Happy New Year everyone!!
This is the first Christmas I have spent away from home and I must say it was very different and a little on the hot side!! I was planning to FaceTime my family who were gathered at the Swindon King household at 4pm but unfortunately at 11.00am the LCD screen on my iPhone produced various shades of black and purple colours with an added stripey effect. Even though I had it repaired two weeks ago I think the salt water showed no mercy!!
Anyway, I continued on with my lunch plans and at 1pm had a traditional Christmas lunch at the Gallery Cafe in Phuket town. It was a lovely menu but the portion sizes were very small.
I had salmon for starters followed by turkey with cordon bleu style veg and potatoes i.e One of each placed delicately on the plate followed by a very small slice of passion fruit cheesecake. For the first time in many years I could say I wasn't full after a Christmas lunch and I suppose it was not really a bad thing!!
After lunch I took the local blue and white bus to the modern shopping centre in Phuket called Central Festival. In Thailand, Christmas Day is not a public holiday and therefore everything was open as usual. The Thai people went to work and the kids went to school. It felt strange really!!
I went to the Apple repairman and he said he could put a second hand screen on for me which would cost six pounds and would take an hour. I agreed enthusiastically as I needed to FaceTime my family sat round the table at Eileen and Dave's house after a full and satisfying Christmas lunch at 4pm (11pm Thai time)
After wandering around the shops for an hour I went back and collected my phone and was happy to say the screen was working again. I caught the bus back and by now it was dinner time so I went to Wilai restaurant for a great dinner which was filling. It was then that I realised I had no sound from my phone and the camera had packed up. I just couldn't believe it and realised that I would not be able to FaceTime or even call my family after all. I was terribly disappointed to say the least and so were they. A few emails had to suffice.
I had a fairly early night after a very different Christmas Day!
Two days after Christmas I went on an organised trip called Flying Hanuman. It's basically zip wiring through the treetops!! The longest zip wire was 400m long and you couldn't see the end as it was so far away!! Unfortunately as I had no camera on my iPhone I could not take any photos of this fun day out. I joined up with a lady from the US called Stephanie and her two girls. It came about that she knew Winnersh Triangle as she had visited the English company she worked for - Jacobs! Extraordinarily small world I think.
Sometime between Christmas and New year I purchased a new iPhone. I had no other choice really. Apple products are slightly more expensive in Thailand so I had to pay 300 pounds to get the 4s model. Well at least now I have a phone that works and a working camera again.
New Years Eve I went to an evening show called Siam Niramet. It was extremely good and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I got back at 10.30pm and then caught a taxi to go to a party in the park with pop groups and fireworks at midnight. I had a great time!!
On the third January I took a trip with two people I met from the guest house. A lovely couple called Vilija and Donates. It was an exciting trip to the....immigration office!!
I had to get a visa extension for thirty days by the 18th Jan but seeing as they were going I thought I would go with them and also get it done early and get it out of the way!! We walked back and on the way we stopped at Phuket Center Apartments to have a look at the rooms. They were very big and nicely decorated and I decided I would rent one out from next week for a month as it would be a lot cheaper than Ming Shou. Shame as I love Ming Shou but it will save me half the money.
In the evening I went with them to the Indy night market. Maria (another friend I have made from the Guesthouse) could not come as she has injured her foot quite badly after falling over so just the three if us went. We had some freshly cooked street food which was very cheap and delicious.
Next day I had the start of a horrible cold......