26/7/25
Pulling back the curtains in the morning we found ourselves enveloped by cloud. Rain poured from the sky, the mountains were barely shadows. The forecast predicted it was to be all day consta-rain. Nah, we weren’t going to cycle in that.
Bowls of cling film covered noodles indicated a whopping four different types to choose from. Frankie pushed the boat out and opted for the flat wide ones. One of the widest arrays of breakfast foods we’d seen presented. Now with nowhere to go, we took our sweet time pecking at all the various foods. Chinese food inherently lacked sweetness. A good thing probably. The closest to sweetness was fruit and steamed buns.
For most of the morning we observed the rain and clouds as they slowly dissipated. By early afternoon it was dry and far less foggy. Regrets about whether we should have left snuck into our minds. We tried to reassure ourselves the rain would have been a buzzkill.
We took a taxi to the fruit and vegetable market, the driver changed our destination once we told him what we wanted to buy. Probably for the best. Glutinous rice pudding and caramel sauce was a speciality of the area. We couldn’t resist buying some more durian from the special durian shop either. Curious, the young salesman asked us, “Do you live with us now?” We found this translated turn of phrase hilarious for its cult like connotations.
Barbecue was the best food we’d found and we headed back to the same little fast food-esque shop as the day before. They gifted us sweet lemon tea. Children eagerly took photos with us. Eating in our room with the television, we watched the light slowly disappear along with our days hopes of progression. Ride, rest, ride, rest. We needed to snap out of this bad pattern.
Surly They Won't Make It 