Sidestory: The Thailand Temple Trip ~ Rest Day 2

16-Oct-2026

After yesterday's exciting stray through Chinatown, we have another rest day scheduled for today, starting with a simple but satisfying breakfast of egg on toast that Chella prepares for me. Incidentally, let me also introduce you to my regular morning drinks here: One one side, we have pink guava & strawberry juice. That stuff is THICK, so I only pour maybe 1cm into each glass, and fill up the rest with water. And on the other side we have a White Flower Blend tea.

And to go with it, I have glass of Betagen (บีทาเก้น), which is a brand of sour milk that Chella introduced me to. I was sceptical at first, but it's actually very yummy, and tastes a little bit like liquid lemon yoghurt.

Chella also prepares some pomegranate and sliced guava for me to snack on while I work on my blog.
 

After I finish yesterday's chapter, we snuggle up together while she reads it and helps me find and fix a few minor errors.

Afterwards, we head out. Not out out, but rather up out. Specifically the roof terrace, which is a place we haven't explored yet. Turns out there's a pool here, as well as some space for relaxation. Also, it's got a nice view all around.

 

For lunch, we head out to a nearby place that I've had my eye on for a week now: A Japanese restaurant by the name of Donabe, which is conveniently located close to the Tops supermarket.

It has a very stylishly decorated interior, although the staff sadly doesn't speak much Japanese.

There, we eat something I didn't get to eat in over eight years now: Shabushabu! The last time I've eaten this was back in Sapporo (see Book II ~ Chapter 7 ~ The Sapporo Strawberry Stay). This is something you can only really eat together with someone else, and only if said other person is okay with eating meat.

 

Basically, you have a vegetable soup prepared on a burner directly on the table, and then you add meat to it and boil it in the soup. Everyone can then pick whatever they like from the big pot in the middle and put it into a small bowl, from where you can then eat it, either with or without dipping it in the spicy condiment sauce. The basic set we order comes with four strips of Australian Wagyu meat, and if we wanted to, we could have ordered all sorts of extra meat in addition. But this much is already enough for the two of us. That's what makes Shabushabu such a great social food: You can expand it as needed!

After that, we head back to the Airbnb again, and there I spend the next few hours preparing a very special and personal token of my love for Chella: A gift artwork where she's my cute little Flirial mate.

The original is hers to keep. But I'm not finished yet. After the lineart is done, I spend some more time refining it on my trusty laptop Liete Exp...

...and here's what the end result looks like. I guess Chella and I are officially an item now. =^,^=

Come evening, I prepare another one of my signature dishes on Chella's request. This time it's Gamm Ligeral, again with Erengi and the Mushroom Carbonara Sauce that she likes so much. This time, however, I'm using Tagliatelle as pasta. And once again, Chella likes it very much.

 

But that's not all for today. After dinner, we head up to the rooftop pool we scouted out earlier, and I have a nice little swim while Chella relaxes by the side of the pool and takes the occasional picture of me. I don't even know how long it's been since I've last had a swim like this, but looks like I still got it, diving and all.

And afterwards, it's time to relax and dry off by the side of the pool. Thanks to the warm air out here, I'm dry in no time flat. Which is good, because as you remember, you're not allowed to ride the elevator while wet. Makes more sense now that I know there's a pool on the roof.

And that's it for today. Tomorrow, we're going out to explore our surroundings again. But for now, all that's left is to let the day slowly come to a close as we watch the lights of the city from our window. 

 

So until then, stay tuned, and be of great cheer!