January 2002

Hi all !

Happy New Year to you all. Many apologies for the lack of website updates last year. It was a hectic year all round with a few surprises thrown in a long the way just to keep us on our toes. Best thing so I don't miss anything out is to give you a brief run down of the whole year, and lets hope I can keep up on things better this year!

January: we started off the new year by going to Borneo and climbing Mount Kinabulu, reaching the top on New Years Day to watch the sun come up, a truly beautiful sight. Spent the next few weeks recovering from toenails dropping off and running around getting all the wedding plans finished. The rest of January was taken up with the wedding and seeing loads of visitors who travelled all the way to see us.

February: we learnt to dive in a swimming pool and then off the murky waters of seedy Pattaya we completed our Padi Certified courses. Not much to see in Pattaya (there are far more weirder creatures above land in Pattaya) but I overcame being unable to swim underwater with my eyes open though I still never do it by preference.

March: we went on honeymoon to the Maldives which has got to be the most tranquil and relaxing place I have ever been too. Water so unbelievably clear, beautiful marine life, loads of sun and the best diving ever.

April: we tried to get back to some sort of normal routine of work, seeing friends and going to the gym. Spent Mr Mawf's birthday in Khao Yai. Mr Mawf was still sporting his old hair do back then.

May: we were in Singapore as Frosty kept getting asked to fill in for the ING Barings office there.

June: we got a two months notice to get out of our apartment as the lease was up and they had decided to kick us out so they could renovate. Spent June and July trailing round apartments trying to find somewhere which would accommodate Frosty's huge TV.

July: I started working for Mawf full time at his company Canthai. I became head of web development. The experience taught me that I much prefer to create rather than manage and its so much better working at home, especially with a hangover. Not to say Mr Mawf was an excellent boss. He's the first boss I have had who has specifically told me when we have been out late to have a lie in the next morning! Frosty also worked in the London office this month.

August: we moved apartment. Have become an expert at this now. The move took two days and I had everything in its place a week later.

September: Frosty lost his job at ING Barings as they decided to cut around 30% of their staff. Being quite used to this situation and having heard a rumour about it for sometime we weren't surprised and saw it coming. Had the usual commiseration drinks down the pub as is the custom and Frosty set out on finding a new job straight away before the market got even worse. After only a week, Frosty had a new job lined up with WICARR, the securities side of a large French Bank. The job was too be in Singapore though. We couldn't move straight away as Singapore is very strict about work permits etc so we stayed in Bangkok while all of that was being sorted out. Frosty went to work in their Bangkok office and I carried on working for Mawf.

October: Nothing eventful happened to us personally this month. It was more a party month. Robbie Williams graced Bangkok and gave a fantastic performance. The men all complained they were dragged there by their wives but they loved it really! Shangetta and Mahfuz paid us all another visit and as per usual we all had to check into the Betty Ford clinic once they had left.

November: started off really well, was getting rather excited about the upcoming move to Singapore. Eventually WICARR set a date for our moving, giving us plenty of notice as usual, 2 weeks to organize all the removals etc. Had held out telling the maid and the apartment that we were leaving as maids tend to go a bit more doolally than usual when you spring this kind of information on them, so on Wed 14th I think it was at lunch time I sacked the maid, made all the arrangements with the movers and informed the apartment that we would be leaving. By 5 pm that same night WICARR announced that the securities business was to close. This time we were shocked as there was no warning at all. I had also handed in my resignation the same day, not that Mawf wouldn't have taken me back but he was down sizing too. So off to the pub again! This time our friend Phil commiserated with us as he had just got off the plane from Korea to be told your sacked mate! Spent the next day unsacking the maid and getting the apartment back. Too late for the car though, the lovely beemer has been sold two days previously.

December: The start of December was hectic, went to Singapore, then to Hong Kong to do interviews. My first ever trip to Hong Kong. Stayed with Sean and saw a little bit of what Hong Kong is like. It was very cold and damp which reminded me too much of England! Christmas we were in Bangkok. Christmas day we spent at Ruby and Eric's, eating an excellent turkey Christmas dinner which went on well into the night. New Year we went down to Hua Hin which is about 2 hours south of Bangkok with Mawf and his family, Sunny's family and the Vampire family. It was quite relaxing and not as raucous as some New Years Eve's have been. Frosty hid beneath all kinds of shades whilst Mr. Mawf basted himself like a turkey. It was surprisingly cool and there was a constant battle for the few jumpers that we had between us!

So we are all now back in Bangkok, so many of us are job hunting and keeping our fingers crossed that this year will be better on the job front than last year. I am happily working away at home again whilst trying to keep frosty and his spooky aura away from my office as much as possible!

Bird x x x