A-lo was quite unsettled in the morning and felt most uncomfortable in a built up urban environment. She overcame her fear of crowds and traffic and by 10am we were on our way. First challenge: breakfast. Globalisation meant that a Starbucks was never far away and fortified with a latte we caught the sky train to the Tha Saton pier on the Chao Phraya River. The water was bustling with traffic: long-tail boats, colossal barge trains, hotel shuttles and commute...

Stoked up on a decent breakfast and hailed a taxi to the airport. Denpasar traffic was mad: when there was a traffic jam, the motorbikes just went on to the pavement. Painless check in then the usual time to kill. I amused myself by finding presents for Annelise that would use up our last Rph26,000. The lucky lady received a shell bracelet and a PVC ethnic purse. Landed at Singapore, bussed it to the budget terminal (which was very budget) and touched down in ...