Happy Potter

Artist at Work

There's a small island in the Chao Phraya river, not far from our house, that's a fantastic escape from the city. No roads, no cars, and inhabited entirely by potters. We find an old boy who's prepared to let us have a go. It turns out to be more difficult than it looks...

Tropical disease

I guess you learn these things by experience. A minor graze on the back of your leg, and you ignore it - in the UK, it'd be fine. But we're in the Tropics, and a few days later, you suddenly notice it's gone very wrong. I won't go into the grizzly details; let's just say that luckily there was a first aid station nearby. That was 2 weeks ago, and after some careful nursing, it's just about healed up.

Mr & Mrs Deebs

Sundowners at 700ft

Damian and Alison pop by for a day, en route from Nam. We do the tourist thing in Bangkok, admiring the Grand Palace and taking a crazed speedboat tour of the canals with a driver who's clearly had a few Red Bulls too many. We head to Vertigo, Asia's highest al fresco bar. It's so breath-taking, I completely forget that I'm scared of heights.

Call that a Sport?

The Asian Indoor Games happen in Bangkok, and Scott and I head down to the National Stadium. Scott's keen on his cycling, and he's heard that the cycling's on. But it's not what we expect. In fact, it's a bizarre spectacle. There's 4 guys on odd-looking bikes that have their saddles behind the back wheel. This leaves their front wheel free to flick a ball around at high speed. It's two-on-two, and they have to shoot into the goals using only their bike wheels to hit the ball. If you put your feet down, it's a penalty. Surprisingly, it's all very entertaining. I learn later that the sport's called Radball.

Is that one of those Popular Beat Combos?

Now I honestly can't remember the last time I went to a club, but Sara's friends invite us out, and when in Rome...
I'm surprised to find that I really enjoy the experience - they're playing music that I like, beers aren't too much of a rip-off, and nobody's got that Essex attitude of menace. Later on, Futon, who feature a rather washed-up looking Simon Gilbert (ex Suede) play a live set, and I'm bouncing like I was 21.

Uncle Keith 2

Whahay! I'm an uncle again, courtesy of Brian & Ange. It's a girl, possible name Keira - is that the female version of Keith? They've named it after me?!!

Stuff!

So it's taken 3 months, but our shipping finally turned up at the door this morning. As it's been so long, I've forgotten what's in all those boxes, so it'll be like an extended Christmas! Because of the work permit delays, we do get stung for £80 duty, which isn't as bad as it could have been. Thai Customs further assist us by ensuring that they smash Sara's favourite plates in the one box that they opened. Thanks, guys.

Neighbours, everybody needs good neighbours

Saturday and we're round at one of our neighbours for their kids 4th birthday party. Excellent fun, although I much prefer the party once all the kids are off to bed! Got me thinking about one of the good things about life here - the folk round about us are genuinely nice people. Compared to where we were in Essex, where our neighbours were at best miserable, and at worst overtly hostile (one particularly spiteful old couple upstairs bringing Sara to tears on a number of occasions).
Just one of the many things that I appreciate about life here. (There's also stuff I miss, but I'll leave that for another blog).