There was no shopping in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday. At least not by this crew of South Africans. First of all we woke up exhausted after four non-stop days of activity. And we headed off to the BIFF & BIL 2012 show at their ICC. This is the Bangkok International Fashion Fair. After watching the opening ceremony and a collection of several Thai designers, I conclude that fashion shows are identical the world over. It was cool. The models were much smaller than any others I have ever seen, but lovely. And there was lots of sheer, neutrals, flowing maxis and inset panels. As you would expect.
By the time we left the show, we knew a lot more about Thai fashion and were hysterical. Almost anything was making us laugh till be thought we may faint. Never have I travelled with a more lovable and fun bunch of fashion people.

And then we arrived at the house of Jim Thompson, and American who revived the international trade in Thai silk and then disappeared in a forest never to be seen again. He was an architect originally and had built this extraordinary house of teak that we all wanted to move into immediately. Honestly I didn't want to leave.

Signature Jim Thompson silk has elephant designs on it which are absolutely wonderful. Of course I wanted to buy them, but they were a little out of my price range sadly. If anyone want to buy me a gift, please consider this. Although you can't get them online yet as Thailand is a bit slow on the online shopping uptake it turns out. Who would have guessed that?

After an amazing lunch and tour of this iconic home, we headed off to something that is now one of the top three highlights of the trip. The Thai Design Centre. OMG. Seriously. It was like we died and landed up in a Thai version of our heaven. We are all going to work together to see what we can do to bring this concept to South Africa — specifically Cape Town for 2014. AMAZING.

The Design centre comprises an exhibition of inspiration — containing all the iconic design elements of the 20th century, divided into country of origin. For example the US has Levi's, Harley Davidsons, Eames chairs and Barbie. While Italy has Armani, Ferregamo, Alessi and Vespa. Amazing. A tour through this cannot help but inspire you to be creative and innovative.

The second part of the Centre contains a texture/surface/textile reference room. Stacks running parallel to each other down the length of the room, containing reference samples, explanations and origins of the most mundane and bizarre of materials. It is the most tactile fun you can have outside of the boudoir, I can guarantee you. And then there is the reference library. Every book on every conceivable element of design and creativity is there for use in the library. Desks with computer and power points, as well as casual chair groupings and even a couple of lounging beds make up the space in which you use these books and magazines. There is also music and movies to inspire you — with pod-like media rooms in which to enjoy these activities. If there was ever an answer to the question on how to get learners learning and researching and studying, this design centre is it. I cannot believe we got to see something so wonderful. We are all very, very lucky travellers. More fashion adventures up tomorrow. Speak to you all then.