BANGKOK - My Habitat friends and I enjoy a good-bye toast before parting ways.

Week 8
December 15, 2001 - Thailand
"You're Just Too Good To Be True"

Dear Thor:

You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you. You'd be like heaven to touch. I wanna hold you so much.

At long last love has arrived. I thank God I'm alive. You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you.

Can a silly love song mean that I'm on the right track?

I've always liked "I Love You Baby" by Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons, but lately, it seems to be following me around. The song first popped into my head right before I left the States. I was at one of my acting workshops, and I started singing a few verses. Then another actor joined me, and soon we were belting out "I love you baby!" like a couple of drunk businessmen at a Karaoke bar.

Then during my travels, I started hearing "The Song" at key moments. I heard it in Osaka a few hours before I flew to Thailand, then and several times in Thailand just before I flew to Nepal.

As you know, there are no such things as coincidences. So it's no surprise that I heard "The Song" on my last night with my Habitat friends. We had just left Nepal and were enjoying a Farewell Dinner in Bangkok. The Thai whiskey was flowing and we were laughing as normal. Then suddenly I heard "The Song" faintly through the bar noise.

I looked across the table to my friend Linda and pointed up.

"What?" she asked mimicking my gesture.

"It's The Song! Do you hear it?" Earlier I had told her the whole story.

"I can't hear anything."

Then I heard the chorus so I started singing it for her. "I love you baby! And if it's quite all right, I need you baby, to keep me warm at night. I love you baby! Come to me when I say "

(As I said the Thai whiskey was flowing.)

RAILAY BEACH - Adam and Paula...reunited after four and a half years.

Anyway, once again this silly love song has signaled a change in my life. My Habitat friends have since returned to the States, and I'm now on my own and running into signs of you. I'm currently in south Thailand recovering from last week's dual bout with the Traveler's Bug. It's here that I ran into Adam and Paula, and learned about their "Thor-Story."

Four and a half years ago, they met and had an amazing conversation in Amsterdam. The moment changed both of them, and they've since been searching for each other for the past four and a half years. This year, Paula found Adam through the Internet. And last week, they were reunited.

"It's nice," said Paula smiling. "We were both comfortable instantly."

"Yeah, there's this feeling like we've known each other for a long time," said Adam looking into her eyes.

"And the same spark is there. We were kissing in the airport."

Paula is a filmmaker in Hollywood, and Adam is a physician in Australia. Both were on very different life paths when they first saw each other in a discotheque on June 28, 1997.

"I was just having a good time," said Adam. "The music was good, so I walked over to her and said ŒThis is great!'"

"He had the biggest, most beautiful smile. He was so happy."

"It was pretty late, and I think the discotheque was closing, so we went outside and found this bench by the canal and started talking."

The connection was instant for them, and time literally stood still. They ended up sitting on that bench and talking right past breakfast and lunch.

"It was an amazing conversation," said Paula.

Unfortunately there were obstacles. Paula had a boyfriend, and Adam was leaving the next day. He also had afternoon plans to visit a nearby town. So they met for dinner, kissed, and then parted ways. That just about became the end of their story except

"He just kept creeping into the back of my mind," said Paula smiling.

In the four and a half years, both have been in long-term relationships, but no one seemed quite right.

"Yeah, she just had this huge impact on me that I've never forgotten," said Adam. "In fact two and a half years ago, I went to New York, and I actually tried to look her up. I didn't know if she lived there or not, but I swear I looked for her on every street that I passed."

"I don't know what it was, but July of this year, I decided to look him up on the Internet," said Paula. "I remembered his last name, so I started checking Yahoo and AOL, and I finally found him. So I e-mailed him a short note saying ŒDo you remember Paula?'"

"Oh my God! I was in London at the time, and I couldn't believe my eyes. I had the biggest smile on my face just buzzing for at least a couple of day. I wrote this huge letter back to her, and I kept checking my e-mail every day."

"Yeah, he did. He remembered EVERYTHING from that night. Even what we were wearing."

"It was an amazing night."

So Paula and Adam kept e-mailing and calling each other. Paula was about to head out to Japan to start a documentary, and Adam was traveling the world as a post graduation gift. So they waited and waited, and finally decided to meet this week in south Thailand.

"Are we in love?" said Adam grinning. "Getting there."

"Yeah, getting there. And it's great. We sit and talk all night long. He's got so many great stories."

Adam is planning on heading back to Australia next week, and Paula's got her career in L.A. Once again, it seems their life paths are heading in separate directions for a while.

"I dunno. It's not that bad," said Adam scratching his head. "Except this huge Pacific Ocean between us."

"And I'm not too concerned," said Paula. "We're both not dating anyone right now, and we've both decided that there's not anyone else more perfect for us."

"And if it's lasted this way after four and a half years, it'll last."

(Don't you feel like singing "I Love You Baby?")

Hey, I've got one more Thor-related story for you. It appears that your name may not be Thor after all. At least that's what Karin told me yesterday. She's from Stockholm, Sweden, and she says she's never met a woman named Thor. However, she has met several women named "Tornhil" ­ the female version of the name Thor.

Hmmm I dunno. I distinctly remember you saying "Thor." And "The Search for Tornhil" just doesn't have the same ring. ;-)

Anyway, I am feeling much better this week, and I'm making a lot of friends on the south Thailand beaches of Krabi. In fact, I'm having so much fun that I may come back here for the Holidays. Next week, I'll make a brief visit to Cambodia to see the temple ruins of Ankgor Wat, and then hopefully head back here to spend Christmas with Jim, Jasper, Ben, Lucky and other new friends.

After that, who knows? Maybe I'll just stick around the beaches until I hear "The Song" again.

I hope the holidays find you surrounded by family, friends, and loved ones. I'll write you again next week. Until then, be well, be present. And Namaste!

Scotty