Dr. Fish Spa

Sometime this summer I watched the Samantha Brown Thailand Travel Special and in it she sank her feet/legs into a fish tank, and these little fish nibbled on her feet. I was quite tired after 5 hours at Dusit Zoo and sat down thinking about this and whether not it would relax my tired feets. I turned my hear to the right and there was Dr. Fish Spa. I paid 30 baht for 15 minutes of this. It feels you are being tickled and also pinched occassionally. I don't know if my feet were any smoother but I definitely felt relaxed...probably because I sat for an extended period of time the first time that day. Quite the experience though!

Bangkok, in photos II

Buddhas at Wat Pho

Corners at Wat Pho

I exercised with Thais.
They gather in large groups in Lumphini Park and do some kick@$$ cardio!

Colors to cover the gray sky at Wat Arun.

Tom sem?? So good. Only 15 baht at a street restaurant in Thornburi.

Bangkok, in photos

Friends outside the Standing Buddha

At the Grand Palace, gold demons stretch at you

Friends outside Wat Pho! The best.

I don't know how I feel about elephant shows but things guys were so cute either way. (Dusit Zoo)

I am in love with this animal. (Dusit Zoo)

"What are you eating?" "I have no idea. Maybe duck?"

1. After I left the internet cafe yesterday, I stood unsure at a cross section trying to decide whether turning left or continuing straight was the way to go. A Thai woman asked me, "Where are you going? Khao San Road?"
"No, the democracy monument? I guess -???"
"Why would you want to go there? Don't go there!" We talked about something or other for a couple of minutes (She has a friend who lives in St. Louis) and then she asked me how long I am on holiday for. I told her 2 months and proceeded to tell her of my dream (yes, dream!) of going to Chiang Mai [by train].
"By train?! Haven't you heard? It's flooded! You can't take the train!"
This woman then told me exactly what I needed to do and where I needed to go in order to establish my travel plans: Thailand Authority of Travel (or in reverse? TAT.) because they wouldn't swindle me. She then asked if I had a map and circled a bunch of things for me to see that day, some of which were not even on the map. She then told me to get a tuk tuk. I was so amazed by her kindness that I completely missed the moment in which she hailed me a tuk tuk, told me to always take the green government one because for 20 baht the dude will take me everywhere for however long, told the tuk tuk driver (Kang, I later learned) everywhere he must take me, and waved goodbye.

2. My 2nd stop with Kang was to the Standing Buddha where 3 little young'ns yelled "hi" to me and proceeded to pose for photos and make me laugh.

3. My 3rd stop with Kang was to the Lucky Buddha. A talked to a Thai man there about how important parents are. "Mother is number 1!" He asked if I do anything for my parents on my birthday, I said yes (but I'm not sure I have in recent times). He asked about my holiday, I told him I was volunteering in a couple of weeks and he was almost down on his knees thanking me for being a volunteer and a VOLUNTEER TEACHER! He said I was a good girl. I said I knew that *wink*.

4. Today, after visiting the overcrowded but wonderful Grand Palace, I searched for food and Wat Pho. For 12 baht (~.50), I got a Thai icea tea and for 30 baht (~$1), I got a bowl of I-have-no-idea-what. There were a bunch of students sitting on a mat of sorts next to the stand, so I took a cue for them and sat on the sidewalk, my feet dangling onto the street, inches from buses and taxis. The girls yelled me to come and sit next to them, and the moment I did, all the cameras came out. I've got a good shot of myself and a group of 10 or so Thai girls flippin' the peace sign. We talked a little since we were both stunted when it came to the other's language. They asked if the food was delicious and I said yes, then read "aroy mahk" and we all laughed! Then I said something like, "Oh, I also know 'korp kun ka'!" We laughed more! I was floored to learn they were between 20 and 21. They must have been floored when I told them I was 24 since they said, "Oh, you look so young." I thought these girls were 16!!! One of them offered me a pink icey and then we parted ways waving and smiling.

5. I bought some random meat on a stick from a street vendor and a crepe filled with, what I later found out was, coconut and sugar from another on what I thought was going to be my walk to the ferry to this internet cafe. The ferry post had flooded so I and 2 Dutch girls started walking elsewhere. I recommended Wat Pho because I thought/think/will forever know it is a magical place, plus there's a massage school there which I visited. One girl asked, "What are you eating?"
"I have no idea. Maybe duck?"
"Yeah, it's a sweet meat."
"Huh, well, this is a sweet meat, but does duck have so much bone in it?"

6. The tuk tuk driver, who almost got me to this internet cafe, blasted "YMCA" as the first song on our drive.

She said, "Hold me back! Hold me back!"

Even though every book on Thailand I have told me of the serene, "doesn't matter", "cool heart" nature of the people, I was not surprised, when I sat down to eat at a street food table, to find an elderly man and woman yelling at each other. More accurately, she was yelling at him and once he'd had enough, he got up with such menace in his eyes that the woman sitting next to me had to hold him back. A different woman held the yelling elderly woman back. Then things were calm. Then she came back to yell at him more and the scene repeated itself.

Good times.

By the way, Dash & Helen, the tom yum goong soup I just had (goong = shrimp) was not as good at the soup at Pagoda in Williamsburg. I still told/read out of my phrasebook to the girl, "a-roy mahk" (that was delicious). What I should have said was, "kow tah" which is "That hit the spot" because all I crave these days is tom yum. Must be the lemongrass.