Unplanned!

After all these weeks of a completely planned travelling infrastructure (Tuesday - go there; Friday - live there; Monday - fly there) I find myself at a bit of a loss. Mike duly organised a speedboat to evacuate us all from the island of the lotus eaters in his usual GI Joe fashion and then drove us all back to Bangkok. Since then, there hasn't been a master plan. Mike and Carolyn have returned to doing all the many and varied things they usually do. Linda and I have sorta drifted from pool to bar to restaurant. Even our gourmet delights have shifted from Thai to Italian. Sunday night saw us in an Italian chain of restaurants, more because the ladies craved a sophisticated glass of wine rather than the unsophisticated rubbish we had been drinking (I doggedly stuck with the unsophisticated (i.e. cheap) stuff).

On Monday, we were invited to a birthday party at Big Mama's Pizza Place on Soi 19. Some readers might remember a cautionary tale about Lois in my last blog a couple of years back. Lois had has found herself completely paralysed in a Thai hospital running up huge medical bills having contracted Guillain Barre Syndrome (see link if you've never heard of it: I hadn't), possibly contracted via food poisoning, possibly from swimming in the local lakes. It was great to see her fully recovered, in great spirits and enjoying life again. She's still working for Mike's replacement in his "old job" and, like everyone else in the civil service, not enjoying it much. Tuesday took Linda and Carolyn off for Afternoon Tea at a swanky hotel. I declined in favour of unsophisticated rubbish at The Robin Hood for happy hour(s).

On Wednesday, boredom and the need to escape the oppressive heat drove us to the air conditioned luxury of the immense Cineplex at the Saigon Paragon mall. It was actually a great afternoon. We saw Life of Pi (the Ang Lee film that came out just before Christmas, if you are interested in that sort of thing) having paid a whole £3 each for a ticket to sit alone in a near-empty cinema in soft, roomy reclining seats sharing a huge bucket of popcorn like a pair of teenagers. Today is Valentine's Day so I took Linda  to Bangkok's Dusit Park zoo. She claimed it wasn't a very romantic location, possibly because of the sight of reptiles eating live mice or the constant smell of animal dung, so I bought her an ice cream by the river and offered to treat her to a pedalo ride. Me? Not romantic? Preposterous! After three hours of wandering about we grabbed a taxi to the Victory Monument and a BTS Skytrain back to the roof swimming pool.

Taking pity on our appalling lack of decision making, the Cavs have offered to drive us down to Cha Am Saturday morning (but we have to find our own way back). More anon.