I'm spending alot of time here in Birmingham quite bored. There's little to do but work, especially when Andrews on lates and I see him for about 2 hours between getting up and going to work. Because of this I'm building up more energy. It's quite deceptive as I find myself wondering if I still buckle under physical pressue.

So when I got back from Turkey, faced with the option of a Saturday at Alton Towers I jumped at it. The day was fantastic. Little Richard and I went and met a lovely girl whom I've known for a while via Manager League (a game created by the same Spinner that created Planetarion - a game I've wasted 3 or 4 years of my life working with. :)). There have been many times I've met up with people I've only known in text and there been akward moments or times when noone has had anything to say. But for the whole day, the 4 of us (She brought her friend Ben) had no issues what so ever and got on perfectly.

I was a little worried that the adrenaline rushes from the rides would screw with me completely, but I was lucky.. I only started to feel like collapsing and sleepin gon the concrete by the end of the day. However, everything caught up with me between Sunday and Tuesday. I've been feeling quite shit really. It's frustrating and makes me feel a bit down to realise I'm not improving. Every time I start to feel like I can manage something special my body punishes me and I'm back to feeling like it's never going to improve.

Oh well, I can't deny it was worth it. It was nice to get out for once!! ;)

I'm sat here thinking I should really catch up on what I've been doing. My memory is so hazy these days that I struggle to think what I had for lunch, let alone what I've been doing the past few weeks.

So briefly, my holiday in Turkey was awesome. It was lovely to get away for a week, although it took until about day 5 before I was relaxed enough for a holiday. Gümbet is a resort on the Agean coast of Turkey that's only there because the British love this sort of holiday. You could be confident in walking up to almost anyone and they being British.

Because it's there for the British there isn't much real Turkish food, culture or lifestyle to absorb... The only Turkish experience I took away from the resort was the architecture and the beautifully warm sun.

The resort is full of bars with a pint of the local beer Efes priced anywhere from 1.5 (New) Turkish Lira to 4 which is about 80p to £2.20. The cocktails were all quite cheap aswell! And the food was superb. In most places I sampled a chicken burger simply because I'm a fan of finding the best chicken burger in the UK kebab shops and being in the country of kebabs I had to try to beat the Portswood Charcoal Grill. Incidentally, there were 2 decent burgers in all the places I went, mostly it was reconstituded pattys of chicken, while tasting nice didn't look overly apertising.

The hotel was astonishly lovely. So clean and comfy. Certainly worth it's 4 stars. The beach was a little shingly but the sea so clean and crystal like. Perfect for relaxing and soaking up some sun.... I certainly feel a sense of rejuvination when I've got the warm sun over my whole body, the dull overcast weather England is famous for just depresses me.

On one of the evenings we went to see a show called Dreamgirls. Knowing little about it before arriving, I was a little apprehensive. It turned out to be a 3 cross dressing blokes doing a mixture of music and comedy. Having been fed a lovely chicken and chips meal (you can't eat enough chicken) it turned out to be an enjoyable night. The tour reps and a few hotel guests had played up the show a little more than I think it deserves, but if you're stuck for something to do in Gümbet and want a change from the monotiny of bar after bar it's worth spending an evening doing.

On the Saturday we went on the local minibusses (incidentally they are far more humane than the minibusses in South Africa) to a place called Turgutreis where there was a huge market. The market is what makes the area famous... it's a market of genuine designer fakes... Cheap brand name fakes but of similar quallity to the real thing. Unfrotunately I didn't buy anything on the market, there were no Kloopy shirts... but I did have a chicken burger in Turgutreis before coming home.

Andrew and I, naturally, took a pack of Uno cards and were happily playing at the pool bar one evening when we got playing with a kid we'd spoken too once or twice during the day. She was a little girl called Sophie (aged 10 I think) and she'd never played before. Having slurred the rules to her she said she understood and wanted to play. She ended up thrashing Andrew and I over dozens of games in the next 2 days. She (and her Mum) were good fun that we ended up giving the deck to Sophie and thanks. :-)

The rest of the time I pretty much used my holiday resting, relaxing and chilling out as much as I could. I was a bit dissapointed that it wasn't a culture filled, life changing and travel enthusing trip. But for £43 before tax, who can complain?! I'm feeling great for a week away from things.