Cutey and Beauty

I'm taking advantage of these last few days of pampering. I mean, what else can I do?

I decided to try a gay salon for my final facial instead of the really cold, slightly uncomfortable MBK experience. I was glad I changed.

I went to Beauty and Cutey, or Cutey and Beauty, I can't remember the order. It's located on the third floor of Thaniya Plaza, this weird Japanese-oriented shopping center that mostly has golf supplies - clothes, clubs, etc. I'm not sure how Beauty and Cutey ended up there.

I walked in and was greeted by a cutey who offered me coffee or tea. I got a glass of water and was then led into a little room for my facial.

It was one of the best facials I've ever had. The guy who did it was a young guy named Tong or Tong, or Toon or Doon, I can't remember. He did the usual steps that most facials include, different creams, cleansers, masks, peels, etc, but at one point his fingers felt like they were playing the harp on my face. It was incredible. He just kept massaging and massaging using all of his fingers. I've never had anything like that done before. And at about $15,it was quite the bargain.

When we finished, I was led back out into the salon. Several men were waiting and chatting, one guy was sitting in a chair with dye in his hair, and another was getting a haircut. And then there she was. I don't know who this guy was, but it is amazing to me that a person could dress the way he did and not get second looks, but again, the Thais seem to be impervious to the strange collections of foreigners that visit their country.

This guy was wearing a shirt that was electric blue and had bright pink and yellow strips of fabric sewn on it. He was wearing little square, yellow glasses, tight jeans and yellow high top converse sneakers. When he went to pay he pulled out a furry pink wallet. Oh, and he had a blue scarf tied around his neck and a yellow t-shirt under the electric blue shirt. He was like a walking neon sign.

When I came out he was getting a manicure, with polish, of course (but not yellow or pink, just clear). He said, "good idea" when he saw me sit next to him for my mani-pedi.

First a young cutey named Jet started on my nails and the guy who was working on the neon princess came over and did my feet when he was done. I was sitting there feeling like royalty having these two young guys working on me at the same time. And I felt so much more comfortable than I did at the place I had my original pedicure and foot massage when I first arrived. The women there were a little too pushy and I felt like they were trying to get me to go upstairs for more. Here, I felt comfortable in the hands of two cute young gay men and there was no sexual tension (though the guy doing my feet seemed a little flirty in a funny Thai way).

From there I went to Silom Center for lunch. I ate in the food court that is my little secret, though I do see a few foreigners there once in a while. I had fried chicken and rice with a nice soup and a thai desert - sweet potato and corn in coconut milk with shaved ice. It's one of my favorite deserts and always feels so refreshing and not terribly unhealthy.

I went to the basement of Silom Center to buy some chili oil, one thing I forgot to pick up. It's nice to dribble a little on tom ka gai (coconut milk with chicken soup), but as luck would have it, Tops didn't sell it! I am getting so fed up with Tops. I know I saw it yesterday at Tokyu, so I guess I will need to make a trip there tomorrow if I really want it.

I was expecting Ken or Bank to contact me but neither one did, so it looked like I had the evening off. In the four months I've been traveling, this is the only place that I actually have made any friends, and good ones too. Ken has been amazing driving me around and trying to show me parts of Bangkok that I have never seen before, and Bank is an old friend and I love his sense of humor. I'm so happy that he has found someone who is taking good care of him and hope the US will give him a visa and allow him to visit SF with his boyfriend next month. But since neither one of them contacted me, and I was feeling like I needed an evening of rest, I didn't try to contact either one of them and instead took a nice nap when I got back to my hotel.

After my nap, it was time to eat again (seems like all I do). I left my hotel and walked up Soi Phipat, the street that runs from the Skytrain Station to the other end of my "block" to Soi Convent. Along the way I got curious about this little winding street that veered off to the left. I've passed it many times and I was wondering where it would take me, especially now that I am realizing that this little world within the sois is in a way like a hidden world.

I walked down this little street which was really only big enough for a motorbike and had no traffic. Old style Thai houses with lots of pots filled with big luscious plants lined both sides of the street. Doors and windows were open. Some shops were open and others had closed up. A radio playing American country music blared (I think it was Hank Williams or someone like that). The whole thing seemed so surreal. I walked under a very big banyan tree with its roots hanging down to the street and came to a dead end, where girls and boys were lifting weights with an old man sitting in a chair yelling directions at them. Wow. Talk about stumbling on a hidden world.

It seemed like I could go no further, so I turned around and retraced my steps, past the banyan tree, the country music and on to Soi Phipat where there was more life, and finally to Soi Convent clogged with traffic. From there I walked to Silom Road which was packed with people, the road clogged with cars just sitting and going nowhere. It was hard to believe that just a few steps away past the banyan tree lay another world of boys and girls lifting weights with an old many yelling directions at them.

I often wish I had a device attached to my eyes that when I blink a certain way, I could take a photo of the things I see. I've seen so many interesting people but don't just want to point my camera at people unaware, and if I were to ask their permission to photograph them, it would completely spoil the shot. So I guess these images I've seen, especially walking down the sois, are for my eyes only and anyone who wants to see them will just have to come to Bangkok and get off the main streets.

And so my last weekend in Bangkok approaches and I am seriously considering returning to Thailand for my next sabbatical, and thinking this might be a place I could retire. I would not be able to have anything resembling a decent life in the US, but here, on my retirement salary, I could live quite well, and it seems I would easily be able to make friends, have access to wonderful massages and services and get decent medical care. There seem to be quite a number of long-term foreigners in Thailand and they seem quite happy.

But for the moment I have the problem of getting my new suitcase to close and lock. It is entirely full of Thai cooking supplies - curry pastes, herbs, and a new wooden pestle. But I can't get the stupid thing to close. I'm going to have to unpack it and see if I can do a better job of packing. And I guess that bottle of chili oil will have to wait until my next trip.