Beer pong is a game that is thought to have started in the Dartmouth College fraternities in the early 1960’s and was played with ping pong paddles. The evolution of the game is somewhat unclear, but in the 1980’s the name ‘beer pong’ (sometimes known as ‘Beirut’) was adapted, and is now the official name of the ‘sport’.

Materials needed to play beer pong:

• Rectangular shaped table
• Plastic cups
• Ping-pong balls
• Beer (lots!)

6 to 10 cups are placed at each end of the table in a ‘bowling pin’ formation. Each team consists of 2 – 4 players.  Each team takes turns trying to throw a ping-pong ball into one of the other teams cups. If this is accomplished, the opposing team member has to drink the cup of beer.  The first side to eliminate all of the opposing teams cups is the winner. The exact rules are unclear and are typically set by the ‘house’.

As the sport became more and more popular, beer pong tables evolved from ‘using the kitchen table’ to a highly profitable business.  You can now get a basic beer pong table for around $40.00, or (if you have the funds), you can get a really outstanding table for up to $700.00. The tables are available in many styles, folding, lighted, neon, floating, with NFL team or college team emblazoned on the tables, with skulls, marijuana leaves – too many options to name! As you can imagine, beer pong is a messy ‘sport’, so all tables are made from material that is easy to clean. TIP: If you are playing at home, place a plastic tarp under the table to minimize clean up.

You may wonder why I continue to refer to this game as a sport.  Beer pong has become extremely popular – to the point that there are leagues and tournaments.  Participation in a league or tournament usually requires that you turn in your car keys prior to starting the tournament.  The keys will not be available to you until the next day. Various means of transportation will be provided so that you can get home.

Umeda has a laboured new addition to its family.

Open every day except Tuesday and Wednesday from 11am to 7pm.

There are also special events and other stuff like Japanese or English cafe chat and classes.

Check out their website for more details.

I found a great solution that is inexpensive and very convenient – 3g internet access with a usb modem and global sim card.

If you want worldwide internet access with your phone or laptop, and get cheap international phone calls at the same time, on a pay as you go or prepaid contract then the answer lies with Telestial.com

They have a great and cheap voice and data sim card you can simply plug into your mobile phone and roam around the globe (over 170 countries are covered!).

If you want to take your netbook or laptop and really can’t stand the idea of potentially having your data stolen at an internet cafe because of virus infected machines, as well as avoiding the lines and getting the convenience of internet access anytime anywhere (just like at home) then a 3g usb modem and global sim is your answer.

Simply plug in the sim to the modem, plug the modem into your pc and it auto installs all the software to get you online anywhere in the countries supported (via 3g or slower gprs). Telestial sells the 3g modem (a fancy Huawei E156G USB Modem with great technical specs and auto installing software – just plug and play!)

Then pay as you go surf (rates vary per network in each country) and top up your sim online. Simple, cheap and very convenient.

There are three general sims and a whole host of other options for local voice and data access in many different countries.

Recommended are passport lite for global phone and internet access ($5 initial fee and $5 included = FREE!)

Passport Plus global roaming sim for voice and data ($29 with $10 airtime included and cheaper calls)

Explorer voice and data sim Top of the range with all the benefits

You can also buy global roaming GSM cell phones and even IRIDIUM sat phones if you’re going somewhere special.