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

Boeing boozing

I wrote this post while flying from Bangers to Dubai for quick business trip...I'm not really flying and blogging right now...


There's something quite enticing about a 3049 mile trip with free booze.

Not only am I excited about being on my first fully-paid overseas business trip, but also the fact that it's Friday night and I'm in the mood to have a couple to relax after a massive week at work.

Right now I'm flying over India, roughly about 500km east of Mumbai. I've so far tallied a jovial two beers, five wines, three X.O.s and two shots of port...oh, hang on...another X.O. has just arrived.

Right, back to it.

So anyway, I'm bloody excited.

The problem is, the bloke next to me is an Arab who, despite intermittently hocking up the most obscene wads of phlegm from his throat, doesn't look like he's keen for a drink.

Meaning - there's free booze and I don't have a drinking partner.

Which made me think - who would I most want to spend a few hours of stratospheric boozy bliss with?

Well, I reckon Barrack Obama would be a good start. Just picking his brains on his campaign strategy and the whether secret service agents actually have a sense of humour would be pretty sweet.

But then again, seeing as he's now just made President, he's probably not really one to risk a hangover, not to mention the fact his surrounding agents would be clicked off safety with all of our middle-eastern brothers sharing the flight.

So what about Germaine Greer?? Could be an interesting discussion. I think I'd start proceedings off with an ice-breaking joke: How many feminists does it take to change a light bulb? None. Feminists can't change a thing.

Oh the hilarity! Her voracious and much more educated tongue may get a little too intense for me though...and I'm not sure what her aim is like with a wine glass...

Tom Jones? Dig it. But only if there's karaoke. I've always wanted to do a topless rendition of 'It's not unusual' with the big man.

A trio of my all-time favourite three ex-international rugby hookers, Phil Kearns (Australia), Keith Wood (Ireland) and Sean Fitzpatrick (New Zealand)? Loose. Talking rugby and getting on the cans for 7 hours with these blokes would make a bloody good trip. We could even pack down a few scrums with the Thai hosties.

Prince Harry? I'm not usually one for the British Royals, but I reckon this fanta-pant regal bad-boy might have a bit of bubble inside him...I could easily see us spraying beer about the cabin and partaking in the odd push-up comp.

The mind boggles, really...

Who would you like to spend a boozy flight with?

Got milk?

I really don't want to sound like one of those career tossers, but I reckon it's important to share some good news with my close friends and family...

Work has asked if I'll take on an extra client. The role is with the world's third largest dairy company, which is also NZ's biggest company and one huge bloody business to get my head around. I'll be overseeing the PR for the Middle Eastern and North African markets.

I'm stoked because it has fulfilled one of my career goals which was to work with an agriculturally-based company. My family's roots have instilled a facination with the land and how it fits in with people's lives. I would never have the right stuff to be a farmer, so I guess this is the next best thing...

So this means a couple of things:

• A shitload more work
• A shitload more opportunity
• Trips to Dubai for work (and play with Cantwell and Fletch!)
• My first serious management/leadership role
• Possible trips to the Middle East to check out the area...Clare and I were talking about possibly heading to Egypt or Syria next year...Europe's not too far from there as well!!

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be getting any free milk samples.


Please note, I haven't disclosed client specifics on this blog as, a) It's not a professional blog; and b) I don't want random's finding my blog on google when searching for my company. Sort of like my policy with people's full names.