I've finally chosen and booked the first stages of my trip:
spend 2 nights in Bangkok - fly up to Hanoi - travel down to Saigon & Mekong Delta - mosey over to Cambodia - trek up through Laos - wander over to northern Thailand and travel down to Bangkok. Only another 46 days to go!
Rediscovered Paddy's this weekend (Irish Pub). Was fantastic, as usual. Even if I did make a complete fool of myself by asking the lead singer at the bar if the band was any good (hey, how could I know who he was?!). He was surprisingly nice about it though. Not like some of the other stuck up "god's-nightmare-to-women" howlers.