Probably a very inappropriate post...ahahahah f*ck it.

Here's a shot a trough urinal in a small pub in Padstow. We don't get those much in Canada. So I thought i'd take a pic.







Afterwards, i stumbled home with my brother and created this beautiful piece of post-dinner munchie goodness. Slice of bread covered with taramalata, a greek spread made out of smoked roe, with blue and cambazola cheese. topped with leftover ham yummyness. Healthy? Questionable. Tasty? hells yes!

Fish n' Chips all up in ma grill.

First Fish n' Chips of the trip. Really, really good. thin batter, perfectly cooked tender moist haddock with chips and mushy peas. Not a fan of mushy peas, but they were OK. I choked them down. Note the pints of Tribute, Cornish brew, smooth and tasty. Goes well with any fare. I'm a happy boy.

Spike? He's gonna kick your ass all over sweden....

This is Spike, in the middle. Hardcore skier. I've got a good feeling he'll whip your butt on the slopes with no effort at all. Just a shout out. He sent an open invitation to us to join him on a European ski trip that he runs every year. Hopefully within the next decade we can take him up on that offer.

Cheers spike. Also...Matt to left, John "Eat it Mike Phelps" Hilliers (Cuz in law) to the right.

|Vacatin BoozeTracker|

Padstow..Pimpin ain't easy.


Spirits: 22
Beer: 20
Wine: 22

Pimpin in Padstow - Am I even in England?

Wow. Padstow is nice..if you can't make out the writing in the sand it says "Tim in Padstow". It was some of the softest sand i've felt squish between my toes. You literally sank to your knees near the waters edge. It's seriously not something that comes to mind when I think of England.




We made our way here after spending Friday night in Tavistock with Becky & John and their kids Izzy & Grace. John took us down to the pub on our mission for Chinese take out. Somehow 15 pints of beer got in our way and we had to take them out. We decided 5 each would be the best way to take care of them. Especially since we had less than 2 hours. Good idea. It fueled our intense game of Ping Pong/Table Tennis later on in the evening. I'm friggin awesome at boozed table tennis.



We had a little Gilbert (My mom's side of the family) reunion at our cottage. One of the most interesting points of the night was a recreation of an old photo of the cousins. On the left is the original photo taken about 25 years ago.

From back left is Cousins Melanie, Paul, Caroline. From left front row is my brother Matthew, Cousin Becky with my sister Stephanie on her lap, then me. To the right is the recreation 25 years later. Same positions. Awesome.


o_o

Slow Gin? What the heck is Slow Gin....

Its actually Sloe Gin. A concoction I have only just learned of from cousin Ben. Sloe is a berry that grows on the Blackthorn. Its kinda like a plum. Basically you take a bunch of berries, huck em into a bucket of Gin, throw in some sugar, then let sit. Mix with Tim and you've got party. It reminded me of a Giny Japanese Plum wine. That's some tasty homebrew.

The parents picked up some wicked meat pies in Huntington before returning to Gran's for another great English dinner. Steak and Ale, Chicken and Ham, and Steak and Stilton. mmmmm tasty gluey yum yum and of course, more gin for the boozetracker...

Suit of armour and a latte please....

So we went shopping in Peterborough thursday. Sure, i picked up a few things. Some treats for co-workers back home. Jelly Babies as requested by my friend Laura. But what I really loved about the short trip was this little tid-bit of randomness:



His name is Mark. He made my day.

Here's his website VikerBiker. Some may recognize him as the great spoondini, the magnetic man.

I wish you all the best Mark.

|VACATION BOOZETRACKER|

Ow. Tavistock. Friday night with cousin Becky & John. Oh, and Gran's meat pie dinner party with Auntie Wendy and cousin Lucy gives it a boost.

Spirits: 13
Beer: 14
Wine: 11

The Granary..where Grannies are made - Joanne Sear sept 23 2009

On our way to Gran's 90's birthday lunch at the White Hart, a pub in Godmanchester, while wheeling Gran in her suped up '94 oldswenchmobile wheelchair alongside Chloe in her beat up old 70's camaro'd stroller, we passed by a building called the Granary. Jo immediately assumed this is where Grannies came from, which makes perfect sense. Time for a picture. The grannies at the Granary, they pump em out by the dozen.



At the White Hart we gathered for a cholesterol entrenched nosh up in the back garden.



That sad look on my face is due to the fact my tiny Gin and Tonic was completed in 2 gulps. I ordered a beer after that. It was a classic dinner of fish n chips, scampi n' chips, steak n' mushroom sandwiches, and my order, which I'm particularly proud of. My beer went well with this lovely piece of gastronomic art:



This, my friends, is a Stilton & Bacon Sandwich with Mango Chutney. 3 Large strips of English bacon draped around 2 thickly cut slices of Stilton Cheese slathered with sweet Mango Chutney all on a liberally buttered bun. I could feel the walls of my aorta gluing together as i swallowed a couple gulps of beer to wash this beast feast down. Cheers! to an ever expanding vacation waistline.

We spent the afternoon and evening travelling and visiting cousin Ben, his expecting wife Zeta, and their young almost 2 year old Evie. We enjoyed a few drinks as we watched the battle between Chloe & Evie over toys. It was interesting to watch how much Evie wanted something only when Chloe pulled it out and started playing with it, then vice versa. Otherwise it would have just laid on the floor or completely ignored when offered. Makes me understand why people want to wear ridiculous things like "insect rings" because Rhianna was just spotted with it and Posh just before that. Its ingrained in us.

Yes i read the Sun in the morning, only because its there...and yes they do have a daily nude on the second page. Now that's a real newspaper.

0_o

|Vacation Boozetracker|

Typically on vacation alcoholic consumptions increases dramatically. I thought i'd do my best to track what i've had and will have over the rest of the holidays..so here's the start of my Vacation Boozetracker...seems like it could make for a good iphone app. Or blackmail material.

Spirits: 6
Beer: 9
Wine: 8

Best Indian Ever

Gran and the rest of the family had dinner over at my cousin's place. We ordered in probably the BEST Indian i've ever had. The Menu had over 60 choices! I stuffed myself with seconds and third helpings. Afterwards we visited the neighbourhood pub with my cousin Frances & her husband Jason. Had a good time chatting about the differences between English & Canadian driving...but I swear the last dregs of that third pint i had to force into ma belly. I could feel it stretching. Felt good to lay down after that. Damn good Indian tho..there's gotta be a place like that in Vancouver.

Ma Belly Hurts...

The flight was uneventful, i attempted to curb my jetlag by staying awake the whole flight by watching as many movies back to back as possible. I started with Wolverine (meh), followed by Angels & Demons (meh), then a Chinese movie called I Corrupt All Cops (ICAC) (interesting but the subtitles blew by so fast), then Aliens (classic) and another chinese comedy called Bike Racer (i think) which i got half way through. It reminded me of a Stephen Chow movie, but probably because that's the only other Chinese comedy i know.

I gotta say, if you haven't tried Bose's noice cancelling headphones on a plane yet, make sure you pick up a pair. They're amazing, great sound and it also cancelled out most of Chloe's high pitched squeals nicely. I was probably one of the happier passengers sitting in our immediate area.

Was able to charm the flight attendants into giving me more gin bottles. I ended up looking like quite the alcoholic once Steph had added her empty bottles on my tray, along with Jo's wine bottle and half finished glass.....

Flight Attempt #2

Celebrated my mistake well last night. Bar None, Relish, Goldfish, Opus, Morrissey. So many espresso Van Gogh shots. Thanks Jen ;). I should be that guy on the plane that smells like booze as it seeps from my pores. If you're on Air Canada flight 854 which departs SEPT 20th(!) at 5:20PM...i'll be the guy with the gin n tonic and the perma-smile.

Cheers,

=_=

Oops

Soooooo....thought my flight was Saturday. But its apparently on Sept 20, which is actually Sunday. I found out on my way to the airport after calling my sister to check in on how she was doing. She laughed at me. How...embarrassing.

So, going out tonight to celebrate the mistake hahaha..will try again tomorrow. And fit Ramen in before the flight, that's ma goal.

o_0

Teablogging the UK

I'm off to return to the motherland, the land of tea bags, with the Canadian chapter of the Sear family to visit Granny "Thora" Sear for her 90th birthday, the rest of the Sear family, as well as my Mum's side.



I'm returning 3 years after my last trip to Europe (timsingh). This could possibly be less exciting than the trip Eric and I made to asia (teablogasia). It will be hard to live up to that, but i'll do my best to keep the camera snapping, exploring as many pubs as possible, and pouring booze down my gullet...if i find my camera before i leave this saturday. Not only that, we'll have Party Steph, Party Matt, Party Jo, Party Becky and "Party in Planning"-Chloe to spice it up.

o_-