Starter Massage

Last night was rough.  Viv woke up three times with "bad dreams" and Elena woke up twice for baby reasons of her own, so around 5:30am, I gave up and made myself some coffee.  Luckily the only thing on today's agenda was my first massage since we moved here.

I'm a massage wuss.  I've been too afraid to try the Thai massage, since it's supposed to be pretty intense.  Apparently they stretch your arms and legs in ways that I'm sure are helpful, but since I'm basically one tense muscle ball, I'm afraid it'll hurt.

I decided to ease into massage by getting a Swedish massage at the Bamboo Spa here in Nichada.  It's much more expensive ($27 for a 60 minute massage) than the Thai massage places outside the bubble (I've heard $5-$10 for 60 minutes), but I figured I could splurge, since it's MUCH less expensive than what I would pay for the same thing in the States.

The spa itself is small, but very nicely decorated.  They had a choice of four essential oils for the massage.  Since I was sleepy, I went with a citrus one hoping it would keep me awake.  A friendly Thai woman took me to the small massage room which was clean, pretty, and dimly lit.  My masseuse came in a little later.  She didn't talk very much, but she smiled and seemed nice.  She did a good job, deep but not painful, and I left feeling relaxed and smelling like a lemon.  I may try the Thai massage next time.

When I got home, I gave myself permission to read and play with Elena for the rest of the day.  Yesterday I learned how to drive to two different places, and I spent a considerable amount of time on Chaengwattana  (which is the crazy busy street where motorcycles come at you going the wrong way), so I figured I could take the day off today.

Yesterday's first adventure was learning to use the flyover to make a right onto Chaengwattana.  This is the faster way to get to Makro, but I passed the u-turn point and kept going to get to Tesco Lotus which is kind of like Target to Big C's Wallmart.  The last time I was at Tesco, I bought a memory foam pad to put in the kitchen.  Young likes it a lot, so I wanted to get another one, so that we could have one for the sink and one for the stove.  Jeff likes it too (he says it makes his feet happy), so I got one for our bathroom as well.

After Tesco, I had to drive straight across four lanes of Chaengwattana (no light, why would there be a light on a busy road?).  On the other side of the street is a great plant place, that is somehow connected to the Thai military.  There was a huge selection and most of the plants were in the $2-$3 range.  I'm going to go back with Young tomorrow, so that we can pick out some for the house.

Elena and I have spent most of the afternoon playing.  Her favorite toy for the day, my water cup.