3G - Good friends, Good food, Good fun

We are finally back to school/work/routine after a 3-4 day holiday in Chiang Mai.

We flew by Tiger Airways on Saturday 4 November at 6am, which means getting up at 3.45am to get everyone ready! We met our friends, another family of 4 (plus 1 on the way who is now nice and cosy inside Ivy's tum) at the Budget Terminal at 4.45am to begin our little getaway. Going for a holiday with the kids is like going to a combat; armed with water bottles, hot water flask, snacks, milk powder, diapers, mosquito repellant, sarong, stroller, etc.

We arrived Chiang Mai on schedule and were driven to the Sheraton for our 3-night stay. We took things slow and had a wonderful traditional Khantoke dinner (Northern Thai dinner) at Khun Khantoke under the starry night. The stars have company as people celebrate Loy Krathong by releasing floating lanterns into the air using hot air combustion as wicks are lit. It was a beautiful night but my little Prince Raeyen was in his slumber not knowing what went on. Each family sat around a low tray table with food on it and watched the performance by the very hospitable Thais.

Raeyen at the pool at the Sheraton


On Sunday, we went to the Night Bazaar for shopping and the boys released the floating lanterns into the dark sky amidst many other lanterns. Kieran wrote his and Raeyen's names on it and we watched it floated into the twilight in awe!

We had a full-day tour to the Karen/Long-neck tribe, Monkey school, Mae Sa Elephant camp, Orchid farm, parasol and silk factories on Monday. The long-neck tribe is unforgettable as girls as young as 5 years will start wearing a 1kg iron coil on their necks! We took a photo with a young long-neck girl. Kieran asked me how could they possibly turn their heads, I replied that they could surely but slowly. Their culture thinks that it is beautiful, and we should respect that. There was another tribe where the women wear huge tube-like earrings which punctured a big hole in their lobes. All these are strange to us but hey, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. The huts that they live in are very sparse with no furniture. Even the baby cot is laid with rice sacks and held on by a pulley-system, amazing!


At the Monkey school, Kieran's leg was caught by a wild monkey. Thanks to his Crocs shoes, that monkey only managed to pull his shoe off with no apparent injuries on his leg. Afterall Crocs shoes do have some credits even with the escalator saga that was reported recently.

Raeyen fell asleep when we reached the elephant camp. So Kieran took the ride with his Daddy. Kieran enjoyed himself very much and the ride was about 30 minutes.

Kieran and Raeyen had great fun with Favian and Dillon as they are companions to one another. The older boys entertained Raeyen with Peek-A-Boos and "Catch the Baby" game, so cute!

Click here to view the holiday photos.