Onward already.

Dammit! We were just getting into the sleep-swimmingpool-suds routine but now we have to pack our bags to move on. No, this is planned; we haven't been kicked out Chez Cav for misbehaving just yet. Last night saw us follow a now-familiar routine. Happy hour - in an Irish bar on Ekkamai would you believe - then eats in a nearby rather smart Cajun-Mexican restaurant. Yup, stange mix of culinary delight but the food is marvelous and the restaurant, called Bourbon Street, is somewhat famous having been relocated after the destruction of Washington Square on Soi 22. I mention this in order to draw your attention to this article. Apart from being quite a funny piss-take on the western (male) tourist it is also quite spot-on! Linda and I think we actually met Melvin Summerville when we wandered down the Square looking for a place to have a drink during a local election lock-down. He was an old American geezer we got talking to who rambled on about his "local" -- the Lone Star -- as they were one of the few bars that let him smoke inside. (And no, we didn't get a drink: see the other link below! And yes, I realise that could be me!) If you do find the article funny, take a look at two of the articles on the right hand sidebar referring to the woman on the go go stage or the expat sobriety riots, As I say, sadly it is all mostly true.

This morning, we took a stroll down to the wonderfully posh, air-conditioned (have I mentioned yet that it is hot and sunny here? Over 30 degrees C!) shopping mall called Emporium. On the top floor is a huge food court where, giggling like naughty schoolkids, we had breakfast at an ice-cream parlour. A strawberry 'n banana cream scoop with chocoltae chips and a squirty cream iced cappachino for me and a fudge moca scoop with almonds and iced tea for Linda. Bart and Lisa Simpson on a sugar bender! Hyperactive for the rest of the day! This is what holidays are all about! Tonight, we think we'd better tone it down a bit and avoid the happy hours. Just have tea at the Ekkamai Beer Garden (where we went on the first night) but without the 3 litre Singha beer tower since we've got to go to the airport tomorrow. Anyway, Mike is still in KL.

Tomorrow it's Vietnam. Flying to Saigon for a two-night stopover then onward to Da Nang courtesy of Vietnamese Airlines, so we'll probably be off the grid for a bit.