Hello and Happy New Year to you all!

Well we are in Thailand now and quite a bit has happened since I last did a blog but i'll try and keep it brief although I do tend to waffle but anyway here goes..

Basically 2009 didnt start too well for me and I wasnt going to put it on my blog but certain people have asked where recent pictures are and so the reason I havent put any on recently is that i got my camera stolen! Not happy. On New Years Eve as well! We were having a brilliant night and went down to Balmain which is just across from the Harbour Bridge and watched the fireworks from there. The fireworks were pretty amazing and I got far too excited! Anyway, at some point during the night, late on, i realised my bag was missing and that was that. Luckily my bag was found the next day with my passport in (I was flying to Singapore the next day!) but my camera and Ipod and Nintendo had gone. Oh the joys of travelling! Anyway, I have tried to forget about it now and am considering getting another camera either in Bangkok or China if they are a good price. I'm a photographer in Asia with no bloody camera - well apart from a little crap fuji one which i HATE! Yes - I am still quite bitter.

Anyway, we said our goodgyes to Oz - I was sad to leave Sydney as we have lived there for so long but its always good to leave a place before it becomes boring. We flew straight to Singapore and spent a few days there seeing the sights and getting used to the Asian culture. We went to Raffles (the big famous hotel) and had 1 of the famous Singapore Slings - just a fancy cocktail really but a nice one. The bill came and it bankrupted us for the rest of our trip. Definately only 1 drink for us that night! Singapore is a very very clean city - loads and loads of shopping malls which we looked around and thats about it really. It was nice to see and I think 3 nights was about right to stay there. Whilst here we tried to master the art of chopsticks (very unsuccesfully) saw the main areas of the city including Chinatown and the famous Merlion monument.

Next we flew to Thailand to meet Helen & Tim. Very exciting! We flew into Phuket and realised that we had missed the last boat over to Koh Phi Phi (where we were meeting them) so we stayed 1 night in Phuket town in an old hostel (its in 'The Beach' film portraying a rubbish run down hostel - we thought it was quite nice).

The next day we got the boat over to Phi Phi and after a while of bartering with the locals we got ourselves a room for 9 nights with ensuite for cheap cheap. We then went to find Helen and Tim and found them on the beach! It was great to see them again after all this time and as soon as we met in was like we had never been away at all! Throughout the week we had with them we did quite a bit - first we hired kayaks and went over to Monkey Bay which was a lovely beach full of little monkeys as the name suggests. The next day we all got taken round the islands in a longboat by 'Ninja'. We liked Ninja. We saw some stunning scenery and went snorkelling near the beach where they film 'The Beach' (Maya Bay) and the amount of fish we saw was crazy! We also had our first go (for me and liz anyway) of Scuba Diving. Tim signed us up to do a free dive in the pool first of all which was cool. At first the whole breathing thing I couldnt get my head around but once I relaxed I really enjoyed it. We did this twice and then the next day all 4 of us went to do a real dive. This was a tad more nerve racking! The first dive started off bad for me as my ears hurt so much going down (me and my ears dont get on quite a lot!) but I kept persisting with it and equalised my ears many many times and soon got to the bottom - only to see Liz float up to the top unable to stop so we all had to go to the top and start again ha! Eventually we all managed to sort the ears and being able to sink problems out and we managed to start swimming around. On the first dive we saw a turtle right next to us. Was great! After lunch we did a second dive and we all got down to the bottom quickly and without much fuss. Although the visibility that day wasnt brilliant we still saw quite a lot and I saw the silhouette of a shark - i think Helen actually saw the shark more clearly but didnt realise that it was actually the size of her! We also didnt realise that we were swimming 13 metres under the sea - we only thought we were going down 5 metres! All in all it was a great experience and the while sensation of being that far under water is so strange and quite unatural. My Ears hurt all night after the dive and they still feel a little bit odd now a few days later!

Other than that we had some really nice evenings on Phi Phi - we made 1 of the cocktail bars our local meet up point and sang along to the classics of Mr Bob Marley - Jammin'! We attempted to party on the full moon night and we got the buckets out (they are everywhere in Thailand) and sat on the beach all drinking from it through straws. We also has 1 particlar special moment where we were all crying with laughter in a restaurant due to something that really wasnt that funny! I think people around us thought we were all on something. Helen & Tim had an amazing room looking over the sea and so we sat on their balcony a couple of nights enjoying a drink taking in the views. We also made full use of their pool (and for the last night made use of their luxury room) - so thanks to you both for that! We travelled in style for 1 week!

We also all had a Thai massage on the beach which was very very relaxing and did a steep walk up to the viewpoint in Phi Phi to see the sun set over the mountains. All in all it was a great week and it went to quickly. It was sad to say bye at the end but its only less than a month til we are home now so not too long really.

Now we are in Koh Samui and back to the world of a traveller. I am now on a strict 10 pounds a day budget as I am scarily nearing the end of my funds. So far I am kind of managing it by reading a lot and going on walks but even though we only paid 4 pounds a night each for accomodation here I think we can still get it cheaper the further north we travel!

Now for the serious part - Mum this is directed at you mainly. Me and Liz have been discussing this (and with Helen and Tim when they were here). Yes its what I care most about - food. In particular - food we miss. I.E. Food we want when we get home haha.

I've narrowed mine down to a few particular meals and am craving and they are Bangers & Mash with Veg & Gravy / Home made meat & potato Pie / A classic Roast Dinner / Some kind of Chicken Casserole with a Baked potato that is actually cooked in the oven rather than Microwave. That is my list. Liz's is fairly similar. I am going to be so sick of rice soon although I have to say the Thai food has been really good generally.

Right, thats it for now - wasnt exactly brief but I do waffle. Im back on the 12th Feb in London, 13th Feb at the Parents and back at work 23rd Feb but will do another blog before then about the rest of Thailand and China!

See you all soon! x