It's all happening

God bless budget airlines. Over the next five weekends, I certainly won’t be doing anything for the global push to reduce greenhouse gases emissions:

18-19 July (this weekend): Flying to Phuket with Clare, not to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and KRudd who are there for the ASEAN summit, but to hang out with some friends from Bangkok and Singapore. On the agenda is a bit of beach cricket, maybe see if we can find a place to watch the rugby, and a couple of beers.

25-26 July: Flying to Saigon on a 1-game weekend rugby tour, playing and meeting up with a few of the blokes from the Saigon Geckos.

31 July – 2 August: I’ll be flying down to Singapore to meet my mate Dave as he travels back to Australia from a UK business trip. It’s also his birthday on the Monday, so will see if we can arrange a bit of festive action for him somewhere…

8-9 August: I’ll be staying in Bangers, meeting up with my mate Al who’s coming to stay with Clare and I. The Wallabies play the Boks that weekend, so will be watching it in between showing Al the finer points of Bangkok.

14-16 August: Flying to Chiang Rai for the weekend with Clare. Chiang Rai is tucked right up the top of Thailand – there we might go on a day jungle trek (if I can convince Clare), likely do some market shopping (if Clare can convince me) and enjoy each other’s company for the long weekend alongside some good grub and wine.

I feel very fortunate!! So will hopefully have a few more interesting blog posts to throw up over the next month or so…watch this space!

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

Singapore Zoo & Botanic Gardens

I was thrilled when Clare agreed to join me in Singapore for the weekend. We decided to focus on visiting places very unlike Bangkok...the Singapore Zoo and the Botanic Garden's were full of greenery and placid, quiet places to relax. A nice antidote to the sensory overload we experience each day.

Here's a few snaps:

At the start of the Singapore Zoo circuit. The zoo itself was extremely well laid out and provided easy, close access to many of the animals.

A 'front row' of rhinos. I couldn't decide whether the rhinos or polar bears were my favourites for the day. The polar bears were a real highlight as I'd never seen any before, but the rhinos, well, I feel for them. I understand what it's like to have short stumpy legs, cankles and a big ass. Note the small bird.

Zebras are like the rockstars of Africa. Flamboyant, fast and just very, very cool.

After working in health PR, this is a lesson of what NOT to do.
DO support programs like the zoo is doing. DON'T name a giraffe after your product, as Abbott have done. More pure CSR, less focus on ROI. When will companies finally get it??

A visibly majestic animal. Kind of smelt though.

Clare laments as the crime scene is sealed off.

Me a little earlier at the Botanic Gardens. The Heliconias were excellent - reminded us of Kuala Lumpur.

Steve 1, Crab 0

Chilli crab - Singaporeans reckon it's a cracking dish, one not to miss whilst visiting their fair city.

And as they say, when in Rome...

Clare and I stumbled upon a very-Chinese Chinese restaurant...the kind where the local mafia might enjoy a bowl of fried rice. They even had private rooms fitted with karaoke machines. Very cool. Nice cover.

After ordering, I went to the live seafood 'salad bar'...there you get to choose the species and size of animal fit for your fry. I chose a 1kg Canada White crab.

There's no dainty way to eat crab, you've just got to hook right in. For those singles out there, a terrific 1st date icebreaker...

So Clare and I cracked, sucked and slurped our way through every delicious claw and leg.

What an experience!

What a mess!!!

Ah, the joys of being further up the food chain.

Hello Singapore!

I'm in Singapore - here for a bit of business and to sort out a few things with my work visa.

There are plenty of ways to get from the airport to the city - taxi, minibus, underground train or public bus. After arriving last night, I chose the bus. Not just because I'm Captain Tightass, but because I figured it would be a cheap (SGN$2) way to see a bit of the city at night, rather than going straight to my hotel in the back of a taxi.

What struck me most about Singapore was its cleanliness and order. It's been a while since I revelled in the thrills of a stable footpath, or felt excited at the sight of a motorcyclist patiently obeying a traffic light.

However, it comes at a cost. After going for a night swim in my hotel pool (Angus - 6.5/10), I wandered down to the Darling Harbour of Singapore for a cheeky beer and a feed. The food was reasonably priced, but the beer...sweet baby Jesus...SGN$12 for a pint of local brew (AUD$9).

It made me think - when you pay for a pint, you not only get a beer, but also the footpaths, clean streets and stable public transport (tax). An old Greek bloke I used to labour with during my uni days used to say, "You pay shiiit, you geta shiiit", and the same applies when comparing Bangkok to Singapore.

With it's agricultural labouring past (and present!), it's really interesting to see the Thai forces at work struggling to convince traditionalists that complex exports (like IT, finance and investment) are the way toward the term 'Developed country'.

Anyway, enough about economics and standards of living.

I think I'll go to little India tonight. Should be a cracker.