Jun 08 2007

The Dragon Fart T-Shirt Has Arrived

Category: Friends,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 1:34 am

TCat Designs Dragon Fart

As modelled by Pete.
For anyone who hasn’t yet visited, go and check out Tom’s online shop NOW. You will find a whole range of original t-shirts and other items, all designed by Tom.

TCat Designs is run by Tom Toomey, of The Life of 2ME blog. He is now back in America, having lived here in Astana for a short while. He and Walton are hopefully going to be in Kyrgyzstan this summer, running a camp for children from Afghanistan.

Nope, this isn’t sponsored, Tom is a friend, and no money was exchanged for this post.

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Jun 01 2007

Avoiding Bad Puns

Category: Friends,PersonalChrisM @ 1:21 pm

Wednesday night, Ira and I met up with a journalist (socially) who is based in London. She found this blog from the posts on our kittens and the fact it mentions Kazakhstan, and as she was over here again for a story (I’ll post more when I know she has had it published) decided to meet up.

Elizabeth Mistry

We went to the Chelsea pub (yep, that bastion of traditional Kazak cuisine, lmao), and had a nice evening eating, drinking and talking a fair amount. The temptation of seeing Karra and Muska proved irresistible, so we all came back to the flat afterwards. It was really interesting to meet her, and I hope should she come out here again, we’ll meet once more. Oh, and her husband is cordially invited too, so lets just hope she succeeds in her mission to persuade him to visit Kazakhstan.

Oh and the post title? Her name is Elizabeth Mistry, so I had to fight the urge to create a corny title…

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May 30 2007

You Can Now Subscribe To Comments!

Category: Friends,Personal,WordPressChrisM @ 1:03 am

Just a quick note to let you know that courtesy of the Subscribe To Comments v2.1 Plug In, you can now be e-mailed whenever someone replies to a post that interests you.

Of course, you could always subscribe to this blog’s RSS feeds (Yep that big orange button on the right is for the feed of posts, and you can also subscribe to the comments feed). However, some people are not yet comfortable with feeds, and others may simply only want to be notified when comments are made on the posts that interest them.

Anyway, give it a try the next time you leave me a comment (oh yeah, Dad, Nick, Alex Clarke, Seb & Con, Balzhan, Chris Barry, Christina, Dana & Asen, Emma F, Gavin, Jo Swale (neΓ© Yates), Kate (she who must be obeyed), Keith, Natalya K., Ramon, Tom, Tanya & Steve you are all VERY naughty… I know most of you have occasionally checked the blog out, but haven’t yet left a comment! It really is very simple, and it reminds me that you still check in here) ChrisD gets a special mention for commenting once in a blue moon, and still having not posted his comments on his last trip to Kazakhstan, some 6 months later. He is hopefully coming over again this year, some time after Alex C.
So you miscreants are being e-mailed a link to this post, to remind you I’m still here πŸ™‚ I’m hoping some of your e-mail accounts don’t have over-active spam filters.

PS This post isn’t sponsored, I’d been looking for a plug in with this sort of functionality, without any need to modify the theme’s files.

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May 14 2007

Went To Chelsea Again

Category: Eating Out,Friends,KazakhstanChrisM @ 12:31 am

On Saturday night. Unfortunately Walton and Assel had a previous engagement, but Ira and I still had a good time. I ventured beyond my normal potato skins for a started, and had a tomato soup. Over here in Kazakhstan, soup is not soup unless it looks like water, has a few real vegetables in it, and a fair dollop of meat. Unfortunately, my ideal soup is basically creamy flavoured water. Unless it is cream of tomato or cream of chicken, I’m not too interested basically. Anyway, previously, I’d always said no the the idea of having a $12 soup of tomatoes as a starter, but as we were celebrating my first month of income from web sites in a while, I decided to try it out. Combined with a chocolate milk shake and a Baileys.
Then I had something labelled as lasagne. It certainly had meat, tomato paste/sauce, pasta and cheese, but it wasn’t quite arranged the same way. Anyway, it was too big for me to finish, wasn’t what I was expecting, but could have been a lot worse. The fact that it was quite so filling meant I had to skip the anticipated apple pie and ice cream, so I drowned my ‘sorrows’ with a few more vodkas.
Anyway, we’ll hopefully continue our Saturday night out pattern with Walton & Assel next week.

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May 06 2007

Chelsea Hosts Another Meeting

Category: Eating Out,Friends,Kazakhstan,PersonalChrisM @ 7:57 pm

of English language bloggers and their partners…

Ira, myself, Walton and Assel all went to the Chelsea ‘English Pub’ (well they have a few UK football club shirts on the wall, and it is closer to a pub than a bar…) again on Saturday evening. Had a nice time, and the two men decided to limit themselves to sharing a 500ml bottle of vodka, with absolutely no ‘assistance’ from their wiser&better halves Spitting Out Drink 2.
We had quite good food there; the Chelsea has normally had good food, but the potato skins were bigger, and the burger tasted of meat more last night. The apple pie and ice cream has even now replaced the chocolate dessert as my favourite at that place.
Having said all that, the prices appeared to have increased, so it is probably a good thing we don’t go there too often.
Anyway, a summary of the evening, I hope, is that a good time was had by all, so thanks to Ira, Assel and Walton for their company πŸ™‚

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May 05 2007

International Mail

Category: Friends,Kazakhstan,PersonalChrisM @ 11:25 am

Almost one month after my Dad sent me a parcel, it has finally arrived here in Astana. (Thank you Dad, the Angel Delight, card & magazines all arrived fine).
Causing me some confusion is the fact that Alex’s birthday card arrived at the same time. She sent hers a week and a half after Dad!
Perhaps they stock pile mail before sending it over here?

Anyway, I have a fresh copy of New Scientist to read now, so I’ll leave you all in peace.

7 weeks until Alex comes over πŸ™‚

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May 02 2007

Masha’s Birthday

Category: Books,Friends,Kazakhstan,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 3:37 pm

On Monday, Ira and I went over to Masha’s flat to celebrate her birthday. We had a nice meal, a couple of drinks, and I got to meet her son for the first time.

Chris Masha Baby

Whilst there, I read my first ever Russian book. So what was it, I hear someone ask?
Perhaps a poem by Aleksandr Pushkin? Perhaps something penned by Leo Tolstoy?
Nope, it was Zimnaya Kolibyelnaya by Irina Gurina

Chris Russian Book

Yep, a nursery school book, I read to Masha’s son.
Well what did you expect? I’m hoping to start my Russian lessons again soon, as my teacher has been away on a training course. Until I’ve progressed a little further, I’m very happy to have got as far as this book πŸ™‚

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Apr 30 2007

How To Speak English in 7 Easy Pints!

Category: Friends,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 12:17 pm

Assel found a brilliant card for my birthday…
Continue reading “How To Speak English in 7 Easy Pints!”

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Apr 30 2007

Huuuuuuuge Thanks To Walton & Assel

Category: Friends,PersonalChrisM @ 11:50 am

Assel went on a business trip to Britain, and asked if there was anything I’d like bought back from Britain.

Angel Delight

I think they only asked for a laugh, anyone who knows my choice of desserts over in Kazakhstan knows I have a penchant for Angel Delight. So, for my birthday, Assel kindly got me 20 packets – 10 strawberry and 10 butterscotch. We were at a restaurant at the time, so I had to wait until we got back to theirs afterwards, before I could sample one.
Delicious.

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Apr 24 2007

Tom has a new line of shirts

Category: Friends,PersonalChrisM @ 12:49 am

For those that are new to the blog, Tom lived here in Astana for a while. You can see his blog here.
Now that he is back in Brooklyn, he has been able to concentrate on updating some of his art designs. You can check out his new line of shirts over at TCat Designs, and if you’ve not visited either site before, take a moment to check them out properly.

Once more, this isn’t a commercial post – it comes under personal, as Tom is a friend, and I’m not being paid for this blog entry.

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