![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Not Your Pawpet
Mar. 18th, 2018 10:11 pmThis weekend was the Leeds Furmeet, this time in the Old Red Bus Station following Bar Soba closing for relocation. I was a little apprehensive heading into the meet, wondering whether people would like the new venue and whether the new venue would like us. In the end, I think it went incredibly well. The bar staff loved us, particularly after I had headed down to the venue a couple of minutes early to talk to the manager and get shown around, while the reaction from the furs was largely positive too, particularly as they had tea which was surprisingly popular. The oven wasn't working so we couldn't get any food, but I did get a free milky coffee from the barman as soon as I walked in, which was nice. It was great to finally have a fursuit changing area (albeit quite a dark one), plus the airy Cantina with its many windows was definitely a plus as many of our past furmeets have taken place in darker locations. There were a couple of teething issues we need to iron out, but there is a lot to be excited about, and I hope that when I speak to the venue later in the week, they had a positive experience too.
The meet itself was great, although the threat from 'The Beast from the East 2' was ever-present. In the end, it didn't snow until later in the evening, meaning that the meet itself was largely unaffected. It was great to see Jay again from Glasgow, plus he had brought Volskar with us, a bird furry we had also met at Gdakon and who had travelled all the way from the Netherlands for the meet. The walk saw 26 fursuiters embark upon it and we got a nice photograph from a Yorkshire photographer, who tweeted us after the event asking what we were all about. We also got to see a range of people we hadn't seen for a while before too, including Fioxy, Chargin and Phenol, so all in all it was a successful day.
We had Nall and Ferret staying over at ours. They had arrived on the Friday evening, which was when the snow had started to fall, and we took them back to ours for a few drinks. After the meet, we headed over to Pizza Fella with a few other furs (including Jay and Volskar, along with Entei-rah) for some food before ending up in Shuffledog where we got to sample their Irish Tap Takeover. Unfortunately, while we were here, the snow started to fall quite heavily and we had to make plans to depart pretty swiftly. Patter was the most chronic as he had to get back to Manchester, but he did manage to stay out quite a while and enjoy some beers with us. However, we were all getting quite lethargic and Jay and Volskar wanted to head back to the Travelodge that was conveniently placed right opposite the meet venue. Little snow walking for them. We toyed with the idea of going to North Bar but it was too busy, which is when we all went our separate ways, with Nall, Ferret, Wolfie and I ending up in Tallboys Beer Market for a final beer of the night. Alas, as it turned out, this was a mistake as once we had finished and got back to the bus stop, we were told by the bus driver of the number 16 that turned up that all buses were cancelled and he was going as far as Bramley but no further. This was of little use to us and so we ended up having to board a train to New Pudsey and walking home from there. This was quite frustrating as I had already slipped over once in Leeds city centre and was developing quite the bruise on my right forearm, while Wolfie wasn't helping me with the meet suitcase which I had to drag through the snow. I did get rather pissed off.
Once we got home, we ended up chatting for a while as Wolfie dozed off, first in the living room and afterwards when he had gone to bed. For some reason, I managed to sustain a thirty minute conversation about Overwatch League having never played the game before (I do edit eSports articles to be fair and was surprised with just how much information I had retained) before we ended up talking about things of a more graphic nature. Next morning, today, was a leisurely start which saw me brave the snow to go to the shop and get food before heading home to cook it. We then chilled for a while before introducing our friends to some of the apparatus upstairs. The evening ended with a trip into Leeds, with Nall and Ferret wanting to try My Thai, one of the Thai restaurants in the city. They told me the sign of a good Thai place was a short waiting time and this certainly didn't disappoint in this regard, with the food being ready in about five minutes. We got three starters to share between each couple while I went for the beef massaman curry, which was exceptional as it always is from My Thai. It was the restaurant near the Arena, the one we hadn't yet been to, and I was delighted with the quality of the food. Nall and Ferret were too.
Due to how quick the service was, we ended up with some time to kill, so I gave our friends the option of four bars near the station. The Head of Steam was chosen, where we got to sample some Tiny Rebel beers. There was a jazz band setting up in one of the areas but alas we only got to see their practice rather than the show as we only had about an hour before their train. Some drunken wankers turned up about ten minutes before we were due to leave and hemmed us in somewhat, blocking our table access to the rest of the bar. They were also lairy, taking the piss out of our friends going back to London by putting on fake Cockney accents. They were a little intimidating but I suspect harmless, either way it was good to be out of there and back at the station.
It was sad saying goodbye to our friends but we may see Nall as soon as three weeks time in Reading. It was a great weekend and I do hope they can come to stay again. Due to the weather, their train ended up being re-routed via York so I do hope they don't get back to late. Meanwhile, we headed to Tapped Brew Co as we didn't fancy waiting in the cold for twenty minutes for the bus. A pint and half and fifty minutes later, we headed back to the train station to get the bus, which was just as well as we noticed the next bus was cancelled. We managed to get our steed though and despite the driver struggling to get up the hill in Pudsey due to a patch of ice he had stopped on while the traffic light was on red, the journey was largely uneventful aside from some dickhead having a loud phone conversation about mattresses. We were thinking of going to Rudy's on our way home but I was feeling tired and bloated so we decided against it, and also because I fancied a lie down. And this is indeed where we are.
The meet itself was great, although the threat from 'The Beast from the East 2' was ever-present. In the end, it didn't snow until later in the evening, meaning that the meet itself was largely unaffected. It was great to see Jay again from Glasgow, plus he had brought Volskar with us, a bird furry we had also met at Gdakon and who had travelled all the way from the Netherlands for the meet. The walk saw 26 fursuiters embark upon it and we got a nice photograph from a Yorkshire photographer, who tweeted us after the event asking what we were all about. We also got to see a range of people we hadn't seen for a while before too, including Fioxy, Chargin and Phenol, so all in all it was a successful day.
We had Nall and Ferret staying over at ours. They had arrived on the Friday evening, which was when the snow had started to fall, and we took them back to ours for a few drinks. After the meet, we headed over to Pizza Fella with a few other furs (including Jay and Volskar, along with Entei-rah) for some food before ending up in Shuffledog where we got to sample their Irish Tap Takeover. Unfortunately, while we were here, the snow started to fall quite heavily and we had to make plans to depart pretty swiftly. Patter was the most chronic as he had to get back to Manchester, but he did manage to stay out quite a while and enjoy some beers with us. However, we were all getting quite lethargic and Jay and Volskar wanted to head back to the Travelodge that was conveniently placed right opposite the meet venue. Little snow walking for them. We toyed with the idea of going to North Bar but it was too busy, which is when we all went our separate ways, with Nall, Ferret, Wolfie and I ending up in Tallboys Beer Market for a final beer of the night. Alas, as it turned out, this was a mistake as once we had finished and got back to the bus stop, we were told by the bus driver of the number 16 that turned up that all buses were cancelled and he was going as far as Bramley but no further. This was of little use to us and so we ended up having to board a train to New Pudsey and walking home from there. This was quite frustrating as I had already slipped over once in Leeds city centre and was developing quite the bruise on my right forearm, while Wolfie wasn't helping me with the meet suitcase which I had to drag through the snow. I did get rather pissed off.
Once we got home, we ended up chatting for a while as Wolfie dozed off, first in the living room and afterwards when he had gone to bed. For some reason, I managed to sustain a thirty minute conversation about Overwatch League having never played the game before (I do edit eSports articles to be fair and was surprised with just how much information I had retained) before we ended up talking about things of a more graphic nature. Next morning, today, was a leisurely start which saw me brave the snow to go to the shop and get food before heading home to cook it. We then chilled for a while before introducing our friends to some of the apparatus upstairs. The evening ended with a trip into Leeds, with Nall and Ferret wanting to try My Thai, one of the Thai restaurants in the city. They told me the sign of a good Thai place was a short waiting time and this certainly didn't disappoint in this regard, with the food being ready in about five minutes. We got three starters to share between each couple while I went for the beef massaman curry, which was exceptional as it always is from My Thai. It was the restaurant near the Arena, the one we hadn't yet been to, and I was delighted with the quality of the food. Nall and Ferret were too.
Due to how quick the service was, we ended up with some time to kill, so I gave our friends the option of four bars near the station. The Head of Steam was chosen, where we got to sample some Tiny Rebel beers. There was a jazz band setting up in one of the areas but alas we only got to see their practice rather than the show as we only had about an hour before their train. Some drunken wankers turned up about ten minutes before we were due to leave and hemmed us in somewhat, blocking our table access to the rest of the bar. They were also lairy, taking the piss out of our friends going back to London by putting on fake Cockney accents. They were a little intimidating but I suspect harmless, either way it was good to be out of there and back at the station.
It was sad saying goodbye to our friends but we may see Nall as soon as three weeks time in Reading. It was a great weekend and I do hope they can come to stay again. Due to the weather, their train ended up being re-routed via York so I do hope they don't get back to late. Meanwhile, we headed to Tapped Brew Co as we didn't fancy waiting in the cold for twenty minutes for the bus. A pint and half and fifty minutes later, we headed back to the train station to get the bus, which was just as well as we noticed the next bus was cancelled. We managed to get our steed though and despite the driver struggling to get up the hill in Pudsey due to a patch of ice he had stopped on while the traffic light was on red, the journey was largely uneventful aside from some dickhead having a loud phone conversation about mattresses. We were thinking of going to Rudy's on our way home but I was feeling tired and bloated so we decided against it, and also because I fancied a lie down. And this is indeed where we are.
