Saigon Raider

It's very good but nothing beats Maribou Stork Nightmares

Agreed, I am in the middle of 9 weeks off!!

Did the Stonehaven half today. Was very well organised, a small race, maybe only 350 runners. As @Scorge said the first 6/7 miles were uphill with some killer climbs, but the second half was glorious. I ran the last 10k in 50mins, which I would struggle with just as a normal 10k. Final time was around 1h 54 which was the fastest I have run since I was 25 (15 years ago). My last half was in Jakarta and was 2h 12 - it just showed how much the heat and humidity can affect you - also that hilly courses are not necessarily slower than flat courses. Another major difference was having a watch that gave me split times for each km - made it so much easier to plan the run. It was properly different to running in Asia where I find myself overtaking loads of people later on in the race. This had some serious runners involved, one thing I noticed was how many crazily fit older people were running (and beating me by a long way), was a real eye-opener for how much improvement is still possible. Most pleasing thing though was that after 15/16km I didn't feel at all out of breath and very comfortable - a good omen as training continues for my first marathon on 30th November.

Has anybody played Undertale? I am probably 2 hours into it and still can't work out if I am enjoying it or not.

Horizon Chase is great fun, I picked it up for the Switch a month back. It's properly fast and has a great old-school look.

Did he not get the present he wanted?

Having not watched one episode of Game of Thrones, I decided to start the books. Holy shit, just finished the first one and it is incredible - got the next two lined up for my summer reading.

Has anybody got any recommendations for a running watch that I could listen to music and podcasts with? Was looking at the Garmin Vivoactive 3 music. Also in the market for some Bluetooth headphones. The pure wireless ones look a bit expensive to me, I don't mind the wire around the back of my neck - the biggest thing is how solid the headphones are in my ear - can't stand having to adjust them. Any recommendations welcome.

I bought a couple of games on the sale last week. Rayman Legends - I had seen my son play it on the PS4 and it is superb, so many different levels and properly challenging, was only £11 as well. Also got Mario vs Rabbids, had no idea what to expect from this but it is pretty good for a quick play. Turn-based combat game which is more strategic than I imagined.

Well, it was a comedy club...

If you have breakfast at the hotels then we usually scab a lunch/snacks out of that as well - then again, cheese, bread and croissants do my kids!! Drinks are more expensive in Ubud - should be plenty of decent happy hours in both places. We found food quite cheap in Ubud but will be a bit more in Seminyak. To give you an idea - our meal for 2 at Ibu Susu in Ubud (probably one step down from the Michelin ones that are there), including 6 cocktails was about 1.3m IDR - roughly £70. If you are drinking wine then prices significantly rise, local beer is much cheaper - I would stay away from Bintang but that is cos it kills my stomach, Bali Hai is alright but Stark Wheat beer (brewed in Bali) is very good - a big bottle of local beer will be about £3.50. If you are eating street food or in local places then the cost significantly decreases - you could eat really well for £20 ish. I would reckon £750 might be a bit tight if you want to do any activities plus cars to from resorts/airport. I have lived in Indonesia for 6 years now so if you have any more questions then feel free to PM.

LA Noire was dreadful full stop!

Just back from John Wick 3 - didn't think it was as good as the last one but still very entertaining. Properly violent from the very beginning - so many arms breaking all over the place and that book... Over the aisle there was a 15-month-old girl there with her folks...still, she had headphones on so it wasn't too loud for her...

Just binged How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast) - pretty good, it's German with subtitles, only 6 episodes. The name kinda explains it all, teens start selling MDMA online.

I ran a club in Edinburgh for about 5 years - anybody who waved a note over the bar or paid in coins placed on a wet bar (that I had to pick up) - tells you a lot about them!

If a person I don't know all that well is rude to a waiter/waitress/taxi driver etc - that is my mind absolutely made up about them - no way back.

Just back from 10 days in Bali - it's only a hop over the water from Jakarta. This time we did 5 nights in Ubud and 5 in Nusa Dua. We have quite small kids so we like the Marriott at Nusa Dua and especially their kids club - probably one of the nicer beaches in Bali as well. The food in Ubud is fantastic, highly recommend Ibu Susu - excellent cocktails and their twist on Indo food was very impressive - got to try the Beef Rendang. Also, cocktails at the Night Rooster is a must do. I honestly wouldn't bother with the Monkey Temple, unless you really like monkeys - little wankers who try to steal all your stuff. It's worth seeing a fire show for the spectacle, there are loads of them around. The whole place is now very touristy but if you can find a decent guy with a car then it is worth getting out for a half day to see the rice paddies, etc. I like the south as well. It is full of Aussies but if you stay down near double 6 beach in Seminyak then there are loads of cool restaurants and bars. If you want it a bit quieter then Canggu is nice and Sanur is alright as well. Put the Bluebird and GoJek app on your phone when you get there - the best way to get taxis without attempted rip-offs. We got a pick up through the Mozio app from Bali airport and transport to Ubud for $25 - this included the meet and greet - was well worth it.

Not me!! But I do remember a lot of folk in my year would support Rangers and occasionally go to Saints games as well.

Just noticed there is a Stonehaven half at the start of July. Will be back in Scotland on the 4th so will give that one a go. Will be nice to run when it isn't 34C!

I use the Runkeeper app but you have to pay to access the full fitness plan. Adidas have just released Runtastic and you can get a free 7 day trial with that.

No going back now...

Money Heist was superb but can't be watched it in the dubbed English rather than the original Spanish with subtitles. It was recommended to me and I watched the dubbed version for 10 minutes and hated it. I watched it over 2 seasons with about 8/10 episodes in each - just seen that they call each season a part.

What's it called? We went to see the Broadway show last summer and it was absolutely brilliant - the soundtrack is probably my most listened to album on Spotify (it gets both kids in the bath and singing along)!!

Football season has just ended over here. Played 4 x 90 minutes in the past two weeks and was getting ready to seriously start increasing my running...then I get a shitty cold. Do people keep going with their runs with a cold or just rest until it has gone? Surprised to hear anybody thinks it isn't much of a difference going from 5:30 to 5 mins/km - for me, that would be a big difference - it has taken me 3 months to get my 8km time from 5min/km to 4:40 - and that time was a proper battle.

I have had mine about two months now and really like it. The operating system takes a bit of getting used to but I genuinely can't tell the difference in performance between this and the S7 Edge I had before. My wife has the iPhone 8 and I prefer the Pocophone - considering I got it for under £250 it's a total bargain.