So the plan of attack for our time here is to try and alternate our days so that we spend one day at the resort, doing resort-type stuff and then spend one day out and about exploring and stuff. So today was an out and about day. Thus, after breakfast we slathered on the sunscreen and insect repellent, packed up the bag with bottled water and Carl's camera and headed out to explore the immediate environs.
Shortly after we'd set out, we were hailed by a young couple riding a scooter. The guy is apparently from Feilding. Small freaking world. Anyway they were giving out these scratch-card things on behalf of a resort chain. And scratching mine I found I'd won a 'Star Prize' and, even better, I'd won a dream holiday, which is apparently a 7 day stay at one of those resorts. Carl didn't seem too convinced so we kinda walked away. But I still have the ticket so I might see if I can get him to check it out. Cos if it's a scam then hey whatever. But if there's a chance it could be real, well...
Meh. We headed down the road and wound up in a plaza, where there was a small shrine among a circle of paving stones that represented the Chinese zodiac. See?
Ok oops, that's not actually the zodiac one. This is a shrine just down the road from the resort, next to the muay thai fighting ring. But yeah these shrine things are everywhere. And the one thing I can't figure out is why they put bottles of water or soft drink on them. It's strange.
Past the plaza we came to a local market.
Fresh fruit, meat, fish and various other things. Unfortunately the place REEKED of raw fish and baking sewage so we didn't stay too long. Plus there was the hygiene factor...
That is raw fish in the sun open to flies and god only knows what else. Ew.
Carrying on down the road, we explored some more, found various shops that we poked into, fended off pitches by tailors desperate for business (there are seriously a LOT of tailors here) before heading back to the resort for lunch.
After lunch Carl chilled out by the pool while I went for a swim. Then we played the day's bar game which was a quiz on all the excursions offered by Club Med. We didn't do so well but that was ok. We were then invited to join a Thai cooking lesson where we learned how to make a Thai green chicken curry. Yum but OMG was it spicy!
We then headed out to the archery range and on our way out there, met this little fellow:
Isn't he cute?
At the archery range there was a tournament, which Carl entered but I was unable to as I'd never done archery before.
After the tournament, the instructor gave us lessons. MAN it's harder than it looks in Wii sports. My thumb is still sore from holding the bow steady.
We finished at the archery range about 5:30pm. At that point Carl went to the infirmary because he'd had a sore throat most of the day and it was really beginning to bother him. Turns out he has acute pharyngitis. Great. And everyone thought *I* was the one who was going to get sick on this vacation.
As a result the specialty dinner was a bit of a drag as Carl didn't want to eat and I could tell that he would much rather be back at our room watching tv. The food was delicious though, especially the beef prosciutto salad with pesto, which was the starter. The soup was creamy pumpkin and green pea, the main rack of lamb with mustard seeds and curry juice. And for dessert, this yummy lemon and blueberry muffin type thing with fresh whipped cream and blueberry sauce.
Yummy. Happy birthday dinner to me. Took us a hell of a time to figure out where the hell the specialty dining room actually WAS. All the way down the back of the resort. Which is kinda nice because it means it's nice and quiet and ambient.
And now we're back in the room. Carl is all but asleep and I'm getting there myself. So I'll catch you all later.
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