My plans for a 2 day motorbike trek up to Phang Nga with my new young Swiss friend Laurent have been cruelly thwarted by rain. And what rain it is. Torrential rain since sometime during the night (it's almost lunch now). And better still, it's knocked out the power to the town. So no fans, light, TV's, music (which means no James Blunt for a few hours :) ), internet... the streets are completely empty and most shops shut.

Luckily the ipod and computer are all charged up, I can play on my fave toys a while.

Technorati Tags: photography, thailand, travel, travelphotography

Thailand. It's official. I love this place. But I knew I would - it's laid back, tropical and cheap, the ultimate winning trifecta for me. I wonder if I'd still love it if I lived here a few years? It's no secret to my friends that this trip was always planned as a fact finding mission. In September, when I get back to Tokyo, I'm going to make a decision about just how much longer I'll be staying in Japan.

My love affair with Japan has passionately waxed and waned in irregular cycles, although recently I've been really consistently happy there. The last winter was hard, and of course the fact that I was mourning my Dad (and indirectly my long-gone Mum, family and childhood) made it doubly so. But that's all passed now - well, the worst of it anyway - now it's more sudden memory flashes that pack an emotional punch and then vanish. The coming of the warmer weather really helped. It's taken 3.5 years, but I finally got my shit together there - I have an amazing work situation with the flexibility, freedom, satisfaction, enjoyment and income most people can only dream about, I have a beautiful home (and yes, it has become a real home) to live in, a lovely bunch of friends and my Japanese is getting much better because I finally have Japanese friends who speak little or no English. There's also the fact the Tokyo - and Japan - is so very safe. And convenient. And culturally it's vividly exciting and stimulating. It really is a fabulous place to live. But... the crowds really get too much, too often, and the winter is too long and too cold. I wonder if maybe the trick to staying in Tokyo is just to get out as often as possible, especially in winter?

Decisions, decisions. Right now the biggest decision I face is what to do when the battery drains on the computer. Which is going to be very soon...

And the rain pours down.