About a week ago manthan was listening to WMMR. i don't really care for the station. i use to listen to Preston and Steve when Y100 was still around but wasn't a big enough fan to follow them to 93.3. Anyway, manthan was listening to the station and when they had a calling contest to get on a list for their singles mingles night at Reed's.
i'm not sure what manthan was thinking but he was one of the first ten callers and got on the list. They asked him to bring a friend. Since i'm such a great friend (or because out all his friends i'm the closest to the bar) he asked me to tag along. The thing went down from 6-9pm and the first bud light is free. Also there is a free buffet, drink specials, and contests with prizes to be won.
i wasn't too sure if a free bud light was worth it. manthan ended up being a little late and we didn't get to the bar until 6:30. Showed our IDs, got lame bracelets, name tags, and a ticket for our free beer. Turned out they weren't handing out bud lights, instead it was Jimmy Buffet's beer...Land Shark. i believe this was my second time having it. Its pretty good, way better than bud light. So for the rest of the night we kept drinking the Land Shark.
After we got the first beer we hit up the buffet. The buffet was pretty lame, all they had were roast beef sandwiches, meatballs, potatoes, mini tacos, spring rolls, and tomato pie. i was actually excited to eat the tomato pie, reminds me of the food we would always have after footballs games in high school.
We soon made our way towards the stage where Preston and Steve would be doing some contests. While walking over there...i have never seen so many freaks in my life. This one guy was wearing a black trench coat and sunglasses like he was casting for the Matrix or something...and his friend was a red head with a pony tail down to his tail bone. There were a lot of guys with pony tails, i kind of felt left out...i think i'll start growing one.
This one guy, name tag said larry, was wearing a blazer, jeans and running shoes...that just spells out weirdo. Who wears running shoes with a blazer?? Somehow he managed to talk to these two women forever, they must have been pretty desperate. So many weirdos, i wish i had a couple drinks in me at the time then i would have taken pictures of them... i'm pretty sure i was the youngest person at the bar. Out of 300 people there manthan said he could count all the attractive women on one hand.
Time for the contests. i didn't catch the first contest. It had something to do with guys standing on the stage paired with women on their knees infront of them with an orange behind their back...not quite sure what that was all about. The second contest was just with women, and whoever could take their bra off with their shirt still on won...the winner literally took 2 seconds, she should have her own show in Vegas...i didn't think that was possible. Of course Preston being a perv had to point out that it must of been cold in the bar. Then next contest was pretty ridiculous. The got some new people on the stage, paired them up, and asked them to pop four balloons with sex positions. i believe they were 69, missionary, cowgirl, and doggy. Luckily i didn't have to witness that either because it was all done on the floor and the people in front of me blocked my view.
The winners where this lumberjack looking chick and a black guy with a Phillies hat. They were fast, probably one of the shortest contests ever, well besides the bra one. The prizes were an iPod Shuffle and a diamond necklace...but when manthan and i asked the girl that won about her necklace, she said they were just earrings...bummer.
After that ridiculousness there was another break for people to mingle some more. Manthan left me again to take a phone call which i'm sure was important, not. During that time i just people watched some more. Pretty much entertaining all the time.
Got another beer and visited the bathroom, when i got back it was just about time for the last contest. i had no idea what this contest was going to be and i had no intention of volunteering to be in it. The got some characters up on stage, Preston asked the interns to pick people. The one intern said,"i pick the old guy, the skinny guy, and you." Then a chick intern picked three girls. The one girl looked like a librarian, the second girl looked like she belonged in a sorority, and the third girl...i'm just going to say deuce.
Preston then told everyone the name of the contest, The Best Make-Out Couple. Then Preston said that the manager of Reed's asked to keep nudity minimal, but Preston was like,"but i don't work for Reed's so ...i say anything goes"
The grand prize for this contest was a queen size bed for each of the winners...What!? Who needs a queen size bed? i sure don't...though it would be nice to have an extra bed, put it next to the California king and make a humongous bed and make fun of all the other beds in the house or something like that.
The first people up were the librarian and old guy, that was just gross. Then the bigger girl of the three and the skinny guy were up...all i have to say about that is dinner plates and dinner rolls and i almost lost my dinner. The third couple, the girl was actually respectable and wouldn't show anything (good for her) but that didn't keep the guy from dropping his pants and mooning the rest of the bar. he obviously didn't want a queen size bed.
Of course 'dinner plates' and the 'skinny guy' won. Preston and Steve then cleared the stage so they could make room for the band that was playing, and thats when manthan and i decided to peace. Pretty much scarred for life, and won't be going to another singles mingles night for a long time.
Alright, so i woke up this morning and thought i would do something different. Eat breakfast. i don't usually eat breakfast because i'm not hungry when i wake up. i know its one of the most important meals of the day...just can't get around to eating something.
i remembered there was some breakfast casserole left over from the other day. Its pretty much the best thing ever. i usually eat it for lunch since i'm not awake when its ready to eat. Its a pretty simple dish. You get a casserole dish and put a layer of bread down. On top of that you fry up some bacon and onions and spread them out over the bread. Then you sprinkle a little cheese (cheddar and mozzarella) over that junx, and add another layer of bread, bacon, onions, and cheese. Some of you probably don't like onions, but you have to have them...because they're delicious. After you have your cheese on you then break out some eggs and milk and whatever spices you think would be good, stir them up and pour it over the casserole. Then bake for some period of time. Luckily all i had to do was nuke.
When i went to open the microwave there was already a plate there with nathan hot dogs, eggs, and toast. It was left over from my uncle's and aunt's breakfast. i thought about eating it so it wouldn't be wasted, but i really wanted the casserole too...ugh, decisions decisions...i'll just eat both.
i started with the breakfast casserole, nuked it for 2 minutes...
For some reason my uncles really like nathan hot dogs. They have to have them every morning. They treat them like gourmet sausage or something...i felt kind of weird eating a hot dog without a bun so i went in the fridge and got two rolls out.
After eating one hot dog i was kind of full. i knew i wouldn't feel like eating an egg after having the second hot dog...so i plopped the egg in the hot dog and ate it. Didn't taste bad, i mean it was better than that time i spread chocolate chip cookie dough on a Hawaiian pizza slice and ate it. Or that time i made a sandwich with two cookies, linguine, and marinara sauce...
i wimped out, couldn't finish the last two eggs and toast...shouldn't have used hot dog buns. Bread products are always my downfall...
The Erin Express is a pub crawl to several Irish bar's around Philly. Apparently this thing started 30 years ago. This year the crawl happens on March 8th and March 15th. The first crawl is the 'warm up'. Though i went to both crawls last year and they both seemed exactly the same to me. They have yellow school buses that bus you around to all the bars. This year there were 15 bars participating in the crawl but there are several other bars you can hit up, but the buses just don't have those on their route.
Last year i only made it to 3 bars, i was determined to make it to at least 5 this time. Three bars on a pub crawl is pretty pathetic i know...i drove into Philly Friday night so i wouldn't have to get up as early to start the crawl. John and Graham let me crash at their place even though they weren't doing the express this weekend. They don't live in the cleanest place in the whole world...but the sink was only half full of dirty dishes.
Somehow i woke up at 7:30 am. My plans were to meet up with Manthan, Dave, and Jeff at 9am. They took a little long pre-gaming and didn't come by to where i was until 9:40 am. They had a couple shots in them too so i had some catching up to do.
We decided to play it safe and stop by Seven Eleven to get some food in us. i went with the ham, cheese, and egg sandwich and two taquitos. We haven't even been to the bar yet and Manthan, Jeff, and Dave had to pee already...
At least Jeff could hold it until we got to our first destination which was Cavanuagh's. The forecast for the day was "miserable" but we decided to walk around in just t-shirts anyway with no rain gear. 4 blocks away from the bar and it just starts pouring. Should have gotten a cab. Below is Dave being cool...we started with a pitcher of Coors Light between Manthan and myself and then got two pitchers of Guinness...we thought we might as well drink good beer while we could still taste what we were drinking.
There are some interesting characters that show up at these things. At the one table at the bar there were this group of old people playing drinking games. They even made t-shirts. On the back they had a "10 Reasons to Party with Old People" list, one of the items was that they could use their bed pans as mugs...that's just sick nasty.
One of the other characters i saw at Cav's was this kid with a helmet. He must party pretty hard to wear a helmet. i thought he didn't see me snap a picture but looking at the picture i took...he probably did notice.
While waiting outside of Cav's to decide our next stop, we decided to get a random picture taken with some girls. Not sure when jeff was trying to pull here...
The next stop was Blarney Stone, it was so crowded there...i didn't even get a beer there. Wasn't long until we got a call from Bridget, Katie, and friend to meet them at the Green Room bar. Not sure why its called the Green Room. Did not notice anything being particularly green about it.
After having a beer at the Green Room we hopped on the yellow bus to Kellian's (i think) then peaced to some bar that wasn't on the crawl, McGillin's.
McGillin's was huge, and there were massive tables to sit at as well. Manthan tried talking all of us into just staying there for the rest of the time. But then we wouldn't really be 'crawling' now would we. So i kind of shot that idea down. What was cool about the bar was their bathroom stalls. i don't normally get excited over the stalls but they had double doors...like something in a saloon. But a little different with a serious lock on it. Could only be busted open with a battering ram.
By this time, Manthan and i have already lost Dave and Jeff...happened last year too. Dave said he had to 'check' on his dog. But we all know that he just couldn't handle The Erin Express. Jeff...not really sure where he went. He met up with some of his friends and disappeared.
The next bar we wanted to go to was the Parkway Bar and Grille, but on the way there our group got split and Manthan, Lisa, and myself went to the Cherry Tavern.
Here we got some nachos, sandwiches, and some Guinness in frosted mugs. Frosted mugs are the coolest, can't remember the last time i had a beer in a frosted mug. Makes the drinking so much more enjoyable.
Finally we got word from Bridget and Katie telling us to meet them at the Irish Pub. It was about 10 minutes away from where we were...it was freezing outside at this point and the wind started to pick up too. On the way to the bar Lisa caught a cab to...not sure, and i don't think i want to know.
The Irish Pub was pretty packed. The worst thing about this place was that we had to pay a cover...i thought i was going to make it through the day with not paying one but the two girls just had to pick a bar with a cover charge...lame.
As usual Katie was mack'n it at the bar with some guys. Bridget met up with another friend (Erin) there as well. By this time i was so out of it. The only thing on my mind was 'sleep'. i did manage to down one beer here though and while walking Erin home the girls hopped in a cab with some guys and disappeared. Manthan was pretty hungry so we hit up the nearest pizza place and got two slices of plain pizza.
After we got some food in our stomach's we gave Dave a call to see if he was functioning yet. He finally was up again and told us to come over. On the way there, Manthan shared with me that he didn't know Dave's address and but he did know what street the place was on and the door to his apartment looked "pretty". Of course we over shot his door by half a block before turning around and getting in his place.
Not even two steps into the door, manthan manages to kick dave's dog, Pim, in the face. But she didn't let that scare her from attacking us with licks of her tongue.
Steph was in bed...it was only 8pm. What's up with that? Manthan and Dave decided to see if they could get her back up. But failed...but she did say she would like a soda, a Cherry Coke. Dave wanted some fancy asian food...so we went to this place called Square On Square. A little confusing because their logo was two cubes. Not sure what that was all about.
i couldn't decide what to order so i just got the same thing Dave did. The wanton soup and general tso. To mix it up a bit i got some spider rolls.
i wasn't sure what spoon to use, i thought you started from the outside...but the inner spoon looked more like a soup spoon. i used the outside spoon first, but ended up just holding the bowl to my mouth and drinking the rest of the broth. i'm pretty classy i know. The next dish to come out was the spider rolls. Not sure why they call them spider rolls, they're just crab.
i tried to offer some to Dave but he didn't want any. i did another classy move here, ate one of the rolls with the crab legs sticking out of my mouth. Should have taken a picture but pretty much looked like Mr. Bean eating a prawn. Manthan didn't find it very entertaining, his only response was,"you're disgusting."
The next dish was the general tso. It wasn't called general tso but that's pretty much what it tasted like. It came with a bowl of rice and some broccoli. The tea that was served was really good too. i got about three quarters through this dish before i had to stop. i reached my limit, any more and my stomach would pop.
i got the rest my meal to go and the three of us just chatted for a bit. While Manthan had his head down for a second, Dave thought it would be a good idea to pour soy sauce in Manthan's water. Somehow Manthan didn't notice that he water now looked like tea and drank it anyway. Dave and i laughed a little, but then Manthan started laughing...the two of us weren't sure why he was laughing but wasn't long until we all were cackling like a bunch of hyenas. i'm sure the waiters loved us at this point.
Dave then got a call from Jeff, he was still alive! Took like 6 calls before he finally understood where we were. Somehow Jeff ended up in the suburbs a million miles away and said he would try to get to Dave's later. We then paid our bill, picked up a soda for Steph, and headed back to Dave's. Dave was kind enough to let me sleep on his hard wood floor with just a pillow. Rather than let Manthan and i sleep he decided to let his dog to freely pounced on us and stick dog toys in our faces. All i wanted to do was sleep! Jeff showed up a bit later, his taxi cab fare totaled to 47 bones...he wasn't kidding about being far away. Finally Dave went to bed and locked up his dog around 11pm. i then bounced at 6am to go home. Didn't realize it was day lights savings until 11am. Overall it was a good time. Got to seven bars, but i think next time i should figure out a better place to sleep.
Got word that my roommate from junior year in boarding school was going to be playing at Dr. Watson's Pub. i have tried going to see his band on two other occasions but both those times their gig was canceled. i'm not a big fan of venturing into center city by myself so i wasn't sure i was going to go. Later, i found out that john and rich were going to go to Dr. Watson's to see this other band that john knew someone in because they need to see four concerts for their history of rock 'n roll class.
Now i had some people to go with, so i met up with rich and john at their apartment. John was told to be there at 8:30 pm...and i was told to be there at 8pm...just to play it safe we went with my time. When we go to the pub, turned out that the first band didn't play until 8:45pm...and my friend Lee, his band The Groovement wasn't going to get on the stage until 11:15pm.
The first band was a ska band, then an emo band, another ska band...then finally the reggae Groovement. Got to see some other kids from boarding school...Colin doing the sound, Alex on the bass, and kenny showed up too.
Of course rich got the random idea that we should drink a lot. By the time all the bands played we had consumed six magic hat #9's and a shot of wild turkey. Rich's reasoning for having a shot of wild turkey was that he has never had one before and he wanted to do a shot...it was pretty nasty.
The bands were alright, i even got a free cd...from The Argonauts, with four whole songs on it! It was my least favorite band that night...lemon.
My mom rolls a little different than other moms. An example of this is when she travels. She is notorious for importing her own goods overseas. Since meat is kind of expensive in Saudi, my mom thought she would just buy a 20 pound piece of beef chuck in the states, put it in her duffle bag and check it under the plane. It was just wrapped in some plastic bags (frozen of course).
By the time we got to Saudi, i thought we were screwed going through customs. They didn't even check the bag that time...and when we got home, the meat was still frozen. i guess that's safe...Still alive to write about it.
Well this trip to Vietnam was no different. One of my aunts over there cooked up some shrimp and fish. My mom thought it would be break to bring some of that junx home for my uncles. She bought some more shrimp and fish, had my aunt cook it, and hucked them into some plastic bags and stuffed them in her suitcase.
The shrimped looked sick nasty. The heads were torn off but the insides of the head were still attached to the body. Wasn't going to keep me from trying it but still looked crazy. Turned out not tasting like anything. The fish had a million bones in it, and was really salty. Ended up filling myself with white rice and some Thai sour soup.
i have no problem eating cow tongue, chicken heart, goat brain, rat...the one thing i can't even watch be eaten is balut. i am more than happy living a life of never trying it. Well, maybe i'll suck a little juice out of one sometime...but i'm not touching the baby duck/chicken.
But what john did not know is that i'm pretty much a big deal when it comes to Mario Kart. i won most of the races. i got third a couple times, due to bananas...they get me every time, stupid bananas.
While walking around their apartment i noticed this massive thing in the corner. Look at it, what does it look like? Like a little radio or boom box. Its rich's super monster mouse repeller. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me, i wonder if it really works. rich said he hasn't seen a mouse since he plugged it in. Mice must not really be a fan of the ultra sound junx.
After everyone getting schooled in Mario Kart by me, they soon went back to Smash Bros until 1:20am before putting a movie in, Appleseed Ex Machina. John hates anime movies so he went to bed. Rich started falling a sleep so i headed to bed around 2am and after the movie joel fired up the Wii again to play more video games. i tried sleeping in the tv room but it was impossible with the sounds of button mashing and sounds effects of characters getting obliterated on the tv. So i migrated to the floor of rich's room and tried to sleep; time was 3:45am...awesome.
