Thailand and the Comforts of Home

We spent this past week  on a beach in Phuket, Thailand and it was really an amazing holiday. We spent early mornings by the beach in awe of the incredible power of the waves hitting the shore. We then went to the hotel’s buffet breakfast and then to the pool for the rest of the morning. In the afternoons, we ordered room service lunch, enjoyed some quiet time inside and then hit the beach for the rest of the day and early evening. Then, back to the room for room service dinner.

Four days on a beautiful beach, enjoying warm ocean water, without need for cooking, cleaning or washing dishes was incredible. And yes, there were obviously arguments! While the kids would whine for screen time and complain about not wanting to wear shoes (this was an easy one – then don’t!), it was still much more peaceful than the everyday.

But, the unexpected surprise of the trip was the bed! It was incredible – so comfortable, so many pillows and such a soft, warm comforter. Alan even remarked that he had to take away some of the cushiness of the pillows! The kids commented on how amazing their bed was – even Everlys crib was amazingly comfortable!

By comparison, it should be noted how very terrible our beds are in Singapore. Our condo  is beautiful and was essentially fully furnished, but the beds and pillows are seriously lacking. The comforter does not even reach the sides of the bed – and when you cling to the sides of the bed because the kids crawl in during the night, it is really important that the comforter fits the bed! Ours does not.

Reflecting on this shortcoming, led me to missing my pots, pans and stoneware dishes. In Singapore, I have several pots but only one lid – it is hard to cook a meal with just one lid, I never realized how much I used the lids. I also miss my electric toothbrush, I am tired of brushing my teeth. I realize these are trivial things and, sure, I probably should have bought these items 9 months ago – but it was only temporary and we thought we would get by! Then, when we realized we should have bought pillows, it was too late.

All this to say that I am missing some of the comforts of my home, even amongst all of the incredible adventures that we have been on.

Also, last week a cock roach ran over my bare foot. I think I have been traumatized. I thought the neighbours would come running with my screams of horror, but apparently cock roaches are not a big deal to them. I now only wear shoes in the house and tip toe in my kitchen. There are not many cock roaches, but the odd one – and that really is just too many.

As our trip is winding down, we are beginning to look forward to returning home. Sure, we will miss the innumerable things to do in this city and the abundance of possibilities for nearby travel in South East Asia. But it will be nice to return home and find our new normal.

We have been able to look at our home from a completely new perspective since being away for so long. So many rooms / areas in our home are being wasted without meeting our needs. So, in my mind, I have revamped our main floor to start meeting the needs of our family and I am very excited to make these changes.

Until then, we will enjoy every last minute that we are here in Singapore.