I arrived back in Ireland late on Monday evening, 5th March 2007

I flew with Etihad Airlines and stopped off in Abu Dhabi for a few hours. It was probably one of the best flights home I have ever had and I would recommend this airline to anyone travelling out to Thailand. Also, it looks like they will be flying to Dublin soon so that the stopover in London may not be required!

I was lucky on the flight because there was no-one sitting beside me so I had plenty of space to stretch my short legs. Also, they provide you with your own screen so you can choose which movies to watch and when you want to watch them. The beef that they served was as good as any fancy restaurant in Bangkok or Dublin!

When I arrived in Dublin I was fairly knackered because I had been travelling for over 26 hours. On top of this I also had to say goodbye to Nang – not knowing when I will see her again so all in all it wasnt really easy!

Its hard to believe that I am really back – but I am!

My first impression is that it is really, really cold! I mean, its much colder than the times when I have come home for holidays Today I walked the pier in Dun Laoire and my face was forzen -literally!It was really really sore and I even thought about going to hospital – can you get frost bite on your face? Also, the tap water here is freezing. It should come out as ice cubes and not water!!!

During the week I have just taken it easy and tried to organise a lot of stuff on the net and on my laptop. I need to start applying for jobs and sending out my CV.Initially I would like to do some contract work first and then move on to something more permanent as I settle back into life in IReland.

I am staying with Denis and Amela for the time being but I dont want to overstay my welcome here. The plan is to move into Evans once there is a room available there.

During the week I also t some bad news that Nang was rushed into hospital. She had an operation already but apparantly it has been a success I didnt get much detail but I think everything is OK now. I got a phonecall in the middle of the night saying that she needed an operation but that they wouldnt do it until they got paid first!!! I had to ask a friend to pay it for me and then I will reimburse him. Crazy Thailand.

Anyway, I am almost through my first week and I am just about surviving. I have cooked dinner every evening so far which has been fun – and tasty – surprisingly enough!!! And I have also walked the pier every day. I have even got the Dancing game working on the PS2 which means that I am excercising and eating well. Something that I havent done for a long time!!

Thats all for now but there will be plenty more updates on how I settle back into life in Ireland.