After a whirlwind trip to the UK, packed with tons of excitement and next to no sleep, B and I headed off on a 12 hour flight to Bangkok, Thailand.  We were totally excited but equally as tired….  Since a honeymoon is supposed to be a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience, B pulled out all of the stops -and used all of our airmiles-  for this vacation which started with flying first class, an absolutely indulgent experience that has subsequently spoiled me for life.

Sleeper seats and Thai Air pj’s -that they invited us to change into upon boarding – helped me catch up on a bit of the sleep that I had missed in the last couple of weeks.

They provided a cute bag of toiletries complete with a toothbrush, eye mask, hairbrush, lip balm, lotion and Evian spray to keep your skin hydrated.

There was an endless amount of food and -unlike normal flights – it was actually edible.

We landed early evening to a rainy Bangkok.  We then headed straight for our hotel -Lebua State Tower- checked in and tried to head out to see all that Bangkok had to offer.  Our first attempt was stifled by the torrential down pour so we went to check out some of the many restaurants and bars that our hotel had to offer.

We eventually settled on Breeze for dinner.

Located on the 52nd floor, this beautiful restaurant has breathtaking views of the city and super yummy Asian cuisine.

After dinner the rain had yet to stop but I couldn’t leave without attempting to check out the famed Sky Bar that I posted about last year. Unfortunately, the staff said it wasn’t safe for us to go outside so we had a seat at the inside bar and stared longingly at what would have been the perfect spot to take in the amazing Bangkok skyline at night.

Too ashamed to report back that we’d been to Bangkok and seen nothing but the insides of our hotel, we hired a cab and got a drive-by look at some of the sights that were obviously closed and abandoned.

Things I noticed on our quick stop in Bangkok:

- The reverence for the King and Queen seems to be deep, statues, shrines, photographs and bumper stickers were everywhere.  Most likely a reaction to the recent political turmoil in the region, but interesting to see none-the-less.

Below a pic of King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the airport, one of the thousands I saw while in Thailand.

One of the many ‘bumper stickers’

- Thai people bow or ‘wai’ rather than shake hands as a sign of respect and a greeting.  It got kind of confusing as to who to ‘wai’ to and who not to, so I just ‘wai’d’ away to everyone.  It’s done by placing your hands together at your chest and lowering your head

-I’m not sure if it’s just excellent customer service, but Thai people seem to be the nicest grouping of people I have ever been around

-Thai women are out of this world beautiful

-Most cabs in Bangkok are hot pink

-August is the rainy season….

Check back tomorrow for some highlights from our next stop, the beautiful island of Koh Samui

xoxo,

coco

1. Taxis in Paris charge while they’re waiting for you to come down…if you’re going to call for one, make sure you’re downstairs at the right time

2. They also charge 3 extra Euros for the fourth person.

3. In Paris, it’s apparently 5guys to one girl! Yay for the ladies!

4. Drinking at clubs in Paris: Drinks are double the price of shots because apparently ‘there’s more alcohol in a drink’.Ya, ok. I’ll stick to shots and be equally as hamskied.

5. Wine is cheaper than bottled water

6. LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE CROSSING ANY STREET

We traveled from Canada to Scotland to Paris to London so it was so easy to get confused on which way the traffic is supposed to go. Factor in one ways and you are officially confused!

7. Energy Conservation is one of the top priorities that even apartment hallways have motion detectors.

8. In the UK, you have to pay to use public washrooms. It costs 30 Pents

9. Airports have ‘Finger Teeth Wipes’ machines.

10. London museums are free to enter!

11. London Underground (aka subway) Day Passes are the way to go! 1 way fare is £4 whereas a day pass is £5.60!

12. There are so many great healthy fast food places. One in particular that we loved was EAT. They have salads, sandwiches and half sandwiches in case all you want is a snack!

13. Straight Irons get crazy hot because of the Watt change so make sure to stick to medium on blowdryers and under 370 degrees on straight irons or you can burn your hair…I speak from experience *blank stare*

xoxo,

Lowe

Probably the best selection of restaurants is to be found in Yountville. It is know as being home to the Michelin star rated French Laundry. You have to be willing to fork out around $500 for dinner and join the booking fandango dance, which entails calling the restaurant at just the right time two months before you want to dine there. Both of these factors meant that we weren’t too interested in eating there. We did visit the kitchen garden across the street from the restaurant, however, and that was almost as much fun – well probably not, but that’s what I told myself.

The first night we eat at Hurley’s, which is a pleasant enough California – style eatery. The usual suspects were on the menu – gourmet burgers, crab cakes etc etc. The food was well executed. We also ate at Bistro Jeanty, which serves typical French bistro food.   The salade aux lardons brought back great memories of eating in France, as did the country pates. It was obviously very popular with the locals, as it was packed on the mid week night we were there. So if you want French bistro food in Napa Valley, it is a great place to go.

salade aux lardons

However, as the week went on I was really hoping to find some quintessential Californian food. I wasn’t quite sure what it was I was looking for, but knew I would recognize it if I ever came across it. I hadn’t done my Chowhound research before I left  but asked the owner of a cool clothing store in Calisoga for her recommendations. This brought us to one of my very favourite spots: the Solange Resort and Spa in Calistoga .  It has a modern, minimalist aesthetic which suits the dry surrounding landscape. Our lunch there was outstanding. The memory of their shrimp tacos lingers on. I had found my Californian food, which is of course a mix up of lots of other cuisines. It too has a Michelin star, but without the crazy book two months in advance and scary price tag.

shrimp tacos

A pleasant surprise in Napa was the variety of champagne style wines. Many French houses have partnered with Napa vineyards to produce this bubbly. Domaine Carneros is housed in a faux chateau at the bottom of the Napa Valley. Champagne can be sampled on the terrace along with small tastes of champagne friendly food. The smoked salmon was a great accompaniment to a champagne tasting. The house of Taitinger has twinned with Domaine Carneros to produce some lovely bubbly.

smoked salmon

The Patio at Domaine Carneros

We had a pleasant surprise in the town of Napa itself, which is somewhat overshadowed by Napa Valley’s more glamorous towns. An obvious effort is being made to prettify this workaday town. Hopefully they don’t overdo it.  One welcome addition to the town of Napa is a new food market. It is airy and spacious. One of our favourite stops was at the Olive Oil store  where we could sample all sorts of olive oils including some infused with herbs and meyer lemons. Yum.

xx,

mummy coco

I can’t get this memory out of my head. This is how I spent my 26th birthday–On the grass facing the eiffel tower with three of my besties and a bottle of wine.

Eiffel Tower -Day to Night

Leaving San Francisco late morning, we followed the advice of the concierge at our hotel and took the ‘scenic route” over the Golden Gate bridge. Its not the fastest way to get to Napa, but it was worth the detour.

The terrace

CIA Kitchen

We headed straight for our late lunch appointment at the CIA Greystone in St Helena. We arrive and are given the choice of the patio or inside with a view of the kitchen. As beautiful as the terrace is, for me the action was all going on inside. Looking at the goings on in the open kitchen is as good as live theatre. As for the food, it was outstanding. The tasting plates were varied and delicious, reflecting local produce, tuna carpaccio, beef carpaccio, a country pate to mention only a few.

small plates

super juicy pork chop

the scallops

Reserving with Open Table online from Toronto made restaurant meal planning very easy. There’s an app for that too!

xoxo,

mummy coco

So as most of you know I did the deed last week, I got hitched.  It couldn’t have been better and was all that I wished for.  I don’t have all of the pics, but I thought I would give you a little update on what went down.

As you know, the girls came in over the weekend and most peeps were in Dundee for the Monday before we headed up to the castle.  My parents hosted a lovely cocktail party on The Discovery, the actual boat that Captain Scott took to the  Antarctic.

On Tuesday morning we all headed up to Drumtochty Castle.  Most people rented cars but for us lucky few who were left behind we took what was misleadingly called, The Luxury Coach…

Lol!  But it was fun nonetheless.

Drumtochtly Castle is a magical place hidden in the hills of Auchenblae about 30 minutes away from Aberdeen- which had one of my favorite Aunts from Jamaica exclaiming, ‘How in da woorrll u find this place nah man!!”

I was finally frazzled when we got -the whole ‘everything is going to be fine routine was beginning to wear thin’ there but all of my worries were put to rest by hands down THE best event planning/event space manager everrrr, Ewan.  He runs Drumtochty and had promised me that everything would run perfectly and he was totally right.  People were checked in by a super cute little porter guy who followed my list of sleeping arrangements.  It got confusing for me because some people were sleeping in the ‘Stables’ (which are converted into cute flats) that were on the lower end of the property but Ewan and his trusty porter had it all under control.

The Stables

Lissa arrives!!!

As everyone got settled some of the girls played dress up

Some of the guys caught some rare rays

and I made some last minute adjustments with Ewan

Afternoon tea was served just as people came looking for something to nibble on

That night we had planned to have a bbq outside but do to the rain we had it inside.  Shortly after dinner Lissa started up the Karaoke machine and it was on!

Lissa and I rockin out to Roxannne! hahaha

Mark hopped on the keys and added some live musical back up for the singers. REEEEMIX!!!

rando dando castle shots with my bro and my cuz….

We finally headed to bed – some of us much, much later than others… AHEM. And got going again bright and early.  While most of the guests were clay pigeon shooting I started getting ready…

Colleen from Raezor Sharp did my hair and she was awesome!  She did exactly what I wanted in one try. -kiki did a touch up on my toes… bless her

The lovely Steph Flores came all the way from Toronto to do my make up and I couldn’t have been happier with the result.

My flowers were made by Rich from Nicky Walker .  He did me a major solid by snagging the only peonies anywhere (they’re out of season) and nailed the colour combo and style totally!

We were meant to get married outside -the grounds are beautiful- but it rained (something I wasn’t shocked or upset about, it is Scotland after all..) So we were wed in the front room which was just as lovely.

My two nephews (dressed in traditional Scottish outfits) were our ring bearers and my niece was my flower girl.  They were the cutest little things!

We had cocktails and canapes after the ceremony while a string quartet played and then had dinner and speeches in the main dining room (I have no pictures of the dinner yet, but I will post some when I get my hands on them).  Here are some randos

we drank it alllll. and then some! my faaave!

my new bro in law

Lissa killed it on the 1′s and 2′s as usual and had no one wanting to go to bed.

Luckily, we included our favorite portable ballerina flats – Butterfly Twists - in our ‘welcome gift’ to all of the guests so everyone was able to change out of their heels and really get down!

Thanks Butterfly Twists! U saved my life!!

All in all we had such a blast and seriously would recommend Drumtochty to anyone looking to do a destination wedding somewhere off the beaten path.  But don’t worry, I will do a follow up post on all of the deets.  Thank you to everyone who called, sent a text, email, tweet or bbm, I really appreciate the support and well wishes!!

Big shout out to Ewan who made it all possible, getting everything organized, ensuring that it all ran smoothly and most importantly, filling me with just enough Veuve to keep me perfectly happy.  You’re a truly amazing man!

One more shout out to my Mum and Aunty Meg for helping me get everything together, I would have cancelled without you – no joke.  Also to my bridal party for being so kick ass, Lissa for being the best DJ in life, Steph for being the most amazing makeup artist, Adjoa for making the dopest cake alive and all of my other ladies that came out, had a blast and made it all so easy for me.  LOVE YOU ALL!!

Sorry if this post makes no sense or is all over the place.  I’m honeymooning in Thailand and am so laid back that thinking straight isn’t on my list of priorities…   And it’s amazing!!!  

lots of love,

coco

Part One:

Eating is one of the activities that allows me to adjust to time differences. If I can adjust my eating times to local eating times, then I am on the way to traveling time management! So my first recommendation, if you happen to find yourself in San Francisco is to go to First Crush. It is handy for down town hotels, being close to Union Square. They have a great selection of  local Californian wines and  champagne – sorry that should be sparkling wine, or else I will have the French champagne police after me. What we liked about First Crush is that they serve small plates, perfect if you have just come in from the airport and want to eat, but not too much. The menu featured Florida rock shrimp, the ubiquitous crab cakes and kobe beef burgers.

classic

I left my heart in…

More from my Napa/San Fran trip coming soon!

check out more on Fresh Crush HERE

xoxo,

mummy coco