2003-08-01 - 10:28 a.m.

A rather heavy night out with some army officers, all in the name of research of course. They were the poshest men alive and bought �60 bottles of wine at the drop of a hat. �We basically drink for a living,� said one, reassuring me that the security of the country was in safe hands. It looks like I�m going with a group of them on a week�s trip to Asia (in a journalistic capacity) so I thought I should familiarise myself with the ground. �The best way to know your enemy is to make friends with your enemy,� was another piece of martial advice, apropos of nothing. Well, quite. Why do you think I�m here? Their girlfriends eventually joined us and they all looked like they were no strangers to the assault course, except I mean something more grammatical. I am too hungover to recount the evening in any more detail at this time.