Honey, I'm home!

Weeeeeee

Okkk..so after a 15 hour flight with a stop over, a fair few snotty tissues and a cultural immersion I wasn't asking for....I am home!

Off to see all my lovers over the next few days. Then I am back to big ol BKK via a friend in syd :).

So many emotions because I am so deliriously tired..so...I will just move straight to the pictures :)

Xx

Weekend!

Happy easter everyone :).

Firstly, I am super jealous of the public holidays (although I guess I had Songkran!).

Obviously easter is not celebrated in Thailand mainstream due to buddhism..so it seems a bit surreal. Though, having no chocolate at my disposal means I don't feel bad that I ate half my weight in dairy milk..so..I consider that a win!

This weekend has gone farrrrrr too quick. On Saturday I finally got around to doing some gift shopping (first time in 3 months). Oops..!! Nothing spectacular, however some nice little things :).

Saturday night I caught up with an olddddd friend I had a class with at uni. 6 years it has been since I last saw him (see pic :)). Its a crazy small world at the end of the day and it was great to catch up. It ended up as a big group of aussies (influenced anyway) and it is getting me ready for my return this week.....soo much english. Funny story, apparently my accent has an asian influence. .eg, when we were talking the way I was explaining things was clearly broken/slowed down. I hadnt really noticed but it makes sense....so, watch this space..

In lighter news, im flying home in 2 days time! Its not for too long, but I am very very excited to see my loved ones.

Hope you have all had a great long weekend and are smiling x

Sisterhood!

Hi guys!

Well, I am pleased to advise that Songkran in bangkok 'officially' ends today....fewwwwwww!

I have never been so scared of water in my life...even turning a mere corner I hesitated at the thought of a bucket of iced cold water down my back. Ah welllll...put it down to experience they say ;) (but don't get me wrong, I loved it!)

On a side note, my sister and Ash arrived on Sunday night to my home (away from home). Arriving during Songkran would probably be the best and the worst time....haha. I picked them up from the airport and brought them to their hotel. It was about 930pm by then...but we decided to go for a quick walk so they could get their bearings. 5 minutes later? Wet. That's your welcome. Holllllaaaa squalor!

They had a few tours, but outside of that I quickly took them to a few shopping centres so they could get a taste of the glitzy (??) side of Bkk. Unfortunately their time was a bit too short and I had to take them to the train so they could jet off to Koh Samui (how painful right???).

All in all though, was great to see some fam. It's getting me excited for my holiday next week....stay tunnneddddddd :):)

Over and out krub x

Happy Songkran !

First off you can call off the international search - i survivveddddd! (Just)

1st impression: wow. Absolutely, wow.

In Bangkok, Songkran is celebrated from sat - tues, with other districts either celebrating later  or for longer (eg. Pattaya goes till about thurs). Saturday started off pretty tame....all locals walking around in their floral numbers...in hindsight, should of been sufficient warning. Bangkok seemed a little too quite...... (Like the calm before the storm!). You get the occasional squirt walking in the street, but that's easy to handle...

Bring on Sunday (which is the actual New Year's Day - 13/4/2557, or might be 2558 now). Sunday is (was) the day that the water fights hit full steam...on the streets, car parks, outside shops...even the friendly 7/11 had their registers covered in glad wrap (I'd call that a smart move!).but anyway...although it is technically everywhere, there are specific sections of Bangkok where it's 110% festival. The easiest way to choose which one to go to is depending on what type of crowd you want - more foreigners (farang) go To khoasan rd (backpackers), young/fun/crazy (Silom) or damn right loose (RCA). Naturally, I chose Silom. Best of all :). Now, what probably saved me from a lot more trouble, is that I went with a friend from work and his friends (locals). Made it easier! (And me less of a target...when I reached them)

As i got ready I sat for a good 20 minutes contemplating what to wear. In hindsight, I shouldn't have. I simply should of stuck with speedos. Or maybe a one piece. Seriously....

I walked to the BTS, slowly walking past some people with large water guns...I suddenly had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach......as soon as I stepped on the train I knew it was too late now. Squirting from a train to a platform? Not sure you are technically allowed to do that, but it happened. Who's cares? It's Songkran!

Anyway, fast forward a good 15minutes and train change and I arrive at Silom. First word that popped into my head is one that i can't write here. I messaged my friend on arrival and we arranged a meeting place...the challenge now was to get there (easier said than done!). 

Now, picture this....a white boy walking down the stairs slowly..into a pit of wet, loud, screaming, happy locals. There's no point having a stopwatch  as within 1 minute I had clay/mud on my face and was drenched by water pistols and buckets of ice cold water. Although it was FREEZING I smiled. This is crazy! I wiped the clay/mud off my face, only for it to be re-applied as i kept walking. This became a ritual haha. They say it's a sign of respect and apart of the tradition and I had to remind myself of that everytime someone caressed their hands over my cheeks, neck and forehead. Tradition....hmm..

Anywaaaaaaay. Fast forward and after meeting up with my friends we got our guns. Like, seriously big guns. 280baht each and probably held 1L or maybe 1.5L of iced cold water. BOOM. 

Once you have a gun though you become more of a target, so it turns into an all out skirmish. Hustling and bustling through massive crowds, squirting people as they squirt you. If someone's dry, they become a target. Similarily, if a few friends pick on one person, about 15other people join in and it turns into a massive water fight. I may have started one of these..#sorrynotsorry

 as you walk up and down the street there are the usual groups of ridiculously good looking people mixed with people who look like they have just been in a mud pool. And then there's the dancers on the podiums..being squirted with water pistols to thumping music and twerking. Seriously?  Absolutely crazy. 

At one point the police decided to drive through the crowd. Rookie mistake. Every officer became a target, as did the car. It's all in good spirits and I never saw one person yelling,angry or offended. Likewise, their was little to no alcohol present, so....a lesson for western society. Alcohol doesn't make fun .

I could keep typing for ages but I will just show you pictures. In summary, picture a massssive street party with the best atmosphere,no violence, thousands of smiles and endless positivity.

Happy Songkran! Xx

Songkran time!

Hi Everyone,

Guess what! It's Songkran time :)

For those not "in the know" Songkran is Thailands "traditional New year". I won't bore you with the details on the history (although it is quite fascinating), instead direct you to this link to read in your own spare time:

http://www.bangkok.com/information-festivals/songkran.htm
http://songkran2014.com/category/songkran-2014/

As with all traditional celebrations, it has now become a big holiday and "commercialised" into what is now known as the "water festival". My Thai friends have warned me that, "as a Farang" (foreigner/whitehead) I will be the best target...so, looks like i am spending the entire weekend in my speedos! (James Bond?).

Nooo! Just joking. We do have Monday and Tuesday off as Public Holidays, so it is a loooong weekend. Some time this weekend I aim to experience the "true" Songkran and I will update you accordingly.

But for the viewers at home..... I encourage you to go have a shower (or go to your backyard and use your hose), close your eyes, and pretend you are in Songkran having the time of your life.


You're welcome.

:)

An interesting proposition for you..

..now that's an opening line isn't it?

The last few days I have been settling back into the daily grind of Bangkok -albeit with sweat attached. The more I see around the place the more I start to appreciate the little things, like:

- What do you do if you crave a bubble tea at the most random time?
- Who do you call if you find Mr Chow standing right next to you?
- How do you say "take a picture it lasts longer" in multiple languages, at once ?
- Who would win between a motorbike and a tuk tuk?

As any Thai local would most likely tell you - "it's Thailand, you can get whatever you want." I am starting to understand this saying a little bit more every day now... Money doesn't grow on tree's but it most definitely blossoms !!!!!

Deep down inside I do honestly have a growing fear of what will happen to my (now) expansive diet when i return home. Specifically, who'se going to make me a spicy Tom Yum for lunch everyday? Seriously? These are real world problems and ones that I am gravely concerned about. Somehow Toowong foodcourt isn't quite going to cut it ...................  (Cooking class time!!)

On that note however, I have a holiday in 2 weeks time back HOME ! Exciting....I will be back home for almost 2 weeks and will hopefully get to see all those dear to me (and maybe even those not so dear, ha!). But then my friends, I am returning to my home-away-from-home, Bangers!

For now though - that is all the information you need in one post. Pictures below will help wet your appetite, but aside from that, catch you around soon na' :)

Take care x

Ticccck

Ahhh! Wow. I most definitely need to sleep for the next month..

In the past week and a bit I've ticked off:

- flew to Hong kong to meet hilda and watch the rugby 7s
- toured hong kong in the rain, by boat and bus
- flew home to bkk
- worked 3 full days
- dinner with Hildas friend
- watched divergent
- shopped
- haircut
- booked a spontaneous trip to chiang mai
- flew to chiang mai hours after booking said adventure
- walked for 3 hours straight around chiang mai
- visited temples
- went to tiger kingdom and played with lion cubs
- shopped at crazy night markets and batered like crazy
- had a 1.5 oil massage in a health spa
- went on a 29km bicycle tour through countryside chiang mai
- flew back to bkk
- used thai as much as possible, bluffing my way through a full conversation
- went out for a drink and a dance..
- shopped some more
- walked a lot more
- laughed so much my body hurt
- appreciated life !

I can't upload all the pictures, but all I can honestly say is that every day I now find myself appreciating life and looking towards a bright bright future.

Khob khun na krub :) xx