Money uffdas

Well, I was going to go home in December, when I have off the week of the 17th, to see me some family, some friends, and some Hoyle Brothers and Head of Femur. But alas, the airfare was too much, the seats too crappy (middle seats only on a 15-hour flight, absolutely no others available) and the other incidental costs too expensive. Once I added up the return ticket, a car rental, side flight to Minneapolis, I was looking at $2500. And considering I just got my first tax bill from Hong Kong, I can't drop that just for a 10 day trip.
On the upside, my total tax bill for the tax year that ended March 31, 2006, was a whopping $1600 or so US. That's 16 hundred, not 16 thousand. And while I do have to double that as a prepayment for next year's taxes, that's less than I expected. Sure I'll get nailed next december, with a bill closer to $16,000 US, but that will be for two years's worth of taxes. And that covers everything here; there is only one tax, not a federal income tax, then a state income tax, then a social security tax, then a sales tax, etc. As you do in the states. So let's add the taxes here as another thing I like about HK.
So what do I do with my extra week off in December? I'm hoping to bike somewhere, then relax at the end. Right now, I'm thinking of biking from Bangkok to a beach somewhere in Thailand. More into TK as I get it, but it looks promising. And cheap. A helluva lot cheaper than a trip to the US, as a matter of fact, though I promise to get back to the states, probably sometime in march or april.