Bangkok, Bintan and a Birdie

Hi All,

Well, suffice to say, although I’ve been away twice in as many weeks, this thing I do for about 11 hours a day has sure been taking its toll. It’s Q4, markets are crashing and we have to budget for next year. Lots of “intellectual masturbation” as one of my colleagues put it!! But when the big boss says jump, you don’t exactly leave early to play football (well, maybe once or twice!!!)

Nicole and Paul were passing through Bangkok after a couple of weeks on the beach in Krabi, so I went up to say hi. Bangkok is a cracking place – lovely food, welcoming people and some very cool places to go out. One thing is a serious problem though – traffic. Whatever you do, don’t plan on getting anywhere in a hurry!! Hours we spent in tuk-tuks (aka death-traps) and taxis. We went to go to the grand palace and turned up to be told it was closed for tourists until 1:30, but would we like to go on a tuk-tuk tour while we waited. Thought they were being nice and helpful until a couple walked past and told us we were being conned – sure enough, the palace was open so we hop skipped it round with Nicole doing her bit for cultural relations (see photos of her pose!)

Last weekend a group of 20 of us headed over to an Indonesian island called Bintan. It’s only a 1hr ferry ride away so very easy to get to. On the Saturday we played a round of golf – definitely one of the most frustrating games I’ve ever played. I typically manage to hit one nice shot per hole and finally it all came together on the par 3 on the 14th where I teed off to within 6 feet of the hole and putted in 1 – my first ever birdie – woohoo!!

We rented a couple of villas on the beach and that evening we had a pool and BBQ party with the theme Anchorman!! Some of the costumes were hilarious and some of them were disgusting (aka mine!!). Great fun and some cracking photos.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49694&l=a2e60&id=512991087

Footy is still going well. I’ve been transferred into a new team…stepping up from the 5th to 2nd division. And my 5 a side team won its league

Tonight I’m heading off to the Races and next week I go meet Jamie Black for a few days relaxing in Hua Hin.

And I’m officially coming home at Christmas/Chanukah time – I land in London on Sunday 21st, stay there a few days and then head to Cardiff on Xmas Eve for a few days. Lemme know if you’re about

Keep in touch, J