Schumacher takes me to work .......!!!!!

It has been a while but in all honesty not a lot has been happening. That was until last weekend .
So what is it like to be driven to work by Schumacher (Or BB -

Betel Nut Boy ) ? Well it is outright dangerous and not a pleasant experience at all. The White Van pictured, darts in and out of traffic like you can't imagine, almost hitting anything in sight and careering through red traffic lights. Taiwan is the first country I've been to where it is more dangerous to go through a green light than a red one !!!! On top of this, I was hearing a story about a German colleague - Andreas, who had just parked his car and was getting out when a local scraped down the side. The Police were called and their verdict was that it was Andreas's fault as had he not been in Taiwan , it would never have happened !! Meanwhile back to Betel Nut Boy - I think he is on some kind of mission sometimes - the worse the weather, the greater the challenge and the worse he drives. He seems capable of doing a 15 minute journey in 8 !

Talking of transport, last weekend saw SB and I go to Hua Hin in Thailand for 3 days. Pictured is Steves' house and Royal Hua Hin Golf Club where we played on the Friday. The flight out was ok with Thai but the return was a near disaster. Having arrived late on Thursday night we get in our car at BKK airport and head off on the 2 and a half hour trek to Hua Hin. As the king lives there everything closes at 1am. As we reach the outskirts, SB declares this isn't his usual driver and that he doesn't actually know where he lives !!!! A phone call to Tik later, a couple of wrong turns and we somehow arrive at chez Stephen. A nice place built on 2 levels - he lives upstairs with guest accommodation downstairs.

We warmed up (it was 30 degrees) in the morning at a driving range then played RHHGC in the afternoon. The course itself could have been better maintained and the golf (on my part, at least) could also have been better. But not having played for a while, it was great to go out and play. The joke between the compulsory caddies - not only ours - was how big SB and myself were. In fact, I came back with the nickname 'little elephant' (Thanks, Thailand). However the evening was spent in the bustling town. Many bars and restaurants were there to savour. I really liked Hua Hin - leaves Pattaya standing as a destination - and would like to go back one day. I met up with some of SBs friends who were all very kind to me. Saturday saw SB and I a little bit stiff so we gave Golf a miss. Especially after we found out the courses were really full and that it would take 5 to 6 hours to go around. Instead we went to the beach and had a brilliant seafood meal. We followed this with a trip up Monkey mountain (you can probably work that one out!). So it was back to the tailors before another night out. I got some shirts and trousers made. Sunday saw our return journey, which was ok until we got to the new airport at BKK. In their wisdom, Thai airways decided to have a 'free-for-all' check-in which resulted in us taking over an hour to check-in. I was so disappointed with Thai Airways, as I had heard so many good things about them. We got on-board and our departure time comes and goes. Then the Captain reveals a technical problem which is being dealt with. I don't know about you, but that never gives me much confidence ! Anyway we left half an hour late but thanks to tail winds we arrived on time. I knew I was back in Taiwan for 2 reasons a) It was 8 degrees and when I left BKK it was 30 and b) within seconds of getting into the Taxi, we nearly had an accident.

You have probably noticed that AG has not received much coverage on this occasion. That is because he is getting excited about DS and daughter Emily (pickle apparantly) coming over next week. Hope you have a great time.

That is all for now, only to say a big thanks to Tik, Nan,Porn,Tam, David, SB and the others at PP bar for making Hua Hin so enjoyable. Also a thanks to the England Cricket Team for making my life hell and finally to my beloved Liverpool who are at least trying to keep a smile on my sporting face (brilliant to stuff Chelsea out of sight - looking forward to my tenner Mr. Rutland!).