Stag, Wedding and Honeymoon....

I have played like 6k hands this month which is pretty laughable :)  I have a legit reason though, I was busy getting married so took some time out..!!

It all started with my Stag in London. A few of us hit Laser Wars at a place called Bunker 51. After that we hit the town via the Partybus which is basically a nightclub on wheels that takes you to 5 other clubs along the way. This is the Stag night crew:

It was then the big day and I married my other half of 4 and a half years, Claire. This is us during the picture shoot just after the vows:

A couple of days later we flew out to the luxury 5* Azul Sensatori Resort which is in Mexico just 20 minutes south of Cancun. This is the place:

So, I'm back now to hit the tables again and chase that 200k VPP mielstone which is going to be tough as I need to get hands in everyday while working full time and trying to have a social life.!!

See you on the tables.

Rosh

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Center Parcs Elveden Forest Review / Trip Report

I got back on Friday after spending 4 nights at Center Parcs Elveden Forest in Suffolk. It was my first visit to one of these places.

The journey from north west London was not too bad at around 90 minutes by car.

For those who don't know Center Parcs is a sports and activity village. There are 26 villages around Europe.

The villages have villas, lodges, bungalows and hotel accommodation for guests. We stayed in the the hotel as the smaller lodges were booked up.

The map of the village can be seen here:

As you can see it is quite a large place. It is advisable to hire or bring your own bikes to get around. We decided to hire bikes for £25 each for the length of our stay which was decent value. We picked up these 2 mountain bikes:

The hotel was nothing amazing, I would say it was around a 3 star for the room. There was a pretty cool revolving restaurant on the top floor which served a good breakfast albeit slightly expensive.

Here is our room:

We had a little friend visit us too:

In the middle of the village is an area with shops and restaurants. The best place to eat was probably Hucks American Diner which served up some tasty burgers and fajitas. Bella Italia was also good as well as Cafe Rouge. The worst place was the Indian Rajinda Pradesh which had extremely poor service and the main course was awful. 

Meal at Hucks

Also in the central part is the Sports Plaza and Subtropical Paradise. We spent a lot of our time here. You have in this area:

Badminton

Tennis

Ten Pin Bowling

Snooker/ Pool

Bar

Nightclub

Arcade

Las Vegas Style Gambling Machines

Various Swimming Pools

Water slides

Tropical Cyclone Ride

All in all it was a really enjoyable trip and I can recommend it to anyone who wants a short break in the UK. 

My favourite part of the trip was riding the Segway Scooters:

I got a little footage too, was hard to film while riding:

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Roman Baths (In Bath)

Location In The UK

The Roman Baths are historical site in the English city of Bath. The location is visible in the map here:

The baths are below street level and the buildings are above. The main parts of the site are: the Sacred Spring, Roman Temple, Bath House and Museum.

More than 1 million people visit the attraction each year and I was there recently for a day out.

Rain water falls on the nearby Mendip Hills, it percolates down through limestone aquifers to a depth between 2,700 metres and 4,300 metres where geothermal energy raises the water temperature to between 64°C and 96°C. With pressure the heated water rises back to the surface along faults in the limestone. 

I drank some of this warm water. It tasted pretty normal. It is completely safe to drink at the spa water bore-hole which was sunk in 1983 in the Pump Room. Mrs Rosh refused to drink the water.

Here are some pics from the day:

From the site you can also see Bath Abbey:

In The Museum:

On route to the site I briefly stopped off to see Stonehenge:

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Off To See The Druids

I'm going to be spending some time in the Cotswolds. I will be leaving shortly.

The trip starts off with Stonehenge where there may be some modern day druids hanging around.

We then drive to Bath where we will be staying while we explore the Cotswolds....

Nice to get away from the Felt......

Back in May..!!

Top 10 Countries / Travel Destinations for 2013

The Lonely Planet 'Best in Travel 2013' guide has just been released on their website and it is interesting reading. They list what they think will be the best places to go to in 2013.

Here is the list:

1. Sri Lanka 

The country of my ancestors. My folks were born here and it is now really on the map after the positive developments over the last few years.

Almost 4yrs after the end of the 30 year civil the country has really opened up. New developments in infrastructure and hotel complex's are really starting to attract tourists.

The climate is awesome at around 28C all year round with some amazing beaches.

Prices are very reasonable to get to SL and also while you are in the country.

Being a Buddhist nation the culture and atmosphere is very friendly and welcoming.

There are numerous excursions to be had like safari, jungle treks, mountain climbing, shopping, temple visits with a good night life with many bars and casinos to visit.

Sri Lanka is one of the planet's best value destinations.

2. Montenegro 

If you are into biking and hiking then Montenegro is an emerging travel destination.

There are lots of nice beaches to see along the Riviera.

Like Sri Lanka they have also had lots of new infrastructure and developments in recent times.

Places of note include the Bay of Kotor.

3. South Korea 

While you have the bright lights and the big city in South Korea the country is developing as a real outdoor recreation destination.

There is a lot of golfing, hiking and fishing to be done.

It is forecast to really burst into the world scene in the coming years as it hosts a series of various sporting events.

4. Ecuador 

5. Slovakia 

6. Solomon Islands

7. Iceland 

8. Turkey 

9. Dominican Republic 

10. Madagascar 

3 Day Staycation in Northwood

I'm off for a 3-4 Day Staycation in Northwood so no pokers for a while.....

-25 Degrees °C in 5hrs

I am now back from Tenerife after a relaxing holiday. I stayed in a pretty cool 5* resort. It was a nice 23°C on the beach in this photo.

Then as we landed in England about 5hrs after leaving the island we were faced with this when we went to get our car from the long stay car park. A -2°C snowed under welcome back to the UK.

Just finished my first session in Feb for a nice $11 profit.  : )

The resort we stayed in is called Gran Melia Palacio Sensatori Tenerife

Here is a short clip of the centre plaza:

Paris Trip and Aftermath

On December 1st my girlfriend and I went to Paris for 2 days and 1 night via the Eurostar High Speed Train. This was the first time I had visited Paris and also France, so I was pretty excited.

Unfortunately it was also bang in the middle of the Big Freeze. A town in the UK had hit -20c during the week and Paris was also sub-zero. I hate the cold.!!

I wrapped up warm and we managed to see many sites including:

1. Eiffel Tower

2. Arc de Triomphe

3. Champs Elysees

4. Place de la Concorde

5. The Big Wheel

6. Moulin Rouge

7. Lovure Art Gallery

8. Notre Dame

plus more....

As u can see from the pic I managed to touch the top of la tour Eiffel.

All our site seeing was in -2c of cold and constant light snow. The weather also played havoc with our Eurostar Train which took 8hrs instead of 2.5hrs to get us back to London... Raaarrrr. They have offered us a free return ticket and refunds of taxi fares as compensation. All in all a memorable trip though. Have to go again during a summer break.

Since I got back I immediately came down with the man flu and have been unable play any serious volume on the felt. Only today I am starting to feel better but still only 85%. Hopefully tomorrow I should be close to 100%.

I have now moved back up to NL100 and just trolling the lobby shows a completely different picture to NL50.... less fish, less average players, more above average players, more solid pros and more 'Red Ringed' Elite pros.... All in all a tougher playing field.

I have played terrible too and am so far down around -$350 in less than 5000 hands. Hope I can turn that around before Mid Month. I did say that I would have an easy month before I start an SNE chase in Jan. So this month i will just target a $1,500 bonus + Break Even on the tables.

There is a lot of talk about legislation soon to hit the U.S that will affect poker, maybe within the month. This could completely change my goals for next year. Will just have to wait n see.