The Beach Experience

 The weather was not always shining upon us, but we did have two beach days, luxuriating in decadence on lounge chairs under a large beach umbrella, with the white beach stretching out in front of us, gentle sea breezes of the South China Sea caressing our well lathered up bodies.


Ahhhhhh.

Did I mention our personal beach boy, Quan? He kept us well hydrated with water, coconut water, iced tea with little umbrellas on top, red ale beer and passion beer.

Yup, I broke down and drank beer.

Sure made crossing the main street less stressful.





We even ate lunch there, brought to us by our faithful Quan.
Yummy food -- fresh fruit, great pizzas, burgers, seafood -- anything our little hedonistic hearts desired.

Speaking of hedonism, we even had beachside massages in the Relax Club, just steps from our lounge chairs. The massage ladies weren't quite the vision of Polynesian beauties dressed in sarongs who gently massaged your tired muscles. More alone the lines of a Teutonic pummeling you into submission, but you had no knots left in you when they were finished.

We made sure that Mom got the old lady, who did give her a gentler massage while admiring her toe nail design and asking how much she paid for them. Kathleen and I were not so fragile looking so we got the vigorous massage, which included any whitehead removal as encountered, and ear wax removal.

All this specialized treatment was delivered with a questioning the degree of which any interrogator would have been very proud. How old you? How old she? You big sister? She your mother? Oh! How old she? Where you come from? Ah Canada, very cold there. Here much nicer. How long you stay? why you come? and on and on. But we didn't have to leave the beach, so all was good.

We did feel slightly slothful, but figured Shannon and Chad did enough activities for us --motorcycling around the countryside one afternoon and returning without any road rash; cycling down a mountain from the Heaven's Pass to the lowlands where the mountains were covered in mist; going white water rafting with a bunch of 50 year old Aussie men who had been let loose by their wives for their birthday present. Shannon remarked on how men revert back to their child when left unsupervised but it was amazing.

Even Chad was smiling and quite animated.






Back to us, we were quite satisfied with our exercise routine.