Two Babychams and a Bucket of Gin, please

After our exertions in the mountains, we decide to take some time out at the beach. A few days chilling out on Koh Samed - you can't beat it. On the last night, Matt orders a gin and tonic, and it arrives in a bucket. It's a messy night, but I realise how good it is to spend time with old friends.

Hill-walking the Easy Way

Rosa & Jack

Matt and Rosa turn up, and we decide to head North. Having reached Chiang Mai, Matt and I head out to check out the various transport options, and return with a huge 7-seater Toyota 4x4 complete with aircon and CD player. I realise that my hardcore backpacking days might be behind me.
We head out into the National Parks, full of good intentions of trekking in the hills, exploring untamed wilderness, and communing with nature. In reality we spend a lot of time in some rather nice restaurants. Perhaps it's just that we're getting older. To be fair, we do manage to conquer Thailand's highest peak... by driving up it in our 4x4.

Singapore Sling

Sara's now off for the summer, and we kick off our travels by heading down to Singapore to stay with Rosa who's been working there for a month. Matt joins us after a few days. After a year in Bangkok, Singapore comes as a bit of a shock. It's just so clean and tidy. Imagine a city run by the Disney Corporation, and you're half way there. It makes for a very pleasant place to spend a few days though; we particularly enjoy the karaoke booths, where we hole ourselves up for a couple of nights singing Glen Medeiros classics. I read in the local paper that as well as outlawing chewing-gum and executing Australians, the one-party government also randomly drug-tests its own citizens. I guess all that cleanliness comes at a cost...

Material World

To me it seems somewhat ironic that in such a staunchly Buddhist country, Bangkokians are such a materialistic bunch. Shopping is the national obsession; a new shiny mall opens every month to feed the habit. For many, it's all about labels. And because it's Bangkok, these aren't always what they seem. A tale of caution:
Sara receives an end-of-term present from England. No, not the country, it's one of the kids in her class (football is a common theme in names - a family we know of has two boys called Man-U and Markhughes). It's a sarong, and the box and bag that it comes in indicate that it's from a expensive boutique shop in town. Sara likes it, but isn't too keen on the colour, so goes into said expensive boutique to change it. An embarassing scene ensues as the assistant explains that the sarong doesn't come from their shop at all. The parent has taken a cheap sarong and put it in the box to make it look like they were being flash...

Just Say No

In Thailand, Red Bull is the national drug. And it’s not like the stuff back home – a long, fizzy refreshing drink – no, this is a concentrated syrup version, served in small glass medicine bottles, distilled down to maximise the sugar-caffiene hit. Taking a walk round our village early this morning, my favourite sight was of an old couple, probably in their eighties, sitting on their front bench, knocking back their his’n’hers Red Bulls to kick-start the day.