We continue to laze away our days, with minimal items on our to-do list and even fewer accomplishments. So far, a very successful trip!

Weather continues to co-operate, sunsets aren't spectacular and sometimes missing, and we finally stayed in the water for a couple of them.

Last Sunday, I put together a dining plan for the coming week, just to make sure we covered all the restaurants we wanted to eat at. That plan has undergone numerous revisions, but it looks like we won't miss any of our must-dos, and even managed to include some old favorites that somehow dropped off our radar--Cam Ranh Bay, Spiga(I prefer Piazza Pascal) and Le Cottage. While Cam Ranh Bay didn't have Banh Xeo because of difficulty buying rice flour in lesser quantities, we did enjoy their Beef in Vietnamese curry sauce and seafood in Cam Linh sauce, a sauce from the owners' home town. We will return.

On Monday, after a nice duck confit at Bistro Nu, my stomach screamed "Enough of this wonderful food", so dinner was half a bag of Super U brand potato chips and a few glasses of wine. By Tuesday morning, I was back on the gourmet track. Yesterday, we finally ate at a lolo--the one that always seems to closed--and I had conch stew for the first time this trip. I'll have to try to fit in another conch meal before we leave the island. Momo finally returned from vacation, so we got to visit Le Ti Bouchon. Being the only 2 diners that evening, we got to talk at length with Momo, who has a very interesting, and passionate, outlook on cooking in particular and life in general. Our appetizer was a cantaloupe gazpacho with smoked mozzarella, followed by an aged rhum sauced filet for Shirley and a lime/orange dried zest coated seared tuna for me. I don't remember the name of the dessert, only that it was profiterole-like and had a side of salty caramel ice cream. Delicious!

Other meals included return visits to Taitu for lunch, Hercule to try pikliz that TravelHat mentioned and Shirley to finally get her grilled grouper, and Ti Coin Creole to join our recently arrived Canadian friends for dinner. We also managed to eat in one evening, picking up a fancy baguette from Bacchus and finishing off some duck rillettes, serrano ham, and cheeses.

We returned to Philipsburg wanting conch chowder and conch salad at L' Escargot, but it had just come in that morning and wouldn't be ready until the next day, so we went off to our favorite creole spot in the city, Caribbean Blend, for their grilled grouper slathered in an herbed butter and goat stew, plus two righteous Ti Punches for me. Not needing any more clothing from Blanc du Nil, I stopped in to buy another pair of shorts, Shirley got a Guavaberry Colada across the street (my Ti punches were still active). Why we stopped at Royal Jewelers again to say hi to Vince, I don't know, but Shirley ended up with a beautiful ring to complement the bracelet she'd bought the previous week. I'm thinking of claiming Vince as a dependent on our tax return. Again, we stopped by to visit Carole at her grocery store, but instead discovered the new owner working on it. An email confirmed she's in the process of closing and will be looking for work this coming high season. We wish her well. We also managed to run into Ta Fari, a local chracter whom we first met at a lolo many years ago acting all maitre d-like and keep running into during our travels. He has to be the most enthusiastic, hyper person on the island--no laid back, easy going island dude there. It's always a pleasure to find him.

On my first night walking into town to join friends for dinner close to 3 weeks ago, this scrawy, bony cat came running enthusiatically up to me, seeking caloric loving when all I could provide is non caloric kind, but just that night. Her condition and disposition led me to believe she was recently dropped off, as many GCBC guests are suckers for hungry, loving cats. She has now filled out nicely, and unfortunately, looks healthy enough to start attracting male suitors. We feed her twice a day, and other guests also buy cat food, or bring leftovers back. I sure hope she finds a forever home, so if anyone knows of someone looking for an island cat to adopt, she's next door to GCBC and responds to "here, kitty, kitty". We considered it, but our two cats aren't fond of competition, let alone each other.

Today is our last full day on this side of the island, so it's a kick back day. Tomorrow, we move to Mary's Boon for 3 nights. I am looking forward to seeing our Dutch feline friends there and enjoying salt fish johnny cakes, Dutch Coffee (bush tea for Shirley), and conversation every morning at Hilma's, as well those tasty drunken ribs at Palms. I dread stepping on the scales Friday morning.

I'll see if I can get in another report before I get home, although they are getting more difficult to write.