Living in Thailand is fabulous but Christmas is one of the hardest times. It is at this time of year that thoughts turn to family and friends back at home and all the things we are missing out on. When we were here in 2002, Christmas barely featured in Chiang Mai, but this year we noticed a big change and there were a lot more decorations and festivities around the city.
On the day, we invited a group of friends to join us at the house for a traditional dinner. The event was enhanced by a major personal announcement. First thing on Christmas morning, while opening out presents, Chas went down on bended knee and promptly tried to put an engagement ring on the wrong finger. Rachel was mortified and quickly corrected the matter.
The ring itself was a charming piece of jewellery depicting two cats intertwined and cost a grand total of £3. Despite Chas being delighted at the simplicity and symbolic significance of the ring, a couple of days later Rachel made him go out and buy a proper one.
The Christmas dinner was a great success, mountains of food in the traditional English style washed down with rivers of alcohol.
