That was the Week that was in Chiang Rai

Its another Saturday in Chiang Rai which means its the Saturday evening Walking Market. It also means another week has passed.

This last week has been half dominated by my work, writing audio and iPod trails for a client in the UK. Friday was the deadline for the first drafts and it ended up being a three session day beginning at 9.30 and ending at 10.30. This could have been avoided if I'd done half a day on Wednesday or Thursday but I was waiting on replies to some queries from the client before completing the drafts. I'd been in two minds on whether to send the queries to them at the start of the week or leaving them in the drafts. We'd decided on the former which caused the long Friday session as they didn't reply to the specific queries they could or were prepared to answer and let us know firmly that general queries we'd have to do the research for.

The remainder of the week has all been in Chiang Mai, mixing our time between Kaya, yoga, swimming, visiting temples, going to cafes and shopping in the local produce market.

The highlights from that, just to shake things up, were these. We visited Wat Rong Khun on Tuesday. Known as the White Temple it lives up to its name. Kaya's 8 month birthday on Wednesday celebrated by a big crawl in another temple, and, for me, a trip down the Night Bazaar on Thursday Night where I managed to buy the grand total of three postcards, 2 birthday cards, one rosewood spoon for Kaya, a plate of vegetable tempura and a pineapple shake. It is fun to walk around browsing the stalls and catching the various stage acts - everything from traditional Thai dance to traditional US 60s folk covers. The hat dance wasn't a patch on the umbrella dance we saw in Chiang Mai. The walk there and back, about 20 minutes each way, was a great opportunity to stretch my legs and walk out fast. We've not had a lot of exercise on this visit to Thailand so far.

Kaya also had her second Hep B vaccination at the private Overbrook Hospital where the staff speak great English. It was the same make as used by the Crookes Practice in Sheffield. She has one more to do in mid-December. She has been a bit cranky ever since but we thought it might be teething and we managed to catch sight of a tooth-shaped white lump today. They are truly on their way now. Her crawling is getting better and better. Its lovely being greeted when coming into the house with Kaya crawling from around the corner of the L-shaped room with a smile. She's also trying out getting herself up to standing and taking steps when we support her. Onwards and upwards!

We're off now to the Rim Kok Resort for some poolside action and relaxation.