General chat Archives : Page 4 of 11 : Talking TV (Test)

Daisy in Koh Samui

Over to Daisy for a travel/life update: Now that we have met with Son’s lawyer and had good news, (well at least for us), I can write this post to update you on our travels. Just how you expect any lovely, gorgeous trip through Europe to end, we were diverted from our gorgeously divine beachfront apartment in Nice and our sunny beaching at Juan les Pins, where they had soft sand instead of galettes, to our first (and hopefully last ever), Bangkok Hilton adventure.
For those who have followed the trip so far, you will know that in Nice we had a call from the Australian Embassy, to inform us that our eldest son was in Koh Samui prison for theft. I couldn’t bear to continue on our merry way, so we diverted our trip to Koh Samui. In our usual fine form, Arthur booked 4 weeks at the Chaweng Regent. I don’t know how to describe the last two weeks. It’s been a nightmare. We visited the prison every weekday (weekends are closed) and what an ordeal! Pressure from Son, the horrible process of the prison, making a visit as difficult as possible for visitors, and the worry. Aaaah. Then dealing with Woolif and Son butting heads, so I had to be the speaker.
But today the lawyer visited Son and us, and the news was good. The charge was made by a lady Son knew. He was “drunk” (mmm) and took $4 worth of petrol from the front of her place.
Anyhow, the deadline for him to be go to court is the 5th Oct. That is the latest date. Then, according to the lawyer, having served several weeks by then he will be sent to Bangkom and deported. I saw the lawyer by myself (Woolif was taking a day off), and Son had seen him earlier. What a change there was in Son. Calm, polite, for the first time; apologetic. And a few smiles and tears when we talked about family, friends and especially his children.
He told me, “Mum, you can go and have a nice swim and enjoy yourself now”. And as a bonus, he told me, he would sign a letter authorizing us to be allowed to see the kids. That’s a bonus. Maybe 2019 might have a happy ending afterall.

PS. In Koh Samui it’s also pants on backwards, but the bums have all gone south.

General chat: September

Over to Bobi for a new general chat thread, with thanks:

It’s spring, people, SPRING!! I’m a little bit excited and I could wax lyrical but my poetic hippocampus is still in hibernation.

The best part of spring is that is light enough at 5.30am – and may greyhound trainers rot in hell for this little piece of conditioning – for me to pick up his morning deposits. And, just softly, this would be the same place reserved for those who voted for daylight saving. I vote for karma.

The highlight of winter was the new bed bought for the grey. It was a hit.

Any resemblance to a pretzel is just coincidental.

He says it’s the best and I am the best for buying it, so, on his advice, I bought the terrier a smaller version. How could this go wrong?

Well, a bit like this. Obviously.

Yup. Nothing to see here.

In case you were wondering, the terrier is not unhappy with my puffy coat.

Which leads me to a little gem of a show, Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly (7Plus). Extra points for segue? It’s short and sweet, the dog trainer is a no-nonsense guy, the owners are well meaning idiots but all problems are easily fixed and we live happily ever after … and I feel good. It’s a lovely antidote to this season’s The Block (bleh), and The Bachelor (meh).

On a related note (excited face), the Dark Crystal (Netflix) is back. If you didn’t catch the original , DD used to watch it again and again. I always worried that it was a bit scary but she says that she always knew it would end well. I haven’t seen it yet but I am waiting for a rainy day. The reviews are good so I have incredibly high hopes. Happy dance.

And on a completely unrelated (to anything) note, my latest ear worm is Kiss My Fat Ass by Sheppard – with video. What can I say.

Daisy’s travel update: To Paris

From Daisy: If you have been following, you will know that while travelling Woolif and I have been thrown the biggest curve ball. But according to Woolif we can’t change our air tickets so we are paddling like hell trying to organize from here, everything we can. The greatest challenge is that if we bail him out, he might run and get caught on a drugs charge. Of course he would keep begging us for money, describing is situation as dire, but the money would be used for Ice. So as terrible a choice it is for us to have to make, we can not bail him. He will feel abandoned and think we are monsters. But I would rather him in there for petty theft, than on a drugs charge and I would rather he get no access to Ice.
So that is the backdrop for this leg of the journey. I love Nice and it was going to be me favourite leg, but now all I can do is think of my son in a Thai prison. Thankfully I was able to find a woman on Koh Samui who will visit him and pass messages and deposit money in his prison account until we arrive. That will be another set of challenges.

So there is a curtain of grief and worry over everything we see and do now. Eating just makes me think of his prison food. But I will still try and give you a glimpse into the rest of the journey.

As I said, I love Nice. It is so rich in things to see. It’s a beach holiday, and weather you are sitting on galettes or beautiful sand in nearby Juan les Pins, the water is lovely and there is so much to see. It doesn’t matter how old you are, you can wear whatever you like. Old ladies don’t shrivel up and disappear, they shrivel up and thrive. They seem to express themselves through their glamour and boldness. Beaches are very social places for the locals and regular summer holiday makers.

But it’s not just the beaches that are an attraction. Off the beach, you can stroll the Boulevarde des Anglais (beachfront), go shopping anywhere along the the many interesting streets, or visit the really extensive old town. There are plenty of restaurants and cafés where you can eat the fast food; pasta, pizza and salad, or you can do so googling and find much better restaurants where you can enjoy a better meal for a similar price. We found the Citrus in the old town.

There is a downside too: the homeless, alcoholics and addicts begging for money as they sit on the side of the footpath, each in their own position. And getting woken at night by drunks fighting outside your apartment and smashing in car windows. That’s what happened last night. I got up and was peeping like Gladys Kravitz. Image

I will finish with some nice images of Nice. After here we go to Salat les Canéda. Don’t think us harsh for not going straight back. We are trying to save our son’s life and I feel trapped not being able to do so. I am worrying every moment of every day.

Daisy does France (again)

(Over to TTV foreign correspondent Daisy, who continues her European travels)
Check out this HomeAway rental:
https://t.hmwy.io/vivv2GuLdZ

No not nice….Nice. We stayed here before and a week went tutu fast, so this time we have 2 weeks. I am happy to be heading back to France, but can highly recommend Santa Margarita. Portovenere and the Cinqua Terra less so. They were jam packed with tourists. Where we stayed in Grazie was a good choice for accomodation because it was quieter, but quieter means less choice of cafés and restaurants. And finding a good beach wasn’t easy. Santa Margarita was easily my favourite. You are holidaying with Italians rather than international tour groups. The buildings are vibrant, but still in the Italian ochre colour tones. The beach was spacious, and you can easily visit, the more expensive Portofino by ferry or bus from there. Let’s keep Santa Margarita our little secret.
But now onto Nice. We had trouble finding accomodation here so we had to raise our budget. So we are heading to what is supposed to be a lovely 2 bedroom apartment right on the Boulevarde d’Anglais. It won’t take long to drive there. About 3 hours, with my music playing. Tunnel after tunnel, toward the Italian/French border.
Yes, difficult news from home has affected our trip, but we soldier on.
– Daisy

General chat mid August – with Bobi

(Over to Bobi, with thanks – Juz)

The last general chat has gotten a bit long and, in honour of Zhee’s triumphant march towards culinary famedom, I thought we should talk all things food.

A caveat before I start: I have limited cooking ability, and was raised on porridge, backyard chooks, golden syrup dumplings and rice pudding (warm belly and just yum) but it does colour my viewing habits. No croquembuches for me.

I should have inherited baking skills as my grandmothers were members of the CWA, and prize-winning sponge makers – proper sponges, not these artificial, tasteless things that you get at the supermarket – but sadly not.

I love cookbooks. I buy and read them like I used to buy and read magazines but the only cookbook I actually use is Jamie Oliver’s 30 Minute cookbook. It is dog eared, wined and floured. I couldn’t give this book away. My family would starve to death.

My favourite website is Cake Wrecks (old fashioned I know). It gives me minutes of pleasure. I enjoy it because these people are professionals. I know.

Something to aspire to.

My favourite tv show is The Great British Bake-off. It broke my heart when the presenters and judges moved on. Masterchef take note. I am anticipating death by a thousand small disappointments. Maybe if Channel 10 revamped, rejigged and rebranded, and pretended that it was an entirely new show., MC could continue successfully. They should pay me for this advice.

I do like the spin-offs of Poh and Justine (although Poh should do something about that nervous laugh. It’s almost like a tic.). Their shows have variety, and guests, and I almost feel that I could cook some of the dishes – unlike Nigella and Maggie Beer. They are very same-ish: over-hyped, over-blown and over-done.

I couldn’t finish without giving the Americans some credit. I enjoy Spencer’s Big 30 (SBS) immensely. He is chatty and energetic, and he is not ambitious on my behalf. There was bubble and squeak today, and granola with strawberries and yoghurt, and cheese croissants in case you thought it was all too easy.

Of course, there is always Nailed It (Netflix) for pure pleasure. This is absolutely mandatory viewing in my house with the girls. Apart from the fun of it all, it’s important that they learn that it doesn’t always have to be perfect. And the judges are fabulous … worth every cent they are paid.

– Bobi

August general chat with Bobi

Over to Bobi (ta muchly):

Now that the brouhaha of MasterChef is over – and didn’t we enjoy that – it is time to ramp up another general chatter thread.

School holidays have just finished here so I thought I would share my enforced viewing habits. I know … children’s shows … but, if you want something light and frothy, you can’t go far past something aimed at a pre-teen girl.

My measure of a good show is: does it appeal to an adult, how many times did the girls put it on repeat, and how many times could I sit through the repeats. It turns out that there are many. Who knew? Canadians invest a huge amount into children’s programming. We could learn a few things from them. Don’t you think we would be a better society if we followed their example? I might write to some of our pollies suggesting they increase funding to the ABC politicians/feedback . I wish I wasn’t so cynical.

Interestingly, the MD of the ABC has refused a pay rise. I would like to think that I had that much integrity but I still have a mortgage and that kind of trumps everything.

Number one on the girl’s list is Odd Squad (ABC and Netflix). If Odd Squad was on cassette, the tape would have worn through. I had to use bribery and corruption (mainly chocolate) to give myself a break.

Little Lunch (ABC) was a close second. This is an oldie but a goodie. It has been around since 2015 but it is charming. The child actors are more than competent, and interestingly, include Joshua Sitch, son of Rob Sitch and Jane Kennedy. I’m guessing there’s a family business somewhere around here.

The same producers/writers have gone on to produce The Inbestigators (ABC) (yes, it is an extraordinarily bad pun). Different cast, obviously, because the previous set of kiddies have aged out of the genre. It has a similar construct but is just lacking something. Maybe the actors are not quite as good. It’s a shame because the girls were looking forward to it.

Never mind. They were persuaded to go in the direction of Hardball (ABC). I think that I enjoyed this one slightly more than the girls but then I have always had a fondness for NZ humour.

And an honourable mention goes to Horrible Histories. This is a British show so, be warned, overt learning is involved. The girls love a bit of grossness, as do I. It does require either reading ability or reading out loud by me. This one really straddled the boundary between adult/children, or maybe it was just for older children. Nevertheless, the girls had fun.

So Boris Johnson, hey? Between that and the European heat wave, anyone else feel like Armageddon is just around the corner? I am going to take a leaf out of Daisy’s book and stay loose. Here is a depiction of Daisy on her summer holiday, not giving a rats.

But to end on an incredibly high note, congrats to Zhee for starting a new adventure and working with my favourite food group – sugar.

– Bobi

Daisy does Italia

Hi guys, we made it through to Italy on the car ferry. I give Woolif and Miss Monerpenny (the lady on the gps) the credit for some pretty tricky navigation, but getting a car on and off a ferry in Croatia/Italy kind of takes the cake for me. Or is the “takes the biscotti” now, because I am no longer seeing cakes. They have been replaced with popular little balls of semi baked biscuit dough.
Day 1. We drove from the ferry drop off in Ancona, to Florence. And speaking of drop off, I dropped off myself between Ancona and Bologne. But I still was awake enough to see that the Northern Italian countryside is very beautiful, and not too unlike Austria.

Out apartment in Florence is pretty amazing, but we haven’t had time to settle in to it yet. It’s in Florence, so it was bound to be old.

Anyhow. Now we sit, relaxing in an inexpensive, lively little diner in Florence, fed and watered and ready to explore the old town.

Daisy does Dubrovnik (and Split)

Daisy’s off again … Here she is:

We arrived in Dubrovnik yesterday after a nice drive down the coast. The funny thing was, we hadn’t realized that we would be driving through yet another country. There is a small strip of land cutting through to the coast that is part of Bosnia. So there you go; the list of countries grows. But there was no lengthy border checks holding up traffic in or out of Bosnia.
If Paris is the land of patisseries, and Prague, the land of amazing copper topped buildings, Dubrovnik is the land of ancient terracotta roofed buildings and stone steps. Stone steps everywhere. And orange rooftops. I think in a day you might easily walk 10 kms of steps. I don’t mind. It’s good exercise. Although not so great for the poor old dear who I saw take a tumble today. That must happen a lot.
If you had asked me yesterday, what I thought of Dubrovnik, I might have answered, “I prefer Zadar”. That would not have been because we walked about 500 steps in the first 1/2 hour of our arrival, or because we had to haul our luggage up about 55 stone steps, but because it is sooooo crowded. Man it is packed. But today, we found quieter streets exist away from the millions of posers and snappers. Everyone, including us, needs those pics and selfies.
I had been desperate to jump into the sea after all this time inland and dry. I finally got to do that this morning. The Adriatic Sea is known for being cold, but I would say, no colder than any Aussie beach that I have swum in. It was fine once you were in. It was Banje beach we went to, and a pretty scrappy beach area but sort of sandy. Tomorrow we are going to one where it’s concrete and stones.
Then Thursday we have booked ourselves in for some island hopping on a boat. Let’s see what that brings.
I forgot to mention, the climb up all those stairs with our luggage….was worth it. The apartment is more lovely, more like a house. It has great views, its own private garden, two big bedrooms with king beds, a good size living area, kitchen and good size bathroom. Very big entry…with another dozen or so steps.
I’d also like to add my thanks to ttvers who have been readings my posts and especially to those who have sent replies and messages. Thanks, Juz, Bobi, Sara, Von, Oswede, Smythe, Dave and Windsong for keeping the ttv lifeline. And anyone else out there. I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone. Special thanks to my B&B friends for keeping the torch burning brightly.

Again if anyone wants to see more pics of desserts or videos, you can check out my fb. Cheers from a full tummy traveller,
Daisy

A million steps and counting. I will have mountain goat legs.

Daisy’s On the Road Again – Prague, Bratislava, Zagreb

Without Willie. Some Pink Floyd, Maria Muldaur, JJCale…..
We are now at the border between Czechia and Slovakia. Woolif is just collecting some sticker that we need on our windscreen so we don’t spend the night in a Slovaki jail. Goodbye Czechia. I 💖 you. Well we saw Prague. The people were so relaxed and friendly. I love that. Strangers having a good chat. I even had people calling me in to a restaurant to join them in a rousing song. I would have gone to but Woolif isn’t the rousing song type. I absolutely recommend Prague old town for a holiday.
Now we will spend a couple of nights on the move. It’s a road trip through Bratislava, Slovakia (tonight) and Zagreb, Croatia (tomorrow). So I have downsized from 2 big cases (I need my things, and an extra case means I can bring back presents), to my wheelie carry on. Sort of like a back packer. 😄

Woolif is back, whingeing about getting rippe off on the exchange rate at the border. BTW, don’t you think he is looking a bit like Warren Mitchell? (Sorry, Daisy, having trouble with pix tonight – Juz)

Daisy’s Czeching in

Tomorrow we leave Strasbourg and head to Regensburg. It will be our one night stopover on our way to Prague. I look forward to seeing if the accomodation is good. So far we have been happy, except that the apartment in Le Marais had too much crap in it.
Anyhow, not wanting to leave us with no memorable impression of Strassbourg, one lady gave us this…..

Woolif should not have ordered the rump.
We have enjoyed Strasbourg.