Surfing - Day II promised, as sequels tend to, to feature the same characters, to have a derivative storyline and to draw down on the audience's goodwill rather than build on it. And, today was about to deliver on that promise entirely, or so it seemed. Sequels also rend to dump the unpopular characters; fortunately this proved to include the Germans (one may assume because you can't get up early to put your beach towel on a surfboard) and the two scowlier (ye...

No I'm not ill already. A parting shot from good friend and diamond mine owner, Hugh Coghill Smith Esq. was that this might be a once in a lifetime opportunity to grow a beard. Now Hugs doesn't remember my goatee, a few photos of which tragically remain undestroyed, so he doesn't carry the scars that others do. Basically, so the story goes one fine summer's day it turned ginger. This fact still scares me. The experience of having facial hair on members o...

OMG! LOL! LMAO! Etc. Well, not quite. I think we can safely say I am not a natural surfer. After a comfortingly long classroom session, I was left with one smiley Japanese girl, three degrees of scowling Russians, two mute Germans and a 10 year old of unspecified nationality, but ostensibly sponsored by McDonalds, into the glittering waves. Off to one side, locals on dinky little, cool-looking boards darted about, motivating us with raw envy, as we tumbled off ...

A 5-piece Thai band covering the Pogues, Elvis, and Bob Marley in an Irish bar in Indonesia. It's precisely as crap and as loopy and wacky as it sounds. Can it be bettered? Yes it can. How? It's Charity Quiz night too. You could not script it. And now they strike up with BoyZone.

Wow, this photo doesn't do it justice. We were warned that every taxi driver in Bali would try and bring us somewhere else, and weren't disappointed. "It's closed for religious reasons." "It's not Menega you want, but Montega." "I don't know where the one you want is, but...." All of these tried by the same driver, who claimed to know no English! And you get there. And then you see why. The front to the street is unimpressive and indistinguishable from its ne...