Vimanmek Palace

Today we were up and out fairly early (with Moon and our downstairs neighbour Marisa in tow). Ha that was fun.....how many people can you fit in a taxi? There were four of us in the back and two in the front....poor Marisa was completely squashed but decided after about five minutes that she was absolutely fine cause she could no longer feel either of her feet so they didn't hurt anymore!!

I've visited Vimanmek Palace before (You can read about it here) so I'm not going to bore you with the history of the place again. We did go to a couple of the other buildings this time as well......we went into the Abhisek Dusit Throne Hall which houses an exhibition of the Support Foundation's Thai Handicrafts - OMG some of the things they had in there were stunning and I have to say that I am completely baffled as to why they are not available in the shop at the Palace (Currently you can buy milk and washing up liquid.......odd things to sell when you get lots of tourists visiting). We did have a good laugh at Mum's expense when she uttered the words 'You can really admire the handiwork on that chicken' whilst gazing at a really hideous silver carved chicken!! (She has been teased about it ever since). We also went into the Suan Bua Residential Hall which housed some of King Bhumibol's personal collection - there were Buddha images from all over the world (Including a stunning Indian one that Marisa and I were coveting), personal photos of the current Royal Family as well as ones that were taken by past royals and a whole host of other things. We discovered the Kings collection of Volkswagen Camper Vans, as you can see, as well as his collection of Carriages....he's even got a Royal Tuk Tuk (How cool is that!!). It was fab!!








We left the Palace and headed straight for the pub to recover from our squashed taxi journey (purely for medicinal purposes you understand!!) then we went out for a curry. (After spending the day with Marisa the Indian Sniffer there was nothing else for it but to introduce Mum to the joys of a Doza)

Mum has arrived safe and sound

Chris has a mutant elbow.......it's nothing serious......there is fluid in the joint caused by a repetitive strain injury (Basically he leans on it too much when he's sitting in the office - I'm not kidding that's what's caused it!!). It's all spongy and pointy and gross - well it was before we went to Bumrungrad this morning and had it drained again (Ooooh aren't you just delighted that I chose to share that with you!!!). Anyway, we went to the hospital then to the airport to collect my Mum......Chris was bored whilst we waited so was playing with his new camera and managed to take a photo of the massive cartoon cat that the airport has got on it's floor (I have no idea why it is there but hey......) the good thing was that he had the camera at the ready when she emerged from the gate!!.

We had such a lovely day (It was fab seeing her). When we got home Moon had prepared a fantastic lunch so we tucked into spicy chicken coconut soup, deep fried fish and chicken cooked with vegetables and cashew nuts followed by some really nice fruit (Sorry - I have no idea what it's called in English but this is what it looks like). We showed her round the apartment and she got settled in before we opened a bottle of sparkling wine and swapped Birthday and Christmas presents. I made my Mum cry!!! You know that big, complicated drawing I was whinging about....well, it was for her........and she loved it (Yay. If you look closely you will see a drawing of my mum in her younger days and one of wee me......Chris told me she would cry and he was right!!) . We got some lovely things........a smashing bottle holder that looks like an artist (no comments about me being a piss artist please!!) made from metal, a brilliant towel which looks like a kilt (Sporran and all), we both got watches and she even managed to bring a bottle of wine from Perthshire from Sadie (Not too sure what that will taste like but we'll give it a go!!). After the sparkly was scoffed we headed along to Cheap Charlies for a couple of drinks and then onto Cabbages and Condoms for dinner. Honestly, the difference Chris's new camera has made is unbelievable - you can now see exactly how pretty it is there!! Mum loved it!! (and look.....she's been in the country one day and they've already got her labelled as a Jungle Banana!!)

Exciting things.....

OMG OMG OMG......I'm so excited......My Mum arrives tomorrow. (I've been running around like a loony trying to get everything I need to done before she gets here.) I can't quite believe I will see my wee daft mammy tomorrow!!

AND




I've just got conformation through that in January
Chris, Tom (He was my matron of honour at our wedding) and I will be going to.......wait for it.....

Anchor Wat!!!!

OMG OMG OMG......I think I may be about to burst!!

Save The Curtain Campaign

I have launched a 'Save The Curtain' (From Splats) Campaign (really it should be save the curtain and fly screen from splats campaign but that doesn't have quite the same ring to it!!). This has involved a rather large purchase......I am hoping that it will deter the little buggers from running up the curtains




(and it has an added advantage - watching them attack each other through the holes is very very amusing!!)

Fab Weekend

You may have gathered that I was feeling a little blue this weekend due to the fact that I couldn't be at my cousins wedding - Well, Chris decided that we should have a special weekend too. Ages ago we went to a Comedy night and we won a night's stay in a posh hotel in the raffle (Jammy eh!!) so we contacted them and booked our room for Saturday night.

So, on Saturday we had a very leisurely morning pootering about the apartment then we went out and had Mexican for lunch (Crispy Tacos......yummmm) before heading over to MBK for a wee bit of shopping. I have been working on some new drawings one of which is huge and complicated (to be honest I wish I had never started the bloody thing - to the right is a sneaky peak of a tiny section of it) and I had everything drawn ready to ink in but was struggling to work out what should be black and what should be left alone so Chris suggested I get the drawing scaled down and copied so I had some practice pieces (brilliant idea - why didn't I think of that!!). So whilst I got copies made Chris went off in search of camera stuff. We had a very funny 'Only in Thailand' moment in one of the shops.......Chris had been looking for a tripod for the camera and we spotted two in this electrical department store but only one had a price on it. I went over and interrupted the two sales people who were deep in conversation to ask the price.....well......one immediately started lifting things on the counter and then putting them back down again in a 'OMG I don't want to have to deal with a Farang' kind of way whilst the other one lifted up the tripod looked at it and then said 'Don't know'. That was it!!! Chris and I left the shop giggling!! (He got one in the end - it's lightweight and cost a grand total of £6).

The hotel was beautiful.....we stayed in the Pan Pacific in one of their Junior suits and I have to say that the views across Bangkok were just amazing. I just have to add here that the bathroom had all the mod cons - the shower was one of those that squirts you from all angles and the toilet had a little panel with buttons on it - so after you relieved yourself you could have your bum washed and blow dried!! (We both tried it.....very very odd!! Sorry - you didn't really need to know that did you *grins*). Anyhooo (moving swiftly on!!), the hotel is right next to one of the largest parks in Bangkok, Lumpini Park, and in the evenings when it's cooler they hold aerobic classes there.....I was highly entertained as I sat in our hotel room looking down at about 50 people bobbing up and down in unison.

We dumped our stuff then went for a wee walk along Silom road (popping into the big Jim Thomson shop there so I could lust after their very beautiful but VERY expensive bedding (and cushions....and fabric....and handbags.....)) before heading to the pub for a couple of drinks. We spent a very entertaining couple of hours watching the world go by - there was a very smiley wee man who spent quite a long time outside the pub with his nose pressed up against the window watching the football (it was very funny watching his reaction when his team scored) and we watched, what looked like, a Traffic Cop take a bribe from a taxi driver!!. We then went back to the hotel and had a fantastic meal in the award-winning Chinese restaurant, Hai Tien Lo, (apart from the pudding which Chris reckoned was like Mango custard but I thought it was more like jelly than custard!!) followed by vodka martini's in the bar.

It was just what I needed to get rid of my 'not being with the family' blues :-)

Wedding Bells

This post is for my cousin Derek and his fiancée Anna who will become man and wife today!!

I hope your day goes without a hitch and you enjoy growing old together

To keep your marriage brimming,
With love in the wedding cup,
Whenever you're wrong, admit it;
Whenever you're right, shut up.

- Ogden Nash

Through Our Eyes - Thailand Up Close

Do you remember me saying that the National Museum Volunteers were putting together a book called Through Our Eyes - Thailand Up Close in celebration of the Thai Kings 80th Birthday?







(The King is very keen on photography so the NMV thought it would be good to put something together that showed Thailand through the eye's of it's volunteers). Well, the books official launch was on Wednesday night and it was absolutely fantastic - the National Museum grounds are stunning and when it was all lit up it looked a bit like something out of a fairy tale. (There was even an orchestra playing classical music!!)


I had volunteered to help out at the beginning of the evening so was chaperoning people to their seats. I did have a very stressful moment when Khun Yui (She's one of our blind volunteers) turned up and I went to collect her from the gate. The bloody taxi hadn't dropped her off where he was supposed to and she had no idea where she was or how to get to me......we were on the phone for ages and she ended up having to ask someone who was walking past where she was and asking them to turn her so she was going in the right direction!! (We got there in the end and she had a blast).

The Oriental Hotel did all the catering so the food and wine was fab and a number of VIP's turned up including Khun Wanchana Sawatdee who played King Naresuan in the movie (He grinned like a loony when Chris and I recognised him) and Khun Arak Sunghitakul who is the Director General of the Fine Arts Department - he officially opened the exhibition.

My photo was not one of the ones in the Throne Hall (there were too many to have them all enlarged and framed) but it was on the first page in the book and I was chuffed to bits when I saw it. We bought a copy when we were there and have placed an order for another three. (So Mum, Dad, Sadie - guess what your getting!!). If anyone else would like one then let me know - they are 750 baht each which works out at about £10 (They are beautiful books and look very professional!!). The exhibition will continue at the NMB for a week or so and then will be touring all the major museums across Thailand.