Off Today For My Yearly Eye Test,

as a diabetic it is so important to have your eyes tested once a year,

 the test amongst others is for diabetic retinopathy, which affects blood vessels in the light-sensitive tissue called the retina that lines the back of the eye, it is the most common cause of vision loss among people with diabetes, 

 in case you think I am over reacting it is worth bearing in mind that retinopathy is the most common cause of blindness among people of working age in the UK, so for the past 5 or more years on the advice of my doctor I have a eye test,

 the good news was that there was no signs of retinopathy, the only slight problem was the same as last year, the tiniest sign of a cataract which was so small it was not considered to be of any advantage to operate on, that is the good news of having a yearly check-up, the early signs of any problems can be caught early, and monitored year by year, so one and a half hours and 1,770 baht later and I was on my way, remember if you have a check up it is not advisable to drive for the next 5 hours or so, the drops used to aid examination give a strange effect to vision for some time, as an aside the next time I am here the steps will be complected,

 then home and glad rags on,

 we were off for our evening meal, 

 to the News Steak & Grill, on the Thappraya Rd, in Chateau Dale Plaza,

 Diana had a quick look at the menu,

 but we already knew what we were having, we made our way inside, 

 for her first course Diana decided on,

 a Caesar salad,

and for myself Gambas Ajillo prawns fried with garlic & chilli,

 which looked and were delicious,

  as I was pouring a glass of wine our main course arrived, 

 we had already decided to share a Chateaubriand steak, which came with a selection of vegetables and red onions,

as well as two sides of potatoes,

 and three very generous helpings of sauces, 

 so it was eyes down and tuck in, 

 out of interest Diana likes her steaks well done, medium for myself and that is exactly how the steak arrived, after that we were full to bursting and could not manage a dessert, the cost including 2 carafes of wine came to just on 2,600 baht, the carafes were 460 baht each so an easy way to cut down on the price of the meal is to not drink wine!

 we had a surprise when we left, we were in the middle of a tropical storm,

 the pictures do not show how much it was really raining,

 the roads were flooded everywhere,

luckily our front garden was not! but it did chuck it down, so feet up a nightcap and we were off to bed.