Life's a Beach!

Dear Wonderfully Supportive Family and Friends,

I hope this finds you all doing well.  Let me take a moment to say again that I could not do any of this without your support.  Thank you for continuing to encourage me through this bucket-list-adventure of mine.  I am an amazingly fortunate person to have you in my life!

While in Bangkok last week, I re-connected with some of my former co-workers.  We laughed a lot and reminisced about our days working for the Orderly Departure Program.  What fun!

The food we ate.

Orn, Me, Ai and Yee at Eat Thai in the Central Embassy mall food court

Ruby, Me, Taew and Noi - dessert time at Anna & Charlie's Cafe

Here are the links to the restaurants in case you'd like more information:
http://www.bangkok.com/magazine/eathai-food-court.htm#
www.annacharlie.net

I am currently at my final living destination - Hua Hin:-)  I arrived late Monday afternoon and was met by David Puckett, and his friend and neighbor, Alan.  In true DP style, he invited me to have a beer to celebrate my arrival.  I love this guy!  For those who may not know, Dave was Bob's boss when we lived in Thailand 25+ years ago.  He's married to a lovely Thai woman, Aey (pronounced "A").  Aey was on a trip to visit her family, so Dave and Alan got me settled into "the condo" where I'll be staying.

"The condo" is a double condo because the landlord (a friend of Aey's), and her late husband, bought two condos and combined them.  The landlord now lives and works in Bangkok and doesn't have much time to use this condo.  It has 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, and is a short walk from the beach.   I'm so thankful to her for allowing me to stay here for a while; and also to Aey for securing it for me.  Fortune continues to shine down on me.  So...how does one person settle into something this big?  It'll be fun figuring that out!  Hopefully I'll have some visitors??!!??

Double condo - my bedroom is the balcony on the right

My bedroom

So far, the best things (besides the condo) about being here in Hua Hin are getting to spend time with Aey and David, and being able to go to the beach whenever I want.  I've never stayed at the beach for more than a week, so it will be interesting living here for 7+ months.  What I've learned so far is that mid-morning is not a good time to go to the beach unless you want to be baked.  Early morning is better, but I have this problem about getting up.  So...I've settled on going to the beach right before the sun sets.  This time seems to suit me best because you get beautiful views and wonderful breezes.

Morning beach view

Beach right before sunset (view of a man and his horse)

Life's a real beach these days!