October 2010 craft

This is a beebop cardi I made for Georgie. I started on the trip to Phuket on the plane and finished it on the plane on the way home. It's Washed Haze cotton and looks great on her. The only saga involved with it was when the air hostess tipped a cup of orange juice all over me, including my crocheting!

Kathy made this amazing blanket.

and Chris was still knitting this scarf, but she was checking if it was long enough (see it's still on the needle).

Hats and scarves for Ley in India.

Tea Ceremony part 3

Alice and Stan received tea next and then everyone else there followed.

Here we are with the happy couple. Just for the record, my outfit shopping was done at the Very Last Minute because our summer fashions hadn't arrived into the shops. I was having a panic, but eventually found a lovely silk top for the beach ceremony and this outfit came from Kathryn Hammerton's in Beechworth, a black linen and patterned georgette type fabric dress with a short bolero jacket. It wasn't glitzy (but neither am I) but I felt stylish.

Here is a photo of Peggy looking lovely with her Mum whose top and shawl were beautiful, and her Aunty whose gold jacket was also stunning.

and the cake which had lovely fresh fruit for edible decoration (the bride and groom weren't edible, hehe!)

and here are Peggy and Rick cutting the cake.

The venue for the Tea Ceremony was at one of Hong Kong's universities.

Tea Ceremony part 2

Peggy's very respected grandparents were the first to receive tea and in exchange to give their gift in a red envelope. Grandfather doesn't speak English, and there was concern that he wouldn't be well enough to understand what was happening, but he obviously did, as he won me with the most polite "How do you do" when I first arrived and went to shake hands with him.

And then the other grandmother received tea.

Then it was Mal and my turn.

Rick said when handing over the red envelope it was customary to offer words of wisdom which he is doing.

Tea Ceremony part 1

We went to Hong Kong especially for the Tea Ceremony. Peggy wanted to include her elderly relatives who couldn't travel, especially her grandparents. This was a dressed up occasion and she wore a beautiful lace cheongsam.

The boys talked shop (haha!).

This is the back of Peggy's frock showing the beautiful fabric and her lovely slim figure.

Fireworks on Hong Kong Harbour

As it was China's National Day, there were fireworks that night.
Alice's Aunty and Uncle very kindly offered for us to go to their apartment on the 32nd floor and watch them as they live near Deception Bay, and have a magnificent view right down Hong Kong Harbour. The photos are blurry as I didn't have a very good camera, but I've put them here so you can see what a wonderful view we had, taking up their kind offer.

on to Hong Kong

We left Phuket, Mal, Tim and I, Rick and Peggy and headed to Hong Kong for the Tea Ceremony.
We've been there before, but this time I wanted to go on the Harbour Ferry.

As it turned out, Alice and Stan were booked on the same flight as us, and very kindly spent the next few days being our guides for what was once their hometown. Here they are in front of the bauhinia flower, the emblem of Hong Kong where earlier a service had been conducted on the red carpet. It was China National Day, a public holiday and many shops were closed.

So much noise and bustle after the quiet of Phuket.

We went up to Victoria Point. It was a 1-1/2 hour wait for a bus, so we caught a taxi. I would like to point out that I was booked in on my return home to have a full knee replacement. After hiking round Hong Kong's public transport systems with our guides, I definitely needed it.

Last day in Thailand

I went to Phuket with a desire to bring home some Thai silk, after all it was Thailand we were visiting. It's not that easy. After searching and finding none, on our last day we went into Phuket Town and Penny, Mal and I searched the several blocks of shops in the old town for Thai silk.......to no avail. Then one of the taxidrivers told me he could take us to a department store which sold it, so off we went with him. For a very cheap price it saved us a lot of fruitless searching. It was a 'department' store like I had been used to years before when we lived in Singapore, and Thai silk was plentiful then. There wasn't a very large choice, but as it appears it isn't on any other visitor's shopping list, I was able to get some bargains. Hooray.
Here I am standing in a very pleasant park like spot next to a canal when we arrived in Phuket Town.



The other beautiful souvenir that I came home with was pearls. The boys spent a day biking around and the kids were settled in kids' club and napping 1/2 hour drive away, so I spent all day at the resort, sitting around the pool and crocheting (cotton yarn, bolero for Georgie), which wasn't an issue, but I was all by myself (didn't fancy hitting the markets by myself, there's no fun in that). I think Mal felt guilty I was by myself and during their bike trip went looking for some pearls. He found such a bargain that he couldn't resist buying a string of beautiful black freshwater pearls and a string of beautiful white ones. Everyone was so impressed with the quality and the price that Dan went back to the same place to get some for Penny. I felt very spoilt!


This is such a favourite and relaxing view of Katathani from one of the restaurants.

We lunched there on our last day, soaking up the relaxing atmosphere.

We'd love to go back for another holiday. It wouldn't ever be the same as this one, with The Wedding and so many friends, but the place is easy to get around, interesting, clean and the locals are friendly without being over-pesty. And the prices mean you don't blow your budget!

Cashews

We were good tourists and visited the cashew factory. That yellow pear-like fruit tied to the machine is a cashew fruit. The lady is shelling the nuts.

Then our bus driver took us to a modern shopping centre.

Lo and behold, my favourite shop!

Elephant ride

I found this a very unpleasant experience.
Mother and baby chained to her.

James looks like he enjoyed it as much as Granma. There is no photo of me on the elephant because my face just had a look of terror/horror most of the time. I didn't enjoy the ride, the conditions or the plight of the elephants.

Our 'driver' asked Mal if he would like to take over. Mal said it was the most uncomfortable thing to do.

Tim and Georgie were on an elephant whose mind was on something else altogether, it didn't want to stick to the path and kept detouring into the bushes.

We paid our money, so maybe the elephants and those drivers ate well for another week.

On the way to

On another bus trip we went up the hill again. The topiary type trees are growing along the middle of many of the main roads, and the Aussie tourists are to be found EVERYWHERE. Patong could well be called 'Little Oz'.

Market researchers nab you when you aren't expecting it also. This is evidence that someone who shall remain nameless stripped down to a singlet! Unheard of ever before.

And there are often tourists blocking the best view.