Tonight is my last in Bangkok. I knew three months would go fast, but it really does seem as though I've just settled in and now it's time to go.

People keep asking if I'm coming back — I hope so. At least for a holiday if not to take that job that Expedia offered me — oops! [backspace]

Of course, I still have a whole month of travelling to do through Vietnam and Cambodia! But I have been weighing up the things I'll miss about Bangkok, and the things I have begun to miss about home.

Brisbane — things I miss

1. My family (including Roxy, the dog), and especially my boys. We raised our kids to be independent, but that doesn't mean I don't miss having them around!
2. My friends at the Brisbane office. This is the first time in seven years that I've worked anywhere apart from the Brisbane Wotif office.
3. Being able to give someone a hug. I never know what the protocol is here, so I just resist the urge.
4. Being able to drink water from the tap.
5. Being able to hold a conversation with strangers that consists of more than "hello", "how are you", and "goodbye" (which is the same as hello).
6. Being able to order a meal in English, and know what I'm getting.
7. Blue sky.
8. Footpaths.
9. Being able to cross at a pedestrian crossing without checking for traffic.
10. Rubbish bins.

Brisbane — things I don't miss

1. Roxy's hair on every surface of my house.
2. Taxi fares.
3. The lousy public transport.
4. Boring food.
5. The Valley.
6. Shops that close at 9pm, or even 5.30pm!
7. Actually having your bag checked when you go through customs.
8. No daylight savings.
9. Not having my own pool and gym.
10. Today Tonight.

Bangkok — things I won't miss

1. The heat.
2. The smell of khlongs and drains.
3. Worrying that I don't have enough money on me to bribe a policeman if I need to.
4. Wondering which part of the animal that crunchy bit in my mouth was.
5. Dog poo down every soi.
6. Begging.
7. Saying "not want" to every second person as I walk down a street full of tuk-tuks and bars.
8. Dividing every price I see by 30.
9. Copping an eye- and throat-full of chilli vapour as you walk past a street vendor.
10. Having to go to Starbucks to get a decent coffee.

Bangkok — things I will miss

1. My new friends. Wherever I go in this company, I meet warm, welcoming, and generous individuals.
2. Being able to smile at almost anyone without starting a fight. A beautiful country with (mostly) beautiful, friendly people.
3. Being able to fly to the other end of the country, or even overseas, for $50.
4. Eating lunch for a dollar.
5. Catching a moto-taxi to work every day.
6. Living five minutes' walk from anything you need.
7. Shopping at 7 Elevens.
8. Soi dogs.
9. Markets.
10. Cool bars and restaurants.

Sawasdee khup, Krung Thep. Thanks for having me.

D.

Cheaper than chips

If you've never been to Thailand before, but have heard stories about how cheap it is, I'd like to try to convey something of the reality of this for you. Allow me to use two common scenarios to illustrate.

Think about the last time you caught a taxi to the airport in a major Australian city - Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane - take your pick (my apologies to our West Coast readers - I'm not being deliberately Coastist, I just have no recent experience of catching taxis in Perth).

Say you're in the Harbour City, staying with friends around the Eastern Suburbs, or Northern beaches (hi Anthony! Hi Lisa!); or you're at West End or Coorparoo in Bris Vegas (hi Nikki, howdy Burgo); or you're holidaying in charming St Kilda (no friends there yet, but I'm working on it). Now imagine you arrive at the airport, and you hand the cabbie a $50 note.

If you're in Brisbane, you may get away with it, depending on what the traffic and roadworks were like on the day. If you're in Sydney or Melbourne, you'd be lucky to get out of the cab alive.

Now take that same 30-45 minute ride in Bangkok, from Sukhumvit or Siarm. You hand the driver a 1,000 Baht note (about AU$35) and you'll get an objection just as vigorous, albeit less violent, though for the opposite reason.

He can't possibly give you change from a 1,000 for the 2-300 Baht fare (about AU$7-10). You better come up with something smaller or you'll be giving him a very large tip (snaps to Kirsty by the way, who told me to make sure I had some small change in Baht for the taxi when I arrived in Bangkok - thanks pet!).

My second scenario was lunch on Friday. Five of us from the office went to a local food market. Picture the food court in your local shopping centre on a busy Saturday, but replace all the Maccas, greasy fish and chips, and over-priced Chinese buffets with local vendors, all making fresh Thai dishes from scratch. Woks, charcoal grills, clay pots and freshly chopped fruit everywhere.

It cost the five of us $11, including drinks. Total, not each. And there was food left on the plate because we were all full.

I kind of feel sad for everyone in the Brisbane office today deciding whether to save money by getting a $7 subway special.

Kind of...

D.

Lucky number 9

In Thai culture nine is lucky. It means to move forward, so it's connected to prosperity, and advancement.

My stay in Bangkok is off to a good start - I moved into my new apartment, which is on the ninth floor, yesterday on 9 March, and signed my contract about 9 o'clock. Bring on the prosperity!

Mind you, on my way to the apartment - in fact, right out front of the apartment - my cab driver decided he'd take a look through my bags while I was getting change for him. Everything was still there, so clearly nothing he saw interested him.

My new apartment is pretty cool. Small, but cool (I have to stop using that word in Thailand - it's quite hot actually). It's brand new - I'm the first person to stay in this apartment. en suite bathroom, air con, about 70 channels of quality cable entertainment (most of it in Thai), faux gold curtain rod ends, and a brand new mattress made out of recycled concrete.

I like it. It's nothing special, but it's my first overseas address, and it means that I belong here now. This Soi is my home.

Yesterday was also my seven year anniversary in this job - the longest I've worked anywhere. That feels kind of lucky too.

To celebrate, I caught my first moto-taxi to work this morning. It's not that far from the office - I've walked it in about 20 minutes - but I don't like walking into the office sweating like an angry hippo with a hernia. It's not the impression I'm hoping to leave of my visit to Bangkok.

For those who've never been to Bangkok before, moto-taxis are small motorbikes - usually mopeds - that helpful Thais in orange vests let you climb on the back of, so that they can take you to your destination. You can go anywhere from just down the street to the train station, to across town if you're game.

There are two benefits to the moto-taxi: 1. they are cheap (you can get a lift down the street to the train station for the equivalent of about 35 cents Aussie); 2. they are super fast because road rules appear not to apply to them.

Benefit number 2 means that they weave in and out of traffic, across lanes, onto footpaths, even into on-coming traffic, all in the name of getting you to your destination as speedily as possible.

So how did my first moto-taxi ride go? Something like this:
"Weeeeeee! Ahh - Aaaahhhhhhh!! Weeeeeeeee!"

Guess which bit I had my eyes open for?

As with a lot of things here, sometimes, it's best not to know what's really going on, put your head down, and hold on. I stepped off the moped in one piece about two minutes after leaving the front of my apartment. Worth every Baht!

D.

PS. Mum, if you're reading this, I just made that last bit up for the blog OK? It didn't really happen.

I had my eyes open the whole time...