maggies_lens

Saturday morning I had my hens. I really didn't want the traditional hens thing, you know what I mean. Not into strippers and that sort of stuff. I'd found this chocolate tour of Melbourne thing when I was doing my TAFE course and decided I'd really like to do it. The morning was HECTIC, getting all sorts of stuff done, then Melissa arrived and we took off. Picked up mum and Rhonda and headed into the city. We had a nice healthy breakfasty thing of soup (from Souperman in the QV Centre! LOL!) as we'd arrived quite early. Tanya and Shar showed up shortly after we were done, and we joined the Walk people at the first stop, New Zealand Natural. We got taken to a few choccy places in Melbourne (New Zealand Natural, Cacao Fine Chocolates, Koko Black, Lindt and Ganache) and got to sample some of the best quality chocolate Melbourne has to offer, and learn a little bit of Melbourne architecture. None of the Cadbury rubbish either; we had REAL chocolate. Was just marvelous. Did you know it takes 15 years to be a Master Chocolatier? And you can't get the qualification without studying in Europe for at least part of the time. REAL chocolate doesn't make you fat either, it's all the oil and refined sugar that gets put into commercial grade chocolate that's so bad for you. We got to learn how chocolate is made, the different types of chocolate and how the modern methods came to be. In all, it was awesome. And yes we got to sample :) The only one I didn't like had champagne ganache in it. I hate ganache at the best of times, and hate champagne so yeah :D By the end we'd had enough choccy! We ended with afternoon tea at Ganache Chocolates where we were given INCREDIBLE cake. I chose to have peppermint tea to compliment mine, best idea EVER! Helped to cleanse my palate and make everything taste quite divine.
Tanya and Shar went home to pick up Sophie from their babysitter, I drove first Rhond and then mum home, then Melissa and I went and saw the horses. They hadn't been out of their paddock since they arrived so were a bit on edge. But they need to get used to it all. Gave them a feed, let them walk around in the round yard so they could look at things, treated Destiny with some Illium the vet had dropped by. We went back to my place after horses were put away and grabbed Craig and went to Hog Breath's for AWESOME dinner.
Fell into bed that night and slept like the dead. Today has been a very slothful day, not done anything much :) Have liked it :D

( random collection of photos )



Back to the grindstone tomorrow. Only two weeks left!!!

This is just too damn cute :D What a pretty mare :)

It's my 33rd. ALSO HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SARAH!!!
Best gift this place could have given me: proposal for Ralph and John to go all nights, and Gregg and I all days, which is what all 4 of us want :D We'll see how it goes. Also got an email saying I've been shortlisted for a government job intake in 2011. :D *DANCE WITH ME!!!* XD




And coz Pink kicks more ass than anyone else I have ever known




I"VE HAD CHOCLATE!!!!!!!

Go, you Wildlands boys!!! Ohgod I miss my firefighter brothers.

I can't believe my holiday is coming to an end. It seems like the last couple days have just flown by. I wish I could stay longer! Not so much in BKK, but go North again. I think everyone is getting a bit down now. It was Marion yesterday, today it was Craig who wanted to be alone. We first went to the Embassy and voted. Was sort of interesting. Never been in one of those before. It was all very calm and relaxed. I enjoyed not having the gauntlet to run, just one Greens bloke, and he was very easy on the eye so that was okay ;D
After that Craig took off to be by himself while Marion and I headed off to the centre of MADNESS: Chatuchak Market. Aprox 34 acres of INSANITY. The market is massive, and claustrophobic, and smelly, and just INSANE! Marion and I split up and went our sep ways as we have different interests. We'd org'ed to meet back at 2:30pm at the entry closest to Mo Chit Station. Oh guys, it was just NUTS. I haven't sweated like that since clambering around the ruins the other day. Primarily it was clothes they sell there. With enough other tinkery stuff to make it interesting. There is also a pet section which I did NOT take any photos in because it would upset some people on here. NO ABUSE, just not our standards for pet selling. I didn't like the way they sold baby squirrels and hedgehogs (but that's prob because I see these animals as purely wild, not pets), nor how the puppies were out in the open, and the bunnies in small individual cages. BUT! They were all VERY healthy looking, happy, had plentiful water and food, fans were blowing on them and most were playing or otherwise just napping. I hated the stupid clothes on the puppies and bunnies tho. Farkin' stupid practice. There was also a BKK Cat Rescue stand with about 30 kittens of various ages available for adoption, and about 5 adult cats. The ladies there saw me going gah-gah at the kittens so after letting me wash my hands with antiseptic gel, I was allowed to cuddle a couple. Beautiful :) I donated. I guess they don't often get what I donated because I got a wide eyed look, a huge smile and a very low Wai. :) I dunno about you guys, but it makes me feel good to do something good for someone else :)
I FOUND A BANANA ROTI GUY!!!!! We've all become addicts to this simple and most glorious of deserts. It's a roti, with a banana cooked into the middle with condensed milk, then with chocolate poured over the top. Holy HELL it's so damn good. So bad for you, but so so good.:)
Right near Roti-Guy was a band of Kim players so I got to eat while listening to some truly awesome traditional Thai music. I sat back and listened/watched, ate my Thai lunch, watching the insanity of the market. Was a truly omg-i'm-not-home moment :D It took me 45mins to find the correct entry. I sat for a while as knee and ankle were ON FIRE. Watching the crowd again. Marion came along, we ate Logan's that the kind fruit ladies gave us when we got some Pomelo, then we rode home.
I have made friends with a sub-Soi kitten I've named Soi Boy. He saw me coming and meowed his rusty little Siamese type meow, I gave him a cuddle (he could do with a wash!!!!) before coming upstairs and almost collapsing in the shower: it felt just THAT good to have cool clean water on me :D Have been pretty much just slacking off the past couple hours. Loving it :)
I do love Thailand and I will miss the North especially, but I am keen to get home to all I hold near and dear. I have missed Alex fiercely, and I ache for my animals. Work... not so much :D
Pics and vids under the cut.Nothing distressing :)


The Kim players

( more under here )

I woke up needing to MOVE!!! C&M were being lazy so I gave them a little time to see if they'd perk up. Went outside on the balcony (as opposed to, you know, inside on the balcony) and saw a SWEEEEEET little grey and white squirrel! He was going ballistic, playing on the rooftops, wires and stealing food off the little Shrines. I tried TRIED to get vid but nooooo, the G9 fogged up, DIDN'T IT!!! ARRRGH! :D C&M were still being lazy tarts and I couldn't stand it any more so I took off alone. That's right, ALONE! OMG alone in a strange city in a foreign land! What ever will happen to our hero now! You'll just have to click the cut and find out, in the next exciting installment of... THE NATURE NERD IN THAILAND!!!!



This just doesn't sound right to me from a Buddhist perspective, somehow, ya know? :P

( NATURE NERD TACKLES THAILAND! )
Tomorrow morning we take off the Elephant Nature Park! That is a rescue and rehab for the elephants of Thailand. We won't be back til the next afternoon. I can not wait. This is what I have been hanging out for the most, even more than the tigers :)
Must find banana man shortly...:)


( vids from today, 2 short ones )

At last! I have been wanting to make home-made ones for aaaages, since I can't get to NY and buy some at some funky street vendor with lox cheese and a cherry coke ;)

Oh and this is what I had on my lap yesterday:


all together now.... d'aaaaaaaaaawwwwwww!

And:


yep, I've lost it....

Everytime I watch this I crack up like a lunatic. This guy is hilarious :D The dancing is enough to reduce me to a helpless laughing wreck :D