Locals Eats: Thai Basil

This week's stop as Thai Basil with some friends.  It was so hard to find!!!  It is in a shopping center that I am familiar with and we could hardly find it and here is why:

We drove around the whole place so confused.  I actually tried to scout it out on an earlier date and couldn't find it!  My friend in the car spotted it for us!  We walked in and the atmosphere was ok, felt a little cheap to me.  We sat at a table in a little secluded room by itself.  The place was a little muggy but I think that's because we are transitioning between summer and fall and they had the windows open. 

The prices seemed pretty good (about $8-$10 for lunch dishes) but when they came out they were really small.  Not that I minded because I could actually finish my lunch and not feel stuffed but our usual haunt (Rama Thai) has the same prices, same quality food, and serves at least a little bigger portions so I can get away with 2 meals out of it!

I got the pineapple curry and it was actually very good!  Everyone was really happy with the way their food tasted so that is a major plus.  We even had some Thai-newbies with us.  But seriously, lots of sauce here, little food.  Hm.  And the service was a bit weird.  She brought out the dishes one by one (I guess as they were ready in the kitchen).  We all could have easily finished eating before one of us got his food!  Odd.  So overall, not bad but not great either.  I would go to Rama Thai if you had the choice.  They are close enough that if you are going for dinner, its a good idea.  We went during lunch hour so we picked what was closest!

Thai Basil
199 New Rd #72
Linwood, New Jersey

(609) 926-9339

Beers and Boats Don't Go

I'm going to skip my Friday since I can make 2 other blogs out of that.  For now, I'm just going to tell you about my weekend.  Remember how I said I was going to skip rugby?  Well, I really didn't want to, so I headed over to Micheal's for an essential.  If I was going to rugby, I would need to do at least some homework while I was there.  I bought a lap desk and go to work in the car (away game).  Luckily, the one class's homework was easy and I got quite a bit done on the other class too.  It was great working in the car.  Didn't do so much working during the game though...


The town we played was a suburb of Philadelphia.  It was... interesting.  You had to look for dog poop everywhere and this one muddy spot on the field smelled like a leech field.  More on that in a minute...  Anyway, we got slaughtered for some reason but our scrums were strong I think.  We kept pushing them back in those but we still lost.  Oh well!  Let's just say it was a messy game with regards to testosterone and mud.  Someone from the other team took a swing at Rob!  He is completely non-aggressive and walked away.  Typically, most guys would get into a fight but Rob is just there to have fun so he doesn't want to have pointless fighting.  Anyway, here are pictures!

  

 If you look center left, that is Rob.  He is the "hooker" and is right in the middle of the scrum.  His shoulders get pretty beat up!

Can you see how muddy Rob is?  And this guy broke his nose and went back in later in the game!

Some people had way too much fun in the mud.  He got tackled in this and was half covered and then decided to slide through it.  Then, he realized it smelled like poo.  HA!  So everyone tried washing him off with water as well as they could.  I'm sure he was thankful for a shower!  So afterwards, we went to the home team's bar which was SCARY.  But we headed out to our sponser's bar The Bards in center city.  This is where I get in trouble.  I decided to have their delicious Irish stew and 2 Dogfish Head Pumpkin Ales.

And since we're being bad, why not walked to CapaGiro again for some gelato, right?

Worst idea ever.  We had a great time on Saturday.  Sunday was fishing trip day.  Oh, and as you can see, I didn't get my run in.  We left the house at 9AM and got home after 9PM so no go (and it was raining all day).  I figured after the boat ride on Sunday, I would run then.  HA!

We were worried that it would rain for the trip but in the morning, we all decided to take a chance and go.  Our friend Patty got us a fishing charter through her business and invited us out.  We were rushed in the morning (I never even heard Rob's alarms I was so tired) so we hit Wawa (bad idea #2).  I wasn't really feeling very well when I woke up but decided I needed to go to keep Patty company with the men (bad idea #3).  It actually ended up being perfect weather.

 Well, something wasn't going on right in my belly and I was sick as a dog the whole time!  Please don't say "you should have taken dramamine".  I NEVER have gotten sick on a boat and I've been out on my dad's boat and friends' boats MANY times.  Even went on a cruise.  I never get motion sick so this was just craziness (aka bad eating).  Ah well, it was enjoyable the times I felt ok.  But I felt bad for everyone else.  We managed to get our 4 hours in though and headed home.  The rest of the day was spent recouping.  I ate tortilla chips and drank soda (OMG I know! but I needed the sugar).  I am still iffy today.  But this leads me to my lack of run this weekend.  Over a week now without a single workout!  Tonight is the planned run but now I have to stay in Delaware later because a rock hit my windshield on the way here today.  I have an appointment with Safelite at 3:30.  UGH!  So I want to run tonight but I have homework and I haven't gotten to sit on my couch in like a month.  Couch sounds nice too...

Soooo I'm really busy.  I have to run to go do more homework.  Then class, windshield repair, then home.  I found some apartments down here that are reasonable but am waiting for a few months to get one.  With commuting, I can still work a few hours a week and I could use that extra income!

To end, pictures of my crazy cat trying to look out the window.  Otto is such a goofball.

Have a great Monday!

Philly Rock and Roll Half Marathon!

This weekend has been crazy!  Yesterday was full of one thing.  Rugby!

Even though they lost, it was a pretty good game!  They don't have enough guys for two teams but have to play A side and B side to qualify for the league so Rob had to play 2 games.  He is pretty beat up today!

This morning was my half marathon in Philly.  I was actually pretty excited but a little worried because I had only done up to 8 miles for this race (and slacked off a lot with the training).  I knew I would at least be able to walk the rest of it.  So off we went to Philly.  We were running a little later than we thought but it ended up working out.  I made sure to eat a good breakfast and it was a beautiful day for a run!

We met up with Claudia at the start line just in time and I met her friend Susan.  We took a few photos and we were off!  Having Rob around is like the paparazzi!

I took lots of pictures while I ran (yes I brought my camera, lol).  The race went through Philly and then down the Schukyll River.  There are beautiful boat houses there and lots of trees...

There were also lots of cheerleading squads out there supporting the runners.  I also saw my friend's band playing around mile 7.5.  That put a huge smile on my face (hey I got a shout out through amps!  Ha!) for the next 4 miles or so.  Then the run was just getting long and bored!  Finally, I could see the Art Museum again (finish line!!!)

I texted friends and called Rob to let them know I was getting close.  I had to ask Rob what side of the street I needed to run on for my photo shoot.  LoL. 

According to my Garmin, I ran 13.44 miles in 2:39:51.  Not bad!!!  The first few miles I ran a little too fast.  I had a bit of a stomach ache but finally was feeling ok after mile 3.  Then I just kept trudging along, running and walking whenever I felt like.  I tried not to walk too much but made sure to a little to save my legs.  The last 2 miles were rough.  My calves were really hurting and I was pooped.  It got to a point where I was too tired to run but my legs hurt too bad when I walked.  Haha, so I sort of shuffled along.  I am really happy with my time considering my lack of training.  But today is the official first day of marathon training.  No more slacking allowed!  I just have to figure out a decent schedule with school.  I also have another half next month in AC.  I can definitely do that one!

Anyway, I met up with the girls when I finished.  Rob had to run to the car to pay the meter.  Oh!  I saw Tiffany at the finish line too (from Spark People), just as I was crossing.  Everyone was really happy I think with the whole day.  Such a good race day!

Bret Michaels was the headline for the show after the race.  Haha!  We were all pretty tired so we didn't stay long.  Rob and I tried heading over the to the rugby team's sponsor bar, The Bards but they were only serving brunch so we had to find somewhere else.  We ended up at the Village Wiskey Bar.  It is a little trendy and fancy but really cute!  I got a burger and Rob got the pork sandwich.  So yummy!

it was a little pricey but so worth it.  My burger was awesome.  Right across the street was that gelato place again (different location).  I of course headed over.  Not as happy with it today but it was the flavors I picked.  I went safe.  But still yummy!

There was a Trader Joes right near where we parked.  We thought about doing our grocery shopping there but we were both pretty sore and beat up.  I really just wanted  a shower and to lay down for a bit so we decided we would do our grocery shopping when we got home.  Next time!  The rest of the night has been spent doing chores (groceries, dinner) and homework.  This homework set is pretty rough.  Doesn't help that I'm sure tired and I can't concentrate!  Hopefully I can get it done tomorrow night because it is due Tuesday.  Eek!  Alright, time to finish my beer and head to bed for an awesome night's sleep!