Resurecting the Sumo Tube: The DVD Now on YouTube

Andy enjoying the Sumo Tube ... well, not so much.

Back in the summer of 2005, we acquired what is known as a “Sumo Tube.”  Now, many people are familiar with the idea of going tubing behind a boat: sit on or lay across a tube while being pulled behind a boat at high speeds, by a driver who scores points by throwing the rider from said tube.  Quite a novel concept, surely having accrued countless numbers of injuries to its name – as all of the most fun ways to go tubing tend to be listed under the giant WARNING label, displayed prominently on the bottom side of the tube in order to prevent what is commonly referred to as “buzzkill syndrome.”

Well as fun as normal tubing can be, isn’t it lacking in a certain something.  I mean, sure, you can ride it left and right, jump the wake, launch the rider/riders, and create what is referred to as a 7-layer-death-ride experience:  when the driver achieves the successive layering of water-air-tube-air-person-air-person off a good wake launch.  But is that really all that extreme?  What if instead of laying on a tube, which keeps your face a safe 12 inches away from the water, you could somehow position yourself right in the center of the tube?  Imagine:  water rushing past as hard as a board just inches or less from your face!  One false move and bam:  your sinuses cleared out by 5 gallons in under .03 seconds!  If the tube decides to roll over, you roll over with it.  Enter the Sumo Tube.

University Comedy Night – September ‘08!

Big news this week:  the staging of the first student comedy night of the 2008-2009 academic year.  Pairing up with TakeOut Comedy and WACHK! Productions, we have put together a great show for Hong Kong to come out and see.  In addition, this show will serve as a preview for the 2008 Hong Kong International Comedy Festival, as each of the acts on the bill this Thursday will be competing in the October festival.  With our super awesome host, ME, it’ll be a great night of laughs and a unique look at life in Hong Kong.

TakeOut Comedy Club, 34 Elgin St, Soho, Central

Thursday September 25th, 2008 – 8:00pm to 9:30pm

Starring Ryan Hynek, Chris Musni, Sean White, Nick Milnes, James Morley (debut!), Anthony Solimini, Lara Dangerfield.  Tickets will be available both at the door and by reservation. For reservations please call 6220-4436 or email jami@takeoutcomedy.com. Ask for Jami!

For the school year, we’ll be putting on special student nights the LAST THURSDAY OF EVERY MONTH.  Keep your eyes open for the October show announcement soon!

Facebook Event Link!

View Larger Map

Directions:

Exit Central MTR Station D2
Turn Right and walk down Queens Road.  Past H&M, Past McDonalds.
You will cross Queens road and catch the Mid-Level Escalators.  Ride these to Elgin St.  The Corner of Elgin St is marked by a 7/11, Fat Angelo’s, and a Krispy Kreme.
Turn Right onto Elgin St.  TakeOut Comedy Club is about 50 m past 7/11 on the right.

Bank Of America ATMs in Hong Kong

Bank websites just don’t work that well.  Bank of America (BOA) has a pretty decent website when it comes to searching for locations, until you start looking for international ATMs.  When you look for ATMs in Hong Kong or China, it simply refers you to check out the China Construction Bank’s (CCB) webpage, as Bank of America owns a small portion of CCB.  This means that CCB and BOA card holders can use each others worldwide network of ATMs free of fees!  China Construction Bank users can search for any Bank of America ATM quite easily, but the CCB page only lists the main office for each province or city in China – making it but a stroke of luck if you happen to run across one of their machines in the course of daily activities.

However, for Hong Kong traveling/living – you’ve got an asset in me.  I ran by one of the branch locations the other day and got a hard copy of the Hong Kong network of China Construction Bank ATMs.  Now I’ve put it online for your travel needs!  Since i spent the summer forking over ATM fees for foreign withdrawls, I’d like myself and others to try and limit what they’re dishing over to these institutions for letting us access OUR OWN money.

Happy Hunting!  If you found this helpful for your trip, let me know with a post below!

~Michael

View Larger Map

Transylvanian Snowman Adventures

On a break from the hectic city livin’ of Bucharest, Romania, I headed up to the mountains of Transylvania to the small town of Sinaia, deep in the Bucegi Mountains.  On my last morning there I took a tour of the summer palace of King Carol the first.  Known as Peles Castle, it conjurs the Dracula-esque visions which Transylvania is known for.

Red Snow – Moscow

The Postcard Swap Continues!

Hello there everyone,

So – I’ve safely made it around the world and back to Hong Kong.  There’s been lots of new and exciting things going on since my return:  league Ultimate Frisbee, new University Comedy Shows for the 08/09 academic year, found a new apartment and will be starting work in a few days!  However, there’s one thing that just keeps on going:  the Postcard Swap!

Over the course of the summer I sent, by my own rough estimates, around 100 postcards out to the masses of people who signed up.  If you got a postcard, and you want to complete the swap, just shoot me an email and I’ll let you know how to get a card back to me here in Hong Kong!

More updates to come soon!

Michael