We’re on our way from Heathrow to Bangkok, then on to Phuket to play this crazy gig. Kira flew over from Nashville last week for the rehearsals, and Steve put together a set of danceable but tasteful tunes. He tried to sneak some Hall & Oates in there, but we vetoed it.
I checked in early, and was told that we had a block of seats allocated together. I quickly asked for something with more leg room and got an exit seat. The staff on Thai Airlines are disconcertingly thoughtful, but understand no English. I was moved four times to more comfortable seats, each time further away from the band, whom I suspect were requesting the moves just to wind me up. I ended up right at the front of the plane (behind First, obviously).
Offered a drink, I asked if they were serving anything hot, but was met with a blank look. After repeating the question four times, the stewardess gave me a Coke. I think I hit some sort of timeout in the service manual - “If the customer still makes no sense after 20 seconds, smile and give them a Coke.” In the end I was quite glad to have a cold drink, because I promptly fell asleep and spilled it all over myself. A tea would have both scalded and stained. I’ve given everyone an email address to send photos and stuff to this blog, so hopefully we’ll get a nice little scrapbook going.
Next stop Phunket!
Tally ho!
— Ben W