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Published: January 20th 2008
Bangkok to Manchester (via Abu Dabi) and a case of runny bum...
So on the 6th of December we flew home to lil ole England. It took longer than expected as our planned brief plane change in Abu Dabi was delayed and we had to spend 7 hours sitting around the airport. So that was 6 hour to Abu Dabi, plus 7 hours hanging out in the weird circular Abu Dabi airport, then 8 hours to Manchester. It became quite a mammoth trip and made us appreciate how far apart Thailand and England are. To add to the discomfort I (it's Kris by the way) seemed to have picked up my 1st dose of food poisoning since arriving in SE Asia. What are the chances of that???? Of all the dodgy food I've eaten for 13 months in Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam I've not so much as had the runs. Then, just as I'm about to embark on an epic plane journey I get the squits. I won't go into too many details for the sake of politeness but luckily I wasn't too ill, I just needed to make frequent bathroom visits....
Gannin' yem...(that means "going home" in
Yum yum yum
A proper bacon sandwich!!!Kris's native tongue - it's harder than Thai)
On a cold, wet night we arrived into Manchester. Travelling with us was Thai girl who'd clearly never been to England before. While she'd made an effort to prepare for the harsh climate, she wasn't nearly wrapped up enough for Manchester at night in December. She was basically dressed the same as she would be in Bangkok...but with a scarf on and some gloves. We pitied her and wondered if she'd get straight back on the plane...
It was bizarre entering the airport. Everyone around us was suddenly English and we could understand everything. Sadly, Manchester airport felt a bit bleak and cold after the tourist orientated glitzy splendour of Bangkok. You enter Bangkok airport and see majestic statues of mythological giants and pictures of golden Buddhas, temples and idyllic tropical beaches.....the 1st tourist orientated sign we saw when we got to Manchester was (I kid you not) a poster declaring - "Visit Stockport!!". It's got great shopping apparently....
Alas, the passport control guy didn't embrace me and say "Welcome home! England needs you!". He just made a cursory glance at my passport and waved me through....
Kate's
Crikey
A roast dinner.
Not a grain of rice in sight.... dad picked us up and we headed back to her hometown 1st. One day we're in the teeming metropolis of Bangkok....the next the sleepy English village of Brewood, Staffordshire. Quite a culture shock.
Coming home is weird. In one way it's bizarre and odd and in another it's just - home. Feels like you never left. I had imagined it would be completely freaky. That I'd be speaking Thai to people in shops and automatically sitting down in pubs and waiting for the waiter. But it didn't happen. We seemed to easily shift gear into England mode. We had problems with light though! Honestly we found we could sleep far longer than is natural. I'm sure it wasn't just jetlag. England's so dark in the winter! It's not like we were unaware of this - but Thailand is blindingly bright from 6-6 everyday. Arriving back in a country where the sun rises (in the winter at least) at 9am and is gone by 4pm and when it was out it was masked by permanently gray clouds - that was probably the biggest shock. But it was nice to see Christmassy stuff! And get that cosy feeling. I don't think
"cosy" translates into Thai as I don't think you can be cosy when it's 40 degrees and 90%!h(MISSING)umidity.
English Beer
That 1st night we experienced the alien comfort of actually sleeping under a duvet. It's weirdly comforting sleeping under a duvet. When we were teaching and staying in our apartment we didn't use the air con cos it was expensive. But it was the hot season so very, well, hot. We learnt to sleep on top of a mattress with no covers and a fan blowing at us. It wasn't nice at 1st, but you just kind of learn to sweat while you sleep and you wake up in the morning sweaty and in need of a shower. But you still sleep. It's a new talent. I can sweat and sleep. I'll put it on my CV....
Anyway, the next day we made our 1st trip to an English pub - probably the main comfort I'd missed and of which Brewood has a wealth of. I had a pint of Landlord and it was lush. No offence to foreign brewers, but no one makes beer like the English......yum.
Bloody expensive though!
We had a cool
Leeds!
Christmas in Leeds wouldn't be Christmas without a trip to the German Christmas market in Millennium Square. few days in Brewood acclimatising, visiting pubs and going out for a meal before it was time to hit the road and head for the bright lights of County Durham. Kate's mam kindly loaned us her car for the trip (THANKS!) and we set off for the Land of the Prince Bishops....
County Durham here we come, right back where we started from (Sung to the tune of "California here we come"...
A lump rose in my throat as we cruised by the "Proud to be here" (sponsored by Caterpillar, MetroMail and other companies in the area) sign on the A19 just before the turn-off for Peterlee. I was home! There was no sign of chillis, no fried insects and everyone spoke my own weird language. I still miss the "Peterlee for Industry" sign though. Maybe I should start an online campaign to bring it back...
So on to my mam and dad's house where I was reunited with me mam and dad, my sis Sharon, my nieces Elisha and Sara and the beloved hounds - Ben, Barney and Lucky. It was great to be back. My dad poured the obligatory tumbler of whisky and we caught
Festive pooch
My sister's dog, Lucky, dressed as Santa. up. Home sweet home.
I'm assuming this is the 1st ever travel blog entry about Peterlee, but I guess I could be wrong. I'll check later. Anyway, we spent the best part of a week in the area soaking up the north eastern hospitality and then we continued our England tour by heading to Leeds to stay with our mates Phil, Lisa and Mark and Helen for a weekend of debauchery in Pudsey and Moortown.
A Dickensian Christmas...?
After the weekend in Leeds me and Kate went our separate ways for Christmas - she drove the car back to Brewood and I headed to my mam and dad's in Horden by the National Express.
Christmas was excellent for both of us and quite literally a world away from the Singapore festive season of the year before. We traded fried frog for roast turkey and Tiger Beer for sherry and snowballs. Alas it didn't snow. It was just cold! Aw well. Can't have everything. It was brilliant seeing family and friends again and eating nice homely food!
Welcoming 2008...!
For new year we headed back to Leeds to stay with Mark and Helen again. They
Keeping it real
Mark and Kris enjoy a Broon Ale and think of home. Even though they're not from Newcastle actually... were kind enough to put up with our drunkenness. Had a class night in Pudsey and had my 1st play on a Nintendo Wii. Coo-el. Thanks guys!
Then all too soon it was time to leave again....
On the 5th of January we hopped aboard a Ryanair flight from Liverpool to Madrid to continue the adventure.
Stage 2.
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Mark Allen
non-member comment
Was awesome too see you guys ...
Hey, getting all weepy looking back on the pictures. Hope too see you soon.