Day 0 (Aug 13): Auspiciously Yours

I am off to Yoga Thailand yet again and as I prepare this morning, I reflect on the auspiciousness set up for this journey. I did not plan around them but thankfully, they've been presented generously.

My resignation came before the hungry ghost month and August's mercury retrograde and my full time teaching will come after.

It's a Moon Day (Full) and I am going back to Thailand to be thankful for my blessings and ask for benevolence as I start a new life.

Last year, I asked for the blessing of being able to teach full time. This year, I come back with the beginnings of a dream coming true. I am back in BKK's airport and I am thinking if I should check in at St. Louis Tavern to get a good night's sleep or just rest here at Starbucks until I can check in at about 430am. It is almost 8pm. I am so sleepy...

I see the people sleeping on the seats by the gate. Maybe I can do that. Maybe because we are in Mercury Retrograde, I was told that airport procedures have changed and I cannot go to the upper levels since I'm going on a domestic flight. I apparently needed to go out of the airport. I did not want to leave the airport and tour Bangkok anymore. I spoke with the staff by the elevator and told her I wanted to stay at the transit hotel. She let me up. Thank goodness. 1 point for Mercury, 1 point for the moon.

I ended up spending a lot of time at Starbucks just fixing my iTunes mixes and testing the lens for my Lumix. I would have loved to bring the SLR but I have my 7lbs yoga mat with me. In return, I brought the telephoto, macro and wide angle lens. Ah, the easier trade-offs.

The harder one is deciding whether to sleep on the Starbucks sofa or going to the transit hotel. I am more mindful of the finite resources I have for now. Still, I could use a warm bath.

Mercury in retrograde also means I can't connect to the Internet (without paying 250 Baht) and there's no 3G.

I've made friends with a young Japanese girl (again...). She travelled alone which I learned is not inherent to the Japanese. She went all over Europe and is heading home. To us, friendship means taking turns watching our bags when we need to go to the toilet (my predictive text wanted to type Toulouse. I could go there too).

Oh. My friend said goodbye. Maybe it's time for me to check in. I really am so sleepy...

One thing I left for this trip are my reading glasses. It's so difficult to read the airport signs without them...I could use the Lumix lens...

I ended up checking in. No more internet connection in the room either. Time to sleep.