Oops. Just realised we officially left England 5 days ago and I haven't actually got round to letting any of you know we survived the flights. Well, obviously we did and we're now staying in Bangkok at my Uncle's apartment. We're having a good time so far and just about getting over the jetlag, still a little disorientated... Ok, well, I'll start at the beginning (usually a good idea). The National Express coach to Heathrow was uneventful, had a brief snooze, checked in early and went for a drink. Once Dave had a fag in one hand and a Corona in the other he relaxed and and started to look forward to going away. The flight to Dubai was 7 hours and pretty boring although not too turbulent and Emirates are pretty damn exciting to fly with: Yummy VEGAN meal (I know you're excited about that), 10 pages of movie channels, video games (solitaire!), email, phone, sms, music channels etc... We landed at Dubai and faffed around looking at all the fancy things (they had Bentleys and BMWs for sale in the airport! Crazy...) and then went for a drink (are we spotting a pattern emerging here?). The beers turned out to be 6 quid each so we settled on water. We then bought some postcards and an Arabic newspaper to prove we have in fact been to Dubai before running to catch our connecting flight. Look, our feet touched the ground, we have Dirhams in our wallets, we saw the Burj Al-Arab (from the plane window), we have postcards, we have been there, dammit. The flight to Bangkok was an experience I never want to repeat. Admittedly, I am a bit of a drama queen at times, but honestly the turbulence was terrifying. The plane was violently shaking, alternately plummeting and soaring, even the air hostesses had to return to their seats and put on their belts, we couldn't go to the toilet either. Dave and I rebelliously got up to go to the loo anyway. Dave was a gentleman and let me go first which he soon regretted because as soon as I had been we were told to return to our seats immediately, poor Dave. Then as we simultaneously reached for our drinks to steady our nerves, the plane did a particularly violent dive and we both chucked them all over ourselves... Dave was wearing a white T-shirt and drinking red wine at the time. I was drinking gin and tonic and threw the lot all down my top, my face, my neck, all in my hair and I nearly choked on the one droplet that actually made it into my mouth. Not fun. Since our arrival in Bangkok after the initial giddy stage of being deliriously happy to be alive, we finally made it to my Uncle's apartment and then showered and got ready to hit the town! Hardcore, us. We didn't pay for a single drink and before we were halfway through one drink a Thai barmaid would arrive with another one for us and literally line them up on the table...I went back reasonably early with two Aussie girls also staying with us in Damo's apartment and Dave went out with my Uncle to chat up "Thai Birds" and get smashed on Samsong (80% Thai whisky) and cokes. Dave came home at about 4:30am, riding through the traffic-laden (?!) streets of Bangkok, pissed as a fart on the back of a motorbike. He crawled in and crashed out on the (2 seater) sofa (he's 6'4), ignoring the bed. He can't have been comfortable, neck at a 45 degree angle squished up against one end of the sofa and long legs dangling over the other end bent awkwardly... We've been getting around on the Bangkok Skytrain which is like the underground only not under ground (it's all in the name, see) and in Tuktuks. Tuktuks are wicked little motorbikey things with 3 wheels and a bench thingy attached in the back, great fun. We've mostly been shopping and sleeping so far and we're off again soon to go and get me a camera! Tomorrow we're going to explore some temples, local markets and go on the River Cruise, should be good. Hope you're all well and enjoying work etc. Mwah ha ha!well if it makes you feel any better at least you're getting some summer sun, it's monsoon season here...ahem, yeah, nice one Jess. Signing off...Jx