So I celebrated my Birthday here in Thailand on the 23rd of June - which was still June 22nd back home - so we decided to celebrate two days! Joe wants us to celebrate all week because he feels he is less likely to forget a Birthday week than a Birthday! So we started off my Birthday with a visit to the spa here at the Marriott where we both got a Thai Traditional Massage. This is similar to the $12 massages we've been getting on the beach - only this one was more expensive and it actually was better. They basically stretch your body like in yoga. They use their entire body to assist you in doing so too. These ladies were standing on the table and using their arms, elbows, fingers, feet, knees etc to assist. It is amazing just how flexible the human body is - even for two people in horrible shape! Sometimes it hurt but it was all worth it in the end. I was so relaxed I fell asleep for three hours in our hotel room immediately following it. It rained most of the day so it was a good day for this. In the evening we caught a shuttle ride to Patong Beach, which is where the touristy area of Phuket is located. We had dinner reservations at Baan Rim Pa, which is a really nice Thai restaurant right on the water. It had a very scenic setting and had the sun come out we likely would have seen a gorgeous sunset. Maybe, next time. On the shuttle to the restaurant we spoke with this man from Singapore who was vacationing with his wife and kids. He was very nice - works for a US company in Singapore and was telling us all about it there. He mentioned how much he likes President Obama and how he read his book. Our dinner at the restaurant was great - we had a mixed appetizer plate with Po Pia Thod (spring rolls), Mee Grob (crispy vermicelli), Gratong Thong (minced chicken and sweet corn in pastry), and Goong Sarong (deep fried prawns rolled in yellow noodles). I know we had a couple other items but I am not sure what they were and I just looked up their menu and they do not appear on their online menu! We shared a Tom Ka Gai soup, which again was delicious and is my new favorite. Our entrees included Gaeng Garie Gai (yellow curry with chicken) AND Hmoo Paad Khing (stir fried pork with ginger and black chinese mushroom). Dessert was sticky rice with mango and sweet jelly cream topped with coconut cream. It wall all very good.
After dinner we caught a ride into the town of Patong Beach. We were looking for insect repellent with deet so we were told to go to Boots Pharmacy. This place has every type of medical supply you could ever imagine needing - and it's all over the counter - even what would be a prescription antibiotic back home - here you get it over the counter. We got what we wanted and then decided to walk to the shuttle pick up point and stay in that general area - that was quite a walk. The street you take to get there is basically their red light district. It was bars and clubs up and down both sides of the street. There were people outside soliciting to get you to come in. At least a dozen times, I was asked if I wanted to come watch the female strip tease. I kept asking Joe - do I look like I want to watch a female stripper? There were Americans and Australians everywhere. They weren't asking every single person either - they were picking out select ones. I was quite happy when we got away from that street to the main drag at the beach. Then it was like being attacked by a swarm of bees or something. They were coming after you from every direction, “Buy a bag? Massage? Scarf? Picture?” You name it they were coming at us with it. I must say it reminded me of Tijuana - I remember taking Grandma to Mexico and coming back across the border to San Diego and being stuck in all that traffic. Grandma was fascinated by everything she saw but the best part was when she says to us, “That man is carrying a Jesus statue with a table cloth around him.” I told Joe while walking the main strip in Patong Beach, “I am waiting to see the man with the Jesus statue and tablecloth!” He never showed up but everything else did. We finally found the shuttle pick up point and just nearby it they had probably 6 or so foot massage places. Now if you have been reading along in my earlier emails, I mentioned a reputable foot massage place does not solicit outside the shop for work, you can see inside the place and it is not dark and the girls are not always the prettiest and certainly are not "done up" and are well clothed. So Joe says lets get a foot massage while we wait - so you walk up this street and in unison you hear, “Massage? Massage?” Over and over again. We kept passing up the first few places and I kept telling Joe I don't like that they are all outside soliciting. He says well I think it works different down here since this is a touristy area - I think they all do that. So we picked a well lit one towards the end of the block that you could see inside and the two ladies that were sitting outside did not look quite as done up. So we go inside to get our foot massage, about 30 minutes into it - this door in the back of the place opens up and what emerges but some guy and a young Thai girl who was not wearing very much. It was pretty darn obvious what was going on there - especially when she gave him a business card with her name on it. So much for finding a reputable place! I all of a sudden was not enjoying my foot massage as much and almost felt dirty for being there! Our shuttle ride back to the hotel was quite packed and when I got home I had a missed call from my parents and 5 missed calls from my brother with a very sweet voice mail from my niece/goddaughter, Sarah, wishing me a very Happy Birthday. I wanted to call them all back and got to talk to three of my brother’s four kids when I called. By the time we went to bed it was 2am.
So needless to say - we slept in today until 10am. We got showered and ready and had a quick snack for lunch and then met our shuttle to take us to the Siam Safari Tour. Here we had a great time. We sat on a water buffalo that also pulled us behind him in a cart. Joe got to ride on the buffalo though while the rest of us were in the cart. We saw a demonstration of how a monkey picks a coconut. We learned how to make coconut milk and coconut oil. We saw a demonstration of how rubber is made and saw a rubber tree. We learned how to make Thai orange curry and how to cook with it. We saw an elephant show and were able to feed the elephants afterwards. Lastly - we went on a good 30-minute elephant trek through the jungles of Phuket. This was a lot of fun. The guide sits on the elephant head and keeps his feet behind the elephant’s ears. He controls him by the elephant ears and by using this thing called a hook, which is basically a stick with this sharp hook on it. The guide taps the elephant with the hook lightly and since the elephant skin is one inch thick it does not hurt the elephant. If the elephant is misbehaving then they tap the elephant a little harder with it to control him. We were up really high and I was grasping the safety bar anytime we went downhill at all because I would slide forward quite a bit. After that we went on a big boat on a cruise of the Phuket Bay. We saw some smaller islands where the villagers live - mostly fishing villagers. One of the islands has a small beach there with some bungalows that you can rent that are very cheap cheap! They served us a Thai Traditional dinner aboard the boat - white rice, fried rice, steamed vegetables, chicken with yellow curry, some noodle dish and grilled chicken. It was very good. Our tour consisted of Joe and I along with a family of four from Australia. It was a mother and three children - I would imagine the oldest was 18 and the youngest was probably 12 or so. They were a hoot - we really enjoyed talking to them. They too brought up the topic of President Obama and how everyone in Australia LOVES him. Even the children were talking about this. It amazed me - when I was 12 years old, I was lucky I knew who the USA President was let alone the leader of some other country. The children were fascinated with everything American and were firing away questions at us about it there. Especially the youngest one Jack - he liked to talk quite a bit and was asking lots of questions. The daughter, Samantha, told us that in class one day they were asked if they remember the day the Tsunami hit Thailand and if they remember where they were or what they were doing - she said no one did. She said then they were asked the same question about the twin towers collapsing and she said everyone spoke at once and could say right away where they were and what they were doing when it happened. Anyhow, we had a great time and are ready for more adventure tomorrow! Enjoy the pics!
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