Located in a lovely valley amid gently undulating hills, Dan Sai, in the Loie Province of Thailand’s Isaan region, is a town of dilapidated wooden houses that is famous for Phi Ta Kon, a boisterous three-day rainmaking festival, also known as the Ghost Festival, which coincides with a grand merit-making event known as Boon Luang. At … Read more
From the buzz of fashionistas chatting excitedly as they find their seats pre-show, to the moment the lights go down, music goes up and the first model hits the runway, fashion shows can be exhilarating – even electrifying – events, and the shows we saw at the 2011 Bangkok International Fashion Week were no exception. … Read more
Interviewing Thai fashion designers and photographing models backstage during the 2011 Bangkok International Fashion Week was the last thing we expected to be doing when we went to Bangkok to work on a first edition Hedonist’s Guide to the city. While it’s not unusual to find us in restaurant kitchens interviewing chefs or out and … Read more
Shades of saffron, mustard and tangerine stretched as far as our eyes could see – the robes of some 12,600 Buddhist monks from southern Thailand who travelled by bus to Bangkok to attend the mass alms giving to commemorate Visakha Bucha Day*. The sun may still have been low in the sky when we got … Read more
Our stay in Edinburgh coincided with the birthday of Scotland’s beloved poet Robert Burns on 25 January. On Robert Burns Day – also known as Robbie Burns Day and Burns Night – Burns Suppers are held everywhere in Scotland. That we had to experience a Burns Supper was without question. Which supper we went to … Read more