As I sit here on our sofa, listening to the thunder rumble off in the distance, questioning where the weekend went, I suddenly realized I had left the reunion tour hanging. That will happen when you throw a two week trip back to the US in the middle of your Asian life. You spend the first few days on the front end wondering where you are and a few days on the back-end just trying to stay awake past 4 in the afternoon. Alas, another month of our life has rolled on past and we are contemplating movers, flights home, cars to purchase and places to live. The good news..... plenty of action to come before we make the trans Pacific flight again. That being said, back to our story."Trip" #3 - Asian Pancake Breakfast Rewind
The original plan was to go back to Vietnam this weekend. However, when we were getting ready to purchase tickets, something just seemed a bit off. My spidey sense was tingling if you will. My internal clock had finally realized that this was NCAA Sweet 16 weekend and I needed to be firmly planted in our apartment with access to college basketball. After having to listen to Wisconsin win their Sweet 16 on the radio (rookie mistake, I had brought the wrong iPad to Penang) I was locked and loaded for the Elite 8 game and a Final 4 appearance on the line. Banana Prata - check, extra strong coffee - check, viewing area set up on the porch - check, extra small screen to make you feel like you're at home - check. It wasn't the usual cold tile floor and cabin in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin, but if you watch a basketball game sitting on your porch in Singapore you end up sweating almost as much as if you played the game yourself. 
Its been a month since then, but I'll never forget bouncing around our cramped apartment and causing what I can only imagine was utter confusion for our Italian neighbors. Given that it was before 10 AM I'm sure only added to the lunacy. I even tried to get Sarah involved in the excitement to which I was ultimately rebuffed, "I'm not a part of this," but she was at least happy for me that they won. The only issue now, oops, we're off to Bangkok during the Final 4 where I ultimately watched the season end from our hotel room. Sad.Trip #4 - Bangkok
If you didn't think we'd make another trip back to Thailand, then you are clearly a new reader to the blog. Sadly, this was likely the last trip, but if it was, we went out with a bang. We practically ran through the Bangkok airport and through customs to try and make it to the hotel for the free happy hour in time. The irony of having a free Singha Beer saving us 50 cents not withstanding, its the principle of the matter. We did get that free drink and then when our friends arrived, found another hole in the wall Thai restaurant for a great meal as always.
The next day found us back at the weekend market on a mission to finally find our elephant end tables. It was a hot and sticky few hours in which we first purchased an antique map - "Be very careful with this," the store owned warned us, "they are very old and fragile." We smiled politely as we saw about 50 more of the same map sitting behind him. Next it was past the animals for sale, puppies looking for new owners (keep walking) or does anyone want a pet tortoise? Finally, we tracked down our end tables, not 100% what we wanted, but pretty close to looking like this guy. The DHL stand was near at hand and they did a great job shipping them back to Singapore. Of course they should have, the shipment ended up being 2/3 of the total cost, but hey, they showed up at the door.
Last item on the list was hunting down a tailor. As you walked down the street there may have been hundreds of them. Thankfully, TripAdvisor to the rescue and the gentlemen at Paul's Bespoke Tailor were measuring me for the seersucker suit I've been constantly seeking as well as a few jackets. I guess I had a goofy look on my face, because Sarah thinks I have now been ruined for life, "yes I would like 2 buttons on the coat, please do put double vents on the back, yes, make it flat front pants." The fact that neither of us likes to iron probably kept the damage to a minimum and no shirts were procured.
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