E Asia Travel

Posted by Mari Nicholson

Hampton Court Flower Show July 7th – 13th.

Less than one week to go now before the Hampton Court Flower Show opens when visitors to the royal gardens and parklands will have a chance to see a traditional Thai floating market. Created by Tourism Authority of Thailand, the market will have 15 genuine Thai paddle boats on the Long Waters filled with such products as herbs, spices, flowers and vegetables – all shipped especially from Thailand.

A beautiful teak-decked area will entice visitors to the water’s edge to shop, Thai style, from the Thai vendors who will pull up in their boats to sell fresh fruit and vegetables, snacks, plates of rice, and handicrafts, backed by Thai music.

Battersea Thai Food Festival on Sunday 27th July next from 10.00 – 19.00.If that whets your appetite for all things Thai, then don’t miss the food event at Battersea. This offers samples of Thailand’s cuisine, arts and culture, and Thai restaurants will showcase traditional Thai dishes prepared on the spot by Thai chefs, stir-fries, curries, mouth-watering dishes like Papaya Salad and Pad Thai Gai, plus a range of smoothies made from exotic Thai fruits. A wide range of dishes will be available to taste.

Nor have liquid accompaniments been forgotten and an authentic range of Thai beers and wines will be available to enjoy. There will be demonstrations of Thai handicraft and fruit carving, displays of dramatic martial arts – swordplay and boxing, and it promises to be an exceptionally enjoyable day.

Come along and meet some of the folk from TAT who will be on hand to answer any questions you may have. Thr event is sponsored by Thai Airways, Siam Winery and Singha Beer and organized by the Anglo-Thai Society..

Venue: British Genius Site (Battersea Park), enter via Chelsea Gate, London SW11 4NJ

Posted by Mari Nicholson

Brunei is a place often overlooked when thinking of a place in Asia that is somewhat different, but it has a lot to offer and it is a well run, clean and safe country. Car hire and chauffeur-driven cars are available, taxis are metered, buses run regularly and are low-cost, ferries link Brunei with other parts of Malaysia and airlines link all major cities.

There are only a few do's and don's to remember, to make your holiday go with a swing - or at least to make sure you don't offend anyone. Follow the advice below and your stay will be memorable in this very friendly country.

Do's and Don'ts

Bruneians are very tolerant and know that visitors are not always familiar with Islamic traditions. Nevertheless, visitors should keep some things in mind if they are to avoid upsetting the locals.

1. Observe the local dress code and dress modestly.

2. Do not shake hands with members of the opposite sex.

3. When you do shake hands, do so by lightly touching the hands and then bringing the hand to the chest.

4. Never point with your finger, but you can use the thumb of your right hand with the four fingers folded beneath it.

5. If female, always ask permission before entering a mosque.

6. Women should make sure to cover their heads when visiting a mosque and make sure that their knees and arms are not exposed.

7. When visiting a mosque, remove shoes. .

8 Never pass in front of a person in prayer, and never touch the Koran.

9. Gifts (particularly food) should only be passed with the right hand.

10. It is polite to accept even just a little food and drink when offered.

11. It is inconsiderate to eat or drink in the presence of a Muslim during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

See Brunei Tourism

Posted by Mari Nicholson

During the last year I have written articles on Bangkok's markets but people still write and ask me which one is my favourite. Without doubt, it has to be Chatachuak, the biggest, noisiest, saddest and best. Sad because of the puppies and monkeys huddled in small cages awaiting a buyer. It is illegal to have monkeys for sale but ...

Then there are the tiny caged birds singing their hearts out. People buy these so that they can release them to gain merit. What happens to the person who catches and re-cages them isn't talked about!

MBK near the National Stadium, is my second favourite. Here I buy lots of cotton clothes for wearing while in Thailand - cool, well made and cheap. We're talking £3 ($6) for a cotton shirt with gold embroidery, ditto for cotton pants in black or white, silk garments and lenghts of silk from China, batik wraps and shirts, football strips, cameras, cell 'phones, compute software, digital cameras, shoes, bags, sweaters, jewellry, make-up and perfume - a lot of it fake.

Chinatown has its share of market stalls, and night-time Chinatown is a place of magic, with neon lighting up the sky, the smell of food intensifying the excitement, little children playing around the stalls, and old men and women sitting placidly smoking pipes outside their restaurants.

Patpong, two streets that house the girlie-bars and transexual shows, is the heart of the red light district of Bangkok, yet it has a brilliant night market. You can pop into the bars for a look, see a show, have a drink, and then come out and do your shopping - the market stalls are usually there until about 3 a.m., sometimes later.

When you are in Bangkok, go visit a market. You'll find whatever you want there.

Posted by Mari Nicholson

It's impossible to get a good paella outside Spain. In fact, even in Spain it can be hard to find a good paella outside the province of Valencia, the home of the famous rice dish coloured with saffron and chock full of prawns, rabbit, and chicken.

The best paella I've ever had was one cooked al fresco on a fire made from rosemary twigs, the smoky aroma from which drifted into the open pan and flavoured the dish. Of course, it may have tasted exceptionally good as it was accompanied by delicious Valencian red wine.

Now, Londoners and visitors to London will have a chance to sample the real thing when a posse of Valencian chefs come to Borough Market in London, on Thursday 5th June, to cook paella in a three metre diameter pan, over a wood fire. This is part of the Taste of Spain Festival in the Green Market area of Borough Market.

Last year they served more than 1000 visitors. This year's there should be more. The paella will use more than 60 kilos of rice, 75 kilos of chicken, and 50 kilos of vegetables and preparations will begin at 4 p.m. for those who want to watch and learn how to cook the perfect paella. From 6 p.m. everyone is welcome to roll up and try it for free. Be sure to get there early to beat the queues.

And it's not only paella that's on offer. There will be typical products from the Valencia Region, wines and sausages from Requena, tiger nut milk (the famous horchata, a mix of water, sugar and ground tiger nuts also known as earth almonds) , plus the delicious Christmas nougat, turron. There will also be food and drink from other parts of Spain. Not to be missed.

Posted by Mari Nicholson

Most people know that my favourite European country is Spain. It is a country that is changing rapidly, tourism having brought prosperity to places once thought too remote to be affected by the phenomenon.

I can never read enough about this country and its changes. I automatically gravitate towards the travel section in a bookshop, always hoping to find new and exciting guides to places yet to be explored as well as more familiar places. I tend to look for the small publishers and self-published books, as these are less formulaic than the Guide Books produced by main guidebook publishers.

This week I've been lucky. I found Speak The Culture - Spain, (Be Fluent in Spanish Life and Culture), a look at my favourite European country through its architecture, literature, philosophy, art, cinema, theatre food and drink, and politics. The book is published by Thorogood Books at a reasonable £12. 99 and I am currently engrossed in it's anaylyis of the Spanish soul.

The book is split up into easy to read sections into which one can dip at random. I've already sampled sections dealing with flamenco, Spanish cinema of the Civil War and Spanish football, and now I'm going back to the beginning to read it from the start.

This is the best guide to Spain I've ever read because it is more than a guide. It is a book that captures the spirit of Spain from the Moorish flavours of the Middle Ages to the rich art of Picasso and exposes the heart of that passionate nation.

Posted by Mari Nicholson

Not being able to visit Thailand to attend the annual ritual to ensure that the seasonal rains fall at the appropriate planting time, it is exciting to be able to inform everyone that Amazing Thailand is bringing some smiles to London next month.

The venue is Trafalgar Square and the date is Saturday June 14th, time 12.00 - 14.00 hours.

Billed as an exciting Thai Festival of Extravaganza featuring the best of old and modern Thailand, it should be a fun day - if they can perform a seasonal ritual in London to ensure that no rain falls on that day!

The following month sees an even bigger event, and one I wouldn't miss for the world. This is the upcoming RHS Hampton Court Flower Show at which will be seen, for the very first time outside Thailand, a Thai Floating Market. The dates are 7th - 13th July.

The RHS Hampton Court Flower Show is the largest annual horticultural event in the world and is held amid the royal parklands and along the majestic Long Water at Hampton Court Palace. In this venue, the Tourist Authority of Thailand is going to recreate a traditional Thai floating market with genuine Jaew's (Thai paddle boats) filled with Thai products such as herbs, spices, flowers, vegetables, sweets and gifts.

Anyone in London or in the area of Hampton Court should head for the Garden Show. Apart from the Thai exhibits, Hampton is always glorious. My favourite way to get to the Palace is by boat from Westminster Pier, passing by some of London's most famous villages, like Chiswick, and landmarks that are off the main tourist track.

Boat down river to Hampton and take the train back to London - its quicker by train, maybe half an hour, but not so much fun.

See you there?

Posted by Mari Nicholson

On a discussion panel recently to talk about travel writing, the talk turned to favourite travel guides.

I have my favourites, like everyone else, but over the years I have found that the best way to come to grips with an area is to read a good novel set around the places to be visited. More often than not, these are crime novels, as crime lends itself to in-depth writing about cities and towns, to an exploration of the side streets, the outlying districts, and the politics that underlie the character of the place, .

Read any of the crime capers of Carl Hiassen and you are instantly submerged in the crazy world of Florida. Take James Lee Burke and you'll learn things about Louisianna that aren't in a guide book. Delve into Elmore Leonard, James Patterson, Robert Crais, Tennessee Williams – the linsight gained is endless.

In England, my favourite crime writer is Graham Hurley. Hurley's stories are mostly set in Portsmouth and cover everything from bird-watching along the coast to the marinas in the area, the mean streets of the old town and the new developments that are springing up along the waterfront, to Portsmouth Football Club and its place in the city.

What Hurley shares with all good crime writers is a compassion for his “losers”, an understanding of why they have arrived at a stage in life that has left them with little or no options. His D.I. Faraday and his team of detectives are three dimensional characters with failings we can all sympathise with as they battle to keep the street clean and their political bosses happy.

Anyone planning on visiting Portsmouth should read Graham Hurley. His 7th crime novem featuring D.I. Joe Faraday is out now in paperback (Orion). It's a cracking good read.

Posted by Mari Nicholson

My enforced stay in Thailand this year has made me more aware of my own climate's benefits. For years I'd been trying to make time to spend a week in Bangkok to catch up on what's new, but this year I had the time but not the inclination. For starters, the heat was intense. Temperatures of nearly 40 degrees with high humidity do not make for pleasant sightseeing or photography.

I found the best, and cheapest, way of getting around was the Express Boat on the Chao Phraya River. I'd take the SkyTrain from Silom down to Central Pier (next to the famous Oriental Hotel) and catch the Express from there to the famous sites. This way I managed to spend whole mornings at Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn), the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Chinatown. Other days I just disembarked at interesting looking piers and wandered the streets, discovering fascinating stalls selling things like false teeth (you needed to try them before buying!), wooden legs and other oddities.

The skytrain fares are maximum 30 Baht (.48p or $1 approx.), the Express Boat costs between 25 bht. per trip (.40p. or $0.80) per trip, and with entrace to the temples and Palace never more than £2. 50 or $5, sightseeing was very inexpensive. And it left enough for a G. & T. in the Oriental after the sightseeing!

If you are planning a trip to Bangkok in the near future, do think about the Express Boat. Forget expensive tours, forget taxis, just get yourself down to Central Pier and take it from there. Pick up a map at the skytrain ticket office, or get a river map from your hotel. You won't regret it.

Posted by Mari Nicholson

Detained in Bangkok due to the unexpected and severe illness of a family member, I am living in The Bangkok Nursing Home in an adjoining room to the patient. This is a superb hospital with a standard of health care way above average. The story may be somewhat different in other parts of the country, but anyone feeling nervous about having treatment in Bangkok, need fear not. The health care here is truly state of the art.

My main trouble is the boredom of being here day after day. I can leave for short trips outside the hospital, but walking in Bangkok's suffocating heat and humidity is not easy. Unfortunately, I cannot be absent in the morning when it is cooler, as that is the time the doctors visit to discuss the case.

I felt much in need of pampering and being made a fuss of, and as more than one person in Bangkok had recommended a new garden spa to me recently, I decided to pay it a visit two days ago.

Today I feel rejuvenated. The big hotel spas which I usually frequent have always pleased me, but having tried this smaller, intimate and very professionally run Spa I am now sold on the concept. Certainly, an owner-run spa like Leyana Spa & Garden wins hands down over even the most sophisticated spa run by trained staff.

The range of treatments may be smaller than that offered in the big hotels, but each and every one is geared to the client, and the selection of oils and scrubs is enough to satisfy even the most demanding client.

Something good came out of this illness. I've found a new spa about which I'll be writing shortly - after a few more treatments.

Posted by Mari Nicholson

The Bangkok Post last week issued a warning to tourists about falling for the gem scammers. Scammers operate by pretending to be a waiter from the victim's hotel, a friendly off-duty policeman, a schoolteacher, or a student wishing to practice a foreign language. The casual opening “Where do you come from”, tells the scammer all he needs to know

Before long he/she is recommending a temple or palace which “hardly any tourists know about”, I know “the real Bangkok” he will say. Around this point another local may appear and join in the conversation, backing up the first local's recommendation and further recommending a souveneir shop (almost always a jewellry shop).

Sometimes the jewellry shop will be called a Government Export Centre in the last few days of a gigantic sale of rubies and sapphires. Soon visitor and the scammers are on the way to the shop. The discounts are massive, the savings are enormous, anyone would be a fool to turn down such an offer, especially when a certificate of authenticity is provided with each item of jewellry bought.

One important thing to remember when in Thailand. There is no comeback when you've bought these goods. They are usually genuine gems but they are not worth the money you have paid for them. The mark up is astronomical but high profits are not against the law. Everyone is entitled to make a profit on his goods, it's up to the buyer to watch that he/she doesn't pay too much.

Greed operates on both sides of the deal. The seller is greedy for profit and the customer is greedy for something (s)he thinks is worth a lot more than the shop is selling it for. Remember, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

In Bangkok, the motto should be Caveat Emptor.