Teaching English in Thailand: Day 12, Thai Massage, Taxis & TukTuks

Day 12: Sunday 5^th July

 

Chill

A teensy little hangover may have been present in my being after a few Beer Leos last night…. I woke up in some random hotel in the middle of Bangkok; it was a bit like The Hangover, but without the terrible facial tattoo.

Joking!

I woke up in my designated hotel with my pals Jodie and Hannah at an acceptable hour of about 11am. Perfection. We weren’t staying in the same hotel as Kirsty and Jess because they went all luxury on us while we were happy spending £4 each for some ants and see through toilet doors. That makes it sound really bad, but it was really very quaint!

 

Big spoon, little spoon

We hopped into a taxi to go and meet the others at Didines for some food, where we had only departed from a few hours earlier. Just as we were about to get there, a very pale looking Jodie blurts that she’s about to be sick. Bearing in mind that she didn’t drink last night because she’s been a little bit sick over the past week, we had to explain to the taxi driver that she wasn’t a hung-over mess, and really, no, she is not pregnant. A plastic bag (with holes in) came in fairly handy before we dashed out of the taxi man’s car, who seemed completely un-phased and understanding.

Out onto the road. More sick. New plastic bag; no holes in this one. We realised, after a week of Jodie being sick, that it is probably the malaria tablets that she is taking! Why did we never think of this before?

 

The sick bag came for a ride

We found Kirsty and Jess, but our beloved Didines was shut. So, with no other option nearby, all 5 of us casually hopped into a 3-man tuk tuk. With all of our weekend bags, Jodie’s sick bag and buckets of sweat, we made our way to Central Plaza. It was hilarious, scary and exhilarating all at the same time. Roundabouts were certainly an experience as we lifted onto two wheels and clung for our lives. 60THB later (about £1.20) we were alive and very, very sweaty.

 

Crazy tuk tuk!

We wandered round the plaza, bought iced coffees and matcha lattes and whilst Jodie and Hannah went for pizza, Kirsty, Jess and I sat outside in the glorious sunshine on some painfully spiky grass; we had to work with what we had! At some point along the line, I may have bought a naughty Cheeseburger from McDonalds. We re-joined the other two at the pizza restaurant and gratefully ate their garlic bread. Mmmmm, carbs.

Hilarious Thai Massage

Thai massage outfits for maximum flexibility...

Jodie and Hannah had to leave with their mentor so the rest of us went for a walk, in search of an authentic Thai massage. After a short 10-minute walk, we approached a shady looking massage shop where a lady who was chilling on a motorbike outside came in with us and happened to be Jess’ masseuse. We were each given something to wear for the massage. Kirsty and I had baggy trousers, and Jess had the full shebang (see picture!). We had a good ol’ laugh trying to put the trousers on, and I had to strip off several times because the masseuse kept changing her mind on how I should wear them. “Hi, we have just met, but please look at me in my underwear as you strap meant these ridiculous trousers!” Little did I know, that this very woman was soon to be coming very close to many areas that not even I go.  She was very thorough, to say the least! It was very funny to look over to Kirsty and Jess whom I couldn’t see their faces because of a curtain, but I could see their limbs flailing all over the place. At one point, Kirsty’s masseuse called “One, two, three!” and I couldn’t help but laugh as Kirsty, who was led on her front, was pulled upwards/backwards by her arms. This lovely move was performed on me a few minutes later. Let’s just say, I’m glad I didn’t have a Big Mac Meal!

 

Kirsty loving life. I found this hilarious!

Jess having her ankles massaged

After one hour, the deed was done. We had lost our Thai massage virginities; it was a bit of a crazy experience. We laughed, we cried, and at the end, we came out stronger (and about an inch taller!)

We found a beautiful little café across the road from Didines (very near to the massage place) called Mug The Café so we sat outside with some very pretty drinks as we watched the world go by. I got a Thai milk tea, Jess had a Kiwi soda which was amazing, and Kirsty had an iced caramel macchiato. I’ve got a feeling that we will be returning there! The whole café is so cool and edgy, with a huge bookshelf and exposed bricks. There are also lots of little nick nacks to look at which are adorable. It was a very Instagrammable café, for sure!

 

NOM

So hipster it hurts

Beautiful ladies, beautiful drinks

Kirsty and Jess’ mentor picked them up, and I jumped into another amusing taxi, where the driver picked up another passenger who happened to be an American professor at Khon Kaen University. The American guy uses this taxi a lot and apparently the driver often picks up extra passengers to be ‘environmentally friendly’. I quite enjoyed meeting the American guy and hearing his story, so I didn’t mind.

An early night is definitely needed now, before another week of hardcore hand gestures and sweating starts!

Peace out,

Olivia