Bangkok, and in the arms of another woman

He couldn’t believe what he had heard. So I repeated myself, that this would be my very first trip to Bangkok. 

My long-time friend from back in college days, EL and his wife had settled in Bangkok some ten years ago. After countless promises that I would visit, I finally found myself there, together with my youngest daughter K. We were on a short four day holiday. He found it incredulous that I had never before set foot on this sprawling mega-polis, the capital city of Thailand, just over two hours of flight time from our island city. So near and yet for me, so far.

Jaw-dropping but it's true. Jenny and I, well-travelled as we were, have never once visited this city, at least together.

So what made me go this time?

Well I had annual leave to clear. And much in need of a break from work also. Still, it took a lot of dawdling on my part to summon the will power to make the flight booking. I could spend my leave at home, or I could fly out for a short trip. With only 4 or 5 days a short getaway holiday destination could be to Siem Reap, to see the famous Ang Kor Wat, or to Penang Island. None of these destinations excited my travelling partner, who would be my youngest daughter K, the only one of my 3 kids free enough to join me. But when I tossed the idea of Bangkok, she went wild with excitement. “Ohh! I love you Dad! II've been dreaming of going there!”. She made no bones about it. Bangkok is a shoppers’ paradise.

For me, this trip was to fulfil my promise of visiting my old friend, EL, a promise I had lost count of making. It was in fact getting to be an embarrassment each time I sheepishly shared with anyone that I had not once been to Bangkok. I have received enough of expressions of shock and awe to tell me that it is about time to break the duck and go.

The City was exactly what I had expected it to be. Colourful, bustling and crowded. Traffic chaotic but the people, gracious and friendly. Why Jenny and I had not visited in our years together was a mystery. 

After all, Jenny would have loved the shopping.  No guessing then on whose genes my daughter K had taken on. She spent a great deal of time at the Platinum shopping complex - two entire buildings, each  with several floors of countless stores selling an infinite range of cheap apparel and other assortments to stoke and satiate the appetite of shopaholics from all over the world.

But I found it tiring and boring. Tonnes of merchandise on display and offer. But not a single item worth parting my cash for. My long-time immunity against impulsive buying held firm. Jenny had long found me a major turn-off when it comes to shopping. Sometimes, she would insist that I should at least buy something and I begrudgingly obliged. But most times she knew that I would be better off planting myself at some coffee joint and burying my face into a book. She could then attack the stores at her own time and liberty.  Without the burden of a dampener like me in tow.



A flurry of sights and colours along the streets of Bangkok
 

So I found myself spending an inordinate amount of time nursing my paperback companion at various cafes that could offer brewed coffee and air-conditioning comfort. Relaxing, the way I like it, while allowing ample time for my daughter to satisfy her shopping needs. We also found time to stroll through the streets together, sampling the street-food offering, one of which was aptly named “gruel”. Surprising it actually tasted quite good.

We even caught a ride on a long river-boat, powered by a bone-rattling motor of immense horsepower that tore us through the Chao Phraya river at terrifying velocity. Fortunately the rapid speed meant that the journey was also a brief one. We ended at the Wat Pho Buddhist temple complex with its gigantic reclining Buddha housed in a building just large enough to shelter it from the elements. My daughter had to don a robe as her dressing was not sufficiently modest by Buddhist standards.

The Wat Pho temple complex was really quite impressive!
 

But the part of this holiday that would be most memorable and one which would have Jenny squirming with discomfort was the Thai massage experience. At the behest of my host, EL and his wife who were members of the Health Land club, we joined them for what I was told, a traditional Thai massage. Two whole hours in the hands of a muscular female Thai masseuse. We (my daughter and my couple friends) were all robed and laid side by side, on mattresses in a single elongated room.  There was much giggling from my daughter.  Understandably, as she was a first timer.

But believe it or not again, this was also my very first time experience of getting a massage! Again, I am not sure if I should be proud of or embarrassed at sharing this little known fact about myself. 



A bone-crushing time in the arms of a muscular female

So for two whole hours lying on a mattress with unaccustomed company, within a dimmed up room, a Siamese woman twisting and contorting my limbs in awkward angles, throwing her body weight to loosen every locked-up joint in my body and stretching every stiffened sinew, I realised that I had not gotten so physically closed to a female ever since Jenny was stricken with illness.  Not that there was any intimacy in this encounter. There was certainly more pain than pleasure for sure.  She was crushing me with all her might whilst I submitted my limp body to be kneaded and crumpled like dough. Resistance was futile. And it would only make the work harder for her

If only Jenny was there to see me being worked on. 

She probably would have insisted that they sent me a male masseuse instead. I would then not have to deal with me being all wrapped up with another woman. I couldn’t even imagine how she would have felt - her dearest hubby getting physical in the arms of another woman! That would be hard for her to process.  But what fun I could derive, seeing her getting all annoyed. She would pretend not to be jealous.  But I would see through her. I rarely got to see her being jealous, during all our years together.  We have always been faithful, never straying from each other.  But for this massage session, at the end I am pretty sure, good sense would prevail. She would be rational enough to know that it was only a massage, Thai style notwithstanding and nothing more personal. She has not lost her beloved husband to another woman for sure.  

So, even as my body was bent and twisted like a piece of dough, my mind was hovering around Jenny. Wondering how she would feel. She would also be going through this massage, right by my side. This experience for us would then be such a rare treat. When it was over, we would have much to share with each other. I would have fancied seeing her getting flustered as she tries to mask her resentment. Me, engulfed within the arms of another female. And right next to her too! I would need to comfort and appease her wounded heart.  A reason to be extra loving.

But sigh, once again I was lost. Lost in wishful thinking.  She was not there with me. Only my daughter and two old time friends to share the experience with.  We said goodbye to our masseuses after handing the tips. Kop Koon Krup. Thanks for the good time.

So first time in Bangkok and my first encounter in getting a full body massage.  Holidays abroad open up the world a little wider, bringing forth new experiences.  A different country, different setting, smells and sound. But for me it is the same. Wherever I emplace myself, without her by my side, it is the same familiar feeling. Empty and incomplete.