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Awesome Asian adventures!

Hello everyone how is your week going? 
All is good here in Thailand and I am thankful for it.
Happy Friendship Friday!

. Our newspapers announced that winter had officially started.
Not so you'd officially know it, but thinking about it, I've been less of a sweaty mess!
And last weekend I had to jump in the pool quickly as it was quite chilly.


We've not long been back from Japan where we had an amazing holiday.
We got caught up in Typhoon Hagibis
which caused widespread devastation and loss of life across Japan.
Here's my tribute to the staff at the Imperial, Tokyo,
we are grateful for their care and attention during Japan's worse storm in living memory: 

Imperial Hotel, Tokyo

We had been in Japan to watch the World Cup Rugby.
Our match England v France was cancelled because of the storm
However, by Sunday, everything was calm and beautiful in Tokyo.
Imperial Palace gardens and surrounds, Tokyo

We really enjoyed our wander around the city and even found a rugby shine. 
Here fans were encouraged to go and pray that their team won. 

Our English friends did that earlier in the week, so we thought we had it covered. 
Of course, we said to them later they said the wrong prayer. ..

They should have prayed that England played their match. 
A loss to France would have been better than coming all that way and not to see them play at all!

World Cup Rugby Shrine, Tokyo

All eyes were on the news to see whether the Sunday matches would be able to be played
and in particular the Japan v Scotland match.

That evening we wandered out to the bars and restaurants in Ginza
to find that every restaurant with a TV screen was fully booked.

We were just about to dejectedly traipse back to our hotel room
when a Japanese family invited us to squeeze onto their table.

It was an exciting match and when Japan won, we all hugged as if we'd known each other forever.
They told us we were their good luck and insisted on buying our dinner
Wasn't that amazing?

A lot has been said about how this World Cup Rugby tournament as a test for
 the upcoming 2020 Olympic games.
I'm excited for Japan 2020, it all points to a wonderful Olympics.

Back in Thailand now we had the pleasure of being invited to the British Club, Bangkok
for the next match of interest England v Australia.
That was always going to be a win-win for me having both passports!

British Club, Bangkok
It's been a busy week for me as the Tourism Authority of Thailand, free guidebook
Me, Myself & Thailand for solo female travel in Thailand has been published.

I had previously been invited to join a product testing trip for Nan Province,
one of the destinations featured and I have been excited to finally write about this.
Also a subsequent solo travel trip, I undertook with the Ban Laem Community of Suphanburi.
You can read more about it here and in my upcoming posts.

Photo credit: Richard Barrow

Other than this I was happy to spend a lovely afternoon
watching a full dress rehearsal for the upcoming Royal Barge Procession.
This is the final event of the Coronation of King Rama X to be held on December 12.


There will be over 2000 oarsmen and over 50 barges.
I had expected the barges to be simply stunning in their elegance and beauty but it was the intensity of the rhythmic barge rowing songs that will stay with me forever.
You can view my video of this event and listen in on my Instagram page here

Happy wanderings!

Thank you to Angie at Mosaic Monday and Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday
Linking with Our World Tuesday thanks to Lady Fi and all the hosts.


Comments

eileeninmd said…
Hello,

You sounds very busy, going from place to place. I enjoy following virtually, your photos are beautiful. Great post. Enjoy your day!
That pool shot is awesome! Nice to get a few glimpses of Thailand.
Goodness! 2000 oarsmen and over 50 barges! That is going to be special …

All the best Jan
magiceye said…
Oh wow! You sure are haveing a great time! Was wonderful reading your post.
Sounds like you have been having a wonderful few weeks. I am so glad you managed to stay safe in the typhoon. Our friends are i Japan at the moment. They were on the west coast when the typhoon hit and were safe. We also had 2 other lots of friends in Japan, but who had flights home just before. Happy travels. I've just been over to your instagram page to see the video. Awesome.
Crimson Kettle said…
You always seem to be in the right place at the right time to bring us some wonderful photos, shame about the match but it looks like you had a better time without it. x
Cynthia said…
What a beautiful swimming pool. I love the natural wood around the edge. Too bad you missed the game you came for, but you were safe had a lovely adventure anyway. 2000 oarsmen! Wow.
Jeanie said…
I always love the colorful magic in your posts and how you grab life and go for it! Kudos to the Imperial. (I have a fond memory of Rick and me enjoying the bar for rather awhile during our visit too long ago). Glad you were safe.
Janice said…
What a life you live and embrace! namaste, janice
I am glad you were not in harms way during that storm and interested to hear how well the hotel handled the emergency. My sister and .bIL flew to Japan last week, having (they hope) missed the terrible weather. I enjoyed this virtual tour !
So relieved to know that you survived the storm unscathed. Those barges have to be an incredible sight to see...and who knew there would be such a thing as a shrine to world cup rugby in Japan.
Michelle said…
Glad to know you made it through that storm. Looks like you enjoyed your time in Japan. What a beautiful place! You have captured it well with your photos. Thank you for linking up!
Thanks so much for your very kind words!! Joe had to go into the Living Room to read the newspaper ont he ottoman!! Oh Well!!
Hugs,
Debbie
Polly said…
Glad you had a good time and survived the storm :-)
Linda said…
The sculptures are interesting. It was nice of those people to share their table!
Angie said…
Wren - given that we are fully into Winter in Montana, it's a wonderful thing to see a pool - it does look inviting. What a blessing to have seen a rehearsal for the Royal Barge Procession - that might be a once-in-a-lifetime experience! It was nailbiting to be here in England watching the England versus New Zealand rugby match last weekend. I know just a smidge about rugby, but it was exciting all the same! Thanks for linking to Mosaic Monday!
ann said…
This was a nice armchair tour. Your photography is amazing; your life is interesting and colorful. I'm glad that you shared your adventures with us.
Minoru Saito said…
Hi! Thanks for coming to our country. I was one of the rugby bandwagon fans. I enjoyed the World Cup very much. I did not know that there was a rugby shrine in Tokyo. I checked the internet. The shrine was closed on 6th in November.
MICHAEL JAY said…
I saw a comment here a few weeks ago about Dr Akhere and i decided to contact him as instructed, thanks to this man for bringing joy to me as wished for. i followed instructions which he gave in other to get my lover back who left me and the kids for 3years now, but thanks to Dr Akhere because they are back to me now for good and we are happy together. please do contact him for help too if in relationship problem via email at: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com or call/WhatsApp:+2349057261346 . And testify for yourself.



























































I saw a comment here a few weeks ago about Dr Akhere and i decided to contact him as instructed, thanks to this man for bringing joy to me as wished for. i followed instructions which he gave in other to get my lover back who left me and the kids for 3years now, but thanks to Dr Akhere because they are back to me now for good and we are happy together. please do contact him for help too if in relationship problem via email at: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com or call/WhatsApp:+2349057261346 . And testify for yourself.

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