Not quite the same theme as the best-seller Eat, Pray, Love, but we’ve modified the theme to our first week back in Thailand.  It’s taken us seven days to sample all the good foods we remember at the restaurants and markets we normally frequent, and nothing has changed.  Best of all, the Panang Curry is better than ever.  Hard to believe it took us 4 days to get to the Forest restaurant but nesting, rain and sleeping got in the way.  Nesting back in the exact same studio apartment was a welcome treat (there are only 8 units in our ground floor building and we’ve been in three different ones in four years).  We collected some of our meager household items (and bikes) from friend Sunsurn and set up the place just like we like it. [First photo is before we unpack.  Panorama is after.] Having a proper desk has always been a bonus for me since I spend considerable time at the computer studying, programing and writing.  Our 300 sqft tiled room with with bathroom and shower, plus 5’x7′ back porch (kitchen and laundry sink) and 13′ x 6′ front porch makes for a really nice set-up.  Big enough for all the necessities inside, like three bikes, yoga space and study area.  Great deal at $165 a month plus electricity, which runs us about $10 a month.

But I’ve already jumped too many meals ahead.  As many of you are familiar with that Rio Dulce tradition established by one of the cruisers as soon as she arrived in that famous watering hole, “The galley is closed.” So we’ve readily adapted to the Thai lifestyle of eating out (or at least not cooking for ourselves every day), for lunch and dinners. Thai’s generally eat a soup or soupy rice meal for breakfast and we’ve remained more western in the mornings, preferring Muesli and yogurt on our front porch.  In fact, any meals eaten at home are outside as the temps are always in the low 80’s and there are very few bugs until just after the sun goes down.

We’ll post way too many food photos over the next four months, however just a couple shots to remind you of some of our favorites like Panang Curry, Cashew Chicken, Green Papaya Salad, Pad Thai and we even sampled fresh Grouper caught by a Trang Cycle club member (3rd prize at 17 kilos [154′ depth on a hand line – for those curious].  Mu ping (from the market place), Gai Tang and Mu Tang (from the Chicken Lady) are three more favorites we’ve already enjoyed but don’t have photos yet. And popcorn and ice cream, plus a number of things we don’t even know the names of like Mr. Wat’s yellow noodle soup with pork balls.  I guess you’re getting the idea of why we like Thailand!

As we’ve explained before, most Thai pick up their meals from street vendors or market places and carry prepared foods home to serve.  We do the same for most our dinners, preferring to grab something on our way home from shopping or visiting our friends, and eating luxuriously on our own front porch.  Unfortunately for us, good for the venders, the prices have gone up; we’re now spending almost $9 a day for food for two, however these are still super values everywhere we eat.

It seemed to take us a little longer to adjust to the jet lag and 14-hour time difference.  First several days we kept waking at 2 AM and nodding off by 7 PM.

This is also the first time we’ve experienced the tail end of the rainy season.  It’s rained four of the first 7 days, but the temps still aren’t below 72°.  Happy to be here and warm.