2007

Well, here we are on the last day of 2007. It's been a pretty eventful year for me to say the least. I've been out of the UK for over three quarters of it for a start, visiting 7 different countries along the way. My occupation has changed from something mundane to something relatively unusual and I now live 8000 miles from home. Such a lot has been going on that I should take time to review it, so I thought I'd do a few of those silly best/worst lists that you always get in the papers at this time of year.

Let's start with obvious - BEST COUNTRIES VISITED (in reverse order):

5. Thailand
4. Vietnam
3. Cambodia
2. Japan
1. India

BEST FOOD:

3. Noodle soup and baguettes (Vietnam)
2. Big fat prawns (Goa, India)
1. Green curry (Thailand)

WORST FOOD

5. Kimchi (Korea)
4. Grasshopper (Cambodia)
3. Dweji Galbi (Korea)
2. Bebimbap (Korea)
1. Kimbap (Korea)

BEST JOURNEYS

3. Train ride from Hampi to Goa
2. Allepey to Kochi by boat through the backwaters
1. Boat down the Mekong from Chiang Kong to Luang Prabang

WORST JOURNEYS

3. Saigon to Phnom Penh (purely for hangover level!)
2. Bangalore to Hampi (1st attempt!)
1. Siem Riep to Bangkok

BEST SCENERY

3. Ko Phi Phi (Thailand)
2. Hampi (India)
1. Luang Prabang (Laos)

WEIRDEST INHABITANTS

3. Japan
2. India
1. Korea

FITTEST BIRDS

3. Thailand
2. Korea
1. Japan

GRIMMEST TOILETS

3. Thailand
2. Laos
1. India

WORST POP MUSIC

3. Korea
2. India
1. Thailand


Anway, that my review of the year for now! I'm off for a rest before the big party tonight.

Merry Xmas!

Hi everyone, I thought I'd better update this blog as I haven't done anything except add some pictures in the last couple of months. This is mainly due to the fact I haven't really done anything all that exciting. Except for the general continued novelty of being in a foreign country I haven't got all that much to write about.

I'm looking forward to a couple of days off over Xmas, but that's literally it, a couple of days! Boohoo, poor me whose had a 4 month holiday this year, I hear you all cry! Well I'm about to make up for it by doing 12 hour days for the next month. It shouldn't be too bad though as its going to be too cold to do much anyway, plus I will get paid well for it.

Xmas day itself should be fun too... unless it goes wrong in which case it'll be a disaster! We've got 10 people coming over to our apartment for Xmas dinner. A couple of the girls are going to cook up a turkey and the works in a little table top oven we've bought - should be interesting! We could end up eating pot noodles and just drinking! Hopefully not, I have every faith in them!

Anyway, merry xmas and happy new year to everyone and hopefully I'll talk to everyone over the holiday period. If not then, I should have more to write about when its over so staaay toooooned!