One of my favourite things about holidaying in Thailand is undoubtedly the food. Everything fresh and spicy and lemon-grassy and delicious. I love the crispy salads, the coconut-based curries, the flavoursome soups – just allllllll of it. I find myself having prawn EVERYTHING whenever I’m here. Yum yum yum!
Yesterday I broke with tradition though, and ordered a chicken and coconut soup. And then had my favourite desert ever afterwards: sweet sticky (condensed-milk drenched) rice with mango. Now, I don’t know which of the two it was that didn’t agree with me – but MAN, was yesterday evening not fun.
To be fair, the whole day started off lousy. I woke up in a foul mood after being woken up in the middle of the night by about 20 minutes of screaming and shouting of the just-post-teenage-female variety. When I went outside to growl at somebody, I ran into 3 Swedish girls on their way to reception because “There’s a [insert Swedish word for cockroach/ cricket/ centipede/ I have no idea what they were saying, here] in our room!” Ah, Thailand.
Anyway, so I woke up late and headed down to the beach. Given the mood I was already in, when a tiny little Thai lady approached me for a massage on the beach, it was like a gift from the heavens. She guided me to a big sheet laid out in the sand, under the shade of a nearby tree, and started her magic. The yellowtree oil which they use is a great muscle-relaxant, and just generally having a massage while facing the ocean is so blissful, really. Turned my whole morning around.
It was a completely overcast day today, barely any blue in the sky, which is actually ideal for lying on the beach and reading all day. You don’t get too hot and sweaty, and it’s easy to relax. I finished my first book today, and started on my second. The first one was something I found in the hostel reception when I checked in, Ellen Degeneres’s “Seriously… I’m Kidding.” It’s light fluff, to be fair, but perfect beach-reading – and I do think she’s really funny, and astute. I’ve now moved onto a fascinating book called “Running with Scissors” by Augusten Burroughs. It’s bizarre and gripping, and such a great read.
This is exactly what I wanted for this holiday. I realize that this is probably the most anti-social I have ever been in my life, but that’s okay. Normally, I’d be hitting the bars every evening, making friends and hanging out. I’d be going on all manner of snorkeling tour, rock-climbing tour, island-hopping tour – but not this time. Right now I just want some down-time. My plan before this holiday was to “eat, sleep, read, repeat.” So far, so good.
The sunset last night was AMAZING, even though it was so overcast. Crazy pinks coloured the sky, the clouds, the sea. It was just so beautiful. I wish I’d watched more sunsets when I was living in Boracay. Sometimes you get so lost in your life that you don’t literally stop and just look around you. I aim to focus more on that this year: Live in the NOW. Enjoy every little thing!
After the sunset I beat a hasty retreat to my room, and spent the rest of the night hanging over the toilet-bowl. I’ll spare you all the gory details, but clearly something at lunch did NOT agree with me.
I’m writing this the next morning though, and I’ve already had breakfast – all systems back to functioning again.
The beach beckons!!!
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