TRAVEL

Home & Away with Robert WalsheLiving

ETIHAD Airways has started the New Year by setting a record for the number of passengers carried across its worldwide network in a single day. The record was achieved on Saturday 5th January 2013 when 33,802 passengers fl ew with the Abu Dhabi-based airline, beating the previous record of 33,766 for Saturday 14th July 2012. Etihad Airways capped an im-pressive festive holiday sea-son with Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th January 2013 also entering the airline’s top 10 ranking for busiest ever days, with 32,622 and 32,918 respectively fl ying each day. www.etihad.com

Holiday Hotspot The Chedi, Chiang Mai,

Thailand www.ghmhotels.com www.etihad.com

The Chedi, Chiang Mai is a city centre resort experi-ence that delivers on every level. Here visitors indulge in five-star chique and be within walking distance of the many key city attractions in minutes. Situated on the banks of the Mae Ping River, The Chedi is constructed around what was once the British Consulate. The “Restaurant” housed in the original Colonial building is serves authentic Indian cui-sine including favorites such as murgh makhani, buttered chicken in

a tomato-cashew nut sauce. As for dining, the most difficult thing is to decide what to try – everything not only looks, but truly tastes heavenly and deli-cious. Beautifully arranged food with romantic dinners on the outside deck all prepared by highly skilled chefs made my culinary experience here a night to remember. The original building is surrounded by a low-rise complex of spa, fi tness area and accommodation designed around a cutting-edge design involving a natural sense of light and space. The open-air lobby induces an immediate sense of tranquility due in part to minimalist décor & a large Zen like garden, infi nity pool and terrace, all over-looking the river, providing public spaces to laze around & feel good! The Chedi spa treatment menu includes a signature Thai massage to die for and if you feel like you need more pampering go for a rejuvenating seaweed expe-rience using Irish Voya prod-uct offering a taste of home. The club suites offer superior

accommodation and the darks woods, tiling and glass helped me to declutter within minutes of my arrival. They all come with compli-mentary mini-bar and laun-dry, Bose hi-fi and day-beds on the balcony. International TV is also available on giant rotating fl at-screens and the super fast Wi-Fi kept me oc-cupied by the pool. Club Suite guests also enjoy access to the 4th floor club lounge for fresh breakfast spreads, afternoon tea breaks and sunset cocktails with fusion canapés. It’s just a short walk from the Chedi to one of Chiang Mai’s most famous at-tractions – the Night Market. There are plenty of stalls for tourists here but the atmos-phere is bustling, festive and laid back and it’s a fun place to wander around in the evening to window shop and people watch even if you’re not looking for anything to buy. Be prepared for some bargaining, as asking prices can often be negotiated down by at least 30% and sometimes a lot more if the mood takes you. For culture vultures a reminder that this region boast over 300 Bud-dhist temples, many dating back to the 13th century. It also offers spectacular scen-ery, and is a great base for trekking, rafting, elephant

riding and hill tribe vis-its. Doi Suthep is the most famous of the temples sitting at 1685 meters above the city offering spectacular views. If you have children or a love for elephants then visit Mae Sa Elephant Camp where they show off many skills in-cluding playing football and even painting! Elephant rid-ing is also an option here but don’t forget to bring a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen lo-tion, or an umbrella to shield you from the hot sun. A visit to Tiger Kingdom located in Mae Rim is about 25 minutes by Tuk Tuk from the city and also popular with visitors. In February the annual Flower Festival in Nong Buak Had Park, Amphor Muang, is a local tradition – and a perfect opportunity to see African marigolds, orchids, chry-santhemums and assorted roses. Also a reminder that Chiang Mai is one of the most famous places for celebrat-ing Songkran, the Thai New Year. Traditional practices, such as giving food offerings to monks and Buddha image bathing, the morning market and the sand pagoda contest are all highlights with cel-ebrations lasting for three days, starting April 13th.

The weather in Chiang Mai is divided into three seasons, cool, hot and wet. The cool season is between Novem-

ber and February, the hot season runs between March and June and the wet season runs between July and Octo-ber. The average tempera-ture is 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit) Etihad operates 10 fl ights a week from Dublin and daily fl ights from Manchester and Heath-row to Abu Dhabi and over 85 destinations including numerous daily connections to Bangkok and onwards to Chiang Mai through its code share with Bangkok Airways. In business class on the in-ternational leg expect award-winning fully fl at beds in an innovative 1-2-1 layout – all seats have aisle access and are forward facing. Expect the services of a dedicated Food & Beverage Manager offering restaurant quality dining-on-demand, boutique wines, and a unique “kitchen anytime option “. Enjoy over 600 hours of on-demand en-tertainment on some of the largest personal screens in the sky – as well as MP3 player connectivity and uni-versal power sockets. Etihad Airways also offer a dedi-cated lounge within the new Terminal 2 facility at Dublin airport, with features includ-ing showers and a business centre. This impressive oasis of calm is furnished with Ital-ian leather chairs and soft

sofas with extra fa- c i l i -ties including a family room, bar, and a la carte and buf-fet food choices. Etihad also offer a private chauffeur tak-ing you door-to-door in a lux-ury limousine for customers across the island of Ireland. For best fares visit www.eti-had.com For best rates to stay at the ultra trendy Chedi www.ghmhotels.com

Weekly Best Buy Stena Line’s January sale

is now on, and you can grab a bargain with an incred-ible €60 OFF return travel to Scotland from Belfast to Cairnryan. Enjoy €60 OFF Flexi and Premium* car and motor-home return fares and €30 OFF motorcyclist Flexi return fares which are valid for travel up to 27 March. This fantastic offer is now open for booking and for sailing on any day, subject to availability. Simply book by 31 January 2013, and at least two days before departure to avail of great value fares from only €138 return (car + driver). www.stenaline.ie/sale

Robert Walshe is a travel broadcaster with Q Radio Network and Travel Editor for River Media newspaper titles across the island of Ireland. www.robertwalshe.com

■ The Chedi Chiang Mai Club Suite

Living

accommodation and riding and hill tribe vis-

■ The Chedi Chiang Mai Pool & Spa

with Robert Walshe

■ Etihad Business Lounge at Dublin Airport

ARE overweight dogs a symptom of a human problem? Why do dogs become overweight? They get fat by eating too much. Who is feeding them all this extra food that they don’t need? Dogs are being indulged now to a level that is unhealthy. Putting our emotions and thinking onto our dogs is causing trouble for the dogs.

If we are eating and the dog is sit-ting looking at us, some people can-not ignore the dog. They have to give in to the demands of the dog… that is what the dog is doing… he is demanding your dinner. He doesn’t care if you have a dinner or not. He just wants what you are having and if you give it to him then you are telling the dog that he is more

important than you. The dog won’t feel guilty.

He won’t be thinking “My owner has no dinner, I’ll give them half of my dinner”. Dogs think in a very simple and straightforward way. If they want something they let you know. It doesn’t mean they have to get it. If they want to run across the road in front of a car would you say “Oh, go on then, enjoy”. Dogs need boundaries to ensure their safety. Giving in to all their demands does not ensure their safety. Feeding them too much is not ensuring their safety, it is putting them at risk.

It will put too much strain on their joints and organs and shorten their life. That is not being kind to your dog, that is killing your dog. If

you are really thinking about your dog then only give it what its body needs to function properly and if you want to be kind to it then take it for a walk. If your dog is already overweight then start to help it by cutting out the in-between snacks and treats.

Have the amount of food that it re-quires for a daily portion set aside and then you can feed it to the dog in one feed, or two smaller feeds. Adult dogs only need one feed but if you are not able to stick to that then make the overall daily amount into two portions.

A little in the morning and a little in the evening. If you don’t know how much your dog should be eat-ing then read the portion sizes on

the bags of dried dog food. That will give you a measurement to go by. If your dog is still looking for food after its had its dinner then this is normal. If it has been used to more food then it will need time to adjust.

Exercise can help with this. Play a game or teach your dog some new things to distract it. If you are not sure if your dog is overweight then take it to your vet and they will tell you. 0863192247

Pet’s Corner... with Kathleen Murray

Is your dog overweight?