Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Greg and I, and of course Miss Chicken, are spending our Winter Break in Thailand, going back to the Island of Koh Samui where we spent New Year'slast year. We left UB on Sunday morning for Seoul where we had about a twenty-eight hour layover. Well, it should have been 28 hours...it actually stretched about four or five hours longer with a delay due to extreme fog (see the attached video). We also somehow manage to avoid what seemed to be inevitable armageddon between the the North and South, mostly I think because the joint American-S. Korean exercises were delayed due to the fog that kept us waiting on the tarmac for three hours (long enough for them to serve our in-flight meal before we actually left the airport). Miss Chicken was quite nervous that we wouldn't be able to leave but we finally managed to push-off onto the next leg of our journey which was....

Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok. What an amazing experience. Seriously, if you have to have some diagnostics run or have some work

done (I am determined to have a 'lift' for my 40th b-day gift to myself) Bumrungrad is the place to go. We stayed at the Bumrungrad Hospital Suites about a stone's throw away so it was quite convenient that first day, after only two hours sleep, to walk to our appointment. The hospital runs like clock work and the staff are very service oriented; polite, friendly and informative they made sure we were well taken care of. And believe it or not, the hospital food was seriously amazing. We went to the food court on the second floor, ordering with wild abandon. There was Western food (sandwiches and salads) Middle Eastern (we ordered hummus and Fattoush; a type of Lebanese salad with bread), Thai (we got some chicken dish) and a fresh juice bar. What a joy after the mundane offerings in UB.

We decided to do our yearly check-up while we were in town, so we fasted that evening into morning, collected a 'sample' and went to our 7:00 a.m. appointment. We were ushered along to see a multitude of specialists; vision, EKG's, women's Doc for me, blood work and an

ultra sound. When we got to the point of having an EKG and ultra sound we were sent to a locker room with loose fitting, two-piece ecru pant suits. Everyone on the lobby had one on; side ties for the ladies, zip front for the men. I felt like I was in the midst of a 1970's bummer ending movie. I managed to quell the urge to hold up a piece of bread while screaming maniacally, 'Soylent Green.....it's made of people!" But I digress. A really cool part of the whole experience was when we went to the final waiting area while they correlated our results and were able to eat! There was a refrigerator filled with low fat and soy milk, and yogurt. The adjacent counter had corn flakes, coffee and tea, fresh fruit, water and juice. All of it was free, as much as you wanted. The Thai's know how to do it right. I was starving after my forced food abstention so it was much appreciated.

We also managed to work-in a trip to the Chinese Tailor shop for a suit, pants and shirts for Greg, a few dresses, two skirts and a pant suit for me. All handmade, custom fit. Our suits are made from Armani fabric that we chose from the 'upstairs' showroom. I feel seriously spoiled!

Onward to Koh Samui. We hopped a 45 minute flight on Thai airlines over to the island, then took an hour taxi ride to Villa La Kosta. Ahh

hhh, blissful. Through a change in scheduling, we were put back into the third-floor 'honeymoon suite' that we had last year. We've spent the first couple days relaxing; eating, sleeping, reading and hanging-out at the Villa.

Pre Christmas Eve dinner at Villa la Kosta, Koh Samui, Thailand

Christmas Eve dinner was a family affair with our Italian hosts (Gulia, Pablo, Mama, and the kids Milla and Sacha and the dogs....Poppy, Many and Naima. There's also a vocab tiger-strip cat but I can't remember his name) and our new Russian friends Dimitri, his wife Ulya and their two children. The menu was Italian all the way but Gulia made a turkey this year as well. We started with smoked salmon, an eggplant salad, an amazingly delicate liver-beef pate', and smoked salmon carpaccio. Guila poured a sparkling Prosecco for each of us our Christmas Eve dinner began!

The suspects clockwise: Volva, Ulya, Pablo, Sasha Mama, Milla, Greg and Dimitri.

Our second course was homemade spinach-ricotta ravioli in a browned butter and walnut sauce...Greg had just the butter as consuming walnuts is an assured trip to the ER, coupled with a mild risotto. I was already getting full at this point but managed to eat every delectable morsel. After a brief respite, we moved on to the main event; a beautifully roasted turkey that was nicely browned but moist with a side of homemade berry compote(it wasn't cranberry but it was wonderful) and buttered, pan roasted potatoes. We enjoyed a lovely Chianti with our turkey.

Dessert was a homemade lime sorbet with vodka. The vodka pretty much put me over the edge as I have been mostly abstaining in an attempt to keep my training (and waist) in tip-top shape although as I write this post, I am on my second (and final) glass of white wine. However, the Russians are putting their kids to bed and are returning with beer....we will see what happens!

Today we had a massage after breakfast. We have a standing appointment of a massage at 11:00 a.m. until our departure from Koh Samui on January 2. Greg had the gal that does an amazing job, my gal was fine but I will ask her to go a bit harder tomorrow. I did running hill repeats yesterday, eight of them so I was okay with a light massage. My calves, tibialis anterior (front of my lower legs) and hips are killing me! Clearly, I don't do enough work in this area, must put on the marathon training list. Tomorrow I will walk (and try to run) the incline but extending my jaunt further up the hill. I didn't realize it went to far.

Greg and I took the motorbike into town; I was in desperate need of a haircut. I know, I know, it seems as if I'm obsessed with my hair but really, I just needed to have fixed what the last person did. It was so bad I couldn't even blog about it. Today was a fantastic success though, and I appreciated so much my very effeminate hairdresser; he was everything I could possibly want: a definitive sense of flair and style, interesting clothing, a very long pinky nail, bleached hair and he wielded his barber clippers like the true professional he is. Who am I to comment on the fact that when he would switch to scissors, he would lay the clippers on the hair-strewn floor? I also ignored the hair-choked brushes sitting on the counter...I didn't even flinch when the girl that is in charge of washing (then drying) hair, a task much below my hairdresser's abilities, pulled one of those combs through my newly trimmed locks. Nope, I didn't complain at all and the best part of all....I paid 250 baht or about $8 for my cut. Greg says it's the best cut I've had since he has know me, in addition to my cut when he first laid eyes on me :)

That's all for tonight. I have been finishing my blog as we have been visiting with the Russian couple. We've been discussing the differences in cemetery practices between our countries. This is their business, very interesting. Apparently, in Russia people have a picture put on their headstone...not just a carved name and a message. Hmm. I love learning new things about different cultural practices, how fun!

We will take a swim soon...what else would we do at 11:00 p.m. in Thailand?