I was supposed to go out for a final lunch, but slept badly so woke with a headache and cancelled the reservation. Instead I packed, worrying all the while about luggage allowance (this turned out to be not an issue). Among my purchases is a slightly embarrassing one, a very lightweight wok. I wanted a Thai chef’s knife as well as the one in the flat was very nice and comfortable to use, but didn’t find one I liked enough to risk taking on multiple international flights to countries with varying degrees of paranoia.
Went for lunch and then a final coffee, where the person at the counter was new and didn’t know my usual order, so that already felt like a farewell. Then returned, finished packing, left the flat and took a Grab to the airport.
Today was election day, here and in Turkey. Both such difficult elections.
Then the airport, several hours early due to the checkout time, but oh well, and then a pleasant surprise that the flight was nearly empty and I stretched out across three seats to nap and read all the way and the 4 odd hours passed swiftly.
On arrival, there was no queue and a swift way exit and then back home, few checkpoints except that the area around the corps commander’s residence was blocked off. And back to see my father, go up to the room in which I stay, unpack, realise I’d left behind at least one gift, and feel sad about leaving South East Asia.
And a glance at the news to see that Move Forward is the surprise winner in Thailand and the result in Turkey is on a knife edge, gutting.