Sawadeeeee!!!(That's hello in Thai, don't you know?!)
Ok....so now the reason behind my disappearing act....and an explanation as to why I havent updated my blog in like a month!
December saw me finally finding a moment to have a bit of time out and do my annual trip of dreams....so, with backpack in tow I scuttled off to South East Asia for an inspiration trip, come fabric sourcing quest, come holiday! And I have returned with a big, fat, juicy journal and some SUPER GOURMET fabrics and trims for my AW09 collection!!!I'm so excited to get sewing!
Muchos as I LOVE London....it's always fun to unleash from the box every now and then and brew on a bit of variety....and I feel as though my optical, feast of foreign parts, 2008, may keep my itchy feet ermmmm....un-itchy, for another few months...well maybe....
So....the trip of dreamzzzzz......
As ever it wasn't a straightforward endeavour.....the day before I was due to fly into Bangkok, my flight was cancelled due to the political drama kicking off in the airport...
So my flight suddenly turned into a TROPICAL, re-route of TREATS!!!My whole trip (which was initially planned as an overland adventure of Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos) had now turned on it's head which meant Hong Kong and Malaysia had now been thrown into equation?!!?
So, to cut a long story short....my Asian Adventure 2008 now saw me hitting Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Hong Kong....and I had the most AMAZING time!!!
I could go on FOREVER AND EVER telling tales of the travels....but you would be sitting here for DAYS....so if you really want to know all of the gory details....then feel free to pop round mine for a Chai and a flick through the bulging journal.....
However.....I will hit you up with a few choice segments....and some cheeky photos!!!!
Believe it or not....it was exactly a year to the day when I touched down in Hong Kong since I had last visited HK......I absolutely LOVEEE HK.....it's amazing...in everyway.....I got to hang out with Gloria and visit all of my favourite places as well as do a LOT of shopping!!!eeek!I knew at this point that by the end of the trip the backpack would be busting at the seams! On my first day there I also had a drama in that at 7am the hostel I was staying in got raided by the police in a "routine check" to see if the place was being used as a brothel?!?!After a 14 hour flight and very little sleep....I was not best impressed to wake up and find the police standing at the foot of the bed!!!
OK.....so this is totally the abridged version of the WHOLEEE trip which breaks my heart as I would love to sit and bore you for hours with the whole spiel.......
So...my next port of call saw me hitting Malaysia which was amazing and gave me a chance to spend some time with my old housemate, Siz Siz, who I used to live in Wembley with, a couple of years back!
I had an awesome time in Malaysia...spent time in Kuala Lumpur and in a town called Melaka on the west coast.....It was here that I picked up a lot of bits and bobs for the new collection....so WATCH THIS SPACE!!!!
YAHHH.....so Malaysia ROCKED!!I loved it....!!!Thailand, to this day....from every country I have ever visited in my life...still remains my most favourite place on earth....I love Thailand so much...and to be honest it will take some beating....and to date, even though I've been utterly amazed by everywhere I've been since...Thailand still rules the roost!!!
So, it doesn't take a genius to work out that I was SOOO EXCITED to be paying it a return visit!!!And I was meeting Alexis there so it was set to be a corker!!!
One tale that I will indulge in....So me and Alexis were sitting enjoying a bucket or 6 of super strong Thai Whiskey and Red Bull....when all of a sudden a knob of an American lad rocked over to the table and whipped his balls out...he them proceeded to attempt to put them in our bucket of cocktail.....next thing we know some 7 year old street urchin boy had nicked his baseball cap in retaliation....before we know it the street urchin is taking a beating from the American dude and two Ladyboys have been knocked to the decks in the melee...next thing a street brawl had erupted and we had a pile-on situation involving a couple of trannies, the street urchin, the dickhead and our new ginger mate from Glasgow.....I happily sat back enjoying the spectacle and polishing off the cocktailio!!!!It was a corker....one of the funniest incidents of my life!!!!Our next leg of the travels saw us heading to Vietnam...a country I have dreamed of visiting FOREVER!!!!
I spent my 26th birthday in Hanoi in Northern Vietnam which was amazing and the day saw a Water Puppet theatre show, Ice cream at a place called "Fanny's", lunch by a beautiful lake and lots of backstreet shopping and rickshaw riding!!!!
Vietnam also saw an amazing venture to the INCREDIBLE Halong Bay in which we sailed around all of the islands in a traditional Junk Boat!!!Sooooo pretty!!!!!
I think without sparkling a sleep-a-thon Ill call it a day with the travel stories!!!!Believe it or not I actually took....950 photographs and wrote a squillion pages in the journal about the whole escapade....
What I will say is, December was totally amazing....my trip was filled with temples, chopsticks, Buddhas and rickshaws.....monkey infested caves brimming with Hindu shrines, ancient ruins in Ayutthaya, side-stepping through a million motorbikes in Vietnam, and abundance of tofu!!! The most incredible experience!!!And of course.....10 passport stamps later and double the luggage weight I left with....I have returned with some SUPER SPECIAL fabrics and influences for my new collection!!!
Love and Asian Antics,
Emma xxxx
