2015-03-12: Last Kendo & Cooking Confusion pt. III

Bright even by Polish standards

I bought and cooked steak, eye fillet, medium rare. The colour of the meat caused confusion. Beef is not white like pork. I think I shall desist from causing Ewa's Dad to worry about what the hell will be put in front of him when he gets home each day. Eye fillet here cost the same value price as in Australia (i.e. on the order of AU$35/Kg). That makes it about 3 times more expensive than pork or chicken.

"Do not smoke" on an ashtray. Those wacky Germans.

The steak was to give me energy for Kendo. Kendo and Naginata have a delightful tradition where on special occasions you get to fight everyone in the club one after the other.

Psyching up

"Leaving the club" counts as a special occasion. I tried to point out that I will be back so it wasn't that much of a big deal and we could probably skip any special festivities. I was told nothing could be further from the truth.

Cleaning Up

Warming Up

Frogging Up

Oh this is just getting silly

Fortunately Białystok is a small club and a couple of guys couldn't make training so my special gift was not a test to destruction. Kamil assures me he is trying to increase the membership. If he succeeds and I return I may not be able to face leaving and will stay in Białystok forever. Or sneak out in the middle of the night like a common horse thief.

Walking Practice

Getting hit in the head practice

Finally we get to fight a little

I don't think I embarrassed myself

I survived the training, remembered to shake hands with everyone and ran away with only minor aches and pains. Great little club and a great bunch of guys.

Food & Beverage Review: Pan Tadeusz (Mr Thad)

Slightly sweet "traditional" flavour. Herbal with a caramel base flavour. This is the brown one. Clear vodkas are frowned on around here generally.

Poetry references make it classy

I like this one a lot, not sure why I don't buy it more often. It is named after a famous poem which is considered the "National Epic" of Poland. The poem starts off by saying how great Lithuania is. So it makes sense to name a vodka after it.

Rating: 9/10 (even without aches and pains)