The end is near...it is here...

Exciting week these last week... I went to Hua Hin for the long weekend with my friend Alison..it was fun. Fir the one last time to the beach experience here in Thailand..in DECEMBER!!!! We were havinbg a lot of fun and it is aöways good to travel with someone whpo can speak a bit Thai.. We went to the monkey temple in Prachuab KiriKhan and then we go to Hua Hin which was pretty turistic. We chose our Hostel on internet the day before..it was a bit out of HuaHin centre but pretty nice... and we were very lucky because one of the employees offered us his tickets with a value of one thousand baht to go to a special HuaHin night concert organized every year...with free buffet dinner and concerts, the main act being THE saxophonist with a veryy talented singer (woman) (both Thai) and pretty famous. Yes... so look at the pictures and see for yourself...

By the way, Im enjoying my last few days here and I dont think there will be much more to tell...except the singing contest in which I took part in the Hotel and on Tuesday Im invited to the 'president' or responible person from the ambassy of Luxembourg in Thailand...after that on Wednesday, I will join the staf party from Sofitel and say goodbye to everybody the day after is my flight ... so hope toi see u soon...

The Perrier VIP Party

Last week Nicolas and I got invited to the Perrier Party here in Bangkok for a new promotion. The dress code was , (how else) amazing green!! It is not so easy to find nice green clothes...finally we gave in and bought something...
I was a bit disappointed by this 'soirée' because the music was very loud and not that many people and a lot of Models that were photographed the whole evenings... Fortunately the food (buffet) and the drinks (red and white wine) were for free the whole night... It became a sort of game for us to catch the next waiter with his 'plate' with wines...
All in all it was very nice and we got a little drunk...but it was funny...
Oh and of course I find many Christmas trees here..which is pretty funny because you are melting already because of the hot weather and I still cant believe its winter?? That will be a shock in 2 weeks...ahhhhh only 2 weeks? I must admit my feelings are very mixed..of course Im still happy to go home see everybody..but I feel that I leave an important part of my life behind...even if it is only for now...
But then end is neaaar...
I am lucky my brother took my tickets for back later...so I will finish my work on next Friday and then I have one more week to enjoy life here...
Next weekend I will go to Hua Hin (beach) with my Scottish friend (long weekend) and then later that week we will have the staff party...with song contest (and of couuurse I will sing..what do you think??) and I got a very nice invitation from .......tadaaaa: the Luxembourgish ambassy here in Bangkok...the person in charge calls all Luxembourgish people together to a Buffet-Dinner in his place and we can even bring one person...of course I accepted..I want to see how many Luxemb. people are actually living here...
Okay thats it...enjoy the pics..

My fiftiest post, about exciting Weeeekend!

I have to admit that I had a very nice Weekend, starting 2 days after the Wedding ...so I didnt work that much...this week..
Friday nice I met with my french neighbour who is leaving just in front of my appartment and we went to a special night in V9 (famous bar in my hotel, Sofitel) dj leomeo visiting from l'étoile disco in Paris. The first cocktail (big red one was a gift from the barman (best barman in Thailand) but was actually a mocktail (no alcool, but amazingly good mmhhhh) the second one was offered from the boss of my neighbour, this time alcoolic...after followed a glas of white wine for each (free of charge again) and finally I asked another cocktail from my favourite barman ^^
After being in a good mood we left the ar because we wanted to go to the Khao Sarn road. Already on the taxi to there, I felt a bit drunk...but it was immediatly better after being in the fresh air of the Khao Sarn... I showed my neighbour around since he didnt see this road yet...a lot of falang a lot of shops, bars and drunken people...then we went to my favourite place, of course; the Hippie bar..and what a nice surprise they celebrated their 7th birthday and a quite famous Thai ska reggae band played the whole night! All in all we had a very nice night in two very different places!!
Next morning we went to Chatuchak market and my neighbour (and me part of it) bought a cat!!!! SOOOOO CUUUUTEEEE!!! It is supposed to be a Korat (thai cat) but we think (since everything i Thailand is faked) its actually a fake one. Nontheless its a very nice cat and it is sleeping on my lap as I write! Te best part, we called the cat Yoda after the little creature in Star Wars because sometimes it looks very similar ^^ in a good way...
Saturday night, Loey Kratong (a big festival) took place here in Bangkok and other different places in Thailand. itis a festival to thank and say sorry to the water. They make little ships with candles in it and put it on the river, lakes and even swimming pools. Of course I think its a big paradox, because say thank you by poulluting the water even more (in some way) is not a good way...well however...we almost missed everthing, and saw only a bit of the fireworks...but there were a lot of people and it feeled the same as at home...
My Sunday I used it to go to the fitness and supermarket (to buy catfood) and relaxed the whole day...Thats about it...I would put more pictures but I cant ^^

Ancient city near Bangkok!

Here just some pictures about kmy last weekend here...it is a very nice park build in the form of thailand and showing all big attractions and temples are displayed in miniature. By the way it is a very nice alternative to the quite dusty and polluted Bangkok city centre.

Sorry I have problems uploading my pictures...propably something with the connexion...I will try tomorrow again...

Thai Japanese Wedding

This 20th of November I was inbvited to this traditional Thai weddinf between a Thai woman and a Japanese man. I have to say, in some oints very different from the weddings I experienced before, nontheless the basics were still the same. Except for the monks singing, that u sit on your knees wit the hands folded. That there is a whole ceremony for the groom to propose money and gold to the family of the woman before he can enter the house. The traditional thai music and dancing was fun. After that you pour water over the hands of groom and bride to be and you also give them a little cord to wish them luck for ther marriage. The nice part was the enormous cultural clash of Japan and Thailand (and me falang) Well I was almost adapted to thai culture, but to see the Japanese gave me even a better understanding of the differences, eventhough Japan is not that far away. For example, in Thai culture you shouldnt wear black or white with black to a wedding because these colours are used for funeral. As you can see one of the Japanese girls had a black and white Kimono on. Fortunately, the Thai people didnt feel offended. After the ceremony, Ooy and me had to try the Kimonos on...its quite hot i there and we couldnt breathe properly, but nice to try. After that we went to theresort which was so nice. We went swimming with the kids...they dont really learn swimmning here...but it was fun...after that we had a little barbecue and party, All in all it was very nice but was so tired since I was up from 4 oclock in the ,moring until late at night!
Well so far for the wedding...but I have more news!! ...

News...

This weekend was pretty uninteresting... I spent my Friday evening with some friends from work, including Ooy, Boum, Ant and Chalee. We went to that so-called Japanese restaurant where you also have boiling soup where you cook your food in, in the midle of the table. The plates with what you want turn around you on a little I dont know how to explain...like a trail that turns and you can take sushis or meat and vegetables from it. We ate sooo much!! You can see on the pictures the numbers of plate we have with Chalee on the picture. ^^ It was not him who ate all of them..so that was quite nice... Then I met Oad and went home. Saturday I re-discovered Sukhumvit area and I also discovered a really nice place in one of the Sois (streets) its called Crepes&Co and its totally like in the Junbgle but since it is recommended in many Toursit guides a lot of people find their way through! ^^ My crepe was pretty good and they also have Maroccan specialties and I think I will go back shortly to try the Tajine and Couscous...
I think I can ask my new found friend..he is Management trainee in the Hotel as well, french BUT (haha) very nice, he comes from Biaaritz and hates Parisians so he was directly sympathetic ^^
Unfortunately we have totally different times for working (not totally but I have the weekend off and he has off thursday and wednesday). However I think I found a nice person and since he is living next door(opposite), I think we will see each other a lot ^^
Today I just relaxed in bed and went out to read in my favourite Starbucks shop ohh by the way I found this KFC sign so charming drive thruuuuu^^
Amnd then I came back and Nicolas (my neighbour) should me his drug: a video game he plays alll the time which is really funny ^^ (called Worms)
Then we went out to eat and came back...voilaaa that was my weekend...and tomorrow it will be baackt oo wooork again ^^ buhuuu
Thats life ^^
Keep your heads up I hope you had a nice weekend!!

My parents in Bangkok!!!

Text will soon be added...

okay okay... and who is anonymous?? However, my parents came to seem me last week and it was pretty nice to see Bangkok as a tourist again even if only for 2 days (because I had to work) But I think I could make them feel at ease here and show them perhaps a bit mor then the average tourist will see in one week (which is short for a city like bangkok) According to their remarks I think that they liked it very much and I didnt have any other comment until now (between all my different visitors) I really want to show this city to everybody because eventhough its pollution, the hot weather and sometimes the annoying taxidrivers (my parents now know what I am talking about) this city has a lot to offer, palaces, culture, food and at last (but REALLY not at least) the people! The people you meet here daily and the ones I know from work are just darlings...I am going to miss them a lot when Im gone and I really want to come back here as soon as possible (saying that while still being here haha)
Of course I know that there are a lot of difficulties and the language (communication between falang and thai) is only one of them! Okay but Im not here to tell you this, I want you all to come here so you experience it ^^ one month to go if you want to stay for free!! ^^
Back to my parents, i finally managed to see the khlongs which are the small riverstreets on the other side of the river of bangkok which was pretty nice to see...you cant see any skyscratcher and you feel miles away from bangkok when it is just around the corner... we were lucky with the weather as well and I have to say that it is even better know..it is winter and you see the people with long sleeves ...but actually it is still hot with a little bit of wind (lets say a hot day in Europe would be the same) Okay however, I showed them chatuchak market as well and I think that was a bit of a shock ^^ because it is just so different from everything we know...I remember my first time there..wow...
the other day we just went to the shopping malls (air conditioned) shop a bit and relax...eat ice cream...the other days I left my parents on their own and I think they managed more or less well...they went a lot by foot ^^ but normally in bangkok you get quickly used to taking a taxi or a tuktuk because everything is just so faaar away! well and then unortunately for my parents they had some problems with the airlines; to come here they almsot lost 2 of their 2 luggages and got one back immeditaly but the pther one got send to them on the next day...as for the return to London/Luxembourg, the plane didnt start so they had to fix it and my parents had to stay in abngkok for one more night and happily got one flight back to london where there was only one flight left to go to geneva, where they suddenly got back with luxair to luxembourg.

I hope my flight back will be okay...especially because I haaate flying.
Okay that was my report with delay..sorry for that...whoever my fan was ^^
marie

Much to tell, but no time...^^

Okay finally here I am again to tell a bit about my life here in Thailand. For the moment I just enjoy my time here and work late everyday, go out with friends etc...
So in short, I am fine eventhough of course...I still miss my home my friends and family...luckily my parents come to visit this WE!! I think its going to be very nice...and I hope they enjoy Thailand as much as I do and that I can give them a better insight then most tourists get here...
So since my last blog I was going out with friends to my favourite Saxophone bar...I even made it to the famous RCA!! Eventually!! I finally drove on a Scooter, not on the road, dont worry...too confusing to drive on the left side! I joined in a sort of indian Hinu festival to praise one of their goddesses...which was a bit strange...a lot of people dancing with their tongue out of their mouth and doing strange noises...a lot of music to and a big parade where the people through coconuts against the road, (wich after my boss explained to me, was done to clear the road for the goddess to pass, because water was not clean enough) which I found (personnally) a big waste of food and drink!! AND I alos went fishing again and this time we caught a big fish!! Its funny but after a while it gets a bit boring...because the fish dont always bite..!! Enjoy my pictures!!^^

Actionfilled Weekend...

Yeah wow loong WEEKEND this weekend...Fridaynight I met in my friends house the people he is living with: the man thai and the woman japanese...I think their girl is the most cutest baby ever!! So i just had to take a picture and post it here... She is very nice and fuuuuulll of energy!
Then we went to the Vegitarian Festival (for one week) in Chinatown..and for one day I didnt eat meat or fish or anythng from animals..its very annoying ^^ but I did it!
(So proud) then I left with Ooy and her boyfriend to go home to leave early the next morning to see her parent who leave outside Bangkok (3 hours driving) in a province called Chai Nat (said China) Very nice we cooked thai Fishcakes, Som Tam and Stcky Rice...we ate a lot all the time..and I still dont know how Thai people stay so thin!!! It was good fun and after eating we wentz to the park to see butterflies and flowers and to take a look at their Crocodile farm and their aquarium...it was very nice and relaxing. I saw a lot and as always I experienced a lot of different and interesting things! Her family was very nice...but unfortunately they didnt speak a lot of English so the communication was a bit restricted and I saw a lot of THAI movies and series ^^
All ind all it was anpother very rich experience and Im home , exhausted because of the medecine that I take against the many Moskitoes that bit me again!!
okay so looong... Kisses

Panic at the Hotel!

Yesterday we had a firealarm training planned at the Hotel for 4 o'clock! 10 minutes past 4 it started ringing and all employees hurried down the firealarm stairs from 11th floor to ground floor. We did it many times and its always funny...however this time was a bit different. While my friend Ooy and me were waiting for allt he other employees to get back up with the elevator we were talking until there were almost no people left anymore. We waited in front of the 3 levators and startewd betting on which one would be the first to open. Ooy was sure to take the left one and I honestly didnt care because it meant that for thr time waiting we could talk and didnt have to be that serieous than in the office...
Finally the elevator on the very left opened and about 6 or 7 people entered. There was still space and we laughed and said that we shouldnt have eaten too much else the elevator would not get us up. Suddenly when we arrived at the 1rst floor the lift stopped abruptly and fell about one meter down. SHOCK!! My friend and me were shrieking because of this suddenly pretty serious situation. The thing was that the lift didnt dtop then but continued falling a little bit every time. i couldnt stop thinking that we were almost on the floor so even if we would fall down that nothing very bad could happen (fortunately)..
This situation went on about 2 min before we heard some people coming for help. Fortunatly people were making fun of the situation now and I have to say that everybody stayed pretty calm. Because of the continuous little up and falling sensation we startted making fun of it, because we felt safe again. As a joke I now took out my phone and said loudely thatr I will have to call my parents to say good bye.. Everybody laughed and 1 minute later we were saved by the security man of the Hotel. After the first shock it turned out pretty funny...but it also gets to remind you that life can be very short and that u should take advantage of any minute ur healthy and breathing!!
Okay so on, carpe diem!!
Mali

Fishing, Relaxing...

Last weekend I went fishing on Sunday with a friend I met through my scottish friend from the fitness. It was my first time fishing and I must say it surely is a relaxing Sport. We went for one day, its a place in Bangkok where they have a big swimming pool like they cal it, with very big fish. You basically have to pay for entry and for the fish food and then you try to catch the fish that can be up to 1 meter.
We went for one day and we got to fish ONE!! It was really funny though... it was my Thai relaxing day! Eating, talking listening to music and fishing one fish...
It was a very nice place which is open 24 hours, and they sell you Bungalows to stay over night etc. I never saw anything like it and as you can see my moral and my state of mind are slowly healing from the lack of social lif here in Thailand.
I put some pictures and I'll try to put a movie from a fish on google video or utube for the ones interested in seeing a huuge fish. Oh by the way, once you fished one of the fish you quickly make some pictures and then you'll put it back again...I think its a great idea...people making money out of this...we should build something like that in Europe if it doesnt exist yet...mhhh.. any ideas? Should I get rich with this idea?? I dont think so, waht do you think??

Finally going out...meeting people...

2 days since my last post...when I was a little down..BUT I think Im on the right track again..I went out Thiursday and Friday and had a lot of fun..
Thursday I met my scottish friend, who is going to leave for Scotland with her Thai boyfriend for 3 weeks! So we went to Khao Sarn Rd and there are some very nice spots if you know where..so we went to massage, eat and then met her boyfriend plus friends and went drinking, since it will be there last day in town...
I was having a lot of fun and one of the friends (though being Thai) spoke very well English AND even French!! He is a cook and he was actually looking for a position in my Hotel and had an interview the same day! Would be nice if he will come to the Hotel...at elast a person t talk to...and thai
He asked me to go fishing one of these days so that was a very nice evening and Im slowly getting it together again..
Yesterday went out with some guys with the Hotel..it was nice as well...but they are very odd...I think it wasnt a good idea to go with them because only guys and 1 falang girl...wel you can imagine for yourself..finally at 4 oclock I was able to convince them to send me home with the taxi...
Here some pics...

What comes up must come down and down..and down..

So like written in the title, getting used to the nice company and actually talking with people all the time, sightseeing etc got me very 'high' this last week... The problem is now that they are gone again, I can not help but feel alone and somehow sad...I miss my family and friends...and I can not wait for my turn to go home again.
I think this is normal though and that I will get used to the 'loneliness' again. And its not that I am totally lonely...its jsut that I dont really have one person I can call or meet and tell this person everything, my state of mind..that is why in some strnge kind of way, this blog has become this 'friend'. I think already by only writing these things..that I will instantly feel better...
Not even 3 months to go and I have my parents visiting me at the end of October to which I can look forward to as well... so its not all bad ^^ and eventhough I feel a little down these times I think Im very lucky to be here to live a life for 6 months that a lot of people will never know. Afterall it is normal to feel homesick from time to time...no? If my readers want to cheer me up with something..please feel free to write a comment or to send a link or something ^^
Okay ... the pictures I will put will show u a lot of dishes we ate ... just to give u an ides...and after all food always cheers us up no? ^^ ...