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Moshi Moshi!
Apr. 17th, 2015 10:11 amAfter Tanuki, Shep and Molly left early evening on Sunday, we decided to pop to BrewDog after I had finished writing up my Japanese project and done a little bit of work. Wolfie and I had had a falling out so the atmosphere was somewhat frosty, but a trip to the pub definitely made things better.
Our main aim was to try the annual IPA is Dead range, which had been released on the preceding Friday. Sadly it was only available in draft so I could not take any bottles home with me, hence the necessity to go to the bar to try them. Brewed with the same alcohol content and IBU, the idea is that a different hop is used in each one so it is showcased. This year's batch was pretty good but as with last year, there wasn't a wide range of difference between each hop, with only one drink outstandingly different and the other three rather more subtly. We also grabbed a meat and cheese platter but as it was Sunday, they didn't have everything in, so it was a rather odd accumulation of ingredients but by God was it fantastic. We also grabbed a shot each of the 32% Tactical Nuclear Penguin, a more mellow tipple to the Bismarck, before heading off to our new favourite bar, The Head of Steam, for a nightcap.
Tuesday was the monthly Leeds Lunch Club, moved from a Wednesday so I could do it again, and this time we met up in Primo's hot dog place in the Corn Exchange. I had arranged with Arc to get a specific bus down there but alas my work overran and I was about 15 minutes late. There were six of us in attendance, including Avon and Graafen, but I mostly talked to Arc about the future of the Leeds meets and the venue we may hire for a furry rock night in future. I showed her this as we headed back to work, catching a bus instead of walking to save time. Primo's was really good - the hot dog meal combo at £6.95 was reasonably priced - and the range of choice was rather wide. I went for a simple Boston, BBQ and bacon with a succulent snausage, but everyone else's looked spectacular too. The length of bun and snausage varied though, I don't exactly know why, but I think we all agreed it would be a place to which we will return. The fries needed more salt though and I couldn't find it, while the food was filling without being bloating.
Wednesday was my first day back at Japanese after Easter, with only five lessons of the first year remaining. We received our marks for the speaking assessment from March, with me scoring a solid 60%, with sensei saying I had a good foundation on which to build my knowledge. I also handed in my writing project, 150-200 words on a typical day, which I wrote over the course of the last fortnight. It took a long time to write and I averaged three to four sentences a day (which took about 45 minutes a time) but sensei asked for complexity so I took quite a few risks with the project. He also wanted us to use kanji, which I obliged quite frequently, and I must admit I'm quite proud of the work I delivered, particularly as I've only been studying the language for six months. Furthermore, since learning some kanji, I recognise a few in Chinese too, including in Chinese restaurants in Leeds, which is quite rewarding. Hopefully I'll get a good mark on this although typically, in Wednesday's class we touched on things I could have written but didn't. Anyway, this was the last of the assessments for the year and it's somewhat of a relief they are over, although I'll still have to give a presentation to the class on one aspect of Japanese life on 6 May. I'm toying between doing my talk on beer or the Japanese furry fandom, but I'm not sure which one yet.
Finally, over the last two days my back has started playing up again and I don't know why. Equally I seem to be developing another cold, my fourth of the year already. I'm something of a wreck at the moment it would seem.
Our main aim was to try the annual IPA is Dead range, which had been released on the preceding Friday. Sadly it was only available in draft so I could not take any bottles home with me, hence the necessity to go to the bar to try them. Brewed with the same alcohol content and IBU, the idea is that a different hop is used in each one so it is showcased. This year's batch was pretty good but as with last year, there wasn't a wide range of difference between each hop, with only one drink outstandingly different and the other three rather more subtly. We also grabbed a meat and cheese platter but as it was Sunday, they didn't have everything in, so it was a rather odd accumulation of ingredients but by God was it fantastic. We also grabbed a shot each of the 32% Tactical Nuclear Penguin, a more mellow tipple to the Bismarck, before heading off to our new favourite bar, The Head of Steam, for a nightcap.
Tuesday was the monthly Leeds Lunch Club, moved from a Wednesday so I could do it again, and this time we met up in Primo's hot dog place in the Corn Exchange. I had arranged with Arc to get a specific bus down there but alas my work overran and I was about 15 minutes late. There were six of us in attendance, including Avon and Graafen, but I mostly talked to Arc about the future of the Leeds meets and the venue we may hire for a furry rock night in future. I showed her this as we headed back to work, catching a bus instead of walking to save time. Primo's was really good - the hot dog meal combo at £6.95 was reasonably priced - and the range of choice was rather wide. I went for a simple Boston, BBQ and bacon with a succulent snausage, but everyone else's looked spectacular too. The length of bun and snausage varied though, I don't exactly know why, but I think we all agreed it would be a place to which we will return. The fries needed more salt though and I couldn't find it, while the food was filling without being bloating.
Wednesday was my first day back at Japanese after Easter, with only five lessons of the first year remaining. We received our marks for the speaking assessment from March, with me scoring a solid 60%, with sensei saying I had a good foundation on which to build my knowledge. I also handed in my writing project, 150-200 words on a typical day, which I wrote over the course of the last fortnight. It took a long time to write and I averaged three to four sentences a day (which took about 45 minutes a time) but sensei asked for complexity so I took quite a few risks with the project. He also wanted us to use kanji, which I obliged quite frequently, and I must admit I'm quite proud of the work I delivered, particularly as I've only been studying the language for six months. Furthermore, since learning some kanji, I recognise a few in Chinese too, including in Chinese restaurants in Leeds, which is quite rewarding. Hopefully I'll get a good mark on this although typically, in Wednesday's class we touched on things I could have written but didn't. Anyway, this was the last of the assessments for the year and it's somewhat of a relief they are over, although I'll still have to give a presentation to the class on one aspect of Japanese life on 6 May. I'm toying between doing my talk on beer or the Japanese furry fandom, but I'm not sure which one yet.
Finally, over the last two days my back has started playing up again and I don't know why. Equally I seem to be developing another cold, my fourth of the year already. I'm something of a wreck at the moment it would seem.
