Venison anyone?

Okay, today is not a good today. I thought yesterday was bad but having woken up to the videos on youtube and the setlist on nme.com, I am officially depressed that I was not one of the 500 people in Dingwalls, Camden last night watching the amazing band that is The Strokes play their first gig in FOUR YEARS!! Oh how I wish I was one of those computer nerds who spends all their time on the net, because then perhaps I would have heard about this last minute decision of theirs to play a London warm up show before their headlining slot at this years Isle of Wight Festival!! But instead, I hear the news whilst driving to work on the day of the actual gig and hours after the tickets have all sold out. Of course I had a mad, crazy moment of actually contemplating paying £180 for ONE ticket from a guy who has 'Top Rated Seller' status on Ebay and now after seeing the setlist that was played and a few dodgy videos on youtube, I'm thinking that £180 would have been money well spent! Nevertheless I do find immense comfort just knowing that Nick Valensi is in the country and pretty much breathing the same air as myself and I know that when tickets are released for their next UK Tour......I WILL BE THERE!!

Visiting Thailand

Anyone who knows me, knows that I have to go on at least one holiday a year (preferably to a sunny location) in order to keep myself from going insane. Last year it was a two week break with the family in Italy, so this year I decided a holiday with friends was well overdue and by coincidence two of my wonderful friends Katie and Lucy jetted off on their trip around the world in April so Mitchell and I decided to gatecrash!

When we first booked our flights to Bangkok to meet the girls, we had made arrangements to explore a few of the paradise islands down south but make it a priority of ours to head back to Bangkok for some serious shopping :) Little did we know that some protesters were about to go crazy, bullets would be flying and the British Embassy would be advising against all non-essential travel in the weeks leading up to our holiday.....oh and there was also the small issue of the exploding volcano in Iceland! However we were not going to let those two tiny factors deprive us of fake designer handbags and drinks in buckets....On Saturday 15th May we boarded our first of many flights at London Heathrow and got stupidly excited. After a stop off in Muscat and then another flight direct to Bangkok, we were finally greeted by the already beautifully tanned travellers, but our holiday did not begin here.

On Monday 17th May we then boarded another flight from Bangkok to Phuket Airport as it was far too dangerous to stay in Bangkok. After a taxi ride to the ferry port and a one and half hour long ferry journey we were relieved to arrive on Phi Phi Island at around 5pm local time. Phi Phi Island is a wonderful place and most definitely somewhere that I would like to visit again in the future. Surrounded by the Andaman Sea, no cars exist on this land as the locals make their way around on bicycles and earn their living either working in the array of restaurants or on a stall selling you Raybans and Mulberry bags amongst lots of other wonderful bits and pieces. Our time on the beautiful Phi Phi Island consisted mainly of sunbathing, drinking cocktails and dancing on the beach. Lucy celebrated her 22nd birthday here which obviously meant more cocktails and of course drinks in buckets. However I would have to say that my favourite time on the island was when we actually took a boat trip out into the Andaman sea equipped with our flippers (this suited me not so much!) and had the chance to swim in the absolute middle of nowhere. How I can have a fear of snorkelling with fishes but yet not think twice about jumping into the clear blue sea in the middle of nowhere I will never understand, but God did it feel good. On this boat trip we also visited Monkey Beach where we were all amazed by the cute little creatures who drink from water bottles and will swim for cashew nuts! We then stopped off at Maya Beach (in other words the location for the film 'The Beach') Leo was nowhere in sight but you could certainly see why they chose this location for the film....the scenery is breathtaking and after a few minutes of laying in the sand and posing in the sea, I almost felt like I was taking my surroundings all for granted!

After five nights on Phi Phi we decided to move on to another island nearby called Railay as our American friends: Lizzy and Mary Beth (Katie and Lucy met them at the beginning of their travels in Northern Thailand) were currently staying there and we knew it would be fun to party with them some more :) We really didn't know what to expect with Railay as Phi Phi had been such a fun and welcoming island so when we arrived and discovered it was almost like a divide for those couples who are on their honeymoon and those travellers who are on a shoestring budget, Me and Mitchell were torn between our choices for accommodation.....NOT!! We took one glance at a dingy room with a gecko crawling out of the brick wall and marched straight on up to the Railay Bay Princess Resort & Spa (our bit of luxury!) For £15 a night each we had a bed that could comfortably sleep four people, a wonderful balcony overlooking the pool and a shower with it's own CUBICLE!!!! We only stayed two nights on Railay Island but nevertheless it was memorable. We then decided to travel back to Phuket as the the girls were keen to see this part of Thailand before moving on to the other islands and Mitch and I wanted the chance to experience the city life here as Bangkok was still off limits.

Staying in the Chang Residence Hotel for four nights was what we planned and as we drove from the ferry port to the hotel, we felt anxious as this was no Phi Phi Island. Our first night consisted of tuk tuk rides a plenty and us being harassed by ladyboys for a photo (which they then wanted us to pay them for!) We certainly didn't feel as safe in Phuket as we did on the islands but we decided to make the most of it. Everyday we got a tuk tuk to Patong Beach where we met our Thai Mother: Mama Lala! This wonderful woman looked after us on the beach, brushing our sunbeds clean and bringing us cold drinks when she knew us English folk couldn't take the heat! I am also ashamed to admit that our time in Phuket consisted of us having Burger King for lunch two days in a row....I'm not sure whether we were just missing home so much that we craved a familiar meal or if we just needed the air con of BK to cool us down?! Either way it was finished off with a spot of shopping (purchasing Links of London friendship bracelets for £6 and fake Fred Perrys!) and then an unforgettable trip to a Ping Pong show.....but I won't go into that one on my blog!

On Thursday 27th the twosome travellers left us to explore some more islands and experience the legend that is known as the Full Moon Party. Mitch and I visited Mama Lala at Patong beach on our last day in Phuket, but it just wasn't the same without the girls (we ate in Maccie D's instead....oh the shame!) On Friday we made our way back to Bangkok and checked into a nice hotel not far from the airport as we prepared for our hell of a journey home. When we touched down in London Heathrow on Saturday evening, I knew that we were both glad to be home and excited to be seeing familiar faces. Our trip to Thailand was an amazing experience and one that I would love to do again as I think there is so much more to see, but one thing I did learn from this fantastic holiday is that the four month travelling bug is not for me! I salute Katie and Lucy and all those other backpackers out there who cram as much of their wardrobe as they possibly can into a backpack and set off to explore the world because as much as I want to see the big wide world, I want to do it first class, gecko free and with a gigantic suitcase that I can wheel along with absolute ease!