Farewells and PADI Medicals

Farewells

Waking up this morning my couchsurfer Stephanie and I had a day planned of adventure and island discovery. That is until she opened her email and realised her ticket left a day earlier than she had assumed.
As Ricardo likes to say: Assumption id the mother of all F—ups. So it was a mad dash to get her ticketed and set to get to Bangkok today. She went to the ferry terminal in Tong Sala, a 15minute scooter ride, to get her ticket then returned to pack.

I had popped over to 7-11 to grab some milk for breakfast and as I puttered home and into my garden I realised my neighbor, Cesar, had followed me the entire way much amused at my driving technique, or lack there of. He had brought over a bunch of yummy things and we all had a farewell breakfast with yoghurt (coconut my favorite) and fruit and muesli and gotchi berries (which Steph tried to convince Cesar the value of without much success).

After everything was cleared up and bellies were full it was time for farewell. Stephanie had been a great first time surfer in my little bungalow and it made me feel confident to host again.

Driving Fears

With no more plans for the day I went and studied at the dive shop until Urs and the rest of the crew returned. Carol and I decided to go to Tong Sala so that she could run some errands and I could go to the doc for my dive physical. Urs and I planned to meet for dinner.

Since my driving skills were still in the developing stage I was anything but confident in driving my own bike to Tong Sala, so I rode behind Carol. Now, Carol is a very good driver and has driven for years in her home country of Switzerland, not to mention during her year in Thailand. But she also tends to talk with her hands and swear at random dogs or drivers as she whizzes past them, and, in truth, it is more the other drivers on the road I am nervous about. However, since the little wipeout I realised just how nervous I was behind someone. On most corners I nearly broke one of her ribs holding on so tight and on one rather tight one I started moving my foot out in preparation of a slide…. mmm I think it’s time to get confident on Lucy Liu, my purple steed!

Since we had time we also stopped off at the animal shelter, Phangan Animal Clinic (PAC). I had bought a glucometer for them to check one of the dogs levels in case it had diabetes and had been hoping to drop it off for 2 weeks now. Carol was a bit nervous of dogs so we didn’t stay long as there was a pack of about 7 that roamed the center.

Once in Tong Sala we realised we still had plenty of time and with the heat we decided to find an air-conditioned icecream shop for coffee. I was thrilled to see they had Milo icecream. I must say that I have a wee bit of an addiction to any and all Milo products, it’s just so dang yummy and a comfort food/drink from childhood. For those of you who don’t know it, it’s a malted chocolate powder full of great nutrients.

We also got to wander around some of the stores and look at some curios. It’s amazing how cheap they all seem when you are visiting, I mean 150 baht ($5) for a pair of comfy cotton pants is a steal. But as an almost local that computes to at least 2 dinners…

PADI Medicals

One item on the required list for my DiveMaster was to get a physical ticking all the boxes and making sure we are fit to dive. I have had to do this medical a few times for some of the other classes. We went to Dr. Wororoot (or something like that), apparently a diver himself and a no fuss guy when it comes to going through the list. He asked me why I was there, how many dives and what shop I was at and signed me off. I asked him to check my ear because it had been giving me issues and he glanced and said “Might have been and infection before but all clear now”. Ummm gee thanks, well that was quick and dirty. Paid my fee of around $10 and headed out. When I commented on how quick it was the others explained that he does so many of these he can spot any issues pretty quickly and being a diver he is aware of what to look for and ask about. Sounds good to me!

Both Carol and I needed to pick up a few things from Tesco, the local bigger grocery store on the island. Of course this made driving home, at night, a little more nerve wracking… Finally getting home and dumping all my stuff I felt exhausted, I flopped down in my hammock and promptly remembered the dinner date with Urs. Made it just in time and we went and had burgers at 2 Brothers. It felt like a very long day!