In 2008, I...

Went surfing at 6am on New Years Day at Manly Beach Sold my queen-sized bed for $2 on eBay Moved to Thailand Holidayed in six different countries: with Angus, Clare and new mates in Thailand, Clare in Malaysia, Clare in Singapore, Em in the UAE, Myself in Cambodia, and the O’Connors & Bells in Australia Went fishing with my old man and caught my first Bream in years Wrote 72 blog posts Caught 20-something flights Got my first grey hair Drove twice Scored two tries in rugby Broke four pairs of sunglasses Gave my old employer six weeks leaving notice to be a good bloke and got screwed for four Ate tarantula and flipped out Ate BBQ’d prawns on the beach and loved it Ate Som Tum (Spicy Thai green papaya salad) and hated it Ate Chili crab in Singapore with Clare and made a mess Was often addressed as “Herro, Massa’a” and heard “Skoomy sirrr, sexy DVD, ping-pong, you want??” at least 500 times Started playing rugby again, and went alright Started playing cricket again, and sucked! Started wakeboarding, and was ‘stoked’ Started drinking ice with my beer Played golf at some of Asia’s best courses Went surfing with Clare on an artificial wave, also being filmed live in Malaysian travel show Went caving in a Thai National Park Was admitted to hospital for a total of 2% of my 2008 Was unemployed for a total of 34% of the year Lost 10% of my body weight Rode a mountain bike 24km across the Northern Thai countryside in 43 degree heat and vomited four times Rode a scooter, an elephant, bamboo raft and a mechanical bull for the first time ever, but not at the same time Lived for more than a month in four different places

Stopped living in the Moodie Street ‘Dog House’ with one of my best mates Visited the middle east for the first time ever Grew a strong affinity for ‘rice with egg’ or Khao Kai Dow, as they say in the business Started using internet on my mobile Probably didn’t keep in contact with my family and friends enough Moved in with Clare Helped prepare my Mum’s rose garden Started paying for my laundry to be washed, dried, ironed and delivered, with the only drawback being that my boardshorts now have dweeby razor-sharp creases ironed down the middle Went to a Thai winery and got pissed Went snorkeling in the Gulf of Thailand Went wind-surfing in the Andaman Sea Went to Thailand’s highest temple and got blessed by a monk Only occasionally saw a sky full of stars Watched Kylie Minogue, live in concert Celebrated my first Christmas away from home Missed all of my family’s birthdays Bought new boots Bought a new mobile phone Bought a new laptop and got connected, baby Bought a new fish, ‘Nit Noi’ Found an amazing tailor Survived Bangkok protests, bombings, fires, an economic downturn and several drinking sessions with my rugby mates Sweated more than the previous five years combined Got pissed in three separate swim-up bars Learned to surf Learned Thai cooking techniques Learned Cambodian cooking techniques Learned a bit of Thai language Learned a bit more about myself Read 18 books Started reading The Economist and love it Supported the pirated DVD trade with the purchase of about 70 new DVDs Enjoyed my first ever ladyboy show (Painfully) enjoyed my first ever Thai massage Fell asleep before midnight again on New Years Eve