Before we headed off for the evening we looked over our balcony down to the pool/party area and saw people gathering, including ladies in fashionable long red dresses with elbow length black gloves. We decided to go down and take a peek. Well..., it was very strange. Along the edges, for all the world like 8th grade boys at a dance, were seated guys in black leather jackets with spiky hair. There was a ten foot high banner saying, "Happy birthday, Mr. Harry", with a life size picture of a guy who looked like Kim Jong Un, North Korea's new boy wonder. At the far end were about 6 or 8 of the dressy women. As they came closer, I noticed first the extravagant hairstyles, and then I realized they were cross dressers. There is a tradition here of those people being entertainers, but I didnt know what they would be doing here. We were not the only ones looking. Hotel staff and other guests were peeking out from behind pillars and shrubbery. We had to leave, but while waiting for our taxi, we engaged the staff about what they knew. (of course they knew a lot!). Apparently Harry's father owns a chain of hair salons, which explained a lot, and it was his 30th birthday.(The picture was taken at the end of the evening and she does not seem to be a cross dresser.)
So, on to the Sheraton. The staff was all decked out in red berets and had learned a few words of French. On the way in we noticed a small kiosk with the word gourmet. We went in and it was most fortuitous. There was a young French guy (Nicholas)in there sampling wonderful cheeses. It turns out he has recently started a gourmet food business and brings in French food delicacies and also pork sausages sourced from Bali. It was like a cool drink to a thirsty person to know I could buy some of these things here. And best of all he doesn't have a shop so I place an order once a week and he delivers to my apartment. The cheeses are absolutely fabulous and about the same price we would pay in the US. He should have picked up quite a few clients that night. I have placed my first order and it should come next week.
The wine dinner and French foods were wonderful. It was a buffet and had so much variety. We had the first beef we have had since Christmas as well as lamb and duck and rabbit. The wine wasn't great, but it was French and it kept coming. There were more wonderful cheeses and some of the best bread i have had here. We ate to satiety. The expat community was there in force. The staff began to draw door prizes and I won one! I got a $50 certificate for a photography workshop and a day pass to a climbing wall place(!). We were getting ready to leave and they were still calling door prizes and Tom won one! He also won the day pass to the climbing place. We haven't quite decided what to do with those, but the owner of the store was in the restaurant and talked with us and said he guaranteed they could get me to the top. We'll see.
When we got back to our place the party was still on, but winding down. Tom went to take a few pictures and we turned in.
This town is a bit of a food wasteland so, of all that happened today, I think I am most excited to have found my French cheesemonger who delivers. He's good looking, too.
Thus ends Tom and Anne's amazing day.
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