Breakfast in the sunshine and then a tuk
tuk into Patong to meet up with Grant, Corina, Charlotte and Jonathon. I shared the ride to Patong with three
Norwegians (no "nil points jokes please....) and in the usual conversations
about "where are you from " they said they knew I was English because
I looked it. I wonder why that is? Is it
the beautiful English rose complexion, the cheap Primark clothes or the fact
that I am never far from a why why - answers on a postcard please....
 |
| Xmas lunch |
Grant, Corina, Jonathon and Charlotte are
here on their S E Asia cruise on the posh Legend of the Seas. They were off on an elephant safari for the
morning and really enjoyed it, but were in need of food when we met up after
their early start. So into the
Jungceylon Centre for a great Thai lunch, followed by a trip to my shopping
stop place for another why why and free wifi.
We skyped Ken and Ann back in the UK but the wind here is so strong
today that it was hard to hear anything over it. Their ship is moored out in the bay, but the
wind is so bad that they couldn't use the usual tenders to get in and out...
All I can say is I'm glad I am not joining them on their trip to Phi Phi Island
tomorrow, it might be a rough ride...
Then off down the Bangla Road to see the "sights" with Grant
trying to spot who was a lady boy and who wasn't! And a lesson in why not to be
too soft when it comes to "street kids". A really cute tiny Thai child approached
Corina to buy a garland of flowers for £2. She is a bit of a softie, but
couldn't buy them as nothing like that is allowed back on the ship. The child turned on the tears stroking
Corina's arm. When she finally realised
it was no sale, the child hardened her eyes and she spat out "f**k off
then". Her English was better than
we gave her credit for!
But like Cinderellas they needed to get
back on board for dinner, as the ship keeps time at one hour ahead of
Thailand.
So now as you all struggle to
fit large turkeys into small ovens, I sit by the pool, enjoying the warm
evening and watching the palms bending over almost double in the wind. I got a text from them later to say they
managed, due to their VIP staus to jump the four hour queue to get back on
board due to the terrible conditions, they were soaked when they got back, and
no food available on the ship as a lot of the staff were stranded ashore! And their trip to Phi Phi tomorrow is
cancelled due to the weather.
 |
| Facetime to facetime,, Thailand to Wales |
So I have a Xmas evening spent with friends
too. The miracles of Facetime take me to
Gothic Villa to spend time with Ant, David and the Dyl. So clever is it that I felt I could actually
smell the turkey cooking and am still salivating over their taunting of me with
a good champagne and Ant's home made mince pies. Now a Pad Thai is all very well, but at this
moment, I think I would sell my soul for a good English Xmas lunch in a cosy
cottage in Wales with them. Then transported to Twickenham, to see Mum,
Christine, the Harvey's and Totes, whose new nickname I gather is Roy as in short
for royalty, that fits! Looks like a
good time was being had by all. But now
I regret the seven hour time difference as it would be lovely to settle down
now and watch Downton Abbey with the rest of the nation, but hopefully Slingbox
is still working and I can look forward to that on Boxing Day!
