May 23rd, 2008 - Savannakhet, Laos

It is the evening of my 25th birthday, though oddly enough in Laos time I was actually born on the 24th of May… Maybe that means I can celebrate tomorrow as well!
We took a bus across the newly built bridge from Thailand today, which means that my passport was stamped with all sorts of official stamps bearing my birthdate on it. I was kind of excited by that. Yes, in some ways I am still 5.
In celebration of my birthday Evy had got me a croissant & nutella at the local market, with which she presented me this morning. That was pretty sweet. Also a Hello-Kitty-dressed-up-as-a-mouse candle. You’ll just have to see the photos. We placed it on the cake we went out for (‘kaffee and kuchen’ for those in the know), at a local bakery near our hostel. We also shared a bottle of white wine at a floating restaurant on the Mekong river - Thailand on one side, Laos on the other. You can’t really get much better than that. Especially since wine is a rather uncommon and rather expensive in these parts.
The Hello Kitty candle got another showing on a banana split at our evening restaurant, but unfortunately both times we were lacking in matches or lighters. Oh well. We are now ‘chilling’ on the front verandah style porch of our colonial-era guest house, eating Ferrero Rochers left over from a gift that never got given (meant for Evy’s housemother from her last stay in Thailand, who in the end we didn’t actually get to meet up with). The chairs on this porch are very comfortable. Because we’re on the second story it’s also pretty sweet because it means we can spy on people without them seeing us right away. Did I mention I’m still 5 on the inside?! I’m going to go have another Ferrero Rocher…