Re's achiness has gotten much worse. She said she barely slept last night from the pain. She got up in the night to take more paracetamol, but it doesn't seem to be helping much. She still has a low grade fever, but no other real symptoms other than itchy elbows (?). After another 7Eleven breakfast, it was time to finally change the oil in our bikes. Re said she was feeling well enough to help, so we went downstairs and got to work. We changed the oil in both bikes and installed the new sparkplugs we bought in Georgetown. I also adjusted the clutch on my bike and hoped that this would cure (or at least help) my ills. Re was starting to fade, so we wrapped it up quickly and headed back up to the room. We worked on a little writing before lunch and then headed out to a different local restaurant that always seems to be full when we pass by. And we found out why.

Phuket was also a stop along the old trade route plied by ships between China and points westward, and so there was, and still is, a Chinese presence on the island. In addition to the architecture and culture, they also brought (more importantly to us) food. What this restaurant served was a version of the Hainanese chicken and rice and pork and rice that we enjoy so much in Malaysia. We ordered the combination plate that included chicken, roast pork, and crispy pork on rice, with their local versions of the dipping sauces. While different from what we've had before, they were a delicious variation on some of our favorite foods. While whatever Re has hasn't seemed to dampen her appetite much, it has dampened her spirits. She is certainly frustrated with feeling this badly, and reluctantly returned to the room since she wasn't feeling well enough to do anything else today. She is still popping paracetamol and has begun to get progressively itchier.

We spent the afternoon working on some more writing and reading and planning our escape to the islands in the Gulf. We were both getting a little stir-crazy by dinnertime, so we walked out for dinner around 7:00 pm. I offered to pick up dinner and bring it back to the room, but Re is really tired of the same four walls. Neither of us had a strong opinion about where to go for dinner, so we ended up at McDonald's. There are plenty of other food options in Phuket Town, but I think a taste of home (no matter how greasy) was attractive to us both, and the fact that the Dairy Queen was next door didn't hurt either. After another Blizzard, we went back to the room for the night.