UK Diary: Day 5 July 28, 2006
Posted by Martin in : travel , add a commentWe had a day in Southport today. It was great to catch up with Andy Hui who just happened to be back for the weekend. Although I like Southport there was very little to do that we didn’t do 12 months earlier so we met Lisa and hers friend Crista and Lee in the Carlton bar and after a few drinks had our annual game of mini-golf a few beers in the local bars before returning home for another BBQ meal.
UK Diary: Day 4 July 27, 2006
Posted by Martin in : travel , add a commentMum, Lisa, Tik and I took the dogs for a long walk around the Lydiate Loop today. We were still experiencing a heatwave so we had a good opportunity to enjoy a nice picnic. The dogs got to swim in the canal.
UK Diary: Day 3 July 26, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Thailand , add a commentWe had a lazy day today as we had little we really need to get done. Lisa drove us to visit grandpa whom I’ve not seen for 12 months. As ever her was delighted to see us and alive with conversation.
Tik, Lisa and I got quite excited today to discover a huge collection of childhood photographs, which I began trying to scan for my site. It’s a bit of a shame that each family has their own photos that are rarely shared with the rest of the family. By having our pictures online It’ll be nice for Grandma and my cousins to share the memories.
You can view these old photos hereÂ
UK Diary: Day 2 July 25, 2006
Posted by Martin in : travel , add a commentMum only had a limited time off work so today we visited Old Rufford Hall. Unfortunately as I arrived I realized that my camera battery had died so we had no opportunity to take any photos. We stopped there for lunch and returned home mid-afternoon.
That evening we walked the dogs on the beach. There seems to be no sea here any more! Southport has seen so little sea that much of the sand dunes have actually become covered in grass. A walk on the beach in some areas is nearly identical to a walk in a field. A little sad to see Southport suffer like this although dad is adamant that the sea does come to visit the grassy shores when we are all sleeping.
At the time when Mum was explaining to me that she was happy with the way Bonnie and Tilly behave and how puppies are too difficult to handle both dogs ran straight for an oil slick and got themselves covered in oil.
UK Diary: Day 1 July 24, 2006
Posted by Martin in : travel , add a commentOur United Emirates flight was as comfortable as our Singapore Airlines flight last year. We’d arrived three hours early at the airport and were offered the chance to take a flight earlier by one hour. Logistically it gave us 1 hour less to wait in Bangkok and 1 hour more waiting in Dubai for our connecting flight.
Tik an I mainly slept, I watched the occasional episode of Friends, The Office and some reasonable documentaries.
In Dubai we experienced perhaps the most expensive coffees ever as we waited for our connection. We had twenty minutes to vent our frustration at how crappy the duty free offerings were and left for Manchester on time.
We arrived around three pm Dad was there to meet us and to take us both back to Southport – our home for three weeks.
The dogs and mum were still home and Lisa worked until the following day. The UK was experiencing a heatwave so for our first evening on UK soil we had salad and a much-missed BBQ dinner.
Time to Say Goodbye July 23, 2006
Posted by Martin in : travel , 1 comment so farAfter a nice evening out with friends and a mad shopping spree to get gifts it’s about time I turn this computer off and get ready for our flight.
We’ll be back in a month when I’ll have a new telephone number.
Anybody needing to contact me in the UK can get in touch with me via SMS to Tik’s cellhone, via email, Skype or on my my parent’s house number.
See you soon.
Martin
Papaya (yum), Pineapple (yum) and Raw Potatos (?) July 23, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Thailand , add a comment
Above you can see exactly what was presented to A and I this evening to eat. Tik prepared us a plate of foods yet saw nothing strange in the fact that raw potatoes were served as part of our fruit platter.
“Yes, but they are sweet potatoes” she tells me, assuming this will explain the rationalte. A begins to eat the platter without any concern for how weird it is.
Thais seem to believe that when we label a vegetable as a ’sweet’ something it is perfectly acceptable to serve it as a dessert. This explains why sweetcorn can also be found in jelly, ice-creams and cakes here. It doesn’t yet explain why we can also find pork inside cakes or why Thais think ice-cream and white bread complement each other well as a sandwich but who’s to say they are wrong.
In Taiwan Tik and I were amused to see that tomatos there are treated as a dessert food too and they are available on top of ice creams and shaved ice products.
I’m REALLY looking forward to returning to Europe tomorrow where my taste-buds and culinary logic are better aligned.
A Great Website for Professional Eaters July 21, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Creative / Humour, Websites , add a commentI found this website today and was so impressed with the style it was written in that I decided to mention it here.
This very humorous website detailing all the hideous foods Steve (the blogger) is about to eat.
Not only that but the writer has many more articles which I’m really excited to tell you about ..
Visit the main website here to see similar articles this great man has written.
More Engagement Photos Added July 21, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Family, Thailand , add a commentWe’ve added all of our engagement pictures online now.
I’ve jiggled a lot of the photos around now so that they are labelled and they have been moved to a different part of the photo album.
You can see all the pictures here
Tik Aces her IELTS Practice Test July 21, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Education , add a commentWe all know how clever Tik is but as her fiance I’m allowed to brag about it.
Tik took a mock IELTS test about a month ago. IELTS is an internationally recognized English qualification which Tik will need when we apply to emigrate to Australia. This was a free test to give her an idea what she should expect. She got her results yesterday and came top out of every student in her listening exam and came second in her reading exam.
Her real test is tomorrow where she will also be assessed on her speaking skills (no problem there) and her writing skills. Tik completed a 1-month writing class in June so I’m certain she’ll do great. Results will be back early in August.
Returning to Europe: July-August July 21, 2006
Posted by Martin in : travel , add a commentTik and I will be back in Southport this coming Monday.
Things have gone extremely fast since last week and plans are very flaky right now. What’s certain is that we will arrive monday 24th July and we will be staying between Southport with my dogs, and family, and in London with Grandma.
We leave the UK on August 11th to fly to Milan where we will be enjoying a family re-union (12 people!) for a week. Tik and I will have a few days to peek about in Italy and we will fly out from Milan back to Bangkok about the 25th August. Tik begins a new job on the 1st September.
Most likely we won’t be doing too much except for walking the dogs so it’ll be great to catch up with everybody. We aren’t going to try to fit everybody in to a tiny window of time like we did last year but if we can It’d be great to see everybody again.
Hope to see you soon,
Martin & Tik
Back to Khon Kaen July 17, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Thailand , add a commentWe just had a very brief visit to Khon Kaen this week to leave Tik’s car with the family whilst we are in Europe.
Although we did little more than go out for dinner with the family I am enjoying my time with Tik’s sisters and parents more and more. I think that in being more relaxed my Thai skills come out easier and it was fun spending time with everybody again.
A Weekend in Chantaburi July 2, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Thailand , add a comment
Despite studying gemology for three months I’d not yet had the opportunity to go to Thailand’s most famous gem trading spot in the south of Thailand. Tik drove myself Paul, Pascal and Pascal’s girlfriend Anne there on Saturday.
We spent the night in a cosy hotel next to the river and were located in walking distance from the market centre. Walter, a gemologist at AIGS and his partner joined us in the evening and we went to ‘The half-moon bar’. We had a lot of whisky and were pretty dehydrated by the end of the night.
The following morning we accompanied Paul and Pascal to the gems market. I was suprised by how unlike a market it actually was. The day began with a heavy downpour which must have discouraged a lot of traders. There were no stalls but numerous people walking around, flasing gems from their pockets. Paul settled himself a a traders table, merely a table which attracts gem sellers like a shit does to flies. Immediately Paul was surrounded by Thai dealers, each shoving stones onto his table. It seemed a real hassle and Pascal pointed out a few stones which were obviously fakes. Perhaps unsuprisingly when a Thai sat down on the adjacent tables he was generally left in peace.
We returned Sunday afternoon, stopping for dinner in Pattaya.
