...to Chonburi

Here I an, ensconced in the Mercure Hotel, Chonburi, after a gruelling flight.

I've already acquired some Twinings English Breakfast Teabags, chocolate, and other essential ingredients that make life worthwhile.

The Kosher tea in Israel was the one downside in the whole experience, and getting milk to have with it was quite an exercise. Israel has some of the best Coffee in the world, or so I'm told, but for a confirmed Tea Drinker, it's a desert.

I'm not alone here - there's a couple from the US Virgin Islands that I've been in contact with for a year or two, and they're here as well. I've just been showing Theresa the local supermarkets, ice cream parlours, and if she needs some comfort food from home, the local KFC and Mackers too.

I really need to lose weight - the medical problems I've been having mean that even walking more than a kilometre or two was a major effort, and I'll be so glad to have things fixed up at last! The problems have meant that I haven't been getting any exercise, so my already less than girlish figure has ballooned out.

That didn't stop me from getting some of my favourite food here though, immediately after I arrived. There's a stall that sells sate sticks, 2 bites per stick, for 3 baht each. 90 baht, a little over $3.50 Australian, gets you 30 sticks, with a bagful of peanut sauce and another of salad. As I'd only eaten two lots of airline food in the previous 36 hours, I splurged. Then a nice, relaxing bubble-bath with a Steven King Novel. And today, after a healthy breakfast of all the salad I could eat with chilli dressing, showing Theresa around, just as Mardie (another long-distance friend of mine) showed the ropes to me in November.

Now for another long, relaxing soak, letting my cares float away after what was a very productive but very gruelling time in Israel. Despite the medical problems, and being away from those I love, Life's pretty good at the moment, and I intend making the most of it!