Day 11 - Breaking the fast take 2

The rest of breaking my fast

Nono, Hannah and I went to Friendship Beach for lunch..Nono came to watch us eat!
We sat having lime juice and soda and Hannah and I ordered greek salads. Poor Nono sat there watching us but she said she was enjoying it. It’s weird because I know what she’s going through…towards the end of the fast when you know its going to end you do start obsessing about food. When I saw John eating that bacon chesseburger I really was eating with him through the smell…so intoxicating.

Having had the fruit in the morning I was still a little full but I think my tastebuds and my stomach are starting to wake up to the fact they get to enjoy themselves again J I got on and ate the salad and did enjoy it…but I didn’t realize how much so until I heard Nono describing my face later on- apparently I had a HUGE smile on my face. It was nice, and it didn’t take me very long to finish it..I think the anticipation go the better of me. I did feel really full afterwards and struggled to drink the virgin pina coladas that Anna ordered. While I did enjoy it the one thing that struck me was that I now have a new appreciation for the taste of raw onions! They were great, artichoke hearts were lovely..the odd olive was nice..tomatoes were nice but I have had better and the lettuce was all good.

John and Ana happened to appear so they sat and had lunch with us too..they had fish and chips which smelt fantastic and some wonderful looking Thai vegetable dish as well as a salad. So it was nice to eat lunch with them before they headed off to do their bits and pieces.

After that we hung around the pool for the rest of the afternoon..Una, Len and Dee turned up having spent some time wandering around Kata. Apparently the beach was a bit of a mess today which is a surprise and a shame..I’ve heard from people who live here that it’s their favourite beach..less touristy, quiet and really nice.

All and sundry got into swim gear, dipped into the pool or laid on the sun loungers. The view around Friendship Beach is just a little slice of heaven..its right next to the sea…literally…and not too far away there are a couple of islands with what appear to be perfect white sandy beaches. It’s a relaxed atmosphere..there are lots of plants, birds and sunshine and oh well it’s just wonderful.

I had an early supper with Una knowing we’d all be moving again (so weird to now have to think about where I’m going to get my food from!). I had another greek salad. I think Una really enjoyed it and we had another couple of virgin pina coladas…they had run out of coconut juice earlier on..so someone was sent to make their way up a tree! The two went together rather nicely.

I really felt at the end of the second salad that I felt stuffed and wouldn’t be able to eat another thing until the morning. As I’m writing this it’s 10 to 11 and I’m thinking about how I’m going to get hold of some fruit in the morning but I’m not hungry and actually feeling a little full. It’s actually weird and almost feels un-natural to be chewing again after conditioning yourself for that amount of time not to do it.

After a final dip in the pool and a little more time in the sun it was time to get changed and head off…Hannah and I to Atsumi and everyone else to the herbal steam. Hannah was going off to find a classical guitar with electronic pick up and I went back to chat on MSN with my other half.

When night falls as I’ve mentioned before…all the bugs come out. This evening’s entertainment was provided by flying ants…which are stupid, the fly into everything and even get eaten by the geckos surprisingly easily – yesterday one tried to enter my laptop via one of the ports on the side..silly thing…and secondly, a very large beetle…
The latter made a surprise entrance when it smacked me on my shoulder – I FREAKED!! It was really quite amusing..poor thing was far worse for wear. I went and sat next to him after a little while but he didn’t move again after the intial getting his wings in..hope he’s not died as a result.

After chatting away I went down to Dee’s room with Klaus and we stayed there chatting away for a couple of hours…the conversation during fast often returns to certain subjects..most often food and poo…I think it’s great. Everyone asks how you’re doing today and is very supportive when you are feeling terrible and you do the same for them when the situation reverses. But also the conventions we normally have about talking about bowel movements and that whole subject matter flies out of the window because you’re all quie clearly going through it…you all go at the same times each day.

I’ve asked if I can move at the Muay Thai camp..closer to the beach into a bungalow with WiFi…it’s not easy to be so far away from it. Not riding a scooter/motorbike either is actually proving to make things a bit difficult as well. There does seem to be quite a culture of going out a lot around the camp and it’s usually completely dead when I get back.. I know that when I start training again I’ll be meeting people again..but until then I’d really like to get into somewhere that I feel comfortable in and don’t have to worry about what time to get up to the internet café, etc etc. Once I’ve bought I load of fruit in that will make things easier too. Lots of mangoes and bananas! I saw Durian today..I was never adventurous in Hong Kong to try it…it does smell awful..but at the same time..it is supposed to taste amazing. I’ve got 8 weeks left so you never know!

One other thing I’ve noticed..I keep thinking everything is really expensive and forget how much I’m concerned about is in pounds…it even goes as far as worrying about spending £3 on a main course at lunch! But I guess that’s the problem when it’s not unusual to be carry thousands and hundreds around. Ah well the end of another day…I’m a little sun burnt..I couldn’t get out of bed this morning and didn’t spray the miracle stuff on early..standing in the sun for just 5 mins was enough to get my arms..they aren’t too bad but every day! Sun lotion! Must go on!
Night night, xxxx