The alarm woke us at 7am. We finish packing our one bag and 2 carry-ons and went downstairs about 10 minutes behind schedule. We quickly found a taxi that took us down Bourke and O'Riordan Streets, the driver asking us about our holiday. We had not been down O'Riordan for a while and some of the buildings seemed to be new.

The woman at check-in remarked that we had almost no luggage and told us to enjoy shopping. "We will."

We had breakfast at Bar Coluzzi at the airport where I had a croissant and coffee. The same part of the airport was under reconstruction as last time we breakfasted there on our way to Cocos. While filling out departure cards at the cafe Greg remembered the first thing he had forgotten - Ventolin. We found a chemist where a woman with a head scarf was helpful. Greg's hat set off the metal detector as we went through customs.

The gate lounge was full when we arrived there after a toilet stop and duty free shopping - wine and vodka. We sat for a couple of minutes, then got up to walk around the shops there. Our flight was called "TG992 to Bangkok", we boarded and found our seats near the galley. The woman next to us was invited to move to another seat as the aircraft wasn't full.

The flight was uneventful. Both Greg and I watched Dreamgirls and Greg watched the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale. We flew over Darwin but only some suburbs were visible. We flew over two separate arms of Sulawesi, and then over Borneo. A lot of both of these islands looked uninhabited with thin brown roads snaking through deep green valleys and mountains. I think I saw a temple on an island in a bay in Sulawesi. There were a numebr of freighters between the islands. Borneo has an extensive mountain range in the centre. We flew over all 3 countries that are part of Borneo, crossing the coast at Muara, a great long beach in Brunei Darussalam. There appeared to be an offshore port near Brunei.

Greg watched as we crossed the coast of Vietnam somewhere near Ho Chi Minh City. There was a single hill surrounded by flood plain. We were not sure if we managed to identify the Mekong River, it looked narrower than I expected. South Eastern Thailand was mostly fields.

The landing at Suvarnabhumi International Airport was smooth. It is a tube of sails arranged in a U, or so it seemed as we taxied towards it. On disembarking transit passengers were given a sticker stickerand directed through a separate door to a long corridor and eventually to Gate B6 at one end of the U. This part of the airport was just gate lounges and corridors, no shops or anything. There was some interesting art on the walls, but we didn't stop to look. The airport was clean to the point of sterility. The gate lounge was uninteresting, though there were many airplanes to see from many different airlines: Tiger, Siem Reap, Asia Air, an unknown airline decorated with beautiful arabic script. We only had to wait an hour to board flight TG221 to Phuket, another Jumbo. We had window seats near the back.

We took off just after sunset. As we got higher we could again see the sunset through the other side of the plane, a brilliant red. The flight was again uneventful with a snack served in a cardboard box. A blond boy, about 8 years old, had the 4 seats in the centre after his sister rejoined their parents behind. He was jumping all over the seats, crying and wrestling with a hoodie top which he also used as a sleeping bag. It was dark by the time we reached Phuket so we could not see much. We did notice a row of yellow lights which we think was the bridge to the mainland. We went through immigration at Phuket airport with just a stamp on the passport and no customs check.

The taxi ride to the hotel was long and went through lots of towns and settlements. The almost full moon was visible on the left of the taxi which confused me making me think we were heading the wrong way. The driver was zipping in and out of the traffic along the freeways and congested roads and tailgating. The speedo was broken so I have no idea of our speed. I am glad I don't need to drive in Thailand. In many places there was a lane for motorbikes which were generally 100cc scooters. I also saw for the first time that the traffic lights had countdowns for when they will change. Greg said they had them in Singapore when he went through in 2002. Eventually we went down a steep winding road, past a temple, and were in Patong Beach. I knew we must be there by all the tall buildings. We passed a row of art shops as we wound through the streets. The taxi cost us 420B and dropped us at our hotel at the Patong Beach Paradise Complex (way out).

We found reception at Connect Hotel and checked in. Initially we were taken to room 617 which was in a separate building across the lane, but there was someone already in that room. Eventually we were taken to the right room, 607, which had a balcony that looked over the soi to the other gay bars there.

After locking our valuables in the safe in the room we went for a walk along Rat U Thit Song Roi Pi Road. There were lots of stalls along the footpath starting where our soi joint the road. We walked past the Paradise Hotel which had lights flashing from its top floors. Further on we passed a new shopping centre with lights through all the trees and an arts and crafts expo in the basement. We crossed the road and headed back to the hotel, stopping in a 7 Eleven to buy water and a packet of chips. Soi Bangla was pedestrian only. On the corner was a boxing stadium. We walked a short way down this through crowds of tourists noticing the many bars with bright neon signs, many themed.

We had one drink in the bar back at our hotel before going to bed. There were a few difficulties letting the waiter know we wanted Johnny Walker with soda - red - with coke or soda? Each time the waiter went back to the bar. Across the road were boys in white t-shirts and shorts holding signs Massage 300B/hr.

In the room we could hear the music from a number of the bars, though the double glazing muted it. CU Tonight had shows at 10:30 and 12:00 which we could hear. Lady Boys did a bit of a show in the street, and there was a fire eater from the Apache bar. The bedroom was hot until the air conditioner did it's work.

There were a few SMSs at 4am (8am Sydney time) from the work computer.