Bad news to start the day off. My "visitor" from England texted me to say his plane had somehow been overbooked and he was now on a plane leaving 1 day later than planned. Not sure what time he is due but he says he has been suitably compensated. Now I will have to let reception know he is late booking in and also find something to do today until he turns up.

I had a wander about in the morning but it was very hot. Found a Starbucks and had a really good cappuccino made better by the air conditioning in the building. It was good sitting there and watching the world go by, or should I say the traffic crawl by. It was a Sunday yet the roads were packed. As I passed some shops I saw some water pistols for sale which brought the horrors flooding back. Its their New Year again soon and no doubt they will be celebrating in the same way they did in Pattaya last year. "Water-Chuckers of the World Unite"! Hopefully the celebrations won't be quite as lively in Phuket so it's fingers crossed for that one.

The trouble with stopping to look at things is that you are immediately surrounded by a crowd of Thais (should that be a "rack of Thais" I wonder as in Tie Rack?) trying to sell you everything under the sun. Who exactly wants a tarantula (dead of course) in a glass case? So after an hour or so of polite refusals I decided a drink was in order. It was after noon after all. So back I went to Gullivers, an air conditioned haven. Golf was on some of the tellys, and soccer on the others. Plenty to watch. Then I noticed the three pool tables ( I had seen them before, it wasn't as though they had magically appeared). It was winner-stays-on so I put my name down. My turn duly came and I paid the 30p to play. I managed to beat the guy who was on and then beat the next 4 (2 of which were girls, not that there's anything wrong with that, they just struggled to hold the cue straight thats all). I was eventually beaten by a James Wattana lookalike. In fact it could have been him because he played really well. Perhaps every so often he puts his name down to make sure a farang doesn't stay on a table too long. Anyway as I had had a few beers to quench the thirst playing pool can work up, I decided to go back to the hotel for a siesta.

Night time already. You can't beat a good snooze and an hour or so's reading. So off I ventured. Along the main road and up and down the streets (or soys as they are known here). There's always an assortment of street vendors selling all sorts of food and drinks but I can't say I would fancy buying something thats been exposed to the exhaust fumes of Bangkok. Everything is lit up and flashing as well. It's like Blackpool on acid ( a bit of poetic licence there as I have no idea what being on acid is like). The streets are still full of "looky looky" people but I am accustomed to them now (half a day isn't bad for that is it). I found a nice bar called Level42 just set off from the main road. Of course air conditioning is a pre requisite but also it hasn't to be too full. Polite service from the bar maids, always guaranteed once they find out I am from England. Apparently Americans are not too welcome over here. I wonder why! I declined the offer of free nuts even though I was starving. Not too much happened in that bar. There was nobody I felt like striking a conversation up with. So like a moth to a flame it was back to Gullivers. I got chatting to an old biker from Chester who had ridden his Harley all over the world. He said Japan was his favourite place (although he didn't look the type who enjoyed raw fish) but it was too expensive to live there so he was in his 2nd favourite place, Thailand. It was footy time then so I settled back and watched. I satisfied my hunger with some spicy buffalo wings (when did buffalo ever have wings? Must be those from Sellafield perhaps) and a seafood platter. When I found myself stifling a yawn (nothing to do with Spurs v Newcastle) I knew it was time to get back to the hotel. It was midnight but it was till so warm on the streets. A quick shower to cool down and then it was lights out.

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