I do have some stubble though

So, in the spirit of Easter (another year that I don’t have an Easter egg, just saying – passive aggressive ed), I am very happy to have found out that my holidays have been approved and that I will be at home for my birthday again this year!  Whilst travelling home anytime is great, coming home for my birthday means that I can secretly pretend it’s a week-long party as I see a load of my friends, eat a lot of good food, drink a lot of beer/ale and stock up on entertainment items I can’t buy in Nepal.  Living in a country that is so far away and only being able to come home twice a year means that arranging to meet everyone, pick up everything I need and find time to relax is about as close to planning a military campaign as I will ever come!  However, it does mean that it’s a week of intense fun and happiness for me: I wouldn’t change it for the world either (plus I get two long-haul flights with new films and food that is delivered to me in my seat – transport ed).

On the topic of military operations, I’ve also had my holidays approved for a long weekend at the end of May and I will be revisiting Hong Kong for 4 nights.  I first went to Hong Kong for New Years with my parents and I loved it (in fact, you can read that this is the place I want to propose – archive ed).  As such, I’ve decided to go back and have been meticulously planning it ever since.  Now whilst I plan to eat a lot of good Chinese food and drink a lot of Chinese beer (deja vu?), I also plan to see some of the places I haven’t been before, revisit places that I have been before (though in slightly different contexts e.g. Victoria Peak at night) and experience new things (such as having my first massage and chinese rice wine).  Now, whilst I am aware some people would crucify me for having such as a detailed itinerary as I will do, I feel it is necessary to have one as I want to pack as much into the short weekend as possible.  This does include eating an obscene amount of egg custard tarts and red bean rolls. 

This is me in Hong Kong...just to give you an idea of what to expect when I post my Hong Kong blog.  Except I won't be in the photographs (I'll be on my own).  Oh and I'll be beardless...and probably eating an egg custard tart.

Anyway, that’s enough of me talking about myself and my trips (that will come later - mystic ed)!  It’s time for the main discussion of the day (previously meant for last week)!  Dungeons and Dragons!  Yes, I have finally got a chance to experience the famous roleplaying game and it was really fun!  For those who don’t know, Dungeons and Dragons is a roleplaying game in which you choose a race and class, create a persona for your character and then go on wondrous adventures with a band of mighty adventurers…or in our case, enter the first dungeon and almost die several times; push each other through doors; and become diseased by eating rat.  One of the major drawing points of the game is that anything can happen, as long as the dungeon master allows it (the person who controls the game essentially).  Want to drop your sword and throw a chair at a skeleton?  Sure, why not.  Need to try and talk a dragon out of eating you?  You can, if your character knows the language.  If you want to buy a stronghold or a house or a boat, why not?  As long as you have the gold.  The entire game is up to you.

Now then, being a lifelong gamer, this seemed like a natural evolution and is something that my friends and I have spoken about before but it never really materialised.  Not until Christmas 2012 that is…when Michael, Derek and I descended into a board game shop (it could be A1…can’t remember) and purchased the ‘Red Box’: a starter kit for ‘noobs’ like us that cover all the rules and helps introduce you to the game whilst creating a character.  Alas, due to various reasons such as aggressive Monopoly (sorry Martin) and New Year, we never got much beyond the starter quest (where you create your character).  This changed a few weeks ago as we set up a skype meeting where I was on video chat and the group got together to play.  Now, as this was our first attempt at playing it properly, things took a while to get started but once it did, it was great fun.  Following the same starting quest as was in the box, we explored an old goblin filled dungeon trying to hunt down a necromancer: avoiding traps; talking dragons out of eating us; and as mentioned before, shoving each other through doors.  In a second meeting, we then started the same adventure with a couple more people, allowing us to redo it with a better grasp of the rules as well.  This, however, still needs to be completed as I had to leave due to the time and the fact I was completed shattered. 

Altogether, it’s a great game, well worth a look if you’re interested in trying it out.  More importantly, despite being 5000 miles away, I was able to spend a good five or six hours (the first night, I went to bed at 5:30am) hanging out and chatting with my friends, for the first time since January.  A nice way to spend a couple of evenings (and many more I hope).  Now, I have deliberately kept this brief but I will be tracking the story of my character ‘Fitz’ in some other posts!  Quite possibly looking at the game where I'm actually back in Scotland and playing with everyone!

Pick of the week 

The Red Box - Simple really and how could I not recommend this after talking about it?  Inside this archaic looking box is everything that you and your friends would need to start your own game.  It has tiles and tile markers for your game; multiple handbooks to cover all the rules (for both players and dungeon masters); and a handy create your own character adventure-style book.

Music of the week 

Today, I have two songs for you.  Both are completely different but they are the exact same song.  Oh yes, I'm talking about the fabled cover song (and the original song)!  Plus, in a rare occurence, both the cover and the original are both amazing.  I can only really be talking about one song: Hurt, sung by Nine Inch Nails and Johnny Cash.  I'll leave it up to you to guess which one is which.

Tune in next week for...I have no idea just yet but I'm sure it will come to me.  I hope.  Anyway, I'm off to finally attempt tempura.  As I am fairly clumsy, this actually terrifies me...wish me luck!