The Tall Ship

The conference dinner was hosted on board the tall ship
I rather expected The tall ship to be taller but alas..

the pre-dinner drinks; apparently, only one glass of champagne was allowed per person
but i looked innocent enough that i got away with three
not for me of course, but the guys in our group
:D

the old engine room.. it immediately made me think of the titanic

we started with some wine and bread; no bread in the pic cos i was too hungry!
i finished my share and the waiter gave me another one
hiakz

in between, we chatted and monkey-ed around
here's a very camera shy dr tim spencer in a Captain Jack's 'costume'
he's been my conference buddy since the last time we met in Stoke

we had dinner by cadlelight; would have been romantic if not for the context
:[
luckily for me, three at my table were old acquaintances and the others were friendly enough

main course was chicken breast wrapped in proscuitto (fancy name for bacon)

desert: lemon and tangerine tart

then came the scottish folk dancing; i didn't
i figured that the combination of 5 hour nights and wine was way too risky

this live band was teaching the steps.. along with the names of the dances

it did look (and feel) like great fun though
unfortunately, i hadn't mastered the camera at that point

somehow, everyone who didn't want to dance congregated at our table
i'm learning to "network" at conferences.. i think just being smiley helps
this time, i met a very endearing german professor
:)

as the number of people increased, so did the number of "stolen" bottles
each table's just allowed 3 max..
but..
at last count, there were 12 at our table!!

it was nice to actually be able to see something of the city on a work trip
when i was going to Bkk every 3 weeks, i used to just shuttle between hotel and hospitals
the furthest i ever got was Siam Paragon (which has good jap food)
so..
kudos to the organisers for making sure we at least got some "local experience"