Quick update on Mum's holiday

On Thursday we decided to have a Sabai day (Sabai in Thai means 'take it easy') so we spent the morning in Siam Paragon Shopping Centre looking at very beautiful Thai crafts. Then grabbed some lunch in Orangery (Photo courtesy of Table for Three Please) - it's great there.....nothing at all like the food courts in the uk......there is one plush eating area which is surrounded by tastefully designed satellite kitchens. The kitchens are run by some of the best restaurants in Bangkok and you are given one menu and you can then choose what food you would like and the waiter will order at each kitchen for you.......perfect if you fancy Thai and your friend wants Indian. (It kind of act's as a showcase for the restaurants and the idea is that having had a taster you will then be tempted to go to the actual restaurant for dinner). We had a fab lunch then headed to Take Care for a manicure and pedicure and then Baan Dalah for a facial and a foot massage. (Mum had a hot herbal ball massage and I had something called Icey Spicey which was a really cold press followed by a chilli one and left my legs feeling all tingly.....it was weird but my tired feet felt fantastic after it!!). It was a beautiful evening so after dinner we opened a bottle of wine, sat out on our balcony and watched the Diwali celebrations.

Yesterday we got up early and headed out to the Erawan Museum. It was one of the few places that Mum really wanted to see so she had made a special request. I knew she would love it and she said the same as me when I went for the first time that it's like something out of a Fairy Tale. (You can read about the Museum Here). We then headed to Agalico for some lunch (another of Mum's special requests) and had a great time watching a wedding photo shoot round the tea room and gardens.

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing some shopping and getting ourselves organised for our trip to Chiang Mai.

Time flies.....

On Monday we headed out to the Grand Palace - as the saying goes 'You've not been to Bangkok if you've not been to the Grand Palace'. It wasn't very sunny but was incredibly humid and I think it was probably the first time that we were all felt really hot and tired. It was funny - Tracey was interviewed by some students from one of the universities here and had just finished saying that tourists to Thailand should try and see as many temples as they could when Jo said 'I am completely templed out - There is only so much bling I can take!!' So we headed back to Khao San Road and found a brilliant pizza place (It was the best pizza I had had since moving here!! - can't remember the name of it......If it helps any it was down the alley towards Starbucks). When we got home we discovered that Moon had made ribs which are so tasty even Tracey and Jo ate them (and neither of them like ribs!!)

We had a chilled out day today. Tracey and I went and had a manicure and pedicure (For the record Jo is still the only person that didn't like it!!) then we met up with Derek and Jo who had gone for a mooch round Emporium. We had a few drinks in the house then headed out to the Dubliner with Moon as Jo, Derek and Tracey wanted to take her out for dinner to say thank you for taking such good care of them whilst they were here. We had such good fun - ate waaay too much, drank waaay too much and laughed a lot at the band that was playing!! (They were truly awful which is why I look like that!!)

I can't believe they leave tomorrow!!

No rest for the wicked!!!

On Monday we went along to Wat Po and then had lunch at the Oriental followed by drinks on the terrace. It was really lovely sipping cocktails and watching the boats scoot up and down the river - it was also bloody expensive but definately worth doing!! (Although when we had dinner that night Derek commented that Moon's cooking was better than the food we had had at the hotel - I must say that I agreed with him!!).

On Tuesday Jo and I were supposed to be going to visit the Fatima Centre but there was a bit of a mix up and it was postponed so we went along to Crepes and Co and had a lovely relaxing lunch before Tracey and Derek headed off for their romantic night at the Oriental (They had booked it before coming and Chris and I had decided that we would treat Jo to a lovely dinner at Rang Mahal for her birthday). I took her along to Take Care Beauty Salon (on Soi 33 if anyone is interested) and we had a manicure and pedicure. It was hilarious - she is the first person I have taken that didn't enjoy the experience (Half way through she was threatening to do a Godzilla impression - roar, stand up and shake them off!!) although she did decide that she wanted her nails to match her phone and caused much amusement round the shop as the girl who was doing her nails wondered off with her phone to get the right colour!! We had a nice meal that evening but I think we were all a bit too tired to really appreciate it - we were in bed by about 10pm (It's all this wild living - we're not used to it!!)

On Wednesday Jo and I went along to the Erawan Shrine at Chit Lom. It really is a sight to behold....the story goes that when building the Erawan Hotel (This is now the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel) the foundations were placed on the wrong date causing a series of mishaps including cost overruns, injured labourers and the loss of a shipload of Italian marble intended for the building. An astrologer was brought in who said that they needed to build a shrine with the four-headed image of Brahma, or Phra Phrom in Thai. The shrine was unveiled on the 9th of November 1956 and that was the end of the building problems. It is now famous for bringing good fortune and people go there to give offerings of flower garlands, incense, light candles and, if a wish has been granted, the spirits are thanked by donating teak elephants or by commissioning the classical Thai dancers that are there. We had a lovely morning people watching then we headed to the Erawan Tearoom for lunch - If you have not been you really must!! It's lovely and was apparently the first restaurant in Bangkok to serve Chocolate cake!! We met up with Tracey and Derek at MBK (had more yummy puddings) then spent the rest of the afternoon getting prints done from my original drawings to take to Pandora's.

On Thursday Tracey and Derek visited the Erawan Shrine, Tearoom and then went to Lumpini Park whilst Jo and I went along to the BWG Coffee morning that was being hosted at Pandora's and then visited the Fatima Centre. The coffee was a strange one!!! It was actually in the Indian Restaurant next to Pandora's (the shop is too small for everyone to fit into) - I thought that Wellie was going to give a talk on setting up a business in Thailand (you know....a hints and tips sort of thing) then everyone was going to have a chance to do some shopping (hence the reason I was trying to get all my prints organised!!) but it wasn't!! She ended up splitting us up into groups and running a workshop come training course - which didn't really answer any questions about how to set up a business in Thailand but highlighted how difficult it was (which most of us already knew!!). People were coming up to me at the end saying 'I didn't get to do any shopping - I was going to buy one of your drawings but now I have to go!!' which was a bit of a bummer. (I was hoping to raise some money so I could pay for the framing I need to get done prior to the exhibition). When I mentioned it to Wellie she said that the morning had not been about shopping which is fair enough but I think she missed a great opportunity to make some money!! After the coffee Jo, Carolyn, Louise (Carolyn's daughter), Lynne, Debbie and Jasmine (Debbie's daughter) all headed over to the Fatima Centre. Sister Louise gave us a tour and Jo got to see one of the projects that is currently being run here.

On Friday I spent the day trying to plough through all the e-mails that had been building up since my internet provider had decided that we didn't live here anymore and had terminated our access!! Jo, Tracey and Derek headed off to Ayutthaya for the day.