Nearly another year......out there!

Only 41 days to Christmas. My feelings about that are mixed. This Christmas it will mark the end of another year offshore and traditional Christmas time is becoming less and less like years gone by for me. But Christmas will always be about family, it's about kids, it's about sharing good times with friends, no matter what exciting adventures are out-there for us to explore.

I am going to get back into my 'blogging' because I think that this coming year is going to be an exciting one for me, so I am inviting you to share my journey.  I have decided to tell you about the people I meet, the trips that I take and, no blog would be complete without some reference to food, so I am expanding on what I have discover out here in expatville.

Since I last posted I have been to some new (for me) and interesting countries.....Russia, Turkey and Padstow! That's in the UK!
 
A lot has happened too, some that come to mind.........
I have fallen in love with Moscow and it's stunningly beautiful Metro

Met Rick Stein OBE the famous English chef

Cooked with Michelin star chef Giorgio Locatelli, 

Cruised down the Bosphorus River in Istanbul and the Moskva River in Moscow,

Flown in a friends Private Jet in India,

Saw the Russian State Diamond collection in the Kremlin,

Went to the Bolshoi Ballet and the Bolshoi Opera,

Shared White Truffle pasta with Dannie Minogue,

Said 'Hi, Tina' to Tina Turner,
Sang with Russian monks,

Been blessed at the Ganashi Festival in Mumbai,

Had fresh roses delivered daily by a white-capped Indian gardener,

Saw Queen Elizabeth 11 at the Derby during her Diamond Jubilee,

Dined on pork crackle at James Oliver's Barbecoa in London, 

Enjoyed the King's Cup Elephant Polo in Hua Hin Thailand,

Holidayed in the Himalaya's

Walked through the Queen of Thailand's rose garden,

My first art student,

Floated around the Indian Ocean, and 

Welcomed my 8th grandson into the family.

Blue Water

Today is a beautiful day. I am sitting watching the sunlight reflect off the ripples on seawater, wondering if the clouds on the horizon will sweep in later this afternoon. It is a great time of the year to be in the Maldives, cooler weather, light breezes and the afternoon storm before a bright star-lite night. Festive season is nearly upon us all and there is an underlying mood that settles into oneself and those around.....excitement, anticipation, planning, longing for places familiar all those things creep in around this time of the year. Goodness knows I do not miss the hurly-burly of Christmas shopping but I do miss the making of a good Christmas table and the noises and smells that go with cooking Christmas lunch for all the family. Now I have someone do that for me, but I can remember saying to my family after a particularly long and hot Christmas lunch that I wouldn't mind next year going to a restaurant but now I'm not convinced having spent the last few Christmas's abroad. But time change and capturing past times is not always what it is cracked up to be in your mind, and I am happy to take on these new moments in time.

Progress

Little Zac

My friend Khun Mint
My mate Miecha
Artist's assistant


My buddy, Crane
My South African pal, Claire

The Eugenie, Bangkok
Celebrity Squares @ Casa Colombo
Party in Maldives
This is it's real colour!
Another sunset in the Indian Ocean

My artist in residence husband and I have had a long-held ambition to simplify our lives and to put our passion for travel and making new friends into practice. We are doing just that and it has been 18 months since we started in earnest. Looking back over our first year, it has at times been challenging but the wonderful experiences we have had and are still having, speak volumes, we do not need any convincing that we have done the right thing.

Since my last post, we have been in the Maldives staying in one of the most beautiful resorts out in the Indian Ocean, travelled back to Sri Lanka, stopped off in Bangkok to meet our newest grandson, Zac and finally as I write we are in Phuket, Thailand.

So here are a few pics from those travels. Our blank canvas is filling up with fun, friends and family, oh and elephants.

Casa Colombo, Sri Lanka

Flightdelays....flights cancelled....are we ever going to be out

of Male Airport.....savour...Emirates.....up-grade....smooth flight....what a night!

Arrived into Sri Lanka and forgot that the airport is an hour's hairy taxi ride from Colombo....what a fright!

Wide-eyed, white knuckle drive into town. We had

booked a trendy looking hotel along Galle Road, a bit of a change from the historic Galle Face Hotel, where we had stayed on previous visits. I'd come across it on a web-search and thought it looked very arty and I was so right, love that. We arrived to a driveway strewn with rose petals, I know, I know, that's a bit over the top, even for me, but there we were a little travel-worn standing on a runway in front of our hotel. Bazaar, is this a Bollywood set?

In fact it was close, Tripadvisor, Small Luxury Hotels, Asia Pacific Hotel Awards and the beautiful people of the who's who of Sri Lanka all enjoying themselves. We had arrived at Casa Colombo Hotel and they had just won "a 5 Star award at the hotly contested Bloomberg International Hotel Awards held in Shanghai this year, as having the Best Hotel Interior in Sri Lanka. The 5 Star award is the highest award given to leading properties in the world that are engaged in hospitality, retail, leisure and residential.
In addition to this prestigious award, Casa Colombo has also been nominated by the well-respected ‘World Travel Awards’ Committee for three categories, which are - Asia’s Leading Boutique Hotel 2011, Sri Lanka’s Leading Hotel and Sri Lanka’s Leading Business Hotel. The results of these nominations will be announced end of November 2011.
Furthermore, Casa Colombo was awarded Exceptional status by Tripadvisor.com, which is rated entirely by guests who have stayed at Casa Colombo. This recognition shows that Casa Colombo not only excels in its aesthetic appeal, but also surpasses and delights its guest in exceptional customer service and care." quote/unquote Daily Mirror http://www.ft.lk/2011/06/23/casa-scores-again/

We must have looked a little like deer caught in the headlights as we were quickly gathered up by a very personable GM, who introduced himself as Horst and 'of course you want a cocktail'....I instantly liked his guy.

A fascinating scene was being played out in front of us and suddenly we were caught up in it all, downing margaritas, which were served in dainty dished cocktail glasses circa 1950's with our ever smily and very sexy young Sri Lankan butler, Arrun bringing us delicious tapas. We swanned around the lobby being introduced to the owner and his wife and owner/interior designer, after a couple of hours of all this we decided that the party could continue without us and retired to our suite. The interiors and the exterior of the hotel are stunning and I think that everything that needs to be said is in the post above, needless to say that we were pleased with out choice.

The shopping in Colombo is excellent if you want clothing, especially their cool beautiful cottons and hand-printed batik silks, you can find them, after a little looking and they are inexpensive, nearly said cheap. Unfortunately they are starting to import clothing from Thailand and China, let's hope with the booming tourism market that Sri Lanka is not tempted to go the same way as a lot of other Asia countries where there is a growing trend of cheap knock-offs and where every shop or market sells similar goods.

Anyway, would have like to do more shopping but our suitcase was looking like a pregnant pup and our tuk-tuk driver had gotten so friendly with us that he had tried to adopt us and take us into the hills to see his family, so we called it a day and went back to our beautiful little hotel.

At Casa Colombo they do not have coffee or tea making in your suite, which we a bit odd in this day and age but turned out to be very a very sweet way of starting your day...just a phone call to our 'ever-ready' Arrun and a pot of coffee with cool-looking round bottomed coffee mugs arrived on a tray....similar to the 'bed-tea' experience that we had in some of the hotels in India....I'm liking this and I think it should be bought back into resorts. Great way to start the day. Of course I must say here and now that this experience will never really replace my artist in residence husband's early morning coffee-making ritual.

Met a lovely lady at the breakfast on the first morning, Mary, a ballet teacher from the USA, who was there is visit for the first time her sponsored child, who is now a young woman of 21 whom she had been supporting, educating and writing to for the past 16 years. She's a solo-female traveller in an exotic less-travelled land for American tourists and I was very pleased that we had the chance to chat to her, it's great that the world has people like Mary.

Here are a few pics from our Colombo escapade.