Mahinda’s Little World

It’s been almost two weeks since my last update (not counting the last hockey post, wot I’ve only just posted)…shocking!

Since that hockey tournament, I’ve been predictably busy, squeezing in this little lot:

• Squash (Tuesday x 2)
  Two sessions, on two Tuesdays, but I do seem to be losing my mojo. Admittedly, I was suffering a bit in last Tuesday’s session, having injured my right elbow/forearm playing badminton.
   
• Hockey (Wednesday x 2)
  See previous post for last week’s effort. This week saw the first real dodgy weather sesh of the season…but it really wasn’t all that bad, with the rain easing up nicely for us. Nine of us played, and it was all a bit old school, with small teams swapping round lots. The ground got pretty slippery, but held up alright. Fun! I think I enjoy it more when there are fewer people, partly because there’s less stress involved for me. Is that selfish? Probably. Tough!
   
• Rick’s Birthday (Friday)
  Katy, being an excellent wife, surprised Rick on his birthday last Friday, by taking out on a bit of a pub crawl in Manc, with a bunch of us along. He fell for it hook, line and sinker, and a very pleasant evening ensued. We finished up in East Z East, a fairly new high-class curry joint up near UMIST. Very nice food, and excellent service, with some of the best naans/rotis I’ve had in Manchester!
   
• Pitch ‘n’ Putt (Saturday morning/afternoon)
  Pete, Rosy, Adrian, Linden, Dan and I went off to Heaton Park for some pitch ‘n’ putt action last Saturday morning (yes, morning!) - I’m sure I’ll write more about this one later. It was lots of fun.
   
• FA Cup Final (Saturday afternoon)
  After the PnP, it was back to Pete’s for the FA Cup Final, between Liverpool and West Ham. All in all, a dramatic match, with (in my mind) the right set of winners!
   
• Ian and Nancy (Saturday evening)
  I had the rare pleasure of meeting Ian and Nancy in MancLand last Saturday evening. This was the first time I’d seen them since the wedding, and they really do make a very sweet couple. Almost nauseously so, but that’s allowed
  Anyway, we met up in Sinclair’s, went for a meal in Chinatown - my old favourite, Penang Village (Malaysian) seems to have been replaced with yet another generic Chinese restaurant - and then met Rick and Katy in the Moon Under Water for a last pint. So, me and two married couples. It’s amazing how topics of conversation change once people get married and settle down. Are they aware of it? I don’t really know.
   
• Tom and Cat (Saturday late evening)
  Once the couples had gone back to their hotel (rather fortuitously, they were all (both?) at the Travelodge near Victoria station), I phoned Linden to ascertain the Saturday evening plan. It turned out that it was Tom and little Cat’s birthday, which I’d completely missed, so people were in Via Fossa, with the plan being to head to Dry Bar.
  Now, I’d never made it out to Dry Bar, and it had a reputation as one of the cool Northern Quarter hangouts, being just about the first trendy bar to open in Manchester. I really wasn’t impressed - overpriced bottled beer (of all their many many taps, only Stella and Boddingtons remained, with both of those disappearing shortly), and music that really wasn’t to my taste. Left at 2pm or so, and got the bus back home…
   
• Mia (Still Saturday night!)
  …except that I didn’t go home! Mia was hosting a MUGSS party, and I was still very much awake, so I phoned to see if it was still going on. They were in King Cobra! What sort of party was that?! My bus had, literally, just passed the big KC, with Nicky and Dave (my two busmates for the journey) nipping out to KC and trying to get me to go with them. I ended up getting off the bus at Oak House and waiting for Mia (and cohorts) to turn up. Which they did, all three of them. Mia, Nick (Leila’s ex-) and Ed (I think - Mia’s housemate, either way) went back to her place and it ended up with Mia, Nick and me staying up for an hour or so chatting, then just Mia and me for a while longer, until I finally scarpered at around 4.30am. Ouch!
   
• Goonie Dinner (Sunday, at last!)
  Had a nice lie-in on Sunday morning (I needed it!) and then picked up Alsion and headed to WH Lung for some Oriental-type shopping. I was making a laksa for Goonie consumption (Pete, Rosy, Linden, Alsion and me, for those of you who’ve not been paying attention), primarily as a goodbye meal for Alsion. It went well, although it definitely wasn’t the best one I’ve ever made.
   
• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Sunday, after dinner)
  
  Alsion brought this DVD over, that none of us had ever heard of. It was GREAT! It’s a sort of romantic black comedy mixed in with a detective story and an action movie. I’ve braved Google for your delectation, and found the official site here - it’s a really good Flash site, in keeping with the sheer coolness of the film itself. I’m DEFINITELY going to have to get myself a copy and watch it again, just for the one-liners.
  
   
• Badminton (Monday)
  Played badminton with work, for the first time in ages. They’ve started using the new scoring system, which is really confusing! Basically, you only get one serve per go (playing doubles), but points are always scored, i.e. regardless of who’s serving. Games are played to 21 rather than 15. I don’t think I like it - there was always, at my level anyway, a glimmer of home with the old system, even at 14-5 down, but that’s just not the case any more. Also, I managed to knacker my right arm - seems to be some sort of strain in my elbow and forearm.
   
• Shooting (Monday)
  My downward slump continues, with a diet of low-90s scores. Probably due to busy weekends and work being quite busy now - the eyestrain really is a factor.

And that’s about it!