Joel: My birthday weekend was absolutely superb. I had been expecting to return to the Wendy House guest house in Siam square only to discover that Rakhi had secretly booked us into the Royal Orchid Sheriton on the riverside. The views from the 25th floor were fantastic and it was a great base from which to begin to explore the world of Bangkok.

We were able to leave school early on Friday (things like this are no problem here) and were in central Bangkok by quarter to six. The minibus was far more comfortable than the train was coming here so we'll definitely be using it again. We took it fairly easy on Friday night, just picked up some school attire and had dinner, and began our adventuring early on Saturday with a boat trip along the river. We decided to visit some of the sights first thing to avoid crowds so headed up to the Grand Palace. Just around the corner from the main entrance, we only stopped for a second to look quickly at our map before being approached by a super friendly tuk-tuk driver who fed us one of the old tricks I'd read about. Apparently the Grand Palace was closed for "Buddha Day" and what we really wanted to see was a temple on the other side of town. Yeah right. The oldest one in the book. Still, he must get some people.

The grand palace is pretty spectacular. There are just so many beautiful ornate buildings in such a small area. The Temple of the Emerald Buddha has to be the least tranquil of the temples I've visited but still the design and the detail are amazing. We also visite Wat Pho, the Temple of the (huge) Reclining Buddha and that was also pretty impressive. Then, since we were in the area, we decided to head up to the Kao San Road, the centre of Backpackerland, to see if it was as awful as it's made out to be. To be fair, it probably wasn't, but then we weren't there at two in the morning when the dance tunes are pumping and battered people are spilling out of the many bars. Thankfully. But it definitely does seem more western than anywhere else I've been to in the last twelve months and I suppose it might be useful for some things. We'll probably give it a wide berth from now on though.

In the afternoon, the sun appeared so we decided to head back to the hotel and chill out in the pool. It's not very often I get to stay in such a swanky place so I wanted to make the most of it.
The pool had one of those bars in the centre that you have to swim to and we spend a couple of hours just taking it easy before the start of the hotel's surely unmissable cocktail happy hour at 5:30 high up on the 26th floor. I warned Rakhi that a happy hour today means many unhappy hours tomorrow but we couldn't miss the opportunity to make our way through the hotel's cocktail menu. The happy hour turned out to be about two hours and I think we left at the right time to be sure we could make it to the restaurant.

We ate outside on the veranda of a cool little place called "Eat Me". The food and wine were top quality and, even better, Rakhi picked up the bill. Then, after briefly getting lost and negotiating a particularly seedy red-light area called Soi Cowboy, we eventually found club Glow, just off Sukhumvit. It was a techno night by the name of "Electro EFX" and although the presence of scantily clad dancers caused Rakhi early on to suggest it was the worst club she'd ever been to, I though the music was spot on and, as it got busier, the small good-natured crowd created a pretty good atmosphere. I'd have much rather been there than one of the big superclubs or porny go-go bars.

Back at the hotel, I somehow managed to arrange for room service to bring us breakfast in bed and a knock at the door woke us both up. It was a great start to a day in which we wandered around Chatuchak Market (absolutely immense) and picked up some nice things to brighten up our house. By mid-afternoon we were pretty shattered and Rakhi slept most of the way home. All-in-all it was a top birthday present. Thanks Rakhi.

Updates on our life in Takhli:

We still don't know our address - I don't know why it's so difficult to get it.

We're waiting to hear about getting broadband - apparently someone has it on our street so it should be possible. Out in the sticks where we are, it would nice to feel a bit more in touch with the world.

We've starting looking for a motorbike. It seems like the only possible way to get around without getting drenched in sweat from peddling.

I might be asked to referee a football tournament at school. I've always thought you have to be a bit psychotic to want to referee a football match, but I do so maybe I am!

Every single meal I've eaten here has been absolutly incredible. Thai food rocks.

The scorpions here aren't deadly. A sting from one of them is poisonous but only on a par with a bee sting. Pheewww!