It was a good day~

Here is Ba-dun greeting me today, my last day before I start my real work.  As I settled into the TukTuk I casually watched the usual merging into traffic.  We begin by turning onto the wrong side of the road and then, drive down the street (yes - into the middle of oncoming traffic) weaving  around other  TukTuks, mopeds, trucks, cars, bicycles, people selling - well everything from fruit to carseats (not childrens's seats, actual car seats) eventually getting to our side of the road.  Gives a new meaning to "merging".  What makes this  safer is the fact that there are no less than a dozen other vehicles of all types doing exactly the same thing all around us.    Today was the first day I  took it all in stride.  It was like that all day.

I can't figure out who stops in the middle of the road to buy juice!
Or maybe it's soup.  Who knows.  This idea is worse than the
firemen's boot change drop.

Gloria and Kerry, I think I found us a biking buddy.

Interesting how quickly we can adapt to our surroundings.  I set myself up comfortably in my now-favorite coffee shop for a few hours to catch up on my Stratton work then called for my trusty side-kick  who delivered me to the grocery store. Lucky's was in a large, insane mall.  This area was total chaos, with thousands of mopeds milling around and three different DJ's with huge loudspeakers blaring different music.  Like some drug trip gone bad.  (Well I guess all drug trips are bad)  I wandered through stress-free and I thought about how, only a few days ago, I blanched at the thought of this excursion.  Some interesting finds:

Mixed Galangal anyone?  Only 50 cents

White duck eggs, ok, but bright pink ones.  And black.
Wonder what the duck look like who laid these
Hello Kitty babies!

I got my supplies, including what is hopefully laundry soap and not toilet bowl cleaner.  I truly couldn't tell the difference.  I calmly sauntered out past the wild crazies, just as cool as a cucumber (well as cool as a cucumber can be when it's a heat index of like 140 degrees!)  I barely recognized myself.  I was never this daring before.

**********

I think that the type of courage you need to be adventurous is like a muscle.  The more you flex it the stronger it becomes, because before last week I NEVER would have believed I could be adapting to this so quickly.  It feels good to know that resiliency is something you can instill in yourself.  It feels empowering to conquer a fear.  Even if that fear is going to a restaurant alone.  As I sat in The Elephant Bar in The Raffles Hotel this evening drinking my Pim's Cup and reading a book, I was thankful for this new-found courage.  So go flex some chutzpah muscle.  It is so worth it!

CHEERS!