We moved into the apartment last Friday (When i say we i mean me - Chris had to go out of Bangkok for a meeting so it was down to me and a very sympathetic taxi driver who i had hired for the morning). Actually the driver was great, apart from when he decided to drive down the wrong side of the road cause he was fed up with the traffic, he loaded everything into the car and even brought the really heavy cases up to the apartment. All in all our removal cost us 600 baht which is about £8.60 - not bad eh!!

It's Raining Indoors!!

The down side about moving into the apartment is that we have bugger all until our stuff turns up. We decided that we would head to Suan Lum Night Bazaar, which is only 3 stops away on the underground, to try and get some bedding, crockery, cutlery etc - boy was that a new and interesting experience - i have never been rained on whilst being indoors before!! It was chucking it down outside and i have no idea what was covering the stalls but as we were going down these narrow little aisles trying to find household stuff there was a slight drizzle and then a downpour - inside the market!! Stall owners were covering their goods with tarpaulin and putting boards at the front of their stalls to stop the water getting in so this must happen on a fairly regular basis - we ended up rolling up our jeans and wading through the market - the water was more than ankle deep!! We eventually found a stall which sold really nice cutlery, had a conversation with the lovely stall holder, chose our cutlery, paid for it then discovered that she didn't actually have any cutlery there and that we would have to come back the next night to collect it. Have you ever heard of something so weird - yes we sell cutlery but no you can't have it just now!! (Now i know why everyone i meet here says 'Only in Thailand' with a slight shrug of their shoulders)

The Coup

And then there was the coup (God life is just sooo exciting). We had just finished watching the end of a really crappy film, Chris had gone to the loo (I know - too much information - but i didn't think you would mind :-)), and i was flicking channels when i came across the headline "Tanks in Central Bangkok" (What the ???). We sat glued to the news (till they turned off all international news channels) then went online to try and figure out what the hell was going on. (Actually wednesday was one of the most relaxing days we've had - it was declared a Bank Holiday so Chris got the day off work). Having spoken to a number of people here the feeling is that Thailand was a democracy in name only - Thaksin was so corrupt and all powerful that there was no real democracy. The main reasons behind the coup seem to have been to get rid of Thaksin and to re-write the constitution to ensure that no premier can be that powerful again. We have seen soldiers with guns standing at one of the main junctions near where we are but, to be honest - they just look hot and bored!! Life had pretty much got back to normal by Thursday.

Moon

Oh, we've got a maid!! She's 29 (has been a maid since she was 11 - can you imagine), married and has two children, a boy whose 5 and a girl whose 10, who live with her family in the country so she is here in Bangkok to earn money to support them. I met her through a lovely woman here called Lisa whose maid, Mai, is Moon's sister (Yes, our maid is called Moon).

Moon's english is not great but she has a lovely personality - i took an immediate liking to her. At the moment she is sharing a room with her sister at Lisa's place so she is going to live in - Our maids room is not actually in the apartment but along a corridor and up some stairs - it also has a balcony (which i have been told is a hell of a lot better than most). It's weird - I feel bad about her living in that little room but she thought it was great (we are going to get her a TV and take her shopping so that she can choose her own stuff - at least that way it will feel more homely). Chris met her yesterday morning and we agreed that she would start on Monday. Lisa called me last night to say that in the three years she has known Moon she has never heard her sing but that yesterday afternoon she was singling like a lark and then told her that she was really happy about starting work with us.

This country is bonkers!!

We got the apartment that we wanted. I am thrilled to bits - it's really nice. It's just off the main road here so it's really central but the actual soi (which is Soi 12) is a dead end so it's quite quiet. (Thought i would include a picture of what the main road looks like). I found a website with pictures of the apartments - it's not the same layout but they are all very similar so you will get an idea of what ours looks like. (http://www.platinum-service.net/add-images/cosmo-villa/index.htm).

Your going to laugh your head off when i tell you this - it's on the same street as a restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms!! Aparently it was set up to fund an aids charity and instead of mints with your coffee you get a condom.

The other restaurant on the street is called Crepes & Co and i have been told the food is fab (http://www.crepes.co.th/).

The Beginning

Things are going quite well here. The serviced apartment we are in at the moment is quite a big studio, has it's own balcony and a maid who cleans it every day and makes the bed. I think i may have terrified the living daylights out of her when she came in yesterday. I took the opportunity to practice my Thai - introduced myself and told her i was very pleased to meet her - i'm sure she now thinks i am a loony!!

Anyway, i've not wasted any time - have sorted out internet access here and i went out today to view some condo's with a woman called Sue who i got on very well with. I saw about 10 different places, some were amazing and some were just downright weird with odd orange furniture that was probably from the 60's and flowery wallpaper to match the flowery sofa to match the flowery lampshades - Ahhh flower hell!!! (needless to say we are not going to have a second look at that one - although it might be funny to see the look on Chris's face...Hmmm....). I've narrowed it down to four which i am going to take Chris to see on Friday afternoon so hopefully we will have decided on something by the end of the week.

Things are going well for Chris work wise. We arrived on Friday night to find a message from Phil (his new boss) saying that they have just won a big contract which he will be expected to manage and could he come in on Sunday for a meeting. It looks like he is going to be very busy over the next 8 weeks - something to do with origin (I got a bit lost after that but i'm sure it is all very interesting)

Not really much else to tell you, Bangkok's hot and humid, the food is fab and so far so good (hope it stays that way)