honestpete

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 time. This last post will hopefully put it all into context. The advent of wireless internet made a lot of it possible. I wrote in wireless-enabled bars, cafes, hotel rooms, and friend’s houses. Sometime I ... read more

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 lads were looking a bit worse for wear, foolishly thinking Vodka and Red Bull would solve their problems. I doubt it did. I also got a massage in a toilet. You’re standing there, doing what ... read more

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 are absolutely lousy and it was really very uncomfortable. But there were pretty young girls in frocks, grown men dressed as women, overly made up baddies getting the audience involved….it was all good fun, I ... read more

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 the odd hot day and generally playing silly b*ggers all about the place. On such a clear day it looked its best but it was cold enough to keep everyone else away. I took advantage ... read more

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 Layla, Hayden, Layla’s brother John and her mate Ross near Liverpool Street station. I worked near there for 2 years, but don’t remember ever visiting a pub called ‘Dirty Dicks’. We all had a couple ... read more

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, so my bags got dropped OK anyway. Coffee and breakfast, but once again the day was slipping away from me. Other than the ‘getting there at midday’ thing, the day’s main priority was xmas presents, ... read more

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 boobies that make the world go round. Bless ‘em. Lunch took a little longer than expected, and left me without enough time to get to the Tate, so I pottered around a bit then got ... read more

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 into Hammersmith in search of brekkie. Was pleasantly surprised to see that my UK bank card worked - it's been sat in a drawer for 4 years - but it gave me forged 20 pound ... read more