So I headed off from Belfast by coach to Dublin Airport at 15.30. The coach was pretty good, nice comfy seats and only ten people on board although they really need to clean it more often. The tray table and cup holder were pretty grimy to say the least, but hey, for an 8 quid journey I didn't really care.

On arrival at Dublin airport the check in desk for my flight was already open. I already checked in online and printed my boarding pass so I just needed to drop my bag. I was worried that my hand luggage was overweight with the laptop and camera gear in there but they didn't even weigh it. Bonus!! So having got my backpack out of the way I took a walk around the airport terminal and I must say, it's pretty nice! With a few hours to kill I plonked myself on a bar stool, ordered a pint of the black stuff and watched the world go by.

With time ticking on I guessed I should head to the gate or at least get through security. Having flown through Heathrow and Gatwick on all of my trips before I really don't think I will do that again. Dublin airport security was soooooo much better. Very friendly staff, no queue at all and just a much better experience than London airports.

So another pint of the black stuff while watching the planes and airfield activity and it was time to board my flight. I had already chosen my seat online and it was an isle seat at the back of the plane. The plane was an Airbus A330-200 and it was kitted out with all the latest tech. I would normally just sit back and flick through the TV and entertainment but this bus had WIFI!!!!!!! What could be better than talking to your mates whilst flying at 40000 feet over Baghdad. So I had a few beers logged on to the net and didn't even use the in flight entertainment.

Landing at Abu Dhabi airport some 7 hours later and at 7.30am the place was just too busy. This is a nice airport but it really can't handle the amount of passengers it receives. I took a stroll around and it just started to piss me off so I headed to the gate with an hour to go for my next flight. The line at security was pretty big and the other passengers were pretty ignorant to put it politely. Anyway, I boarded my plane which was a Boeing 777-300 and I had a window seat this time. The plane interior was not as modern and neither was the inflight entertainment and no bloody wifi. I tried to just sleep as much as possible on the flight and it was only 5 hours. The food was pretty s*** to be honest and the staff didn't seem to care. I got a cup of tea which consisted off a third of a cup of luke warm brown water and a teabag. I didn't drink that and just tried to sleep more.

Landing time at Bangkok and the heat hits as soon as the open the plane doors. Great!! Headed straight to immigration and normally the queue here is huge and takes ages but this time I was through in 5 minutes. I couldn't believe it, I've never been through that fast before. Grabbed my bag which took about 10 minutes and headed downstairs to look for the AIS desk. Got myself a sim card and loaded it up with internet access for a month and I was set to go.

After thinking about whether to get a taxi or the train I opted for the train, mainly cause I couldn't be bothered sitting in Bangkok traffic. Train took about 25 minutes to the city centre then I hopped onto the Skytrain and headed for Nana station. I had to walk for about 7 minutes to reach my hotel and by the time I got there i was soaking with sweat. "Welcome to Bangkok", I thought to myself.

Checked in to the hotel at about 7.30pm and got a free upgrade to a suite. Awesome!! Showered, cleaned, relaxed, cracked a beer and sat down.