Bangkok Week 1

FINALLY we're here!

Instead of sending out mass emails the length of Sukhumvit road (wanky cultural reference #1), I've decided to do a blog. I figure this way I can post as many pics as I like without the people still on dial-up bitching and moaning and plus these things tend to get long-winded, so if anyone who said they wanted regular email updates was just lying to be polite, they don't even have to worry about it.

So what have I done so far?

Flew here, obviously (and geez, are my arms tired!) - the flight was OK. I forgot to request a vegetarian meal, so I actually got the snack with the Tim Tam in it this time. In the past, ordering the vego meal has precluded the getting of the Tim Tam and being given a piece of unripe fruit, because meat-not-eaters need to be punished. So I got the Tim Tam. I also watched: Must Love Dogs (that guy - not John Cusack - is cute) and Live at the Apollo, which had a 40 minute bit of Ross Noble stand-up in it, and made me feel sick from laughing.

Right now Jon and I are staying at Jim's Lodge (google it!). We've been there two nights now and already Jon has managed to offend most of the staff members. Thais are really into manners and acting proper and staying calm and Jon lost it at the email thingy downstairs when it kept crashing on him, then he lost it even more when the staff didn't seem very sympathetic, then he threw money at them. So today they seemed a bit stand-offish/scared. I bet they wish they hadn't given him the slightly-better-than-mine room now!

Our office skyscraper is cool - kind of 70s style. There are about 20 people who work in our office, the company is called URL and they design and maintain websites for different companies. One of their biggest clients is Private, one of the world's largest adult entertainment companies, so it's not unusual to walk past a bunch of computers with pictures of vadges and boobs. Jon and I are working closely with a British computer programmer/ Thai boxer/ hip-hop producer ( he claims to 'own' the riff and the 'tank fly boss walk jam nitty gritty you're listening to the boy from the big bad city this is jam hot, this is jam hot' bit from 'Dub Be Good To Me'). I'm sceptical about the last claim, although in March we're going to get him into some street fights, so that should be fun.

Other stuff:

- Jon and I proved to be massive chumps our first night here. We hopped in a cab and - retards - failed to specify a place, relying on the cab driver to take us somewhere good. Naturally, the best place to go was to the driver's friends' restuarant, also funnily enough the most expensive seafood market in Thailand. Our meal - mud crabs and prawns and bok choy - cost us over 5300 baht! About $180 ozzie dollars. Last night's meal for 6 people at a brand new restaurant only cost us 2000 baht. We still have the shits about the seafood place.

- I saw an elephant walking up and down Sukhumvit (the main drag) last night. He was just cruising around with this Thai guy getting patted by people.

- We looked at apartments all day today. Found an 80s style one near the office called Belair. It's big, 3 bedrooms, furnished with a pool and gym in the complex. We move in on Friday.

- There is AMAZING food every five steps. For someone obsessed with food like me, it makes staying focussed really difficult. There's all the regular Thai stir fries, long sticks of stuff, mushy fruity drinks, fried balls, cola and ice in a bag, soup in a bag, crispy meats, dried fish, waffles, donut things, ghhaghhhgahaghghg...

OK, I have to wrap up now, we're going to the night markets at Saum Lum tonight and Jon's trying to hurry me up. I'll post pictures next time becuase this much text is like WHATEVER, just post something we don't have to read!!!

Sawutdee ka is hello and goodbye, so sawutdee ka.

xx