Bangkok Dispatches

So, it's been a while since my last carrier pigeon message and a *lot* has happened, so here's the abstract for those of you with lives to be getting on with...

Naomi turned 1, made Christmas dinner for 7, went to Oz and a wedding, got stuck in Bangkok.

Details follow...

So, Naomi turned 1 on Christmas Day and I made a big lunch for some friends. We had prawns on a bed of rocket drizzled with Balsamic vinegar so thick it was like treacle (but tasted much better), roast pork with all the trimmings and a pear cider sauce, rounded off nicely with traditional plum pudding and icecream. Lots of presents and excitement all 'round! In fact, with Keiran's birthday being on the 18th, he was still opening presents on Boxing Day! Naomi just took the whole thing in her stride of course.

On the 27th Catherine and I headed off to the land of Oz. Got to the airport in plenty of time, as is my habit with air travel, got onto the plane and sat for a bit.... pilot makes an announcement to say they're having trouble loading on of the pallets and as soon as it's fixed we'll be underway. All fine. 20 minutes or so pass, then the capain gets on again... they can't get the pier used for boarding the aircraft to detatch from the plane, but as soon as they get that off we'll be underway. That's good, I think. The plane will fly better without a pier attached to it... Ho hum, another 20 minutes or so pass by, then the captain, whose voice is now very familiar, gets on the blower again to tell us the little pushing truck has developed a fault and can't push us away from the terminal, at which point I explode with laughter. I mean, come on it's funny!!

Other than that, had a fine trip to Oz, lovely wedding, although *very* hot. Pictures will be available on my Facebook page later...

And now I'm stuck in Bangkok, thanks to a wayward bird. It must have been quite a large one, because the flight was cancelled and now they're trying to fix the aircraft and find alternative flights. On the upside, we're staying at the airport Novotel, which is very lovely and the staff are really looking after us, and it's all at BA's expense. There's even a swimming pool, which I'm off to investigate now. More news as it comes in...