Hello!!!Eventually I get around to writing a new entry!!Well the past few months have been incredibly intense....many sleepless nights, burning the midnight oil on a daily basis, pricking my finger way too many times to mention but finally I got there!!After being selected to show my collection on the catwalk at Graduate Fashion Week (of which the actual selection process was the most terrifying and most emotionally draining day of my life...think "x-factor" but 10 times scarier) the day Ive waited for forever finally came!!!It was most definatley worth all the blood, sweat and tears that the past few years have seen and I was delighted at how it all went!For those of you who havent heard me going on and on about the collection over the past year...Ill give you a brief round up of what it was all about....a lot of it was inspired by things that I saw and experienced whilst travelling last year...the main influences of my collection were: trailer trash, nostalgia, Japanese Street fashion, mail order briders, trinkets, charvas, caravans,working class subcultures and print design......in the end the collection was made up of jackets made from tea towels with cute cupcakes printed on, cropped rainmacs made from printed vinyl tableclothes, teamed with super sparkly holographic leggings and all accessorised with huge necklaces adorned with candy, kids plastic play food, trinkets and Russian Dollies...and of course a few Fuschia pink pom-poms! Thats it, in a nutshell!!!Had all the family and friends there and the cherry on the cake was meeting Mark Owen whilst having a pizza in Battersea afterwards!!!How random, perfect end to a perfect day!!!!
Ok, so Ill leave you with some photos from the show to check out!!!!

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Oh My God!!!!!!!Tonight was the best night of my life ever!!!!The countdown of the months in anticipation of the Take That concert finally arrived!After Mam and Louise's camping expedition outside the arena for tickets all those months ago for the prize seats!!!I cant believe this day ever arrived....Ive been waiting 10 years for this!!!!For all of those who knew me back then, its hard to forget that Take That were my life...with those memorable moments such as crying whilst collapsed on the stairs prior to when I went to see them for the first time at Whitley Bay Ice rink back in '94....the tears at the year 8 disco when the dj whipped "Babe" out on the decks....my ridiculous room covered floor to ceiling of pictures, posters and clippings...and of course....the worst day of my life.....when they broke up...heartbroken....
So anyway, Ive been soooooo exited for the reunion tour...minus Robbie...and It was even more exciting that the show we were going to was the opening of the whole tour (so obviously the boys themselves would be most excited and nervous for this one too!!!)

Heres a ridiculous one of me and Louise outside the arena raring to go!!!!
So we got inside and I thought I was going to vomit as those minutes ticked closer and closer....then lights went off...the atmosphere was sooooo intense....then out came the boys on a platform slowly surrounded by smoke!!!!

Here is the enterance!!!!

So here we are 6 rows from the front....so close could see every facial expression, I couldnt believe it!As they came out I felt like I couldnt breathe, I was totally shaking, HYSTERICAL....I just couldnt believe my eyes that here were Take That and most importantly MARK OWEN literally 3 metres away from me!!!!When they came out you could just see how overwhelmed they were, they were just smiling,speachless and shaking their heads that after 10 years they stroll out onto stage and there 10,000 people just screaming!!!IT WAS A CORKER!!!!!Then suddenly Howard pipes up "Eyyyy they didnt have tits like that 10 years ago!!!"Loveddddd it!!!!

Some really cool special effects....my favourite was when they did "Relight My fire" they had the actual same costumes that they wore back in the day!!!Mark with his little horns on...Jason gyrating around in nothing but a sexy pair or sequined pants!!!There was trapeze artists, pole dancers, flame throwers and then the whole stage went up on fire.....soooooo cool!!!Loved it!!!!The final bit...the whole stage was raining!!!!Spectacular!!!!They were singing in the rain...then splashing about in it, kicking it around!!!I loved it soooooo much!!!!
Ok Im just going to throw a few pictures at you here....this is just a selection of a few from like the thousand me and lou have!!!

Take That!!!Best Night of My Life Ever!!!!! remains copyright of the author Twinkle, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Last night was spent back in the Historic centre enjoying Italian ice cream and strolling around the market again and saying farewell to the Duomo!

This morning we spent sometime walking around the fashion district which was really cool, every shop you could ever think of...Dolce and Gabbana, Armani, Moschino, I loved it!!!!Then before we knew what, we had to head back to Bergamo to fly home!!!! Cant believe the trip is over but it was amazing and Im even more in love with Italy since my Rome trip last year! Milan is wonderful, the food, the places, the things to see...and to round it all off we had the most speactacular views of the Alps as our plane flew home!!!!

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Today was our last full day in Milan and there is so much to see so today was expected to be hardcore in an attempt to fit in everything that we wanted to see! We began this morning heading to the Castello Sforzesco which was really amazing!Beautiful buldings and a really interesting place! We got to see the dancing fountains before heading to Parc Sempione and the Arco Della Pace!

Our next visit was to the Basilica De Saint Ambrogio which was very impressive! Imagine my suprise when sneaking down into the darkened Crypts to see the mummified corpse, fully dressed in red robes, of Saint Ambrogio himself!It knocked me for six, didnt expect to see that...when the guide book said mortal remains I imagined the standard whizend finger of a few bones that you usually see in these European Catholic churches so I wasnt anticipating the full on body complete with face!I didnt like it! After a brief stop in a lovely little panini place I came across a fabulous ribbon shock where I stocked up on really cute ribbons and trimmings with little cherries and red riding hood on!!!!Imagine the delights that will transpire from them!!!!

Our next stop was once again at the Duomo but this was our first experience of it by daylight so we got the full affect and its such an impressive structure! We ventured inside to be awestruck by the beautiful stained glass windows which were simply amazing....

and I loved the rainbows on the wall from the windows so yet another photograph was called for!

We then headed to the top of the Duomo which was incredible! The arcitecture is amazing, so intricate and ornate! Also there are fantastic views over the city....

View of Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle from the top of the Duomo...

The inside of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle was beautiful, hight glass ceilings, paintings, really pretty....

We then went onto have a look at the Piazza La Scala...

The next destination was the Cimetero Monumental in North Eastern Milan. My fixation with cemeteries around the world just meant I had to squeeze this final place in!!! It was totally worthwhile, I would have been upset to miss it!

It was one of the most spectacular and ornate cemeteries that I have ever visited...huge, towering monuments, sculptures carved into stone, personally designed headstones....

Also there was hundreds of catacombs and memorial plaques, some even had war medals inlaid into them which was really interesting...

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Woke up bright and early in anticipation for our journey to Lake Como! After dealing with the madness and mayhem of Stazioni Centrale and an encounter with the most vile toilet I have ever experienced we boarded our train and headed for the famous Northern Italian Lakes!

We began by taking a stroll though Como Village itself taking in cute little bakeries and checking out the Duomo there and exploring the beautiful side streets.

Colourful Fruit Market!

We also stumbled upon a really pretty garden full of cloisters, memorial plaques and a really ornate grave.....

We then walked to actually see the lake which was breathtaking. You could see the snow capped Alps in the background and the sun was shining a the same time, it was really beautiful! We found a fantastic little restaurant which was kind of in a big glass conservatory type building which was over looking the lake, it was the most amazing view!

We then decided to Venture up to the top on the hill into the small town of Brunate by Funicular. When we reached the top we could see right across Como and see the Alps for miles and miles!

We rounded off our trip by visiting the beautiful church in Brunate before heading back to the train station....

When we arrived back into Milano we went for a stroll around the Historic Centre and came across a huge market selling everything from antiques, to Italian Pastries to rainbow coloured dried fruits! Its was dark by this point and the whole area was lit up and bustling and we enjoyed delicious Italian coffee over looking the market place!

A trip was then made to the local supermarket to stock up on some yummy gorgonzola and I also stumbled across the biggest treat ever which Im still laughing at now! Following Nicola's discovery and ongoing obsession with a little chocolate bar called a 'Tronky' whilst in Thailand, imagine my hysteria when I came across a pack of them in this tiny little supermarket!!!!So Nicola this photo is especially for you and be expecting a little suprise prezzie all the way in Australia very soon........

We headed back to the hotel where I modelled by new hat and scarf set that I bought today (very cute!!!) and Mam allowed to partake in my obsession with cheezy, contrived photography!!!!!

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Buon giorno!!!Arrived in at Bergamo in the early evening and set off by bus into Milan! Ditched the bags and headed straight off for a walk to explore the delights of the city! Took a stroll through La Brera area and eventually arrived at the historic centre where we got to see our first glimpses of the Duomo which was really impressive!

There was so many tiny streets which were so pretty as they were still covered in twinkly fairy lights for Christmas! The wethaer is absolutley freezing, I didnt expect it to be so cold, in fact it is possibly as cold as back home, however everything looks really beautiful covered in snow and you seem to forget about the cold when you are getting to see so many amazing things!

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Arrived in Rome last night!!!This is my first experience of Italy and so far I love it!!!Me and Lynsey dumped our bags and headed straight for Piazza Navona to launch oursleves straight into Rome!!!Had a lovely meal in a little place in Campo De Fiori, enjoyed some lovely Frascati and fabulous pasta!!went for a few gin and tonics in the "Drunken Ship" before our eyes spotted this big, bright, neon Ice cream Parlour!!!obviously we had to go in and get some!i couldnt beleiev the flavours!every single colour possible!It was the most divine ice cream ever!

When In Rome.... remains copyright of the author Twinkle, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Hello!!!Well its been a while...a few months have passed since my big trip and not a single day goes by when I dont think about it and laugh at some of the crazily surreal memories I have in my head!!!Ive learnt that maybe my photos arent maybe as interesting to other people as they are too me, but hey, I shall never get bored of them!!!

Moved back to London 3 months ago to return to my final year at University after my year out!Defering my studies was the best thing I could have ever done, it has left me feeling incredibly inspired, full of ideas for my graduate collection and full of motivation for this super stressful year!Its great to be back in London, I really missed it whilst away last year, the whole lifestyle,the bright lights, my friends and doing creative stuff everyday of my life!Living in a house with 4 other people from all corners of the globe so Its cool and gives opportunities of free holidays In the future I guess!All is going great at University, got some really exciting projects going on and I always find a way to worm the travels into my work!!!In fact my deadline this week featured my multi-coloured travel journal, my waving cat from Japan and my little Buddha Figure! At the same time as studying I have been doing some freelance jewellery design which I am really enjoying and which is going really well selling in SKIRT Boutique in Newcastle! They are all twinkly encrusted with cute Russian dollies, chinese lucky fish, chrystals, sparkly hearts.....

Enjoying being able to frequent all my old haunts here in London, do lots of fantastic shopping and theres some amazing exhibitions to see right now!

So everything is good right here at the moment, Looking forward to spending Christmas In Newcastle and have a trip to Italy in a couple of weeks time planned followed by a trip to Paris In January...Pairs is for a textile conference which should be a great opportunity but havent been to Paris in a couple of years so Im really looking forward to it!Also started making plans for when I graduate...Im in need of some serious multi-cultural therapy at the end of this degree so I am heading off to India in July for a well deserved adventure and hopefully sample a bit of Nepal also if time allows it!
So for now, Merry Christmas all!!!

Armchair Travel and Twinkly Updates.... remains copyright of the author Twinkle, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Hello again!!!Following extreme travel withdrawl symptoms and the depressing British "summertime" I whipped off for a few days with my Dad to Bergen in Norway and a trip around the Fjords which was great!We went by boat so had a little cabin which was really cool, I loved it!!!Bought a spectacular, big, wooly hat...all pink and blue!Indulged in a little troll also!

Invested in some Nordic whilst in Bergen!!Love them!

So had a great time, the Fjords were really beautiful adn it was a nice break before I leave the northern climes of Newcastle to move back to London!

Trolls, Nordic Hats and Fjords! remains copyright of the author Twinkle, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Well here I am in Singapore waiting for my flight back to London....Had a bit of a nightmare from Bangkok to Singapore, didnt know about the departure tax and here i was with 460 baht, 40B short...after several tears were whipped out and lots of begging a one of the women from the airline gave me it out of her own pocket!!!So kind! The journey wasnt great...hit major turbulence and I honastl thought the end had come, the plane went almost vertical!Everyone screamed...Ive never been frightened of flying but this really un-nerved me and I worried about the long flight back to the Uk in just a few hours time!
So here I am and I cant believe it is all over, I feel really sad but at the same time I feel this huge achievement, after the months of anticipation, i have now got all these wonderful memories which will stay with me forever! So back to sunny Heathrow it is!!!All I know is that this trip has sparked a super intense travel bug and now I look forward to doing it all over again!!!

In retrospect from Singapore.... remains copyright of the author Twinkle, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Had such a fantastic Day! Got up bright and early, enjoyed a lovely breakfast then set off to Sumkuvit to collect my tickets from Singapore Airlines!Bit of a trek but great opportunity to see a bit more of Bangkok before i set off back to England. When I got there realised I was right by Lumphini Park which was great as It had been one of the places I had wanted to visit on my first stay in Bangkok and as I hadnt planned on ending up back in the Capital this was an added bonus to get to see it!!!Following this I decided to take a stroll around the Sumkivit area to see what else was on offer!!!I had really wanted to visit Patpong Market but me and Daniel never got the chance so imagine my delight when I accidentaly stumbled upon it!

Soooooooo glad I didnt miss out on Patpong,it was the best shopping experience of my whole arounf the world trip!!!!The bargains to be had, simply amazing!!!Bought the cutest little green, beaded top, some Buddha statues, few t-shirts then, some pretty little fans for presents, and then the fins of all finds......a little stall selling all this pretty Hello Kitty, Miffy blah blah blah stuff!what a selection, couldnt believe my eyes, I was almost hysterical!the guy even had to give me a little basket as I grabbed more and more handfuls of delights!!!!Those ever cute little chrams for phones and bags that I have become so fond of since visiting Japan were only 40baht each so I got loads!Beautiful hello Kitty watches, pencil cases......it was fabulous!The market was huge, I could have spent hours and hours there and thousands of Baht!Headed back to Khao San as Nicola was due to be arriving and Ive missed her since we have spent 24 hours a day with eachother the past few weeks!Decided to be adventurous and attempt the boats again, this time I was on my own with armfulls of shopping bags so it was all the more daunting!It was great to see the views of Bangkok before I leave this amazing country!

Arrived back in Khao San to be reunited with my little travel chum Nicola!Went out for a couple of pineapple shakes and some food!Enjoyed my final night in Thailand enjoying the street cocktails of Bangkok as we pulled up our little plastic stools....my whole Thailand experience ended the same as it had begun!!!Ive had the most incredible time, words can not explain how amazing this trip has been, This is the most unforgetable life experience and I will remember it forever.....

Patpong and Lumphini! remains copyright of the author Twinkle, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Flying wheels, 6,5ft tall German Men and return to Bangkok! remains copyright of the author Twinkle, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Well last night we finally experienced the musch anticipated Full Moon Party!!!Had a really good time, apprarently there was 12,000 people there!!!It was all hectic and busy, some great music, fabulous fire shows, and of course the Sangsom was flowing!!!!

It was fun!!!Had a great time here on Koh Pha Ngan, its been a a good laugh, and those pancakes with mars bars in are divine!!!!

Tomorrow I have to make the dreaded trip all the way north to Bangkok which Im looking forward to as I loved Bangkok the first time round and theres still a lot more I want to see there!Not as excited about the bus journey but hey, its all part and parcel and I suppose those random stop offs at strange Thai service stations are interesting!!!!

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Well the past couple of days have been fun!In preparation for the full moon party its been getting busier and busier....front our hillside bungalow we can see the boats coming in everyday full of people! We escaped the delights on Ban Tai after several arguments claiming we owed money for the hospital trip which we had already paid for, bust up over a few of Nicola's CDs which they tried to say belonged to them!We hopped in a tuk tuk and found ourselves smack bang in the middle of Chicken Corner...in the run up to the FMP, its super crazy!!!!Hauled our backpacks up about a zillion hills trying to find somewhere decent to stay for the next week! It was a nightmare, everywhere was fully booked, the prices had been totally hiked up and some of the places we saw were cockroach infested cesspits not even suitbable for animals to stay in!Everntually we found the Seabreeze Bunglalows and its really nice!Bit of a hike up a hill but really quiet and peaceful, amazing views of the ocean and Koh Samui island in the distance, surrounded by jungle, really nice! We have a little yellow Hammock on the balcony perfect for a nice relaxing read with a spectacular backdrop!We soon learnt it wasnt called Seabreeze for nothing....in the evenings it gets so unbeleivebly windy we thought the roof was going to come off but its nice because the heat is just so intense! Found a cool little place to eat, its typically english food, jacket potatoes, yummy sandwichs, beans on toast but after the weeks of eating Asian food its refreshing to go back to basics!!!For me Koh Pha Ngan is the opportunity to chill out a bit and just relax as this travelling has left me totally exhausted so its nice to know that the last leg of my trip is to be spent on a pretty Thai Island basking in the sun!!!!Our evenings have been mainly spent exploring the bars and restaurants and getting in on the warm up parties on the beach!Already its gettin pretty crazy: Buckets of Sangsom, snake charmers and fire shows on the beach...what is with those people carrying the owls around?!?!who wants to pay 10 Baht to have their picture taken with a scabby old bird?!?!

We spent a day in Thong Sala in search of of a pair of shoes for Nic so she doesnt have to mince around in the glass on the beach at the FMP!I loved Thong Sala, there was a great food market, live eels, huge fish, exotic fruits....Good opportunity to indulge in a bit of shopping...bought the most exquisite piece of South East Asian batik which will be fantastic for an upcoming project! Got a really cute pink t-shirt for 60 Baht also!

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As we said farewell to Railay and enjoyed an amazing trip by longtail of the Andaman coast on our way back to the Krabi mainland we started the long trek back to the East Coast. We ended up in the dreaded Koh Samui for one more night which gave us an opportunity to get some well craved beans on toast before making the journey across to Koh Pha Ngan for the much anticipated Full Moon Party! Arrived on our sardine packed boat at Thongsala where we encountered the first ridiculous event.....after a debate over taxis Nicola was attacked by a hairbrush as a fat old woman hurled it 20 feet away at her head!We laughed and made our way to a remote area called Ban Tai....this place was seriously shady....dodgy guy running the bungalows...it was called Paradise Fields...it certainly wasnt a paradise!Couple of our later in our wierd multi coloured bungalow and Nicola felt ill...it was hospital time!!!Several bribes and baht later the guy agreed to take us to the only hospital on the island!!!What a joke...bloodstained beds,smeared walls, and a hefty medical bill and police interrogation later we ended up back at the bungalows to be faced with a powercut!!!Luckily we still had the Ton Sai torch and found our way to a candlelit hut which served amazing thai food!!!!The night was rounded off by being chased by 2 wild, rabid dogs, not great for 2 chicks both with dog phobias!!!!We were glad to find our beds and even more glad that we could escape to Leela Beach the next morning!!!!

Hairbrush Attacks, hospitals, power cuts and wild dogs.... remains copyright of the author Twinkle, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The past couple of days have been amazing!Ive fallen in love with East Railay...its absolute paradise!

We paid a visit to the Diamond Cves set back into the moutain side which was amazinf, really beautiful and sparkly! Hundreds of bats, it was kind of eerie but I loved it! We ventured on to check out Laem Phra Nang bay which was the most beautiful beach I have ever seen, chrysal clear oceam, white sand, amazing cliffs!Also visited the Princess Caves which were really colourful, I loved them! Bought some pretty beads too!!!

Also visited some of the Tsunami effected areas which was really sad as it totally brought it home, here we were having an lovely time as people with nothing were striving to rebuild their homes.

On a happier note I have fallen in love with Railay and I shall be sad to leave as the west coast has a lot more I would like to see...this is a place i will most definatley visit again someday.....

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We spent the following day in Ao Nang doing some shopping,fulfilling demands of postcards back home, internet and exploring! We departed Ao Nang Bay at sunset by Longtail, which was really beautiful and headed to the remote beach of Ao Ton Sai, on the Krabi Peninsula. As the boat got closer all you could see was a little beach backed with dense jungle and a rare few huts and a big bonfire!It looked really pretty but a bit too rustic for my liking...this wasnt going to be good for my fear of jungles, snakes, spiders and the dark!

I tell you something Ton Sai at night is a lot different than this picture perfect by day view.....Didnt realise that the place ran on generated electricity so withine about an hour we were plunged into darkness and had to beg to buy a torch!Aslo we had run out of cigarettes so the old cinnamon cigars had to be whipped out! We wandered to the only bar on the beach...The Reggae Bar...as it happend this place is like a rockclimber colony, which isnt out scene to be honest!There was all of 10 people in the place and the only option was a warm bottle of Chang! Time to make it back to the shack and with only our tiny crappy torch it wasnt much fun!!!I was stressed out because the cliffs looked like they should have a ghost ship in tow...seriously freaky! Got into bed, can honestly say I didnt get a wink of sleep, could hear some kind of creature in the room and was terrified, thank god didnt see what it was because in the pitch black theres not a lot you can do!!!!Then coconuts and snakes started crashing off the roof in the night, Ive never been so frightened ever!!!The only good thing was the sound of the ocean, we must have been only 20 feet away so that was incredible however I have never been so happy to see sunlight ever!

Little did I know the worst was yet to come....before I left I made a vow to myself that I would not be trekking in any jungles. My fear of snakes and spiders is too severe and I have no desire to overcome these fears whatsoever. So what happens when theres no boats????the only way out of this place was not only a jungle trek but a rockclimb!!!

Check this out! I mean come on this just isnt me! Bet you never thought you would see the day Id be wading through jungles and clambering rocks!!!Whipped out tears, tantrums and hysteria as I attempted to scale these almighty rocks with my daypack!Little did I know at the top of it all was a trail through some pretty intense jungle!This is not my idea of fun I was terrified...yes its adventourous and exciting but I was beyond consolation....wading through all these trees and shrubs, I could see snake holes in the ground, could hear animals, couple of monkeys swinging around and it was strenuous, clinging onto branches and that!!!Got to the point where I had to overtake Nicola, who was tactfully trying to go ahead of me in case of any reptile or arachnid encounters so she could escort me past them without my knowledge, but I had to get out of there!Fell over a couple of times, cried, you name it, it was horrendous!Im sure you can all imagine me!Final straw was a rather rustic looking rope where i had to swing under this big branch and I tell you when my feet hit the sand of West Railay, I have never ever felt so relieved and exhilirated!I thought it would never end and It was the most scary experience of my life and yes in a way it felt good because I had really challenged myself and faced my worst fears but lets just put it this way, wont be doing it again in a hurry!
Stopped for a pineapple shake before venturing across to East Railay where we headed to the Viewpoint Bungalows!What a relief...think Im really going to like Railay!

Longtail Boats, Generated Electricity and Jungle Nightmares! remains copyright of the author Twinkle, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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What an exciting few days...I have so much to tell you!!!!Monday night was Ashley's birthday....Gemma had moved on so me and Nicola ended up sticking together and we all ended up having a great night out for a joint birthday for Ash and Nicola!We first went out for a lovely Italian meal, a bit of respite from too much Thai food! Experienced the delights of Chaweng nightlife....was dissapointed to say its kind of an Asian verison of Magaluf!Super tacky, a lot of drunken men...well says it all really!However, we had a great night, lots of Hibiscus trimmed cocktails and some bizarre cinnamon flavoured mini cigars?!?!? Tuesday whilst nursing our hangovers me and Nic decided to go walkabout and see what Samui has to offer....we walked to the resevoir, checked out a temple and then eventually hopped on a motobike to the Tesco Lotus!!!!Picked up some much missed Tesco value treats and then headed back to the bungalow and decided to jet off on an exciting short Island hopping tour of the west coast!!!!Origionally I had been apprehnsive about visiting the Tsunami affected areas but I figure, Im here, I want to see as much of the country as I can, and plus you only live once!!!
Tonight me and Nicola had a corker....we couldnt stop laughing!!!!Came back to our bungalow to find they had chopped all the coconuts down!!!We couldnt help ourselves but steal a couple!!!We hacked them open which was so funny and drank the milk!!!It was a truely rustic experience......

So the next morning we got on our bus at 5, hopped on a lenthly boat journey followed by an excruciating 7 hour drive in a mini-van which was super cramped and the canvas seats had bed bugs in them.....well you can only imagine the after affect of that one, i wont be so crude as to go into detail!!!

We arrived in Krabi Town and decided to spent a night in Ao Nang Bay! Stayed at a really nice place called J Mansion and enjoyed a fun night of good food, Malibu and pool playing with the locals!!!It was such a laugh!!!

Me and Nic playing pool!

Had a great evening!The after effects of the infested seats meant a trip to the pharmacy and a huge Lemon Grass oil spray to deter any more mosquitoes, bugs or creepy crawlies....later that evening Nicola could barely breath as a result of this god damn lemon grass!!!ha ha!!!

Cocktails, Infested Buses and Lemongrass.... remains copyright of the author Twinkle, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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What a journey!!!Arrived at Suratthani to be hauled in and out of several trucks before boarding a cramped little boat!!!Met a really nice Irish girl called Angela who had done a lot of travelling and had a lot of interesting stories to tell!Hopped on a Songthaew at the port which is kind of a open back van type thing and asked to be taken to the Marine Bungalows...wasnt quite that simple....gut took me to a building site!!!!I had no choice but to get back in the truck and it was just by chance I spotted a sign for the real Marine Bungalows!!! Hauled my bags up and then low and behold was spotted by Ashley and Rich!!!!Thank God!Turns out they had bumped into Nicola the girl Rich had met on Travellerspoint and another Canadian girl called Gemma who had met Nicola in Malaysia and had spent the past year teaching in Taiwan and doing a lot of travelling so it was cool!!!!Now I am going to catch up on some well needed sleep as that bus journey wasnt a treat!

Coconuts and Koh Samui!!! remains copyright of the author Twinkle, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Yesterday We decided to escape the Banglamphu area and go further afield to Siam Square and to see the Jim Thompson house! We went to the house which was really beautiful these big teak houses full of antiques and surrounded by a pond full of carp and jungle like gardens, really pretty! We had this classic tour guide, she was a real comedian! She kept doing that comedy style whisper when it wasnt even appropriate, and these really flamboyant hand gestures!It was hilarious!!!She gave us each a little origami bird each....actually I got 2 because Id already cheekily helped myself! An argument then sparked with the tour guide and this sun-bed, orange tart over whether or not Jim Thompson looked like Bruce Willis or not!!!It was a corker!
We then went onto check out the huge MBK Centre in Siam Square which was a great shopping experience before attempting to get back to Khao San....what a treat, the only way back was to got by this mincy little boat!!!Thing is this boat didnt actually stop, just kinda had to grab hold of these ropes and swing on!!!We just couldnt stop laughing and it actually took us 3 boats before we managed to get on!!!It was hysterical!!!!
From there we stumbled onto a really cool food market a zillion little stalls selling everything from Padthai to fried cockroaches!!!!!

Today was my last day in Bangkok..... I know people say its dirty and tacky but I love it, Im a city girl at heart!!!!Did some serious shopping last night and enjoyed a lovely meal!Today was just tying up lose ends as Daniel is flying home via Osaka today and I am heading South!We said our farewells and I squeezed as much of my stuff into his backpack as physically possible and then I hopped on board my VIP bus to Koh Samui via Surrathani!!!This is exciting and Im praying I will find rich and Ashley easily when I get there!

Bruce Willis and Overactive Hand Gestures! remains copyright of the author Twinkle, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Our first port of call was the Grand Palace which I was extremely excited about!It was incredible...just a plethora of shrines, temples, statues, absolutley amazing!

We got to see the Emerald Buddha, Wat Phra Kaew, we even got to light our incense and present our flower to the Gods which was really cool!We then headed across to Wat Arun which I was particularly excited about as It looks especially spectacular! We took a little boat across the River and found ourslelves at Wat Arun!

I think Wat Arun is my favourite temple so far, I fell in love with the decorative porcelain, it was just so impressive!!!

We then headed back to Khao San for something to eat after being caught in an auful thunderstorm!!!It was today whilst watching CNN we found about about the London Bombings which is really worrying when you are so far away as you have no idea of the extent of these things when its the same footage rolling over and over on the TV.....

Grand Palace, Rainstorms and Wat Arun! remains copyright of the author Twinkle, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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