Pirates of the Caribbean: Ascension Day
Continuing on with what seems to be the theme of this week: do all the things! Wednesday Nienke came by for lunch and trying on some of Mom’s left over clothes I’d kept apart. She had made soup, I made an omelette and bought tasty bread and fried fish. We were so stuffed after that 😀
Around two I (gently) kicked Nienke out, I was getting so sleepy. Besides getting home late the night before, it also took a while to fall asleep and I didn’t sleep well. So after she’d gone, I stretched out on the sofa, set my alarm for a good hour later and was gone in minutes. I woke up on my own a few minutes before the alarm. Monkey then decided that the pillow my head was on would fit him perfectly as well 😀
Taking that as a sign, I got up and got ready to go the city again. This time to go to the movies with Ingrid and her friend Romana. We met up in the centre and headed for cafe De Oude Wacht to eat something. It was cheap but good cafe food. I had satay which came with fries and a good salad. The movie didn’t start until eight, so when it was getting colder after dinner, we traded the cafe terrace for the inside cafe in the cinema for a drink and a cookie.
The movie was a pre-premier of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. We’d all gone to the supermarket before to stock up on a drink and such for during the movie. But it turns out that, as this was an event-thing, we could all pick a bottle of soda and got crisps for during the movie. Good deal 😀
The movie itself was pretty good. The gimmicks are getting old (although the bank robbery is hilarious), but structurally I found this a better movie than the previous one. I liked the throwbacks to the original trilogy with Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, and seeing more of Jack’s past.
I wanted to stay seated throughout the credits but the others we’re more eager to leave. Luckily they (and I, too) had to use the bathroom. I was done quickly, but the ladies’ always has a much longer line. So, fortunately, I was still near the screen when the inevitable after credits scene came on. It was brief, and definitely hints at another sequel. After that, we split up quickly as their buses we’re almost coming. I strolled to the station, taking the opportunity to catch me a great many Pokémon 😀
Yesterday was Ascension Day. And as is tradition, we go to the annual Ascension Day Market in my previous town Eenrum. Ingrid always comes over to go with. This year Nienke and Kim also agreed to go. We convened at my place at ten. The other three then left to go there by car. I went by bike. I decided, two weeks ago, to try exercising again. But the gym and all that doesn’t really work for me. I do like cycling, though. So I installed an app (Strava) and did two rides that first week. The week after I didn’t get around to riding because of a zit on my sit 😀 This week I’m good to go, though. So the trip to the market was to be my first workout of this week. Unfortunately I mistapped and it didn’t record the way to Eenrum.
We met up again and took a gander down the market. We decided to check out one side of the road first, and then at the end turn around and do the other side. That way we would end up back were we started. I bought some new pairs of ankle socks, some plants for the empty pot in the front yard and, as usual, traditional sausage.
Mellien and Bas were also coming, but they came later. So we didn’t get to meet up until we were already halfway on the way back. They joined us for that bit, and at the end we all got something to eat for an impromptu lunch. I’d already had my traditional spring roll and decided on churros for dinner 😀 After that, it was time to go home again as Kim had to work in the afternoon. We split up and I got back on my bike.
For the way back I chose a different route. There’s basically three main ways to get to Eenrum from Winsum (and vice versa). The first two I’d already done and tracked in my first week of using Strava. So now I went for the third route. I knew this was longer, but as it turns out, the difference is 3 km. I made good time, though. Did the 8,2 km in 23 minutes. The others were home before me, but not by much.
Kim and Nienke then went home and Ingrid stayed. We chatted and played board games. First the gold rush edition of Carcassonne. It’s a different version of Carcassonne (versus an expansion). The base rules are the same but the theme is different and it has specialty rules that fit with it. In this case, cities are mountains with gold in it. As you build them, you place gold tokens and can mine for them. At the end, the tokens are turned and scored which is added to your regular score. Because the amount of points on the tokens is hidden until the end, it keeps things exciting. Other difference is that monasteries are, sort of, replaced by named cities where railroads end. You score points when all railroads leading out of the city are finished. The field, prairie in this case, also scores differently. It’s not the amount of completed somethings, but how many Indian settlements or horse herds (drawn on the tiles) are present. I really like this version of the game.
After that we played Rummikub and then decided to do something about dinner. Quick trip to the shop later we had easy food to stick in the oven. We waited it out with a few games of Tea Time (an Alice in Wonderland inspired tile taking game). After dinner we played a quick best-of-three set of Pesten (similar to Crazy Eights). We tied two for two between all games as I won Carcassonne and Rummikub and Ingrid won Tea Time and Pesten. Ingrid then went home.
Today is one of two days during my time off that I had no plans. So this morning I got on my bike again and went for a longer route, 21 km as it turns out. It took me a good 57 minutes. Which is faster already than the first week.
It’s that time of year again, Elf Fantasy Fair. And this year, too, we had a camp throughout the weekend. The weather was real nice, plus we had a good spot along one of the main walkways.
I did some walking around, checking out the sights and stands. I ate a candy apple, which I’d never had before. Also acquired some new loots. Them being the Star Trek Catan board game, the book Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and a Mal Reynolds (Firefly) Funko Pop. I’ve had the book and the game on my list for a while now, so I’m pleased I found them here. And very affordable as well, I got a good deal on the game especially.
Wednesday Gert and I went to see Deadpool. We had some time before so we first had lunch at Wadapartja. A few years ago it would never have worked, but now it does. It’s a very vintage-retro-hipster place. Furnished with old formica tables and chair, mis-matched lights. A lot of wood and brick and signs everywhere that if you see something you like, you can buy it. They have a lunch and dinner menu and fall in the mid-range when it comes to price. I went for a brown seeded bun with slices of pear, blue cheese, walnuts, honey and arugula. It was very tasty, but it could’ve been a wee bit larger for the price.
May 2016 be good to you all 🙂
Yesterday was a fun day, in so far as national-blow-shit-up day can be fun. I worked during the day so that was business as usual. In the evening we watched TV, ate tasty shit and even played a board game. At Nienke’s suggestion.
Today was a good day, Gert came by to play games. We ended up playing only Carcassonne as Gert had recently bought the Big Box that contains all the expansion. So we played different versions in a row. Regular Carcassonne first, then another game where we added the river, then we added sheep and so on.
Met up with Gert today to play games and have general fun. He has recently acquired Star Trek Catan, and as trekkie, I, of course, must play this 😀
Started watching Resurrection on TV. It’s a show where an eight-year-old, American boy is found wandering in China. After he is returned, he is placed in the temporary case of an immigrations officer. He tries to figure out where the boy is from, and returns to his hometown with him. There, it turns out he is the son of a local couple. The catch, though? He died 30 years ago…
I discovered Funko’s Pop Vinyls recently. It took a while but I finally found an online retailer in this country with good prices that seemed reliable. So, after giving it some thought and compiling a rough wish list of sorts I ordered Illidan and Arthas from Warcraft. However, these were backordered, so it will be a while before they finally come 🙁
In the afternoon I headed for the city to meet up with Gert. We went to see The Fault in Our Stars. I’ve read the book a little while ago, and liked it. It was a good movie, nice treatment of the book, and hits the feels where and how it should. I cried.
Today, I hung out with Gert again. We played some games while awaiting the delivery of the wardrobe. He’d said yesterday that he would then put it aside, so it was no trouble at all for me to hang out. But of course, as it is with new things, and especially things-to-build, it itched. So, rather apologetically, he asked if I’d mind…. And since building together is not only more fun, but also faster, especially with big pieces, we built a wardrobe.
