One Night In Bangkok

Lovely flight with Cathay and arrived feeling like we could take on the world - which was quite something when we considered how overwhelmed with emotion we were when we left Stanmore on Monday morning!

Funny sight at the airport: a monk using an iPhone 4!! Well we thought it was funny anyway!!

Had just walked into our hotel room (at The Metropolitan) and the phone rang - it was Chris (who we know from the Salisbury Hotel in Stanmore!). We arranged to catch up for a drink and dinner and Chris met us later that night at our hotel. The photo of the 3 of us was taken in the bar at The Metropolitan.

We went to a variety of bars and great spots for people watching and had dinner (Thai of course!) at about 10pm. Chris took us on a quick tour of all the 'interesting' night spots - those you have to do at least once on a visit! It was a fun night and we got back to the hotel at 2 minutes to midnight - we only know this thanks to the cool projected clock outside the lift.

Up reasonably early the next day and headed straight to the river. Went to Wat Pho where we saw the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand.

Looked around the rest of the site but we were over temples by the end of it! They are beautiful but all start to look the same after a while!

Bit more sight seeing up the river and mixing and mingling with the locals for a while.

Then the highlight of the day - a 90 minute energy and vitality massage that we had booked the day before. OMG! These two tiny Thai girls pummeled our bodies back to life! It was amazing and we were so glad we had booked it.

Then a quick visit to the Banyan Tree Hotel next door - to the 61st floor for a quick cocktail and amazing view over Bangkok before heading to the airport for 00:45am flight.

One long leg and one short leg and we will be in St Helens!!!

Singapore Fling

Note to self: resist flying Jetstar where ever possible! (even though our flight was sold as a QA flight!). They were shocking with a very low care factor...decided they would be fine if the price was right for a shorter flight but wasn't a good option to Singapore.

Short and sweet visit to Singapore and a lovely catch up with Adrian (missed you Kate!) and the boys!

After having a drink at the infamous K Bar Ade took us to Boat Quay for Black Pepper Crab (worth the mess!), Clarke Quay for Mojitos (and to look in amazement at how many people were out on Monday night in Singapore!), and for a special treat (!) to Orchard Towers to see what the naughty western men do on their nights off in Singapore. Talk about an interesting place to people watch and have a laugh!!

The words we used most about Singapore were dichotomy and paradox...noticed it more this time being with someone that lived there and hearing about the side of it you don't see as a tourist...also draconian but it's always been that. Still a pretty city with lots of new infrastructure popping up at rapid pace...and as always a great place for a quick stopover.

Next time we see the Porters will be in the UK ;-) Next stop Bangkok!

And so the journey begins...

And so the journey begins...farewell Stanmore and Sydney, it's been quite a ride!! Day started well at 5.30am with a personal delivery of our morning coffee from the boys at Molly Coddle Cafe (thanks Peter and Arthur - you guys rock!!).

Then we had to close the door & leave our lovely house - neither of us quite expected the huge wave of emotion that overwhelmed us :-(

Au revoir to all our friends - sorry if we didn't say goodbye personally, it's all been a bit of a whirlwind! I look forward to keeping up with you all on FB and email. xxx

The house has sold!

Three open homes and it's all over! Someone walked in and said 'this is the one' and we had exchanged contracts 3 days later (today)!!

Now starts the hard part - packing up! Many options: store in Sydney, pack & send to New Zealand (home home), pack & send to the UK, take with us to the UK, sell, get rid of! Why oh why am I a hoarder?!! Well, I never thought I was really a hoarder, more prepared for anything! Now I am packing up I am admitting to being a hoarder!! Let's hope it doesn't take toooooo long!

Whirlwind of Change

This year is about to become a whirlwind of change... I am just back from the UK (St Helens, Merseyside which is in the north between Liverpool and Manchester).

My husband Mark's elderly sister Barbara has just come out of hospital and I was visiting to see what we could do to help. She is 77 (25 years older than my husband!) and has the early stages of vascular dementia along with osteoarthritis and osteoporosis (not to mention high blood pressure, heart problems, thyroid problems) - you get the picture?

While I was there we decided that we only had one option and that was to sell up in Sydney and move to the UK as Barbara's full time carers. Not an easy decision but no question that this was the right thing to do.

So the process has started - getting the house ready to sell, listing it and starting the open homes. I have a feeling that the next few months will be 'interesting' to say the least!

BEFORE

AFTER

PS Happy anniversary Mark (can't believe it's our 22nd!!) xxx

Getting Back in the Saddle

It is a total whinge but I am feeling the need to put it in writing so that I feel less frustrated!!

For the first time in over 10 years I have had to put together a resume. I have forgotten how you have to talk yourself up, go over every little detail of every little part of every little job you have ever done and then send it to as many people as possible!!

My story... I have been self employed since being made redundant in April 2010 - and loving it - but for a variety of reasons (including the need for a steady, regular income & my husband losing his job!) I am applying for a full time job working for someone else. Redundancy after 8 1/2 years knocked the wind out of me (as with most people) and it has taken me 15 months to realise that I am actually good at what I do and to have the confidence to start to tell other people again.

So here I am churning out cover letters and resumes. What has shocked me the most in this process is the way potential employers treat potential employees. OK, I understand that in most cases they are dealing with a lot of applications (sometimes in the 100s) but there is no excuse for never getting back to the people sending in their resumes (who obviously think they might be able to do the job!). Even receiving the mass mail out saying thanks but no thanks is better than not hearing at all.

My husband said 'give them a call' but phoning is a waste of time as you are spoken to with annoyance by someone that doesn't give a damn and is finding the whole process an intrusion into their daily lives.

Now I should add here that I have been in the position to employ many people over my working life. I have always treated everyone applying for a job with the utmost respect - didn't think there was another way!! Isn't that what everyone does? Ahhh, but now I know that isn't so.

Blah, blah, blah...

Oops! Blog posts are supposed to be short so I will wind this up now (and maybe have another bleat another day!)...

29 July 2010 Post script: Had the shock of my life yesterday when I got a call back from a multi national company which obviously has a great local culture. The lady apologised for taking a day to return my call and then went on to tell me where my application was at (had been put forward as an option to the relevant department etc). By the end of the call I wasn't even worried if I made it to the next stage as I was so impressed that they had treated me like a human being and not just a number! Ok, so maybe I wouldn't mind getting to the next stage... :-)

Cashew Date & Cacao Balls - shared by Elizabeth Usher

Pulse 1 cup cashews in food processor until crumbly.
Add 1, 2 or 3 tablespoons cacao powder (to your taste preference) pulse again briefly. Add 1 cup of pitted & chopped medjool dates. Pulse until it all comes together in a lovely gooey consistency. Add some agave if you want them even sweeter. Roll into small tasty balls. Roll in cacao powder or coconut if desired.
Final step - EAT AND ENJOY! :)

Elizabeth is not sure where she found this recipe but thinks it's good enough to be shared! Me too!! Check out Elizabeth (MADforAnimals) on Twitter or MySpace.