Well, so much for a break from the drinking. The “part man, part camel” that is The Bermanator and I were treated to another side of Bangkok last night when the boss took us to meet some friends for drinks at the Bangkok Peninsula Hotel. It’s nice to be reminded there is another side to the noisy, fast-paced chaos of downtown Sukhumvit, somewhere to chill out by the river at night and sip expensive cocktails while enjoying some good company.

From there we moved to Spazzo – a jazz bar and restaurant in the basement of the Grand Hyatt Erawan. I can honestly say this is the only bar I’ve ever been to in my life where I walked into the toilet and said out loud to myself “Wow! It smells so good in here!” – that’s the kind of place it was.

Bored with the 10,000 baht per night call girls trying to catch our attention, The Bermanator and I moved on to my local for “just one more drink” which lasted until closing time at 1am. Today, as usual, I am tired, hungover, and cursing the day I met The Bermanator (just kidding, AB).

In other news, The family has had a shocking health scare with my father being diagnosed with lung cancer. The chuckle I used to get every time I walked past a “Big C” supermarket here in Bangkok is suddenly no longer funny.

Prognosis is optimistic at this stage and we all expect him to make a full recovery. I write about this news not because I want sympathy from you, my friends – but because it’s times like this I really do wish I was home. Until this day I haven’t missed Australia much at all.

In this high-tech world we live in these days where everything and everyone is connected and we can talk to people instantly with the click of a button, Australia seems a long way from Bangkok right now, and a virtual hug over a webcam just doesn’t cut it. Where are the little red shoes to tap when I need them most.

Just like Dorothy, I want to be home.