Magic mash

I finally got the keys to my place last week which was great as I was getting a little bit tired of not being able to sit on a proper sofa or cook things in my own kitchen. Granted, I still don’t actually have a sofa to sit on still nor any cooking implements or anything even to eat off or in fact eat with yet, so it’s a bit of an anti climax as far as thinking that having my own condo would allow me such luxuries as sitting down and dining.

All my stuff (and I say stuff) as as it’s not a great deal arrives today so at least I can at least think about cooking something and perch myself on the kitchen counter whilst I eat it. Still a lot to buy but it’s coming along. Annoyingly, I’ve had a bit of a busy couple of weeks with work and watching the shambles of the World Cup, so I’ve not had chance to use the amazing pool that I have nor any of the other facilities yet. As both of those have calmed down a bit it’s a bit of R&R later this week as I’ve a couple of days off.

Here’s a picture to give you an idea.

Even though the footy has been dire, it’s been great watching it here in Asia as everyone here is footy mad. It’s much more of a female spectator sport here too and the crowds of fans you see (mostly Liverpool oddly) are a 50/50 split between the sexes. At least it’s not full of Man U fans which is quite refreshing. The good thing is that there are loads of great outdoor bars to sit out at and drink lots of Tiger beer and watch the games in the balmy night air. When I say balmy night air, I mean heavy, thick, sticky and humid air that makes you wetter than a fishes towel after a very long shower.
Shame I won’t get to see the final here as I’ll be back in London for that as I’ve a trip back to London coming up in a week or so. It’s had the feeling of watching important footy when you’re on holiday somewhere. Perhaps it’s the heat, or maybe it’s the getting up at 3am to see England draw 0 –0 against a team made up of plumbers and carpet fitters that makes it feel that way. Either way, it’s been fun to be part of it and I’m looking forward to the Grand Prix in September and even more so as I’ve a couple of friends coming over to watch it too. It’s quite a big event here so I’m quite looking forward to watching my first F1 race over here.

One of the funnier things I’ve found here on a bit of a tipsy night home from one of the games was the most bizarre fast food (if you can call it that) dispensing - erm... thing that I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen some really odd ones over the years but this is easily in my top three. Popping into a 7-eleven one drunken evening home with a few colleagues I chanced in to the Magic Mashed machine.

Now being a Londoner I’m not totally surprised by the excitement that a bowl of mash can summon up but this was a new take on it that I’ve never seen before. You stick a dollar in the machine – stick a cup under the nozzle and out pours a concoction that I can only describe as runny powdered smash. Once the mash solidifies into a semi plasmatic like state the machine makes a bit of a gurgle and spurts out a thick dollop of super thick dark gravy on to the glistening surface of the nuclear hot mash like substance.
This was quite entertaining, so we bought about 4 of them although being only two of us I have no idea why still, so we asked Mr Mash standing behind the counter if he’d ever tried this ingenious but tasty meal out the machine. He replied that in the 2 years he’d worked there that he’d never tried it - but by golly he’d take one of our spare mashes (not sure of the possessive plural on that I’m afraid) and try it out.
So it was mashey goodness all round for everyone. I’d like to say it was horrible, but at 4am in the morning when you’re sharing mash in a pot with your new mate from the 7-eleven everything just seems a bit tastier than it should and life is just a tiny bit rosier.

Not sure I’d be trying it again as the 7-eleven was closed the next day and they NEVER close... Ooops.