Tuesday

So it's the first day of school (it's actually the second week as I write this, but we can pretend, eh?).

Sam and I got up at the ungodly hour of 6am, falling to 5.45 in order to get some damn breakfast. I successfully managed to block my toilet, which Sam insisted was my fault. I maintain that if the main function of a toilet is to deal with organic waste, even a heroic quantity shouldn't present a problem.

Anyway, with that aside, we did manage to get out of the apartments in order to go to school. Amazingly, after a night's sleep, we were actually able to escape from the building. We met Laura in reception, and hopped into a taxi.

One bit of advice - it's very important to choose the right kind of taxi when travelling around Bangkok. You can't really get around on foot (except around some smaller districts) so most of your travelling is done in taxis. It is vital to not get the wrong kind. There are the right kind "Taxi-Meter" taxis. They have a meter in them, hence the name. They won't rip you off, and at least most of them know where they're going. There are also "Tuk-Tuks". These are terrifying tricycles with a seat on the back and a flimsy sunscreen over the top. There is just room for 3 on the back if you squeeze a bit. They will probably try and rip you off, and will also go as fast as they can around tight corners. We were charged 100 baht (which is about 1.20, just so's you know) for a very short trip that in a real taxi would only cost about 35 baht. So what, you may think - it's a minimum of 2.50 to get anywhere in a London taxi. You'd be right, but it seemed very rude to us, and Sam was very pleased with himself for knocking the guy down and giving him 40.

Very pleased until we had dinner with the Headmaster and he gave us a talk about being generous with tips, given that most people barely earn enough to live on. Back down to earth with a sickening crunch.

At school itself, we had very little to do since our timetables had yet to be set up. We wandered around and introduced ourselves to various teachers and tried to get lessons in the senior school instead of the junior.

Later on, we decided we'd go and check out the massive department store near the apartments. It's called Central, and is one of a chain around Bangkok. It's basically a slightly downmarket version of the Bullring or something of that nature - and as a result, isn't all that cheap. It is almost western prices, which is depressing. However, there are a lot of restaurants in it, many of which look pretty good, with low prices.

On an impulse, we went into a Sushi restaurant; madness, you might say. Well, I've had sushi before, but the others hadn't, and it was cheap enough that we could try it out without too much financial risk. We looked, in Sam's words, like rank amatures. Because we couldn't find the "Sushi selection in the menu, we were reduced to pointing to it in the window display. Demeaning or what?

Regardless, it arrived, and we weren't able to make it entirely clear that we were not staying for a full meal. Either way, it arrived. I had one of those seaweed wrapped ones, which are nice, and sam chose what looked like a ball of snot. Turned out to be a ball of mustard, so that came out again. Laura was finally brave enough to try it, and my second bit turned out to be a bit of bleached sheet rubber... but enough of that.

Love Dom