P.S. Cafe redemption, Kiwi Martinees, and "Cyanide"...

Family,
And a good evening to you from across the globe after another GREAT DAY in the Lion City.  The Bull logged 1 hour and 5 minutes on the bike today, recording 33KM.  Couple that with the 5K yesterday (23:35), and it was one of the most active weekends I've had in a long time.  I'm hoping that the trend can continue, but given that Team Taylor will host company this week (and consequently will require morning workouts), we'll see if I can keep the momentum going.  Either way my pants are definitely feeling a bit looser, which is always a good thing.  Must be all those AFD's...

Recapping the weekend - Friday night was a CLASSIC evening, as I went out for dinner with my old team and their new boss (we'll refer to her as "Mighty Tai Tai," as that seems to be the current nickname in use).  So picture the scene - it's 6'0" Ang Mo Sammy the Bull with 10 petite little Asian girls, and we're en route to a Korean BBQ joint called the Red Pig.  All I've heard is that this place is as authentic as it gets, and we're even equipped with a Korean to tell us what to do and order for us.  I mean, that set-up isn't quite as good as "a priest and a rabbi walk into a bar," but you can tell it's set up for epic misadventures.



Rice wine - it's kind of crystal light meets Everclear
- I realize that probably doesn't help ANYONE
conceptualize it, but trust me - really good.

So we sit down, and instantly drama ensues with the staff, as we want to push our tables together.  This is CLEARLY not in the manual of acceptable behavior, and the staff is struggling to understand why we feel the need to bond and talk to each other (vs. being like 10 feet apart).  Their hesitation is that each table has a grill in the center, and above that is this "Dr. Worm suction cup vacuum" device that whisks the "food smell" away.  Once we move the tables, the suction won't work.  This, of course, didn't stop me from making a scene and putting the thing to my head to see how much suction it really had.  Well, picture the scene in Wayne's World where Garth says, "Get it off!  It's sucking my will to live!"  Yeah, that puppy basically lifted my hair Einstein style, much to the amusement of the table and the chagrin of the staff.  Yes, yes - I am ALL ABOUT great first impressions.

We then order 3 bottles of rice wine, and this was AWESOME.  The server comes out, shakes the bottles to the point that you think the cap will be a projectile when she pops it, and then rips the top off and dumps it into a teapot.  The wine is pouring out like flames from the rocket boosters on a space shuttle, and the tea pot is shaking.  You then add in some Sprite (I know, I know - TRUST ME on this), and voila!  You've got an FANTASTIC new concoction - even if you have to drink it out of mini-dog bowls.  Details...

It's all fun and games...

It is at this point that Jasmine (our resident Korean National) says it's time to order and then looks at me and says, "The woman owner is quite friendly to boys."  I dismiss this rather cryptic statement as a lost in translation moment, until I feel hands suddenly MASSAGING MY BACK AND HEAD.  Knowing that my wife is in another hemisphere, I look up to see the owner looking down at me and then counting all the females around the table.  My old team (henceforth known on this blog as "the girls") is cackling, and the cameras are flying, so I play along.  Hence - photo #1.  But THEN, just when I start to think "you know, she's been touching me for long enough - bring on the food", she leans down AND TRIES TO KISS ME.  WHAT THE @#$#!?!?!?!?!?!?  Nancy capture this action shot - I'm not sure it conveys the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that ensued.  Needless to say I was a bit shell-shocked, and Tiff's quote was the best:  "That's the first time I've ever seen Sam blush."  Muffin - haffa hurry home and protect me from scary Korean women!!!!!

Until some psychotic Korean grillmaster tries
to make out with you.  I will wake up screaming
for at least the next month.

I am pleased to report that the rest of the night went off without incident, minus a few interesting conversation bits.  The first was learning about "siiiiiii-niiiiiiiiii," which is Singlish for those actions a really whiny girlfriend does to get the boyfriend to agree to something.  Each girl basically told the rest of us her best "siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii" technique, which usually involved 1. pouty lips, 2. lots of poking with a finger, 3. foot stomping, and 4. lots of screaming and potential crying.  This was all made funnier by the fact that I thought they were saying "cyanide" for about 20 minutes, which still worked in my opinion - you drive the guy to the point of death with incessant whining, and so he will do whatever it takes to end the torture.  Awesome...
The other came mid-way through the meal.  I'm shoveling squid pancakes and spicy pork into my mouth, when suddenly I hear, "There was a lot of pressure, and then the cut, and he came out."  I sort of, well, STOP EATING, at that point, because I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that we're discussing C-SECTIONS AT THE DINNER TABLE.  But clearly I was the only one who found this odd, because the Mighty Tai Tai held court and kept the rest of the table in RAPT FASCINATION.  I'm still a little scarred (no pun intended).

That's not fat - it's fuel for some distance, yet to be identified
road race.  Bean curd is to the right and spicy cabbage is to
the left.  And that steel pipe is the think that tried to Flo-be
my head.

Saturday was a good day as well, as I went over to Money and Dan's place about 6 for some cocktails.  Adam and Anika (same folks as last week) were over, and so Big D treated us to some Kiwi Martinees.  Let me tell you - they were soooooo guuuuuuuuuuuuuuud (peppy cheekies).  We then rolled down to PS Cafe, where we met Emma and another one of Lisa's uni mates for dinner.  Now yes, I realize that I'd put P.S. Cafe on my "places to test nuclear weapons or other incendiary devices" list, but I must say - this experience was WAAAAAAY better and much closer to previous times.  The wine was excellent (Pinot Noir from NZ), the lasagna was good, and I FINALLY broke down and tried the 3 cheese fried toast.  Simple?  Yes.  Overpriced?  Yes.  Delicious?  You better believe it.

We then hit up a bar called 83 (which was quite cool), but I was fading by about 2:30 or so.  After a nightcap at Casa de Tullett, I got home about 3:30, and PASSED OUT about 4 AM, waking up today around 11. 

Today's been excellent - I finished Season 2 of V, got a workout in, did some domestic stuff, chatted with Dad, chatted with Rice, started a new Crichton book called "Airframe" which is EXCELLENT.  I finished another of his books, "Next," earlier this week, and I was REALLY impressed.  Once I finish Airframe, I'll have 4 Crichton books to go before I complete his entire fiction catalogue.  I am now very determined to cross them all off, as they are GREAT page turners.  Oh, and Muffin - you'll be happy to know that "The Last Samurai" was on HBO tonight, so I carved 2 hours out of my INCREDIBLY busy schedule to watch that.  You'll remember it as the movie I was SO INTO in Railay that I was entranced for about 5 minutes.  I'm now blaming that on sheer exhaustion, but I was still really into it from the start. :-)

Okay, that's all the news that's fit to print.  Chat tomorrow!

Love,

Sam and (now a veteran of open ocean swimming in the Southern Hemisphere and no doubt enjoying a final dinner and evening on Hamilton Island) Jenny