Friday, 23 December 2016 to Thursday, 29 December 2016
For some reason I woke up at 03:00 even though the alarm was set for 04:00, which is when I got up, and we

left for the airport at 4:30. Adri dropped me at the airport by 04:45 and by 05:00 I was seated in the lovely open-air departures area of the Koh Samui Airport. I was on my way to fetch our passports in Bangkok which had been returned to the TLS Contact Centre from the French Embassy, with or without a Schengen Visa, that remained to be seen, but we were of course hoping it would be the former.

While I was contemplating our next destination should the visa applications not have been accepted I snacked on the airport’s snackies of mushroom pastries, banana muffins, ham sandwiches and coffee. This only after I had munched on the croissant, laden with cheese, that Adri had prepared for me as padkos (food for the road).

I had an instant body-freeze notwithstanding the humid air when I presented my electronic boarding pass on my Ipad together with my photocopied passport to the boarding lady. She wanted my real passport. After explaining that I was on my way to fetch my real passport and after a quick huddle of Bangkok Air staff I was allowed to continue my journey. The flight was uneventful and so was the breakfast. Who eats broad noodles and chicken for breakfast? Oh yes, Thais do.

Arriving at the Suvarnabhumi Airport it is a treat not to wait for luggage and I breezed out and down to the BTS Skytrain. I stood in line behind this Thai lady with a bad cough, I moved lines, I still had some living to do. We reached the station called Lat Krabang, the announcement sounded like maak haar bang (scare her), and it probably would have as the near empty carriages from the airport were suddenly filled to overcapacity with the crowds on their way to work.

After transferring lines twice I emerged at the Chong Nonsi station, walked around the corner and announced myself at the TLS Contact Centre. For collecting passports you don’t have to enter their offices, right next door to their security there is another counter for collections. After signing a few papers I was on my way with two official looking sealed envelopes. The anticipation was reaching a crescendo but I refrained from opening them there and then, I needed to be in calm surroundings to handle either the jolt or jubilation.

I remembered seeing a nice little coffee shop previously right next door to the Chong Nonsi station and that’s where I was heading. After ordering and receiving a strong cappuccino and wifi signal, I settled down and opened the first envelope. I frantically rifled through the pages, missing even my Thai visa on the first pass. After my second sip of cappuccino steadied my hand I methodically paged through the passport and there it was! A freshly issued long stay French visa, valid from 10 March 2017 to 10 March 2018 was smiling back at me! I was truly impressed with the French Embassy; it took them all of three working days to issue these visas, an amazing turnaround time especially considering these were long stay visa applications.

I phoned Adri and gave her the good news even before checking her passport, she was elated! All that tedious work in thoroughly completing all the required documents was well worth it in the end! I stuffed those passports right at the bottom of that little man bag/rucksack that I had with me and clung onto thitat for dear life for the rest of the trip.

It was 10:50 and I had some time to kill before my flight home. I decided to act on Adri’s suggestion to go to Teddy’s Biggest Burgers – apparently one of the best burger joints in Bangkok – notwithstanding the fact that I had been snacking all morning. Thirty minutes later I was seated at Teddy’s and ordered a burger sans chips to compensate for the snacking. The burger came looking like a million dollars but sadly did not live up to that price tag. Don’t get me wrong, it was not bad, but it was definitely not great. If you want a great burger, head to Cheunjai Resort in Nong Song Hong and ask Oi to make you a cheeseburger.

I sat there relaxing and surfing and, of course, I double-checked and then triple-checked those visas, just to make sure they had made the trip with me to Teddy’s.

By 12:20 I was on my way to the Mo Chit BTS station and the airport. The announcement on the BTS came for the Nana station, pronounced Nanaaaaa, in a suggestive kind of a way, which reminded me of my schooldays. Nana – I never knew his real name or how he got that nickname – was a lanky fellow of about 6.5 feet with long legs like a camel and with the same endurance. He was a middle-to-long-distance runner of note competing in the 1500 and 5000 metre school sport events. Invariably when he came around the last bend on the last lap, those long scrawny legs would stretch even longer as he left the opposition in his dust, while everyone on the pavilion were on their feet screaming ”Nanaaaaa!!! Nanaaaaa!!!!” Man, I wonder whatever happened to the real Nana.

I arrived at the Mo Chit station, hailed a taxi to the airport and by 14:35 I was in the air, heading home. After an uneventful flight, bus, ferry and minibus taxi ride I arrived home just before 21:00, thoroughly tired but thoroughly smug.

After a tiresome day yesterday I was up at a respectable 07:30 and prepared our first cuppa. We were invited to spend Christmas eve with Andre and Thea and their extended Samui family, just like last year. And like last year, everyone was asked to bring a small gift which gets divvied up amongst those present after dinner. I saw a gift pack of Hoegaarden, my all-time favourite beer, which came in a box with a signature hexagonal shaped Hoegaarden glass with four Hoegaarden beers arranged around it to keep it company. Adri wanted more time for shopping so I delivered myself back home while she went back into town to buy her gift.

While Adri was away, I was surfing and was surprised by something I had read, and an old saying my dad (bless his soul) had when he was surprised, flashed through my mind “Hond se doilie, kat se clever side, muishond se violet” (Dog’s doily, cat’s clever side, skunk’s violet). Not quite sure where that saying came from but it always brought a smile to my face whenever my dad used it.

By the way, while we drew money this morning I noticed that the next compartment up from where my card is stowed was empty, the one where Adri’s Thai bank account card is stored, or shall I say was stored. I’m not sure what happened to it but I am certain it was there still a few days ago. Maybe something happened to it on my quest yesterday; I’m not used to carrying a wallet around anymore as it is always safely stowed in Adri’s handbag. Oh well, I guess we’ll have to make a trip to the bank for a new card soon.

Just before 18:00 we packed the bike with gifts and drinks and were off to Andre and Thea. In attendance were, of course, Andre and Thea, their son Jeandre and wife Mai with kids Cooper and Peyton, their other son JP and a friend, colleague Stuart and his wife, and also friends Miriam and Rob. Now Rob and Miriam we met last year but this year they attended with the three month old addition to their family, a sturdy young little man called James.

We had a quick drink but Thea was getting restless, dinner had to be had and the first starter course was already set out on the table. Yes, you read correctly, it was the first of three starter courses. The plate was smartly decorated with Bruschetta with a wonderfully tasty topping, a parma ham with mango kebab and some syrupy figs on the side. The second starter was a creamy tomato soup with a bread roll reminiscent of SA which Andre had specially baked for this special occasion, he knows the baker down the road. The third starter arrived which was salmon and prawn and a wonderful fishy mousse type dish, simply amazing.

A delicious homemade lime sorbet followed to clear the palate after which dinner continued, relentlessly, two main courses deep. The first main course was duck and mashed potato with a lovely meaty sauce and the second main course was beef Wellington with a superb side salad, simply delicious.

And of course, dessert did not want to be outdone so it consisted of five courses in itself, all contained on the same plate. There was panna cotta with fresh granadilla pulp poured over it, malva pudding, peppermint crisp tart, chocolate mousse as well as a scoop of my favourite vanilla ice cream; each remarkable in their own right.

It’s so hard to find the right superlatives for our dinner, but safe to say it was extraordinary, exquisite… or simply put, “Wow… wow, wow wow!”, it truly was a six star dinner. Some fine dining restaurants have a lot to learn from Thea!

I should have stopped eating halfway through the duck and mashed potato course but of course I did not, I could not. Like all mothers, my mother (bless her soul) used to say “There are many little kids in the world that have nothing to eat so be thankful and eat all the food on your plate”. Someone at the table mentioned that as a kid they had a countermeasure to that tactic. They would call their mother’s bluff and reply “Okay mom, let’s take my food, place it in a package and send it off to those little kids”. This particular mom never used that tactic again.

But of course there was another reason; I was worried I was not going to get dessert. You may remember the lyrics of Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 by Pink Floyd which goes “If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat?”

Then it was time to open the presents, each present received a number, then each person drew a number and were handed the corresponding present. I got a lovely ceramic coffee mug from Starbucks with a top that can close which I am certain will keep coffee hot for a decade or so. Adri received a box containing a plastic military play tank of some sorts, could have been a remote controlled one. I was already looking forward to mucking about with it by the poolside and the gardens beyond. It turns out the box was merely used as packaging material and the real present was a much more useful rucksack, waterproof and all, something we really needed to pack our beach stuff into when heading there, great gift.

We woke up on Christmas morning still feeling the effects of those lovely indulgences of last night. Adri mentioned something about breakfast but that thought was quickly set aside when my stomach groaned at me at the mere thought of accommodating more food.

I was sad to learn this morning that Status Quo’s guitarist of many years Rick Parfitt had passed away, he was in his late sixties. I saw Status Quo live at Sun City in SA during the 90s and what a show it was. Who can forget their many hits such as Pictures Of Matchstick Men, Whatever You Want, Rockin’ All Over The World, Down Down, What You’re Proposing and my personal favourite, Lies. Please take a listen to it below.

I was sitting on the balcony minding my own business when a guy below walks onto the tennis court, also minding his own business. He wore red shorts – three white lines down each side – exposing part of his bum at the back, belly sagging over the front, no top, very dark glasses. He had some kind of an armband on his left upper arm, I’m guessing he had his cell phone tucked away there as he was also kitted out with a rather large headphone, must be Bluetooth as I saw no cables, and I’m guessing he was listening to music. He had a pair of takkies in his right hand and a squeegee in his left and I could not help but think that he was ill prepared for a tennis match. Anyway, he began squeegee-ing away puddles of water that had formed after the rain and that crack below his back got ever more exposed as his trunks sagged south, a sorry sight.

And then someone more tennis appropriate arrived, donning a bright blue vest and takkies, black shorts, skin tattooed in many places, hair peroxided which was short at the top and clean shaven around the ears. He looked the part, of what I did not know yet. They had a bit of a chinwag and then the latter produced two tennis racquets from his sports bag and they started hitting a few balls. Man, these guys knew their stuff; you know what they say about not judging a book by its cover.

It was Christmas and it was earmarked as a beach day. We have not been to the beach since our arrival back on Koh Samui, partly due to the rainy weather and partly due to us just having too much to do. It was around 10:00 that we lined our Christmas present with beach stuff and arrived at Choeng Mon beach where we made ourselves comfortable on a couple of sun-beds at a restaurant. We ordered something to drink, got hooked up to the internet and settled in for the day. After a read and a nap and a swim and a nap, before we realized it was 15:00 and time for a nap at home before supper.

At around 19:00 we went for a ride through Bang Rak and Plae Laem, looking for a place to eat. Truth be told, there are so many places to eat and drink on Koh Samui, it would take you a couple of  years to work your way through all the establishments should you eat at a different place every day. And once you start again there will be so many places that have since closed, opened or re-opened that it would feel like a whole new island.

People on Koh Samui often joke and ask “How do you become a millionaire on Koh Samui?” And the standard answer is “You come here a billionaire”. So many people come here for a holiday, get caught up in the island lifestyle, open a restaurant or bar that invariably fails as there is just too much competition out there. If your bar or restaurant does not offer something out of the ordinary it will probably not survive beyond one season.

Adri was intent on going for supper at the Boat Bar tonight. And would you believe, as we opened our Ipads they automatically picked up the wifi where we had left off 11 months ago… quite amazing. The ice cold Chang and the Thai dishes that we ordered were pretty good, as always.

Ian had serviced our bike before delivering it to us, new brake pads and all. Now these new brake pads were screaming, or rather screeching every time I tug at their strings. On the way home tonight there was this soi (street) dog that was intent on crossing the road just as I was approaching, it did not look right and left and right again as his momma had taught him. So I thought I’d save my energy and just slam on brakes rather than reaching for the hooter as well, that screech from the brakes I reckoned would be enough to scare even a Tasmanian devil away. And would you believe, neither a squeak nor a screech came from the brakes, not even a feeble one. Thankfully the dog somehow saw me just in time, it braking and coming to such an abrupt halt it seemed like its shoulder blades were pushing out past its snout. Lesson learnt; never trust a screeching brake.

More sad news was reported for the music industry on Monday morning; George Michael had passed away, such a shame, he was such a great talent with so many hits as a solo artist but also as part of Wham!  Just yesterday I heard Last Christmas which was released back in 1984 which always felt part of Christmas for me since then.

Here’s a bit of useless information… when Last Christmas was released the song that kept it from reaching the number one spot that Christmas was Bandaid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?, another one of my favourite Christmassy type songs. And, George Michael was part of that Bandaid collection of artists that performed the song, so he kept himself off the number one spot!

We had a great breakfast after which we packed our Christmas gift again with all our beach gear and headed for Lamai beach this time, the sun was out, we had to use it to good effect. We lay under the swaying palms, ordered a Chang and a soda water at a ridiculously high price for a warm beer. If the beer was ice cold I would have had no qualms.

It was late afternoon and people were either starting to leave the beach or arriving on the beach in search of an early supper. We took the opportunity to tale a long walk west along the beach and found that a number of restaurant and pubs had closed their doors, some new ones had opened, but mostly there seemed to be a good few places to visit, so we’re hoping to be back there soon.

It was Tuesday and it was Adri’s birthday and of course she got to choose how we spend the day, not unlike many other days I might add! She selected gym, shopping for a birthday gift and supper, hopefully in that order.

We went to gym and after taking a shower a tiredness of note overtook me. I fell asleep while Adri was preparing breakfast and after breakfast it was Adri that needed a nap, she slept like a babe.

We were meant to meet Didier – who is now also holidaying on the island – for a drink in Chaweng at 17:00 but as we were about to leave a really heavy downpour halted our plans. We took a rain check so to speak and arranged to meet up on Thursday.

It was after 18:00 that we managed to make out getaway via the ghost road to the Central Festival shopping centre in Chaweng. The ghost road, which I initially made mention of on Thursday, 11 June 2015 in my post titled A sabbatical begins… has taken a battering with the constant rain this year and is riddled with potholes. I am happy to report that the part they re-engineered last year at the Bang Rak side was holding up well.

We found the Central Festival shopping centre just as we had left it nearly a year ago. Adri and I split up and met an hour later, but she had not yet decided on a birthday gift, she needed more time. Her third and last request was supper and she chose The Wine Connection in the same centre which turned out to be a rare find.

The Wine Connection is essentially a Mediterranean type restaurant with a specifically strong Italian influence. They have lovely Italian and French meat and cheese platters but we were a tad hungrier than that. They have lovely pastas and pizzas and salads and steaks and other meat dishes, all looking very appetizing. Now the rare find I mentioned above was that the menu consisted solely of Mediterranean dishes, there was not a single Thai dish in sight. Most international restaurants in Thailand will have plenty farang dishes to choose from, but there will always be a few Thai dishes on the menu as well. Not at The Wine Connection though, this we found to be quite unique, in our experience at least.

Adri ordered a glass of wine which was excellent, although she only received ‘n kat spoegie (a cat’s spittle), one had to twirl the glass a few times to ascertain whether there was indeed wine in there. It helped that the wine was red. I had a Singha draft which was delivered ice-cold. Adri ordered the lamb chops which came with freshly cut and prepared French fries, veggies, and a blue cheese sauce. I have not had pasta in yonks and thus ordered the fettuccini with chorizo and parmesan. Both the dishes were of the highest quality, we will be back there hopefully real soon.

Adri loves Swenson’s which is what they call an ice-cream restaurant, not unlike Milky Lane back in SA, so that was where we headed after our substantial meal. Man, these people know how to make ice-cream! Adri had a selection of chocolate, vanilla and cappuccino ice-cream with roasted almonds and I had a hot fudge sundae, both were excellent.

If you’ve been to Thailand you would have noticed that the picture of the late king Bhumibol is everywhere, on advertising boards, on buildings, inside buildings… everywhere. Tonight as we started up our stallion I looked ahead towards the Central Festival shopping centre and there, larger than life itself, was the first large public picture of the new King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun that I have seen. I assume this will become more common over time.

Once we got home Adri responded to all the birthday wishes she received via email and text, made a few phone calls, and it was during this time that the tiredness once again got the better of me and I fell into a very deep sleep. It was 02:00 when Adri finally came to bed that I woke up, brushed my teeth and turned in for my second installment.

At the gym on Wednesday morning the same peroxided guy that played tennis the other day was there with his girlfriend, perfecting their dance routine to wah wah wah music… they pulled some great moves I must admit, they must be performing somewhere on the island… would actually like to see their show.

Most of the day was spent catching up on blogging and I finally managed to publish another post late afternoon.

We had arranged to go for supper with Thea and Andre at Sereena, a new restaurant up Soi 1 in Mae Nam, about one kilometre past the new Immigration office. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the new Immigration office was now open, in has been in the planning and building phase for a few years now, and it is so much more accessible than driving to the old office in Nathon for Immigration formalities.

We arrived at Sereena on time and were pleasantly surprised. Malcolm, an Irishman that does not sound Irish, had built a brand new building for his new restaurant which opened just a few short months back, a really lovely spot, a really cool place.

Wayne and Joy whom we met here last December, were now back on the island for the holidays, also joined us for dinner, albeit a short while later. You see, Wayne’s GPS had taken him in the wrong direction; these damn GPS’s are so unreliable! It was great to see these two again and it seems like everyone were just getting younger with time!

We had a lovely dinner, most of us going for Thai dishes with Wayne going for the fish. All dishes were meticulously prepared by Malcolm’s chef who is from Russia, a very friendly chap I met when Malcolm proudly showed me his spacious and ultra clean kitchen. I wish Malcolm all the best with his new endeavour, I am sure he will make a success of it as he has done with so many restaurants previously in the UK and Koh Samui.

Malcolm, a friendly chap who loves a chat, half mentioned half complained that the neighbours were siphoning off some of his electricity and also using his wifi without permission. Thea then mentioned that the stealing of wifi was not new but also not really a major issue as one invariably has an unlimited internet plan. But when your neighbour is stealing your wifi and then has the audacity – after a few months of stolen usage – to complain that your wifi was too slow and demand that you upgrade the line, that’s where you draw the line. This is what happened to them when they were still living in Choeng Mon. Wow, it beggars belief!

After gym and breakfast on Thursday Adri went to visit Thea at their offices and also to visit with her grandkids, Cooper and Peyton, before they go back to school tomorrow. I did some blogging, I tried to, I really did…

We met up with Didier at 17:30 after our rain check on Tuesday, and how great it was to see him again. We ordered our beers at the M+M Bar in Bang Rak and had a most pleasant evening with the conversation flowing in many directions. Didier was looking great, also seemed even younger than before, maybe it has something to do with all the exercise he gets up to. We’ll surely see Didier again before he leaves Samui mid January, but then again, we’ll surely see him when we go to Montpellier in mid March, we’ll be staying about 30km from each other.

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