Just Over the Hilltop

Well, it's not exactly the hilltop, but here's a photo of the place I'll focus on in this post. The restaurant is just up the hill from my Sweet, which I've thoughtfully labeled for you-all in this photo taken from the pier yesterday morning. The restaurant is where the best internet reception can be gotten, where the best views are, and--of course--where the delicious food is.

When I drool over travel magazines, I'll have to remind myself that this is gorgeous, but it goes with heavy heat and humidity. Nevertheless, a fan and ice water makes it all good, as long as I'm sitting in the shade! There's nothing like watching sunlight on the ocean to make your heart feel full of all that is happy.

Once in a while a fishing vessel, speedboat or sailboat goes by.  With the pier right next to the resort, there's always some sort of action to watch, either on the pier or approaching and leaving it.

I love sitting in this place, reading or posting to this blog and looking up often at the view. This being a place of only 15 sets of guests, the restaurant is often empty or nearly empty. They have it open all day long, with a break from 4:00-5:30, so I can eat practically any time I wish, which is breakfast and a late lunch.

I love the lamps here. This grouping hangs from the middle of the ceiling over the restaurant. And check out that whirling ceiling fan! Love the whir of the fan and the breezes.

On the edges they have these colorful glass lamps that look more Moroccan than Thai. The varied colors in the glass are beautiful.

So let's talk about food. The menu is simple but delicious.  Yesterday I ate a small pineapple pancake and a banana pancake, with muesli and European-style yogurt, for breakfast. Yum.

And today I had a small omelet with spring onions, tomatoes and cheese. Oh, and a whole ripe mango, which I dove into without a thought about getting a photo. It's mango season, and they couldn't be any sweeter or more delicious.

Every morning there's fresh guava juice.

And then there's lunch. They're quite intrigued that I'm vegetarian, and fret a little bit about getting my orders to please me. So they put lots of veggies and tofu in my pad see ew, and Yummers! It was delicious... and flavorful!

Then there was coconut ice cream to top it off yesterday.

While we're on the hilltop, let me trot you over just a bit from the restaurant to where some outdoor chairs face due west. I was chatting with Jim by e-mail when I took this picture (there's not fast enough internet to support a video Skype chat, but voice Skype works mostly okay). I thought he might like to see my view as I listened to the waves below.

And from this spot you can catch great sunsets, too. This one was the first evening, and came out a bit more orange in the photo than it actually was. It was more yellow and grey.

I remember that song we used to sing at church vespers in Penang: Mansion Over the Hilltop. Why was it "over" and not "on"? Do heavenly mansions hover over hilltops? Anyhow, the point of that song seems to be the "never grow old," which I think is a fine idea, and "nevermore wander," which I'd like to have us re-think. I rather like wandering. Then there's the "streets that are purest gold" part. I'd be just as happy for a sandy pathway, maybe with leaf-impressed stepping stones set into it.

Aaaa. Whatever. I'm just sayin': the lyricist forgot the breeze, the good food, the great view, the sunlight on water, the lovely lighting ... and the wonderful company of sitting quietly with God while enjoying all of that.