My Egg Noodles

The last 9 days or so have been manic!! A good friend of mine got married last week so I jumped on a plane at the last minute to head over to London so I could attend. It was a great day had by all, with perfect weather and lot’s of beer/wine. It was also a lot of fun catching up with old buddies I haven’t seen in years.

The rest of the week was spent visiting clients and biz peps, spending Mothers Day with my Mum, going to a West Ham game, hanging out with family and friends and of course, playing lots of poker!

These 3 guys are some of the closest friends I’ve got, going back 15+ years. We’re like brothers.

My good mate Nick, who was the best man at the wedding and is unfortunately fighting cancer for the 2nd time.

Dan, a solid mate with his girlfriend.

The bride and groom – 2 of the most friendly people on earth!

Joe – One of my closest friends, also one of the most craziest people I know.

My Dad and my brother Sam at an Italian restaurant.

He’s going to be a right ladies man when he is older – Is he cute or what?

Poker round my Dad’s house.

The cold weather
For all 14 nights I was in England, I slept in my jumper, jeans and socks… the bitter cold weather froze my nuts off constantly!

A surprise lunch at Harrods

As me and a mate were driving pass Harrods, the big department store in Knights bridge, he pulled over, parked the car and treated me to a feast for lunch. A mate who knows how to put a smile on my face!

Driving an Audi RS4 for a couple of weeks

My dad gave me an Audi RS4 to drive in while I was at home. This is a seriously nice car… the speeds and the 4 wheel drive makes it such pleasure of a car to drive.

Being able to spend time with my buddies
Even though most of my buddies are out of work at the minute meaning little money to go out, they are still a great laugh to hang with. Poker, pub lunches, dancing, visiting bars… the usual stuff you do with your buddies… it was great to catch up with everyone!

Walking 7 or so miles in the freezing cold

Walking through fields and coming across a butchers which sold wicked Cornish pasties, I decided to continue walking until I got home, in temperatures around 2 degrees…. As I had made plans for lunch, dinner and night time activities for the whole 2 weeks I was in England, it was so nice to spend a few hours on my own. The british countryside is so beautiful, as was the Cornish pasty :)

Being able to eat at The Bell nearly every day
The Bell, a local pub near where my Dad lives, sells top notch French cuisine. I was fortunate to have lunch here nearly every day!

Eating meat from Lidgates

British beef… I don’t think you can beat it. I don’t eat beef from Thailand as it’s very tough and chewy… so I normally opt for imported beef that either comes from the US or Australia. It’s good, but I don’t think it’s on par with British Beef. Lidgates butchers in Holland Park, West London, is the best butchers I know of… they have sausages made out of pork from Old Spot Pigs, a rare breed of pigs in the UK – But the showcase is their organic beef… I bought a huge 3 rib joint which I cooked for the whole family!

Playing Poker
I’m not sure if I have changed my poker strategy or the other players have improved their game, but my poker skills were simply not good enough. I lost more than I’d like to share and only won 2 small games from playing 20 or so. One thing for sure, I need to go to Vegas or another poker venue in Asia to improve my game before I head back!

There were a ton of other highlights, like my letting my Mum take me shopping, eating Pizza with my Nan and Uncle, spending time with my sisters and brother…. I had a great time and look forward to revisiting for work/pleasure in a few months!

After 3 nights in England, I’m ready to head home, my home in Thailand. The trip to Amsterdam and England have both been worth while. I picked up a major client in Amsterdam, I have had the opportunity to hang out with friends and family and I also won £300 over 5 games of poker! That’s what I call a productive week J

This is my 3rd visit home to see family and friends since I left England perminatley. I have mixed feelings: It’s great catching up with family and friends however I really do miss my *new* home. I miss my new family and friends that I have built during nearly 2 years in Thailand. I also really miss the food, speaking Thai and the overal buzz of the place.

Walking around the supermarket with my Mum yesterday confirmed why I had left to start a new life in a unique, crazy country. The people here are so missrable, from people shopping to the staff. I could see that most are stuck with routine that they are not happy with. The town where I grew up is 20 minutes from London, so it’s no suprise there is a very high crime rate. As soon as my sister picked me up, she told me how the police had fount a girl in the boot of a car at the train station. She also told me that a lady had drove into the back of her car and simply drove off. I also heared that a guy had been shot last week due to drugs. With high crime rates along with misrable people, it’s not home sweet home.

Anyway, I only came here for one reason: to visit friends and family. I started by having lunch with my Nan and uncle, luckily the british weather was quite pleasent so we sat in the garden eating pizza and drinking rose wine. During the evening I catched up with my best buddies: Trevor and Emma. We, along with my Mum and step dad had a great game of Poker with some beer and peking duck ordered from the chinesse.