Wildski's Blog: 2010

Wildman’s Log- 18th Sept, 0042hrs GMT

Thought I’d do a travel log- if for no other reason it will remind me of what I was doing and when. I will post these warts and all, so please forgive any tired / drunken/ soppy ramblings. As my good friend Dana would say, “It is what it is”. Although, he is American, so one should take that into account. Bear in mind that these will be posted after the event, i.e. whenever I am on Terra Firma and can access the internet.
Well, here I am at 30,000 feet having just enjoyed a glass of bubbly and a fillet steak –oh, and a rather decent glass of red to go with it.. Kinda strange position to be in. To use a very over-worn cliché, “My Dad would turn in his grave”. Business Class is not all it’s cracked up to be however- the TV screen doesn’t work properly: It’s impossible to watch a film as it keeps freezing. Thank God Clare suggested that I take some DVDs with me – thank goodness also that I kept them in my hand luggage. There’s a lady opposite who is (quite rightly) a bit peeved that it’s not working properly, especially as (unlike me) she has probably paid quite a lot of money to travel Business Class. I did offer to lend her some of my films, thinking that it would be grossly unfair of me to have some and not share them out: She maintained that her laptop doesn’t have a DVD player; however I suspect that “X-Men 2” and “Pirates of the Caribbean 2- Dead Man’s Chest” may not have appealed. I do have BBC’s “Yes Minister” in its entirety also, but again I suspect that may not be everyone’s choice. ;-).
I do have a good selection of publications though: “The Spectator”, “Top Gear”, “Q” and “Rhythm” , that latter being a drumming publication, just to clarify (I can hear some of you tittering from here)
When I say that I didn’t pay to go Business Class, I don’t mean that’s because work paid- it’s because (by a relatively convoluted process) I managed to blag a free ticket. I did have to pay the tax though: The princely sum of £190.
Missing the family already.
Anyway, only another 8 hours to go….Glass of red, anyone?

Wildman’s Log- 18th Sept, 2130 Bangkok time (might be the 19th now, not sure)

After a relatively uneventful flight (apart from very bad turbulence in the early hours of the morning – shush, don’t tell Clare), I arrived at Bangkok slightly ahead of schedule. Did manage to get a couple of hours kip (which is unlike me when travelling) but was awoken by an absolutely glorious sunrise shining through the window- well worth seeing. Forgot to mention that an elderly Australian lady asked me to mind her phone for her at Heathrow, and we got chatting and she gave me some great tips about Jet Lag and stuff- amazing how things can pan out so well sometimes. I think she thought that I was some sort of spy when I told her I was going over to Australia to meet with their equivalent of the MoD and their “Primes”. Still, many of my friends think that I am an Arms dealer so it’s hardly surprising. ;-)
Rohan was crying on the phone earlier, which made me feel sad. Hugh (surprisingly for those who know him, sensitive soul that he is) appears to be taking it all in his stride. Bless.
Any-hoo, another fillet steak tonight / this afternoon, whatever it is. Other meal was chicken but had mushrooms, and I don’t really do “shrooms”.
Entertainment system still “Donald” on the plane- the crew were very apologetic but explained it would have meant a 24hr delay of they’d fixed it. Personally, I’m very pleased that they took that view. A 24 hour delay could have caused all sorts of problems with my itinerary.
Bangkok Aiport is beautiful – great architecture, judging from the little I saw, anyway.
Finally- really good flight attendant today, plying me with wine etc, even offered me a glass of Port (Port!) to go with my cheese and biscuits. Now that’s class. Then again, in my case, it’s what Matt Tindall would call “giving a pig strawberries”.
Must go now as going to watch a film on the Laptop.
Still missing the family, although flight is no where near as tedious as I thought it would be- could be something to do with all the wine…

Wildman’s Log, 19th Sept 1640 Australia time

Finally made it to Canberra. Had a bit of a scare when I thought I was being paged at the baggage conveyor- luckily it wasn’t me and my case arrived in due course. Got an Embraer 170 from Sydney to Canberra, very different to the 747 I’ve been on for the last 2 days. Only about 10 people on it! Work starts tomorrow with a meeting with the British High Commission. Here goes..

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