As the academic year winds down, both the workload at school and the social whirl ramp up a few notches. All sorts of end of year social functions are on and reports, letters, recommendations and last gradings are happening at work. The Gurecki Five-O was on this Saturday and that has been the focus for my weekend pretty much, and Cass has been a bit of a “Five-O” widow.Cassy had her steering committee end of year dinner on Thursday night and I trotted off to my Chinese lesson, then used a bit of gold to order myself some food and drink at a little local red lantern restaurant up the way. My meal was delicious, freshly cooked fare straight off a swishing wok and the “three cups chicken” and shrimp fried rice were pretty good choices. There were about 10 massive whole cloves of garlic roasted in with the chicken, so I’m not sure how powerfully I smelt afterwards! It was cool sitting on the tiny stools and eating local. Cass, on the other hand, had an altogether different experience. She traveled down to the exquisite buffet at the Far Eastern hotel and feasted on all sorts of beautiful morsels. For this group, however, the champagne is always the big highlight and the Moet was basically on a free flow all night. So much so that the bar bill was greater than the food bill apparently. Cass has actually discovered the way not to get a hangover: drink the same thing all night in reasonable moderation; as long as it is quality French champagne…I’ll have to try it!
I went out to the Woo So bar with Gurecki on Friday night, ostensibly to deliver a few vital components for the Saturday evening such as iPod connections and giant posters and a last minute check that we had everything booked and organized. It was a gorgeous spring afternoon so we ended up (much against my better judgement) having a few beers after confirming all the details. Cass and I ate in on Friday night and got to bed early ready for the big day following.
I organized the “Gurecki Five-o for Mark and he has had an extended birthday festival for his 50th extending from his surprise visit to Hong Kong for two nights organized by Himiko, his wife, right through to 10 days later when we embarked on our big day of celebrations yesterday. We went to the 147 paintball theme park in a bushland setting way out in the back of Neihu. It was an absolute blast and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. Some of the guys had been before so knew some “special” tactics, but I quickly got up to speed when those little paintballs go whizzing past your goggles at the speed of light! Today, I’ve got a few battle scars: I have some impressive looking welts where I was hit a few times and various other bruises and scrapes. The simulated battlefield action was very exhilarating and the overalls, helmets and goggles didn’t really feel solid enough protection. We slithered over muddy embankments, ran madly between shelters and occasionally had to lie in quagmires to avoid being zapped by the other teams’ rain of fire. The fact that it is a little painful when you get hit is a real added incentive to get some solid cover! All I can say is, I cannot begin to imagine what a real battle situation must be like: the word terrifying comes to mind. We were all a ball of sweat by the end of various games and a little late to get home for the evening’s entertainment.
After a rushed trip back to shower and throw some dinner down, Shaun and I shared a cab across to Qiyan to the Woo So bar for the evening’s festivities. We had 15 paintballers, most of whom continued through to the night and a whole cast of others, who had just signed up for the evening show. We all had our specially designed T shirts (by me!) on and enjoyed beer in table tappers all night along with regularly replenished plates of food: chips, fish pieces, popcorn and the essential famous Woo So squid balls. These table tappers are just fantastic inventions. They are 3 litres and have a little tap at the bottom. There is a core which is filled with ice, and then the tapper can be filled with beer behind the bar. It then sits on the table and you can pour your own icy beer whenever you want! We’d cut a great set price deal with the very cool bar owner, Nick and the night was a huge success and everyone had an absolute ball. I read a special Gurecki Five Ode, which had been written by Ross in New Zealand and sent to me by email. It was hilarious, and then Gurecki had an opportunity to say a few words as well. We had Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple booming out from Mark’s plugged in shuffle and Nick even arranged a mildly erotic dancer for Gurecki (mild meaning she danced, without taking her clothes off!) which was very funny and lots of fun. Everyone, but most importantly the guest of honour, had a great time: it was one of the best social events we’ve had for years.
Photos: some paintball and some Gurecki Five-O. Best of all, a slide show of paintball and Gurecki Five-O is here.