Little Wandering Wren …. chats!

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 mo

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 te