Home sweet home…

So this is the last blog entry for a while…. After a good 18 months gallivanting around Asia (with a 4 month stint at home in the middle) I am back in New Zealand theoretically for good! I say theoretically because we all know its highly likely I will have the urge to go on another big adventure… life is too short, the globe is too big and there are plenty more adventures to be had!

No, seriously – I am home for good. I even signed a permanent contract (I can say the ‘P’ word now),I signed up for an 18 month gym membership, have a contract with vodaphone. Gosh, I even bought a new bed.

Its good being back in Wellington, I feel a lot more settled than when I moved back home after my other OEs (2yrs in Bangkok, 2yrs in Belgium). I think I may actually settle this time. It’s funny though, I’ve come a full circle… I got the exact same job I left in Aug 07 back (I am even sitting at the same desk) and I have moved back into one of my old flats… it’s almost like I never went away.

So my friends… this is it. For now…. home sweet home

Thailand – the last visit for a while…

So, as you know after I finished up being a wannabe yogi in India I headed back to Thailand to stay with my dad. I was pretty broke and needed to sort myself out – so Dad’s seemed to be a very good place to go! Thanks dad.

After India I couldn’t get over how nice, clean and quiet Bangkok is! I found the infrastructure to be overwhelming; it was like being back in the modern world – fast cars, motorways, mega shopping malls – consumerism everywhere – talk about a direct entry back into the rat race. I noticed an absence of rubbish, an absence of men urinating in the street, and of course… a serious absence of city cows! I guess it is kind of lucky I didn’t go straight back to NZ from India or I would have really had a sensory overload – all things are relative huh?!

While at dads I helped him out with a few projects, soaked up the warmth and enjoyed eating good Thai food and hanging out with family. I washed my clothes using a washing machine for the first time in months (instead of a bucket) and I had the longest nicest longest hot shower (much to the detriment of my Indian tan!) It was good to be back in into civilisation.

So I ended up spending about 8 weeks at Dads all up… during this time I managed to get my old job back in NZ, found a flat (ironically it’s the same flat I lived at before going overseas), had a side trip to Malaysia, went to the beach, had a day trip to Ayutthaya, ate plenty of good food and booked tickets to New Zealand!

Here is a random selection of photos, mostly of family and food!

Terracotta Bhuddhas in Ayutthaya

My brother Mike and his girlfriend Becca are in Thailand. So we all went for a day trip to Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya is the ancient capital of Thailand, itis a neat river town with plenty of things to do…. this time we did a river cruise and visited a random temple that has lots of terracotta buddhas.

A visit from my little bro

My little bro is in town with his friend Becca….  so to welcome them from the UK we had a traditional kiwi BBQ Thailand style.    YUM!

 Photo isn’t fab because I didn’t want my sausage wrapped in bread to get cold (I am all class), but it was a special BBQ so I will post it anyway!  

 

Happy Birthday Kawin

It was dads birthday today so we went to a Chinese resturant for dinner.  Gotta love the birthday cake….  

His name is Kevin by the way!