The Straw Settlement

Today was rather bleak in places, but two events really seemed to highlight the day. In the afternoon my housemates and I conned our housemate with the car to drive us to buy a board game that we'd heard about. After careful persuasion, mostly on my part, he agreed as was decided earlier and took us to our local toy store. Although it may seem strange for a bunch of university guys heading to a toy store, it is actually quite common among the nerdier crowd in Waterloo. Once there, we headed straight for the board games aisle and searched out Settlers of Catan. We had heard from a friend that it was a fun game to play and much like risk minus the backstabbing and what not. The total cost came out to roughly $35 which is not bad at all and still has to be decided how we're splitting it. I suppose I'm glad that it wasn't going on my VISA as I believe it has been used way more often that is should have been. Once all the affairs were settled at the toy store, we were eager to head home and test Settlers. It was not as complex as one might think, but getting the hang of the game took a while. Sadly, that translated into turns that seem to span into forever. The game ended with the underdog coming up from behind as he was still the one with the most experience playing.

Around 7:00 Lapin asked if I was up for hanging out. I of course had nothing else better to do so I agreed to go see her. We met at her place for 8:00 and missed our bus due to her lack of readiness. We ended up waiting at the bus stop another twenty minutes all the while letting her play games on my iPhone. We caught the bus and headed over to Springrolls as I wasn't really up to having pho. We were seated right away with the stragglers, like us, beginning their meals. I decided to order the house satay pad thai as I usually cycle between the three flavours of pad thai Springrolls offers. Lapin decided to go on an adventurous route and ordered the Singapore noodles with BBQ pork and shrimp. To go along with our orders, Lapin got an iced tea while I opted for water still contemplating whether to get a fruity drink that are oh so tempting and delicious. Our beverages came, mine without a straw which is of concern to me as I do not trust the cleanliness of glassware or any dinner ware at restaurants having worked at one in the past. I kindly asked the waiter if he could bring me a straw and he agreed. A few minutes later, a small cocktail straw was brought to me on a plate. Lapin and I both found this strange and I came to the conclusion that the waiter suspected that I was a germaphobe. Lapin and I chatted for a bit until our meals came and we ate in silence not because we were angry or had an awkward moment but because we were so hungry. The meal was adequate by both our standards. Once the meal was done Lapin and I paid and headed for the bus. Once on, she remembered that she had made arrangements to call her mom at 8:30 and had a small freak out because of it. Several attempts with her phone card proved useless and I offered her my phone. After making a short call and the bus ride home, we departed ways.

Of course, once each of us were comfortably in our houses, we began chatting on MSN.