The best laid plans

We'd been planning this for months: lunch at a small cafe (near where we live which Liz had been to but I hadn't), a mooch around Chinatown (which Liz knows well but I don't), and a wander along Khao San Road, the backpacker area across town (which I've been to a couple of times, Liz never). This involved me taking an afternoon off work and Liz arranging her schedule, cover for picking up the girls etc. We're not super-busy - just busy like everyone else.

I got home a bit late. Then some faffing around with our broken printer. We'd bring it along with us and drop it off for repair after lunch. Lug it to the cafe. Lunch was nice, normally busy but by now it was 2pm and we were the only ones there. Jump into a taxi. After awful traffic, finally arrive at the service centre to drop off the printer. Fixing it may cost as much as buying a new one. Then it begins to chuck it down so we're trapped amongst the Brothers and Hewlett Packards. Weird: it's not supposed to rain at all in January and yet we've had a few days like this. Impossible to go out in it. Hang around wondering what to do. Finally it lets up but the traffic doesn't. I know, we'll pick up my coat (a seldom seen article of clothing in Thailand) which I'd taken to a tailor's round the corner. Done. New lining looks good, and walked out with a new pair of boots too, amazing value at 50 quid.

Chinatown and Khao San Road were now pipe dreams so we decided to walk to the Night Market via Lumphini Park. It's a wonderful place: old people doing Tai Chi or 'ballroom' dancing', two great playgrounds full of children, mass aerobics, lots and lots of trees, an outdoor gym full of good-humoured muscle-men, couples in pedalos on the lake, joggers, cyclists, roller-bladers, classical music on Sunday afternoons from one of those classic bandstands, with picnicing audience... The only thing you have to watch out for are the monitor lizards which are huge (up to 2 metres). We spot a swimming pool which we'd never seen before and a youth centre. The rain was so heavy, there are leaves covering the ground. It feels like autumn.

Cross the road to the Night Maket... at 4.30pm. They're just beginning to set up their stalls. We explore its farthest reaches, parts we didn't know existed. Then settle down for a coffee at Doitung's. Chat chat chat. Really nice to spend time together without the children, not at home, and not as planned. Sometimes we plan too much. This afternoon was refreshing. Chinatown and Khao San Road can wait till another day.