Day 8 - Time To Move On

This is going to be short and sweet!

We sat at our usual spot on Noi Na Beach without being dowsed in coconut oil and felt the sandflies nipping at our ankles. We had lunch as usual at C Smile with our usual order of French fries and Chang Beer, but with the addition of a spicy mango salad. It was too spicy for my delicate palate.

The afternoon was more of the same of being bitten on the beach until the sun disappeared behind the trees.

That evening we went back to C Smile with high expectations for our final night at this end of the island. The restaurant was packed with diners but we did find a free table in their cafe area. I ordered the stir-fried chicken with black pepper, which had been somspectacular 2 nights ago. Jackie ordered the starter of scallops in a cream and garlic sauce and also drunken noodles with pork. The waiter informed Jackie that they didn’t have any scallops left, so she hurriedly scanned the menu and ordered the grilled squid.

As is the case in Thailand, the dishes arrive at your table when they ready and in no particular order. The drunken noodles came out first , shortly followed by my stir-fried chicken, which was nothing short of disappointing. There were much fewer mushrooms in it and the sauce was this time like a bland gravy with a couple of whole peppercorns in it. We had finished both dishes and had nearly finished our second bottle of Chang, but still there was no sign of the squid dish. Jackie told me that she wasn’t hungry anymore anyway so we would pay up and go.

No sooner had we made this decision when an enormous pile of flaccid squid pieces, enough to satisfy a family of six, was served up to us. Jackie took a little bite out of one piece and said she didn’t like it then tried to convince me that it didn’t matter, because it only cost 70THB. I wasn’t convinced that this much squid cost less than £2, so I checked on the menu and to my horror I saw that it actually cost 700THB. This was more than we had paid for any of our entire meals on this trip. To say I was annoyed was an understatement, especially as Jackie refused to eat any more of the squid.

Just to top it off, as we were about to leave there was a sudden heavy downpour and we had to sit in seething silence for 15 minutes until it passed.

We bought a half bottle of Hong Thong on the way home, which we drank and went to bed.

Song of the Day - Moving On by James,Read more