33rd Anniversary, visas KL & Co.

Happy Anniversary

                                              Whilst writing this blog this morning we are waiting for the Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to open it's doors. Yesterday we arrived quite early to drop off the paper work there, but were still waiting (thankfully, in an air conditioned waiting room) by midday.
We are hoping that this time, all the paper work is correct and we will get a 90 day non-immigrant visa at least! 

It says it's 34 Celsius!!

Taxi drivers are a breed apart, all over the world, the guy who took us from the Embassy to the KL tower was a master piece! His favorite expression was: "Come on Buddy, give me a break!" the others are unrepeatable..... He wasn't Malayan, he was a Portuguese called Tommy and was keen to give the impression he was running a vast visa empire and that without him no one would ever get a visa to go anywhere! However he took us up to the entrance of the KL tower in surprisingly short time and for a good fare.
The lifts to the restaurant we had booked as an early celebration of our 33rd wedding anniversary were amazingly fast; they cover the 250 metres in a few seconds and you emerge blinking at the vast panorama of KL and is environs in no time.
We decided that as we are unlikely to get here again that a meal in the famous revolving restaurant would be my present and the ring you can see Joan sporting above, hers.
We had this ring made last week after seeing a display of jewellery at the "Meeting Room" restaurant in Chiang Mai. It is cast silver with gilded edges. I think it is probably made by "lost wax" casting; I intend to have a lengthy chat to the owner of the Meeting Room about it soon; we are going to see a new display of impressionistic paintings that looks promising.
We are staying at the hotel Mi Casa, (photo opposite)  it is so quiet that this morning we haven't moved from our room, (not even for breakfast!)
It is right on the main road into KL but peaceful none the less.
The road pictured is only a couple of hundred yards away but you can't hear it at all.
We have been pleasantly surprised by the difference between the attitude to tourists here from that we encountered in Penang. Also, there are some really modern and pleasant shopping Malls, not that we particularly want that, but it's easy to get good food, and not have to eat out every time.
The views from the revolving restaurant are truly spectacular and the food was very good; London prices, but given the unique situation, I'm surprised they were not even more.
There was a visiting party of Thai people who looked very smart and important, when our waiter discovered that we work in Thailand he was almost incoherent when trying not to give away that they were hosting Royalty! It may have been the Crown Prince but we wouldn't know if it was a distant cousin or something, because we are really only familiar with what the King and the Princess  look like; as their photos are everywhere you go in Thailand!
We are so glad for a couple of days break, this time. We have had such a lot going on, even though we have fewer guests at the Juniper Tree. With all the work on the computer systems,  building repairs, deep cleaning and new air-con units in the Office, it's been a bit too frenetic.
To add to the excitement last week, our Watchman came into the Office with the 2nd Cook to translate in a terrible state. His security scanner had vanished from the guard hut, whilst he was away. He was really upset and obviously in fear for his job. We could see why when Joan reported the theft to the Police; without any facts or questions they were adamant that the guard had stolen it and that they would come and arrest him right away! I think we will have to write this off to experience and chain the replacement scanner to his belt.
Further down you can see a picture of Joan's bag. (Nelson and Colne bag in wash after going moldy from the humidity!) This isn't an accidental shot, this time; this illustrates what happens if you put your bag down in the wrong place in a revolving room, it ends up next to the table behind you! You will know that heart stopping feeling you get when you think your wallet/purse/bag has gone, well it took us a while to realize what happened.......
We walked from the KL tower across the City towards the Petronas Towers, quite easy to navigate by most of the time, and visited the M&S in the Mall below it! We didn't buy anything, we are useless at shopping, but that's probably a good thing these days! If the Student Finance Company don't get their act together soon poor Emma will be a very angry Drama student, and quite rightly too. Last year they attached all our paper work to her sister's file and claimed they hadn't received it; now they seem to be doing something similar again. (I could rant about the rudeness and incompetence of the people who man the phones......)

Must finish now, visa's are calling, hope to visit a roof top, garden cafe nearby on the way back, but need an early start tomorrow; Mr Chin who picked us up at the airport is calling for us at 4.30 am!!

Night Safari by Day Light, and other Chiang Mai Happenstances.....

"For summer there, bear in mind, is a loitering gossip, that only begins to talk of leaving when September rises to go."-   George Washington Cable

I was going to quote a half remembered song lyric with a September reference but then realised two things: First, it's from a Neil Diamond song, and second, having read the whole song, after finding it through Google, it's a bit weird. THEN, I discovered that the only bit of a pop song that it's legal to post on a blog is the title!
I then thought of our approaching cool season and the G.C. Cable thing seemed apt, even if he was talking about the deep South(USA).

Juniper Tree Developments

The simple solution to a blocked drain was to cut the pipes above ground level and let the water from the basins, showers etc just soak away under the houses!

They now neatly join Somsak's new 150 metre drain (all hand dug and the heavy concrete sections hand placed!)

This tank is for our new house! Each little group of houses needs a tank and an electric pump, eventually it will be hidden behind a trellis and plants.

The drain goes off into the distance, I haven't yet looked what happens at the far end.........

House 21, we expect our first guests to stay here in January! Hope this isn't too optimistic!

Joan is surveying our patio, Our visitors and Church small group should be able to look out over the gardens as we meet!











The view towards "Home" from Dec/Jan

Events in Chiang Mai

In recent weeks we have had a number of events to go to in Chiang Mai. The first was a joint service for all the international Churches in the City. We took over a large conference room at the Lotus Hotel and about 1,000 people gathered on that Sunday afternoon. The Worship Band included people from all the Churches, but the speaker was a Thai National, who was a great preacher. He really challenged the International Churches to get more involved in the local community!

Pastor Steve is just greeting the lead singer of the band (wearing his Thai silk shirt of course!) before taking on the M.C. role.

Patrick got all the kids involved in his children's message wearing different team shirts, all about unity in diversity.

The next event was a visit to Chiang Mai by Nick Vujicic. He is a talented, inspirational speaker, who had the misfortune to be born with no limbs. Far from feeling cheated by his disadvantages, he is notable for his positive, life affirming attitudes, which are firmly rooted in his firmly held Christian faith. The event was proceeded by various Thai musicians performing, all popular young acts which drew in a vast crowd of local youth, along with those keen to hear Nicky's life story




This event was attended by 10,000 people and, in true Thai fashion, was calm and orderly as they arrived and later departed after the 5 hour production!

Khamsi and the disappearing terrace!

The damp conditions soon cause the wooden houses problems. This new terrace, outside house 11, was a bit overdue. If anyone had jumped too hard they might easily have ended up at ground level quicker than they hoped.....

Visa run to Myanmar

We needed to extend our visa (remember the Cambodia post). We drove our selves this time as the death drive with the tour company last time was far too stressful!

It was a beautiful day and a lovely change to drive up and down Thailand to the Burmese Border.

The sign opposite is for a restaurant along the main A1 road in Northern Thailand. Would you be tempted into a place called Cabbages and Condoms?  

On the return run we stopped at the hot springs. The water we have our feet in is nearly too hot to bear. The next pool is so hot a little lady sells boiled eggs that sit in little baskets in the well shaped pool.
It's very strange to have your feet in such hot water outdoors. 

The new "sump" for the marine tank.

Sadly, I've got either the design or the making wrong somewhere and it isn't doing what it's supposed to do yet. Story of my life.......

Visit to Lilly's shop

Lynn and I have the studied look of two seriously devoted gourmets (or just 2 hungry blokes!)

Lilly put on pork ribs, a pork noodle soup and then a fabulous Pad Pak Rome Gung Sod. This is a shrimp and fried vegetable dish that demands a return visit to make sure it really is as good as it seemed that night! 

Shelly and Lynn have been good enough to cover the Juniper Tree when we have been on our visa runs and also have given us a day off, thus enabling this blog to finally get written (sorry to those who have been gently nudging.)

Elliot and Jemima's Lobster Gift

When Elliot and Jemima visited the Channel Islands they found a new way to send a lobster through the post! I had an amusing hour with a craft knife and sellotape....It brought back fond memories of holidays there when the kids were young and some tastier, though shorter lived sea food experiences.

Baan Tawai

Joan is resting (Joan rejects the term) after a long expedition around a wood carving village called Baan Tawai. We were with Lynn and Shelly sharing our newly discovered gem of a place to shop for presents. (Not giving away any details)
All the artisans live and work in a village community and the shops number in their hundreds.

News from home

Richard and Andrea were in Berlin, recently, visiting family, this aquarium has the main hotel lift running right up through the middle! The balcony of the room looked out over an inside court yard with the tank in the middle, huge sea fish swimming around the people in the lift. A personal visit is essential in the future!

Favourite driver from Phom Phenn

I mentioned this happy chappy on a recent blog but lost the photo, so here he is!

If we ever went back we'd love to have him for a few days to do the full tour of Siem Reap.

Happy Birthday Pat!

One thing we miss is the round of celebrations with family and friends At David and Pats birthdays, our children have been left to convey our greeting and toast the day on our behalf. ( The list of other family and friends special days would be too long to list) but there has been at least one ninetieth birthday; congratulations to Dot Fletcher!!

                                   Chiang Mai Night Safari

On our long awaited afternoon off, we went to the night safari. This is an attraction many of our guests enjoy and some go during the day time! You can walk around the central lake and see all sorts, as the following pics show. We wanted to visit the Giraffe Cafe, where you get the giraffes leaning into the cafe to eat with you, however it was closed for lunch? At night you can feed the bigger animals and there is a tiger show, included; as you travel around on a bus, through the dark jungle setting. These photos speak for themselves:

Nice to renew acquaintance from the Galapagos!

Sheep are a rarity in Thailand!

and finally,

We revisited the "Meeting Room" cafe and art shop and after choosing an early anniversary present for Joan, we celebrated like this: