Celebrating Christmas and happy news… with a six star Christmas dinner

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Choeng Mon beach

Choeng Mon beach

Friday, 23 December 2016 to Thursday, 29 December 2016
For some reason I woke up at 03:00 even though the alarm was set for 04:00, which is when I got up, and we

left for the airport at 4:30. Adri dropped me at the airport by 04:45 and by 05:00 I was seated in the lovely open-air departures area of the Koh Samui Airport. I was on my way to fetch our passports in Bangkok which had been returned to the TLS Contact Centre from the French Embassy, with or without a Schengen Visa, that remained to be seen, but we were of course hoping it would be the former. Continue reading →

Arriving back home again… back home again on Koh Samui

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Koh Samui

Koh Samui

Friday, 16 December 2016 to Thursday, 22 December 2016
Another travel day lay ahead of us as we got up early on Friday morning; we packed, had a simple breakfast and boarded a taxi for the airport. The trip to Samui today proved to be uneventful and rather enjoyable. We flew to Surat Thani on the mainland; from there we took a bus to the Donsak Pier, boarded the ferry and arrived on Samui mid afternoon. The Airasia flight tickets include the cost Continue reading →

Dealing with bureaucracy in Bangkok

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Flying from Chiang Rai to Bangkok

Flying from Chiang Rai to Bangkok

Friday, 9 December 2016 to Thursday, 15 December 2016
We got up leisurely at 06:30 Friday morning and by 09:00 we were fully packed and loaded into the taxi – the start of our trip to Bangkok – and were dropped off at the airport 20 minutes later. By 10:30 we were ready to leave but the plane was not, it was only at 11:00 that we got underway. By 12:00 we picked up our luggage from the carousel at the Don Muang airport and headed out into the arrivals hall where we were greeted with calls of “Taxi taxi!!”

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During our final days in Chiang Rai I found the cure for insomnia…

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The singha of Singha Park

The singha of Singha Park

Friday, 2 December 2016 to Thursday, 8 December 2016
I found a cure for insomnia, not that I was looking for one – but I found it nevertheless – and here is the magic formula. Download an audio book, any audio book, onto one of your devices, plug your ear-bud headphones into that device, plug its buds into your ears and get ready for sleep. Don’t worry about the title; it won’t matter as you will fall asleep before the book matter starts to matter… Continue reading →

There was a WOOF… but there was no dog in sight

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Golden Triangle seen from the hill

Golden Triangle seen from the hill

Friday, 25 November 2016 to Thursday, 1 December 2016
It is now getting close to Christmas and my need for Quality Street chocolates – which is not available in Thailand – is once again prevalent. Before I could give it much thought, as if reading my future mind, I received an email from Lood asking for an address where he could send my Quality Street fix to. As they say, a friend in need is a friend indeed. Not wanting to screw around with wrong addresses I decided to ask Thea Continue reading →

I always knew I had a screw loose… but today I lost it!

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Choui Fong Tea Farm

Choui Fong Tea Farm

Friday, 18 November 2016 to Thursday, 24 November 2016
We had run out of bread and other breakfast stuff so Adri walked down to the market to get such but she also returned with some chewy doughy deep fried batter balls sprinkled with sugar which contains a less sweet centre of something. It’s the first time we’ve had these batter balls but will surely have them again, simply delicious! Continue reading →

It was bound to happen… that long expected nervous breakdown

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Chiang Rai - The Black House Art Museum

Chiang Rai – The Black House Art Museum

Friday, 11 November 2016 to Thursday, 17 November 2016
After the news of a Trump presidency I put myself on voluntary exile from the news world for 24 hours, it lasted for 44, it was bliss. This morning I took my first tentative clicks in the news world out there and the very first click I took was Continue reading →

Zipping up my boots… going back to my roots, yeah!

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Wat Rong Khun - White temple

Wat Rong Khun – White temple

Friday, 4 November 2016 to Thursday, 10 November 2016
It was Friday evening and already dark outside when the hunger pangs drove us to the streets, and more importantly to the street market and its freshly fashioned foods. Adri had been eyeballing the grilled fish for a number of weeks now but each time we were there another dish jumped the queue and onto her plate. It is difficult to decide on a dish when there is so much to choose from, but tonight she was not going to be distracted, she was focused. Continue reading →

Earthquake in Chiang Rai… What earthquake?

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Lavaladee Restaurant

Lavaladee Restaurant

Friday, 28 October 2016 to Thursday, 3 November 2016
We had a busy but relaxing Friday and before we knew it, it was evening and time for supper. I have not had a pizza in yonks so we agreed to put the pizza voucher we received on Wednesday at the movies to edible use. We arrived at The Pizza Company, hungry as horses, ready to have our hay or anything else that was on offer. Continue reading →

The relaxed atmosphere in Chiang Rai made us extend our stay by a few weeks

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Sunset on the Kok River

Sunset on the Kok River

Friday, 21 October 2016 to Thursday, 27 October 2016
We gave the yoga instructor some grief this morning, Adri wanted a 45 minute session, I was happy with a 30 minute one, sending the teacher into a tailspin, she had no idea how to handle this conflict of interest. Fortunately she was confined to my Ipad so I naturally won this particular battle… this particular one only… Continue reading →