Pig On A Spit

Thursday 28 September

When I got up and went for my morning sabbatical in the swimming pool, it was raining – only just a little more than spitting really – but the clouds overhead were white and augured better weather. By the time we had finished breakfast the skies had cleared and the day was already one of the hottest we have had in the past couple of weeks. We sat around the pool all morning – I even wrote my blog there, in the shade, until the sun got so warm, I felt the computer might overheat – and we had to take frequent dips in the pool to cool us downl Dave arrived to tell us Juz had booked into the “poodle parlour” at the hotel for three hours and he was off on a mission to Tescos to buy cosmeticy things for nails and bodies (later we found out that he walked the three kilometres to the store, stopping in a transport café for a bacon buttie and a cup of English Tetley’s tea – it was quite like home).

Early in the afternoon the pool was invaded by a couple of very noisy, screaming French children (aged about 3 and 4 years old), whose mothers seemed unaware of the disruption their offspring were causing, so we decided lunch was in order. We went to Hemmingways, which we found open today. It is a small café/bar with rattan tables and chairs set out on a verandah right over the beach. The tide was still high, and the water lapped only a couple of feet below our table. The others ordered fruit pancakes, but I chose a tuna sandwich – very ordinary on the menu – but when it appeared it was a large crusty brown baguette filled with tuna and salad – and the bread was so delicious, topped with sesame seeds - the best we have had on the island. We had shakes and “exotic tea” - a home made concoction of ginger, lemon and ginger ale, which was very refreshing. The bar is run by an Austrian lady, and has a German bakery attached. She also offers a wide range of German sausages and organic Thailand teas boasting many medicinal properties. I am sure Colin and I will revisit this cafe to sample some of the other fare on offer, including more of the breads, before we leave.

We returned to the pool, and the children from hell were still in the jacuzzi, although slightly more controlled as their fathers had appeared on the scene. We sat on the balcony for a while before having a last swim of the day. The “Oileys” had been packing – sadly they are leaving us tomorrow. Juz and Dave joined us all on the balcony later for drinks and nibbles (Dave had purchased a variety of mini doughnuts at Dunking Donuts at Tescos) before finding a tut-tut and going to Chaweng.

When Ray and Jean had visited Chaweng yesterday afternoon, during their meander along the High Street, Jean had purchased a pair of sandals and received a discount voucher if she should visit again. Tonight, soon after we alighted from the tut-tut, we found another branch of the same shoe shop, and she bought a pair of white shoes, receiving yet another voucher. If this pattern had continued (we found three or four more branches of the shop along the way), she would have had a suitcase full of shoes to take home, and no room for anything else. It was time to hit Tropcial Murphys!

Whilst wandering they had also spied a restaurant called “Ocean Basket” which was part of the same chain of restaurants they eaten at in South Africa last year. Here it was a restaurant of two halves, one side fish and the other meat – you could tell the difference as a whole pig was balanced over the barbeque, gently roasting on a spit, at the front of the meat restaurant. This was our choice for tonight. The two sections of the eaterie were separated by a wide alleyway, and we had just given our orders from the huge menus (in size as well as choice), when a whistle blew, rapping music suddenly blared out from the balcony above and all the staff from both restaurants congregated to dance in unison to the pulsing rhythm, led by a couple of the chefs, continually turning to face first the meat restaurant and then the fish, and then back again. It reminded me of the Chinese exercising in lines to music in the squares in the evening and felt we should all have joined in. It only lasted about five minutes but was very entertaining and unexpected.

We enjoyed a wide variety of food tonight – I started with oysters that were served with small whole red chillis (very burning to the mouth, but I am assured they are good for your digestion) as well as coriander, fried onions (different), red wine vinegar and of course, as if the chillis weren’t hot enough, tabasco. The oysters were much larger than those we eat at home and slightly more chewy – lacking that delicate flavouring – more Singha than champagne – but still very rich and mouth-watering. I had then chosen pig from the spit as my main course – poor porky was still standing over the barbeque - and that was equally delicious. Others chose sea-food baskets, red snapper, surf and turf and a pizza! We had more “bloody wine” but at least this time it was more drinkable than some of the previous choices. It had proved a very tasty “last supper” with great atmosphere, and we all enjoyed it!

We hailed the tut-tut home, and feeling exhausted (probably our visa run was catching up on us) we fell into bed and were asleep almost immediately.