I am finishing up my second cup of pity me! This has not been a good week for me at all. Thank goodness it is Friday and we have a low key weekend ahead of us. Both of the kids have their basketball games on Saturday and, fortunately, they are at different times so we get to see both games in their entirety. The Embassy is closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday and Kevin has plans for a golf outing.
After having great runs last week and over the weekend, the pain in my knee returned with a vengeance Monday morning. Advil, ice and Epsom salts did not help at all and I decided not to run Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, hoping the rest would give my knee a chance to heal. No such luck. It seemed to get more painful each day and the pain moved from the top outside to the lower inside of my knee. I found that if I deeply massage the area where it hurts the most, some of the pain is relieved. I was getting a bit ornery with not being able to run so I did a short and slow four mile run this morning. I had no pain during or after the run and, right now, my knee actually feels a little better. I have an idea that, after all of the running I did on paved and trail surfaces in the U.S., my knee is protesting the return to running on the horrible concrete surfaces here in Nichada. Also, the streets here are sloped so much to allow for water run off during the monsoon season that I am always running on an angle which might affect my knee as well.
To make things even worse...I went out to lunch with some friends Wednesday afternoon and felt horrible by the time I got home. My head was so congested and I had developed a very bad cough. I took a long nap and went to bed very early but still did not feel well yesterday so I spent the day in bed. I feel a lot better this morning and I hope I kicked whatever it was out of my system. As much as I needed the rest, I just hate feeling like I "wasted" the day by sleeping it away.
Last weekend's basketball games did not go as well as we would have liked...Christopher's team lost by 4 points in overtime and Caitlynne's team (which yours truly coaches) lost by about 26 points. I felt bad for all of the girls because only 5 girls per team showed up so they all had to play the entire game. No subs and no rest. It was tough, especially because it was their first game of the season (and fitness levels were not so great) and we were playing in the outdoor gym with no AC. However, even when we were down so much by the end of the game, the girls still played like they had a chance to win and that is what is most important. We only caught the last few minutes of Christopher's game so I don't have much to say about it other than he was disappointed they lost. Hopefully, tomorrow's games will have better outcomes for our teams.
Okay, enough whinging for this blog post... on to more positive things!
Kevin had visitors in town this weekend and we (on very short notice) hosted a dinner for them here Monday evening. Our original plan was to have them to the house for drinks and nibblies before going out to a restaurant for dinner. However, just in the nick of time, I realized that all of the nicer restaurants around Nichada are closed on Mondays. Fortunately, PeePorn came to the rescue and made us a delicious dinner of chicken with cashews, pomello salad, rice, and a green salad. We had pastries from the Erawan bakery (downtown) and a fresh fruit plate for dessert. PeePorn is such a wonderful cook and didn't seem to mind at all that I threw this plan at her when she walked in the door Monday morning at 7 a.m.
While PeePorn was busy cooking (in all fairness, she shoo'd me out of the kitchen), I went to lunch with a group of women newly arrived in Bangkok to an amazing place called "Amantee - House of Oriental and Tibertian Art and Antiques". Amantee is very close to Nichada and I heard great things about it (as both a furniture gallery and as a restaurant) from my friends but I had never been. Nothing could have prepared me for this experience.
From the Amantee website... "Ámantee (which means 'peaceful space') is an exquisite complex of traditional Thai-style houses in an artfully landscaped tropical garden. Ámantee is a place enhancing personal serenity. Ámantee is a repository of Oriental and Tibetan antiques & arts, where favourable prices equitably benefit sources and buyers alike." In addition to a gallery filled with beautiful furniture and art, there is a restaurant (Le Cafe) on-site and the venue can be rented for weddings, parties and other special events. There are water gardens, tropical flowers & trees and stone paths all around the property. It was so peaceful and tranquil, something not found too often in Bangkok. I forgot to take along my camera so all of the photos below are from the Amantee website (www.amantee.com) and the photographer is Cedric Arnold (http://www.realfeatures.com).
The grounds and exteriors of Amantee.
The interiors of some of the buildings located on the grounds.
I had chilled green pea soup, tomato & goat cheese quiche and mousse au chocolat for dessert. Everything was delicious!
The Owner (I believe his name was Gilles) lives on the grounds and spent a lot of time talking with us about where he & his partner source the antiques and arts that are available for purchase in the gallery. Unfortunately, Amantee was devastated by the flood waters last Fall - the grounds and the gallery were under 45 inches water for weeks!
Have a great Friday!
After having great runs last week and over the weekend, the pain in my knee returned with a vengeance Monday morning. Advil, ice and Epsom salts did not help at all and I decided not to run Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, hoping the rest would give my knee a chance to heal. No such luck. It seemed to get more painful each day and the pain moved from the top outside to the lower inside of my knee. I found that if I deeply massage the area where it hurts the most, some of the pain is relieved. I was getting a bit ornery with not being able to run so I did a short and slow four mile run this morning. I had no pain during or after the run and, right now, my knee actually feels a little better. I have an idea that, after all of the running I did on paved and trail surfaces in the U.S., my knee is protesting the return to running on the horrible concrete surfaces here in Nichada. Also, the streets here are sloped so much to allow for water run off during the monsoon season that I am always running on an angle which might affect my knee as well.
To make things even worse...I went out to lunch with some friends Wednesday afternoon and felt horrible by the time I got home. My head was so congested and I had developed a very bad cough. I took a long nap and went to bed very early but still did not feel well yesterday so I spent the day in bed. I feel a lot better this morning and I hope I kicked whatever it was out of my system. As much as I needed the rest, I just hate feeling like I "wasted" the day by sleeping it away.
Last weekend's basketball games did not go as well as we would have liked...Christopher's team lost by 4 points in overtime and Caitlynne's team (which yours truly coaches) lost by about 26 points. I felt bad for all of the girls because only 5 girls per team showed up so they all had to play the entire game. No subs and no rest. It was tough, especially because it was their first game of the season (and fitness levels were not so great) and we were playing in the outdoor gym with no AC. However, even when we were down so much by the end of the game, the girls still played like they had a chance to win and that is what is most important. We only caught the last few minutes of Christopher's game so I don't have much to say about it other than he was disappointed they lost. Hopefully, tomorrow's games will have better outcomes for our teams.
Okay, enough whinging for this blog post... on to more positive things!
Kevin had visitors in town this weekend and we (on very short notice) hosted a dinner for them here Monday evening. Our original plan was to have them to the house for drinks and nibblies before going out to a restaurant for dinner. However, just in the nick of time, I realized that all of the nicer restaurants around Nichada are closed on Mondays. Fortunately, PeePorn came to the rescue and made us a delicious dinner of chicken with cashews, pomello salad, rice, and a green salad. We had pastries from the Erawan bakery (downtown) and a fresh fruit plate for dessert. PeePorn is such a wonderful cook and didn't seem to mind at all that I threw this plan at her when she walked in the door Monday morning at 7 a.m.
While PeePorn was busy cooking (in all fairness, she shoo'd me out of the kitchen), I went to lunch with a group of women newly arrived in Bangkok to an amazing place called "Amantee - House of Oriental and Tibertian Art and Antiques". Amantee is very close to Nichada and I heard great things about it (as both a furniture gallery and as a restaurant) from my friends but I had never been. Nothing could have prepared me for this experience.
From the Amantee website... "Ámantee (which means 'peaceful space') is an exquisite complex of traditional Thai-style houses in an artfully landscaped tropical garden. Ámantee is a place enhancing personal serenity. Ámantee is a repository of Oriental and Tibetan antiques & arts, where favourable prices equitably benefit sources and buyers alike." In addition to a gallery filled with beautiful furniture and art, there is a restaurant (Le Cafe) on-site and the venue can be rented for weddings, parties and other special events. There are water gardens, tropical flowers & trees and stone paths all around the property. It was so peaceful and tranquil, something not found too often in Bangkok. I forgot to take along my camera so all of the photos below are from the Amantee website (www.amantee.com) and the photographer is Cedric Arnold (http://www.realfeatures.com).
The grounds and exteriors of Amantee.
The interiors of some of the buildings located on the grounds.
One of the buildings is a guest house.
Le Cafe (where we ate lunch).
The Owner (I believe his name was Gilles) lives on the grounds and spent a lot of time talking with us about where he & his partner source the antiques and arts that are available for purchase in the gallery. Unfortunately, Amantee was devastated by the flood waters last Fall - the grounds and the gallery were under 45 inches water for weeks!
Have a great Friday!
2 comments:
Hope you're feeling better! xoxo~Merrily and Patrick
LIVE WEBCAM MODELS WANTED!
MAKE OVER $10,000 EVERY WEEK.
SIGN-UP AS A BONGA MODELS CAM MODEL TODAY!
Post a Comment