I had a few days in Ayutthaya before Christmas where we were due to go to Bangkok to celebrate, in this time I didn't do much, mainly practised with my band for the NYE party and spent a few nights at the pub meeting various backpackers. On one day though we decided it would be a very festive thing to bring some ice cream to the kids at a local school/temple which was under funded and housed several orphans. We headed to the cash and carry and ended up spending around 3000 baht £60 between three of us on enough ice cream that ended up feeding a few hundred kids. I had met a woman the night before from Belgium whom I had told my plan and she was really keen to come along with us which was great. When we got there there were still in a lesson so we set up our stall, we had a huge box of ice keeping the ice cream cold so we had no problem with this melting anytime soon. There were also some other Thai people who had the same idea as us who had bought a load of snacks and drinks in for the kids so they really were in for a treat today. When the children entered each and everyone of them gave a 'wai' and had big smiles on their faces. They first ate their lunch and then lined up for their ice cream with a choice of chocolate of strawberry, I'm not sure exactly how many kids there were but it was well over a hundred and by the end of it we still had loads of ice cream left, we had a whole box of chocolate left and a box of chock chip cookie too. The Belgian lady had also bought a big huge tub of biscuits which we offered to the monk so we were thus blessed before we left. We weren't exactly sure what to do with the rest of the ice cream so we decided to go to another school where one of Fais mum and her friend work so give it to those kids, as before they were incredibly cheerful about this. It was money well spent.
My only real mission for this year was to get a Roast Dinner on Christmas Day, unlike last year where sadly I never got one. I had looked online at various 'British' pubs in Bangkok and ended up choosing 'The Robin Hood' they had three courses for 995 baht (just under £20) when bearing in mind I pay 200 baht a night for accommodation this is tremendously expensive but this is what I was expecting to pay if not more on Christmas Day. Fai and I decided to stay near Khao San road, I have a love hate relationship with that place but it can always guarantee some entertainment. We stayed a short walk/tuk tuk away in Boonsiri Place Hotel, which was OK but in my opinion over priced for what it was, the reason we picked it was because it said they had parking, really what they meant was they had a place to park outside on the road assuming it wasn't already taken, luckily though we did find a space. We arrived on Christmas Eve and were to stay here until Boxing Day. On Christmas Eve we started our night by having an absolutely delicious stone oven pizza at a really nice pizzeria we completely stuffed ourselves by going all out on the sides too. We then had a little walk over to the Grand Palace before heading to Khao San road where we spent a good few hours consuming buckets on the street just people watching, we got a bit nerved at one point when a Thai guy decided to kick some chairs around, but somebody finally had a word to him and he calmed down. We continued on with the buckets when at some stage around 11PM the police had a 'sweep' of the road shutting down the various vendors who obviously wern't paying a big enough bribe so we moved our chairs off the street itself and sat outside the macdonalds where we ended up talking to three guys who had been in the country mearly a few hours, it bought me back to my first day in Thailand on the very same road. They seemed like cool guys and picked my brains for a few tips and tricks about travelling. We then headed off together into a really cool bar (I dont know the name) where we carried on until the early hours of Christmas Day itself after we left the bar we had a little wonder on the street again which is when the police came back (around 3ish I think) to shut everything down.
The following morning it was safe to say I was a little worse for wear but fully exited about my roast, I made the reservation for 2PM it was a half hour or so ride on the BTS Skytrain and we made it just in time, thats Thai time, we were a little late and I was worried they might have given up our seat but all was fine. At first glance I was impressed with the Robin Hood Pub, we even had crackers on the table, something I had not even thought of. Fai had absolutely no idea what they were so it was great fun for her, we pulled them together to retrieve our hat, shit joke and terrible toy. Thats when it sunk in that it was Christmas Day. The meal itself really lived up to my expectation, I started with a spicy pumpkin soup while Fai had the prawn cocktail, we then had our turkey with all the trimmings (minus yorkshire puddings though) the main meal was a big portion and filled me right up, I also splashed out on a bottle of prosecco and made up some bucks fizz. For desert I took the vanilla creme brulee and Fai, the christmas pudding, I'm not a huge fan of dessert but gave it go and it was pretty good. Following our meal we headed to Siam Discovery to do some shopping, I had mentioned to Fai I wanted a new wallet for Christmas but I wanted to pick one out, we headed to the top floor where there was an extensive collection to look through, I ended up settling on a nice brown leather one from polo world, I was very happy indeed. We then wondered around for a while and had a look at the Christmas tree and lighting outside before heading back to the hotel. In the evening we met up with a friend of Fais and headed to Khao San road again, much like before we consumed buckets on the street until the police came to close it. The following morning we checked out, and found out our car had been clamped by police with a 500 baht (£10) fee to have it released, we told the the hotel and the called the police who ended up unlocking it for free luckily, not sure how but they did. We then grabbed a bite to eat before heading back to Ayutthaya. My Christmas celebrations in Thailand this year were great, the roast dinner making all the difference.
There were just a few days left now before the Countdown Party at the Streetlamp in Ayutthaya so we had some last minute practise to do with the band. The line up was: Mr Phillipe, an older French guy who had been coming to Ayutthaya for many years, our band 'Spring Low Band' and Zerum band who are a fantastic heavy rock band. The morning/afternoon of the 31st was spent setting everything up taking basically everything from inside outside onto the street where the stage would be set up, then there was a lot of sound checking all afternoon to get everything just so. I spent my last new years eve here and the set up was the same, we offered a free buffet from 6.30PM and the entertainment was also free. My pay for performing, like any other night I perform in the pub was free whiskey and plenty of it was consumed. The night ran smoothly as far as I can remember, up until just after the countdown when the police and army decided to parade themselves down the street to shut everyone down. I was furious by this to say the least, there was no explanation for it either, other than the orders had come from high up. Technically establishments are to shut at midnight, and the Streetlamp always abides by this, the other bars on the street don't and normally get away with it assuming the place looks closed (the shutters can be down but if people are still drinking the police ignore it) but tonight of all nights they came in full force with no exceptions. Once everything had been bought inside they left and we could continue drinking but without the music. I literally cannot comprehend why they would do this on NYE when already tourist figures are plummeting in Thailand due to political unrest and various attacks on foreigners making headline news. Silly move!
So another year over and now we are onto 2015, my plans and goals for this year are clear and simple, I will obtain my TEFL certificate in March, and get myself a job in May as a full time foreign English teacher where I will officially no longer be a backpacker but a functioning person in Thai society. Bring it on, I cant wait!!