General Business

Saw this chap during a very enjoyable day around Chatuchak market with M and the Missus. No reason for posting it, I just like the photo.They really go for the western thing here, no idea why. The stetson is, in my opinion, one of the US's better exports. Along with pool, burgers and Specialized (with a z) bikes. Oh, and blues.

Our day in "JJ" (jatujak) was finished off nicely when we discovered a bar on the edge of the market that plays really good music. I noted down two tracks, after asking the (French) DJ what they were called, and when I track them down I will post them here of course, for your listening pleasure. A very enjoyable end to a day of haggling. Next time I visit I'll make sure it's late afternoon...

I also liked this sign on the lifts in Supalai Park:What, faulty wiring?

Found an excellent jazz music venue in Silom this weekend, and sat with Lyn for an hour watching and listening to a very good four piece band. Poor Lyn is still a bit jet-lagged so she nodded off while I tapped my feet and nodded my head knowledgeably (and probably completely out of time). I actually applauded their last number half way through during a long pause. Embarrassing, especially when the drummer looked round at me and laughed. Solidarity? Nah. Anyway for people coming to Bangkok, the place is called Niu Bar. I might take the missus back there when she's able to stay awake for more than 30 mins at a stretch, and have a meal.

Speaking of the incredible sleeping woman, she's currently snoozing by the pool. This is quite a trick since direct sunlight is in a narrow stripe caused by the gap between buildings one and two between 11am and 2pm. Constant exposure is not possible without moving two feet to the left every twenty minutes or so, and even then you'd have to sit in the paddling pool between 12.30 and 12.45. No joke, they actually built the pool in the shade of the building it belongs to. Corking.

More soon, be good.

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more.

Normal practice, when stepping in wet concrete, is to hastily backtrack and check if anyone noticed, then get away quickly. At least that's how I see it. Apparently here, you just keep walking till you get where you're going, hardly even noticing you've ruined some poor council worker's pride and joy (not to mention a perfectly good pair of flip flops). I wonder what bob the builder thought when he returned to check his handiwork.
While we're on culture shock, I went to a Thai wedding this week. Very different to a western-style one in some ways, yet similar in other ways. It was obviously something that took a lot of preparation and cost a lot of money that's for sure. Here are the happy couple (Nin and Yui) with all the lovely ladies from our office..
There was no ceremony as such, or at least we didn't get to see one. Apparently they just have a formal signing of the marriage certificate and that happened earlier in the day. There was a very extensive Chinese banquet (Yui is Chinese) followed by a video which was projected onto a giant screen at the end of the hall. The video was a montage of photos of the couple, and a cartoon which described how they met and how their relationship developed. There was also a joint pre-recorded speech by the bride and groom. After the video, the Bride's father made a short speech on stage and the master of ceremonies interviewed the happy couple. That was it. An enjoyable and very interesting evening.

Wifey and Maureen are on the plane as we speak, coming here to cheer me up. I have fizzy wine and cheese in the fridge to make them feel at home. It'll be nice to have company and to show off the swanky new apartment. Still no internet but I do have the telly working. We're off to Koh Chang next Friday for four nights, can't wait.

Be good

Holy War

This is interesting:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8468981.stm

As I read it I got more worried. By the end I could hardly read it because I was shaking my head in disbelief, especially at the blurb from the Trijicon spokesman. I found myself hoping that the company suffers loss of orders as a reaction. Maybe bankruptcy. After that maybe a liberal dose of hanging, drawing and quartering.

It's a sick world. Sick sick sick.

Moving, new apartment

I moved. it was gud. photo.(Everything I own fits into one pickup truck)

Only one small disaster - on putting everything away in the new place I noticed a 50% reduction in the number of bolster pillows. Shame. I remember putting it on the truck though. There is now a pristine white bolster in the road somewhere between Sukhumvit and Chatuchak.

Speaking of the new gaff, here's video. Sound is awful, you'll have to turn it up to hear my highly amusing commentary. I hated listening to my own voice - I sound like a pompous git desperately trying not to sound like I come from Liverpool...

I have no telly signal or broadband in the new place yet (henceforward known as Supalai Park, because that's where it is) so I'm sat in the old one using up the last of my batteries. I hope you're grateful. Normal service will be resumed in a week or so hopefully. I hope wifey doesn't have to sit around with no telly, she'll kill me.

Met Pete and Tracy

I met up with perennial asia-hoppers Peter and Tracy last night. Had a great time talking, eating, and drinking with them. Their annual trek around SE Asia has been quite eventful it seems. Made me want to take a month off myself. Here they are at Nana BTS station:


Speaking of adventures, I saw a little item on Guardian online about "Festival in the Desert", which is a music festival that happens in deepest Saharan Mali. Apparently it isn't easy to get to but from the little clips of video it looks like a great experience. Might try to get wifey interested, although it's hard to sell living in a tent with no electricity, plumbing etc, just to listen to some music in the company of 300 Touaregs on camels. However, she's a game bird and you never know. A link to the Guardian article here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/video/2008/jan/17/desert2008

Speaking of wifey, she arrives in 7 days and I haven't even moved into the new apartment yet. Things are getting a bit compressed. Better get packing. Now's the time when I wish I'd kept all the boxes from the stuff I've bought since getting here. In fact I did keep a lot, but yesterday upon getting them out of the storeroom they disintegrated into brown grit. Some kind of mould, or a bug, seems to have enjoyed munching the cardboard. Oh well, looks like it's plastic bags and damaged goods.

I've booked a trip to Koh Chang at the end of this month and I can't wait. Four nights in a posh "Oriental Suite" with nothing to do but eat and drink. And read. And swim, hike, ride bikes, surf, use the gym.. blimey, I'll be glad when it's over.

If you can't fight, wear a big hat.

..or...

If you're going to tell lies, tell big ones.

I laughed at this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/coventry_warwickshire/8454415.stm

The guy's got a barn door's worth of medals on his chest. He's 61 and therefore missed his chance vis-a-vis the second world war by the best part of a fair bit, but apparently had medals from said conflict. Like most blokes, I've gone to some lengths to convince my missus I'm hard as nails and dead brave, but this chap went a bit far, apparently to impress his new his 37-year-old wife. Wonder if she's still cooking his tea for when he gets home from community service every night?

Posthumous thanks to my Dad (who really was in the war) for the title to this blog.

Be good, and be honest.

End of an Era

Last few days in the Sukhumvit apartment. Shall I have a big fat party and trash the place? You're all invited. Actually I've found myself looking around the place with some fondness this last week. I am prone to nostalgia and revel in it at the slightest excuse.

In other news, daughter Alex has reappeared from the frozen wastes of Europe with tales of derring-do for us all. I must admit I was slightly worried, considering the weather that's been happening "Over there". I also admit to a big slice of jealousy because it's ages since I've been skiing and I love doing it, even if I do only go on blue runs. I'm crap and I like it, so there. Which reminds me, I used the word "Skiing" in a message to Alex today - she'll be most insulted, being far too trendy to strap on two planks when one will do. "Boarding" would have been the correct word. (Sorry love)

More nonsense when I've settled in. That has to be quick because Lady Park-Railings arrives in ten days and she'll want to inspect the new lodgings thouroughly. Anyway, later taters.

"You want go-fiss misturr?"

I was making my way home today in the pissing down rain, thinking it was nice weather for goldfish. Next thing this chap appeared....

(Yes they are fish on a stick)

Needless to say I didn'y buy one. It's so typically Thai, to go round the streets expecting people to say "just what I came out for - a half-dead guppy". I wonder if he sold any. The fish would have fared better if I'd bought the whole pole and released them into the overflowing gutter. I hope wifey doesn't get too upset on reading this, she hates cruelty to fish, except when it's battered and fried.

In other news, I missed off an acecdote from our xmas season. We went to New-Years-Day dinner at Suzi's (lyn's sister - hello S) and had a good bodhran session after dinner(Which was delicious thanks). Three drums present - what a lovely noise. Next time Steve, don't forget yours, and we'll give the neighbours something to complain about. No pictures of the event, let alone video. Never mind.

Be good.

Five Flipping Hours in Freezing Frankfurt

Been here three hours already, still two `till the gate opens. Ah well, where else would I be? Don´t answer that.
Look out for a catch-up blog (titled "Catch-up" - yes I can do obvious), in which I will post some photos and video harvested from my spare phone, also whatever I can remember from the Christmas festivities will be described. The stuff from the old phone is very grainy but I promised myself I would try to show the excitement of my first day in Bangladesh. Maybe I`ll set it to music, dunno yet. Speaking of music, thanks to steve I have two long Capercaille albums to peruse, on top of my three African albums from a pre-christmas shopping spree. Must be something on there that`s suitable for a seaplane landing..
Right. bored with typing on this silly steel keyboard, time to wander around some more, listen to people talking in squares and triangles. Maybe another coffee. Nah, I want to sleep on this flight.
Be good, and remember your resolutions.

Catchup

Catchup time. This might take a while.

First my trip to Bangladesh, and some photos and video I took there. I have to say I'm only posting these because I said I would. When I finally got to see the images on screen they were a massive disappointment. I've set it to music in an attempt to make it bearable, but basically you have some grainy foootage of takeoff and landing, a reasonable exciting boat trip, a boring car trip through Sylhet and some still photos of tea plantations. Watch it for the music, I would - by the way it's Nitin Sawhney "Prophecy".


Before leaving for blighty I managed to sell the bike to an English chap, after having it on Thai Visa (A bit like Loot) for only one day. I'm sorry to lose it but the justifications were wearing thin, since I will be living 200 metres from the office. Here it is on the last night of my ownership, looking clean and sleek. I hope he looks after it...



The Christmas break was as busy, fraught, enjoyable, frustrating, fun-filled and miserable as ever. In no particular order, here are some memories - recorded here before I commit them to the "Forget" pile.

I left Bangkok in 35 degrees and arrived home to blizzard conditions and sub-zero temperatures. Quite disconcerting. Over the two weeks we must have had that smug "I've got a 4*4 and you haven't" feeling a thousand times. In fact a round of applause please for the one good purchase we made 12 years ago - the Toyota Rav4 has done everything we asked of it and 150,000 miles later, after crossing Europe several times with an overloaded trailer, taking us on summer trips with the top down, climbing impossible hills with silky ease, getting us to hundreds of nearly-missed flights at illegal speeds, carrying unlikely bits of furniture and finally dealing with this year's snow-fest without missing a beat, it still has the original exhaust, has never broken down and drives like brand new. (Clap now please)

Here's a picture of said beloved vehicle, laughing off the snow on Christmas eve:
Anecdote 1: While I was home we undertook the two-man task of clipping and bathing the moggies. Cheese wan't too pleased to say the least. Here he is in a rare angry moment, looking, well, clipped and bathed:
Anecdote 2: One of my first gatherings of the season was a funeral for my cousin Graham, who died of cancer aged 51 - how tragic is that?. When we were kids we lived in the same street in Liverpool, and basically we grew up as brothers. People used to say we looked alike, but in fact he was the good-looking one. I lost touch with him after getting married and occasionally I'd consider contacting him and going out for a few, to share memories. That won't happen now and it goes to show the danger of losing touch. The funeral wasn't too sombre - we're a fairly pragmatic family. It was actually nice to see everyone again after all this time. I witnessed a historic conversation between two of my sisters, who haven't spoken for fifteen years, so that was nice. Here are all six siblings, with a couple of partners and a daughter for good measure:Clockwise from top left: Paul, Robert, Paul, Alex, Me, Viv, Chris, Jenny and Gay.
Here's Chris and Jenny making up, with me getting in the way:(History in the making - for the last 15 years I'd need arms 120 miles long to do this)

Lyn put her best Thai-made 50's style frock for Christmas day, and was just as pretty as a picture. In fact here is a picture:(Lyn does the 50's housewife thing - very domesticated)

As usual there was lots of driving around. Occasionally I would be struck by how different the climate is from here in Thailand. One guy here actually asked if I would bring back some snow because he's never seen it. I told him to stick his head in a freezer for five minutes and the effect would be the same. He didn't believe me. Anyway I settled for taking pictures of snowcapped hills.
A panorama from the road above New Mills:

..and the view of Kinder Plateau from my study window:

We did all our shopping in one day in Manchester. It snowed. Here are Lyn and Colin happily (ahem) posing for a snap in Piccadilly Gardens:

I'll soon be in my new apartment, which is visible from the office window. It's very exciting and a little bit sad because I've been in the old place for 15 months and I do tend to get attached to places I've lived in. I get all teary-eyed leaving hotel rooms if I spend more than one night in them so imagine how I feel now. Ihope the new place turns out to be as comfortable as this one. It's certainly cheaper and that counts for a lot... I suppose. (Sniff)

(Taken from the Office window)

Blimey, that's enough catching up for now. If I dredge up any more I'll be sure to post it. For now, be good.

Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone, and what an auspicious day it is. One person is responsible for my elevated mood this morning. I won't say his name but his initials are Jack Hindley.

I even felt festive enough to put my super melting snowman banner on the blog.

Nuff said.

Suvarnabhumi again

Hello from Gate C5, and goodbye to warmth. I'm heading into the blizzard. Ssee you in 17 hours, glad I packed a scarf.

I STILL Hate Bad Science

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8411329.stm

Well they're at it again. Apparently the secret of long life is to look young for your age. That seems like a simple thing to say, but the way the article above is worded has very dangerous undertones. For instance (and yes I know I'm banging on here), consider these two statements:

1. If your body's cell-reproduction system is good, you will live a long life. You will also appear to age slowly.

2. If you look young for your age, you are likely to live a long life.

The first statement is a bald statement of fact.

The second statement is a subtle spin, which invites the weak-minded to put the cart before the horse and conclude that the secret of long life is to look young. Don't laugh, it happens. They might then rush out and buy up their local Boots' stock of skin creams, or book into the local health spa, having once again been convinced that the problem of ageing and dying can be overcome if they just throw enough money at it.

I'd like to know who put the spin on this article. I'm betting on the journalists. I can't believe any decent scientist would allow their findings to be used in this way. The horrible thing is, once the headline has been swallowed, the actual research can be presented as evidence, and the illusion is reinforced.

Better go, I'm getting far too upset about it.

Be good.

Go

"Go" Is a topical word for me at the moment, being as I'm going to another part of Bangkok very soon, having today paid the deposit on another apartment. It's also the title of my new ground-breaking popular music video, which I post here for your enjoyment. It's not as exciting as the last one but I love the music just as much, so make sure you put it on extra-loud. (Clue - it's a builder).




Comment please, good or bad. If it bored you, that's bad. Anything else - nausea, headache, irritation of the skin or the mind, fear, loathing or love - those are all good. And if you actually liked it then even better.

By the way, the sharp-eyed amongst you will deduce from this footage that my new helmet-cam has arrived. Prepare for tons of video, in a host of inappropriate situations. A walk around the office, a drumming demostration, a visit to the Bai Yoke tower, an hour on a rowing machine (that'll get your travel sickness going), the possibilities are endless. That is, if I care to undertake these activities with an enormous blue rubber strap around my forehead, and what looks like a rocket-launcher hanging onto it. Nano-tech it is not...



Some pics of the view from my new apartment:



..and yes Lynny, it has a nice pool..


..at least we're not overlooked - except for the 200 foot elephant of course..

In other news, I was at the gym today when I noticed this guy:

Busiest man on the planet

Notice he's keeping himself occupied. Sorry it's a bit blurred - my arms were shaking from a particularly strenuous military curl - but he's reading, watching telly, listening to music AND exercising. What a hero.

While we're on (or in) the Gym, I did a quick double-take when I noticed they were selling sweat in the drinks cabinet, alongside the obligatory Perrier and Evian..


Blimey, what ever next?

I had to buy it, and despite looking like sweat, it tastes like Gatorade. So next time I'll take my own drinks.

What else is new? Oh yes, congrats to Wifey and Maureen for the successful exhibition opening night, and hope the visitors continue to flood in. There need to be more events like that in New Mills, so say we all.

Be good.

Three days off

In the middle of what seems like a very long break. Actually it's a three-day weekend because Monday is a national holiday. Unfortunately wifey's not here and I'm bored. So much so that I decided an hour ago that the furniture needed rearranging. I'm now sat facing a wall, whereas before I faced the window. However, I always had the curtain closed to cut out the glare, and now at least I'm not sat in the icy blast from the air conditioning unit. Much more comfortable. Here's a quick tour..


While we're on video, I await the arrival of my helmet cam, which will give me the ability to film anywhere and everywhere. I plan to film my journey to work and set it to music of course. Not sure Lyn will enjoy the occasionally small gaps I have to go through on the bike, but art is art, dahling.

I made an appointment to see some much cheaper apartments next week, closer to work - much closer. In fact walking distance from work. If I do move out it will be sad, I'm very comfortable here and guests seem to like it. I have Lyn and that Irish woman coming over in January so I'll keep this place till at least February. Also if I move close to work I won't need the bike so more savings there. Anyone want a mint condition D-Tracker? One careful owner...

Been training pretty much every day since the eat-athon that was Bangladesh. Now I feel a bit washed out, but also righteous. Today is a day of rest then it's back to the gym tomorrow. New gym is great, after the initial disappointment at finding that, surprise surprise, the rowing machine didn't work. I discovered this on the night I joined, so gave the manager an earful and threatened to leave if it didn't get fixed. Yes, pedantic and overbearing I admit. Lo and behold, on my second visit there was a new machine in its place. Now I feel obliged to row every time I visit. The gym also has a swimming pool, outdoor. It's fairly cool out there in the evenings, being December - I'd say mid-twenties centigrade, so a swim after training is perfect for cooling me down. All in all I'm pleased I changed gyms.

No other news, and no jokes I'm afraid. I better get on with the New Mills Original website I'm supposed to be developing.

Be good.

Bangladesh

Fully re-installed in the Bangkok apartment now, and happy to share my experiences in Bangladesh with you all. One disaster - I took loads of photos and video using my spare phone, which is old and has no USB connection and no Bluetooth, so currently I have no way of sharing those images with you, unless you care to get on a plane and fly 6000 miles to gather round my mobile...

Actually I do have a method for offloading the images but it involves using an equally ancient laptop which is at home in New Mills. It has an IR port ("What's that?" I hear you all say. "Look it up", I answer smugly). I knew I kept it for something. I'll do that during my Christmas hols - hold me to it, as my hero Gideon Coe is fond of saying.

I realised my mistake half way through the trip, and began using my normal phone, but to be honest the best part was flying into Bibiyana on a seaplane, landing on the river, jumping onto a speedboat and hurtling upstream for half an hour, to arrive at the creaking wooden jetty windswept and exhilarated like a proper Cadburys Milk Tray delivery man.

Meanwhile here's some rather dull anecdotes:

I flew business class - what a breath of fresh air that is, even if it makes my inner blue-collar, union-card-holding, all-men-are-equal-but-we-hate-rich-people self squirm with embarrassment every time I bypass a perfectly decent queue (full of potential blog victims) and get whisked onto the plane like I mean more than they do.

On landing at Dhaka, which by reputation is an overcrowded, foul-smelling, beggar-infested dump, we were picked up in a Chevron car - gigantic and air conditioned of course - and driven to the domestic airport for our onward flight to Bibiyana. The domestic airport turns out to be next door to the International Airport, so what the car was for I don't know. By the time the driver managed to manoeuver through the traffic, running over several tramps on the way, we could have walked the 100 metres door to door and still had time for that special me-next-to-the-soldier-with-the-ancient-rifle photo opportunity. Anyway, we were escorted through the tatty departure lounge straight onto the tarmac where our plane waited - wonder of wonders, a six-seater seaplane. I was so far beside myself I noticed I needed a shave. We took photos of the plane but they won't appear here till Christmas.

Landing on the water near the plant was very cool. It was a lovely sunny day and the river was dead flat. Millions of local farm kids appeared as we moored up at the bank to await the arrival of our boat. The plane doesn't often get used so it's all a bit of a novelty to the locals. The plant is in the north-east of Bangladesh in a very rural area with nothing but rice paddies for miles around. As I tell this I'm getting more and more annoyed that I can't show the photo's I took. In fact I just spent a few mins looking for a USB/Infra Red adapter on Ebay. Found one for £5.99 - result! Meanwhile back in the rice paddies, the speedboat turned up half an hour later, laden with one of the plant bosses' wife and kids, who were flying back to Dhaka on the same plane. Now we knew why we'd been put on a plane and not made to spend 6 hours bumping along the crappy roads to get there. Lucky us. The "Oilies" at the plant later gave horrifying descriptions of the road trip, which made us feel very special.

We were most impressed with the weather - apparently December and January are the best months in Bangladesh, cooler and drier than normal. It was about 28 detgrees and very sunny, but not uncomfortable due to the low humidity. All in all a very nice place to spend a few days. On arrival at the plant we were shown to our rooms, which could have been in any reasonably good hotel. One room per guest, containing TWO double beds and a nice clean bathroom. Cable telly of course. I have photos but we haven't yet arrived at the time when I changed phones.

On day three we took a trip out to the two remote facilities, which are both set in the hills about 50km from Bibiyana. We had to go through the nearest city, Sylhet, to get there, but what a treat the journey turned out to be. Tea plantations surround both plants - here's some photo's that don't do them justice:Tea-ladies Bangla style.

Tea, tea all around but not a drop to drink.

The place was simply beautiful. What a way to spend a working day. We did actually get some work done at the plant, and I managed to persuade the locals that I can actually fix things, by solving a few minor bugs for them, which they'd been struggling with for weeks, bless 'em. That helped to build trust so that we can continue to be their engineers-of-choice in the future. I also managed to impress my boss, who was with me, that I can walk the walk and not just talk the talk. A good day all round.

"If the world is ever given an enema, it will be delivered via Sylhet". And yes those are cows in the road.

Next day we flew - yes, flew, back to Dhaka. Unfortunately not on the sea-plane. This time we were driven the 40km to "Sylhet International Airport" which is a grand name for such a small place. Ah well, at least we once again avoided the road trip. One night in Dhaka was enough for me. The hotel was comfy enough, but one line on the room description gave a clue as to what there is to do and see in Dhaka - it says "With stunning views of the airport runway". I kid you not.

Our flight back to Bangkok was once again business class, and I was in good cheer. I was amused to discover we had an Asian pilot, when he made the customary patronising mid-flight speech. Talk of "Cluising at 36000 feet" and "Randing on the Lunway on time" made me snigger. Yes I know, not big not clever.

That's about all really. I ate a lot and subsequently made yet another resolution to get fitter/lose weight. In fact yesterday I joined another Gym, but that's another story and I'm fed up typing.

Later taters.

Oh by the way - the ironing board and iron I mentioned before going away were strategically left out as a gentle hint to my cleaner lady. When I got back they have been put away (I don't know where) and everything I own has been ironed. Aint life sweet.

Bangladeshi jokes

Actually recycled Indian jokes, but I'm in Dhaka so Bangla it is.

Did you hear about the 2 Bangladeshi heroin addicts who injected themselves with curry powder by mistake?

They are both in hospital, one with a dodgy tikka and the other is in a korma.

and...

I went to a Bangladeshi restaurant and ordered a Tarka curry. The waiter said "what's tarka?" I said it's like Chicken tikka.. but it's otter.

I do believe I've posted that second one before, but I think I'll get away with it.

Bangladesh is great everyone, don't believe what you read. I've visited three gas plants this week, all in the North East near a city called Sylhet. Two of them were in picture-postcard locations with tea plantations all around. The climate here at this time of year is fantastic, temperatures in the high twenties and low humidity. By contrast, Dhaka is a dump.

Back to Bangkok tomorrow, with pictures and videos and stuff..

Shopaholic drops a bollock

I only wanted a small suitcase, since I'm off to Bangladesh on Sunday and my last one spontaneously exploded in the street the other day (AND gashed my finger, to add injury to insult). I ended up clambering around Central Chitlom and the Skytrain with a suitcase, an ironing board, an iron, and several other bits and pieces. It was rush hour too. Mind you my wallet was demonstrably lighter on the way home.

Then a bloke on the Hotel tuk tuk, which thankfully turned up just as I was contemplating the 1km walk from skytrain to apartment, made a quip which I think he regretted. He'd complimented me on my rather handsome and stylish ironing board, so I began to read out the jokey message printed into the denim-look cover. It says something like "An iron is a device you rub on clothes to remove creases" - anyway his reply was "It should be in Thai because I'm sure YOU won't be the one using it!" Well having had a stressful time on the train I was in no mood for "sexpat" insinuations, so I said "Oh I'll be the one using it alright" in a rather high-and-mighty, don't-you-know-who-I-am kind of way. He immediately muttered an apology and a "Got that wrong", and was exceedingly nice to me for the rest of the ride, and made sure he held the lift for me when we got to Lake Green. Actually I wasn't really offended but there you go.

Sandy came to visit last night. We had a good old chinwag and some beer. He stayed over at my place. Here's us drunkenly playing drums - oy, the neighbours...

My word, the look of happiness on my ugly mush. Give me six beers and I'm anybody's.

Don't know if I'll be able to blog from Bangladesh, don't suppose you care. Later taters.

Travelling

..isn't what it's cracked up to be. I'm in Abu Dhabi again, same old same old. I'm waiting at the gate. One guy's asleep next to me, meaning I'm paranoid about making any noise. Meanwhile there are four midle-aged northerners sat opposite me, complaining more thatn I do, and quite loudly. Bloke's still snoring so far, but the key in my back is turning.

On the flight from Manchester there was a young man (about 4 yrs) with that special mix of anger, volume and, above all, stamina, that can make a flight so miserable for 20 or 30 people in nearby seats that driving all the way here in a milk float seems like an attractive proposition. His mother also made the mistake of trying to cover his mouth to save herself from the disapproving glances. That was it, in the eyes of the know-all mothers looking on, she wasn't up to the job.

Ah well, the latte isn't bad, the wireless is free and I have ... 21 minutes of battery life left. Oh bugger, better check my email and sod off. Be good.

Back to Work

Just had a message from my boss in Bangkok. He wants me to do some work on a system design. Curses, now I have work to do. Also I have to go back to BKK next week. I should be pleased, but I was getting used to the rain and the cold.

Never mind, grin and bank it eh?

In other news, I just had a drumming lesson which went well. Teach (Michael - hello Mike) was most impressed with my progress since going to Thailand.

Home alone today and I should do some housework. Oh well, here goes..