The St George's Ball - (Chris wore his kilt!!)

This was the first proper ball I have ever been to - I had an amazing dress made for me by Khun Dao which was based on a John-Paul Gaultier design - she did such a good job of it. (I bought a lovely little black bag to go with it and Chris treated me to some sparkly earrings). We had really good fun and although it was the St George's Ball us Scots outnumbered the English on our table!! (Which was quite funny when it came to the singing and flag waving.....)

I have to say that I have never laughed so much in my life!! Before we had even left the apartment I had inadvertently managed to traumatise Dawan (although I think perhaps I was the more traumatised of the two of us) - Chris was getting ready in the other bedroom so we didn't get in each other's way (Moon doesn't work on a Saturday) so when there was a knock at the bedroom door I assumed it was Chris. No, it was Fa and Dawan and all I was wearing was a pair of pants!! (Dawan's eyes were out on stocks - I don't think he had ever seen boobs that big before!!). Then it was Chris's turn for the humiliation - he appeared (looking very handsome in his kilt) and Moon took one look at him and roared 'Same Same Katoey', which means same same lady boy, and proceeded to double up with laughter .

Then, when we were leaving the apartment, the security guard took one look at him and started laughing. Normally there are taxi's going up and down our Soi all the time but there were none at all so we had to walk to the main road to get one. I toddled along behind Chris giggling as I watched a wee man on his bike nearly crash because he was so busy staring at the weird Farang in a skirt. The people that were sitting down to eat their dinner (Most Thai's eat at stalls on the street) stopped eating and stared open mouthed (and then started laughing) and then a man walked past Chris and cheerfully announced 'Suai' (which means beautiful) to which Chris replied 'Come on - it's law surely' (law means handsome). I have never seen Chris look so happy to see a taxi in my life - it was very funny!!

The ball itself was brilliant and the food was fantastic - Smoked Salmon salad, Roast Beef with all the trimmings, Bread and Butter pudding and then cheese and crackers (Yummy). (Actually was surprised that I didn't burst out of my dress given all the food we ate!!). Our friend Belinda got a major fit of the giggles after a couple of glasses of wine and just could not stop laughing (not helped by the fact that Chris kept making derogatory comments about people that were very funny!!), Rodger, who was sitting next to me, had me in stitches with his dancing (That's him and Louise on the right), Grant (Gordon's son - Gordon was the one at our dinner party with the hair-dryer!!) was horrified by the fact that I discovered that he was a Donna Summer fan and Julie (The Chair of the BWG) really got into the singing and flag waving as you can see. The band they had were really good.......Chris got up and danced - he actually offered (and he did it more than once) although he couldn't compete with Snake Hips and Son (which is what we are now calling Gordon and Grant after witnessing their bum wiggling). Still full from dinner neither of us could face the breakfast that had been served so we called it quits at about 2am.

We have been invaded......

by a group of small Thai's!! (I know we were never going to be invaded by a group of big Thai's but these ones are particularly small). We currently have Moon's two children, Fa (11) and Dawan (6), staying with us (They arrived on Wednesday) and have had Min (Moon's sister Mai's little girl), whose also 11, visiting us everyday. OH MY GOD WE ARE SURROUNDED!!! (That's Fa on the left and Min on the right) Fortunately they are all very sweet and very well behaved - I dread to think what would have happened had they been little horrors (Chris and I are not famed for our patience).

Anyway, it is Moon's 30th Birthday today which we decided to celebrate yesterday (She doesn't work on a Saturday). Moon and Dawan had popped out to say goodbye to a friend of hers so Fa, Min and I went out to the supermarket and bought the ingredients we would need to make her a birthday cake. (We also bought a little present for her (a purse that Fa picked) from one of the stalls so Fa, Dawan and Min had something to give her). I decided that we would attempt to make a sponge cake with raspberry and mascarpone cream (That way we needed two sponges so the two girls could be in charge of a cake tin each). The girls had great fun measuring things, mixing things and getting to taste things as they went into the bowl (Small fingers were dipped into everything - the raspberry fromage frais was a huge hit). Moon joined in when she got back (As you can tell from the photo). The cake turned out beautifully (Good old Delia!!) and I breathed a sigh of relief as it was the 2nd cake I have ever made (Probably helped make more than that when I was wee but don't really remember).

Silence descended as they all went away to get changed (Chris and I are really beginning to appreciate those silences) and then they appeared again all dressed up with Mai in tow. We made a big fuss of Moon and had a laugh as she opened her pressies. I had been to a place called Desert Diamonds (The manufacture diamonds which are absolutely beautiful and nowhere near as expensive as the real deal) and had bought her a solitaire diamond necklace. It's gorgeous (am temped to get one for myself) and really sparkled against her skin - she was thrilled to bits (well.....your only 30 once!!). We then headed out to Lemonchello (a great Italian place on Soi 11 - Think I have mentioned it before) for pizza. The kids were hilarious........Min and Fa were not entirely convinced by the pizza (It probably didn't help that Moon drowned it in tomato ketchup and chilli) but Dawan just got stuck right in - we got some great photos. Chris and Moon had a pretend fight to keep him entertained and we all laughed a lot. When we got back to the apartment we brought the cake through and sang happy birthday (Oh, and we ate some once we had managed to rescue the cake from Moon - very nice it was too!!). She gave me a big cuddle at the end of the night and said told me that it was one of the best birthday's she had ever had.

A few days away from my computer and look what happens....

Oh My God!! My computer screen has gone native!!! I wrote my blog on Saturday and everything was hunky dorey but when I turned on my computer today all the wording has mysteriously turned from English to Thai!! I think it might be a conspiracy to stop me from blogging (I'm not paranoid......I know everyone is out to get me!!). Anyway, I am now having to guess where everything is (Because I cant figure out how to change it back) so if this ends up as only half a posting you know why......

Chris and I have had a lovely few days together (You can tell we've only been married a short time - we still actually enjoy each others company) as the office was closed over Songkran. We had debated about going away somewhere for a bit of a holiday but decided that it would be nice to stay in Bangkok (We're hoping to go to Hua Hin for Wedding Anniversary next month) but to treat ourselves we would have a night in a hotel in Bangkok. Not wanting to tempt fate but not able to resist the allure of the big pink building we booked another room at The Reflection Rooms Hotel (That's us now spent two New years there - thankfully there were no bombs this time). We were in the Taj Mahal (And you thought we were in Thailand!!) suite and it was absolutely beautiful!!! The room was painted a sumptuous deep red, had chandeliers in the bathroom and a stunning view across the pool and the restaurant. I went and had a massage at the spa (which was lovely once I had got over the fact that the masseuse was a man) while Chris sat by the pool reading his book and drinking beer then we got changed and went to the restaurant for dinner. God the food is good there (although I had slight reservations about the band......The Lady In Red was played, along with that hideous song by James Blunt (This prompted Chris to say 'Come back James Blunt all is forgiven) and the theme from Titanic to name but a few) we had two starters which we shared, followed by a selection of four different dishes for our main course, dessert and drinks (I am still on the soda water before you say anything) and it came to under £15.

The rest of our time was spent hiding from hoards of water pistol touting Thai's (It's fun getting soaked the first day but gets a bit tiring after that - you have to think about what your wearing, wrap your mobile, money etc in plastic bags......it's a hassle) so was spent eating, shopping and going to the movies. We saw 23 which we both quite enjoyed (I don't mind Jim Carey when he's in a straight acting role but can't stand his overacting (not to mention gurning) when he's in a comedy role), The Reaping which was quite good (very fire and brimstone) and Pan's Labyrinth which was absolutely fantastic (a good old fashioned proper fairytale which I recommend if you've not seen it). We had a lovely meal at an Indonesian Restaurant called Bali (it is on Soi Ruam Rudi - nearest BTS is Phloen Chit) which we ate at when we came for our 'look see' last July but had not managed to get back to (I am happy to say that the food was as good as we remembered it), I introduced Chris to the wonders of the Thai food court voucher system at MBK (We had a lovely Indian lunch for 100 baht each - which works out around £1.40) and we decided to try out our table top cooker (Mum bought me it ages ago and we'd not got round to trying it) so had a lovely meal in. We had vegetables with melted cheese over them as a starter followed by my home-made Chicken Satay - It took us a while to get the hang of the cooker (didn't realise that the light goes off once it reaches a certain temperature then switches on again when it starts to cool) but, once we had it sussed, it was lovely sitting chatting and listening to the satay sizzle as it cooked next to us.

Sawatdee Pi Maï - "Happy New Year"

Before I tell you what we got up to yesterday I will tell you a bit about the rituals associated with New Year.

The Thai New Year, also known as Songkran, is celebrated every year from the 13th to the 15th of April and is the time when Thai people return home to visit family and to pay respect to the elders around the neighbourhood (Moon headed off to Issan on Thursday). Buddah images in the temples are cleaned with water and perfume as it is believed that this will bring good luck and prosperity for the New Year and, in some cities, the statues are actually paraded through the streets so that people can wash them as they pass by (I'd like to see them try that with the solid gold one in China Town!!). Apparently it is also common for people to carry handfuls of sand to their local temple in order to recompense for the dirt that they have carried away on their feet during the rest of the year - The sand is then piled into large tiered piles and decorated (a bit like a big sandcastle). Songkran is a time for cleaning and renewal and water is very heavily associated with it. Originally pouring a small amount of water on other people's hands was done as a sign of respect but now the most obvious celebration of Songkran is the throwing of water - people actually roam the streets with bowls of water, water pistols or even a garden hose, and drench each other and everyone else. (Can you guess what we did yet??)


My god we had so much fun yesterday!! We headed out in the early afternoon for some lunch (We had gone round to Georgie and Ben's for dinner the night before and it turned into a bit of a late one) and were soaked before we had even got the the BTS (Skytrain). We were passing Time Square when we saw a small group of very wet children who's faces lit up when they saw us!! The bowls that were in their hands were dunked into a huge barrel of water and we were ambushed!! We had lunch by the window of the restaurant and we just could not stop laughing - There were people walking along the pavement absolutely soaked to the skin, people chasing each other firing water pistols and pickup trucks going past full of people all armed with water pistols firing at anything and everything that moved. We had heard that Khao San Road was THE place to go so we headed home, got changed, filled our water pistols and headed out.

The security guards at the apartment block next to ours stopped us (I forgot to mention that people also mix plaster with water to make a paste - Monks use this when giving blessings so it is considered good luck to have this put on your face) and made hand prints on our cheeks and poured some water over our hands. We then sneaked past the dancing, water throwing people on the corner of our Soi by cutting through the Sukhumvit Centre (Figured we wouldn't be able to get a taxi if we were soaked) and were standing watching the fun when suddenly a waitress with a water pistol opened the door of the restaurant we were standing next to and fired!! When we turned round there was a giggling gaggle of waiters and waitresses at the door

Anyway, we got a taxi and headed over to Khao San Road - The place was absolutely heaving and we ended up getting dropped off miles away from where we wanted to be!! The main road had been blocked to stop cars getting in and all we could see was a river of people obviously heading for the same place we were. It was absolutely brilliant - the entire street was lined with people (young and old) with barrels of water, hoses and water pistols and we were absolutely drenched within seconds of getting out the taxi!!. (The photo on the right is Chris firing at a girl as she is firing at me - her boyfriend is doing the weird fingers thing). We had people sneaking up behind us and pouring bowls of water down our backs to which we would retaliate and fire back with our water pistols, there were others that would squirt you with their water pistol and then there would be a bit of a chase as we tried to get them back and there was obviously some kudos in putting the plaster mix on the face of the Farangs as practically everyone who was walking past would come over and smear the stuff on us. There were stalls selling water so that you could top up your gun, there were people dancing, there were people dressed up, everyone was soaking wet and laughing their heads off. We ended up staying for a good few hours before calling it quits and making our way home in a Tuk Tuk (people were still spraying each other whilst in their Tuk Tuk's and our driver got water thrown at him whilst we were waiting for the lights to change. (We took the photo's when we got home - You can't really see just how wet we were!!). The entire city had turned into one giant water fight and it was absolutely brilliant!!!

Access Program for the Blind - The beginning

When Chris and I went on the History of Khmer Art trip as part of the NMV we met a lovely woman called Susy (I wrote about it at the time - she is the one that got married in the same room as we did about two months after us). Well, whilst on the tour we had had a chat about the fact that tourist attractions in Thailand were not very inclusive when it came to people with disabilities and we thought it would be a great idea to put together something that would enable blind tourists to visit. After the trip Susy did some research and attempted to get some commitment from those involved in the tourist industry which didn't really go as well as she had hoped and the idea was shelved (but not forgotten).

Then late last year the NMV had a Study Group at the Southeast Asian Ceramics Museum (SEACM) on shipwreck Ceramics. (The Museum was established in 2002 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Bangkok University and it houses more than 2,000 ancient and valuable ceramics most of which are from shipwrecks). During the study group, Dr Roxanna Brown the director of the Museum, said she often taught people about ceramics by blindfolding them so that they could learn through touch. Susy, who had already decided to scale down the original idea, spoke with her about the possible development of a blind access program at the NMB (National Museum Bangkok) and Dr Roxanna Brown kindly offered to facilitate a pilot session at the Ceramics Museum - Susy contacted me and asked if I would like to be involved.

So on Wednesday afternoon I met up with Susy and a couple of other volunteers, Nidhi and Margo (I knew both from the Khmer trip), and we made our way over to the Thailand Association of the Blind (TAB) to pick up Khun Monthian, Director of the TAB, (He's amazing and had only just got back from delivering a presentation to the UN in Geneva about human rights) and the three students that had agreed to be our guinea pigs (Yue, Air and Quam). Then made our way to SEACM where we met up with Barb, Chair of the NMV, and the Director and his assistant from the NMB. (The photo above from left to right - Dr Roxanne, Khun Burin, Yue, Nidhi, Air, Barb, Quam, Me, Khun Monthian). Our job was to assist the participants by guiding their hands whilst Roxanna taught them about ceramics and how to identify them. It was absolutely fantastic - everyone sat on the floor whilst the ceramics were passed around - the three girls and Khun Monthian were taught how to identify the differences between Sukhothai, Sisatchanalai and Chinese Ceramics and then were given a piece each and asked to describe to the rest of the group where it was made and why. It was the first time that they had been able to learn something about the history of their country and actually be able to touch what they were learning about. (Normally things are displayed behind glass and, when your blind, being told that it's a green pot that's over 1,000 years old doesn't really mean much). They absolutely loved it and were really excited (Quam made the comment 'I can't believe I'm touching history') - the pieces they were touching were thousands of years old. After the session we went round the museum itself and agreed that we would form an Access Program working group to discuss how to move this idea forward. We're meeting again on Monday at the NMB so that the participants can provide feedback and we can discuss how the NMB could go about implementing such a program.

It was a very humbling experience and I spent some time talking to Khun Monthian about how the BWG could get involved so I am also going to visit the TAB's adult training centre, with my volunteer co-ordinator hat on, after Songkran to identify what volunteering positions there might be. (I also learned that the TAB fund a blind school so will do more investigation into that as well).

BookCrossing - I am a member and it's brilliant!!

BookCrossing -
n. the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.
(added to the Oxford English Dictionary in August 2004)

This is the second book group that I am a part of and the lovely thing about it is that you can join anywhere in the world at the moment there are 544,219 members and 3,803,703 books registered. It's really easy to be a part of -

1. You read a good book

2. You go to bookcrossing.com and register it (along with your thoughts on the book - this is known as a journal entry), You will be given a unique BCID (BookCrossing ID number) which allows the book's movement to be tracked. You must then mark the book with the BCID and the BookCrossing web address so that the finder is able to make a journal entry for the book and enter his/her location on the website.

3. You then Release it for someone else to read (give it to a friend, leave it on a park bench, donate it to charity, "forget" it in a coffee shop, etc. - If you leave it in a public place this is known as leaving a book 'In the Wild'), and then you will get notified by email each time someone goes to bookcrossing.com and records a journal entry for that book. (Before 'releasing' a book it must be registered on the website)

Told you it was easy!!

If you find a book (or are given one) that has been registered on the website it is known as Catching. To "catch" a book, the BCID marked on the book must be entered at BookCrossing.com and the person is able to enter their location and make a journal entry about where they found the book and what they thought of it. Then you are encouraged to 're-release' the book so that the process can be continued and other people are able to enjoy the book.

Oh and you can also make Release Notes on a book - This is in addition to your journal entry and you do this when you are leaving it somewhere for a stranger to find. Your book will then appear on the Go Hunting section and other people can 'Go Hunting' and try to find it.

BookCrossing has been criticized by a few authors (There are more authors who are actually members) who claimed that books were being devalued by the website as BookCrossing could lead to lower sales of books and, therefore, the reduction in royalties being paid to authors. I dispute this argument - I think that the website introduces readers to authors and genres that they have not read before (I've gone out and bought other books by an author that I have come across on BookCrossing), that the website gets more people to take up or reclaim reading as a hobby, and that some members, having read a book that they have enjoyed, will buy extra copies to distribute through BookCrossing. (I know quite a few people who have done this - they couldn't stand to part with the book because they loved it so much but still wanted to share it!!)

I think it's brilliant!!

Book Club

Can't remember if I mentioned this - I am now a member of a book group here (well - two technically but only one that I have to actually read something for!!) that meets on the first Tuesday of every month.

(I saw this picture and had to put it on the blog - One of my favourite books when I was a child was 'Where the Wild Things Are ' which was written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak)

My friend Jenny who, after many long conversations about the merits (or not as the case may be) of such and such a book and many comments along the lines of 'Oh my god!! I can't believe you've not read that', persuaded me to join the book club she runs. The way it works is that each person selects two books (It could be a book that they have on the shelf already and have not got round to reading, a book that has had an interesting review or one that someone has recommended), the titles are put in a hat and each month one is selected which we all read then meet up to discuss the following month. I have never been involved in something like this (have only ever done the 'I've just read the most amazing book...' and then proceed to bore the pants of whoever I am talking to as I attempt to recount the story without giving too much away) - it's absolutely fascinating!!

We've just finished The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai which is this years winner of the Man Booker Prize. I have to be honest......it's the second book in a row that we have read set in India and I did wonder whether I would be able to get away with just reading a review of it so that I could just pretend that I had read it!! (I discovered that I am not that dishonest.....well.....not yet anyway.......if the next one is set in India I am making no promises!!). The Booker judges called it 'a radiant, funny and moving family saga' and it has been described by reviewers as ‘the best, sweetest, most delightful novel'. Erm, were they reading the same book as me?? It is beautifully written with amazing descriptions of India but.....funny and sweet?.....I don't think so!!! It is an exceptionally melancholy tale set in 1980's India at a time of huge political unrest and it features a grumpy retired judge who hates everyone and everything except his dog, his orphaned Granddaughter who has a brief relationship with her maths tutor and thinks the world revolves around her, the maths tutor who has a chip on his shoulder about being poor and who resents Sai and her Grandfather because he thinks that they think they are better than him, the judges painfully poor cook who's hopes and dreams are pinned on his only son and the son who is working illegally in America and having a pretty crappy time. (Without the setting, the story would struggle. I kept waiting for plot development but the tale just plodded along its own beautifully-written but not very exciting path).

What was really interesting was that we all read the same book but had completely different views about the relationships of four characters in the book. After the affair with the maths tutor Sai, the judges granddaughter, really mooches about feeling very sorry for herself. Two people took that as she was just depressed about the end of the relationship but thought that the relationship had been very innocent, two thought that they had been intimate (or 'at it' as I would say) and that she was just wallowing in self pity and two thought that she was pregnant which was why she was feeling so sorry for herself. I have to admit I was completely flabbergasted by the idea that she was pregnant - I thought she just needed a good slap!! (I'm not really the most sympathetic person when someone is being completely pathetic!!). The other debate was upon the relationship between two side characters - Father Booty (a Swiss priest who runs an unlicensed dairy) and Uncle Potty (who drinks too much and is not really an Uncle but is the judges closest neighbour). The two characters do everything together and are really like an old married couple - half of us thought that they were actually a couple and the other half that they were just friends!! (If you've read it I would be interested to hear what you thought)

It's almost made me want to go back and read the book again to see if I still have the same view points. Perhaps some day I will.....