On Monday, I was still in relaxation mode. I didn’t feel like wandering far from my Sathorn neighborhood. Being an avid fan of TripAdvisor, many people had recommended Le Spa, a few doors down from the condo. They seemed to have opened at 10:00 a.m. and I walked in around 10:30 a.m. A couple of young Thai guys were sitting around. There didn’t appear to be any young girls, so I assumed this wasn’t one of those places that offered “happy endings,” but that could just as well be applied to male masseuses, too. Anyway, Le Spa offered Thai massage, oil massage, aromatherapy massage, foot massage, head and shoulder massage and that was about it, in increments of 1 or 2 hours (if I remember correctly). A one hour Thai massage was only 180 baht, while a one hour oil massage was 300 baht. Not wanting to be tortured this early in the morning, I settled on the one hour oil massage. One of the young guys led me upstairs and into a very dimly lit room. Le Spa is a very basic spa; nothing fancy at all – no beds with billowy curtains, no scented candles burning, no soothing music playing. If you’re looking for that, you’ll have to wander further afield. The ambience was comfortable to me, though. Once I was in the massage room, the guy told me to get undressed. On second thought, he told me to wait a moment. I did and he brought a towel and disappeared. He didn’t specify whether I should remove my undies (as sometimes masseuses massage me in the buff and others bring disposable undies for me to wear), I left them on, lay on my stomach, covered myself with the towel and waited. The same guy returned to begin my massage. He applied just the right amount of pressure for me. Many masseuses are a little light, pressure-wise, with me, as they’re afraid they’ll hurt me. I like a little more than medium pressure, though. He oiled me up and proceeded with lots of long strokes and plenty of pressure points. It felt great! When he instructed me to turn over, he did more legs and arms. Once that was done, he motioned towards my upper torso. Hmmm? Was he referring to my chest or possibly my stomach? Either way, I wasn’t freaked out, so lowered my towel. He said “Sorry,” I’m assuming in case he made me uncomfortable, then began massaging both my stomach and my breasts. He didn’t make me feel threatened, violated or molested in any way, so the massage proceeded without incident. Beings I’d signed up for the oil massage, I was a bit unprepared for the last few minutes. He indicated that he wanted me to clasp my hands together and put them behind my neck. Once I did, he wrapped his arms around my upper torso, wrapped one leg around mine, twisted me to the right and then to the left. You could hear my back cracking for days! He wasn’t finished, though. With my arms in the same position, he once again wrapped his arms around my upper torso, placed his knees in the small of my back and pulled me backwards three times – once for the lower back, once for the middle and once for the upper back. Then he was done and left the room. Surprisingly (to me), my back felt fantastic! I dressed, went downstairs to pay and tipped him a generous 100 baht. I was already planning a return visit.
Next I wandered into Ann Hair on Suan Phlu and asked if they could color my hair. They started on me immediately, but I should have checked other places, too, because they charged me 1800 baht, akin to what I pay in San Francisco, only slightly less. None of the hair salons that I’d seen on Suan Phlu could be considered fancy, but this one seemed to be a step or two up. I wouldn’t have minded going to any of the others, but I couldn’t read what any of their services were as they were written only in Thai and the people didn’t seem to speak English. This salon did a fine job, but I’ll look for somewhere cheaper the next time.
There are many dental clinics throughout Thailand, with the practitioners said to have been mostly trained in the U.S. and Europe. My dentist in San Francisco has been bugging me to have my teeth cleaned for a couple of years now. She always insists that deep scaling is necessary. It’s an unpleasant experience with having to get about 4 Novocaine shots (I have a high tolerance for it), plus the actual cleaning/scaling itself. That’s why I put it off as much as possible. I’d been giving thought to having my teeth cleaned in Thailand, though. Lo and behold, there was a huge sign advertising Aesthetics Dental Clinic a 1/2 block down and across the street from my condo. I went in to an exceptionally clean and modern facility to inquire about setting up an appointment. They were booked solid for the next few days, though. When I’d return to Bangkok in 10 days, they would be closed for vacation. They took my E-mail, however, and promised to contact me should something become available. “Just my luck,” I thought.
Later in the evening, I made up my mind to see Muay Thai at Ratchadamnoen stadium. As I was running out the door to catch a cab, I noticed an E-mail from the dental clinic. They said they had time to do my cleaning right then. I dashed over. They had me fill out some forms, but I was sitting in the dentist’s chair within 15 minutes. The Thai dentist was a beautiful woman. I confessed that it had been a few years since my last cleaning, as well as adding that I’m afraid of dentists and needles. She told me not to worry. As they were lowering the chair, I asked if she was going to inject me. She insisted that it wasn’t necessary; said that the instrument she used was very small, that the process would be quick and that it would be relatively painless. I was skeptical, but had no choice at that point. They covered my face with a cloth that only had a hole for the mouth. A bit S& M, don’t you think? True to her word, it was quick and painless. In fact, it was the most stress-free dental appointment that I’ve ever had. She said that I brush my teeth too hard; suggested that I quit using the electric toothbrush and get a regular one with soft bristles. She also recommended that I have my left wisdom tooth taken out. If/when I return next year, SHE will be the only dentist allowed to extract it! What was the cost for my little dental cleaning, without insurance? A whopping US$29!!! With those prices, I’m never going to a dentist in the U.S. again!
With the cleaning out of the way, I continued on my quest to find Muay Thai. The cab driver said that there was no Muay Thai on Mondays, but dropped me off at Legends, a gym that has kick boxing classes. I was in there for about an hour watching students practice and spar with their instructors. A lot of women were taking Muay Thai and a few of them were seriously kicking some a**!
Dinner that night was at Som Tom G, a place on the street that specializes in som tom. I picked up some som tom (crab) with chicken larb and steamed rice for 90 baht. I also had some water and a soda from Family Mart. The som tom was merely average, in my opinion, but the chicken larb was good. Obviously, TripAdvisor doesn’t get it right 100% of the time.