Home Sweet Home

Thank goodness we are home - Bangkok is amazing but totally mad and I caught the worst cold ever from going on and off the sky train and in and out of taxis - they have the coldest ever air conditioning I have ever experienced. We stayed in a brilliant and luxury hotel 'The Bell Aire Princess' and the welcome and treatment they gave us was perfect, the rooms were lovely (and you can control the aircon easily - ie turn it off) the food was excellent and the pool was delicious after a day marching around markets.....but perhaps not the best place to stay with a child as after dark it becomes a red light area, lots of women from around the world touting their skills in very explicit ways - we ended up covering Rob's eyes a few times and then not bothering going out after 7 pm. He asked me this too: "Mum, why are there lots of old white men with young pretty Thai girlfriends?" I managed to say something like Thailand is quite a poor country and the girls need money for their families and the older men are rich and help them....oh dear, later I thought of better ways to explain but it was hard. Children really do see everything and ask very poignant & difficult questions....we even saw a western beggar which confused me and I gave him som money! He was saying "got any spare change mate?" it was surreal - the Thai's around him were laughing hard saying "farrang mung" which we took to mean foreign beggar...but anyway, its very good to be home - even with this cold - I have a lot of new stock that has arrived while I was away and its fantastic! 1970s Lanvin dresses, huge tribal art necklaces from Rajasthan...hats galore and a floral 1970s Ossie Clark is on its way too - I am selling it on behalf of a charity....good news about the auction too - it was such a success that me and Malcolm Claridge & Mary McCarthy (of Dreweatts) are now planning a "Punk Sale", due to take place in early October - we have some incredible pieces to start it off - it will be art and fashion and music and though I am too young to have really been there Malc is older (he he) so he really know the era and was a punk himself...more later xx am off to get my iphone. Love Samaya