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| Flowers blooming in pond in front yard of the villa. |
It’s surprising how easily I’m getting through my share of the packing this time considering my extra caution in avoiding bending over. Sure, there are certain aspects of pulling it all together that are tricky right now when I’ve always been the one to gather all the odds and ends we’ve placed throughout the vacation home.
Tom handles all the cords, electronics, emptying, washing and drying the ice cube trays and packing his clothing, while I usually gather and pack the toiletries, shoes and the few kitchen items (place mats, a few dish towels, measuring cup and spoons, turner and peeler).
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| This style of house in Phuket could be anywhere in the world, including the US. |
Slowly, over the past few days, I’ve gathered what we won’t need to use with only two meals left to prepare. On Wednesday evening, we’ll pack the remainder and be ready to walk out the door at 7 am on Thursday morning (its Monday here now) when the driver arrives to take us to the airport.
With my clothes packed except for what I’ll wear over the next few days, I’m beginning to have peace of mind knowing its under control. Over this past year I’ve been able to get the packing down to less than an hour (prior to the injury) but now it’s proven to be a cautious step by step process in a determined attempt to avoid further injury.
If I had to leave the entire process up to Tom, he’s do it without question. But, the time has come for me to be a little more active. What better a time than to do it now when soon we’ll be walking long distances in the airports in Phuket, Singapore (a long layover) and Denpasar.
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| Driving on the highway to the market. |
I’m thrilled we’re staying overnight in Denpasar, Bali (the capital city) at the same hotel close to the airport we used on the prior trip to Bali before embarking the following day for the grocery shopping and the four to five hour harrowing drive to Sumbersari.
Our driver Butu, will arrive at the hotel at 10 am Friday to take us to the supermarket (the grocery list is already on the phone app) and then commence on the dreaded trafficked drive to the villa.
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| Salons, spas and nail studios are popular in Phuket. |
For my comfort Butu will be bringing a pillow from the villa. Also, he’ll drive Egon’s (the villa owner) comfortable newer air con van. These two facts help immensely.
Now as I speak into my laptop using speech recognition, Tom is watching the Minnesota Viking pre-season game in the living room using the NFL GamePass app with the HDMI cord. He doesn’t yell or make a peep when watching the game so I have no idea how its going. He’s always been a quiet observer, considering his propensity to lively conversation.
Yesterday, we both researched online to find him a replacement smart phone. He’d considered a Kindle device but after reading many reviews, it didn’t appear that any of the available models would be meet his criteria.
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| This view although cloudy on many days always takes our breath away. |
He didn’t like the idea of the larger sized reader although insisted on having a good Wi-Fi connection on such a device. After reading dozens of reviews we discovered that Kindle devices can be data hogs with lots of uploads transpiring in the background at all times in an attempt to get the user to buy, buy, buy.
With the reality that at times we’re paying for data (metered or on a SIM card using device) that made no sense at all. A new smart phone was the best decision. Also, he didn’t want to add to our overall weight by purchasing a larger device.
Tom doesn’t relish the idea of learning how to use new and different devices, software and operating systems. For me, its the opposite. I love new technology. Based on this fact alone, it made sense for him to purchase the identical phone, Blu Win HD Lite; ideal for reading books, email, surfing the web and use as a factory unlocked cellphone.
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| The elaborate sign at the entrance to the Muay Thai Kickboxing facility down the road from us. Many nights we can hear the activity. |
The price was under US $100, THB $3466 for the smart phone including tax with free shipping (to our mailing service), not bad for an unlocked phone when unlocked phones were close to US $1000, THB $34,660 when we first started traveling.
This item along with the many other items we described in yesterday’s post will arrive with our shipment in Bali sometime in the next month. (We’ve yet to place the shipment request).
As its turns out we won’t need another trip to the grocery store. We have enough food on hand for tonight’s, Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s meals. The only outings necessary before Thursday’s departure is a haircut for Tom and a quick trip to the pharmacy for a few items, both on tomorrow’s agenda.
We hope that whatever you tackle today brings you considerable pleasure, whether its reading a good book, watching a favorite TV series, preparing a great meal or out on an exciting adventure.
Photo from one year ago today, August 29, 2015:
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| Seagull in flight in during our visit to the Great Barrier Reef. For more photos, please click here. |