Well, I’ve put off writing this all day as I didn’t really want to accept that it was over. And believe it or not, I don’t just mean the trip, I mean the blog too. A lot of people have asked me why I wrote it, and especially why I put so much time into it. I guess the simple answer is that I really enjoyed it, far more than I expected to. I enjoyed sitting down and describing what I’d done, where I’d been, adding a picture or 2, recording it for posterity but also gathering my thoughts at the [View Full Entry]

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So the evening of New Year’s Day was a bit quiet. Koh San Road was pretty tranquil- a rare event I’m sure as normally it’s really bustling. I wandered about, had a beer or 2. I met a couple of lads from Doncaster who were pretty funny. They’d been to Koh Samui for NYE at one of the famous Full Moon Parties. They told some pretty wild tales of excesses, it sounds like the normally severe Thai police turn a blind eye to a lot of stuff they’d usually frown upon (drugs of all varieties, rutting on the beach……). The 2 [View Full Entry]

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Dec 30, 31st, Jan 1st It wasn’t so easy to leave Richmond. I’d had a great time with my folks and family, met up with lots of old friends - most of the ones I was expecting, and a few I wasn’t. For once Yorkshire’s weather had been kind to me - very kind in fact - and it had been a good stay. But Dec 30th was the day to leave. Mum and Dad gave me a lift all the way to Manchester, and we took the scenic route over the A66 which was spectacularly beautiful. The frost hadn’t melted [View Full Entry]

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After a good day on Boxing Day, December 27th was a quiet affair. The wider family was on its way so there was tidying up to do, general motherly fussing about the house, but no big deal. Some general pottering about, and then cousin Richard and wife Deborah, and Aunty Lynda and Uncle Robert all turned up. After dinner we headed for the Georgian Theatre - one of the oldest functional theatres in the UK and a tiny little place - to see Sleeping Beauty. Whilst the Georgian is blessed with a great atmosphere and the play was great, the seats [View Full Entry]

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Yorkshire’s weather continued to behave wonderfully for me, the 24th no different. The day’s first job was a stroll to the Marketplace to see ‘The Horse’ - a bizarre medieval tradition maintained by some old friends. The Deighton family lived across the road from us when I was born in a village near Richmond. John has always led the musical charge, and this year he was only accompanied by 1 of his sons - Tim. The Horse is a pagan fertility ritual, and if you hadn’t seen it before you’d wonder what the hell was going on. They tour the town’s [View Full Entry]

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Yorkshire did me proud, and I woke up to a perfect clear blue day, albeit a touch brisk but as lovely as could have been hoped for. I jumped in the car and headed off to some of my favourite Richmond spots to take some photos. Richmond’s a very picturesque, and historical place. First Stop was Easby Abbey, just a mile or so down the road. It was built in 1150 but has been in ruin for a very long time now. We’d had some crazy times down here as kids, throwing ourselves off the bridge into the river Swale on [View Full Entry]

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Having stayed up so late with Bree on Friday, Saturday morning was a bit sluggish to say the least. In fact I passed on the morning completely and went straight through to the weekend. Bree was also struggling but at least managed to venture outside, even though it was only for a manicure. I guess I was struggling, it had been quite a run of busy days starting with the overnight flight from New York to Frankfurt, and it felt like I hadn’t really stopped since then, so I managed to justify an idle day. At 6pm we met up with [View Full Entry]

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Friday morning was a real high point of the trip. I awoke in my hotel room but immediately decided that was my first mistake. Not feeling too clever, it was a ‘Nurofen and water’ morning, lying in a dark room. Mental note to self - Guinness and Curry is not a good mixture. The only thing I really had to do was get to Bree’s office on Tottenham Court Road for midday to drop my bags off there before she headed out for her Christmas lunch. I got there at about 1pm and thankfully she’d prepared the receptionist for my arrival, [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday started with lunch with Scouser Steve George. I hadn't really expected to see him, but he lives in Chiswick not far from Andy and Dee and so I dropped him a line. As he also works in Chiswick, he was able to pop out for a lunchtime snack - by which I obviously mean pint. He worked for Verizon in Sydney until a couple of years ago when he decided to move home and start a family. He’s working for a company specialising in delivering media to mobile phones. Yes. Obviously. Porn. Like any other part of the internet, it’s [View Full Entry]

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Next spot quiz - name the band and album quoted in the title. Well done to Gabs Browning for correctly identifying that Geoff Woad's 20lb head was a reference to 'Withnail and I'. Your prize - such as it is - coffee with the author, and a signed first edition of the next post, tomorrow in Reading. Anyhow. London. Very strange to come back here after so long. By the time I woke up Dee and Hosko were out at work and I had their lovely flat to myself, so it was a slow start to say the least. I wandered [View Full Entry]

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