Bangkok 'Rugby'

Backtracking a little here, I haven't reported on the events from Bangkok back in February.

I was in BK for 4 days with my rugby team, The Typhoons, posing as Mockingbirds under our touring name. I think it's a means of covering up our identity so charges can't be laid upon our return to the Big Lychee. Not that anything out of the ordinary happened...

This tour was all about 'rugby' ... ahem.... I said rugby... We arrived late Thursday night the last weekend of February. Getting to the hotel at 1am sure didn't mean we were going to sleep. We found a club close to our hotel and partied a good part of the morning. Friday wasn't a play day so we didn't need any energy for hitting and smashing the opposition. The majority of the 'birds slept till noon, then it was off to go-carting. Lucky us, it was indoors! The weather was about +30 during the day, not ideal for playing rugby. The indoor track was quite well done. The cars were fast, the track was a decent length with at least 6 turns, and it was dirt cheap for 10 minutes of racing. I managed to break the steering column on my cart the first time out and brilliant Thai design meant that I almost blew myself up by cutting the gas line. The 2nd race was much safer, and my car did not falter.

Friday night was the opening party for all the teams competing in the rugby on the weekend. It was also a chance for us to get a look at who would be dishing out the pain. The tournament was apparently of a higher standard than what we are used to, with such players as the ex-captain of South Africa suiting up for once team. So much for the winning part of the weekend. With our new found realization that we were probably going to get pounded anyway, the 'birds went out to all hours again around various parts of Bangkok.

The Bangkok International Rugby 10s (aka Slaughtering of the 'Birds) commenced sometime in the morning, and I think we made it on time for our first game. It just happened to be against the New Zealand Legends. I think we touched the ball, or at least made a lunge at it once or twice. Final score was 5000-something to nothing. The rest of the weekend we played 4 more games, and no, we didn't win any of them. None of us cared much as were has consumed more beer than air. We did however manage to score once.