Islands in the stream

Half an hour before boarding the bus that would take me and friends to Trat, I skimmed online reviews of the resort we were to stay in and beaches on Elephant Island that we wanted to go to.

1. Yet there's still that hint of surprise at finding reality: rocks instead of black sand at least abound on Pearl Beach, and Lonely Beach is not lonely at all.

But discovering Koh Chang's hidden charm is good consolation. One of us baptized this place Hansel and Gretel's cottage.

2. I was right to have taken some work with me. Facebook-depriving elusive Wifi saved friends from being harrassed with islandish shoutouts at 20-minute intervals .

3. Work was a question to research the moment I was back to the mainland: if integrative complexity was high, would the number of assassinations go down?

4. Legs connected to the brains entertaining morbidity in the midst of holiday were clad in a long, flowery skirt. Mixing business and pleasure, for crying out loud.

5. Let's go music and movies; play fill-in-the-gaps. There's a cue reflected on the lappy screen. Christina Aguilera sings, "who is that girl I see staring straight back at me..." ________

6. Saffron on the Sea asked if they could substitute orange with lime. It was fine by me as long as they stuck to the 40% alcohol content.

"...just a hired hand, working on the dreams he planned to try..." Eagles on the background while I sipped this at sunset. _______ ________

7. Birds of Paradise. As soon as I clicked the cam I was 5-years old again playing jacks on a doting uncle's living room floor. Long before I knew Tony Bennett crooned, "for mortals who stand beside an angel like you... out of the common place into the rarest somewhere in space..." the song's been immortalized in my sometimes sentimental head: ____ _ ______.

8. We were early on Day 2 for island-hopping. The rising sun greeted us as we boarded the boat. It was setting when we came back.

Sunrise...............................

Sunset................................

"Sunrise, sunset swiftly fly the years, one season following another..." The film:_______ on the _______.

9. Out goes pre-revolutionary Russia with its matchmakers. In comes freedom to choose whoever to marry. Although this freedom resulted in divorce and we now tease each other Old Maid, there's still some freedom to make a fashion statement

and explore these rocks unchaperoned...

As if completing the similarities, this stranger washed up on shore. If he's not a violinist then he must not be unconscious...

there's no need then for brandy or to fetch Dr Mead. Two old maids were just ______ in ________.

10. Our tour guide instructed us not to get close to ___ ______ (Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson).

11. Soon my co-old maid got stung by an urchin. Some clue that paradise has its price. That's the tagline by the way of Leonardo di Caprio's ____ ________

12. That and a James Bond film entitled ___ with a _______ _______ were both shot on Thailand's waters.

13. Finally our boat docked. This display in the Fisherman's Village market reminded me of Steven Spielberg's ________.

Which gaps were you able to fill in?

5. Reflection / 6. Tequila Sunrise / 7. Stranger in Paradise / 8. Fiddler on the Roof / 9. Ladies in Lavender / 10. The Island / 11. The Beach / 12. Man with a Golden Gun / 13. Jaws

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