Bangkok-The city of the pink taxi

Unlike J, I haven't posted anything on here apart from the very first post. There are several reasons for this: having a complete lack of anything more to add to what J had already said, too much tele-watching and, ultimately, believing that I'd have plenty to say once we were here. That final point being absolutely true. I feel like I haven't shut up about this place since I got off the plane (I think I'm beginning to give J earache).

The last few days at Gladys Road were rather emotional. It's funny what saying goodbye to a few bricks can do to a woman. That topped with having to say goodbye to all my family and friends left me, well, a little nervous and shaken. However, coming to Bangkok has blown me away.

I had done no research of Bangkok before we got here. Absolutely none. Whilst J looked up street names, the culture and general Thai life, I did the ostrich trick and firmly kept my head stuck in the Birmingham sand. I read no posts. I looked at no pictures and generally did no preparation. Even on the plane over here, I chose to forgo reading the Bangkok guide book Jhad bought at the airport's WH Smiths and chose to read Julie Walters' autobiography instead. Immersed in Smethwick to the very last! The rationale behind all this was that I figured nothing was likely to prepare me for Bangkok and, therefore, research would either ensure panic or feed me misinformation. I came to the city completely blind.

Bangkok is amazing.

Reasons? It smells all the time. Well, actually stinks! Bangkok's air is heavy with the aroma of sewers, car fumes and cooking fat. Although this should bring on nausea, I actually really like it (not sure J would agree with me here!). I love the fact that there is bottle-neck traffic at 11pm at night. I love the fact there are shocking pink taxis!! I love the way Thais speak as though they are singing and that the shopping malls are always packed, although most people don't appear to buy anything apart from food (people after my own heart)!

The first few days here were a bit of a blur. However, we appear to have set up proper grown-up lives without realising it. I do keep forgetting that we are supposed to be working here and this isn't just an extended jolly. Everything is so exciting!

Inevitably, some things do bring you back down to Earth. Like being woken up at 5am by the 'Big Ben'esque chime of the 'Magical Kingdom' go-karting clock half a mile away. Or stepping over very flea-bitten, pitiful-looking, stray dogs just to get down the street. Or the shipping company sending your stuff to some port south of Bangkok and neglecting to tell you that in order to get it, you had to pay for it all over again! Please don't ask me about that one-I have been having nightmares about it and the urge to kill the shipping representative in Bristol is really strong...

Despite these very minor setbacks, we really do like it here. I absolutely love the apartment and cannot hide my excitement at being able to give my dirty washing to laundry owner Madam Gee (part colourful auntie, part Del-boy entrepreneur) and have it back the next day clean and ironed all for £2! Thank you Jesus!

Let's hope going back to work (which, let's face it, we've sort of forgotten how to do!) is as an enjoyable experience as our first impressions of Bangkok have been...

We're here/there/everywhere

As the title says, we're two weeks in and already it's feeling like home- well it better had as we're stuck here now!

The flight was a bit of a killer especially when great things were promised by those in the know who said Qatar were BA class- not what we found at all. Two hours late and no word from anybody official as Heathrow was closing down late on a Friday night, then my TV didn't work! A interrupted sleep and six hours later (plus the delayed two hours) we were in the desert and dragged through Doha Airport to catch the luckily held back connecting flight (spared us the wait I suppose) and to be met by a sea of disgruntled lefty type Italian and French holidaymakers...

Some pantaloon wearing wannabe hippy even daring to put her seat back on a 6' 4" Brit- she was soon put in her place and back upright- luckily the Frogs don't like a fight and her elderly husband just Galically and garlically shrugged- I jest of course but only a little.

Again my TV did not work and I had to swap places with D to watch 'I love you, man' which was actually quite funny. We finally landed at 2pm GMT and 8pm local time after 14 hours which is the longest I've ever been in the air- can't imagine we'll be doing that very often, so people will just have to visit won't you...

The new airport in BKK was a bit weird as it's never nice to be greeted by surgical mask wearing officials when you're new to a country. What seemed like a long and tedious afters through the rigma of passports and visa checking we were pleased to see that the new hard suitcases were here, intact and not damaged after their maiden voyage.

With the £4500 in my laptop bag we gingerly stepped out into the airport arrival lounge hoping to see the smiling face of the representative of our new employer- only to realise she wasn't there. D then decided she needed the toilet and left me with everything to search down the other end of the airport! In the meantime a broken English call for 'Jnatan Boot' over the tannoy made me feel like James Bond for a moment, although I was brought down to earth as I don't recall the story where Bond pushes three bags up the escalator frantically while arguing the toss over which meeting point the unhelpful customer service rep had suggested. More 'Duty Free' than 'Live and Let Die'...

Luckily we were greeted by the delightful Pat and after a short minibus ride over flyovers that resembled an 'exotic spaghetti junction' we were left with some paperwork (at the infamous Louis' Tavern- a kind of halfway limbo house for St Steve's staff passing over to the other side)and told to be up at 9:00 to go flat hunting...

Coming next time: The flat hunting and exploring days...

Half the world away (nearly)

I promised some exclusive pictures of packing cases and empty rooms and the like, so here they are.

I think we've managed to get around to see everyone and what fun it was too.

Speak soon, when we're half the world away...

Calendar for your cheap holiday in Bangkok

I'm sure I'll work out how to permanently pin this on the Blog eventually.

However, here is the definitive final draft of our school calendar for 2009/10.

http://www.sis.edu/bangkok/download-calendar.php

Check out this website: http://www.netflights.com/?refid=nfgb&partner=google&adgroup=Flights_Brand&googlekeyword=airline+network&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=airline

for cheap flights to BKK (thanks to Mr J. Coath and his Bangkok connections- say no more, wink wink, nudge, nudge etc)

You'll need to monitor it regularly to get the flights around £300 and book accordingly- don't worry about transfers from either Bangkok airport, we'll sort this- just bring your spending money!

Please let us know, via facebook, the blog or email (perhaps even in person or long handwriting on Basildon Bond paper for you oldies) when you'd like to come.

Apart from family, it's first come first served.

We are off on the weeks that are in purple, however, we won't be in BKK at Christmas 2009.

Folks are welcome when we're not there or if we're at work (don't all cheer and plump for these weeks either...)

Hope to see you there.

J and D
X

One doth journey south?

Journeying south has always brought me a lot of pleasure...

It's something I also try to keep quiet. (shhhhhhhhhh...)

Most northerners would like to pretend that, despite the concentration of the nation's wealth being unfairly proportioned in the south east, (this wealth built up by the industrial north and the midlands- with a bit of slave trading from Brizzle and Liddypool) we don't like, want anything to do with and would prefer to not mention- that London and anything to do with the ridiculously named Blandshire and Forgetthenamesex provinces around it!

Alan Partridge spells London, S.H.I.T.H.O.L.E with any train stopping on the way at: '...Disappointment, Backstabbing Central and Shattered Dreams Parkway...' (but he's from the carrot crunching capital of Nowheresville that is Norfolk- so what does he know!)

The slow but effectively cheap Chiltern Railway from Birmingham's Snow Hill station passes these places but secretly I and everyone else north of Watford always get quite excited when we recognise certain landmarks and the distinctive orange brickwork of suburban London as it comes into view.

See Larkin's poem 'The Whitsun Weddings' for a perfect literary example of what I mean. It might be me reaching middle age (there's no use denying it) but this is quintessentially what middle England is all about: heritage, nostalgia and sometimes mythical and real England that might have existed at some time when I wasn't yet in double figures- something that sadly might never return despite which political party you might vote for...

No plastic and artificial representation of culture in 21st century Britain in the shapes of super concerts by Blur, Springsteen or Take That, Rugby buggering of South Africa or glimpses of the new Wembley and Gay Pride can ever really make up for what has gone before and happily still remains in memory, perception and bricks and mortar in this part of the world.

However, I digress, we don't want to tell anyone but we (Professional Northerners and the like) get a bit giddy when we arrive in, especially on days like Friday 3rd with the glorious weather, our nation's capital.

We had a great weekend thanks to Parv and Jas in Harrow on the Friday and Rebecca and Lucy on the Saturday ably assisted by Row and Glenn. Visiting places that we've never been before: Harrow boys' school (the application is in the post) the Millennium bridge swinging and great views over London on the only day I've ever been when it rivals, aesthetically, any city in the world (I agree with Wordsworth here "Earth has not anything to show more fair..."), drinks on the Thames (£1 for a bag of crisps!) and staying in an exclusive, private W1 address for the first time ever...(no Travel Lodge this time...)

Saturday night out in Notting Hill and hearing about Madonna at the O2 at Marylebone station on Sunday morning from Niki and Sean.

Sadly no celebrity spotting this time to recall (how could Fisher from Home and Away ever be bettered in one of my first visits anyway) but lots of good memories of real people (great Londoners like Parv, Jas, Lucy, Rebecca, Glenn and Row and fuckwitted ones like the drunken weirdy-beardy who nearly got a Stannington kiss for his troubles) as we move from one great city to the next one halfway across the world and hopefully meet lots of new great friends from another great world capital.

And my ailments (like a visit to a spa town), seemingly clearing up. (see the last blog post) It must be all that pollution- roll on BKK and more black bogeys!

Poorly...

We realise fans in the south will be extremely disappointed but Bangkok Booths must regretfully announce the cancellation of their forthcoming concerts in the south of England!

Due to J's horrific dietary problems over the last week, he's been advised to rest to enable a smooth transition to Bangkok on the 24/7...

Hopefully he will have made a full recovery in time to visit the Sheffield lot on the 18-19/7 but if not will si' thee in December.

Meanwhile D, wife and full time nurse, will endeavour to perform solo on 3-5 July in the London area!

Into the west

The second leg of the BB tour began on 3rd June as D and I ventured down in the west country my lovelies.

Now we're without transport it was an opportunity to 'let the train take the strain' as someone used to say. We weren't disappointed either as the journey was excellent- as was the weather (in fact a little too much as I suffered some serious burnage).

Whether it was walking from Port Isaac (currently filming another series of Doc Martin, without special guest appearances by the family this time) into Polzeath on the Thursday or a day out in Truro on the Saturday it was a really enjoyable last look at this place for a while.

The famous/infamous Royal Cornwall Show was another thing altogether...

We missed out Bristol/Cardiff on the way home as we needed to get home and we're now looking forward to a few weeks in Brum and those endless scripts, box packing and counting down the days...

Next stop, Darn Sarf!