"I'm feeling Supersonic"

Firstly apologies for the rather long delay in me updating the blog, its been a busy few days, now that we have got free net access at the Language School should be more regular!

Following on from last time, we did make it to the Cinema for just under 4 quid for the VIP section in a massive multiplex. We saw The Inside Man which was good but would have been even better if it finsihed 20 mins ealrier - it really tailed off at the end. The most unsual thing about the cinema is that just before a film starts in Thailand , you have to stand up and observe the national anthem. As the long anthem is being played, a montage of the King of Thailand is played on the screen. The Royal family is very very important over here, they are massive pictures of the King(most of the time with a camera!) everywhere, there is certainly more of a attachment to their royal fmaily than ours. Did slip slightly from the no beer rule, whilst watching the Newcastle - Sunderland game, but nevermind.

The next day me and Paul explored Bangkok using the old and the new. We got a old style river boat for a 20 minute journey, which really gives you a chance to see the city and its variety; the old palaces, chinese buildings, mosques and many skyscrapers. The boat was really good, but we had to be careful not to stand or sit in the area reserved for Monks!We moved from the ancient travel to Bangkoks version of the tube, well sort of cause its actually overground and is called the Skytrain. It lets you see loads of Bangkok and is much cleaner, cheaper and comfortable than London underground. We got the Skytrain to MBK the massive shopping center and for just under 20quid I got myself a watch, pair of shorts and a pair of very comfy fake Birkenstocks. After a quick recharge of the batteries we headed out for a few beers, which proved surprisingly harder than on previous nights, because of the election the next day all beer sales were suspended. We heard various reasons druing the course of the night, the most plausibale was that the authorites want as many people as possible to vote so they take away the beer and subsequent hangovers the next day. After a lot of hunting and asking fellow travellers where they had got theirs we found a bloke with a van who was dishing out bottles and cocktails to all and sundry. Once we found somewhere we decided to stay there and we did until the early hours during which the number of fellow travellers had converged and made a Thai man with a van very rich indeed.

On the Wednesday just ambled about during the day and in the evening we went to the 'notorious' area called Patpong.Basically the strip is a collection of really horrible bars, with loads of tacky neon signs, expensive and watered down drinks even the ladies arent that nice. Walking to and from the terrible bars we were pestererd all the time with blokes shoving pieces of paper with various 'acts; that for the right price a lady will do for you. The place was horrible and after an hour or so we left and headed back to Khosan Road. The night didnt get much better as we ended up in a bar called Gullivers which could best be described as the Bangkok Chicago Rock. Still we have had our fair share of fun recently so cant really complain.

After checking out of our hotel on Thursday, I had to find myself a cheap CD player (as my ipod was still broken) there was no way I was going to have a 16 hour journey with no music! At 6 we boarded the sleeper train at Bangkok train station, the set up is that there are 2 big seats facing each other, the seats pull out to form a bed on the bottom and there is also a bed above them which is pulled out. Almost as soon as we got on the train people started putting the beds out! 7 oclock bedtimes are a pretty alien concept to us and perhaps most except the Thais it seems, so we decided to head down to the food/bar cart. We met 3 lads from Essex who had also decided that 7 was far too early to go bed and we spent a few hours swapping stories and pints. The bar shut at 10 so there was no choice we had to head back to our beds, which after the novelty wore off soon turned into a uncomfortable, hot and noisy sleeping area. It wasnt the best sleep I've ever had, but waking up at 5 and looking out the window and seeing the Thai countryside in a sea of mist was a pretty damn good view. Once our train stopped we had to get a 4 hour bus journey to Phuket which would have been okay if the bus wasnt crowded (basically natives can just jump on the bus at various points and stand in the aisle for the very long journey) very hot and if Paul didnt have a very very dodgy stomach. That problem certainly wasnt helped by the fact that the only toilet on there was padlocked, it was certainly touch and go for a while but Paul managed to hold on just! On arrival in Phuket we were met by Mark from the TEFL school and he took us to our home for the next 4 weeks. At first glance the rooms were really good, nice size big bathroom and plenty of storage but it soon became apparent that the 1 fan in the room wasnt going to stem the searing heat. Another negative was that the room was litterally yards from all the classrooms, it didnt really seem like you could just switch off from everything there. Paul felt the same and we both decided that we would have to find somewhere else, certainly with air con. Rooms aside the school and the people that worked were really impressive and we soon decided to explore the surrounding area. We soon met someone else on the course, Sean from Canada a really nice bloke who shall we say has similar interests...alcohol! We had a few that night but not too many, the travelling really took it out of us and it was a fairly early end to the night in comaprison to recent events.

Looking for alternative accomodation the next day proved alot harder than we anticipated, our frustration wasnt helped by the heat. However, the very last place we decided to check after a 4 hour search proved to be just right, its an unserviced hotel. For just over 70quid we got a large room, with a large bed, nice bathroom, a fridge(vital to keep all the water cool - I've been drinking like a camel) and most importantly air con. Its actually cheaper than the TEFL school, its only downside is that is in Phuket Town whereas the school is just outside the town - a 10/15 minute bike journey. I know its that long cause me and Paul decided we would hire a bike which again proved very cheap 40quid for a month so we could get around, Paul is more than an adequate driver, I just sit on the back and hold on! After the ardous task of getting a place, and with one eye on the course stating on Monday we decided to let our hair down one last time (well thats we thought then, it has since proved the opposite). Myself, Sean and Paul headed into Patong a 20 minute drive form the school, Patong is full of loads of bars most of which were descibred by the school staff as 'interesting'. It soon became apparent though that getting alchol would be a problem, as there were more elections planned so all the bars on the main strip werent selling alochol! Luckily we managed to find a Italian restaurant down a side street, where the staff greeted us with not a food menu but a cocktail menu which unfortunately included Long Island ice teas. Dan was keeping me updated with updates on the Yeovil score, which proved a demanding task as the Glovers tried their hardest to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, winning 4-3. The boost of a vital Yeovil win increased my spirits which were alrady well boosted by a few Changs and the old Long Islands. An interseting night followed, but Ill leave that for another time!!!

Sunday was a very delicate day, and primarily was all about recharging the batteries ready for the big day on Monday. We had a quick scout of Phuket on the bike, bought a few essentials from Tesco (sorry Dad) and was in bed for 10.

We arrived on Monday morning with 20 others, it was clear that the group was vaired with various aged people hailing from America, Canada, England India, Australian and a girl from Manchester. The 1st day was pretty much about getting to know the course and also our classmates, it was clear from the off that it was going to be a really well run and interesting alongside some top people. Paul likes to look after himself and so we had to find a gym to join, luckily there is a health spa 2 minutes around the corner from the school. Its amazing a very luxurous and realxing place with all the usual (steam room, jaccuzi, gym) and a lovely outdoor pool. As I have increasingly found in Thailand, it is very cheap and we got monthly membership for 20quid certainly looking at 3 maybe 4 times the price in England. Its so close to the school that there is no excuse to nip there to chill out or build them muscles - Paul is determined to teach me how to increase my rather gangly frame! All in all a really positive day which made me really hopeful of the next few weeks.

Tuesday was pretty much about getting to know the concept of teaching English to non-speakers. Its all very structured and there are loads of resources including some great staff to help us out which was good because we were told we would be teaching our 1st lesson on Wednesday. Despite a few nerves, the fact that we were so well assisted and prepared it went really well. Each lesson is split into half one half about Vocab the other grammar, luckily I was paired with Paul. My half was about teaching vocab related to people around you i.e step-mum, niece, classmate and acquaintance. My lesson was slighltly different from everyone else on the course cause it was a 1-1 but it went really well, inevitably I made some mistakes but I knew aftewards what I had done wrong so hopefully I wont do them next time. Each lesson is evaluated by a member of staff and the general conclusion was 'really good - 1st lesson' so I was pretty chuffed with how it all went. Teaching is split over 2 days so 11 people do 1 day and the other do it the next day, the beauty of that is that you get the next afternoon off. Luckily mine and Pauls half were pretty much the people were closest to on the course, and we all went out and let off some steam that night. The next day was greeted by a pretty bad hangover and I learnt a very important lesson, you need to have a pretty clear head to concentrate in lessons so late night drinking sessions probably are best kept to a minumum during the week anyway! The morning was pretty much spent looking at the clock waiting fro half 12 and the beach. The beach we went to was called Ni Harn (there are 5 or 6 in the surrounding area) and it probably goes down as the most beauitful view I have ever seen. Lush white sand, crystal clear and warm water, with big palm treed hills either side and its very quite. The boys amongst us well were boys and spent what seemed like hours messing about in the sea basically getting battered by some pretty big and powerful waves - we were very organised kept having a head count after each one so we didnt lose anyone! It was a really relaxing afternoon and much needed.

Friday morning was much better with a clear head and I really started to feel how much I have improved with regards to the course within just 1 week, bodes well for the future. A few of us decided we would start the weeknd off with a night in Patong, a few turned into actually 17. I soon found myself organising this large group with regard to what bar etc, but we pretty much all stayed together and by all accounts everyone had a great time - even my long island induced dancing didnt stop people talking to me. Its so good to meet people from so many different countries/backgrounds/situations, and I can genuinely say that there is no one I dislike. I got home at 6 and slept in the clothes I went out in so it must have been good!

Paul woke me up at 9 so I didnt have much sleep, basically just potted about near the school with the others, went to the gym for the steam room to sweat out the beer. We soon found ourselves back in the pub, which has quickly turned into the groups local 'E-Sarn'. Despite seeing the cheating diving champions beat Utd, the night soon picked up some pace. Huge games of Killer Pool soon started and then some silly bugger said shall we get some whisky. Basically over here you can buy whole bottles of spirits and people just sit and share, some nightclubs you can even take your own bottle in and you just pay for the mixers. So a group of us were soon on the '100 pipers' a snip at just 4quid a bottle. The night just carried on and on, and again I found myself back at the hotel at a time when some people are waking up! Today is defo going to be a quiet one!

Anyway, so far so very very good, everything seems to be going really well on all levels, oh and the bloddy Glovers only went and beat Huddersfield to ensure safety - life couldnt get much better!

Me and Paul on the River Taxi

Few beers down the line, even the camera went a bit drunk! (not really just off my mobile rather than my digital camera)

Paul on the train the seat opposite him pulls out to form the bed on the bottom. The silver ladder leads to the pull out bed on the top...as the picture below shows.

1 week on...

Firstly I am writing these amidst a Chang Beer/Long Island Ice Tea hangover from hell so apologies in advance for any grammatical/spelling mistakes a la Fat Harry style (The evil fans amongst you will know what I am talking about!)

Well far too much has happened since the last post, but the long and short of it is I am here and having a crazy time. This time last week I was getting my jabs and all that stuff from the Doctor to protect me from all the nastys, he also gave me a huge bag of condoms dont know what he was implying there!

You know me I like to do things last minute so on Tuesday I went to the Thai embassy to get my visa anticapting no problems, how wrong I was. I was getting a little nervous when the bloke in front of me was getting very irate cause he couldnt get a Visa on the day, it was going to take 3 working days. I tried to ignore this I thought that cant be right I've checked it on the net, but I was soon told there was no chance I was getting a visa on that day certainly not before I left in 36 hours. What I had done was looked at the Thai Consulate website not the embassy site, you see it is possible to get a visa from the Consualte on the same day except it was in...Hull! Despite my best attempts to come up with an alternative I found myself on the train from London to Hull at 6 on Wednesday morning (a little worse for wear few too many beers the night before) banking on National Rail to not delay me and me end up missing my flight. They did me proud (mind you at 70quid they bloody well should) and come 2 I was back in London for an emotional send off from Claire- you nearly set me off! We got to the airport no problem and we were soon on the connecting flight to Frankfurt, and by half 10 that night we were ready for take off to Bangkok. Bizarely there was less leg room on the flight to Bangkok than Frankfurt, there were no teles in the back of the seats (we had them when we went to New York!)even if one of the movies was friggin Harry Potter and there were 2 pissed Scandanavians already causing the air stweards hassle, it didnt appear that it was going to be the best 10 hours of my life. Luckily the early start in the morning and a couple of strong G and T meant that it wasnt as bad as it turned out and when we werent asleep we were laughing at the appalling antics of the drunks in front!

We arrived in Bangkok at midday and was greeted by searing and I mean searing heat and this was in the shade while we waited for a taxi! On the drive into the city my first impressions of Bangkok did I say it was hot, were how big it was and how many skyscrapers/tall buildings there were, of course surrounded by massive Western advertising. We knew it was Thai New Year before we came but nothing prepared us for the sight that greeted us as we turned into the street where our hotel was. The Thais see the New Year as an excuse to go crazy and basically stand in the street and chuck water and flour at everyone, cars and bikes included. Youve never seen so many super soakers in all your life and completely drenched people, such a distracting site that we missed the fact that all the 'go-go' bars were on our street thats another 'interesting' view. Pauls been here before and he had stayed at the hotel we checked into which was ace, not your typical backpacker pub but we felt we needed to have a good place to 'acclimitise', such as getting the sun in on their amazing roof top pool which we did straight away! We toured the various bars in the area in the evening either talking to Thai blokes about football (try explaning what league Yeovil are in to a bloke who can hardly speak English, not easy - League 1 gets somewhat lost in translation) and turning down request for ping pong balls being fired out of ...well you know! Just for Kirsty, we met some Tranmere fans, I was trying to explain where you lived and all that but the beers somewhat clouded my judgement!

The first of no doubt many hangovers greeted us on Thursday, and to clear the head we went shopping to the massive shopping centre called MBK. The Arndale it is not, it has 7 floors, huge gleaming escaltors, massive videoscreens everywhere and just about anything you could possibly want including some great fake football shirts, me and Geordie are going back before the World Cup starts to get the Argentina shirts (Let us know if you want one Iain!!!). I got my phone unlocked and a Thai sim card heres the nmber in case anyone wants to let me know what the Yeovil score is +6646416158 - although if we lose again like we did to Scunny perhaps its best not to let me know - sort it out Thommo. Also found this amazing trainer shop, a proper little independant really cool place with plenty of decent and rare Adidas gear, but I was sensible for once and didnt purchase any of the delights (Im sure I could hear my Mums voice 'You cant afford it' in my head- these Changovers are lethal). We banked on having a bit of a quite one that night, guess what we didnt, on the spur of the moment we decided to head to Kohsan road - the Backpacker strip. As it was New Year most of the roads were closed or just covered with people, so after a quick Taxi ride we had to walk. On the way down people we just walking towards us absoulutely soaked and I mean everyone and I mean soaked. There was me and Paul all dressed up like we were going to the Northern Quarter, into the inevitbality that we were going to very soon end up like all those heading the other way. We turned into Kohsan road and it was just awash with people, noise, water just a mass of celebration. We decided to hit head on and within seconds we were drenched, with that out of the way we just concerned ourselves with having a great time and really soaking in what was a surreal but amazing atmosphere. For whatever reason we stopped at a shop and decided to get a small bottle of whisky, Ive forgotten what it was called or may I am choosing not to remember cause it really was lethal (the hangover the next day was so bizarre it was like Id been on drugs)l. So much so, all the young Thais were looking at us in awe as the crazy Brits drank the crazy spirit, they all turned it down when we offered them some so it must have been bad. The evening continued into an absolutley crazy and hugely entertaining night getting more soaked, soaking others, Paul getting gropped by lots of lads who shall we say took a fancy to him, a stand off with the Thai police outside a bar (sounds worse than it was, basically there were going round getting people to drink in the bars and not outside yet me and Paul were a little worse for wear and wasnt sure what was going on and had to be shephered in by some nervous Thais!), even arm wrestling and 2 lovely ladies. Me and Paul agreed the next day when we could actually speak through our hangovers that it was one of the best nights out in our lives - even if our best jeans and shirts are still ruined damp and covered in crap.

As I said the hangovers were monstorous and the next day was pretty much spent in the room watching films and loads of English football on the tele and getting room service. We did manage to make it out eventually in the evening, and whilst we valiantly dstuck to the soft drinks at first, a couple of Heniknens were sunk - just to take the edge off you know!

Yesterday we headed to Khosan Road which was alot quieter and dryer than our previous vist. On the way we went to the Grand Palace which is a huge complex just full of buildings,temples, statues most of which are gold and pretty spectacular viewing. Cause of the religious significance of the place our shorts werent allowed so we were given some very attractive(!) pyjama style pants - unfortunaetly we had to pay a desposit otherwise I may have kept them. The Emerald Buddha is the star of the show sat atop a huge mound of gold statues/figurines just an awesome and reflective sight. Its hard to put into words how impressive visually the place was, the numerous photos will show how great it was. Claire/Alex - I was still tempted though to do a Dom Joly and say 'That is a Shit' but restrained myself. Once back on Khosan road we found a cheaper hotel (which we have moved into today)and sorted out our train ticket to Phuket for next Thursday. After watchin more football, we headed out to met Nang - Paul met here last time he was here and she owns a bar just round the corner from Kohsan Road. A few changs (really great beer) and a couple of games of pool down, the place shut around 12 but Nang invited us to join her mates for a drinks at one of what its probably best described as a street kiosk which sells alcohol with tables round it. Unfortuantely they didnt sell beer just cocktails , which you could get in buckets and it was real shame cause they had Long Island Ice Teas! After a couple of buckets (by this stage we were certainly leathered) we went back to Nangs car which is like a hearse but shes done a bit of a cheapish pimp my ride to it and it had speakers and big seats in the back and we ended up drinkin yet more. At one point I looked up to the sky not only was it spinning but getting very light - turns out it was near 5 oclock. Realising we had to check out at 12 the next day and possibly cause Paul had got into shall we say a disagreement with one of Nangs friend (she was a complete idiot to be fair though) we headed off in a Tuk-Tuk (little Bike Taxis) back to the Hotel.

I was sure I had set my alarm but it was left to Paul to ring us at 1145 to wake us up, I was defo still drunk but somehow managed to round up all my stuff and check out and before I knew it were back on Khosan Road checking into our new hotel which if the last one was Yeovil this is say more Weymouth - but needs must. And here I am , I started this an hour ago and its actually been very theraputic for my hangover. Imagine its a quite one tonight, plan is to go to Cinema however as has been proved the last few days it might not turn out that way! Not that hopeful the Glovers will get something at Forest tonight but you never know.

So as you can probably tell Im having fun the only bad thing is that my Ipod has decided to break on me , need to get that fixed soon I need my music! Note the fetching pants.

My gold than a scally's ear!

Not long to go now...

Well its Sunday and this time next week I should have settled into the life as a 'traveler' and be enjoying the many delights of Bangkok! After a couple of weeks trying to sort everything out including the finance (Thanks loads to the very very nice people who've helped me out on that front) and all that, it really is just round the corner. Its been an idea for a while but those that know me know that my track record in converting ideas to reality is shall I say 'suspect', so I've perhaps surprised myself that I'm actually doing it.

Were going on Wednesday 12th to Bangkok (via Frankfurt) arriving Thursday lunchtime. We've got to be down in Phuket a day or two before the 24th which is when the TEFL course starts, so we've got just over a week in Bangkok. The course lasts 4 weeks, I've been told by a couple of mates that's its quite intensive so I imagine well have to be fairly disciplined during that time. Nothing is set in stone but the plan is to go to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos for a month or so after the course, in what order and where is all to be decided on some beautiful sunny beach somewhere! I have to come back in July cause my graduate loan repayments dictates that I cant stay away for too long and my role as 'Jeeves' (be it in Paris, New York or London) for my Auntie Claire and Uncle Nik will allow me to pay back the money I've borrowed for this trip.

Yeovils 3-0 win yesterday means they've put themselves in a decent posistion to avoid relegation, so I can rest slightly easier now that I'm not deserting a sinking ship! Still a few games to go but hopefully the confidence from yesterdays game should carry us on and just keep our necks above the water. So football should hopefully take a back seat, and I wont have to be sat in Internet Cafe in a boiling Phuket trying to find out the Yeovil-Colchester score on the last day of the season. I'll also be bloody grateful to be away from all the hype and nonsense that surrounds England and the World Cup in June. Watching the game in some little bar on a grainy TV screen minus the 'little Ingerlanders' and all the stupid car flags suits me just fine. With most of the games starting post midnight local time I imagine there will be a few late ones!

Apart from the usual; friends and family, the only things I'll really miss is probably The Apprentice and all my trainers. I am only planning on taking 2 pairs, but when you've got 15 pairs and am as indecisive as me what do you chose? At least I've got a couple more days to decide...