ChrisMerriman.com

So we have just returned from a tasty meal at Sligo, with Walton and Assel. We realised that the last time we had visited the Irish-pub themed location here in Astana, Kazakhstan was just over a year ago, which was another Halloween themed event. Today the fire steak (yes, that was indeed a steak that arrived at the table on fire), chocolate dessert (currently only displayed on their Russian language menu) and vodka were all lovely. Anyway, when we arrived the male waiters had already changed into their themed costumes – scars/pirate paraphernalia were abound. For some reason the female waitress’s costume changes didn’t occur until later on, and were comparatively weak – a ‘bloodied’ bandage around one neck, and a witch’s hat on top of the other lady’s head. I then spotted a woman who caught my eye. I spent a few seconds trying to discern the inspiration for her costumer, before realising there was none – she was just a (slightly older than) middle aged woman in tight jeans and a top. It isn’t that she needed to search for the best acne treatments available in this area or anything, she was simply mutton dressed as lamb. Given that I gave the ‘pub’ a plug in my recent guide to Astana, I don’t feel too guilty in calling out her dubious choice of fashion (she is thought to have been the owner), I just wish she’d dressed either more conservatively, or gone the whole hog and added some accessories to her otherwise scary outfit! Anyway, this time there were no signs in the bathroom warning people not to fish in the toilet bowl, which is good, as I’d forgotten our proper camera, and despite the band being worthy of a few shots, as I’d forgotten our real camera (the camera phone couldn’t handle the low lighting), I wasn’t overly upset at the lack of humorous text in the washroom.

There seems to be a small teddy bear having a bath in the kitchen here at the in-laws’.
Well, less of a bath, more of a “HELP. I’m trapped in a bowl under a lid, surrounded by water, and I can’t swim!”
It reminded me of a waterbed scene from one of the Nightmare on Elm St. films, and I felt the urge to give the teddy bear CPR. Not sure if it should have been a ratio of 15:2, or do small furry bears count as children? Should I not eat cheese last thing before sleep ?
Weirdly enough, when I completed a couple of different first aid training schemes, neither medical coding training courses nor teddy-bear specific CPR instructions were included. Perhaps I should send a suggestion to St. John’s?