Further preparation

0013 Up to Georgian lesson 8 after today (off work for the funeral), though not rock solid on the later material.

Not yet booked any further flights or accommodation. I am booked up to and including the Bangkok hotel (I think, need to double check but pretty sure) so next order of business is to decide on Singapore so I can book the onward flight from Bangkok. May do that tonight, not absolutely sure.

0047 Looking on expedia and ITA, it appears that flying from Bangkok to Delhi via Singapore is (given my reluctance to fly out of Bangkok direct to Delhi at 8:50am or spend 24h on the journey) about the same price as flying Bangkok direct to Delhi at a half-sane time. So going to Singapore doesn't really cost anything in terms of flights. (This does have a 9:15am flight out of Singapore to Delhi, but at least the MRT probably makes that less stressful than it would be normally.)

I see from the guide book (and I have checked on the web) you can get a three day tourist MRT pass for Singapore but not a four day one. Given the hotel is probably weighing in at sixty odd quid a night, it is an expensive place to stay and if I feel the need I could probably get some proper luxury for sixty quid somewhere else. So I am heavily inclining to three nights in Singapore and sticking an extra day on in Thailand. (My budget isn't that tight, and it's not all about the money, but these small-but-double-digit savings or expenses do add up.)

It's all a bit niggly, but that way if I do decide to go into Malaysia from Thailand by air or land I have an extra day available. Or I could split my time differently, have less time in Thailand and allocate a week or so to Malaysia and fly Bangkok-Malaysia-Singapore-Delhi. Or I could cut India down and do Bangkok-Singapore-Malaysia-Delhi. But I don't think I will. I'm sure Malaysia is cool but I have no enormous specific desire to go there so all other things being equal I will stick with my initial plan, and if Thailand turns out to be too anything for me to stick three weeks there I always have the option to escape into Malaysia instead.

Three nights in Singapore is probably ample based on what I'm told, and if not I will at least know I want to go back and its hub status will make it relatively cheap and convenient to revisit on a subsequent holiday.

Sounds like a plan but I won't book anything just yet.

This is obviously obsessing over fine details when there is no clearly right or wrong answer, but sod it. Might as well apply a little forethought and planning now while I can do so at relative leisure, and these flights I am booking form the skeleton for the more ad-hoc day to day plans so I might as well make the skeleton as sound as I can.

0148 Had a bath, still seems a reasonable plan but I'm not rushing into booking it tonight. Besides, would be good to have quick chat with parents and see if there is any reason to come back earlier than my planned date in December (21st IIRC); probably not, but if there is I will need to rethink and may knock Singapore on the head to compensate for the lost time. So there's another reason not to commit myself to booking any flights right now. Feeling a bit tired so will move towards bed.