Water, Water Everywhere
16 April 06 — Hmm… the second week. It’s been a whirlwind week — lots of ups and downs, and loads to get used to. So the down: much ado about the supernatural. Yup, it comes as no surprise, this is Thailand afterall. As as luck would have it, the staff quarters where I’m putting up at turns out to be one haunted place! Something about how there was previously this really old tree that was once situated there which had to be chopped down to make room for the building. The Thais believe that big trees are often a great hangout spot for spirits, thus when the tree is removed, these spirits have no place to go and hence hang around. So this place I’m staying at consists of 3 levels, and in the spirit of damage control (after having completely freaked me out with tons of stories about their “encounters”), my colleagues tried to assure me it’s the 3rd floor that’s REALLY haunted. The second, which I’m on, is not so bad. Thalia, one of the other girls who also lives on the 2nd floor quipped, “Yeah, I’ve only seen them once.” Once? Once?!? Erm… I don’t even really want to see them half a time, know what I mean…
And yes, when I first got there, I did a space-clearing, I have my crystals and my Green Tara picture beside me on the bedside table, I constantly protect the room with Archangel Michael’s blue ray, but nonetheless there’s always still that feeling of unease. Prolly partially fed by my own imagination, but prolly partially not too. So after a good week of struggling to sleep, I finally gave up and moved in with the Thai nurses, who were so kind as to offer me a place to stay. And though the blankets on the floor weren’t quite as comfy as the Dunlopillo king-size mattress I have in my room, for the first time in days… I finally got some decent rest. These nurses, they are so sweet, whenever I’m over, they always switch the TV to the English channel, and at night, when I’m asleep, I can even feel them pulling the blanket over me… Aww… Turned out to be a blessing in disguise too, ‘cos now that I’m spending more time with the locals, I’m picking up more Thai. Nam, in particular, has become my unofficial Thai teacher. Just the other night, it was the Thai alphabets, and last night, it was parts of the face, erm… I’m sure it’ll come into use somehow.
Oooh, the other next big thing this week was Songkran of course, which is basically the Thai New Year. It’s huge here, so you can imagine everything’s closed for a good few days up to a week, people from Bangkok head back to the provinces to be with family, and of course, water, LOTS of it! Initially a form of blessing, it has now become a full-blown excuse for drenching everyone in sight. Yup, friends, family and strangers alike. In fact, it’s often advised in tourist guidebooks that if you plan to visit Thailand at this time of year and got wet, you’re not supposed to get angy or upset. ‘Cos it’s the norm, and trust me, you do. Everywhere! Everywhere! Kids and adults alike are waiting to pounce with their hoses, Super-soakers, buckets and pails!
And recently they’ve also added coloured powder to the water, so you don’t just get wet, you get real messy too!
Here at CS, we also had our own little celebration where prolly 90% of the staff was involved. Everyone changes into their costumes, with us consultants donning really pretty traditional Thai ones, complete with gaudy headwear and thick chunky costume jewellery.
With everyone dressed, we paraded from one end of the resort to the other, rather festive, with musicians and dancers, and of course all along the way, everyone was splashing everyone else with water, including the guests! It was good fun, albeit being a bit too short. Apparently it used to be a lot wilder and loads more exciting, with tons of people being dunked into the pool. Unfortunately, the owner put a stop to it in recent years. Party-pooper. There were only 2 casualties this year. Oh well, being my first Songkran, it was still an exhilarating experience for me.
This is us after the parade.
As far as training went, the highlights this week included:
- Thai Boxing: Whoo! What a great workout! Not to mention a fantastic stress reliever! Punching and kicking, jabbing and slamming, yeah, bring it on!!!
- South Indian Body Pampering treatment: Absolute indulgence. With 3 therapists working on you simultaneously, rubbing and scrubbing with Ayurvedic herbs, Thai compresses and my favourite, coconut oil — hmm… I smelled like a cross between nasi lemak and gula melaka, very sedap…
- Laser Skin Rejuvenation: aka cosmetic surgery, but non-invasive, no slicing and splicing involved, just laser treatment. Yep, great for reducing wrinkles, blemishes, sun-spots and fine lines. When my manager told me I didn’t have to do the procedure if I didn’t want to ‘cos I was still “young”, I was adamant, “No, No, you don’t understand, I WANT to do this. It is my responsibility to the guests to try this out.” (especially when it costs $400 a pop!)
And finally it was the weekend! The week can drag on a bit when you’re working 6 days, so when your day-off comes around, you really relish it. And unlike the first week, where I pathetically just hung around Ban Dok Mai (meaning “House of Flowers”, i.e. our living quarters), and had ALL 3 meals at the staff canteen (what was I thinking?!?) , this week I was determined to put it to better use. So on Saturday night, I ventured out of my comfort zone by heading out to town for drinks with Chie (the Japanese co-ordinator) and Tom, Ta and Ting (Thai staff). It was pouring buckets that night, flooding up the streets, and by the time we left, we had to wade calf-high in a concoction of rain+sewage water. Very nice. Oh, and that was the night when I first rode a motorbike with 2 other persons (the driver and Chie) too! Yes, a motorbike — didn’t you know, it’s the Thai equivalent of a people-mover.
For my off-day proper, we began the day nice and early, with Siripan, one of the fitness instructors bringing me and Chie on a grand tour of Hua Hin as well as the next town, Pranburi.
We visited a local wet market where the scariest item on sale had to be this bag of stomach juices from a pig (supposedly great for promoting a man’s sexual prowess)! It was this weird sickly grimey green as well — definitely a 10 on the gross-o-meter!
This looks pretty yummy though…
Then we had seafood lunch at this really nice lay-pak seaside restaurant.
And as expected, dirt-cheap and aroy-mahk-mahk (very delicious).
Also visited a local family resort place called Suan Sum, where former barracks had been transformed into chalets. And ‘cos it was the Songkran weekend, the place was packed. We next headed to Khao Takiep, famous for this Buddhist temple that was up on a hill. Good fun, lots of monkeys around the place, where you can buy a basket of bananas and corn to feed them with.
Finally we headed back into town for good old Market Village (the new mall) — yay! Air-con!!!
And again I let my guard down, we actually ended up at the karaoke! It was hilarious — we took turns to sing, with Chie singing Japanese hits by Ayumi and the like, me belting out Chinese faves from Stephanie Sun, F4 and S.H.E. and Siripan crooning to some Thai ballads. For the grand finale, we joined forces in a rendition of the Carpenter’s “Yesterday Once More”. Isn’t that hilarious?!! And finally for dinner, we had ramen, in keeping with the Jap theme. Yes, definitely a much better way of spending my day off.
One thing I did notice with the excursion was that no matter where we went, with the exception of Market Village (and the modernity it stood for), it was always quiet. Yep, even at Suan Sum where it was packed with people. There seemed to be this quality of tranquility that just permeates Hua Hin. It’s as if everything moves in slow motion. No one seems to be in any particular hurry and they are always so ready to smile. I like it. It’s a great change from living in big cities like Singapore and Sydney. And yes, I could definitely get used to it.