Rapidly approaching mid February already; where does the time go?
Trish came back to BKK in mid January, and we seem to have had a busy time of it since.
We had another of our w/e breaks at the end of January. We went to an Island in the Gulf of Thailand, Koh (Island) Samet. The ferry is about a 3 hour drive out of BKK. I took the Friday out, to make a worthwhile journey. The place is the Island just off the coast close to the resort we went to in November. In fact we visited the Island back then for a few hours, and wanted to see more of the place. It is certainly a very basic sort of place, though our “resort” had all of the facilities. It was right on the beach too (though all of the island is like that) where there are almost wall to wall restaurants and bars. These all have diner/drinker areas set up on the beach where one sits on mats, at low tables, with these Thai triangular pillows to lean against. We tried it, but preferred sitting at a table off the beach edge (old age; mmmmmhh!). Lots of seafood BBQ to eat, and cheap – so that was great. The beer was also cheaper than all the tourist places we have done so far.
During the Saturday we went on a 6 hour boat trip around smaller islands off Samet. We visited a Turtle conservation farm on one islad, went snorkelling on, and off, 3 other Islands, and also visited a nature trail island and a fish farm floating off Samet. Lunch was provided, as well as the snorkelling gear, and all that for about £12 / $30 each. A fabulous day out. Sunday morning was just heavy sunbathing on the beach. Terrific.
Back in BKK in the 3 weeks since Trish returned we have also had a night out with a Thai from work – a meal at an open air, riverside restaurant, been to a Chinese New Year dinner and games night (for breast cancer), and been to a first birthday party for our neighbours’ baby (Emily). That was quite a do; bring your own baby; we were one of the few couples that didn’t have one of course. It takes you back though, with all these young mums and dads from the same play group with all of those little characters toddling and crawling around. Picking out the personality traits on 1 year olds is fun now!
Today I am in Paris – yes, Paris, France. I set off on Monday to take a group of our Thai Railway customers to visit some vendor in France (part of the contract) – yeah, right. It’s a lousy job, but someone has to do it eh? It is really nice to be in Paris, but it is definitely a city for lovers, or young people (not the place for a lone fogey). People watching is fun though. I got here one day before my customer group, to scout the land so to speak. So yesterday I was our recce’ing. I walked through a street market – fabulous smells, especially the cheese stalls. I walked for miles and ended up at Notre Dame. I walked back through the area round the Sorbonne, and had lunch (cheese and pastis) in a square by the university (people watching again). Then meandered back to the hotel for a nap (tough eh?). In the evening I walked to the Latin quarter and sat in a restaurant, at street side, and had a big pot of mussels with fries, and people watched again. I came home on the Metro, just so’s I would know how to use it for the next day. This morning my group arrived, and they are presently freshening up pending hitting the road on a fairly intensive 5 day program that includes 2 days in Dijon. Tonight is a dinner / boat tour!
Meanwhile, we have a visitor arrived in BKK for 10 days / 2 weeks. Anrika, whom I used to work with at AlliedSignal and at Twisted Air, now works a missionary in China, and is taking a holiday from there over the Chinese new year.
Too busy to get old now.
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