it's gonna take a long time to get home

Greetings from Bangkok's Suvarnubumi Airport. I'm in the SAS lounge, using a wierd little computer. The keyboard is freaky, each key has 4 or 5 characters on it, luckily it seems set for English.

Well, it's gonna take a long time to get home to Norway. Our flight from Bangkok is delayed, which means we miss our connecting flight in Stockholm, and as it was the last one for the day to Oslo, we get to spend the night. Seems like SAS is footing the bill for that, at least, that is what the led me to believe. We'll see. So far so good. Our luggage was so overweight it was insane. We are allowed 30 kilos each (yes even in business class they only allow one suitcase!), I know mine was more than that and as Rich is literally carrying rocks in his suitcase, his weighed more than mine. However, seems like the nice people at SAS in Thailand make the scale stop at 30 kilos, as both of our suitcases weighed exactly that...what a miracle! And they even let Rich check in his other suitcase that he was going to carry on, and it weighed a whopping 16 kilos on its own. I'm thinking our luggage overage more than justifies the price of our tickets.

It is 24 degrees in Oslo today. It's 90 in Bangkok. I have only a light sweater and little leather jacket. I am going to FREEZE MY ASS OFF when I get to Scandinavia. I really really really really really really really REALLY don't want to go back. Life in Bangkok is so easy, there is always a way to do something, there is always a yes option, everything is cheap and there is a facial or a massage available every 30 feet. I had a nice facial and my eyebrows done yesterday, after laying in the sun by the pool in the morning, and having a Starbucks mocha. I had a nice leisurely day where I packed all my stuff and lazed around and was warm and pampered. It will be hard to go back to icy cold Norway where facials and massages are so expensive and so "special" as opposed to Bangkok where it's just part of the upkeep of life.

What a trip we have had. In random order I: swam at night with phosphorescent algae that sparkled like stars (and jumped off the second story of the boat to get into that water, mightily impressing the whole group I traveled with), ate dinner at sunset on a semi-deserted island accessible only by boat, and wished like hell I had had my camera; spilled a table full of water and wine all over an imminent doctor in Siem Reap and as the liquids tumbled, yelled "FUCK", as I was all flustered and embarrassed and that word just flies out of my mouth at times of embarrassment. The doctor looked at me, (dripping) laughed and said "It doesn't FUCKING matter!" He was cool.
I swam with all sorts of pretty fish and saw barracudas, which I swam away from.
I swam in the Andaman Sea and the Indian Ocean. I went south of the Equator. (My first time!)
I visited some of the holiest Buddhist and Hindu sites in SE Asia, and watched as a temple monkey stole Rich's new glasses right off his face (I really hate monkeys now).
I swam in my own private pool in Ubud and ate my weight in calamari and drank as much in Mai Thais.
I got a tan, 2 facials, two massages, a pedicure and, most memorably, a foot scrub while lying on the beach at Railay. I traveled in longboats, shortboats, taxis, tuktuks, golf carts, planes, busses, minivans, and avoided the Elephant ride. (Been there done that.)
I bought textiles, jewelry, more jewelry and some more jewelry. I also bought small statues, beaded baskets, wall plaques, a wooden painted and gilded two dragon-headed Dakon game that I have been hand carrying since Yogyakarta; 4 hand painted wall hangings depicting the birth of Buddha, his angels and himself; 6 lengths of batik (three already made into a dress and a skirt), three sarongs, two bed sets, 4 pillows, assorted beads, 150 grams of hill tribe silver and some hair clips. I also have a hand pierced leather shadow puppet and a gorgeous length of hand woven and batiked silk.

Etc.

I filled up one 4 gig memory card on my camera (1200 pictures) and have gotten well into the 8 gig card. I named my camera Skippy the Wonder Camera as there is nothing it can't do and it takes the most gorgeous pictures. Go buy a Panasonic Lumix, trust me on this.

I saw a movie in Bangkok that had first class airline-style seating that you reclined all the way, complete with blankies and foot rubs. The popcorn was fabulous. We saw "Australia", a fine movie that was one half Western and one half War Movie. I would like to eat popcorn off Hugh Jackman's chest. Hell, I just want to lick his chest, forget the popcorn. I think Australia should be recut with Hugh Jackman nearly nude the whole way through. I think Hugh Jackman's torso should be on US money, forget those boring old presidents. Hugh Jackman should be a UNESCO world Heritage site, just him, himself.

Um, what was a I talking about before Hugh Jackman?

I forget. Oh well, That's probably enough blog for today anyhow. My next post will be about how depressed I am, get ready for it........