3 November 2009

This was our penultimate day and the first which was not wall-to-wall sunshine. There had been a terrific storm last night and there was vegetation debris everywhere. We had been so lucky last evening with the Loy Festival dinner which had been held outside and would have been completely ruined had there been a storm. Speaking of weather we were amazed to learn that the temperature in Beijing was now -8° and snowing, for the first time in living memory, whereas when we were there the temperature was 23° with clear blue skies and, unusually, no pollution. What an amazing change and how lucky we were to have such lovely weather in Beijing.

Here in Hua Hin it was cloudy all day and started to rain continuously, in fact, it was a little chilly, so much so that I even wore a small sleeveless pullover for breakfast. This change of weather mattered not to me as I had had a surfeit of sun over the previous week and we spent our time catching up with e-mails, reading and doing things that we should have done, such as having a formal tea in the newly refurbished restaurant, adjacent to the reception.

Later that evening we went into town as usual and splashed our way through the puddles to the supermarket when Mick bought a new suitcase full all on his new acquisitions including a very thick down filled jacket with a fur trimmed hood (for Sweden) which looked slightly incongruous in the heat of Thailand. Then onto the tailor to pick up my trousers and shirts for my son-in-law. Unfortunately the trousers were not quite right as I have instructed the tailor to make the front opening right down to the underside of the crotch, with a Velcro fastening, instead of a zip, in order for me to gain easy and quick access. The trousers were not as instructed and therefore were returned to the outside tailor who promised to deliver them to the hotel shortly before we left the following day.

We then went to the Onn Onn Corner Restaurant, which, for the record and for the benefit of any of my readers who should find themselves in Hua Hin, is located in Poolsak St – which runs parallel to the main Petchkase Road – near the Hua Hin Buddhist temple. We have decided that the Onn Onn is currently the best restaurant we have eaten in, in Hua Hin, taking over from the Bam Bam, a little further along the same street, which for some inexplicable reason seems to have suddenly gone downhill and for the first time ever, in the 10 years or so that I have been visiting, was almost empty. Clearly the word must have got out amongst the locals.

This evening Mick had scallops in green Thai curry and a large plate of steamed rice. I had a plate of steamed scallops, squid and tiger prawns with mixed peppers in a sort of oysters sauce and we shared a plate of special Onn Onn seafood fried rice and a bottle of Singha beer, the cost 460 baht (£8.60). Then back to the hotel where we watched The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, a quite amusing Western.

Tags: China, clothing, Thailand, travel