Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with fun

How would you make the most of 3.5 days in Patong, Phuket?

gttommy — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:19:07 -0800

How would you make the most of 3.5 days in Patong, Phuket? From what I read there is so many things to do at relatively affordable prices in Patong (scuba diving, bungee jumping, quad biking, horse polo, shooting, kickboxing, island tours, massages, etc, etc!). I would like some recommendations as to which place to go, where to go, when to go, and in what sequence, for 3.5 days.

Who: 4 male adults
Interests: food, outdoors, socialising, nightlife

What would you do?

Many many thanks!

Cheap fun activities to do in Malden, MA (Boston) this week

bbyboi — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:05:03 -0800

I am traveling to Boston (Malden, MA - to be precise) this week and will be there for a about 2 1/2 days. What would be fun but not too expensive activities for two people (1guy/1girl) without a car in this weather? I have read many of the previous posts on Boston travel on askme but I will be in Malden instead of Boston and wouldn't have a car and am dependent on public transportation. I'm looking for activities I could do where we don't have to travel too far away as I don't know how it would be traveling via public transportation if it snows most of the time.

After going through the previous threads, I have thought of museums, watching some movie, ice skating, visiting the mall, any Christmas related event, duck tour?, etc am open to anything which sounds like fun and specific things as recommended by the hivemind.

(I might be able to book a zipcar for a few hours though but not for too long. No animal related activities please.)

Thanks!

What is this cryptic Text Message?

MattMangels — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:17:44 -0800

"You Hosting Tonight? Got some of the best Faves ever" What could this possibly mean? My friend got this text message from a wrong number, and we were all stumped as to what on earth it could possibly mean. Could you help me out, Hivemind? I'm just very curious about this; it sounds really funny out of context. For the record, it was received at 1am today (Sunday) from a number in our area code.

Help me give my husband a 40th birthday he'll never forget

geekgirl397 — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:05:02 -0800

Good "experience" gift for my geek husband's 40th birthday? My husband turns 40 in a few days. We already have too much "stuff" and he's not very materialistic in any case. We're both geeky techies, and he loves music. Last year I bought him a great guitar, and he's already taking guitar and voice classes.

I want to buy him a great "experience" that he wouldn't treat himself to and that will be special and memorable.

We don't have any kids and we do go out fairly often - although I'm not a night owl so it tends to be quiet restaurant meals etc. We already have a 3 week trip planned over the holidays, but that is to visit my family in England.

I'm thinking something involving vehicles and speed - he likes to drive, but we live in Chicago and don't travel much by car (and have a small city car in any case). He did some flying in his youth - in another life, if he had had better vision he would like to have been a fighter pilot. He's a slightly reformed risk-taker, and I'd like to give him a taste of his reckless youth in relative safety.

One thing I thought of was maybe a session in a race car at a track .. I've done some searching on this and found some packages sold at the Chicago Speedway but I don't know how good they really are and it quickly gets very expensive.

My budget's a bit flexible but ideally I'd spend less than $1000 - but if I were to go more than $200 or $300 I'd want to be sure it was really worth it.

His birthday's coming up in just a few days, but as long as I have the gift planned I don't think it's important that he "redeem" it before then or before our UK trip.

All thoughts and ideas welcome!

RDRR. Get it?

bondcliff — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:14:36 -0800

What are some cool math and number facts that would blow the mind of a seven year old? Yesterday at the dinner table my son says "Hey dad, did you know 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321?"*

He thought this was awesome. I've previously told him the trick about multiplying by 9 (2x9 = 18, 1+8=9, 3x9=27, 2+7=9 and so on up the times table) and a couple of other fun facts.

I'd like to present him with some other neat numerical properties and math facts. He'd need to be able to grasp the concept, so something like the non-palindromic properties of 196 might be a bit beyond him. He's in (the equivalent of) 2nd grade at a Montessori school and math is his favorite subject. He's currently doing 2-digit division and he's pretty much mastered multiplication. I'm not afraid to go a bit beyond what he's learning but I don't want to go too far beyond it.

What can you tell him about other interesting numbers and how to get to those numbers?

Calculator tricks might be fun as well. I'm sure if I teach him the S8008 trick he'll be the King of the Playground. Also tricks that require props such as playing cards, Legos, or anything else are welcome, as long as they demonstrate the type of thing I'm looking for.

I'll take book suggestions as well. Christmas is coming...

*interestingly, the first Google hit for 12345678987654321 is a MeFi thread.

thanksgiving minus turkey plus nyc

mustcatchmooseandsquirrel — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:01:40 -0800

Will be in NYC for Thanksgiving: Will things be open? Anything cool going on? My mother and I are not too into the rituals of Thanksgiving. This year we're ditching the family dinners and, instead, meeting in New York City to take advantage of the city, our vacation time, and seeing each other (it's been about 6 months since we last hung out). We'll be there from Wednesday-Saturday.

We have specific thing on our agenda (eating at Momofuku, shopping at Desigual, going to MoMA for free on Friday, experiencing culture shock at Brighton Beach, going to bars with photobooths), but I'm wondering if most places will be open on Thanksgiving Day and/or if there is anything particularly fun happening then.

I'm pretty sure that neither of us is interested in watching the Thanksgiving parade (again, not too into Thanksgiving as a holiday), and this is her first time to NYC. We like art, walking around, food and wine, theatre, and various other funky things (Mom is hipper than I am...). But, neither of us wants to spend too much money, especially since we know that a fun time can be had in NYC without breaking the bank.

What really long lists can I put my name on now to thank myself later?

2legit2quit — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:31:24 -0800

Long Term Planning: I just submitted my name to the Packer season ticket waiting list, which is supposed to be 30 years long. I don't even live in Wisconsin, but life could take me anywhere in 30 years, and I like the feeling of knowing it might be an option one day. Are there any other lists or similar things I should do now? Please no general health or exercising advice.

NYC suggestions?

shearkaty — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:44:25 -0800

My husband and I are visiting NYC just after Christmas for a few days. Where are some interesting, non-touristy places we should go? We'll be staying in Brooklyn. I never visited the city, but Shane has been twice. We love coffee shops, thrift/junk stores, book stores and art.

We also love to eat good food (who doesn't?) Any MUST GO places would be appreciated! (not scared of hole-in-the-wall!)

We're looking to run a little off the beaten path. Also, are broadway tickets worth the cost?

Adios NY- i will miss you

octomato — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:14:08 -0800

Leaving NYC after 3 years. What shouldn't I miss out on these next 2 months. Within the past 3 months my life has quickly changed drastically. I have decided to leave NYC after 3 years of living/working here and move back to my native island. What things should I do/see/eat/drink/experience before I leave. I am not working anymore and have a limited budget, but will splurge a bit if it's worth it. I will be moving back by December 21st.

Thanks!

Meet Iggy Pop and David Bowie (for beers)?

ClanvidHorse — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:13:27 -0800

Give me your recommendations for good bars in Berlin and Hamburg-with a few provisos! We are going to be in Berlin and Hamburg this week and we already have our sightseeing itineraries worked out. We would like to complement this by going to some great bars when we are there. Five people are going.

A few considerations that I hope you can take into account:

-ideally we would like to go to areas that have a concentration of bars/nightlife. A great bar in an isolated area may be great in it's own right, but being in a group, we would like to be in areas where we can bar-hop and move from one place to the next if the current one's not to our taste.

-we would like the bars to be quite lively.

-we like good dive bars, a little bit scuzzy is good.

-we would rather listen to rock music/electro than hard techno.

-we would like to drink nice beer.

-somewhere that sells great food is good.

-hipsterish is both good and bad. If you know a good hipster bar, please tell me, if you know one to avoid, please tell me.

-any other info such as subway stations, best times to visit an area, anything else that you can think of would be most appreciated.

I've been to Berlin before, read a few of the Berlin websites and previous threads but anything you have to add would be great.

Thanks

naughty fun in broad daylight for a couple, possible?

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:28:23 -0800

Give us some ideas to have naughty fun in the day time. I don't know what I mean by naughty. really, I don't know. something risque. something fun. something we didn't do before but possible to do in the broad daylight. I and spouse want to spend entire day together having fun we never had before, while our kid goes off to daycare.
In last 3 years, after birth of our kid, we have not done any outdoor activity as adult/couple. We don't know anyone close enough to take care of our kid. We don't like the idea of having someone babysitting. So last 3 years have been just busy/burdened/not having any fun alone. so this time around, we want to chill out for one day - 9 to 5, without worrying about taking care of our kid.
If we could go out at night, we could go to club and dance. Or try something more risque like visiting a swinging bar. But going out at night is out of question in this case.
So, you all experienced askme users, please put on your creative hats and give us some ideas to make our day exciting, thrilling and fun and naughty too if possible.
The only idea we came up with so far is to go to universal studio. It's fun adult outdoor activity but not risque/naughty at all LOL.. But we are just going to go with this if we can't think of anything else.
I created this throw away account since I'm posting this annonymously - throw_away (at) fastmail (dot) fm
misc. tidbits - It's a weekday. We are taking off from work. We are in LA.
P.S. we love having kid/raising her. we love all the activities we can do along with her e.g. going to disneyland every once in a while. Just being with her, watching her is sheer joy. but we need a break.

Linux fun composer for 8 year old?

Sch01ar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:14:35 -0800

Does anyone know any simple Ubuntu music software for me to have fun composing with my eight year old son? A few years ago there seemed to be lots of simple generative and quasi random music sequencer programmes around (admittedly I'm thinking mac and PC and I've since switched to linux) But now my son is old enough to play and create I can't find anything :(

Browser based ones would be fine, but what I've found seems a bit buggy.

Thanks in advance!

S

Come on over and have all this fun

neca — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:04:05 -0800

Tips for entertaining: I'd like to have more friends over to my apartment, but it's boring in here! It seems like I don't have a lot to do when friends come over except watch a big dumb TV.

I'm looking for ideas such as activities to do (play Celebrity!), but I am really wondering what "hooks" you have to make your place a destination. Classic examples might include a pool table or a poker night, and a more modern example would be a Wii. Along the same lines, Rock Band is great, but another friend has that covered. The less expensive, the better!

For some context, I am a mid-twenties male, and my friends are all around my age.

So I still want to be a rockstar/astronaut when I grow up...

Rocket26 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:48:15 -0800

I'm curious to know about the people out there with fun, interesting, unusual, or quirky jobs. All lines of work considered, as long as it's fun/something you feel excited about doing most days and/or something my high school guidance counselor wouldn't have known about. For example, there's some guys I know who drive around the country, buy up old antique radio and broadcasting gear, and resell overseas. They broker other equipment as well, and they are always on the chase. They're like treasure hunters. It's an unusual job, and it's stressful, but pretty fun at times, and probably something you wouldn't find in the help wanted section. Of course, driving around the country buying people's old crap isn't everyone's idea of fun, so it's all relative. I was brought up with the idea that work should feel like work, but as I'm gettting older, I realize that's BS, work can feel fun and exciting, if not all the time, then some of the time. I'm not as much looking for specific things I should do with my life (although, I'm keeping my eyes and ears open), as just interested in what unusual jobs are out there that people are doing. Or usual jobs that people find fun, just because. (I define fun as other people might describe passion, like you get into the flow, you feel uplifted, you really like doing a lot of the time. You're hooked.)

Bonus points for how you found your job and what you did to get where you are.

The Accidental Docent

The Whelk — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 09:08:37 -0800

On Tuesday I'll be showing a new arrival to New York City around for an hour or so in the late afternoon. He's interested in the city's history, particularly the Bowery/Lower East Side. He has seen all the major tourist stops and I'm completely ignorant of the latest cool/interesting/weird spots downtown and most places have the lifespan of mayflies. Any ideas on how to prepare an awesome, emergency walking tour? A) I'm pretty well versed in the city's history, but not on a "and at this house in Blankity Blank so and so" level. Awesome stories needed so I don't end up waving at Webster Hall and going "And this is where The Masses spoke and -uh- it was important."

B) Cool and/ore interesting buildings, odd public art, and kick-ass murals?

C) Dinner in Soho after this, so staying within walking distance a plus.

New! Improved! Mood-brightening and enlightening!

fiercecupcake — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:21:43 -0800

What are some good, fun, little Internet surprises? More like this, less like Goatse. Little things you can make and send to a stranger/acquaintance/friend/lover/imaginary Internet person. Some things I use for this purpose are someecards.com and the above puri site. I'm always looking for more.

Key features:
* Free or for a nominal fee
* Surprising, inspiring, creative, fun, silly
* Not necessarily romantic

Yes, I can draw something in Paint and attach it to an e-mail, or take a picture and send it to someone, but I'm looking for something a little more unexpected. I feel like I've seen threads like this in AskMe before, but I can't find any of them!

I want to rock the party.

yersinia — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:10:51 -0800

One bachelorette party, ten miscellaneous female guests, one extremely introverted organizer (that's me!). Activities are set, but what little things can I do (or how should I behave) to keep things cohesive and lively, instead of awkward or lame? As maid of honor at my sister's wedding, I'm in charge of running her bachelorette party in a few months' time. The thing is, I'm personally pretty reserved and low-energy. I've never been to one of these things myself, and in general female group socialization of the "SQUEE!"/Sex-and-the-City variety is kind of a mystery to me. Sis is also on the quiet side of average, but she does like parties and I know she'd enjoy having a proper bachelorette experience.

The guests are likely to be a mix of mutually-unacquainted high-school, college, and work friends, ages 25-35, and I haven't seen Sis with any of them, so I have no real sense of the existing social dynamics. We'll likely be doing a pole-dancing class plus dinner, and thanks to this question I'm set with ideas for smaller activities/games.

What I'm worried about are the intangibles of executing this plan, the little details of demeanor and conversation that might help unite everyone into a group and ensure that the energy level stays high. Being a kind of un-fun person myself, I've had plenty of social interactions that bottomed out, energy-wise (as well as some where I ended up having to exhaustedly feign enjoyment for hours at a time), and I'm worried about how the party will fare if I'm the one responsible for getting the evening going.

Normally, just the thought of attending a bachelorette party would fill me with dread and anxiety, but I think I can make it through the hostessing if I have a very clear, explicit plan for how to act/what to say/how to "be"/etc. to keep things lively for everyone. So thinking back to the absolute funnest small party you've ever attended, what qualities and behaviors characterized the host(ess)? And how can I fake being, well, more like that?

Fun in the sun

crewshell — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:04:42 -0800

My buddy and I (25,23) are hitting Kissimmee up today and staying through sunday afternoon. We know we can go to Disney world or Orlando or even a long drive to the beach but does anyone have any really cool fun suggestions for activities for us to get into? We are both crazy busy young professionals and are looking to cut loose and have a good time... we both want to try something new and hey, if we meet a few beautiful girls while doing it, even better!

Any suggestions? We will have a rental car, are open to spending a little cash and pretty adventurous! (on that note I am already considering sky diving)

Inspire us hive mind!

Fun In Richmond, VA?

BadgerKyle — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:56:27 -0800

What is the most popular (not necessarily trendy) area of Richmond, VA in which to stay and party for a couple of nights? I will be coming into town with a few other people (all twenty-somethings) for a conference and we wanted to know the best place to stay (neighborhoods or specific hotels!) so we can walk to some bars and good restaurants and let loose after the conference each day. The conference is at UofR, but from my basic Googlefu, it appears as if the best areas are not going to be too close to the school. That's fine with us, as we will have a car and can drive to the school each day for the conference . . .

But help us HiveMind . . we are definitely going to need to let loose each night!

Help us call shenanigans at our wedding reception!

littlerobothead — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 19:08:42 -0800

Asking for a friend: We want to do something interesting at our wedding reception, some fun "shenanigans" that will help break the ice amongst our guests (about five tables of eight people apiece). This could involve singing, playing a game, and may even involve the knowledge our guests have about us as a couple or as individuals. The trouble is, we keep shooting down our own ideas! Some caveats are that whatever the "shenanigans" may be, they need to be family friendly and appropriate for a fairly large age range and for the not necessarily outgoing (so drinking games and naked twister need not apply). Some examples we've thought of are silly card games at each table, or passing out love songs that each table must dramatically interpret at the end of the dinner. You get the idea; but if ever there was a job for the hivemind, well, this is it. Thanks!

Fun and Game Suggestions for 10 yr olds

terrier319 — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 06:01:08 -0800

A dozen 10-year-old girls and a birthday party. How do I keep them busy? Suggestions for fun games and low-budget diversions. This is a pool party. Water balloon tosses will be a part of it as well as other outside fun. Plenty of music and refreshments but no hired entertainment. Please provide suggestions on fun, challenging games to keep them busy and entertained.

I want a physical thing, no more, no less

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:32:52 -0800

How do I identify and meet women interested in a one night stand? For the past few years, I've found myself in a number of relationships where my partners don't want to have sex. They'll do everything to remain technical virgins (oral, mutual masturbation, etc.), but penetrative intercourse is out. For some reason, I seem to keep meeting these sorts of women when I go out looking for a girlfriend.

At this point, I'm single and ready to have some fun. I've been thinking of going to bars and other places where I might meet women who are interested in a purely sexual relationship.

My questions are:

1. How can I tell if a woman is interested in having a one night stand?

2. Where can I meet women who are interested in only a sexual relationship? For example, does craigslist Casual Encounters actually work?

3. If I suspect a woman may be interested in a one night stand, then how can I proposition her for this?

If you need to follow up, throwaway e-mail is mansextonight at gmail.com.

Need to de-stress quick

reenum — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:24:39 -0800

I need to relax. Badly. Suggestions? I have had an epically horrific week at work. Everything that could have gone wrong did. All of the worst people called and acted like the asses they are. My phone was ringing non-stop. My stress level is through the roof right now.

So, I've decided to take Monday off. Any ideas as to what I can do to de-stress so I can come back strong on Tuesday?

Help us choose an NYC birthday activity!

rachaelfaith — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:24:06 -0800

NYCFilter: Group of four 20-something friends need a birthday activity for this Sunday! Conditions: not too pricey, preferably Manhattan or Brooklyn, nothing too physically strenuous. My friend's birthday is this Sunday, and while we have reservations for dinner, we all wanted to do something fun beforehand. We were considering mini-golf, but Chelsea Piers seemed too expensive and we're questionable on The Putting Lot.

We're all female. Common interests include food, movies, parks, dessert. [So unique!] We're not really into coffee/tea, biking, touristy things.

So, any cool festivals or activities going on this weekend? Hit me with your creative ideas!

Blanket Fort Party

Juliet Banana — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:13:21 -0800

In approximately two weeks, I will be holding a Blanket Fort Goodbye Party on almost the entire top floor of an apartment building. Given the excellent ideas I got from this previous party thread, I thought I'd ask what you crazy kids: what would you want to see at a blanket fort party? "Blanket fort" means the same thing as "couch fort;" there's a local band named Couch Forts I'm trying to not get us confused with. We're looking to enclose as much of an area as possible with blankets, high enough for tallies to be able to stand up straight in. We're also having three DJs play in a backroom, a straightforward "here's a song, now here's another song" DJ to get things started and then two wildly popular and talented local superstars to play the height of the party.

We have the top floor of the our apartment building to work with. It was apparently a hotel back in the 1920s so imagine that we have the size of 3 large hotel rooms, connected by hallways. Two of the apartments are completely empty. I am completely unconcerned about moderate damage to walls or leaving it particularly spotless. I'm not very concerned about keeping the blankets flawless, either. The ceilings are too high to reach, and we're going to have to try to build a ceiling out of blankets.

Our apartment building has a long history (apparently going back to the 1980s) of being an underground music venue that has raves and hardcore punk and noise and experimental electronic shows in the basement. This is the first major party that's going to be held in the upper floors. A lot of people can be expected to show up; not quite as many as a hardcore show (typically 80-100 people throughout the night) but more than our previous house parties (we usually get around 20-something people to show up).

How do we hang up this many blankets and sheets? My current shopping list includes a hammer, nails, lots of rope to string between nails and keep the "ceiling" suspended, clothespins to attach fabric to rope, safety pins to attach fabric to fabric, thumbtacks to attach fabric to walls.

Where do we get them? Thrift store sheets still run $2-$3. I was wondering if it'd be cheaper to buy yards and yards of fabric from a fabric store. We're also going to borrow as many extra sheets and tapestries and etc as we can.

What different areas should we have? One apartment is devoted to the DJs and dancing; how should we set up the stage? There will probably be a projector playing on a white sheet. I'm also thinking of devoting a small bedroom to being brightly lit with a nice sheet in the background to take people's Polaroids (it's our goodbye party, I'm going to miss everyone) and having the living room as some sort of lounge area. What should we have in the lounge area? Candles to toast smores over (fire hazard? people are definitely going to be smoking, anyway), lots of pillows, what else?

Any amazing examples of huge blanket forts on the internet?

What would you want to see at a party like this?

Yes, you can come, if you live within driving distance of Columbus Ohio and I didn't weird you out at the 10th meetup.