1st Day

Tuesday 28th July
Yesterday I left the cold unwelcoming shores of Britain for the eastern promise of Asia. I undertake this journey with the intention of starting a new life for myself. It will be a short existence as I am only in the country for a few months. However I do not feel this should be much of an impediment. I will write this Blog when I feel I have the energy, and me being the lazy fucker I am ensures that this shall probably be updated only once a week - if that. Hey ho.

As regards the first day, travelling was a bit of a nightmare, assuming myself totally packed got into the car to drive to the airport only to have to turn around after 5 or so minutes of driving. Had one of those “feelings”, like a little prickle down my neck letting me know that something was wrong.
Anyway good idea I listened to it as it turns out I had left my beloved little laptop in a bag at the bottom of the stairs. Not cool.
I cant imagine making do without one, not least because it has all my music and photos on. I imagine it would be much harder as well to maintain a decent blog with just paper and pen. Who for instance would I address my entries to?
I suspect it would just become one of those irritating chain letters you used to get when you were a kid in the 90’s. I only ever got one of those. Im pretty sure it was 50 long and I broke it. I think I probably lost it. So maybe in a roundabout way me forgetting my laptop was fates way of telling me that now we are even? Who knows? I certainly don’t.

Flight itself was pretty much standard, cramped into economy between my Dad and my younger Brother (who are coming with me for a few days so they can have a holiday). My poor brother though is absolutely terrified of flying. Its an odd sight, a 6”3’ 95kg muscle bound potential mob enforcer being reduced to a gibbering wreck in seconds. Brother managed to panic in record time this flight, eyes as wide as saucers and nails digging into the armrests of his seat without about a minute of sitting down on the plane.
A little like a cartoon cat.
Anyway the TV wasn’t working properly so I watched Monsters v Aliens a grand total of 4 times during the flight. I’m pretty sure I have actually now been conditioned into liking the film.
Oh also Dad was noisily sick due to turbulence about 6 hours in when everyone was asleep. He woke up most of the plane. What can I say? He is just a sharer.
He is planning on writing a complaint about the food and the entertainment system being fubar. And to be honest I think he may actually have a point for once. I saw more then one person go green at the sight of the airplane breakfast. I was even a little sick in my mouth when trying to eat the bacon. That’s generally a bad sign when it comes to food.

Night journeys on planes have always fascinated me, looking down at the country below with its roads and pockets of lights. In my mind I think I always draw comparison with a huge sleeping animal.
By flying overhead you see it at a cellular level, the roads branching off like so many blood vessels to provide what’s required at the different towns. I guess its an odd analogy, but it works for me and I’m the one writing this. So fuck you. But don’t actually. Unless of course you want to. It’s really none of my business.

Anyway we eventually arrived only for me to have a mini panic attack at customs. Large signs everywhere denote death to anyone carrying drugs. I tried to play it cool past security but in the back of my mind I was constantly worrying about them finding my pack of paracetemol. Street value of nearly $1.
Eventually though I was passed through. I guess they decided that I was too big a cheese in the drugs world to try to stop lest I set my boys on them.

Having finally arrived, hungry tired and smelly I attempt to flag down a Taxi only to be stopped cold case by Dad who has decided that it would be best to get used to the country right away and make use of local transport links. Ie the tube.
Should only take 20 minutes, he has been here before. Two and a half hours later we are lost. Dad confesses that he has never been here before and was running on the basis of what he had read online. Wonderful. I lost track of the amount of people we had to ask for directions. Got a nice photo of me and my brother fresh off the tube just having left the station. It’s quite cute.
It wasn’t all bad though, when we did arrive it turns out the hotel have decided to upgrade our room. Twice. From a basic package we have been updated past a deluxe room to an actually ever loving suite. Dad thinks its because the hotel is empty as tourist season hasn’t really started. I think its because someone was murdered in the room.

I will never stay somewhere so fine in all my life. Makes me feel kind of stupid that I arranged to move into my uni accommodation early. That’s life though I suppose, and I think its important to arrive soon as to start making friends and enemies as soon as possible. Dinner was the standard affair of an Englishman at 11pm in the evening. That is to say a choice between McDonalds or Burger King.
I had a Double Jnr whopper for $3. That’s a price I can live with.
It was clear however that Dad has never in the past maybe 20 years been to a fast food restaurant as he sat down clearly expecting to be waited on and then was somewhat at a loss with what to do with his drink. Eventually after me and Brother exchanged glances and smiles I went and asked for a straw for him.

Got home about 12 asian time and collapsed utterly exhausted, writing this fitfully from my bed.