Incoming!--12/9 and 10

I went down for the count first, feeling sick from something I ate. I laid low after the lamb chop dinner, which I don't believe was the culprit. Rather, an undercooked bit of prawn? who knows, but I felt weird and flu-ish and laid low. I did rally enought to go out in the evening to help John navigate the huge SUV Fortuner to the airport to pick up Celia, Donna and Pat, but didn't choose to consume anything besides coconut water when we took them to Lillo Island restaurant from the airport. With exquisite location on the beach, it is an excellent gateway point and they enjoyed it. But John looked pale, mid-meal, and didn't finish his beer. Uh oh. He had gotten me a Coke and some rice at the 7-11 that afternoon, and picked up a chicken and rice curry for himself--but that was the culprit. When we got back to the house and the travelers retired he stayed up most of the night purging toxins from his body. Celia gave us the medical report in the morning. Classic food poisoning, bacillus cereus, aka "fried rice syndrome." He was down for the entire day, sleeping. I felt better, but not 100%, and didn't want to risk eating so kept it very light that day. Coconut water and a chicken rice gruel from a restaurant that Som took us to in Bang Tao when we went to the fancy grocery store. No pictures here--wasn't feeling too perky. But they all had a great Thai lunch, though Pat had a fried rice dish and went down--BAM--almost as soon as we got home. Jet lag too. The ladies carried on--went to Eileen's school and to an outdoor market for vegetables for Donna to make a pasta dish for dinner--though only she and Celia had any real appetite. John was coming around, slowly, and I was feeling ok and over the hump. We drove and picked up Rose at the Phuket airport who arrived around 10 pm. Back from the airport we showed her the apartment next to the pool and she was glad she made the trip. Now we have people! We all got up on Wednesday morning and were recovered and ready to do it all--starting with the beach in fro of the Lillo Island restaurant--home base. We picked Eileen up at her Shining Stars school after her soccer practice.

The next morning at Kamala Beach. Celia and Rose are both happy they came!