It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Drizzlemas

I have been playing Christmas music recently in a bid to make the place and myself feel a little more festive. In a Muslim/Buddhist community with few tourists and expats, there is no build-up to the 25th, and the day itself will be a regular Thursday. Any seasonal merriment, therefore, is entirely of one's own making.

I wondered whether my mood was bound up with the weather. Although we rarely experience a white Christmas in the south of England, by December winter has usually got its icy grip on the country. Not that cold weather is necessary to enjoy Christmas - the people of Australia and New Zealand often celebrate with barbecues on the beach, but this is their tradition. On years when the British weather is unseasonably warm, I tend to be unprepared for Christmas, whereas a frosty spell in October can send me into reveries of toasty fires, familial visits, and festive food.

Peanut noodles

We had planned a cycle ride to the far side of the island for today, so I prepared us peanut noodles to give us plenty of energy for the journey. As a breakfast, my reasoning was that this combination was similar to peanut butter on toast. Using the blender, I whizzed together peanuts, garlic, dried chillies, soy sauce, sugar, salt, and lime juice into a fairly liquid satay. Having soaked sen lek rice noodles until soft, tossing them with the sauce in a hot wok caused them to absorb all the sauce. The result was a dry dish, in which each noodle was packed with savoury peanut flavour.

Despite our preparations, the day on Ko Lanta seemed to be showing solidarity with typical British Christmas weather, and had settled into a persistent drizzle.

We went anyway to pick up the bikes from our host's friend's house. She and her Thai boyfriend were having coffee at the shop outside, where the black stuff is criminally underpriced (10 baht) and served 'wan wan' (extra sweet) the Thai way. As islanders, their impression was that the wet weather wouldn't let up until tomorrow so we took a 'rain check'.

We got to talking about exercise and Thai people. In Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City), we had observed a keen obsession with early-morning calisthenics. However, the Thais we have seen don't tend to walk, preferring wheeled transportation, and don't apparently take any form of exercise - the outdoor gym equipment installed four years ago lies fallow and rusting. "Work is exercise enough" - this from the only Thai among us. And he is mostly right; the local Thai people put great effort into manual jobs such as fishing or agriculture, and even those rushing around serving tourists must raise their heart-rate a little. But it doesn't account for those people who run a shop all day - a mostly sedentary job - what do they do to stay fit? "Nothing. They get fat".

Chastened by this observation, we all reflected that we have been guilty of not getting 'enough' exercise recently. We discovered a shared passion for running and resolve to enter a charity 5k run after Christmas in aid of Lanta Animal Welfare. In a fit of spontaneity we decided to start the training immediately.

Having donned the requisite gear, we went for a quick 5k through the local rubber plantation with a lap of Old Town and its pier. It felt good to get back into it.

Our good work was wholly undone in the afternoon, as we visited Malee Malee - ostensibly to look at their boutique trinkets and geegaws, but actually to sip one of their delectably creamy cappuccinos. We (just) managed to resist their equally tempting homemade cakes, but that was only to save room for a highly fattening roti.

Roti with banana

Roti is a Muslim specialty. The man at a roti stall will prepare a thin dough (spun like a pizza, not rolled), which is then laden with any or all of bananas, egg, butter, oil, condensed milk, and sugar. The whole thing is fried like a pancake on a hot plate until crispy, folded and eaten warm. It is surely the king of junk food.

Having pre-emptively filled our bellies with dessert, we ate late. Dinner was sweet and sour tofu - phad priew wan (ผัดเปรี้ยวหวาน). Eschewing ketchup, I used the naturally sweet and rich tomatoes, sweet-yet-sour fresh pineapple, and (as is common in Asia, but anathema to the British) fried cucumber.