26th January, 2024

I have just published the post for the second half of 25th January and now realise where we did actually eat on the evening of that day. It was a meet-up with our old friend Mano Maniam and – unexpectedly – Raja Zainal or Bok as he is lovingly known. We were not expecting to see him as he has been suffering from a rather botched hernia operation, so it was a wonderful surprise to see his smiling face greeting us at the restaurant.

For the record, a photo of the three friends (Stooges??)

OK, Friday saw us off to the shops with Zee, then round to her flat to watch some of the Australian Open tennis (she is an avid fan) and then to a wonderful Nyonya restaurant for supper.

Peranakan cuisine or Nyonya cuisine comes from the Peranakans, descendants of early Chinese migrants who settled in Penang, Malacca, Singapore and Indonesia, inter-marrying with local Malays. In Baba Malay, a female Peranakan is known as a nonya (also spelled nyonya), and a male Peranakan is known as a baba. The cuisine combines Chinese, Malay, Javanese, South Indian, and other influences.

27th January, 2024

Our last full day in KL, so lots of packing to do, but around 4pm it was off to Ad and Babes’s to meet up with more friends, Malinee and Manfred. They hail from Germany and have actually decided to join a tour of Malaysia, even though Malinee is actually from here. They thought it would be fun to get a different perspective on the country that way. A laughter-filled evening where we also met Peter and Sandra (spelling?) from the Netherlands.

28th January, 2024

It was off to the airport, courtesy of Chris, my erstwhile driver from my Melaka trip, rather more subdued at this time in the morning. I have to say that even AirAsia, a budget airline, were totally amenable to ferrying Val about in her wheelchair. We flew initially to Phuket and were then wheeled about by airport staff there and ended up in a nice little lounge courtesy of Bangkok Airlines with whom we were flying next to our destination for the next 20 days, Koh Samui.

We arrived safely (small plane, with propellors!), picked up the hire car and manoeuvred our way into the Thai traffic. Luckily this is not as bad as some might think, as all the drivers on the road basically expect the vehicle in front to do something unexpected and drive accordingly. You do have to watch out for the motorcycles, but no one is driving particularly fast.

We found our hotel, the Samui Buri Beach Resort, OK by dint of me effectively memorising the route from Google Maps. We have a very nice room (accessible!), which opens out onto a pool that runs along the backs of the other rooms along side.

We settled in well, had dinner in the hotel restaurant overlooking the beach and the sea – all very romantic and then collapsed into bed.

29th to 31st January, 2024

The 29th was a settling-in day, with a drive around the area and a visit to the International Hospital for Val to check on her mouth ulcer, which was not improving much. They confirmed that it should get better given time. Pretty much what we thought, but reassuring. We then did a big supermarket shop – a few toiletries, lots of fruit and rather too many snacks – and then dropped off a few kilos of washing at the laundry where we met the lovely Oi. That is probably not how you spell her name, but it IS what it sounded like. I have subsequently met her husband, Win and their 17-month-old son, who goes by the name Kevin – or so it sounds. As ever in Thailand everyone is lovely and welcoming and always ready with a laugh.

Our routine started the next day, with a trip to the gym(!) followed by a bit of swimming, blogging, games and a massage. Mine was, I think, done by a devotee of Mr Spock’s Vulcan death grip and I can only hope that the knots she worked on are gone forever. Val had to tell me to shut up at one point as I was involuntarily crying out. Still, I felt better afterwards and hopefully nearly 3 weeks of this sort of treatment will have a good effect. So far, sadly, my Sciatica is still giving me gyp (is that the right spelling?) at times, especially in shopping malls (I kid you not!).

Not much else to report. We will drive round the island tomorrow and have a look at some of the sights, so should have more to report on soon.