Mum's last few days

I can't believe her holiday is over already - it 's flown past!!

On Tuesday I took her along to Wat Pho (That's the HUGE big gold Buddha that I've written about before - if your interested you can read about it here). We decided to have our fortunes told since Wat Pho is famous for it's fortune tellers (and massage - what a combination) and I've never had it done. Well, we ended up sitting there waiting for aaaaages as this Indian family of about a billion went before us.......ok, so it wasn't actually a billion it was only five but they really took their time......at one point the son actually asked if the fellow could tell them what year his mother was going to die!! (She was sitting right there - nice eh.......I could have asked but I think Mum would have bashed me!!). Anyway, Mum was told that she's going to be coming into money and that she was going to meet a man in the next couple of years (she was also told that she talks too much and that she should think before she speaks.......which gave me the giggles till he said the same about me when it was my turn!!). According to the wee blokey Chris and I are going to have a long and happy life (that's good), we're going to have two children (that's not so good......do you think cats count?) and I talk too much!! (Harrumph!!). After that we went to Khao San Road and comforted ourselves with pizza and then went on a boat tour of the Klongs - God I was knackered when I got home!!

On Wednesday I dragged Mum out her pit early and she accompanied me to the orphanage to see Mo-Cha-Ya. I've not been able to go for ages as the place was shut to visitors......some infectious disease (it was nothing serious just very infectious) was doing the rounds. God she's grown and after a few cuddles was very smiley (I have discovered that she likes raspberries blown on her tummy and that she has really tickly feet) so I got some great photo's which I'll use for the scrapbook. Mum really liked the place and, like me, was pleasantly surprised - actually it was quite lovely......we watched a family come and collect their little boy......the new Mum took one look at him and burst into tears and he couldn't wait to be picked up and cuddled (would bring a tear to a glass eye!!). It's now become habit to have lunch at The Beirut Restaurant when we get back to Bangkok so it was hummus and pita bread all round - this is what I do every Wednesday and it was great that Mum got to see, and participate, in my real life rather than just the tourist side of things.

Thursday was Mum's last day and was also the BWG November lunch. This is one of the lunches that has vendors attend so I had arranged to have a welfare table. We had coloured gels (generously donated by Carolyn) that you can stick on your windows and they look like stained glass when the sun shines through them, we had batik cushion covers made by kids that live on one of the slums, wine charms made by moon and my drawings. Mum came along and helped me set up and then Carolyn, Anne-Marie and Mum helped me sell our items. We did really well - over 3,000 baht will go back to the slum kids (I'm doing another sale in a weeks time so we'll be able to add to that), over 4,000 baht went to Moon to fund her kids though school and so far I think we're at about 4,000 baht to go into the BWG Welfare Fund. (I sold five drawings......FIVE......I couldn't believe it......was grinning like a loony all through lunch!!). Speaking of lunch - the food was fab and I had arranged for a girl called Kyra to come and speak on the history of the Karen Hill Tribe and we presented her with a cheque at the end of her presentation. It was a great day and, because we had done so many BWG things, Mum knew loads of people who made a point of coming over and speaking to her.

Sadly after lunch it was time to come home and attempt to pack everything Mum had bought into a suitcase. We took one look at all the stuff and decided that there was no way it was going to fit into the case she had brought so she ended up borrowing one of the HUGE cases we had brought when we moved over here (I should have taken a photo). I advised her that the best thing to do was to leave Chris to do her packing since he is master packer extraordinaire - even he had his doubts that it was all going to fit.....I'm happy to say that we got there in the end. (and in her defence she now has all her Christmas pressies bought AND some birthday presents for next year)

I was really sad to see her go - but was chuffed to bits when she said that she'd had high expectations for the holiday and we'd managed to surpass them in the first few days!! I think she's going to have fun boring people to death with hundred's of photo's (and I'm really not kidding about the hundred's of photo's either!!!)

We've been busy.....

This week we have been here, there and everywhere!!

On Monday we headed over to the river and I took Sadie and Margaret to visit Wat Po. I know I keep going on about it but it is one of my favourite places in Bangkok and is on my “must see” list - even knowing what you are going to see never quite takes the edge of wonder off seeing the Reclining Buddha in all it's glory and it doesn’t matter how many times I say “we’re off to see the big Buddha”, no one’s ever prepared for quite how big it really is. (To find out more about Wat Pho go to the posting 'The Adventures of Tomato in Thailand - The Beginning). When we got there I was a little disappointed to find that the building is in the process of being renovated (I suppose it has to be done sometime) so was covered with scaffolding but it didn't detract from the sheer scale of the Buddha or the beauty of the grounds. We made a small donation, Thailand's temples are heavily reliant on donations for their upkeep so it's a good thing to do, and were given a bowl of coins each. The idea is that, in order to bring good luck, you drop a coin into each of the 108 prayer bowls that line the wall behind the Buddha's back - it is quite noisy but fun. We then headed over to the Oriental Hotel for lunch and to recover from the heat. That evening we went back over to Khun Dao's for a fitting - Margaret was talked into ordering another skirt. The fabric she chose is absolutely beautiful - it is antique gold with a brown pattern through it. Sadie and I were discussing the length of a skirt when Margaret turned to me, looking very concerned, and said 'Why is Dao saying that she will need to dye the fabric green? I chose it cause I really like the gold colour.....I don't want her to dye it green!!'. I burst out laughing 'Not dye green.....dry clean!!!' (Poor Margaret has been teased about it ever since!!)

Tuesday saw us up bright and early (Well, maybe not bright but definitely early) as we headed out on a trip to Ayuthaya. Moon had never been so we invited her along and the four of us headed back to the river to get the coach that would take us to the old capital. We had a lovely day, although I was slightly alarmed when Moon said 'Oh Madame....today is hot hot hot'......good grief.....if she thinks it's hot then how the hell are we going to cope!!, but we all just made sure that when we had had enough we went back and sat on the air-conditioned bus and drank lots of water. What a giggle we had at the King's Summer Palace on the way to Ayuthaya - we decided that it was far too hot to walk so we hired what can only be described as an electronic golf cart and decided that Margaret was the designated driver. The poor cart didn't go fast at the best of times but really struggled to get up any small incline - not only were we in hysterics so was everyone else when they saw us coming. We even had our own escort back to the bus - see photo


Wednesday was our pamper day. I thought it was a good idea to take it easy since we were heading out to cocktails at the British Ambassadors house that evening. We started the day with a trip to Take Care on soi 33 to have a manicure and pedicure. It is such a lovely thing to do.....very relaxing.. It takes about an hour and a half (and only costs about £7), they wash your hands and feet with a salt scrub, then apply moisturiser, wrap your hands and feet in hot towels, give you a massage and that is all before they even start cutting and shaping your nails. Sadie had never had a pedicure before and was astonished at how beautiful her feet looked at the end of the session (We will be going again before the end of the holiday). We then headed over to Tanika's for Sadie's coat fitting (It will be absolutely stunning when it's finished) and then to Lemonchello's for lunch. (It's a great restaurant on Soi 11 and I think they do the best pizza in Bangkok - not only are they thin and crispy but you get to watch the chefs throw the dough in the air before putting it in the wood oven....very cool!!). I had booked a facial for the afternoon, which is just along the road from the restaurant, so we walked up to the Ananda Spa (http://www.anandaspa.net/home.html) and had the 90 minute Ananda Facial which is described as a 'rejuvenating experience of a cleansing, toning, hydrating, moisturizing, facial massage and mask designed to purify and promote beautifully radiant skin.' Don't know about the beautifully radiant skin but it felt lovely and was definately relaxing (Woke myself up snoring - thank god I was in a room on my own!!). Although we did have an 'Only In Thailand Moment' when we were asked to remove our tops - I was thinking 'Oh my god..I wonder how Sadie and Margaret are getting on' as my wee woman explained that she massages your shoulders and neck as well (Show's what I know......I foolishly thought a facial would only involve work on the face!!). Anyway, we got home and got organised for the reception with the Ambassador ("...with these Ferrero Rocher you are really spoiling us." - actually there was not a Ferrero Rocher in sight....or any really dubious accents.....I was a bit disappointed!!!). It was a really nice evening - the house is beautiful, everyone was all dressed up and it was really nice that Sadie and Margaret got a chance to meet everyone. We had a few funny moments - the Ambassadors wife, Gwendolin Fall, gave Sadie into trouble for bringing the book 'The Cannae Sutra' into the country. (I had given a copy of it to my friends Louise and Jenny at the reception, she had spotted it, laughed her head off and then gave Sadie into bother for bringing it) and my friend Susan's husband to be, Bob, had been interviewed for TV that day and they had done something very strange to his hair which made him look a bit like a dodgy news reader (Very funny).

Thursday we all needed some well earned rest so we just puttered around the apartment doing as little as possible and on Friday we headed out to Siam Paragon for some shopping therapy before getting ourselves organised and heading out to the airport for our long weekend in Chiang Mai.

The Adventures of Tomato In Thailand - The Beginning

Well....he made it!!! (No phone call from Dubai to say that he had missed his flight - it is a miracle!!) Although I have to say that despite having received our address in both Thai and English he still didn't have it on him!! We sent him a text message to see if he had been let into the country to which he replied that he was at immigration and could we give him our address....then, instead of calling to say that he had arrived at the apartment block, he wondered around trying to find us - got lost and had to be rescued by Moon (She obviously spotted this pale, hairy person with a big case and thought 'Ah this can only be Tom') honestly....for someone who is so intelligent he is amazingly daft!! (Although to be fair he hadn't slept and was ever so slightly jet lagged)

Once we had shown him round we gave him a well deserved glass of wine and sat out on our balcony for an hour or so to give him a chance to recover. We then took him out to Cheap Charlie's and for an Indian (I know - you would have thought we would have had Thai but the restaurant we had planned to take him was completely packed).

We started the next day by celebrating his birthday (Moon had made a cake as I knew that he hadn't had a cake on his actual birthday) then we introduced him to the wonders of the Bangkok Skytrain and took him on the Chao Phraya River Express Boat to Wat Pho (Wat means temple) then along to The Grand Palace complex, which includes the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Keow). Moon came along with us as, believe it or not, she had never visited either Wat Pho or The Grand Palace.

For those of you that are interested (This means I am about to give you lots of facts - sorry but there is not a lot I can say about sightseeing - at least the photo's should amuse....) :

Wat Pho or Wat Phra Chetuphon, as it is generally known to the Thais, has a number of claims to fame - it was founded in the 17^th century making it the oldest temple in Bangkok (Older than the city itself), it is the largest Wat in Bangkok (20 acres split over two sites), it houses Thailand's largest reclining Buddha image (The Buddha is gold plated, is 46 meters long, 15 meters high and the feet are inlaid with mother-of-pearl to display the 108 auspicious signs which apparently distinguish a true Buddha - I really wasn't kidding when I said that the Thais like their Buddha's big and gold!!), has the most number of Buddha images in Thailand (more than 1000 Buddha images in total, most from the ruins of the former capitals Ayuthaya and Sukhothai) and was actually considered Thailand's first university.

The Grand Palace complex (which was once the official home for the Kings of Siam where you can see the Royal Funeral Hall and Coronation Hall) really is amazing. In the Temple of the Emerald Buddha itself is the holiest and most revered of religious objects in Thailand - a Buddha image carved from one piece of Jade (It is absolutely stunning - the King is the only person holy enough to touch it and three times a year there is a ceremony during which he changes the outfit on the Buddha - there is one for each of the three seasons in Thailand.....Winter (otherwise known as Hot), Summer (otherwise known as Very Hot) and the Rainy Season (otherwise known as Very Hot and Very Wet)).

Ok - back to Tomato's adventures.....

('Why do we call him Tomato?' I hear you ask - just look at the colour he went after one day of being in Bangkok!! Actually he coped admirably with the heat and was amused and bemused when Moon dived for the same bit of shade he was heading for!!).

We had a lovely, and very late, lunch at the Oriental Hotel down by the river (It is known as the Raffles of Bangkok) and had a very enjoyable afternoon drinking beer and looking (erm.... that should be laughing) at old photographs - and not just old photo's of us (I would like to remind you that I have the technology and it would not be difficult to scan said photos onto the computer and post them onto this blog - so you had all better be nice!!). We then headed out to a couple of bars and watched with glee as Tom turned slightly green at the smell of mangled dried squid. I am not actually being funny when I say mangled - not sure if you can see properly in the photo but the squid is dried then put through a small mangle on the back of the sellers bike (Just like the one Granny used to use for the washing - only slightly smaller) and is then hung on the frame connected to the bike. I cannot describe how gross this is - I may eat frogs legs but draw the line at mangled squid!!. Tom was slightly worse for wear at the end of the evening (and is going to kill me for adding these photos :-))