Brit in Bangkok

Thai Tourism Still Down

Although the Thai government keeps telling everyone that tourism in Thailand is up, it's just not true. There are far less tourists here than in normal years, as this is now the height of the tourist season in Thailand.  For an outside look on the 'real story', watch the video.

Talat Aw Taw Kaw

This photo is a composite of 2 photos at Aw Taw Kaw, and this only shows a quarter of the market

Aw Taw Kaw Market in Bangkok is my local farmers market. It's enormous and chock full of organic and farm produce bought directly from the growers themselves. Open every day, Aw Taw Kaw is a bit more expensive than other produce markets but for completely fresh vegetables, fruit, dried fruit, dried fish, fish, already-made-meals etc. it's excellent and worth the slightly higher price. Plus, you're supporting local farmers instead of some massive supermarket chain.

Police Dogs

I was at Chatuchak Weekend Market a couple of weeks ago and saw these guys doing some sort of training before they gave a demonstration. The canine unit of the local police department.  Cool though, and the dogs were very obedient and very cute.

Chatuchak Market Musician

There are many beggars around Bangkok, some who just ask for money, some (mostly the old folks) who play a traditional Thai instrument in exchange for a few baht.  I always give money to them.  This man was at Chatuchak Weekend Market and, after I took his photograph, I showed him his picture and told him he was "very handsome". He looked, smiled and agreed with me :-)

The Deck

A couple of weeks ago, I took my friend Tua for dinner to The Deck by the River for her birthday.  She's been raving about The Deck for months, but this was the first time I'd had chance to go and, boy, was I not disappointed!  The restaurant is in a converted old shop house, with two large wooden decks and unbelievably pretty interiors (even the bathroom is lovely!).

The Deck is right opposite Wat Arun, which lit up at night is simply gorgeous, the restaurant is beautiful, as is the boutique hotel attached to it.  The food (both Thai and western) was amazing too, with probably the best chicken satay I have ever eaten in my life.  

After dinner, we went up to the rooftop bar and had a drink and then coffee.  Just sitting up there relaxing and talking was so much fun and I've now decided The Deck is my new favorite Bangkok restaurant.

See Fah and the Lovely Tua :-)

I went for coffee and dinner with my friend, Tua, last night. We both love Central World Plaza, so it's usually an easy choice for dinner.  They have tons of very good restaurants (much better than Siam Paragon) and it's not as busy.  Last night, we decided to eat at See Fah, a traditional family-style Thai and Chinese cuisine restaurant I've been wanting to eat at for a while.  

Lovely restaurant, very nicely designed, good food and not expensive.  Only 270 baht each for four HUGE dishes - crispy pork wonton, mussels fried with crispy egg and bean sprouts, stir fried kale with pork in oyster sauce, and a spicy Thai seafood salad (heavy on the squid, which I love). Everything was delicious!

And I call her "the Lovely Tua" as that's what one of my regular readers calls her, so this photo is for him (and Tua thinks it's funny he calls her that :-)

Cafe au Lac

I've been going to Cafe au Lac for more than 4 years - love the place and the staff is so sweet

I went with my friend Sue to have lunch at Bon Marche market today. We ended up having Cheese Nachos for appetizers at Dream Cones, the ice cream shop. Then moved to Cafe au Lac to have a Club Sandwich and Salad and a Latte, then back to Dream Cones for two scoops of homemade ice cream and a chocolate nugget.  Absolutely stuffed afterwards and so much for the diet, LOL.

I Love True Internet

I've been living in the same apartment for six years and, for three years of that, I've had wireless internet shared by other people on my floor.  On again, off again, sometimes fast, sometimes I could cook dinner in the time it takes for a page to load, I'd finally had enough. I told my building manager, if I couldn't get internet that worked I'd have no choice but to move.

So, my absolutely lovely building manager had a workman come by to install a dedicated phone line (I live in a serviced apartment so didn't have one) and, where they normally need a 10,000 baht deposit, she did it for FREE.  

Then, they called True Internet and within 24 hours, a technician from True was in my apartment installing a wireless router on the phone line. In less than 48 hours, I had wireless internet just for my use and it's seriously the fastest internet I've ever had. Things zip by, downloads take seconds and at only 990 baht a month, it's an incredible deal.  It also includes free wireless internet on True at any of the hundreds of wi-fi locations in Thailand - awesome when I'm outside with my laptop.

I love True Internet - they are the bomb!

Obama, Nobel Peace Prize? Oh Please!

Shock announcement today - President Obama has just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Is the Nobel Committee doing drugs?  Please!

Now don't get me wrong, I like Obama because, no matter what he does he certainly beats Bush.  But, the Nobel Peace Prize?  He hasn't DONE anything yet, and certainly not anything to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.  And I'm sure he deep-down thinks that too.

It looks like the Nobel Prize committee has decided to give Obama the Peace Prize in 'advance' for things he 'might' do. Hardly fair, really! Especially when you consider all those other people who have actually done something.

Sure, maybe next year he could have - but this year? Nah.

PayPal Blocks CNN Hero of the Year's Account

I have always hated PayPal. They are a shady company that charges high fees and are always involved in business practices that don't seem completely ethical. The latest thing though takes the cake.

If you follow CNN's Hero of the Year, you'll have seen the Top 10 Heroes of the Year were just announced by CNN, with voting taking place over the next few weeks to choose the winner.  One of the 10 finalists, Budi Soehardi a 53-year-old Singaporian pilot founded a West Timor orphanage - Roslin Orphanage. His orphanage has been receiving funding through PayPal but, in the last month, PayPal has frozen their account because they are in Indonesia (racism anyone?).  Not only can the orphanage NOT get the funds that are being donated to them, but PayPal is also keeping the funds of the people who have donated so far.

How does PayPal keep getting away with this? There are horror stories all over the net about PayPal and frozen funds, where PayPal blocks funds and keeps them (sometimes for months on end!), which is actually against the law.

As for Budi Soehardi, the orphanage will get $25,000 for being named one of the Top 10 Heroes of the Year by CNN. I hope they don't pay him through PayPal!

Meanwhile, how can you help? Publish this on every blog you have. Maybe you can SHAME PayPal into unblocking their account.

Farewell the English Teacher

 

 

As I said, I quit my job a few weeks ago and last Friday was my last day at work. Nicely, one of the departments I teach took me out for a lovely lunch at Chom Suan, a famous Thai restaurant near our office.  The food is excellent and it's a very pretty restaurant, owned by a famous Thai singer. 

About 25 of us went, which was very fun. I got a beautiful scarf as a gift from everyone, and we also got some very cool pictures.

I'll miss the people at this company very much. They're honestly the nicest people I've ever worked with. It's time for me to move on though, and do something different and I'm looking forward to the challenge.

The Prince's Rainforests Project

There's a really cool video showing on cable TV from The Prince's Rainforests Project.  It's the latest project from Prince Charles and is about the project he's set up to help save the world's rain forests.  If you too want to sign your name to a petition from The Prince's Rainforests Project that will go to world leaders meeting about this in Copenhagen later this year, you can do so from the widget below.  Please do!

Argggghhh - Frustrating Thailand!

I've just gone from being a part-time freelance-writer to full-time and, obviously, need the internet.  For three days, the internet has been on again off again in my apartment and, this morning, off for FOUR hours.  Impossible to make any kind of money with this problem. Seriously, if I can't get reliable internet, which seems just about impossible in Thailand, I'm going to have to move to another apartment building or, worst case scenario, back to the US. (not really :-)  Aaaargggghhh!

Some days, Thailand is sooooooo frustrating :(

New Pillows and Sofa Cover

I took a quick trip to Chatuchak Market yesterday afternoon and bought a new cover for the sofa (protects it from the rabbits and their chewing!) and also got two new pillow covers.  Out of the four on the sofa, two of them I bought at the Walking Street Market when I was in Chiang Mia earlier in the year, but hadn't yet put them on the sofa.  Pretty, eh? And so cheap.  Four handmade, hand woven pillow covers for only $18.

Stunning Sunsets

We've been getting some gorgeous sunsets in Bangkok lately.  It's probably something to do with the incredible pollution in the air, but they really do look amazing.

My New Notebook

Last week, I bought a new netbook - the Acer Aspire One - and have to say I absolutely love it.

It's lightweight, it's tiny, but has a 10 inch screen, 160GB hard drive, 2 GB Ram (I added a 1 GB Ram to it to give it even more speed) and it came with 2 laptop bags (a big one, and a small one for easy travel) and even an external DVD drive FREE. It also has a pretty decent webcam.

Total cost only 15,000 baht (around $425).  I'm going to be using it several days a week as I'll be writing from a coffee shop near my old office.  It's incredibly lightweight, only 3 lbs, and so so fast. Will be great for the internet and writing.  Oh and the battery lasts for almost 7 hours.  Can't beat it.

Protecting the Buildings

Thailand is full of spirit houses.  Almost every building has them.  From small houses to enormous office buildings and just about everything in between - they all have a spirit house.  This one was at the building entrance of a restaurants I went to recently and is made of concrete.  It's very colorful because of the flowers left there that day in homage to the spirit that lives there, so that he or she may protect the building.  

I Quit My Job - Yay!

Well, after being lied to about contracts, possible pay increases, health insurance and paid annual leave for over a year and a half by the international company I work for, I finally called it quits.  So did the other three teachers who work for the company.  After all, we'd all have to be stupid to keep working for a company that lies to us consistently.  It's a shame really, as I loved working there and thought the people there were the nicest I've ever worked with.

As the longest-staying teacher at my company, I am really going to miss all my students, but I've decided to stop teaching English in Thailand and am going to be a freelance writer full-time (I've been doing it for two years part-time and have figured out I can make a lot more money doing that than I can teaching English).

I have two more weeks at my job and then I'm finished.  From then on, my time will be my own - no boss, no having to do a 2 hour commute to work round-trip every day, and no lies.  Woohoo!!

Chibi Shabu - Nice Shabu-Shabu Restaurant

Am, myself, Pae and Tua

My friend Tua introduced me to a brand new Shabu-Shabu restaurant in Bangkok last week, when we went out to celebrate one of our friends quitting her job at the company I work at.  Chibi Shabu is on Soi Langsuan, just a couple of minutes walk from Chidlom sky train station, and the food is excellent. 

All you can eat Shabu-Shabu and all you can drink soft drinks for only 420 baht ($12) per person. We ate platters and platters of beef, pork, lamb, shrimp and octopus. Excellent stuff.

Am, Nat, myself, Pae and Tua

Only weird thing is the restaurant is difficult to find as it's behind a main buildng on Soi Langsuan and on the ground floor of an apartment building.  Still, if you ask someone on Soi Langsuan, you should be able to find it. And it's well worth the search.

Yum Saap - Inexpensive Thai Food at Its Best

 

Last week, I went with one of my students, Draft, for lunch. We left work and drove to Rama IV Road, where there's a big Carrefour with tons of little shops and restaurants and decided to have lunch at Yum Saap. Yum Saap, apparently is a Thai chain restaurant (can't believe I've missed this before), with some of the scrummiest (and cheapest!) Thai food I've eaten in Bangkok.

I had Pad Thai (haven't eaten that in eons), Draft had veggies on rice, and we shared a plate of Som Tam - perfectly made and just spicy enough.  The total bill for two of us was around 160 baht (about $4.50).

If you too are interested in eating at Yum Saap, there's about 30 of them in Bangkok - Siam Square has one and so do a lot of the Carrefour shopping complexes, so look for one near you. I highly recommend it.

Whooops - Forgot My Birthday

It was my birthday last month and, as usual, my lovely students (and co-workers!) bought me gifts and an absolutely delicious chocolate cake.  I think my birthdays in Thailand are always so much nicer than my birthdays in the US were, because Thais make such a big deal about it.  Love it though!

Susan Boyle Makeover

If you're one of the tens of millions of people who saw the Susan Boyle YouTube video, then you won't be able to believe her makeover photos - this one is from a new photo shoot for Harper's Bazaar.  Doesn't she look gorgeous?

I actually used the original Susan Boyle video in my corporate English classes, for a discussion about beauty and is it important? My students loved it.

Nosy Rabbit

This is Boo. He always has to know what's going on.

Songtaews in the Morning

On my way to meet some friends at the Chao Praya River in Bangkok to take the boat, I saw these songtaews and their drivers already beginning to get ready for the day.

Seafood in Chinatown

Eddie from my office. He's working for my company in Thailand for a year but is from Malaysian office - awesome guy!

 

The girls - Pum, Pang and Pah

 

The food - delicious! Fried rice, fish, huge shrimp, tom yam geung.

I mentioned to some people at work that I'd had amazing seafood near Amphawa Floating Market and one woman, Pum, said that Chinatown in Bangkok has good food too.  So, we all arranged to go after work one night. 

We ate at one of the roadside street stalls. Very nice (huge!) shrimp, fried fish with herbs, fried rice, squid, mussles and a whole slew of other stuff. Only 400 baht each (about $11) and really delicious.

Afterwards, we went to another restaurant for bird's nest soup (something I'll NOT bother eating again - too sweet, too tasteless).  I just kept feeling sorry for the birds, plus, at 400 baht ($11 a bowl) and that was for the cheap stuff - I can think of much more delicious things to spend my money on. Nicely though, (because Michiel and I didn't like the stuff) the rest of our group bought it for us - which was very nice of them!

 

Pang, Pah and Pum (The Three P's!) at the bird's nest soup restaurant

Amphawa Floating Market and Wat Phra Kaew Trip

My friend Pah, me, Pah's daughter Mo, Michiel (from Netherlands office of our company), back row is Pang, Joy and Taow at Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok - photo taken by Pah's husband who is an amazing photographer.

 

Me and my friend, Tua, at Postcard Cafe at Amphawa Floating Market - the photo was taken by a professional photographer there for the huge amount of 35 baht ($1).

 

Part of Amphawa Floating Market just when it was starting to go dark. So pretty!

 

Crazy Tua writing postcards at a coffee shop at Amphawa Floating Market

Very cool coffee shop set up in a small soi (alley) at Amphawa. You could get coffee drinks, buy postcards and have your photo taken by a professional photographer for 35 baht ($1)

 

Well, I said she was crazy!!

Last Saturday, I went to Wat Phra Kaew and Amphawa Floating Market with a group of people from work.  Had a fabulous time.  Wat Phra Kaew is incredibly beautiful and Amphawa Floating Market is the most amazing floating market I've ever seen.  About an hour and a half's drive out of Bangkok, we also had lunch at a seafood restaurant near the floating market.  Called "Daeng" ('Red' in Thai), it's pretty famous around that area and for good reason.  Huge plates of fresh shrimp, a plate of fresh crab with shallotes, a plate of fresh crab with curry, fried rice with shrimp, an enormous fried fish, plates of sauteed vegetables, a fish like sardines but bigger, and more. Only 400 baht per person (about $11.50) and absolutely the tastiest and freshest seafood I've ever had.

Company Trip To Khao Yai National Park

A couple of weeks ago, I went with my company on a 3-day trip to Khao Yai National Park and had a fabulous time.  Three days, all paid for by the company, staying in a 4-star hotel, trips to an adventure park, a night safari, Chockchai Farm (very cool dairy farm, where you get a farm tour plus rides, food etc), and a big company dinner.  1,200 people went, on 30 buses and all split up into different hotels.  Really, really fun time.  Can't wait until next year's trip!

My friend Chao's wife and me, at our hotel in Khao Yai National Park

 

The view from near our hotel - you don't get much prettier than this!

 

At Thong Somboon Club - a fabulous adventure park, with the same crazy girls!

 

At lunch - the first stop. My friend, Michael, me and some of our favorite (and crazy!) girls :-)

 

Just have to keep saying "I Love My Job"

I've now been at my current teaching job for about a year and three months and it's honestly the best job I've ever had.  I work full-time for an international company teaching English and Business Skills.  They've also lately let me help with Marketing and writing (which is my background), which has been really fun.  I work 9am to 4:30, with a 2 hour lunch and 2 other hours off during the day - can't beat it!

The people I teach and work with are the nicest people I've ever worked with.  Smart, funny, sweet and incredibly helpful, I can now say for the first time that most of my friends in Thailand are actually Thai (only have one farang friend now :-)

In a month, the whole company is going on its annual outing, this time to Kao Yai National Park and I'm definitely going with them.  This isn't a typical Thai company trip though. My company goes all out paying for beautiful hotels, all the food, activities etc.  All we do is pay 200 baht for a company t shirt that we have to wear for one dinner and show up.  That's it.  Three days on a fun trip with a great group of people - really, life couldn't be better.

Oh and the salary's great too!

Foreigners - STOP Bringing Money Into Thailand

Even though I've lived in Thailand for almost six years, even I can't believe the stupidity of Thai banks sometimes.  Case in point, the Thai Banking Association has decided, in all its wisdom, that by the end of the month every Thai bank will charge a 150 baht fee every time an ATM card is used in a Thai ATM machine to withdraw money from an overseas bank account.

This in a country where the tourism industry is down 60%, where NOBODY is booking holidays in Thailand and where expats are leaving every day and taking their money with them.  Are Thailand's banks really this stupid?  It honestly seems like they are.

For me, I've been withdrawing money from my US bank account for the last couple of months so that I can increase my savings account in Thailand.  As of last Friday, I will not bring ANY MORE MONEY into Thailand.  Instead, I'm going to empty out my Bangkok Bank account and use that to live on every month, because, if Bangkok Bank thinks I'm going to spend 150 baht ($4.22) every time I withdrew money from the US, they really must be smoking some kind of drug?

Tomorrow, I will be going to Bangkok Bank and withdrawing everything in my account, leaving a 200 baht balance to keep the account open. When I get paid on Friday, I'll be going again to withdraw that money too.  Because if Bangkok Bank thinks I'm going to give them any of my business after they have instituted this outrageous fee, they really ARE doing drugs!

I also suggest every other expat and farang refuse to bring money into Thailand as much as is feasibly possible.  This new 150 baht fee is outrageous and I, for one, will not pay it.

Making Mango and Sticky Rice

 

 

Where I work, like everywhere in Thailand, there's always food. Someone is always bringing me food, putting food in the kitchen for everyone to eat, or making food.  On Friday, it was mango and sticky rice (my absolutely favorite Thai dessert!).  One of my friends at work, Poompim, who knows Bangkok like the back of her hand, had gone to what she says is the best mango and sticky rice place in town and bought it for everyone in her department (plus me! :-) 

And was it the best mango and sticky rice?  Yep, it certainly was.  She prepared me a huge plate of it which, of course, I ate - and it was DELICIOUS!!! 

If you ever come to Thailand, the one Thai dessert you have to try is Mango and Sticky Rice (it's always served with coconut milk to pour over it), as it seriously is the best stuff you'll ever eat.

Food Court Food - Delicious and Soooo Cheap

This is a large iced latte, and a bowl of sauteed spicy beef, stir fried veggies and rice, and a bowl of soup = total cost at the food court?   100 baht ($2.81) and absolutely delicious!

One of my favorite food courts in Bangkok is at the Carrefour mini mall on Ladprao road.  The whole of the second floor is an enormous food court, with tons of Thai food for every taste. 

If you haven't been to a food court before, here's how it works.  You go to a little counter and get a card (like a credit card) for 100 baht, 200 baht, however much you want.  Then you buy food from any food stall you want - drinks too! - and 'pay' with the card.  When you've finished eating, you take the card back to the counter and the lady there will refund whatever money you didn't spend.  Easy, cheap and the food is always excellent.  Tons of Thais eat at food courts. On the weekends especially, you'll see lots of families as it's cheaper to buy food at a food court than it is to cook it.

Back to Normal

Dressed in traditional Thai clothes for a Thai handicrafts show at Siam Paragon

Everything is pretty much back to normal in Bangkok. All the malls are open, some people are back at work and the rest of us are still enjoying the Songkran holiday. 

On Wednesday, I had lunch with Tua at Siam Paragon mall in Bangkok and bought a ton of stuff - books, new jacket for work from Zara, bracelet, a bag and groceries.  There was a sale of Thai handicrafts in the middle of the mall and they had the cutest stuff so, of course, I had to buy a bunch of it.

For the Thai handicrafts show, they also had a few people dressed up in traditional Thai costume - very cute!

Thaksin Lies on CNN and Two Killed in Bangkok By Red Shirt Protesters

Thaksin spent time on CNN today lying about the situation in Bangkok and saying "People are being killed".  No, Thaksin - people were NOT being killed.  Not until YOUR red shirts went into a local market and shot two people.  Who's killing who?  It's not the army, that's for sure!

And WHY does CNN give Thaksin any airtime?  He's a liar, a thief and a fugitive on the run.  Why would a legitimate TV news network give him any airtime?

Thai Military Clashes With Protesters

The Thai military rushing to clear 'red shirts' off the street in Bangkok's latest round of protests

 

Anti-government protester in downtown Bangkok today

 

Man giving flowers to the soldiers, downtown Bangkok today.

 

Buses set on fire in Bangkok today by anti-government protesters. Thai military responded with tear gas.

Things are definitely heating up in Bangkok.  The Thai military has been clashing with red-shirted protesters all day, but it looks like they've managed to clear a lot of them away from important intersections and areas.  One piece of news footage on Thai TV showed the Thai army stopping a stolen bus that had been jerry-rigged and sent canonballing into the army.  The army shot at it with live ammunition until the bus slammed into a tree and then cleared off the red shirts with water cannons.  Afterwards, Thais who lived in the area were all out on the streets applauding the army, high-fiving them and giving them hugs.  Shows how much most people in Bangkok support the red shirts.  They don't!

I went out to Tesco Lotus today, as I had no food for me or the rabbits, and stocked up on supplies for the next three days.  People were out as normal and I even had lunch at KFC before taking a taxi home.

I just feel so sorry for the Thais. Their country is being ripped apart by these idiots, all supported by Thaksin - a criminal on the run, who doesn't even have the BALLS to come back to this country and whose ENTIRE FAMILY left Thailand on Wednesday, knowing that this violence was about to take place.  Cowards!

My friend Poom just called and said "Stay home".  Her mom is making her stay in her house, as are my friend Tua and my friend Sue.  We're all just sitting waiting to see what happens next.  But with the Songkran holiday all week, it could be at least a week before things start to get back to normal.  Every time I have a freakin' holiday in Thailand, one side or the other ruins it.  Bastards!

** Some news reports are now saying normal Thais are coming out of their houses and starting to attack the 'red shirts' - sick of the disruption to their normal lives.  Way to go guys - keep it up!

Red Shirts Close Down Asean Summit in Pattaya

 

Well, Thailand is back to mass demonstrations, political unrest and a chance of a coup.  Since the PAD (People's Alliance for Democracy) managed to overthrow the last government and get their guys in (Abhisit et al), now the UDD (United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, otherwise known as the 'red shirts') are copying PAD tactics and trying to overthrow this government. Yesterday, they stormed a hotel in Pattaya where the leaders of the Asean Summit were staying and the summit had to be canceled.

What I find fascinating though is how many people (most people at my work actually) are decrying the tactics of the 'red shirts', yet these were exactly the tactics the PAD used a few months ago when they took over Thailand's airports for two weeks.  I guess for most Thais, it's fine if 'our group' does that but not if the other group does.  Crazy, eh?

Rumor now has it that if Abhisit, the Prime Minister, can't control this lot, there'll be another military coup - soon!  You've gotta love Thailand.

Special note - Honestly, if this wasn't so sad it would be laughable.  Successive Thai governments with no idea of how to run a country.  What's sad though is it affects millions of Thais, the reputation of the country, all of my Thai friends, and me.

Songkran

To celebrate Songkran, you can scoop water out of the urn on the right and pour it over the Buddha statue

It's the beginning of the big Thai Songkran holiday today.  Songkran is the Thai New Year, or Water Festival, where Thais pour or throw water on everyone for good luck.  All over Thailand, you'll see this small altar-type structures appearing, so that people everywhere can pour water on the Buddha statue for blessing.  This one is in Exchange Tower in Bangkok. Beautiful, eh?

Lunch

People in the US are always asking me what I eat in Thailand.  The answer?  Pretty much anything and everything.  I eat Thai food, Western food, Japanese food - whatever I feel like that day.  This is one of my recent lunches at work.  I buy from one of the market stalls downstairs, then bring back up to my desk to eat in the air conditioning.

This plate is rice, fried chicken with mushrooms, stir fried veggies, and all topped off with a fried egg.  For dessert, a huge tray of mango and sticky rice with coconut milk poured over it. Delicious!  Total cost?  35 baht (about 95 cents) for the chicken, rice, veggies and fried egg and 30 baht (84 cents) for the mango and sticky rice (enough to feed two people!)  Yes, I eat well, and cheaply in Thailand.

Chakri Memorial Day

CSI, shopping and relaxing - that's what I did for my 3-day weekend

It's Chakri Memorial Day here in Thailand tomorrow, which means that we get Monday off work.  Chakri Memorial Day actually commemorates the founding of the Chakri Royal Dynasty, but for most Thais it's a day to relax, have fun, go shopping and spend time with their families.

For me, on my 3 day weekend, I've shopped at Carrefour, cleaned, written more articles for Associated Content, read a book and watched Seasons 7 and 8 of CSI.  My friend Sue just got me 7 TV series on DVD absolutely FREE, (CSI, The Lost Room, Numbers etc) as one of her friends here owns a DVD shop - that's about 160 hours of viewing pleasure!

Tomorrow (the actual Chakri Memorial Day), I'm going down town to shop for vitamins and to buy a book to use in my business skills classes this week.

I love 3-day weekends and this was a great one. Plus, when we go back to work, we're only there for 4 days this week, then get a week off for Songkran.  April really is a lovely month!

Chiang Mai - Day Three

   

 

Two cool temples in the Thapae area of Chiang Mai - love the wooden one!

Monday was our last day in Chiang Mai, so we got up early and went to Ninety Four Coffee for breakfast.  Stayed there a couple of hours, checked out of the hotel, then took a tuk-tuk to Thapae so we could visit some of the shops we'd seen the night before at the Walking Street Market.  Tua had bought a really cool chalk board and decided she wanted to buy more for gifts - so of course I ended up buying one too :-)

We ate lunch at a place that was highly recommended by Rough Guide - Ratana's Kitchen - excellent Western food and Tua said the Thai food was good too and cheap!.  After lunch, we visited a jewelry shop I always buy at and spent a couple of thousand baht between us on earrings, bracelets and various gifts for people.  Starbucks was the next stop (where I took photos of a customer that had incredibly cool hair!) .....

then Aim picked us up and drove us out of Chiang Mai to a large market that sold dried fruit and vegetables. I bought bags of pickled dried cherries (delicious!), jujubees (like dates but not, but scrumptious), and dried sour plums (yum!) Thais love food so they were great things to take back to Bangkok for gifts for various Thai friends too!

Then onto a hidden market for pork rinds and sausage and I bought a bag to take all my extra stuff home. 

Tua and Aim at the local market - stop shopping!

We picked up Aim's boyfriend at the airport (he's a pilot for Thai Airways) and he took us all out for dinner to Riverside.  Riverside is a nice restaurant on the river front, great views, but extremely mediocre food. 

 

Aim and Noi at Riverside Restaurant, Chiang Mai

Later we went on to the Night Market for last minute gifts and I ate again there - cheap Thai food - delicious!

Air Asia had text messaged me earlier to say our flight was delayed one hour (typical Air Asia!) so we didn't leave Chiang Mai until almost midnight.  I got home at 1:45 am (traffic from Suvarnabhumi is non-existent at that time of night), just in time for a few hours sleep then on into work. 

Really wonderful time in Chiang Mai though.  Can't wait to go back!

Chiang Mai - Second Day (Part Two)

 

Songtaew Wall Painting at Iberry Ice Cream, Chiang Mai

In the afternoon, we decided to walk around the Nimmanhemin Road neighborhood as there are tons of coffee shops, restaurants, art galleries and shops.  We stopped off for ice cream at Iberry (one of the prettiest Iberry shops I've ever seen!), bought candles at a lovely handmade candle shop, and then I bought handmade pottery at a pottery studio (four cups and a big bowl).  

We had an early dinner at Black Canyon Coffee and back to the hotel for a quick nap before Tua's friend, Aim, and her boyfriend, Noi, picked us up to go to the Walking Street Market.The Walking Street Market is at the Thapae Gate and, as they block off several city blocks, it's ENORMOUS. 

They sell everything - shoes, handmade pillow cases, dolls, food, dried fruit, handmade soaps, clothing, belts, bags, purses, art, OTOP products - pretty much anything you can think of, and all at prices about 50% of the Night Market.  The place was absolutely packed with people, so walking the full length of the market just looking at stalls on one side took over 2 hours.  Then we turned around and walked back looking at the stalls at the other side.  I bought pillow covers, 2 dolls, handmade soaps, a pottery bowl, a bag, two paintings, two handmade photo frames, 3 pairs of slippers, 2 shawls, and tons of other stuff.  We also snacked on chicken and pineapple skewers, fried bananas, and had iced lattes and fruit juice.  Great night!  Didn't get home until after midnight, but we bought so much stuff it was well worth it.

Chiang Mai - Second Day (Part One)

Ninety Four Coffee, Chiang Mai

On Sunday in Chiang Mai we decided to have a lazy morning.  We ate breakfast at the hotel in the lovely little outdoor restaurant (breakfast was included in the price of the room) and then we settled in at Ninety Four Coffee, just down the street from our hotel. Tua got on her laptop to do some work while I hit the internet.  Ninety Four Coffee offers you a free hour's internet for every purchase (unlike Starbucks which charges you 150 baht per hour ($4.25) - ridiculously expensive!) so I spent 3 hours on the net.  I had two lattes and a piece of blueberry cheesecake for breakfast, and a ham and cheese sandwich and salad and another latte for lunch.  We arrived at 9:30 am and left at 1:30pm.  A nice relaxing time and for not much money.

Chiang Mai - First Day

Wawee Coffee, near Four Seasons Hotel, Chiang Mai

I just got back from an amazing 3 day holiday in Chiang Mai.  I went up there with my friend, Tua, and we stayed at a new hotel that was recommended by a friend of hers who's a Chiang Mai resident.  The hotel was The Empire hotel and was absolutely fabulous.  Only 1,300 baht a night (about $36.50) for an enormous serviced apartment room with flat screen TV, refrigerator, coffee maker, a huge bathroom, an enormous balcony and all incredibly clean.  We also got a great deal on Air Asia (round trip for less than $70), so the whole weekend was very cheap.

On Saturday morning, we arrived early and were picked up by Tua's friend Aim, who took us to the Wawee Coffee shop near the Four Seasons Hotel just outside Chiang Mai.  It was the most beautiful cafe I've ever been to with delicious cakes and a gorgeous view of the surrounding fields and mountains. 

Tua at one of the many cool coffee shops we found off Nimmanhemin Road

Afterwards, we went to the hotel, then walked around the Nimmanhemin Road area outside the hotel - which is stuffed with beautiful coffee shops, art galleries, restaurants and boutiques.  Later on, we took a songtaew (open-sided pick up truck) and went off to the Night Market where we shopped and had dinner.

Our first day in Chiang Mai was very fun.  The second day was even better........

The Rabbit Group

I just love how my rabbits all cram in together when they want to relax or sleep.  For some weird reason though, they don't seem to like the brown rabbit, and I don't know why because she is the sweetest.  The other three are Mum, Dad and baby and the brown one is the second baby - maybe she's the black sheep of the family, and that's why they're not fans of hers?

One of my AC articles

I write for Associated Content and recently had an article published about having boobs in Asia.  Basically, if you have boobs in Asia, buying anything that fits your boobs is a nightmare - and that includes bras, shirts, jackets - anything that larger than a size 34B will fit into. 

Big boobs in Asia