Dying to Live

Chapter 16 - Thailand Here We Come

For the first time in ages, we wakened before the alarm went off and before any light streamed through the window. We were up, showered and dressed long before the taxi arrived in the street outside. I wheeled the two heavy suitcases and Hazel followed me out with our hand baggage. We'd already checked our tickets, passports and money about twenty times. We were in good shape and ready for our adventure.

"This is exciting. It's hard to believe this day has finally come," said Hazel, sounding like a small child about to set out on a once in a lifetime holiday.

A finger pressed against her lips shut her up. We didn't want the taxi driver to get any inkling of what we were up to, did we? For the rest of the ride we chatted about the things we'd like to see in Bangkok. Hazel had a generous MIB expense account to work with, so we were going to make the most of it from a business and pleasure point of view.

"The reclining Buddha sounds amazing, in fact, all the temples sound amazing." The excited child was back but I didn't really mind because I was excited too.

"We've got a couple of days to fill when we're there," I said. "We'll pack in plenty of sightseeing. Personally, I want to visit Patpong."

"I'll take you there but I'll be keeping a close eye on you. You won't be getting up close and personal with the lady-boys, or the lady-ladies for that matter."

"Spoilsport."

We arrived at Heathrow Terminal Five with over two hours to spare. We were still leaving nothing to chance. Anyway, it would give us an opportunity to explore the new terminal which had been hyped so much since its opening. Neither of us had flown from there before, so it was a nice way for us to start the adventure. We did have a few concerns however because there had been a number of glitches at the terminal which had caused major delays. We didn't want some stupid baggage handling problem to sink our carefully thought out master plan.

We found the right check-in desk so it was time to split up for a while. We didn't want to look as if we were travelling together.

"Meet you in Giraffe," she said as she joined one of the queues.

I did my best to smile a conspiratorial smile and joined a different queue. I'd researched Terminal Five restaurants and picked Giraffe because it sounded easy to find. Apparently it featured a five-meter tall giraffe so it should be pretty easy to spot.

After a little bit of waiting, I got rid of my big bag and completed all the check-in guff. Boarding pass carefully stashed away in my travel folder, I made my way through security and on to the restaurant area. A smile spread across my face when I reached the restaurant, I'm not sure if it was because Hazel was already there or because the life-sized giraffe was truly awesome, either way I was happy.

It was a little early for a full lunch but a bite to eat while we calmed down seemed like a decent plan. A glass or two of wine would have been nice but we'd both decided to avoid alcohol until we were safely on the flight.

"Are you sure about the no-wine idea?"

"Let's be sensible for once," I said.

"But, as everyone knows, a meal without wine is called breakfast and it's a bit late for breakfast."

"Leave it, Hazel." Sometimes I can be a grown-up.

We perused the menu and had just made up our minds when the waiter arrived.

"And what may I help you with today?" asked the lanky lad in the red and white striped apron. The ID badge hanging round his neck proclaimed that Colin was serving us this fine day.