Fathers & All You Can Eat Cake

Thank goodness Father’s Day only comes around once a year, otherwise we may look more like the cakes we devoured then we wish to. 

In Australia Father’s Day is celebrated the first Sunday of September. I don’t know when Father’s Day is celebrated here in Bangkok, but we decided to do Aussie dates. My Father and I share a love of reading and so my first thought was to get him a book. How easy is that these days knowing he enjoys his Kindle as much as I do. A few clicks to find out the newest books from his favourite authors on Amazon and they were scheduled to arrive in his inbox early Father’s Day morning. 

My Dad is a pioneer and a traveller. When he was 11 years old he moved across the world, by boat from the motherland, England, to the convict nation, Australia. When I was growing up I remember his numerous work travel trips coming back with exotic things for us across the nations. I fondly remember my David & Goliath Lunchbox from the Americas or my “Somebody in Texas loves you” nighty or my Korean kimono.  

As the number of my siblings grew, my Dads travels seemed to slow down. I am not sure how accurate this is, but from the eyes of a child this is what I am recalling. I am one of 5 kids. I have two gorgeous sisters and 2 good-looking brothers. Add to this one borther-in-law & perhaps soon to be sister-in-law, plus my two kids and family meals are 11 people. Once I booked a table at a restaurant to be told they don't do group bookings, "this isn't a group, it's my family." My father & mother have been together over 30 years and are still very much in love. He is English, she is Dutch. 

When I was 13 my grandmother, who lived in Perth, passed away. My Father came back from visiting Perth and told us we would be leaving Sydney on the east coast of Australia, to move to Perth, Western Australia. He piled us all in the car and we spent a week driving from one side of the country to the other.  Nowadays it is much easier to plan a trip to Perth with Expedia, but back then travel sites weren’t as popular as today. We drove the Great Australian road and I’ll never forget seeing the Great Australian Bite, it was incredible. Although the best memory from the trip was my sister and I trying to make each other laugh. I succeeded when she had a mouthful of coke. My Dad was showered in it and not impressed. I also seem to recall driving into a flock of cockatoos, which left our car damaged and in need of roadside assistance, out in the middle of the great Australian desert.

Anyway I’m off on a tangent again, as one does, recalling their travel history. Always a story, always a laugh. 

My Father is one of the most influential people in my life. He honestly gets more handsome with age. He runs his own business raising funds for not-for-profit organisations and has grown to be a sought-after public speaker all over the world. His travels have increased since all his kids are now over 20, and my mother often accompanies him to conferences anywhere from London to Atlanta.

When I think of my Dad I think of him as an entrepreneur. Someone who takes care of his family. Someone who travels. Someone who loves life. When I think of my Dad I think of someone I wanted to end up with. My Dad showed me how I was to be treated and was the example I followed in finding my soul mate. It’s fascinating to me that my husband now replicates my father. My husband has his own business, is entrepreneurial. He cares for his family, he loves to travel.  

When my husband asked for my hand in marriage, my father gave him an application form, which had questions ranging from “do you know how to change a tyre” to “are you aware I own a gun?” It was, of course, a joke, but one my husband knew immediately he would use for his daughter. 

I started dating my husband when he was only 17. We were married at 21. I knew I wanted kids with him, but I never saw him as a father at that age. It was more than a decade later that he became a father. We had unsuccessfully tried for over 18 months for a baby and when we finally found out we were pregnant with our first baby girl, he seemed to transform over night into everything a Father should be.

I love my husband for all the things he replicates in my own father, as well as all the things he stands for in his own right. He is patient, loving, tender and encouraging. He is something I know my daughter can hold up on a pedestal and search for a similar man. And it all started with her grandfather. Or rather her G.D. My Dad is a young grandfather and decided he wanted to be GD rather then any other name. As my mum is Dutch, she is Oma, my kids love their Oma & GD.

So where were we? Ahhh we are in Bangkok, maybe the second time in my life I hadn’t seen my Dad and celebrated with him for Fathers Day. But the celebrations went on all the same.

A fellow traveler let me know about Bangkok Hotel Lotus Sukhumvit. They have a buffet for $11 each, kids eat free. But this isn’t your normal buffet. This is a cake buffet, oh yes, you heard me, a cake buffet. Josh loves cake, although you wouldn’t know it, by his skinny ankles.

We took a taxi ride to the hotel and arrived around lunchtime. We had not eaten any lunch and I have to express extreme guilt over my kids eating, let alone me eating cake for lunch, but hey, it’s Father’s Day, Fathers choice. They had a refrigerated cabinet full of delectable cheesecakes, mud cakes, jelly, and more. They had a warm cabinet filled with savoury and sweet pastries. And of course it included free refill drinks and ice cream.

It was located in the hotel lobby and Josh had an absolute field day, as did my children.

When we had finished the rain had started so we discarded any other plans in favour of me returning home with the children and Josh having some precious alone time and his first local Thai massage.

What a Father’s Day! How do you celebrate? Feel free to leave us a comment and show my Dad and husband some father’s day love.