The Bub in the Belly

I forgot to mention that we were on TV last week!

For about 3 seconds.

We only found out when an old friend, David, texted Richard to tell him that he had seen us on TV that morning, eating at some place. We were so surprised - we wondered how we could have ended up on TV? Then, we realised! Remember we went to Chiangmai recently? Well, there we visited Huen Phen, a famous restaurant serving local fare. There was a Channel NewsAsia film crew (with Anasuya Sanyal) filming at the restaurant. We recognised Anasuya Sanyal but pretty much ignored her and her crew, we were definitely more interested in our lunch. Little did we know that they were surreptitiously taking footage of the three of us stuffing ourselves with the yummy food.

We looked up the programme - it was "Yours Truly Asia", a sort of travel/food programme about northern Thailand. We were on episode 2. Fortunately, the station scheduled repeat telecasts of the episode, so we managed to watch it subsequently.

They filmed the three of us sitting at the table, eating away, oblivious to our surroundings. Ryan was also eating happily, while sitting on my lap. According to the voiceover, the restaurant is a popular family restaurant in the area. So, apparently, they must have thought that we were locals.

Unfortunately, we forgot all about it after we watched it, so I also forgot to do a post to let you all know before episode 2 ran out (I thought they were still screening episode 2 this week, but I think they have moved on to episode 3). Sad to say, we didn't manage to record it, so maybe we'll try to buy a copy from the station.

So that was our three seconds of fame and Ryan's TV debut!

As mentioned in the previous post, we stayed on in Chiangmai after Richard's family left. I was feeling much better, having recovered from food poisoning, so we decided to go up Doi Suthep mountain to visit the temple there, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep. This is perhaps the most famous of all the temples in Chiangmai.

The chedi right at the top

There are lots of bells placed around the plaza, some donated by worshippers.

Although we came up by the tram, Ryan insisted on climbing down the 309 steps so Richard and I held his hand on each side and we all climbed down.

After Doi Suthep, we went to Wat Chedi Luang, which is in the city.

The impressive chedi which is closed to visitors - much of it has been destroyed.

After that, we went for lunch in the city where we also got a little bit of shopping done - picked up some items for our new home: some cushion covers, a vase, etc.  Then, we were all pretty tired so we went back to the hotel and refreshed ourselves with a swim in the hotel pool.  Ryan was so delighted and had tons of fun in the water. After that, it was time for a nap, and then it was out for dinner near the hotel. We called it an early night, taking the opportunity to enjoy the luxury of being able to rest and relax.

The next day, we went back out to the city for a good brunch and some last minute shopping. We took a tuk-tuk, Ryan seemed to enjoy it!

After that, it was back to the hotel, checked out at 2 pm, went for lunch and then it was off to the airport to catch our flight home. Ryan was a darling on the flight home, no problem at all.  Reached home about midnight.

Back in Singapore!

We enjoyed our four days in Chiangmai. The weather was agreeable, the people were nice and things were cheap. It was great to spend some time with the extended family too. 

As mentioned in the previous post, the family cobbled together a last minute getaway to Chiangmai last weekend. We originally wanted to leave on Friday but was impossible to find tickets at such short notice. After much effort (by Richard) but no success, we decided to fly on Saturday (instead of Friday) and managed to get a flight via Bangkok on Thai Airways. The rest of our group (Richard's parents, two sisters,  niece and nephews) flew from KL, also via Bangkok.

We woke up early and got to the airport at 5.30 am for our 7.40 am flight. We had breakfast as the sun was rising through the misty drizzle.

The last time Ryan (and we) were on a flight was when we went to Sydney in September last year. I was wondering how Ryan would behave on the flight now that he is a year older, more vocal and more mobile. As it turned out, he had no problems. He slept peacefully through the flight to Bangkok and on the short flight from Bangkok to Chiangmai, he was happy and fuss-free.

The bag is a gift from Ryan's nanny's daughter. We packed it with some books and toys.

We arrived safely and checked into our hotel, the Le Meridien Chiangmai, at about 1 pm. We went for lunch and explored the surrounding area. It was pretty dead, apparently everything comes to life during the night when the night market/bazaar gets going. At that time, there were just a lot of empty stalls lining the streets. Apart from the local shops, there are lots of 7-11 stores and places that serve coffee, a Starbucks, a Burger King, a Haagen Daz, a Baskin Robbins. Here we are outside a McDonald's.

After our short foray, we went back to the hotel and caught up on our sleep while waiting for the rest of the family to arrive. When they got into the hotel, it was already dark and so all of us went out to the night market/bazaar for dinner and some shopping.

The next day, we rented a van and a driver to ferry the whole group around. We started at the Mae Tang Elephant Camp where we got up close to lots of elephants. There are elephant rides and ox-cart rides on offer. You can also watch the elephants taking their bath in the river. The elephants put on a short performance for the visitors, they play musical instruments, play football and paint pictures. A buffet lunch is served which apparently is pretty good (I didn't have any because I was suffering from food poisoning from something I ate the day before).

This is the clinic where the elephant calves are kept with their mothers (there is a calf hidden behind the column)

Feeding the elephant a banana

After that, the driver ferried us around to a few factory outlets - gems, silk, leather, umbrella and lacquer,  etc. Picked up some nice souvenirs and gifts. Then it was back to the hotel where the kids had a swim while I concussed in the room with Ryan. The family went for a traditional Khantok dinner while Richard, Ryan and I stayed in the hotel to let me shake off the rest of the food poisoning. When the family got back, we had an advance mini birthday celebration for Richard. Just a simple birthday song and cake, but it was great to have the family together for the occasion. 

Happy Birthday Richard!

Richard's family left early the next morning while we stayed on for another night. We went to visit some temples and we did some more shopping. I'll continue the report in the next post!