Sydney Board Games Dinner

Well, what a fine dining experience with great company we had last night. It was the Sydney Board Games annual dinner and as usual our President Wayne or 'El Prez' as we know him made it a night to remember.

We started off with a few drinks at the bar and then made our way to our seats in the air-conditioned comfort of Stapletons Restaurant in Sutherland. Our waitress made us comfortable with a dribble catcher on our laps and then we were served some delicious bread as a starter. There was much conversaiton around everyone's holidays and the Christmas celebrations to come. Harro had our appetites going with the news he ate a Grasshopper in Thailand....apparently deep fried grasshoppper is quite a nutty flavoured delicacy.

It was nice to see Gary back after his overseas adventure and he is ready to join the group again next year. It was also great to see partners of the players joining in our celebration. Big thanks to my other half Grahame for coming along even though his work comitments meant he had to get up at 3am.

Entrees came out and I filled up my glass and drank through it. There were many oysters and calamari dishes but no lambs brains?

Main course was delicious as usual thanks to our chef Leo (seen in group picture above). Many of us indulged in his great steaks and ribs but probably not enough 'spuds' I heard from one. I enjoyed the Eye Fillet steak with Bearnaise Sauce......I definately recommend it.

When our tummy's were full we went onto trivia and trophy presentations which is always a great time of the evening. The trophy standings were:

1st - Rob Askew (seen pictured above)

2nd - Rob Harris

3rd - Leonie Shephard

Wooden Spoon - Gill Grey

Aub's wife explained how she would make a great curry with that wooden spoon making us all laugh. This year they were great trophies too, well picked out El Prez!

The trivia certainly had a few tricky questions this year. None of us knew the New Zealand flag had 4 stars on it, most of us said 6. I was also intersted to learn Clint Eastwood's real first name is actually Clint. Well done Rob Askew and Gill for getting 17 out of 20 in the trivia, can that Rob lose anything?

Rob Askew's wife Christine showed up after her Christmas Terminal do so it was great to see she made the effort to come along and see Rob get his trophy

Whoever the winners and losers are we know we always have great laughs when we get together. A big thank you to El Prez for putting it all together and our money man Rob Askew. Thank you everyone for making it a great year and after last night I can safely say I will be back again next year for some more good clean gamey fun as long as I can get a lift to peoples houses...anyone?

I must also say my year has had it's fair share of ups and downs, I have been able to count on the Games Association to give me plenty of giggles throughout the year. When that Monday night comes around and we all get together, we all seem to forget our problems for the night and enjoy each others company. El Prez introduced some great 'homemade' games to us this year and we are looking forward to some new ones early next year.

I woke up at 5:30am this morning and it felt like I had been hit in the head by several passenger trains. Damn that cheap red wine. Work is a little bit ouchy today.

Thanks again everyone for last night and a sad 'Good bye' to Leonie as she ventures on her overseas trip next year.......good luck and I hope you come back to us safely.