Dim Prospect of Success

Week 43: 11/02/2013-17/02/2013

I caught up with Z twice this week, firstly for a cheeky beer in Backyard (live music every night) and secondly for a Valentine's Day dinner in a mamak somewhere in Sri Hartamas. Dinner total RM33.50, paid for by Z!! Cheapest Valentine's outing ever!

Yee Sang - tossing raw fish and vegetables with chopsticks whilst making wishes about the future "Prosperity! World Peace!" Thanks Wajih. 

On Tuesday I experienced my first Yee Sang (salad tossing) for Chinese New Year. A bunch of us made the trip to Cheras and Jags showed us how to celebrate in style. After food, we congregated on a street corner to send some lanterns, laden with our hopes and dreams for 2013, into the night sky. After a few abortive launches and some excess flames, we finally launched our fleet (although one did end up in someone's front garden!!)

"Prosperity! World Peace!" Thanks Wajih.

At Tom's belated pancake day celebrations on Friday evening I had this gem of a conversation.
- Hot Girl: "I used to date a guy who looked like me"
- Me: "Wow. That must have been really weird."
- Hot Girl: [pulls disgusted face] "Ugh! No way! He was beaut-i-ful!!"

Slave Driver Jags after making me get up at 5am. Grrrrrr.

Saturday was an early start, as Jags forced me to join her on a hike up Bukit Kutu. Not being a morning person I spent the hour's drive north cursing her over my (Chicken) Sausage & Egg McMuffin. The hike itself was good, a nice group of people and rewarding views from the summit. It was great too to meet a fellow (really) white man, Ginger Seth. After some "gweilo" banter with a restauranteur, we had a hilarious innuendo fueled drive home. I wrapped up Saturday with a trip to Jalan Alor with Dylan.

Oh, Happy Hokkien New Year to you too. Not only is this fortune less than inspiring, the late night fireworks were also a distraction.

Still in the new year spirit of CNY Gemma, Becky and myself took a mini road trip, in Sunny D, to Thean Hou Temple, decked out in all its lantern glory. I had the misfortune to get my fortune for the year of the snake.... Luckily I don't believe in that mumbojumbo.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Week 42: 04/02/2013-10/02/2013

The week got off to a bad start when I had to abandon my Monday morning (Super Bowl Sunday!!) to attend a meeting instead…. talk about inappropriate work life balance! I managed to avoid the score all day, and after dinner with Pip and Charlie watched the full game on GamePass. Go Ravens! Great game.

Zeat Bar with Jags, Carol, Nasch and Rahul.

During the week I caught up with Elke (nice pool), hit Taps and Jalan Alor with Dylan and Cory and ended the week having a quiet dinner with Lianne at Hakka Republic (“Sorry, no desert, we’re cleaning the kitchen”). My early Friday night got waylaid by a trip to the Zeta Bar with Rahul, Jags, Carol, Nasch and Elke.  Great to see some live music, not so great to over indulge in vodka though. My slow Saturday was punctuated by a great catch up on Skype with Nige.

The worst interviewer ever (TV), me and a lion, Wajih interviewed (paper)

On Sunday, in the search for an authentic Chinese New Year experience I join Jags and a few others to attend a CNY Open House. After a horrendously early start, under clear blue skies, we ended up at a government sponsored event which was closer to a political rally than a CNY celebration. Most in attendance were only there for the free food though. 

High Pole Lion Dancing in KLCC

Being some of the few foreigners in attendance we ended up getting interview for tv and newspapers and photographed by professionals and amateurs alike. 

In the afternoon we caught some High Pole Lion Dancing at KLCC. I’m not quite sure how authentic my CNY experience was, but I received plenty of free oranges and even got my first ang pau. 

 

Beer and Temples

Week 41: 28/01/2013-03/02/2013

Monday, a public holiday, was the last day of my family’s visit. The highlight being one final foray into the Royal Selangor shop, with my sister treating the place like Supermarket Sweep. I think my dad was concerned with who was actually going to have to carry the eclectic mix of pewter items  home. We caught a bit of sunset from Skybar, before I packed them off to the airport. I have to say it was all little bit more emotional than I was expecting. Thanks for coming folks, love you guys! See you soon.xx 

 

Chiang Mai buddies: Aimee, Beer, Some Ginger Bloke

Wednesday saw a re-emergence of normality when I met Cory and Nick for a beer. After Cory shot off for some errands, Nick and I venture to Meng Kee Grill on Jalan Alor, the scientifically tested and proven best eatery on the road. Nick was greeted like an old friend by the owner Elaine. Slightly less surprising was Nick getting recognised by the head waitress in Havana. Anytime you stay in a place until closing 4 nights in a row, you’re going to get known!!

Friday morning I jetted off to Chiang Mai, Thailand for a long weekend with Dylan and Aimee. The early start meant that we were in the town by 9am. The highlights:

Its a Bus. Its a Bar. Its in Chiang Mai

Friday

• Wandering the quiet streets and picking at street food, admiring temples and drinking beers.
• Enjoying the lovely weather and chilled environment
• Losing my wallet and not noticing for an hour, only to find out that Aimee had picked it up (she let me have it back waaaay too quickly!!)
• Aimee taking photos of a school playground, nice bush, a tree. 
• Bus Bar!
• The Riverside, ace Thai foor and a gorgeous sunset

Fun times in the jungle: Being kitted out by LadyBoy, Team Ziplining, Sexy hat gear.

Saturday

• Zipling in the jungle, including getting kitted up by “LadyBoy”! 
• Great food and views over the tree tops.
• The horribly bumpy ride home.
• Hiding under a fruit stall at a night market drinking beers waiting for the rain to stop
• Seeing Aimee contribute to the flooded food court by throwing a full bottle of beer on the floor. 
• Bartering for a fake Rolex (got a good price)    

 

The Visit

Week 40: 21/01/2013-27/01/2013

My visiting family kindly pointed out the following things about my adopted home city, which I hadn’t actually noticed in the 10 months I’ve lived in Kuala Lumpur:

1. It’s too hot
2. The traffic is awful
3. It’s too humid
4. The service is awful
5. It’s too hot
6. The tea is awful
7. It’s too rainy
8. The driving is awful
9. It’s too hot
10. The toilets are awful
11. It’s too hot

Oh, and something else they mentioned was that it is too hot. That aside I think they quite liked it. I left them to their own devices on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday we headed up to Penang to stay in Georgetown. We had a tour of Suffolk House, a trip up the funicular railway to Penang Hill, a bit of a stroll around town and a visit to Cornwallis Fort. My birthday dinner in the Eastern Oriental Hotel, however, was incredibly disappointing. Despite the grand surroundings the food was average and the service poor.

Zoe with a cannon on Penang Hill

Thursday evening Zoe and I went out for a drink with Choi and her friends at Havanas.

Saturday we took a trip to the Royal Selangor Factory (after I'd been rescued from an addicental lie in (awoken from a nightmare about karaoke)). We had a go at making stuff out of pewter, which was great fun. Saturday evening we saw a bit of high pole Lion Dancing in the run up to Chinese New Year, which was incredible.

Birthday in Penang.

Sunday we headed to the National Monument which was quite impressive, followed by a quick tour of Central Market and Chinatown on a last minute souvenir run (thanks to Gemma for the tips on where to take mums!!).

The Westwoods in front of the Petronas Towers

A hectic, and at times stressful week, but great to see my lovely family and show them some of the places I frequent in Kuala Lumpur. 

Trippple Trouble!

Week 39: 14/01/2013-20/01/2013

So, KL village is alive and kicking!! The longer you spend somewhere I guess it is inevitable that personal politics start playing a larger part in life. The happy and harmonious social community I entered into back in May does not look quite the same these days.

It was good to start the week with Dylan watching more NFL Playoffs and eating KFC, sometimes its the simplest things which make me happy. Wednesday was a spicy trip to Internations (great venue at Twenty One Tables and Terrace). Thursday night was Elke's birthday celebrations at Lianne's pool. Lovely evening for beers by the pool..... although not everyone seemed to quite get the Roxanne drinking game!

Birthday Girl Little Elke

I managed to find time to say goodbye to Steffie, with a little help from our friend The Captain. A slightly unexpected, but fun night out. Good luck Steffie.

Another German leaves town :-( Jags, me, Steffie, Carol..... The Captain just out of shot.

The BIGGEST news of the week though was the arrival of my family in Kuala Lumpur!! My mum, dad and sister Zoe arrived on Friday morning. By the time I caught up with them in the evening, they were slightly tired from the travel and certainly worn out from the heat. We took a stroll to nearby Souled Out and encountered all of the best that KL has to offer..... blocked footways, dangerous road crossing maneuvers, tripped over a tram lying in the shadows, bumped into a dangerously placed advertising flag and, of course it was raining. Family less than impressed!

Wing Commander MP Westwood OBE re-united with Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer

On Saturday we had a stroll round KL. Sunday we ventured out to Sungei Besi to the Royal Malaysian Air Force Museum. Well worth a visit if you have any interest in planes as its free to get in. My dad was particularly pleased to see the Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer, which he had seen in a different museum last time he was in KL in 1976!!

Sunday evening I finally took a trip up the Petronas Towers. We were hoping to see a glorious sunset, but it was a bit too overcast for that. Great views across the city though.

Work. Life. Balance.

Week 38: 7/01/2013-13/01/2013

I had my annual review with my boss, which in general was pretty positive. One question remains... where do I want my career to go? It's no longer acceptable to just deliver work put in front of you, time to take some direction! As an aside my boss suggested I might like to make some lifestyle changes........

Must. Work. Harder

In other news, headed to the Sky Bar for some beers with Becky and her her visiting friends, hit Jalan Alor with Dylan, Aimee and Zainab before meeting up with Mita on her birthday.

Sky Bar

Sunday was a day of sport, popping round to Dylan's in the morning to watch the NFL playoffs, with endless coffee and some of Dylan's home cooked banana pancakes... lush. In the evening I watched the snorefest of Man U v Liverpool with Lianne at Arther's Bar and Grill, possibly the poshest sports bar I've ever been in.

Championship New Year

Week 37: 31/12/2012 - 6/01/2013

My year ended in the best way possible.... I was crowned Champion of the Aztecs Fantasy Football League, as Dom-int0rs Deathmen scored a hard fought, but ultimately comfortable victory over Ickey Shuffle.

For New Years Eve I joined Marcello and Choi in G Tower's View Bar. It was a vibrant party, and although we couldn't see the KLCC fireworks, the View Bar had their own display which was pretty good. The only concerning thing was at 23:55 two fully kitted out firemen arrived to observe the display... I didn't know whether to feel reassured or scared. I identified the nearest fire exit anyway....

Smash Up! Marcello, Colin and me, making up for Jack's absence by loosening a button or two.

I had a chilled out New Years Day, rounded off with great dinner at Rahul's place, with Steffie, Jags and Carolina. Some lush homemade curry accompanied by an eclectic selection of wines (I'm still convinced that "Rose"was sherry!).

Standard dinner........

I kicked off the weekend of much food and drink with a trip to Ciccio with Nick and Tom. Saturday afternoon was spent baby sitting Lianne, obviously jet lagged from her 36 hour flight back from Barbados: Her ear ring randomly pinged off her ear, she "accidentally" threw an empty bottle at an adjacent diner, and then managed empty the content of her hand bag over the floor of a shop. It was all I could do to prevent her opening the lid of a vat of soup with her umbrella handle... that would surely have ended in disaster!

Caution: May not always appear this smart and sophisticated

Saturday evening I helped Paul celebrate his Best Dressed Man in KL Status, by drinking loads of free beer. Met some new faces, saw some old faces, and had some incredibly random conversations ("I'm going to act out my name....", "Did you say 'arse first, ask second', or vice versa?"), and a whole lot of fun.

Sunday I went from lunch with Elke and her friends straight to the outer depth of society with a trip to ..... erm..... somewhere a long long way away for some dinner with Gemma and her friends. If anyone needs an encyclopedic knowledge of the best toilets in KL..... Gemma is your gal!!

Bangkok Christmas

Week 36: 24/12/2012 - 30/12/2012

Christmas Eve Nick, Sarah and I walked a lot. We spent a few hours in the spectacular Grand Palace then headed for Golden Mount which had pretty good views over the city. Then in need of some food we thought we'd get a taxi to Chinatown... no such luck. No one wanted to drive that way. So we walked. It took us a while. Bangkok Chinatown is serious. It makes "Chinatown" KL look like silly.The good thing about the walk was seeing more of Bangkok. It definitely feels like a city going about its business and as a tourist you are on the outside looking in. It is definitely easier to feel integrated into the city in KL and HK.

I'm soooooo Asian, people were actually talking to me in Thai because they thought I was local. Fact.

In the evening, after eating two meals within 2 hours of each other, we ended up having a few beers with some random locals. Cue my first Christmas Day hangover!!

Christmas Day was fun but strange. I missed home and my family, but it was nice to wake up to a sunny 30 degrees, grabbing a Thai Massage (a serious one, not a "fun" one) and then heading out for Christmas Dinner at Nick's Dad's friends house. Turkey, Ham all the trimmings. It was good.

Nice job on the photography there Mr Shelley......

Christmas Day evening I played a film quiz game with Nick's family. It was very entertaining... the average answer was Robert Di Nero, The Love Interest, Some Like It Hot..... well it was every time we didn't know the answer.

At 4am Boxing Day I was up to fly back to KL, in work for 10:45. Christmas over too soon.

Saturday I caught up with Taliban, Marshmallow and Chorizo in Pinchos..... Main topic of converstion KL Village. Don't be naughty people, because the whole city will find out eventually! My quiet evening out was hijacked by Chorizo and her habit of buying shots.....

So, thanks to Chorizo, and her Baby Guinness, my quiet Saturday night ended in the wee small hours with a standard Smash Up!!

Sunday I took a leisurely trip to Pulau Ketam, an island off the coast by Port Klang famous for its houses on wooden stilts and its crab restaurants. As delicious as the food was, having to shell all my food before eating it was annoying. Proving that delicious things can be a massive pain in the arse!!

Hello Spartacus

Week 35: 17/12/2012 - 23/12/2012

My Company Annual dinner was held at Shogun in Mont Kiara. The Japanese buffet had plenty of variety, enough to keep most punters happy. What kept me there for the whole evening was the free flow of beer, sake and wine!! Ended up talking nonsense with bosses and their wives over pints of Leffe.... good career move? I'll keep you posted!

My plan for Christmas was to meet my school friend Nick in Bangkok. I arrived in Bangkok a day and half before him and his family, so I had some time to myself. Saturday evening I headed to Sukhumvit Road for some dinner at Condoms and Cabbages, which was really nice, and profits go to helping rural communities in Thailand.

Juice bar in Chatuchak Market

I then decided to walk to Patpong, which on a map doesn't look that far away. I think it took me about an hour, so by the time I got there I was pretty clammy! I didn't dare venture into any of the establishments offering Adult Entertainment, for fear of my own safety! I did nearly by a fake Rolex though!

Sunday I headed for Chatuchak Market, which was crazy. Such tiny alleyways, such a load of random stuff, such a lot of people. I ate some amazing pork, drank some fresh fresh fruit juice and bought a Chang Beer T-Shirt.

Yes, well done boss, you got me. The Tailors and Jewelers were lovely!

After that I headed for Wat Pho to see the giant reclining budda. Despite warnings from my friend Tabby I ended up being kidnapped by a tuk-tuk driver and shown round some lovely tailors and jewelers, all for BHT 30 (60p)..... after escaping from him, I made it to Wat Pho as the sun was setting which was lovely.

Sunset behind Wat Arun across the Chao Phraya River.

Sunday evening Nick and Sarah arrived. Its always great to see an old buddy round the other side of the world. We went out with his mum and dad and sister Emma for dinner and a few beers which was lovely.

Penang

Week 34: 10/12/2012 - 16/12/2012

Dylan and I headed to Penang for the weekend in search of food and beer. Our Air Asia Chief Steward gave a hilarious safety briefing kicking off with:

"At Air Asia we take safety very seriously, we take YOUR safety very seriously. See. Look at the faces of the cabin crew. Soooooooo serious." 

First time I've listened to a safety announcement for a while.  

Beer and Food in CF Food Court

Due to booking late we ended up in a zero star motel. Our tiny room consisted of a double bed and a matress on the floor with a toilet in the corner barely enclosed with saloon doors. At least the air con worked. 

Friday evening we hit CF Food Court for some food and a few beers. It doesn't always pay to ask the locals where to drink, as afterwards we ended up at the weirdness of Bliss.... RM10 for a girl to talk to you... really?! We headed to Slippery Senoritas, which was entertaining. Unfortunately we switched to Whiskey and Coke which did not fit into the beer and food plan!

A dragon

We spent most of Saturday wandering the streets of Georgetown. We had a pretty good lunch at Sky Cafe (Chulia St), popped into Khoo Kongsi, visited the Clan Jetties of Penang, wandered past Fort Cornwallis, and then found a place for a couple of beer during the afternoon rain. My flip-flop broke as I crossed the road and I nearly got run over by a bus rescuing it!

We had dinner at the bustling hawker strip of Gurney Drive. All sorts of awesome food on offer, including Penang Koay Teow. You can definitely see the Chinese influence in the region. We headed up the road to Precinct 10 for our evenings entertainment. 

Some Ginger bloke

Sunday morning we managed to merge breakfast and lunch by moving straight from finishing Dim Sum at midday to ordering food at Restoran Kapitan 12:30! Kapitan was probably the best meal of our trip.

Secret Fong Wah

Week 33: 3/12/2012 - 9/12/2012

Hong Kong again? Why not, eh?

Friday: Isla, Fredel, Chris, Cicada, The Hennessy, Wan Chai.

Things I found out:

Chris Jack writes provocative messages on the Institution of Civil Engineer's message boards even though he's a Geologist.
Chris Jack rates irritating thing using Royal Mail Rubber Bands as a basis. ie... "That's Rubber Band Squared!"
Chris Jack can moan about anything (I already knew this).

Errrr, Fred? This isn't Cheung Chau.......

Saturday: Sneaked into Hong Kong Football Club for buffet lunch with Isla and Fredel.... then spent the evening at a Secret Santa BBQ at The Yacht Club courtesy of Fredel. Its good to have friends in high places.

Argh! Its a Lion riding a bicycle!!

Sunday: Awesome Dim Sum at City Hall, then a trip to Cheung Chau.... which actually turned out to be Peng Chau! We had a lot of fun riding a bicycle around followed up by some well earned sangria.

Christmas Punch

Week 32: 26/11/2012 - 2/12/2012

After a trip to the driving range with Charlie, we ended up in Bangsar police station, which suprisingly had nothing to do with the fact that I'd sliced about 30 balls over the safety net into the adjacent car park. Just a minor taxi accident requiring a statement. 

Charlie in Bangsar Police Station after we got shunted in a taxi

On Thursday I got a invite, quite randomly to the South Africa Ambassador's Cocktail Party, involving free wine and food. I made the most of it, which on a school night was not all that smart. I arrived into work 2 hours late on Friday!

Listening to the SA Ambassador's speech. Funny funny guy.

On Saturday I hosted my annual Mulled Wine event, in a completely different environment to Southville! It was supposed to be a pool party, but due to torrential rain from 3pm until 7pm, most time was spent huddling in the Gazebo (my condo bar).

Soooooo mature!

Good things about the Party:

1. People came, despite the weather
2. Pigs in blankets
3. Cheese and Pinaple on a stick (that's Christmas right?!)
4. Banter
5. Beer
6. Christmas punch (aka Mulled Wine)
7. Mince Pies
8. Bikinis

Bad things about the Party

1. Rain.
2. Tequila shots (Grrrrr..... Choi!!)
3. Mulled Wine (which was bascially wine punch, bits of jelly and ice cubes floating in it)
4. Trying to keep the bar staff from putting ice in the "mulled wine"
5. Being mercilessly mocked for the cheese and pinaple on a stick
6. Left over mince pies
7. Lack of Christmas jumpers
8. Sunday

Kareoke. Is. Fun?!

Week 31: 19/11/2012 - 25/11/2012

Having disrupted my in flight sleep, I ended up feeling a little jet lagged, so I had a quiet week. I did make some time to finally start painting my canvas.... Will it ever be finished... nobody knows.

Time for some whiskey......

On Friday evening I got invited out with the people I was supposed to have gone to Myanmar with (Zainab, Cory and Dylan), including my last minute replacement (Aimee). It was great to see everyone, but I couldn't help but feel a little left out of the holiday banter!! Any evening which ends up hanging out drinking whiskey and listening to rock is a great night in my book. Thanks for the invite Aimee!

Uke by the pool

Saturday the weather was beautiful, and after hanging out in Bangsar for a bit of lunch and a coffee, a bunch of us (spontaneously?!!!) headed back to my condo to hang out by the pool. It was lovely, kicking back and enjoying the sunshine.... until I noticed that I had no idea what anyone was saying..... I was surrounded by 3 Germans and 3 Austrians. I felt invaded!! After a few beers we headed for a bit of ten pin bowling. For a "relaxing" evening it all got a little bit intense. I nearly lost a shoe too!!

In order of appearance: Brunch, Baby Guinness, Jagermeisterbombs, jovial people, Odd Job, Dance floor clearing, photoshop.

Sunday was a champagne buffet brunch at the Intercontinental. Great to catch up with Marcello & Choi, Gavin & Ann-Marie and Becky, and meet Kev and ChrisTina. Civilized lunch rolled into afternoon drinking, shots, beer mat flipping, ball room dancing and then, obviously, Karaoke. A fun filled day, full of random conversations and silliness.

Farewell Blighty

Week 30: 12/11/2012 - 18/11/2012

As a bit of Thanks For Having Me I took my surrogate house mates, Juts, Susie and Dave, out for dinner. The usually family friendly atmosphere at Grounded was slightly disrupted, firstly when the waitress spotted me finishing my gravy with a straw (no spoons available), and then heard me saying "The whole fist Dave, the WHOLE fist!" whilst shaking my fist at Dave. Needless to say it was taken completely out of context.

Tuesday my big sister, Zoe, took me out for dinner at Raymond Blanc, which was great. The food was awesome, and we rounded it off with a couple of glasses of port.... which nearly came to the same price as the food!

Who wants to get the last tube home anyway??

Wednesday evening I was treated to Chris and Gemma's honeymoon photos..... all 1300 of them!!! I tried some of the chocolate that they had made too, very different from the Cadbury's.

Thursday I said my goodbyes in the Bristol Office, and then headed to Big London for the evening. Great to catch up with Briana & Mike, Nige, Howard, Tricky  Dicky and..... [drum roll please] Keke (couldn't avoid me forever!!). We headed to Vapiano, a kind of self service Italian restaurant, which was good fun. Some sensible people went home after dinner.... Three of us headed on to The Market Place (Howard's blog here) for a few more cheeky beers.

My flight back to KL was uneventful. I hardly slept at all as I was up and down so often... gotta keep moving.

50% German speakers...... Maybe I should learn. ACHTUNG!!!

Sunday evening I headed out with Lianne and Elke to the Sky Bar.... its nice to be back.

Dating Dave

Week 29: 5/11/2012 - 11/11/2012

Monday night was Bonfire Night, and Jutto provided some pre-dinner entertainment by setting off some rockets and volcanoes and other assorted things that go bang, whizz and pop in the back garden. I don't think I have ever been that close to fireworks in my life! The post dinner jaunt to the Hen and Chicken with Juts and Susie was great. A brisk walk in the crisp cold air followed by a couple pints of mulled cider. Sweet!

Tuesday was a chance to catch up with Carys in The Old Bookshop, a great venue for food, beer and music. Wednesday night I was back there again, this time catching up with Martin, who never fails to impart his invaluable pearls of wisdom.

Patience Young Grasshopper!

The remainder of the week seemed to be dedicated to Dave. Thursday night, after a trip to the pub with Goss, Lake, Sobers, Mark, RoRo and Nerea, Dave and I made our way home, taking in food and beer in 5 different establishments (6 if you include Lickin' Chicken!). Friday night Dave and I ended up in Thai Garden for a candle lit (chicken) dinner for two, followed by a quiet night in with a film..... and Saturday evening Dave cooked me (chicken) dinner before we settled down for another film. They were both really manly films though.

I had been supposed to be flying from KL to Shanghai on Saturday morning, but instead I met Chris and Gemma, freshly returned  from Honey Moon for brunch on North St.  Not quite the same, but fun none the less.

These people have got a lot to answer for! My lovely family.

On Sunday I said goodbye to mum and dad over lunch. Won't see them again until January. Time will fly! Thanks for everything folks :-)

Bonus Catch Ups

Week 28: 29/10/2012 - 4/11/2012

This week's to do list:

1. Find some work
2. Catch up with as many people as possible

Task one was completed on Monday when a colleague of mine off loaded some report writing on me. Great to feel useful, not so great to be Nerea's Peon!

Task two also fell conveniently into place. Tuesday I headed to Bath to catch up with John, and although his circumstances are considerably different to mine (married, daughter, quiet nights in) I always feel slightly more enlightened with life after talking to him.

Just like I've never been away

Wednesday was a double treat as I had a surprise lunch with my cousin Laura, who I haven't seen for two years. A lot has changed for both of us since then, so there was plenty to discuss! The evening was a cheeky beer with Nick... Hatching plans for Christmas in Bangkok.

My walk to work, enjoying the fresh dry air

Thursday was a little Aztecs gathering, with JonE, and my old house mate Pedro making the effort to get over the Bristol to join Tank and Griff in Grounded. Really great to see the guys and talk football. Pedro even managed to avoid violating me, which is pretty unusual. Absence definitely makes the heart grow fonder.

The weekend was back home for more of mothers home cooking and TLC.

Stanley Street South

Week 27: 22/10/2012 - 28/10/2012

I have stayed with many friends over the years all over the world, in varying degrees of comfort. I never imagined that I would be looking for a place to crash in my home town of Bristol. Luckily enough for me, my old friend Jutto had just evicted a housemate so that he could have a spare room, and he very kindly offered it to me for as long as I needed it.

Home Sweet Home

So I've practically moved in with Jutto, his fiancee Susie and their pet Dave. All of us are former or current colleagues going back a few years, so its great to be able to hang out with them. They have really made me feel at home, and the fact that Susie cooks for me most evenings is great. Even when we went round to the Weeks's house for dinner Susie cooked!!

I spent the week in and out of my office trying sort out my tricky situation, dealing with HR, insurance companies, doctors, and trying to be useful to my company. It was a frustrating few days, culminating in me needing to cancel my forthcoming weekend in Myanmar and my week in China.

My big sis, driving me home

Silver lining to the cloud, more of mothers home cooking and a chilled out weekend at home. I think my mum was pretty please to have me around for a little while longer. I took my dad and sister to see Skyfall too, which was excellent, although I'm not sure its the Best Bond Ever. My sister provided a willing taxi service for the weekend too, with plenty of snacks. Thanks Zoe!!

The Best(ish) Man

Week 26: 15/10/2012 - 21/10/2012

The week provided a chance to catch up with family and friends. It was particularly good to catch up with Al and BC in Oxford. The Bristol crew also provided an entertaining evening out. 

Me and The BC

Preparations for this weeks wedding however were slightly hampered by me getting diagnosed with DVT. The NHS really came through though, from GP consultation through to diagnosis and treatment was about 24 hours…. The only little problem was that I was still in hospital 90 minutes before the wedding! So having abandoned Chris to get ready by himself, I finally arrived at church in Saltford 10 minutes before the service started.

Chris and Gemma

The service was beautiful and I managed to discharge my duties without the gorgeous bride Gemma suspecting a thing. I missed out on canapés and mingling at the reception as I frantically made phone calls round the world to try to deal with the situation.

With that out of the way I was able to enjoy the wedding breakfast. The speeches were all great (36 minutes, £10 winnings). I think it was fitting for Chris and Gemma that tea got mentioned at least 5 times in the 3 speeches. Chris speech was the most emotional wedding speech I’ve ever heard! It was a tough act to follow, but a real privileged to be able to give my little insight into the happy couple's relationship.

Me with Gemma, and rocking the air guitar with Chris

It was a great evening, Rocker Covers were a great band, followed by a disco with enough rock tunes for me to bust out my air guitar. The only drawback to the evening was repeatedly explaining my slightly embarrassing predicament to everyone.

A fantastic wedding, and so great see two people I know so well celebrating the start of their married life.

Anyway, the day following the wedding I was advised by doctors not to fly for 4 weeks, thus cancelling my return to Malaysia the next day, and cancelling my planned trips to Myanmar and China. Gutted….. but alive!

Dinner with uni mates...................................................................Carys and Beth undertaking the Double After 8 Challenge

So it was great to be around friends that evening, with Abi, Dunc and Hannah, Rich and Claire, Beth and Carys showing some compassion.... and Si just laughing at me for having an "old lady's disease"!!! The After 8 game was as fun ever. Great to see you guys!

So, there you are kids….DVT is for real, please take precautions.