Koh Samet Revisited

To round off my trip, I staid a couple of days with Mike and Lek, who live in Rayong, which is on the gulf coast about 2 hours south of Bangkok.  We decided to pop over to the nearby island of Koh Samet for a day trip to take advantage of the fine weather after a couple of days of heavy rain.  I had last been to Samet about 6 years ago for an abortive scuba diving trip and had been taken by its relatively peaceful character compared to some Thai resorts.  A couple of years ago it had suffered a major environmental catastrophe due to a massive oil spill, which had decimate the tourist industry there for a whole season.  I was pleased to find that the island had totally recovered from this incident and was a attractive and tranquil as ever.   A good place to chill out for the day.

The Cactus Lobster Challenge

I was fortunate that my return to Bangkok coincided with the Cactus Bar's bi-monthly lobster feast - thanks to Vince for getting me a ticket to this fairly exclusive event.  This meal consists of 5 seafood starter courses, followed by a whole Atlantic lobster for each diner, flown in to Thailand especially for this event and prepared by the bar's manager, John.  All this washed down with a selection of the finest Belgian beers.  Quite a challenge.  I have to admit to getting some help to finish the lobster, which was truly massive (see below).  An excellent night out!

Return to KL

I took the opportunity of being in SE Asia to drop in to Kuala Lumpur to revisit a few old haunts and catch up with various friends over there.  Great to dine out on Chinese street food in Jalan Alor - a feast for less than £3.
On the Saturday I met up with John and Chu, who took me to the Petaling Hash way out in the Malasian jungle.  
Not being acclimatised to the temperature and humidity, I was totally drained by the end of the run, but a few beers soon sorted that out.  Good to meet some old buddies, but also disappointed that many of them had moved on in the 5 years or so since I was last there.  Not surprising perhaps - that's the expat way of life.

Bangkok 2015

Back in Bangkok again for a customer meeting.  All pretty much same-same.  No obvious impact from the Erawan Shrine bomb a few weeks ago.  My work colleague, Vincent, was nearby when that happened and suffered aural concussion.  Luckily all OK now.