CARDRUNNERS

What's Your Edge

Taylor Caby: Poker Blog

March 30, 2009

Blog

[Insert sorry for not blogging statement here]

I'm just going to list some random stuff.  Sorry this just off the top of my head but here goes:

-NCAA Tournament is my favorite sports time of the year. This tournament has lacked major upsets and has had only one memorable finish (Villanova Pitt), but it's been enjoyable nonetheless.  The Elite 8 and Sweet 16 were just a bit disappointing because all of the matchups looked pretty decent on paper but most of the games were in fact not very close. I'm still pissed that I had to sit through the Villanova Duke debacle of a game instead of Missouri Memphis.  I can't believe more people in Chicago would rather watch that East Coast game than two Midwest powers, but I'll give CBS the benefit of the doubt in knowing what their customers want.

-I entered three brackets into the 2p2 HSNL pool.  I'm pissed because i hit 2/4 final 4 (Uconn) and 3/4 final 4 (MSU) and I have zero chance to win. If Pitt had beat Villanova (heartbreaker) I'd win if MSU wins the title, and if Syracuse had beaten Oklahoma I'd have tied for the win if UConn won the title. So close but so far away, meh, I swear I'll win a bracket competition once in my life, I've filled one out every year since 9th grade and never won.

-Thanks for the tips on my last blog about Asia.  I need to respond to a few PM's yet but we've got some good input on Thailand for sure.  I'm shocked at how many CR members have either lived or traveled in Thailand. Since Tokyo is such a huge place I figure I'll just list the hotel we are staying at and people can recommend some good things to do in that area.  We're looking for some cool restaurants and bars/clubs. Basically something that four white kids can do and have fun doing, but preferably is something sort of authentic Japanese.  We don't really want to stick to the stuff that the Americans do when they are in Tokyo to remind themselves of home.  This is the hotel:(edit: this won't work for some random reason, www.parkhoteltokyo.com).
We were told this was near a good area for bars/clubs/fish market/stuff to do so any help is appreciated.  Also, if anyone knows the best way to get to this hotel from the airport that would be awesome as well.  I assume there is a train?

Other stuff.. I'm putting the audio together tomorrow to a video I made this weekend.  It's going to be a 2 part HU NLHE series which I think should turn out well.  I played a CR member and he sent us the HH's.  It was sort of cool playing a complete unknown, trying to dissect his game, and then getting to see his hand histories to find out how I did.

Last Friday some friends and I went to onesixtyblue for their $10 fish fry on Friday nights. This place is a pretty nice restaurant where most appetizers are more than $10, so it's a pretty good deal. The food was good but not great, some of my nitty friends complained that you could get fish just as good at the store for half the price.  Maybe that's true, but the ambiance was worth $5 in my opinion. They didn't agree. We came home and watched hoops.

Saturday night my friend Craig had his birthday party at Mystic Celt, which is a bar I pretty much despise. I've been there three times or so and never had a good time, although I will say this past visit was the best time I've had there. My biggest pet peeve about nightlife in general are the people that work at bars or clubs that act like they are the most important people alive. If I ever owned a bar I'd hire a bunch of big guys that were actually nice guys to do the door/security type stuff. I'd have one enforcer/asshole type guy to kick people out or to breakup fights, but everyone else would be instructed to treat everyone with respect, even if you are about to call on the enforcer to kick their ass out. It just leaves such a bad taste in my mouth when someone condescendingly tells you when someone at the place treats you like crap, especially if you plan on spending good money at the place. Anyway, it wasn't a bad time, so I'll stop the ranting.

Oh one more funny story. A lot of my friends are doing internet dating. It's very funny and I'm still going to do that blog post about internet dating sometime. So my friend gets a wink or message or whatever they call it on the site he was on from some girl. She seems cute, etc., so he messages her back and also looks her up on facebook. He finds her profile and realizes that she works at a bar that we go to from time to time, including the same night he first messaged her back! He was like, "oh crap, if I run into her at this bar she's totally going to think I looked her up that day and found out she worked at that bar and went out there to see her." At first I tried to tell him that she probably would chalk it up to a coincidence, but then we both agreed there is no way in hell any sane girl would take that chance. So either she's nutso enough to take a chance on a guy who has a high probability of being a psychopath, or she just ignores him, two bad outcomes if we run into her at the bar. He begrudgingly came with us to the bar but she wasn't working that night. Ah, the joys of internet dating.

Alright, I'm outta here. I'm going to do a good job writing during my trip to Asia (leave on Saturday) so this blog will probably stop sucking then*. I'm getting a camera too so I'll take some good pictures. I hope to have some where it's 4 white people in a crowd of over five hundred asian people. I've always thought it would be funny to be in a picture like that.

Taylor

*No guarantees.

Entry Tags: sports, asia

Mar 30, 09 21:34:00

I'm so jealous, I haven't been to thailand, but have been to china and taiwan, You are going to have a freaking blast. Enjoy!

Zaitsev

Mar 30, 09 22:30:12

remember...asians love mango, particularly in smoothie form.

FishingMonk

Mar 31, 09 01:39:40

I missed out on giving advice on Thailand as I did not read your last blog :oD lol, so I'll put it here...

Thailand is awesome, I backpacked around there for about 8 months. I never went to phuket tho but I hear its cool.

In Bangkok the things you must do are:

1. Ride a 'tuk tuk' tell the driver to go fast, alot of fun!
2. Go to 'KoSan rd'. This is basically where all the backpackers hangout, loads of shops, bars food sellers etc.
3. See the Kings Palace/Reclining Buddha etc.
4. Go to 'Patpong rd'. This is basically the seedy part of bangkok. Have a few beers and go with an open mind lol. Be selective with the bar that you go to there though as there are some real disgusting ones lol! Its not as bad as it sounds, I was traveling with my girlfriend and we felt safe..we had heard about it and it was one of them must do experinces to say you have seen it!
5. Buy some traditional food off the street. Honestly for the best REAL Thai food, the less 'westernised' the place is the better it will be. If the only people that are eating there are Thai's then go there! Have a 'Chicken Massaman'...its sooo good!
6. Boat Market.

Thats all I can think of, off the top of my head. If anymore come to mind I'll let you know.

You are going to have an bsolutely great time, me and my girlfriend are hopefully going back in May and cant wait!

Have a great trip....SwadeeKup & Chokdee!!!

TallisKid

Mar 31, 09 01:45:04

OMG almost forgot....drink as many BeerLao's as possible, as its quite literally the best beer on the planet!

TallisKid

Mar 31, 09 07:32:21

Go to the Subway during rushhour-- you'll see THOUSANDS of Asians

nomo4life

Mar 31, 09 15:30:04

I got booted from my table at Mystic celt because of your party

It's kinda funny reading your post because after the 2nd game we got booted from our table because of a party coming in!!!! As a rsult we left and went to Justins. Would have loved to have bought you a drink and a shot for creating CR. Maybe next time!!!

tothetopIgo

Mar 31, 09 19:06:32

full tilt academy video --> lol

Playitlikeaset

Apr 1, 09 07:46:28

advice on Tokyo

Taylor

For a couple of years, I used to stay in Tokyo once per month, so here are some tips. Keep in mind that I am a about 20 odd years older than you and English (London) so will have a different perspective to you (even if I am young at heart).

The easiest way to get from the Airport (Narita) to you hotel is by something named the â��Limousine Busâ��. It is a standard bus rather than anything limousine like and does the rounds of all of the major hotels including yours â�� check the list on the board. Narita is famously far from the centre, so ensure your iPOD is charged up, as the journey takes a couple of hours.

Tokyo during the day is not that interesting. (Remember that it was flattened during the war) One place worth a visit is Akihabra, the electronics district which is just shop after shop of amazing priced goodies â�� often leading edge â�� it was the first place I ever saw memory sticks. But if you buy, remember that the instructions might be in Japanese â�� ask if they have instructions in English.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akihabara

As you are staying on the edge Ginza, â��the entertainment districtâ��, there are a lot of good bars and restaurants not too far from your hotel, Behind your hotel is a railway line. Although this might sound weird, the are are loads of good, cheap restaurants and bars under the railway arches. Follow the streets alongside railway line down towards Hibya, keeping the railway line on your right.
It's about a 15 minute walk to Hibya, with loads of great places on the way. If the weather is good, it will be thronged after about 20:00.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en-GB&geocode=&q=park+hotel&sll=35.668698,139.767938&sspn=0.015445,0.033045&ie=UTF8&ll=35.666885,139.767208&spn=0.015445,0.033045&z=16

Down towards Hibya there are a clutch of open air Yakatori places where, in good weather, they use beer crates and wood to make extra tables. The Japanese businessmen booze and eat here a lot. Don't be put off by the fact that they are right on the street - Japanese hygiene regulations are very strict.

Avoid the Sushi bars with a merry-go-round system â�� there are plenty of better places that serve plenty of beer with excellent sashima and sushi. There is a fantastic one in Hibya but I have no idea how to direct you there â�� sorry :-( For lunch try the noodle bars which are great. Good also for a cheap evening meal. Or there are lots of places doing great bento boxes.
Most street level restaurants have plastic plates of food in the windows to show what they sell, so you can just point if there isn't and English menu.

Most young westerners like to head for the clubs and red light district which I am sure you know is Roppongi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roppongi

Go by train but if you are coming back late get a cab â�� they are pretty cheap. Cab drivers will not speak English, so take a card from the hotel to show where you need to get to.

If you are still up tafter a long night hen it is well worth visiting the famous fish market â�� lots of great sushi and sashimi nearby.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3021.html

It is well worth wandering around the shops in Ginza during the day, to get the buzz of the place. Head for Mitsukoshi and check out the amazing food halls. Mitsukoshi is the Japanese equivalent of Harrods.

http://www.whatsonwhen.com/sisp/index.htm?fx=event&event_id=33108

Opposite your hotel is a park that contains the Imperial Palace which is worth a quick spin.
Hibya Park, opposite the Imperial Hotel, often has events at weekend. There is a bandstand where Japanese kids often just set up and play in punky bands to whoever will listen but it is a bit hit and miss.

Btw Kyto is a completely different story â�� all ancient temples and elegance versus Tokyo's pretty brutal architecture.

I look forward to your reports of how your trip goes.

If you need any more advice then feel free to contact me.