gkinbkk

From the SMH:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/the-most-important-dead-rubber-of-the-year-20101028-175tm.html

I would be very surprised if any of the NH teams trouble the SH teams in the Autumn tests. All 3 SH teams are playing very complete 15 player style games where the fowards are supplying the backs with clean ball and giving them the space to run opening up the middle channels. Things have become a bit tighter out wide though which is why the old experienced heads like Rocks are still being called up, workhorses that might have lost a bit of pace but are solid in defence. Ironically I think a player like Tuqiri would fare better in that style of game rather than the game the SH was playing a couple of years back which was all about throwing the ball around like they were playing sevens.

To me the NH teams are still playing the game in the forwards and will struggle to maintain the pace of the SH teams snd they are still using big guys like Sheridan who arent very mobile.....

A friendly between two foreign sides doesn't seem like a big event to me - in fact, fairly trivial compared to the Five Nations or the HK Sevens...

SC

Yep sorry I hate to disagree with you but this is a HUGE game regardless of the fact that it has no influence on the outcome of the Bledisloe Cup. The HK sevens is fun but you simply cannot compare it to this game. The world record for most consecutive tests won goes on the line on Saturday, can the Wallabies stop the All Blacks getting the record? SBW...I"m sure he will get a run on Sat and every single student of world rugby will be keenly watching this. Most importantly, at this point in time, these 2 teams are the best in the world going in to a world cup year and these guys are playing for places in what will shortly be the world cup squads for each country.

Not a big event.

Semantics but 1. There are no friendlies in rugby, every game is a test match and 2. Its been a long time since it was the 5 nations AND to the best of my knowledge there are no 6 nations games being played in Asia? (this game is meant to promote rugby in ASIA) Was it Scotland that won the last 5 nations before it turned into 6 nations?

I'm curious to know if you think the game between the All Blacks and England the following weekend to a packed Twickenham is also not a big event, after all its only a 'friendly' as you describe it!

I'll be at the pub watching, hopefully, some great open rugby played in the same spirit of the games played earlier in the year....you'll be at home watching what on the internet? Magners League minus all the rep players?

The donut shop next to KK has been giving away the merch as of late.......

@Onnut

was just thinking that the other day as I had Iron Mike around for an impromptu BBQ. We were supposed to go out but he said 'no no my shout at Villa so who was I to refuse?'

Will do it soon, problem is I havent had a full weekend in BKK for about 5 weeks now dammit

Fantastic, got the mail.

This was not just a Thailand problem but, up until this afternoon, there was NOWHERE in Asia able to screen possibly the biggest event on the Asian rugby calendar!...madness.

I'm not holding out much hope of seeing the Northern hemisphere games in the following weeks.

Traders hotel is the ShangriLa's budget chain...good value for the location, you can walk to Orchard.

Drinking:

1. Clarke Quay is the 'in' place at the moment...everything from Clubs to Blues Bars....a good one stop going out destination with more options that you can safely deal with in one night but cripplingly expensive (1 pint of Heineken was $18 when I went, it may have gone up)

2. If you like a pub atmosphere then Muddy Murphys in the basement of the orchard hotel is ok on a Friday night or Sunday afternoon (with bands) - 1 pint $14

3. Vietnamese hookers galore at Orchard Towers in Orchard Road, the country and western bar is a decent place to pull up a stool and people watch- 1 Jack and Coke $18+

4. Holland Village - Harrys/Wala Wala/Tangos/Baden Baden - all have happy hours where its either one for one OR discounted before 8or9pm depending on the bar after happy hour is done then you are paying an average $15 a drink

5. Tuesdays The Old Brown Shoe in Bukit Timah Rd has pints for $9 all night..... supposed to be an English pub but seems a bit confused about what it is, ordinary fish and chips and a Basil Faulty style grumpy old landlord....interesting though as the tourists would never be in there

Loads of options, without knowing what you are looking for its hard to tell you where to go.......drinking is horribly expensive, if you dont have a big budget then you are better off drinking a beer at a hawker centre. Chomp Chomp in Serrangoon Gardens is fantastic and the standard by which all other hawker centres are judged, give Newton and Lau Pa Sat a miss.

I wouldnt stay anywhere in either Geylang or Balestier....all hotels are short time joints

Have Fun!

BTW the Sausage Rolls are fantastic!

Not listed on Australia Network at this point.......The Office bar has a PNG satellite box so there's a good chance they will have it on.....

Oops - wrong thread?

Was referring to the AB's v Wallabies game this saturday. Australia Network is still not listing it as being shown and if thats the case then our only hope of seeing it is via some other satellite service, maybe the PNG satellite or maybe via Astro.

It really is not looking good for rugby on TV next year...........

I am liking the Sausages so far. Delivery was cheap enough and overnight to Bangkok packed in dry ice, everything arrived just fine.

I am still getting to the bacon and sausage rolls I ordered so cannot comment. Pies are incredible value for what they are, ordered Steak and Onion but for my taste a little too much onion. A plain steak pie on the menu or steak and cheese would keep me ordering (hint hint Rob) or maybe I'll try the steak and potato pie next time.

All in all pretty good, better than you'll find locally in Villa market and cheaper too which when you order a few things balances out the cost of freight.

Not listed on Australia Network at this point.......The Office bar has a PNG satellite box so there's a good chance they will have it on.....

Had dinner at LemonGrass last week. The food is way above the normal Thai fare you find on Sukhumvit but the service is ordinary.....

What has finally satisfied me is the bit-torrent site, Pirate Bay. The shows are posted immediately after they are run in US, and I download for free all the time my computer is on in the background. I currently enjoy Boardwalk Empire, CSI Miami, Hi 5-0, Chase, Mike and Molly, Glee, Undercovers, Modern Family, Nikita, 30 Rock, My Dad Says. Last night I watched the UFC Lesner fight. Also, new US movies get posted before long, first on cam versions, then DVD. After a while here, my yearning for US news shows has faded. I get all I need of that from looking over CNN online.

Exactly what this poster says. I do the same but use a Hotfile account at 10 bucks a month. Download any show/movie I need and stream it to a plasma in the bedroom via WDTV Live in HD and to the LED in the lounge via a PS3.

Aside from Premier League Live Football and Thai TV it makes True fully redundant.

Planning to go up to Ubon through Korat tomorrow. should I give it a miss? How much water is there? Will I find the bypass road easy enough?

I use my iPhone 4 plugged in to my car stereo to listen to just about any station I want via WunderRadio ....... it works and I listen to Oz talkback all the way to work in the morning

I'm on True 3G and it works a treat

He talks about them being in TOPS on his website.....any spots in BKK that anyone is aware of?

I notice the Bunters domain expired on Oct 4th and has not been renewed. I know the poor bloke passed away but I understood his family were going to continue?

Is it open or not?

If its gone then where is everyone buying their wholesale BBQ meat?

No idea about Cycling but for your 2000b a month you get exactly zero Rugby Union coverage.....pretty good eh?

Actually Rugby Union coverage is complicated and its not entirely the fault of True Visions.

There was a time when Star Sport carried all the rugby which of course meant that it was available on True. Then the rugby gods negotiated alternative TV rights deals meaning rugby was carved up amongst a bunch of players excluding ESPN Star but including Australia Network which, for some reason known only to themselves, True has never carried despite that fact that it is free to them compliments of the Australian government. Also for some explicable reason the 6 nations went to Setanta, a mob who are well known for going broke leaving thousands of paying subscribers without the coverage they paid for.

Anyway, cut to present day and as of the end of this year Setanta owns the rights to everything from 2011, 6 nations, tri nations, super15, Magners, Currie Cup, Air NZ...everything. Hate to say it but I'm guessing the World Cup belongs to this deal as well.

Setanta claims to be launching a sports channel into Asia with all this rugby that it will sell on to the local cable companies. They will also have an internet subscription service that you will be able to purchase. Chances of True purchasing this channel? What do you think?

Gets even more complicated as I cannot see Astro from Malaysia getting it either and up until now, with the African satellite gone, Astro has been the backdoor method of getting some of this content into Thailand for the pubs.

I hope not but at this point we are looking seriously screwed from next year unless you like the idea of watching big games on your computer at home......

The Office is the best sports bar in BKK by a country mile, possibly the best sports bar in Asia.

The beer is ultra cold, the waitresses are dam_n fine, I can have a cigarette at the bar AND watch just about any sport in the world LIVE.

The upstairs room has been a lifesaver during NRL finals this year as they have the PNG satellite in there when no one else does. Theres even a volume control on the wall if you want the commentary louder!

We are going to cancel our True subscription in the next few days. There's no other description for it other than complete <deleted> AND expensive to boot. We are cable only here in downtown BKK so cannot do the same as my colleagues and pay 300b a month but get all the channels anyway (even at 300b a month the value is questionable)

Our alternative is to get Charoen or Happy cable for 250b a month to cover the Thai channels and Australia Network then stream the rest to various media players throughout the house from the internet in full HD.

For any live sports I can watch on the internet or pop down to a bar and watch it.

I saw him in Bangkok last night, walking into Silom Soi 4.

Some one yelled out JIMMY and he turned around and dished them up a right expletive laden serve.

Had my Les Paul on me and wanted to go after him and ask him to sign it but decided against it given that he obviously wanted his privacy.......

Going by the online prices, Singapore and HK have the cheapest iPhone4's in the world. However I am yet to meet anyone thats actually been able to buy one off the apple store. Its been stating a 3 week wait for much longer than 3 weeks!

I am unable to get it very occasionally on my DTAC E sim but my True connection at home has never given me a problem. I just logged out, cleared my cache and tried again...no problems.

Most of the Fox channels are in HD now for asia, and I think even AXN is.

Yep AXN, FX, Fox, Fox Crime, Star World and many more, in Asia, in full 1080p plus most sports are in HD too now, not just premier league.

Beggars belief how they can charge so much for a crap service. I just got a WD TV Live media player for less than 2 months of what I pay True and if it weren't for Thai Channels, Premier League and the kids channels they would be coming to pick up their crap equipment.......

I'm on True for the house and DTAC on iPad.....has not been blocked for me at all on nay service

Before I bought my iPad a few months back I also reasoned that the wifi only model would be enough. For some reason I bought the 3G/Wifi model and have never looked back. Micro Sim from DTAC, has its moments like any internet service in TH but for the most part is pretty reliable.

When I travel, which I do fairly regularly, I can get prepaid microsims in other countries and get real 3G. Even for a couple of days on business to Singapore I no longer take my laptop.

My advice would be buy the 3G model but 64GB is unecessary given that you are synching content fairly regularly anyway. I dont think I've been over 20GB yet so could have saved a few dollars on buying the 3G/32GB version.