item of our list of things to do on a night out. We are not the kind of people who play pool... or rather, now we are ;)
I'm still not that good, but I'm learning and I'm the victim of some damn fine master classes conducted by the high level players gathered in our little village. On any given night against any given player you will be lucky to get your stab at the table 3 times before it's curtains. So either eat the humiliating sessions with a smile or give up and go sit by the bar instead.
Marianne took to the damn thing like a duck to water and she is improving hand over fist every time we go out... I hope she has reached a little plateu now, otherwise I'm going to feel very afraid very soon... I hate losing to her.
(heh and I can see my dear brothers imagining the worst kinds of games marred by taunts and gloating... but swing by and give it a shot boys, you might just be surprised!)
Michael and his coach
Back on topic. We now go out to play pool as a favourite pastime and it has brought us a whole host of new people we know at least on "a game & a beer" basis. Done wonders for our social activity level ;)
Then there is "The Tournament" which has already been covered in a previous blog. 5 weeks in and we have won 4 matches and have one narrow defeat.. for the team that were supposed to be the ultimate underdogs thats not half bad!!! I'd still say we are the weakest team, but we have a close knit companionship and each game night ends up a halfway party after we once again outperformed the expectations and high fived until our palms are smarting ;)
Just before we headed to Bangkok we had the distinct pleasure of playing Charlie Bar and beating them. Charlie Bar is our own favorite haunt and Charlie is a icon in town both because of his skills at the green cloth and his general habit of partying HARD every night.
There is no being too drunk, too stoned or too weird to fit in at Charlie Bar and we love it. It's small, it's cozy, it's got no walls, it's got a good pool table and it has Charlie himself who will either curse you or kiss you depending on mood and amounts of liquer imbibed.
Charlie...
Anyways, facing Charlie Bar was a special night and the taunting had been going on for 10+ days before the match.. at the same time Ta the owner of Paradise celebrated her birthday so we had good food, lots of spectators and a live band playing right next to us during the very intense duel.
We won it narrowly even though I played the worst games of my career here in Thailand, simply put I sucked.. but the rest of the team picked up my slack. Ended in a monumental celebration and all was well.
Then 3 days ago we played Malibu Bar in an away game.. heh but since Malibu bar is 15 metres from Paradise Bar it was not THAT big a cultural shock ;) As usual they were all good players and as usual we put our faith in Michael and Nick, our team magicians... and as usual the whole team kicked ass. Personally I was once again pitted against their star player and true to form I dug up some skill (and some luck) from nowhere and beat the dude mwuaaahhahaaaaaaaahahahhaha
Finally Marianne managed to capture one of my rare winning moments ;)
In the double I teamed up with Michael and played well enough that even he gave a satisfied nod of the head after the game, and thats a rare occasion I can tell you. So flying higher than ever on my selvbelieved mythical skills I ended up at Charlie Bar to once and for all beat him. He was not really capable of standing upright and not sure which end of the cue to use.. or on what. He still beat me though and laughed all the way to bed. *Sigh*
Probably for the better, now I know again that I'm still just a rookie and still have a lot to learn.
All this was just an excuse to not write about Bangkok... will get there eventually. Just finished the work I had to get done today so now I'll kick back a bit and then.. yeah you guesed it, head out on town to play pool with the gang, we need to practise for next wednesday ;)
We started the bright sunny day on the beach and finally managed to get a swim in. Now Marianne is at the night market in Phuket City doing a spot of shopping with Sarah. Oh and I had another physiotheraphy session yesterday and the good Doc. pronounced me almost well. Will take some more ultrasound before I can really go at it again, but I can walk now and I'm barely limping even after the endless hiking sessions around Bangkok.
All is well and life is good.
7. nov 2009 23:44
Det er altså nogle superfede match reports fra jeres turnering! Go go go Paradise Bar :-D
(kan man få replica shirts?)
8. nov 2009 19:57
Hasn't Marianne told you that her pool-career started in 1991 at Uhre Kro ?
That's 18 years ago !!
9. nov 2009 12:39
He's obviously making things up...
18. nov 2009 22:46
Charlie looks like a baaaad aaaaass mofo!!! I wouldn't want to meet him for a pool game in a dark narrow alley ;)
22. nov 2009 14:54
Haha... Charlie is probably the kindest man around - and he's a sucker for kittens :)
22. nov 2009 15:52
Yeah he is a very nice and mellow and laid back and considerated and stoned guy, but IMHO there is no doubt he can get mean if the need arises.
Remember the annoying blindingly drunk British idiot that kept provoking him some weeks ago?? Charlie looked ready to dish out some real pain then.
Come meet him Thomas, you'd love it here.