A DAY IN PARADISE

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September 13, 2010.

The alarm went off at 5:30 am, I was confused, it was dark and I don’t remember turning on the alarm. I had forgotten to turn it off from the train ride. I got up to go to the bathroom (I don’t know what it is, but here we seem to need to go a lot during the night, must be the humidity and all the water we are drinking) then quickly feel back asleep. The fan alone was enough of a breeze to keep us comfortable and there were no mesquites at all.

We finally woke up at 9. We dressed, brushed our teeth and headed for breakfast. Buffet breakfast, nice but compared to the Lebua it was like eating cold cereal. We did both have made to order omelets, turned out to be a mistake for Jerry. During breakfast we decided we would try our hand at Kayaking, the day before we had already made appointments for a Thai massage for me, and a foot massage for Jerry. After breakfast, Jerry went to see about the Kayaks, and I did a quick bit of internet business. Unfortunately the Kayaks were all out for the day, so Jerry reserved to for us tomorrow.

Since Kayaking was out, we opted for swimming in the bay and lying in the sun. Basically, we were going to do nothing but relax all day. The water was great, I put my contacts in so I could wear my goggles while swimming, and I did see one small fish. We swam and sunned for couple of hours, obviously enough to get my shoulders red, even with 30 block on.

After our swim we rinsed off in our garden shower and headed for our massages. Now if you have never had a Thai massage, you should. The best I can do to describe it is it is like doing Yoga with another person doing the moving of your body for you. No oil, you’re fully clothed, the therapist literally almost stands on you at times. It hurt in a good way and really gets some stress and knots out. While I was being stretched and shaped into a pretzel, Jerry was having a foot massage, he was in heaven. He says he has never experienced anything like that; wait until tomorrow when it is his turn for the Thai massage.

After the massage, it was back to the bay for more swimming. Jerry walked down the beach to 4 villas that were for sale. He said they looked really nice, but I am sure we don’t have enough bahts to buy them for our vacation home.

An Attempt at Yoga

After a hard day of swimming, laying in the sun and massages, we decided we needed to unwind with a bit of Yoga. Now neither of us has ever tried Yoga before, so this was a totally new experience. Today the class was free so we took advantage of that. It began simply enough, deep breathing a little stretching, but then the awkward positions begin. There are only pictures of Jerry here, because I only lasted 10 minutes. My body just does not go in those positions, not even close. But more surprisingly was how much it hurt my feet. My flat feet tend to get in the way of many things when we are on vacation or even at home. Jerry made it through the entire routine and achieved every position, maybe not to the extent the instructor did, but he was far better at it than I.

Mai Tai-thirty and the Sunset

After the rigorous Yoga session we rinsed and headed for Happy hour. I posted a few more blogs, and then we had our cocktails, Jerry a Mai Tai and a Gin Fizz for me. You just can’t beat the 2 for 1 deal. During cocktail hour, we got our first sunset. We are facing east, so I thought that is was a great sunset considering how we were facing. Paradise just isn’t paradise without a sunset. The pictures do not do it justice. The pink of the sky and purplish orange of the water don’t really come through. But close your eyes and imagine a light tropical breeze, a Mai Tai in your hand, the waves lapping at the shore line, the sun is setting behind you and the sky is orange until it meats the sea and turns to purple. Breath, you’re in paradise.

Dinner

You will notice I finally started being some what descriptive of our meals. We finally remembered to bring the pad with us when we dine. We began with a bit of fusion, Tempura vegetables and prawns with a sweet chili sauce. The tempura was light and the vegetables crispy. Jerry had Khao Phad (Thai fried rice with chicken) and I had Phad Kra Pao (Garlic, onions, string beans, re chilies, hot basil leaves and squid). Dinner was quite and delicious. Over dinner we tentatively made plans for the next day: Kayaking, swimming, massages, bocce ball, more swimming, happy hour dinner. But in paradise plans are meant to change.

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