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Having spent Christmas in the capital of the (predominantly Catholic) Philippines for the last two years, we weren’t entirely sure of what to expect for our first Christmas in the (predominantly Buddhist) capital of Thailand… we needn’t have worried, since the expat community is large enough to ensure that Christmas is celebrated to some extent, despite it being 30ºC in the sun.

Better still, the rooftop bar and restaurant on the grounds of our apartment complex is owned by a fellow Brit expat, who laid on a lavish five-course traditional Christmas lunch. It was so lavish, in fact, that not one person finished, and most of us were defeated by the main course… and it took us most of the afternoon to eat our fill. Nonetheless, with a little extra help from two bottles of Jameson’s single malt, a few bottles of red-wine, and several crates of Singha beer, a wonderful time was enjoyed by all!

(In case you’re wondering what happened to the final course… it was mince pies and fruit with ice cream, but I could barely lift my fork by the time it arrived, let alone operate my camera!)

I had the brainwave of making our long flight between Birmingham and Bangkok a little easier by breaking it into two 6-hour stages with an overnight stop in Dubai for 10 hours. The plan was to buy access to a business or first class lounge, take a shower, use the wifi access and maybe catch 6 or 7 hours of sleep in a comfortable recliner. As it turns out, the class divide in Dubai airport is very much alive and well – and the common riff-raff are not allowed to upgrade to a better lounge; as matter of fact they have special areas to keep us in, where sleeping is not allowed and access costs US$30 per 4 hours; there are free showers with no towels, or a 15 minute walk to the luxury showers in the airport hotel at US$32 each!!

In the end, we found reasonably comfy recliners in the waiting room near our departure gate, and used the close-by free showers, drying off with the clothes we changed out of. The 10 hour layover crawled by, but we eventually arrived in Bangkok’s giant airport with our nerves mostly intact last night. Better still, we have the same condo we stayed in for our last visit at the beginning of the year, with this view from our window. It’s great to be back!!

Here are a selection of photographs from our first full day at Daytona Beach. Nursing Wild Turkey induced hangovers, we all missed breakfast and started the day late with a ride around Daytona Beach in convoy. Then across the road from our hotel around the Nascar International Speedway, we spent the an afternoon admiring the choppers and bars at the swapmeet in the Speedway grounds, before heading back to Main Street.

So, we’ve passed the 3 year point of owning the Harleys we bought for Route 66, and probably won’t be back to the US for an extended stay for another 3 or 4 years. Sniff.

Our buddy, Stoney, came over a couple of weeks ago to help us enjoy our farewell, final roadtrip before we sell the bikes and head back to SE Asia. We have had the time of our lives, and crammed so much into our 2500 mile ride across 5 states, that I’ll be posting the pictures gradually over the next week or two… So check back often for updates!!

The pictures below span the first 24 hours after our setting out from St. Petersburg to Daytona Beach for Oktoberfest 2009, via Orlando airport to collect Stoney…

Apologies for the quality of some of the photos. I was using my iPhone, and/or the lighting was bad, and/or I was a little unsteady. More to follow…

On the spur of the moment, to break up the 12 hour days I’ve been working back to back for the last couple of weeks, Octavia took me for a nice bike ride just past Bahama Shores a few miles to the south of our house in SE St Petersburg. We found a nice park with some cool jettys looking out over Tampa Bay as the sun started to set.

Are you bored of seeing my pictures of Florida yet? Oktoberfest next week…