Little Wandering Wren

It is a fascinating time to be in Bangkok. We are seeing the final funeral preparations for Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej who died aged 88, on October 13th, 2016. 

The world's longest-reigning monarch will have a spectacular final send-off which has been over a year in the making. His people will show their deep grief for a revered and unifying father figure of Thailand, who oversaw great stability within his 70-year reign, the odd coup aside!


You can't walk far without seeing a picture of the Late King, the build-up is immense. Last week the Government added two extra official days of mourning. It feels like the whole of Thailand is preparing for the five days of ceremony, which commences with the cremation on October 26th. 
There is some confusion over what impact this will have on our daily lives, but my long-term friends are heading out of town to the beach, expecting the huge numbers of visitors expected in the city to bring the city to even more gridlock than norma…

Hello, thanks for popping in! I had a quick dash back to Melbourne this week for our son’s 21st Birthday Party, giving me the opportunity to show you what’s up there!
Politics:
The upcoming people's vote on the same-sex marriage debate is big news.  When some idiot decked our former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, a prominent No campaigner and AFL house had a bomb hoax after changing their logo to a YES, the stories ran and ran.
You would have to be a keen news followers to have picked up that Donald Trump has declared war on North Korea (in their eyes) because all other news is about the sports!


Sports:
Australian Rules Football (AFL) dominates our Melbourne news. Yes, the only battle that gets a mention down here is this one on the footy field.
AFL is huge in our State of Victoria and this year our local chances lie with the Richmond Tigers a suburb about 10 mins drive away. Of course, they have to beat, the Adelaide Crows from South Australia, a team who has come so far after their coac…

There has been a feline frenzy at our park, where authorities have declared that the park's cute cats have crossed the line... 

What's up, I hear you ask?The Thai authorities have stepped in to curtail growing numbers of cats at Lumpini Park, Bangkok. Their solution was to round up as many cats as they could catch to spay and neuter them.

The Bangkok Post and The Nation newspapers have reported with sad photos of groggy moggies, sedated, all lined up ready to be taken away. 

Fair enough the locals cried, until news broke that the cats would not be returned.



Lumpini Park, Bangkok
Lumpini is our local park, one of the biggest in our crazy busy city. It is where people come to connect, either with each other or with their inner sporty spice. At times it is so crowded that it's hard to walk! 
It is one of the few areas in this urban jungle where you can be at one with nature. You can see why the cats would be happy to live here. People often post pictures of the Lumpini cats and lov…

Imagine if you'd just arrived on Planet Earth and given tickets to a pop concert of one of your new world's biggest stars?  You knew you were going to something special, but you didn't know the artist or understand anything he was singing about... 
How do you reckon you'd feel?
We felt like this going to Pongsit Kamphee's concert on Saturday night.
Who? I hear you say! 

We tried to do our homework on Pu Pongsit, as he is known but clearly whilst he may be mega big news in Thailand, there is little written about him in English.
We did discover that Pongsit is a much-loved folk rock icon who has been on the Thai music scene for 30 years. Thai people love his powerful storytelling. We could see he brings such passion to his lyrics which are on his thoughts about society, love, loss and life's struggles.

We were delighted to have been offered VIP tickets to his show at Bangkok's aptly named IMPACT Arena and were pretty much the only foreigners. Despite playing his so…

Krabi, Thailand one of those awesome Thai holiday destinations, known for its beautiful backdrop of limestone cliffs, island hopping, fire dancing and ticking off the 'Live the Dream' Bucket List ideas. 
Just look at this. It's not a bad backdrop backdrop for our first experience of Thai boxing is it? I'm not sure whether it is all the talk about James Bond, you can't escape the fact that the 'Man With A Golden Gun' was filmed out in this Andaman Bay, but all of a sudden we've signed up for a private Muay Thai lesson. I don't know where that inner Rambo came from!

It's no real surprise that this area is famous amongst film buffs.Leonardo DiCaprio's 'The Beach' is filmed out over there on the island of Koh Phi Phi and what impressed my husband most was the lobby scene from that dreadful The Hangover 2 movie was filmed in our hotel!
We booked a four-night Krabi break back in April when fresh-faced into Bangkok life we thought we might be …

Melbourne Australia voted the World's Most Liveable City, 2017  by The Economist for a record seventh time. 
I agree it is an awesome city to live. Here are ten reasons to love Melbourne with photos mostly taken from my recent trip, plus a few. You be the judge!
1. Cool Climate: After my humidity hair Bangkok life, I'm enjoying putting a coat on and walking in that cool, fresh non-polluted air... Ok, I was there in the middle of winter, but even in the heat of an Aussie summer, our weather changes. Melbourne is renown for four seasons in a day! It's never a relentless heat, nor the constant Sweaty Betty humidity. 

Although, I'm not sure the Crazy Poodle was that happy with his rain coat...!




2. Coffee Culture: Food is often the most missed thing when people travel, it is for me. I crave my favourite food, 'smashed avo' and look at this! No other country does coffee as well as Melbourne and not a Tim Tam biscuit in sight!


3. Super Sports: I LOVE  the way sport has beco…

I really admire people who have a passion, 
follow their dreams, and 
push themselves outside their comfort zone.


Take Helen Bronte Boyd. We first met when our kids were at the Australian International School, Hong Kong. Mum of three lively boys and fellow Bookclub lover, she has just had her opening night as Artist in Residence at Instinc Art Space, Singapore.
I daren't really try to compare notes. Whilst I have been flitting around the world, enjoying a myriad of countries and time zones, Helen has been solidly exploring her artist passions. She is now firmly out there as a creative entrepreneur with a flourishing Hong Kong art business.

I have reconnected with Helen recently as fellow Instagram lover through her HeART project, you can read the post here.
Fast forward ten years from my Hong Kong days, I caught up with Helen for a cuppa, to ask how the Dickens did you end up here in Singapore as an International Artist in Residence, just about to open your own exhibition?!


The answer w…