Our Canadian Christmas Cabin Adventure – Part 3 – Boxing Day

Boxing Day is now officially buttermilk pancake day. Fact. I did cheat and bought the mix, but it was so easy and made the best pancakes – although I did opt for the add eggs and milk rather than just water (give me some credit please).  Pancakes, scrambled eggs, streaky bacon (yes the maple kind) and of course… maple syrup. It was almost as good as my favourite International House. Almost. 

After another huge feast of pancakes we took a drive to find Eugenia Falls. We ended up getting the car stuck on the hill down to the car park. Luckily we remembered we were in Canada and people are very helpful and friendly. Within a few minutes of burning the rubber of the tyres trying to reverse, a whole family joined me in pushing the car (including two really cute kids) back up the hill and off the ice. As much as we were embarrassed being the “English couple that got stuck” we weren’t made feel that way at all. I’m sure if that was England, if someone did come to help you, it would have had to end in some smart arse comment I’m sure. After finding a safe, horizontal and non iced surface to park and went for a walk on a side trail of the Bruce Trail along Eugenia Falls. The weather was just perfect.

Our walk had worked up an appetite of cold cuts, home made sausage rolls (I used the left over stuffing for the middle) Bubble and squeak cakes using all the left over vegetable from Christmas lunch and not forgetting yummy Home made coleslaw. Ever since my friend Lizzy made me home made coleslaw, it was so delicious I don’t think I would ever buy it again. You can read my recipe here: Home Made Coleslaw.

Our Canadian Christmas Cabin Adventure – Part 2 - Christmas Day

Christmas morning came. Dave was up and making me coffee and getting the Pillsbury croissants in the oven. I love Christmas! We had bubbles opened our prezzies, called our families and watched the BEST CHRISTMAS FILM EVER – Elf… Saaaantaaaa! I know him.

It was so nice to chat to our families over Skype. It felt really weird to not be with anyone else, just us. After a walk around the lake we had our delicious feast. While I prepared we watched a friends DVD from the video store – it’s amazing how comforting it is to see Friends - especially after not seeing any for a while. I think the last time I saw an episode was in Vang Vien (but that not so comforting – just weird!).

Our Festive Feast (all recipes derived form the good old BBC Food site – thank you beeb!)

For starter Creamy pesto with prosciutto dippers - This was really easy and not too heavy.

Followed by wrapped turkey breast stuffed with cranberries and chestnuts. As there were only two of us I used chicken breast instead, which I think, was actually nicer than turkey. It came out so good, especially with the other stuffing. We had loads left over for cold cuts too.

With the chicken: Spiced red cabbage (I didn’t have all those things so I just used wine, all spice and orange – like mulled wine I guess!), rosemary and garlic roast potatoes, honey glazed carrots and parsnips and or course Devils on horseback and pigs in blankets. What do you think? MMMMM If I do say so myself.

It’s after eating all of that massive dinner you wonder why, oh why did I thin I could eat this and everything else planned?!! Although… we did manage to tuck away a large amount of chocolate and cheese during the day too. Oh and chocolate Yule log. Ha.

You can read Part 3 here

Our Canadian Christmas Cabin Adventure – Part 1 – Christmas Eve

As soon as we had decided to stay in the Ontario for a while we book ourselves a little cabin for Christmas. We had been looking forward to it for ages!

It would be our first and probably only Christmas we would have on our own, so we wanted to make it really special. We booked the smallest and most secluded cabin at Cedars, which is a year round, family oriented cottage resort, located on Lake Eugenia, 1 1/2 hours north of Toronto.

You can read my review of our stay at Cedars here: Trip Advisor link.

We had both been praying for snow, and luckily there was a sprinkling of snow when we arrived on Christmas Eve. We had brought so much stuff it looked like we were moving in – most of it was food and drink! It’s funny as we did think we had been quite reserved on what we had brought, but it’s amazing how much you end up getting in the worry that “you might not have enough”.

After the unpacking was done we explored the resort – there were a few other families but everyone was scuttling into their chalets or cabins giggling. It was really nice actually, really gave the pace a real atmosphere along with the now and the lights. I also bought a few decorations from Dollarama (my secret favourite shop) to put around the cabin.

Christmas Eve dinner consisted of steak and chips, which I think might have to become a tradition in our house from now on. Think we have made quite a few of those this year!

It was the best cooked steak, even if I do say so myself, and Dave did! After either over or undercooking fro so long I think I might have cracked it: How to cook the perfect steak.

Afterwards we adjourned to the sofa to watch Scrooged. I also developed a taste for brandy and cigars – perhaps snot the best think to develop a taste for, but I had always hated brandy before. When it’s really cold and you are standing outside in the snow it’s surprisingly good. As our parents weren’t around we allowed ourselves one present each to open, we both sort of knew what they were and we wanted to wear them – Jammies!! Dave bought me Snoopy and Woodstock ones, which I love – thank you Dave.


You can read part 2 here. 

Dangerous Dan’s fulfils my need for beef… on a Sunday – Halleluiah

So we rode on our bikes out to the Toronto beaches and were going to treat ourselves to a Burger’s Priest as we had heard so much about it, but the Priest goes to Church on Sunday – pah! So we were mighty disappointed.

On our ride home we were foaming at the mouths for a burger, but had built up the anticipation so much we didn’t want to just settle fro something sub-par. That’s when we stumbled upon Dangerous Dan’s on the corner of Broadview Avenue and Queen Street East – who claims to have the best burger in Toronto and you can sit in – score!

The place is awesome, old car chair diner seats, signs that insult vegetarians and an open kitchen to tease you with the smell of flame grilling meat mmmm. The menu has everything you can thing of from steak dinners, ribs, wings, breakfast and of course, burgers! There is even a symbol against certain foods: Recommended for Medicinal Cannabis Users (intended as humor only).

You can have a 24 ounce bulls balls burger, or a "McEwan" with 10oz NY steak freshly ground into a hamburger patty, mixed with beer, shitake and oyster mushrooms, camembert and brie cheese along with a 4oz pan fried Lobster Tail drizzled with clarified butter. As much as I really wanted to have a go at one of those amazing challenges, we opted for cheese and bacon burger, fries and onion rings.

We ordered at the counter and waited hesitantly, while playing trivia with the Simpsons character poster next to us. [I really think Dave should choose the Simpsons if he ever were to go on Mastermind]. Out came a desert for someone – deep fried mars bars, they looked amazing. I was so excited.

The burger came. They were pretty busy so the service wasn’t too fast. Long enough to build to the suspense, but not too long I started to eat the ketchup.



Wow. I admired it for a while (and took some pics to share).

Then I dived in. It was all I wanted in a burger. The beef was moist and cooked just right. There was the right amount of crispy bacon and cheese and the bun held together well. Fries were fat and crispy, but would have preferred skin on. The only thing I thought wasn’t up to scratch was the onion rings. They were a bit too greasy.

$5.99 (cheese & peameal burger)

Overall pretty frickn awesome – best burger I have had in Toronto so far.

I want to go back to attempt something off the Double D menu and some chocolate salty balls…

How to make a roast chicken dinner

One of my friends at work is worrying as it’s her husband’s first Christmas without him family this year. She wants to make it special, but seeing as she is Jewish and can’t cook, she is really struggling.

So I wrote this to help her out and learn how to cook a roast chicken dinner, so I thought I would share. It’s actually easier than you think.

The key to a perfect roast dinner is... timing!

An average size chicken will take between 1.5 – 2 hours – check on the packet it should tell you, or ask butcher for the weight. As a general rule, calculate a cooking time of 20 minutes per pound of meat plus an additional 20 minutes at a temperature of 375ºF (190ºC). So a 5 lb chicken will need to be roasting in the oven for at least 1h 50 mins. A 5 lb bird will serve between 4 - 5 people.

Pre-heat oven to 375ºF (190ºC).

Make sure there is nothing inside the chicken – in the UK they sometimes leave the giblets in for people to cook with, but I’m not sure if they do that here or not. I had a friend once who forgot to check and roasted her chicken with a plastic packet of giblets in – how depressing would that be when you went to carve!!

Cut a large carrot (no need to peel) into quarters – i.e. in half long ways and across. Place the quarters flat surface down in the middle of a roasting pan (the metal dish with raised sides).

Cut an onion in half, again no need to peel. Put one half or both – dependent on the size of your bird – into the chicken cavity. Place the chicken on top of the quarters of carrots – these will raise-up the chicken slightly from the bottom of the pan. Drizzle olive oil over the chicken’s skin and rub over with your hands. Grind pepper and if you have some fresh time or tarragon (or both!) break up and sprinkle over the top – it will stick to the oil. Don’t put salt on it yet.

Include a cup of white wine (doesn’t matter what type) and a cup of water into the roasting dish. Break off a large piece of tinfoil to cover the chicken and roasting dish. Place into oven so it is in the middle of the oven – you might need to adjust the shelf. If it’s too high up it might burn.

**Look at the clock and make a note of the time.**

00.00 - The roast clock starts now!

00.30 - After 30 mins, take the chicken out flip back the tinfoil. Spoon (or a baster if you have one) the wine and water over the chicken, do this a few times. If the water looks like it’s disappearing put another half a cup in. Cover back over and put back into the oven.

Now for the roast spuds… some people think it only takes about 30 minutes to roast potatoes. They’re wrong. You want to allow the potatoes a good hour in the oven. Get good potatoes. At home we would use King Edwards or Maris Pipers, I don’t think you have them here so try and find an Idaho Russet.

I’m lazy when I cook, I can’t be bothered to peel and apparently the skin on potatoes is the best bit for you so I leave it on – but it’s personal choice. Once you’ve washed (and peeled if you prefer) your potatoes cut them into quarters and put into a pan for boiling. Boil until the potatoes start to “fall” i.e. they start looking a bit like they’re going to fall apart. If you leave the skin on, you can see the skin starting to fall away from the centre. It should take about 10 minutes, but don’t leave them too long or you’ll have mash! Drain the spuds and leave then in the colander with a teal towel over them.

01.00 – repeat spooning of the chicken – ooh err. Remove tinfoil, keep for later. Drizzle chicken skin with more olive oil and sprinkle with salt – best to use the rough salt. Put back into the oven.

Dependant on the size of the chicken - count backwards 30 minutes from the time you need to take the chicken out of the oven to work out when you need to put your spuds in. (Let’s base this recipe on a 5lb chicken).

I like to do my potatoes in olive oil, but if you want to go all out fancy for Christmas you can buy some goose fat. Either way you want to put the fat or oil (a nice lot to cover the bottom of the pan) into the pan and heat it in the oven for about 5 minutes. While that’s heating, pour the potatoes back into the pan they cooked in drizzle more olive oil over them. Add in some sprigs of Rosemary (preferable fresh) and some bashed garlic clothes – four or five. These again don’t need to be peeled, just bash them with the bottom of the knife or a rolling pin so you break the skin and they look a bit squashed. The secret of great roast spuds is to bash them up a bit. So put the lid on the pan and shake the spuds with the oil, rosemary, garlic and some salt and pepper around so they are coated in oil and the edges are roughed up.

01.20 - Take the pan out of the oven - be very careful as its hot fat. Place on a sturdy service – top of the oven is always good. Pour spuds into the pad – again careful it doesn’t splash. Use some tongs and turn the spuds in the hot oils so they are coated. Put the spuds into the oven

This is a good time to wash up any dishes you’ve accumulated so far so you don’t have such a big job at the end.

Now you can prepare your vegetables. I like carrots and broccoli. Peel and chop the carrots and put into a pan of water and leave with a lid on the stove. Break or cut the broccoli into small florets and put into a bowl on the side.

01.40 – use the tongs and turn the potatoes in the oil or fat. You want to make sure all the sides get crispy. Don’t worry if they haven’t started getting brown yet. If there are any spuds that look like they’re cooking more than others, just swap them over. Put back in the oven.

1.50 – take the chicken out. Push a knife or skewer into the chicken where the bones are i.e. in the joints of the leg and in the main breast. Pull the knife out and push against the chicken. The juice should run clear. If the juice looks slightly pink – don’t worry just pop back in for another 10 mins and repeat until juices run clear. When the chicken is ready to remove, move potatoes to centre of oven if they weren’t already.

Take a pan and tip the juice from the chicken roasting dish into it – you might need some help with this or if you have a baster you could use that. Once you have got all the juice, take the piece of tinfoil you removed earlier and cover the chicken leave on the side to rest. 

Add another cup of wine to the pan with the chicken juice and add a chicken stock cube. Reduce down (keep boiling until it gets thicker). Taste the gravy, add in some herbs or pepper if you think it needs something. Careful with adding salt as stock cubes are already salty. Use a whisk to help thicken. Keep your eye on it. Add a bit more wine if you need to.

2.00 - Check the potatoes. Turn them with the tongs as before.

You’ve got a bit of time to set the table. If you want to put the vegetables in dishes on the table, pop the dishes, gravy boat and your plates on top of the oven by the vent so they warm up.

If you’re having wine, open the bottle now.

2.10 - put the carrots on and ask the man of the house to come and carve the chicken (or leave until you are sat on the table if you want to be like the Griswolds.

2.15 – put the broccoli in the pan on top of the carrots – don’t worry if the water doesn’t cover them as they will steam. Put the gravy into the gravy boat. It’s good for the gravy to cool a little before you serve as it thickens. If it looks like there is a lot of fat from the chicken in the gravy, simply use a spoon or baster to skim the top and remove.

2.20 – check the carrots and stems of broccoli with a knife, it should glide in easily. Drain water and place into bowl. Take out potatoes and put into bowl serve with the bits of garlic as it looks nice.

2.21 – serve and enjoy!!

Skittle Burger Recipe

I came across this awesome new recipe for a burger made out of skittles. I'm off to buy a bag and try it...

Sheep Dogs – Free Gig In Dundas Square – 7th December

Popped out to Sears in my lunch break and stumbled across a free gig going on in Dundas Square, courtesy of Samsung to launch the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus android phone.

The Sheepdogs were playing, a Canadian rock band from Saskatoon. They were awesome, so I ended up staying a bit longer than I should have - but hey! Found out they’re playing this Friday and Saturday at Lee’s Palace, but it’s sold out… damn. I will be adding them to my Itunes playlist, you can check out their music on MySpace: www.myspace.com/thesheepdogs

Toronto is awesome for free live music, even if it’s freezing!

The easiest and best way to cook the perfect steak at home.

I’ve always struggled a bit at home with cooking steaks. I either overcook them or under cook them, which is really infuriating when you have spent quite a bit of money on a good cut of beef.

I have picked up quite a few tips along the way which I will share.

Firstly – get a good cut of meat. My favourite is sirloin as you get the fat for the flavour but it doesn’t run through the actual meat. Whatever steaks you choose you need to remember that different meats should be cooked differently. For example a rump is on a piece of the cow that moves so you can eat it rare, but fillet and sirloin are from a bit that doesn’t move so needs to be cooked at least medium rare to free the elasticity of the meat.

I don’t think that a steak should ever be cooked any higher than medium. It’s just a waste of a good meat… but I’m not going to get started on that debate right now.

OK so, here we go:

My brother told me always oil the steak, not the pan.

So use some good quality olive oil and drizzle over the steak. Get your hands involved and rub the oil all over.

Once it’s covered in the oil, season with some salt and pepper. I don’t think you need to put anything else on the meat, if you have a good steak, why hide the taste?!

Heat a pan (make sure it’s big enough to fit the steaks!) preferable a griddle, but frying pan is fine.

Leave on the heat until the pan starts to smoke slightly – measure you have your extractor fan on.

Add the oiled and seasoned steak to the pan. It will smoke and sizzle, but don’t worry. Leave it alone.

Use a timer or your watch and time 2 minutes.

Once 2 minutes is up use a spatula to flip it over and count another 2 minutes.

Once you have had two minutes on both sides remove the steak and place on a plate or board. Make sure the plate isn’t freezing cold, but room temperature is fine, or if you use a board make sure it has a ridge or lip to catch juices. Cover with tinfoil.

Use your timer again to rest for 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes is up serve – how simple is that?!

Very.

If you are making a sauce, add any juices that have come out of the steak onto the plate before serving. But I like to serve mine with home made garlic butter.

If you want medium or rare add or minus a minute:

Rare                : I minute each side

Medium rare  : 2 minutes each side

Medium          : 3 minutes each side

How to Make Home Made Coleslaw

It’s so easy and you’ll never go back to shop bought. 

Take a cabbage – I like red best for the taste and also the colour. Thinly slice along the leaves so you get nice long thin strands.

Grate a carrot – you want equal amount carrot to cabbage so how much you grate, depends on how much you want to make!

I like to add a bit of onion for taste (but Dave hates it so I add it to my bit after). Grate if you can bear it, if not just chop up as fine as you can – for each carrot I would add a table spoon of onion. But it’s up to your taste so keep trying and adding more.

Add in a few heaped table spoons of mayonnaise to the bowl season with salt and pepper and mix. You want enough mayonnaise to coat the contents of the bowl. Have a taste and add more onion or seasoning if required. You can also add things like lemon juice or curry powder/paste to suit what you are eating it with.

I can’t stop eating it out the bowl once it’s made so I have to stick it back in the fridge once I’ve finished. It’s best to make as fresh as possible. You can keep it but not much longer than overnight as the mayonnaise goes a bit watery. But as it’s so easy to make you can just make it fresh each time.

You seriously can’t buy that rubbish from the shop again! Especially if you live in Canada – the coleslaw here is green and sweet. Yuk.

I’m sorry; no I’m sorry, no no I’m so sorry.

I just witnessed today a white van and a bicycle have a collision, nobody was hurt but the cyclist was knocked off his bike. I’ve seen similar scenarios in London, where the white van driver shout profanities at the cyclist while continuing to run over the bike, while the cyclist continues the exchange of language.

However much to my amazement, the driver got out of his van and rushed over to the cyclist who was getting up and dusting himself off. They both started apologizing and asking if the other one was alright for about five minutes. At the end of it, they were such mates if they hadn’t have been holding up traffic (which wasn’t beeping ferociously) they would have gone and watched a game together.

I was impressed people of Toronto, impressed. 

Why do toilet doors in Canada have MASSIVE gaps?!

One of the first things I’ve noticed since being in Canada is that all public toilets or “wash rooms” have massive gaps in the side of each door. So much that when you are sitting on the loo, people outside washing their hands, can see you in the mirror. It’s so off putting, especially at work. I don’t know about you but I want my privacy while I’m doing my business.

I’ve asked many people, and when I do they all agree it’s horrible and have no idea why it is so. It’s the same in America too. I’ve done a bit of research and the only reasoning I can find it that it’s either a. cheaper or b. for security reasons - so you can see if anyone’s up to no good.

Either way, I’m not a fan. 

Koh Tao to Hat Yai - last night in Thailand

I awoke this morning with a very foggy head, by the sound of another cockerel directly outside our window - grrr! Frantically packed our bags as failed to do so last night, checked out and headed to the Pier to catch our Lomprayah Catamaran to Surat Thani ( Donsak).

After 8 days on Koh Tao I was really sad to leave, such a beautiful place - the first I have really felt like I could stay.

We could the boat and was given a red ribbon to tie around my list as we had to change boats at Phangnan - urgh not what I wanted to do. I wad looking forward to falling asleep in the aircon room for a good few hours. We disembarked and waited for 40 mins for another Catamaran to Surat Thani. It finally came about 20 mins late and was really small. We got it fine via Samui and as soon as we got off the boat we were hurded into our minivan we had booked with Lomprayah to Hat Yai for 900 bht at Koh Tao. We wanted to get the boat and train direct to Butterworth which you can do but the train was fully booked, do we thought we'd just take our chances!

There was no room for our bags and in traditional Thai fashion the driver expected us to sit with our huge rucksacks on our laps, but I remained stood up until he sorted it - which he did. After that he dropped the majority of people off at the airport and we thought sweet a whole minivan for 4 people - until it changed into a Co-op taxi picking up every man, woman and child until we were over full again and arrived at Hat Yai.

We were told there were no buses to Butterworth for the rest of the day, and to try the trains. Tuk tuk to the train station and the next train was 7am so we found a KFC I know, I know but we were so hungover it had to be done and checked into the Kings Hotel which is really cheap only 450 for aircon room for two and Wifi.

To Malaysia tomorrow!!

The Best Day Ever – Laos, Vang Vien – Part 1 – Nice Big Cave

After travelling to Vang Vieng from Luang Probang with the best group of people, Will one of the lads from Bristol had told us about some caves where you could explore without a guide and where the water would come up to your chest. This sounded both scary and exciting so we all agreed.

Will tried to barter with a Tuk Tuk driver who didn’t speak any English. Asking the man to take us to a cave which he couldn’t pronounce using his The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget. 

He was thrust a mobile phone and had to speak to the Tuk Tuk driver via the “interpreter” over the phone. This was a brilliant sight. Will is a very well mannered English gentlemen, who pronounces words very well and also uses far too many of them in a situation like this.

Although after about 5-10 minutes of painful conversation, he had done it! We all piled into the Tuk Tuk. Both Will and the driver seemed happy.

The Rough Guide highlighted that we should have a map for the caves and that they were available from the book shop in town. However Will seemed to think that we could probably also purchase one from the “gas station” we stopped at.

“Excuse me, we would like to know whether we could possibly purchase of copy of a map for the caves please?”

One of the old guys sat around playing cards laughing at us said “Toilet” and pointed to the loo.

“No, no I don’t need the toilet thank you. I need a map for the caves. Do you sell them here? Can I buy one please?”

Another reply came

“Toilet” again with a firm point.

Hilarious. It was reminiscent of the scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade:

Indiana Jones: The hell you will. He's got a two day head start on you, which is more than he needs. Brody's got friends in every town and village from here to the Sudan, he speaks a dozen languages, knows every local custom, he'll blend in, disappear, you'll never see him again. With any luck, he's got the grail already. 

[Cut to middle of fair in the Middle East, Marcus Brody wearing bright suit and white hat, sticking out like sore thumb] 

Marcus Brody: Uhhh, does anyone here speak English? 

Street Vendor: Water? 

Marcus Brody: No thank you, sir, no. Fish make love in it. 

We headed off to the caves. The cave that no-one could pronounce with no map in the wet season. Hurrah.

After veering around several cows taking a nap in the middle of the road we turned down a very bumpy road signposted to the caves that we could pronounce and not the ones we were looking for. But even Will had admitted defeat by that point.

At the end of the road we came to a bridge, also very reminiscent of something from an Indiana Jones film or other popular 80s action movies. We were like “are you frik’n serious?! Are the nine of us and this tuk tuk going to make it across?”

Slowly we drove across and you could see through the bridge to the river below. The bridge rattled so loudly. I’m not sure what was older, the tuk tuk or the bridge.

We made it alive. Wow. At the end we came to a sign post. One sign pointed left and read “AMAZING cave”. The other pointing right read “nice big cave.”

Oh nice big cave it is then, thanks drive. Don’t worry it’s not like the other one’s amazing, oh no wait, it is.  After driving along rice fields we finally arrived at a cave. It wasn’t the one we wanted but hey! We were all handed a torch and headed on in.

It was amazing and so dark. Stalactites and stalagmites were everywhere and water down in one section of the cave.

“Down here, it's our time. It's our time down here. “Yes Leah had got it. We felt like the Goonies. It was a real 80’s moving kinda day! We all turned our torches off at one point and realise dhow dark it actually was. And then of course we finished the visit of by trying to get Will to climb into a really small hole that he couldn’t fit in, which he tried of course.

Bangkok - Pat Pong Market

Oh dear. We went out last night. We went to get food in this great little bar called Smiths near to the Koh San road – they do really great food. They also have really cute little puppies running around – I lasted all of 5 minutes before I stroked one, even though Dave had warned me about rabies! We continued on to Koh San road and located ourselves outside the hippie bus… Samsung and thai red ball buckets and apple and mint shishas – oh dear!





Felt so ill today.


We finally got up at 4.20 and headed to Maccy D’s or should I say Mc Thai! Sorry but it had to be done.


After our Big Mac fix we headed to Pat Pong market. A really weird place – a massive night market, lined with strip bars. If you walked too close to the outside you got accosted by people trying to get you to come to a ping pong show or banana show. All the stalls were filled with knock off goods – it was good fun bartering and getting a few things but it was mostly just crap!


We found a food stall and just pointed at something – it was so good my favorite yet. Just a big bowl of noodle soup. Not really sure what was in it but it tasted amazing and only 40b.

Bangkok - First Day!

Breakfast in the hotel was better than expected, although I had three cups of coffee – whoops! We started walking river along the Klong and got stopped by guy who we soon worked out was trying to scam us!


You read a lot of things about scamming in Thailand and you always think it won’t happen to you, but they are so clever and must be able to spot someone that has just arrived! We new it was a scam when he told us everywhere was closed as everyone was going to pray at the palace. Another guy turned up who was a tuk tuk driver and he started to pretend argue with him making out he was bartering a good deal for us. We knew that was a load of crap so we were just strong and walked away.


We go to the river and stupidly bought a tourist ticket for 150b when we worked out afterwards that a single trip on the non tourist boat was only 14b!! Anyway at least we had learnt and it did mean we could get on any of the boats that came along. We jumped on the boat and it whizzed along, such great views of the city – it’s definitely a great way to travel around the city.


 


We arrived at Ratchawong Pier and headed to china town. It was everything I had expected it to be. Mental like the souks in Marrakech and every smell imaginable. From Jasmine incense to fish to urine. Stalls and food everywhere!














We also stopped and got some yum dim sum – the place was bustling and was just awesome. It was really hot, but we didn’t care. You can tell from the steam on the camera!





Back on the boat to Tha ten pier and got another ferry across to the other side of the river for 3b to visit Wat Arun.








It was awesome – very Gaudi-esk but more spectacular. Althought the stairs were so steep I only made it up one flight as I wasn’t sure I could get down again. Dave went all the way to the top though while I waited. The view was still amazing from where I was.


The view from the top (thanks Dave!)





We headed back over the river on the 3b ferry towards the reclining Buddha. It was amazing! There were a lot of people there, but it was still worth going and we managed to get some great shots as you can see!





We got our first tuk tuk back to the hotel – we think we got a bit ripped off but it was so much fun, we didn’t care!

Mumbai to Bangkok: 2nd June

We boarded our flight to Bangkok with ease, but had some weird guy who wouldn't stop getting up and going to the toilet... thankfully the flight wasn't full so he moved seats. I would really recommend Kingfisher Air - they were really great and the food, if you like curry that is, it also helps if you like the Kumars :)

We booked our air tickets direct with the airline on this website - http://www.kayak.com/ it worked out loads cheaper than going with the Flight Centre.

We arrived Bangkok safe and our bags we're nearly first off - so glad as that is my worst part of traveling. I had my bad not turn up once and it was horrible - but if you're going on a trip for months you need your stuff!!

We got a taxi direct to our hotel from the airport - great tip from my friend Helen that you go downstairs in Bangkok airport and they give you a ticket with the cost on it. We had read so much about being ripped off so were nervous that our first trip might be expensive. The first week of being in Thailand was both Dave and my Birthday, so we stayed in a slightly nicer place than we would have otherwise. The Lamphu Tree House which was in the old part of town near Khao San Road - but not too close which was great.you can read my review on Trip Advisor here - http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g293916-d940156-r112859195-Lamphu_Tree_House-Bangkok.html

London to Mumbai: 1 - 2 June 2011

Sat in Mumbai airport surrounded by an aromatic air of spices waiting for our connecting flight to Bangkok. The last day has been a bit of a whirlwind and it hasn't sunk in yet that we have actually left indefinitely. I'm not sure it ever will?? Dave hit the nail on the head when we boarded the plane at Heathrow, normally when you go on holiday you have a time frame and lives to get back to, but we have left everything behind (including my wardrobe!!) I had this weird sense of calm and thankfully of of getting everything ready in time, but also filled with this overwhelming sense of excitement - that we have absolutely no idea what the next few months, years will hold and the adventures we are yet to have.

When we got in our seats of our Kingfisher flight to London to Bangkok we settled in our very red seats for our greatest adventure ahead of us.

The flight was brilliant - I couldn't fault it, the food was Indian but so good - the best plane food I have ever had. the movies weren't great but I watched Friends and they scrambled out the section where Joey and Rachel kiss - was really funny. But they didn't seem to do anything like that for the films - which was weird.

When we landed you could see the slums almost spilling over onto the runway! Bit of a shame we're not getting off here - but that will be for our next adventure...

IMPORTANT INFORMATION on Facebook Pages for Admins!

Facebook Pages are changing their layout and how the page admins work. The official changeover date for all Facebook Pages will be 10 March  2011

As below I have included an example Page so you can see the new layout. It’s exactly the same as the new personal profile layout, with no tabs and all the navigation on the left hand side under the profile pic (I have circled in green). The admins in the top right section only appear to admins, so don’t worry about people you don’t know being able to contact you.

The main change is that you can choose to use Facebook as your chosen page profile or yourself. So you must be careful to remember to select to “use Facebook as <page name>” as I have circled in red on the top right under admins.

Why have I suddenly got lots of new notifications on my profile?

Once you click and switch over, in this case to be Discover Dogs, all you notifications etc will change to be that of the page – as I have circled in red below, it will change to likes and notifications, so you can see all new likes and you can keep a note easier of people commenting on your pages. When you switch over first it may come up with lots of likes etc, for etc if you have 8k fans you will suddeny have 8k likes, but the next time you log in it will be just the most recent.

Can I now comment on other pages as another page admin?

Yes!  You can also comment on other pages as that chosen page – as below I have commented as Discover Dogs on The Kennel Club.

So please all be aware what admin you are linked into for what page, it will be great for commenting on other pages not as yourself, but you need to be careful you don’t get them mixed up – but don’t worry you can’t go writing on your friends posts etc as that page, as your home page will completely change also as below.

How do I change back to my own profile from a new Facebook Page admin?

When you want to go back to “being you” just go back to the page you are in (as above in red) and click on the link which says “Use Facebook as <your name>”

Please if you have any questions please just ask below an I'll try and help!

The basics to starting a successful blog

Anyone can start a blog. It's straight-forward and, in a lot of cases, free. "Blog" is an abbreviated word for weblog, a web-based journal in which people can publish content on the Internet. It is a very powerful tool and now even Google can rank blogs higher than website content, so it is now very important part of your online strategy. It is also a great idea to have a blog if you want to contact other bloggers, being “in the mix” can help break down a lot of barriers but can also help you understand how to start and develop relationships with them.  

1. Find a decent blogging provider that appeals to you. The most popular providers include LiveJournal, Blogger, WordPress, Xanga and Webs. These sites are pre-made with templates and push-button publishing that don't require much technical know-how.
2. Choose a name. The name of your blog should say what your blog is about, think about keywords for search, but also don’t pick a fun, silly name if your blog is of serious content or vice versa. It should be short and easy for people to say and remember.
3. Write content. Decide what your blog is about and stay on topic, and write about what you know and keep it current (old news is not good news).
4. Think Keywords.  If your goal is to increase visibility, make sure you include related keywords in the title of the blog and in the main body of your copy. The title should be used to attract interest, and no longer than 10-12 words. If you are writing about news then think of what people would be searching or if you are writing a “How To” blog then using questions is great for search engine optimisation.
5. Promote your blog. Before you promote your blog you want to make sure you have enough content on there. You want to ensure you have at least 10 blog posts. Once you have sufficient content you need to immerse yourself within forums and other blogs, leave helpful comments and or answer comments using the name from your blog as your username and also as your sign off. Make sure you don’t just post “selling” your blog or you will just annoy people, you need to gain and build trust within the environment and then people with come to you directly.

How do I create a custom FBML tab for my Facebook Page?

By using the Facebook Static FBML application, you can now add advanced functionality to your Page . This application will add a box to your Page in which you can render HTML or FBML (Facebook Markup Language) for enhanced Page customization.

1. Click on this link - http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=4949752878&b

2. Click “Add to my Page”, a box will open for you to select which page you would like to add to.

3. Once you have added, go to your page and click “Edit Page”

4. Select Apps and all your applications with appear on the right.