It’s was about ten in the morning when I left my room. I notice by a pile of shoes on the lower landing, they made a beautiful picture in the morning light … I was determined to walk the fifteen minutes or a mile into town today. Down through the markets - already in full swing. Along Soi Diana, passing by an old farang with a young lady boy on his arm. I didn’t even raise my head – I’ve seen it here all before. Stopping briefly to take a picture of a shitty old motorcycle with Burberry detailing - I pondered on the humor of it for a moment - while carefuly avoiding the rush of motorcycles and ten baht buses in the narrowness of the street I found my journey to my favorite coffee shop all in good time.

I arrive ready for my morning coffee at The Golf Club Sports Bar in Soi L.K. Metro, mildly contented, with my early morning red eyes and physical exertion all behind me. I find my comfortable seat and settle down to the idea of a nice coffee and some toast. There’s a game on (American football) and the guys at the bar are gesturing in animated synchronicity, occasional howls of disbelief and loud heavy American accents fills the room. The early morning sun penetrates into the space illuminating the classic New York style decor in hard light - it’s going to be a hot one. There’s something extremely homely about this place, even though I barely speak their language… Across the road in the English Bar a large group of tattooed drunks mill around a Japanese copy of a Harley Davidson - "all show and no go," I hear one shout to another. It all looked and sounded very ... British! Adjacent, the girls from the Blow Job Bar preen themselves for the day ahead ... I don’t belong here ... a momentary laps ... my order arrives with that genuine Thai smile; the regular serve of coffee and toast, beautiful, the best in town. Most days, I start with an hour of Mandarin lessons, a pointless task as i live in Thailand. Although, something tells me i might need it again one day - but not today. An old foreign couple walk by; they reminded me of The Shins video, that one with the jelly and wasp (Youtube it, I can’t be bothered to do the research this morning). I pity her … all the beautiful Thai girls, she just can’t compete with. I pity him … he’s with her … maybe they pity me, as they know I have no future here … they look happy though so they could be brother and sister ... they’re gone. A few minutes pass by before the garbage truck rumbles up Soi L.K. Metro like a soviet tank on its way to hunt down Chechen rebels. It’s time to turn on the computer and plug into the system ... I have writers block already.