Mood Meter

I would rate Vic's mood meter as followed:

first day upon our arrival: Bad
second day upon our arrival: Very Bad
third day upon our arrival: Extremely Bad
fourth day upon our arrival: Couldn't be worst
fifth day upon our arrival: Great, this is the best place in the world after eating that toasted baguette with german ham and cheese

Note that Vic is allergic to wheat flour and gluten, the baguette here seems does not bother him. The reason is in Asia, french bread is always made with a mixture of rice flour and wheat flour, perhaps the trace of gluten is much less in a bread than regular flour, he did not have a reaction to it at all, I am kind of surprise that he can eat bread here all the time without any problems.

Also, the reason why he felt so bad for the first few days because we did not have a car. It was my idea to not rent a car for the first few days, just take shuttle and taxi to get a feel for the area before we actually start driving all over the place. There was a big jazz festival on the beach last 3 days upon our arrival, traffic was bad and residents are driving in from bangkok or from the southern provence, it was a smart idea not to drive on those first few days.

Maybe it is a good thing for Vic to see the worst first. We did not know where we were going on the first 2 days and we trumbled into a very old & bad neigbourhood close to where the shuttle drop off point. He went totally crazy, I think people do not understand thai lives thai style, we are on their land, we perceive beautiful image of thailand because we only stay at 5* resort or spa and dine at restaurants where a meal worth a monthly salary of a local worker. When you walk out from a bubble, not everything you see is pleasant to your eyes and you have to accept it because you can not change them. This is the way they live and you have the way you live.

In asia, having boundary is important; on the otherhand it translates to a level of respect of different culture. Not to look down to them but to respect this is the way of their living.