Hi Gram,
I woke up this morning very much like I have before. I did some of my morning routine then headed out on my walk. I saw a nice sunset on the beach and was glad that the tide was out so I could walk a little farther. I did my usual breakfast and reading when I got back then headed for Klaus fit, the body weight exercise class. He had me working on legs today and I really felt it. I was proud that I was able to do some exercises more sturdily than I could have when I first started – I’m seeing real progress!
After class, I headed back to the hotel and got some computer work done, then headed to lunch with the Palapon crew. I haven’t been eating with them the past 2 weeks as I sorted out my belly troubles but I’m feeling better now and I miss just having a variety of tasty chicken dishes prepared for me. I told Valerie that I’m going to start joining them for lunch Monday through Friday. I’ve been making breakfast each morning at the hotel and I’ll continue that. I’ll probably have dinner with Natiya many nights or I can always go find something nearby – I don’t want to commit to any dinner plans with Valerie’s restaurant.
After lunch and yoga class – which was as good as it’s been all week – I headed home for a shower and got ready for my massage. My back has been hurting the past few days and Natiya didn’t like the idea of some random massage place working on me so she arranged for a friend of hers to come work on me. They arrived around 4:30 or 5 and he proceeded to put me through the wringer for the next two hours. He dug his elbows, thumbs, and knees into all of my muscle groups in turn, stretched me passively, and moved my legs and arms around in ways that I didn’t know my body could go. It sounds extravagant, having someone come to your room and massage you for two hours, right? What would something like that cost? It was 800 Baht, approximately $23USD! He poked his elbows a little hard in some places but overall it was worth every penny and then some. Once he left, I collapsed back onto the bed and soon found myself lulled into a slumber.