It sounds like a fun weekend escape - a photo shoot in beautiful Chiang Mai. The theme? Outdoor Luxury. Think: Lavish, excess, off-beat, edgy. The accomodation? Only Chiang Mai's finest: The Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi: a resort so large and elaborate that it took five years to build, modelled on nothing other than an ancient Thai kingdom. My companions? My sub-Editor and photographer, Earth, our shoot director, Troy (who, I might add, was the stylist for Savage Garden for several years during their fame), and our two models, Jen (a friend of mine) and Dan (who became a friend of mine!). The props? Moet & Chandon champagne, $8,000 worth of Kenzo clothes, pieces from Troy's own line, three pairs of Jimmy Choos, and more. The goal? Gorgeous photos for a 7-page photo spread in our Autumn issue of Inbound Asia magazine.

We had only two days (and not even full days, as we were flying home the next day in the evening). Our itinerary was jam-packed, with seven different shoots to do, and just as many hair and costume changes, all in 40 degree + heat. It would, we noted, make an excellent reality TV show.

Our plane landed in Chiang Mai at 8am, and I should have realized the tone our first obstacle would set for the shoot. In the hour and a half flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Air Asia had managed to lose our photographer's suitcase. Luckily he had his camera on him. Unluckily, the telephone number for the driver that we had reserved was in his bag.

He spent the next half hour trying to sort that out, while we searched the airport for our driver. How were we to know who he was? Well his family had called Earth's mobile and said that the driver had forgotten his mobile phone at his house, but to look for a tall man who appeared to be looking for us. Seriously.

Just when we were about to give up hope, Earth found him. The van was much smaller than we'd hoped for, and we had to cram ourselves into the taxi with all the clothes, taking every precaution to somehow not get them too wrinkly. 

When we arrived at the hotel, we were shocked an amazed. Sure, I'd seen pictures, but it was breathtaking (if not a little overly elaborate). It really was like a castle. On our way up the elevator, Jen remarked, "I feel like a princess!" Our doorman chuckled, "You're meant to," he said, "this is built like ancient Thai kingdom, and you are the royalty."

At no point was this more apparent than when we were shown our rooms...

 
Hell yeah!

Jen and I shared a room, and the boys got their separate rooms. It's not the way of the world I suppose, but hey, this is Thailand, and since we're friends, we didn't mind. Besides, it's not like you can complain about not having enough space in these rooms. The bathroom alone was bigger than my apartment (only a slight exaggeration).

But there wasn't much time to muck around. In fact there wasn't any.

 
Yes, that is a shower cap she's wearing

While the models were getting ready, I picked up last minute things like the blankets for the picnic from a shop of the hotel grounds, we 'borrowed' some hotel blankets, pillows and champagne glasses, and Earth went to get food for all of us as we had not really eaten. Once the hair had been set (Jen had had pin curls in her hair since the night before, which may have been partly to explain why she was so tired...though it may also have been the fact that we had to meet at the airport at 5:45am), make up done, and clothing steamed (Troy had purchased a steamer just for the occasion), we flew out the doors and hauled ass to Maesa, a picturesque location 45 minutes outside of downtown Chiang Mai.

The first shoot: The Luxury Picnic Shoot 

Challenges: Approximately 25 Thai families and their frolicking children in the way of our shots (though they kindly moved for us when we asked them to), sweat melting off the models' makeup and making their clothes stick to their backs, and making it all look 'natural'.

We managed to clear the people in the background out of the way for long enough to get some great shots of the waterfall in the background. The whole thing took less than 45 minutes, and we all shared the bottle of Moet & Chandon as a reward, though it went straight to our heads under the strong Chiang Mai sun.

The second shoot: The Maesa Elephant Camp

Challenges: Controlling live animals, making sure Jen's boobs don't pop out of her extremely low-cut dress, working with a sun that is popping in and out of the clouds like it had something better to do.

This shoot took quite some time as it was difficult to keep the elephants in the right positions. Troy and I had to keep rushing over with sun umbrellas to keep Jen and Dan from melting into puddles from the heat and sun. Still, we got some totally fab shots and it was worth it even when the models had to completely flash all the Mahouts (we tried the best we could to cover the up with umbrellas but we could only do so much) in order to get undressed.

The third shoot: Oh change of plan - we were suddenly not able to do this shot today.

The Dhara Dhevi at dusk

Due to a crossing of wires between ourselves and the Oriental hotel, the sunset cocktail shot we'd planned to do was to be postponed to the next day, as they had a wedding coming in that night that they were busy preparing for. So, work ended earlier than had been thought. We got a complimentary meal at the resort's Thai restaurant, and Troy bought us a round of drinks (what a sweetie!). We ate until we couldn't eat anymore, and then ate a bit more. We figured we'd need the extra calories for the next day, which was sure to be nutso.

We went to bed early, collapsing and surrendering to the luxury of our surroundings.

The next morning, we had a complimentary breakfast, which included smoked salmon, homemade yogurt, and a selection of real cheese. I was in heaven.

But no sooner did we finish than we were back at it.

The (real) third shoot: The vintage limousine in front of the resort

Challenges: Stupidly hot sun, no wind, painful shoes, and angles.

Nevertheless, we got some great shots, though Jen was ready to fall over in her 5-inch Jimmy Choos that vaguely resembled torture-devices (though they also looked damn hot).

Another wardrobe change, new hairstyle, and boom we were ready for our next shoot.

The fourth shoot: The resort grounds

Challenges: This was probably the easiest shot of all of them. It was ironic that after all the coaching we did to try to get the models to act natural, it wasn't until we finally made a silly remark and they laughed together that we got the perfect shot (which has, since then, ended up becoming the favoured shot of all who view the photos).

The fifth shoot: The Flight of the Gibbons

On the way to the Flight of the Gibbon

Challenges: The flight of the gibbons involves wearing a harness, being strapped to a rope, and sent flying over the treetops of the jungle. Our job was to shoot the models doing this, looking graceful, edgy, and elegant, in designer clothes. Keeping the designer clothes completely free of dirt, and getting back to the hotel in time to do TWO more shoots (it was already 1pm at this point and our flight was leaving at 8pm...my heart was pumping pretty fast at this point!).

It was actually really fun! We got some amazing shots and managed to somehow not get a speck on the designer clothes! But I had to haul our asses out of there so that we could get back to the hotel in time to do our two final shots. One minor problem: when we got back out to the road where the car had dropped us off, the car was gone. They had, our guides told us, thought we were going to do all 18 stations (we only did one for time's sake) and they went to the end to pick us up. At this point, I'm on the verge of a minor heart attack. None of our mobiles have signals, we have no car, and it's a three-kilometre walk back to the main office.

Lucky for us, a police truck rolls on by. I flag them down and Earth helps me tell them that we need transportation to station 18. They get out of the car with very serious looks on their faces that say they're not amused. Hands on their hips, they look at each of us, and eye us up and down. Dan and Jen, in their skimpy little outfits (I believe Dan was only wearing his boxers at this point...). Finally, they agree to take us to station 18. Thank goddd. We all clamber into the cab of the truck and they drive slowly down the rocky road. Next thing we know, they're making a sharp turn, but the truck doesn't turn. Directly in front of us is a massive cliff, and the truck stalls. They back up. It happens again. Four of us are clutching at the edge of the truck, ready to jump out when the truck goes head first over the edge. Somehow, it does not. We all breathe a sigh of relief.

To our amazement, our driver is also waiting for us at station 18. We jump in his car and I ask Earth to tell him to drive like a crazy person back to the Oriental. It's already 3:45 though, and our next shoot is at 4pm. The odds of us making it on time are absolutely zero.

When we get to the hotel, I call my contact there, and she asks me to please compromise one of our shoots and do the spa shot instead, since they had already set up for it. We oblige, since they had been so obliging to us all weekend, but we're all quite disappointed that we don't get to do the sunset cocktail shot. It would have been so cool.

The Sixth Shoot: the Spa shot

Challenge: Make it not look like every other spa shot out there on the planet.

This one was difficult to be creative with. We managed to get a ladder for Earth to stand on, but in the end, it really did look just like all the other spa shots in the world. I mean, how creative can you be with it? Still, the shots are lovely. 

With the final shoot done, we have 2-second-long showers and jam everything into our bags, gently pack the designer goods, and vamos!! We say goodbye to the lovely Mandarin Oriental staff, and skiddadle to the airport, where we barely have enough time to grab dinner before we jump on board our plane.

Finally, up in the air, we relax. Oh, that is, until we are caught in a lightening storm.  

I've officially been handed the reigns of my Inbound Asia magazine, and I spent today planning out the Autumn issue. For the first time in my working life, I didn't notice the time go by all day long. When it was 6pm, I was shocked. I didn't even want to go home. I feel like I could do this job all the time and never get sick of it. It's so.....me.

Bangkok is pretty much back to normal. It's kinda like nothing happened. Well, that is until you go into the Siam area, where the Red Shirts' main gathering point was. I walked home from work the other day, and in the process walked through Siam. At one point, there was a distinct smell of burnt rubber, and I noticed that everyone was stopping to take pictures of a particularly dark building. In my tired stupor, I didn't realize until I looked directly at the building that it was the crispy remains of what was once Central World - a brand new, upscale shopping mall. Amy and I went there a lot when we were first in Bangkok last September. The charred building was exactly as you see in pictures, but it was so much more dramatic in person. I thought of everyone who lost so much in that mall - no way will their insurance cover it. As I continued, I saw more devastation - a cinema burnt down, another shopping complex. It's especially sad that Thai people have done this to Thai people. The country has worked so hard to modernize, and in just a few months, the Red Shirts managed to bring the city to its knees - crippling it in just about every sense of the word, even the faith that Thai people have in their fellow citizens. 

But they're amazingly resilient. I've gotten press release after press release about hotels re-opening, with new deals to help reel in the clientele. Thai people don't seem angry about what happened - most of them have moved on with their lives and are just keen for things to return to the way they were.

We still have a curfew but it's pretty minimal - 12am until 4am. It's in force until tomorrow, but they may extend it even longer. Who knows. 

I'm just happy to be back here and working, and loving my new job.

After an eventful trip home, I've returned to Bangkok, non-Immigrant B visa in hand (which is not a work permit, but it's permission to apply for a work permit here).

Lucky for me, I returned at what was the crux of the past two months of tension and fighting in Bangkok. As my plane was taking off from Hong Kong to Bangkok, the Red Shirt leaders were surrendering to the police. What many didn't know at the time was that the fighting wouldn't stop there. I hopped in a taxi at Bangkok airport and told him to take me to Sukhumvit Soi 31. 

"That place mob style," he said.

"I know, here, I'm going to call my friend and he'll tell you how to get there." AJ, my friend who I had arranged to stay with, had told me not to come the usual way to his house, because it was being blocked by the military. You see, AJ lives on the same street as Abhisit, the current PM who the Red Shirts have been demanding to resign. The military presence was so strong the day I arrived, that they hadn't even permitted AJ to go to work, for fear that he may not be able to return at the end of the day should the Red Shirts decide to make an appearance (they never did).

So AJ explained to him how to get there, and we were off. Once I got to AJ's, I saw what he meant. There must have been 50 police officers lined up and down the small stretch of his street. They were cheery enough, giving me a subtle smile and a "Sawadee Krup", but no doubt they too were ready for all this to end.

AJ and I hung out at his place, and we made plans with our friends to meet at a nearby pub that night, so I could see everyone now that I was back. But we were extremely disappointed to discover that a curfew was announced - we had to be in our houses by 8pm! I hadn't had a curfew that early ever in my life. 

Without much food in the fridge, AJ and I ventured out to see what we could find for dinner. Walking up his street to get to the main street was a surreal experience. We strolled in the middle of the street, since there was not a car in sight. 

"I have never in my life seen this street so empty," said AJ, who's lived in Bangkok for over 20 years.

We could smell the burning rubber from the tires the Red Shirts had been burning in order to skew visibility into their encampment. When we turned on to Sukhumvit, one of the main streets of Bangkok, I was shocked. It was 6pm, and just about every shop on the street was closed, with metal bars in front just so you knew that they were really closed. The local supermarket wasn't open, not a single coffee shop was open. 

"What are we going to eat!?" I asked AJ. 

"We'll find something," he reassured me.

We walked past Subway, which was one of the few shops that was open. The line inside was so long that it curled around upon itself. I thought we could use it as a last resort. We walked into a pub called Robin Hood, which was another one of the few to stay open. It was packed inside. A few people sat at a table typing on their computers, their "Press" helmets cast casually to the side.

It was Happy Hour.

We ordered two pints, and asked to see a food menu. "Sorry, kitchen closed," was the response.

So AJ called up his friend, who owns a pub not far away, and asked if he could order a sandwich for me. His friend, who had just shut his bar's kitchen as well, agreed to reopen it just for us. We headed over there once we'd finished our drinks and I finally got something to eat.

~

When I woke up the next morning, the first thing I did was check BangkokPost.com, which seems to be the only reliable source for accurate reporting during this situation (the foreign media has been, for the most part, biased and inaccurate). Nearly 30 buildings had been burned overnight, including Central World, a brand new mall that had been built only a few years back. It was, we read, on the verge of collapse.

I later learned that the Red Shirt leaders had told their followers that should they ever be captured or forced to surrender, that the Red Shirts should proceed to do everything they could to destroy the city. They'd been brainwashed so heavily that when their leaders surrendered, they attempted to do just that.

AJ and I decided to head to Carrefour, to stock up on groceries and grab some breakfast. I couldn't believe my eyes as we drove there. The roads, which are normally jammed with stop-and-go traffic, and the sidewalks, which are normally bustling, where practically empty. Nearly every store was shut.

It almost felt like it was the end of the world.

We weren't even sure if Carrefour would be open, and at first glance, it didn't appear to be, but we went in anyway and found the doors to be open. We went down to the food court, only to be told by a security guard that it was closed. Even the Starbucks was closed. Lucky for us, one coffee shop was open, and it served delicious breakfast croissants. We stocked up on food and headed home.

A friend of ours joined us at AJs because she needed to do some work, and since she lives right near Lumphini Park (which the army just retook from the Red Shirts), her electricity was cut off. The rumour is that the Red Shirts did it. And they'd just bought groceries the day before.

Finally when we were done with our work, they headed to the pool and I wanted to go to the gym. I did the 20 minute walk there in the 40 degree heat (which is only one skytrain stop, but of course, the skytrain isn't running), only to discover that the entrance to the gym is covered in police tape, covered in iron bars. Ain't nobody gettin' in there. Damn, I thought.

Luckily, a friend of mine called me up and told me to meet him at a pub for drinks and food. Having nothing else to do, I obliged. For the rest of the day, I hung out with friends and caught up on all the gossip I'd missed. We made sure to be home well before 9pm.

~

The curfew is meant to last until Sunday morning, which means no going out on Saturday night. Oh well. We've decided to go to a Champagne brunch on Sunday morning instead. 

I am going to my first day of work today, so I'm really looking forward to that. I was up at 6am this morning because I have still not fully adjusted to the time change. Also having to be home by 9pm makes you ready to go to bed earlier. 

Let's hope this craziness is over by next week. 

Well, I promised you some exciting news, and now I'm going to give it to you. The thing is, I've already told most of you in one way or another, so unless you are one of the people I don't know who reads this blog, you won't be surprised, and may even be sick of hearing about it.

I've accepted the position of executive editor at the luxury travel magazine Inbound Asia. The job is based in Bangkok, and therefore absolutely perfect for me. 

I'll be taking over for the current editor, who is also a friend of mine, as soon as I get back from Canada. 

The magazine is distributed in first class lounges across Asia and the Middle East, and in parts of North America, and is the official magazine of the Luxury Network Asia. Starting with my issue, we'll be adding a new section full of Middle Eastern content. You can check out the website, which I will also be working on, here (it also has past issues that you can digitally flip through).

Don't worry, I won't forget about BlondeTraveler. I will be doing quite a bit of traveling on this job, and I plan to keep you guys updated with everything I'm up to. I've still got big plans for BlondeTraveler. So big, in fact, that I'm going to need to expand my team. But for now, I have to concentrate on this job. 

If I had known that my trip across Southeast Asia would have led to a job like this, a job I've been dreaming about doing since I was 14 years old, I wouldn't have had all those worries that swarmed my head during various parts of my trip. It's a truly amazing culmination to the best year of my life. 

If any of you guys have any tips for me (press releases, whatever) for my new mag, do feel free to send me an e-mail!