Shopping Spree

Our last day in Bangkok and we are hitting the malls. We have allocated all day as there are an insane amount of malls here, each are several floors and I'm talking 6, 7, 8 floors each! We didn't visit them all (as we only allocated 1 day!) but we did go to Terminal 21, Siam Paragon/Discovery and MBK. Each was completely different to the other - even Daniel liked the shopping and that speaks volumes!

Lets start with MBK - 8 floors of fake goods! No joke. Each floor had different items on it so there was the souvenir floor, clothes, phones and other tech, bags, I could go on. We walked around pretty much every floor and got some bargain souvenirs. The phone/tech floor was a little concerning when you see several booths selling phone numbers - what if you saw your own phone number there! Luckily we didn't but I wouldn't be surprised if some of those numbers were already in use! We were here so long we had to stop for a coffee to refuel before moving on!

Next stop was Siam Paragon, one of the largest malls in Asia apparently. We didn't buy so much here but we did have the most awesome lunch at a Korean Fired Chicken restaurant - BonChon Chicken. Apparently it is coming over to London, I hope it does it was delicious.

Terminal 21 was different again, this was set out like an airport terminal when you walked in and then each floor took you to a different destination. From Rome to Paris, London to Tokyo, Istanbul to the USA with San Francisco and Hollywood. Each floor had over sized iconic landmarks of each location and quirky shops that kind of fit with the destination. It's a great idea, I love it!

Our shopping spree day was tiring but awesome!! 

For our final meal in Thailand we went to Cabbages and Condoms, a restaurant that I have been teaching about for years. The idea behind the restaurant is to promote safe sex to prevent the spread of disease and also try to control the population as it was growing at a fast rate. Each meal they hand out free condoms and the money raised goes into helping different causes. The restaurant is also decorated with condoms in very creative ways. I wanted to go and take photos to show the kids and see if I could pick up some information. It turned out to be great, the food was fab - as it has been everywhere we have eaten whilst being here - I collected lots of information leaflets and photos and they also had a shop and stall with items made from a village initiative so we did our bit and I bought a scarf!

 

On our way home we found an English pub! Since its our last night we stopped in to get back into the British way! The football was on, beers on tap, full of English people and a Sheffield beer trail poster on the wall! Just like home, lol. We've had a great time here, yet there were so many things we didn't have time to do. The people have been great, the food amazing and the sites unbelievable.

I would say Thailand definitely lives up to its name as the Land of Smiles!

Crafty crafts update!

Half term is the time to do some crafty crafts!

First up as it's getting cold - a draught excluder! I had some map fabric left over from some previous cushions so what better to use than the Antarctica section as it's cold there!

Looks good! Now need to make a matching one for the back door.

Next up - a development to my travel set! Already having made the change purse I found a great blog that showed you haw to make an eye mask - perfect for flying. Didn't turn out too bad!

The travel set is looking good - what could I add to it next?

Curtains Complete!

As we are now in our home and are redecorating I decided to try and make the curtains, for the guest room to start with just in case they weren't very good! They took ages, mainly as I triple checked everything I was doing and they are interlined with fleece as well as the lining material just for a little added insulation. But lo and behold they are finished!!! And actually they don't look too bad.

Decorating begins!!! Room 1 'Amelia's'

Now the plasterer has been and skimmed several ceilings we can begin decorating! Even though he was very clean and tidy plaster still get everywhere so after a mammoth clean decorating has begun in the 'Amelia' room. To be honest we need to get rid of her face! All holes have been filled (believe me they were quite a few) and all woodwork has now been sanded - skirting boards, door frame and windows. We are now ready to whitewash the ceiling and undercoat. It is going to take a few layers of paint to cover her face, mainly because it has been painted on in black and is massive!

Here is my photo log of the room transformation - doesn't look like much at the minute but it takes a while to prep the room ready for painting!

Say goodbye to that mural!!!

We've Moved!!!!

So after a little while of waiting we finally moved!!! We collected the keys (in a home made box saying our move in date made by the previous owners) on Friday as I had the day off work and was informed that they were running a little behind. I wasn't very well so we went home after collecting the keys, then returned late in the evening with a car load thinking that they would be gone...they weren't! Stuff everywhere. We weren't sure what to do so we unloaded the car into a spare corner and left a little bit of a shirty note!

The next day we received a text message apologising, saying that they had some family drama but they've cleared everywhere now except the garden and shed. OK, that's a little better, though still wondered what state the house would be in! So we went to collect the van, my car wouldn't start - grrr, straight to the garage it went next door for a new battery and off we went in Daniel's car to get the van.

Van collected, Claire and Tom turned up to help and we were on our way! It's surprising how much stuff you accumulate! After a long day of moving and a KFC we were in, boxed up everywhere and a few bits left at the old house to collect later but we were in!! Yay!

Our new home, hope it's a happy one!