And the result of the public vote is....

.... by 14 votes for, 3 against and 3 ambivalent either way pieces of advice... The Suite!!!

Which, darn it, meant I lost the bet! I apologise sincerely for underestimating the sheer classiness of you lot! I really did think that you would (nicely) tell me to get over myself and tell me to spend the money on fabric instead! Dennis knew you better. But I very much needed and appreciate the 'permission' to book the suite which of course was the one I wanted. I was particularly swayed by the private email vote from my Best Quilting Buddy, who knows well the value of the hard earned pound. She does not mince words (she does not have to with me) and has had a few previous emails from me of the "I'm sorry to show off but have you seen this" variety over this trip. The exasperation coming down the broadband was almost tangible when I read her message:

"oh for god sake woman .... it has to be the suite .... ...... you spend days away from home listening to the scum of society rabbiting on about their trailer trash lives to earn enough money to make the trip so ....... stop the guilt and enjoy !!! ....the suite has marble bathroom and enough space for you not to have to talk to each other -and you have room to set up your sewing area".

Now that's a point. Dennis hates it when I sit on a hotel bed to watch TV and eat a snack and let crumbs drop in the bed so imagine how he will react if I were to drop pins in the bed. and of course I have to sit on his side because I hate to get into an already warmed bed..... if you think about it this suite could be a good financial investment if you compare it to the costs of a divorce....

Anyway, your votes were less about the room and more about whether I was right to suspect I was a 'bad' person or not. I now know I am not and have booked the suite and am now officially a lucky, lucky girl.

However, I am not promising that come January you will not be asked to participate in an emergency vote on 'How many suits am I allowed to buy at the tailors?' Terry wanted to spend room money on a suit - well I always intended to have the suit whichever room I was in but a good few years ago we went to Bangkok for the second time. The first time I was a student and only looked at the tailors and bought instead some (very good) pre made silk shirts from the markets. On our return the plan was to buy one of the packages the tailors there do - usually two suits & three shirts or three suits one shirt, for a set price, that kind of thing.

At nine am we arrived at a tailors I had chosen from a flight magazine article and the first thing they did was tell me to pick of the shelf in their enormous shop every bolt of fabric I liked and to choose patterns for suits that would suit the fabric then eliminate things from there. Now this was way before I discovered quilting but there must have been something latent because there was not much left on the shelves. Then they brought out their pattern books and it became apparent that the more I bought the cheaper each suit became until they were way cheaper than buying even high street off the peg in the UK. They ended up sending our for lunch for us because I was having such a good time and by early afternoon Dennis gave in and started ordering too out of sheer boredom.

He bought three suits and I ended up with nine suits, two dresses, three shirts and a kimono. The tailor suggested that maybe I would like to have the final fittings at his house over dinner and we spent a wonderful evening with the Sihkh family being fed homemade Indian food, running into the bedroom to be fitted between bhajis and samosas and listening to a first hand account of the 1984 occupation of the Golden Temple at Amritsar.

Travel planning I do well. Control? Not so much.