The smell of barbecue coals always takes me back to Chiang Mai. The market with the food sellers cooking chicken on bamboo sticks and the man who sold pork dumplings in the grounds of one of the temples.

Tonight Fhai’s garden was transformed into a small corner of Thailand. With food on the barbecue, lanterns in the bushes and Thai being spoken as much as English it seemed for an evening I was back in Thailand.

We’d all come together to celebrate Fhai’s birthday, catch up with news and meet Dave’s wife to be, Mouse. Of course that’s not her real name. In Thailand it seems everyone has a nickname and that gets used as much as your real name. Dave and Mouse are getting married next weekend with Fhai seemingly being the wedding organiser and Martin in charge of video productions.

James was there, in between summer holidays and with news that he’s off to Nottingham Uni at the end of the summer. Daisy is still looking for cars whilst Anne and Martin’s Mum were making plans for the party next weekend. Martin and Dave were discussing where to have the wedding breakfast and how much discount Martin could negotiate.

As the darkness drew in we lit the lanterns and watched the stars and I wondered where the man who sold the dumplings was now.