Saturday 22nd August
Isn't it great when you feel like you're a million miles away from home on holiday, when you're really just on the other side of the city?
This weekend 5 of us ETAs decided to spend our last TET weekend in the city that central to all of us on our placements: Khon Kaen. It has been my home now for two months, and it is still surprising me with new and exciting places. We booked ourselves into the Mai Thai guest house which is fairly central in the city, but I completely lost my bearings so I could have been in Egypt for all I knew.
On Saturday we spent the day looking for a piercing shop, as it was ETA Hannah's birthday and she wanted to get her ear pierced. A tuktuk took us to Fairy Plaza, which is a little shopping mall that I have visited before. His idea of a piercing shop was a little jewellery stand in the main entrance with a stool for the ballsy customers. He took Hannah round to his side and sat her on the stool, amongst all the junk of the place. He didn't have any surgical gloves or anything that was clearly sterile, but he washed his hands with a bottle of alcohol solution so thats ok, right? The guy looked as though he could have just come in for a wander and ended up piercing quite an intricate part of Hannah's anatomy! I saw all the colour drain out of her face as he twisted the needle around in her ear. Somehow, he managed it and everything was ok- for now!
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| Dodgy |
Our hotel was really nice and homely. Jess, Gwen and I had the family room, about 1 metre from the pool while Hannah and Valeria shared a double room. We swam and sunbathed for the rest of the day after the piercing scenario which was lovely just to chill. Jess and I went for a wander to get some pre-drinks for everyone (typical students) and I also ended up buying a new outfit for the night which I am in love with, and the price tag was pretty nice too! I will definitely miss the cheap and cute clothes available here.
We went for dinner at Ton Tann market, which Kanang took me to on my first week of arriving. There were bands playing around the lake and there were loads of food stalls open for us to choose from. I had a bubble tea with a nice surprise treat of a big fly or wasp inside it which I had a nice chew on, thinking it was tea leaves. Gwen also ate a chicken brain which by the sounds of it was pretty disgusting too!
As it was our last night out together in Khon Kaen we thought we'd go all out, so we ditched the dodgy Thai beer for some classy raspberry Smirnoff vodka- thats right, not Glens! *heave*
After an hour of funny drinking games the 5 of us piled into a 4 seater taxi (not a problem in Thailand apparently) and went to our 'local' bar Didines. It was empty in there so I was able to teach a tipsy Gwen how to play pool in peace!
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| Mid- jig! Jess tried to teach me a dance which I absolutely cannot do |
Next location was U Bar, a club full of Thai people where live bands play, as well as DJs. The drinks were crazy expensive so we each splashed on a cocktail (my first Mai Thai was delicious) and we hit the D-floor! A group of young people invited us to join them at their stand-up table on the dance floor. They gave us whiskey and soda water and laughed at us as we attempted to sing along to the band (in Thai). The DJ played crazy techno music with no words, so the night consisted of a lot of jumping, especially on our Jess' part! After the club at about 3am we went back to our hotel and enjoyed a little swim. We weren't sure if we were allowed (probably not) but we didn't make much noise so it was cool.
We woke up to the best breakfast we could have wished for! A full English breakfast, complete with toast and a cuppa! I can't tell you how happy we all were to have this grace our beings. It was like an out-of-body experience. Much to my mother's surprise, I didn't finish it- in fact, I hardly made a dent in it- simply because it was so big!
The day was spent by the pool, enjoying the sunshine, and apparently giving the sun full access to my nose alone. Rudolph over here managed to burn her nose- which is nothing new- but it was fairly more tomato-like than usual. Brilliant :)
In the evening we went for dinner at an Italian restaurant called Pomodoro, which just happens to serve the best Italian food outside of Italy ever! I happened to over-hear an old nonna chatting away in Italian behind me, and really wanted to have a chat but had nothing to say! So when I walked past her and she said "buonasera" and then she shouted "spinga, spinga" - push! as I struggled with the door. It made me so happy, and very excited to go to Italy in just a few weeks time for my year abroad.
We walked to meet Jess and Gwen's mentor and girlfriend Daina and Nang Za, and they surprised us with gifts! They had made us each a photo frame with photos from our recent trips away- it was adorable! I'm not sure how I'll get it in my rucksack though mind...
We went to a bar because Daina and Nang Za are insistent that I am "naughty" so they wanted to buy me a beer on a Sunday night, which is very naughty indeed! We had some hilarious chats and we even saw an elephant walking past so we all ran down onto the street and fed it some bamboo. It was the first elly that I had met so I was pretty excited! (and also too scared to stand very close to it for a photo!)
It was the perfect way to top off a great weekend! I only have four more days at school before we head back to Bangkok and then off on our jolly way! I can't wait to travel round the south!
Peace,
Olivia
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