We had a bit of a Friday Christmas outing after work at the Maboonkrang bowling alley. I have to admit I am not a big bowling fan, but once you get the competition thing going it's not so bad. The bowling industry here is quite revitalized and is a bit of a spectacle. They've turned bowling in to a sort of disco event with lighting, loud music and neon colored balls. When they really get going, they fire up the blacklights so the and let the place glow. They even have high tech gadgets like the Automatic Shooser-a sort of shoe vending machine. The place was quite busy as well and we had to wait about 30 minutes to get a lane. We got things started out right when we got a couple of pitchers and started a 40 baht pool for the winner. You know you are in Thailand when it is acceptable to open a bottle of black at the bowling alley. I pulled in the whopping score of 109 the first game and was able to take the pot. The second game I didn't get the booty, but did get a score improvement of 119.

Friday night we dressed to impress for the opening of Q bar. It had been one of SE Asia's hottest bars in Vietnam until it was taken over and the owner was forced out. I think this was the trendiest event I have been to yet, with all the mover and shakers shaking it. The bar was nicely done with dark yellow back lit translucent panels for walls. Two dancing girls stationed at the bar's corners, improved the liveliness of the atmosphere. Quickly adding to the atmosphere was the fact that the drinks were free. Dan took full advantage us this as he secured us a bottle of Absolute Vodka for later use.