Day 12 Day started at 5.30am Sukhothai

Day 12 5.30am productive day.

Sukhothai

Woke up at 5.30am today. It was a really fun day-off, and it was worth the morning call. Pee-ann, Pee-oii, Kyle and I headed into town to give monks food, as a way of blessing ourselves [I’ll have pictures to show soon :)]. We first headed to a 7-11 to buy their breakfast. There, Pee-oii explained to me why they gave food (and monks can eat meat too! Which I was pretty surprised about). When a person gives monk food, and water, the person receives it back when he goes through the afterlife. Does this make sense? If you, the reader, understand the ‘afterlife,’ ‘reincarnation,’ aspect of Buddhism, it’ll make a lot more sense. Pee-oii made a joke about how if you only give a monk food, aren’t you going to be thirsty and want water too? At 7-11, they bought sandwiches, Yakult (brings back good memories),  bread, and other food items.

We stood on the streets, waiting for a monk to approach I think was the point. One monk did. The ritual is this: you are supposed to take off your shoes (thank god I was wearing flip-flops today) when in the presence of them. Then, you’re supposed to hand them food with two hands into their metal bins (?), or hand it to them. Afterwards, the monks start making their blessing by chanting, and you’re supposed to squat down/sit down and pray. During the blessing, you can make a wish. Usually, you’re supposed to wish others well, such as your family, or anyone you want to see better. But, of course the self comes first in usual cases.  I didn’t squat down the first monk I saw because I didn’t know exactly what was going on; instead, I took pictures, and it was okay because I didn’t hand him food.

We then approached a second monk, where Pee-ann asked me and Kyle to touch her while she gave the monk the food. Then, we took part in the ritual and squatted down (I really wanted to take a picture of us, but obviously I couldn’t). I made a nice wish that I don’t think will ever come true, but it’s okay. I put my heart into it while squatting down.

After our blessings, and giving away of 7-11 substances, we headed into the local market of town. Pee-oii wanted to buy breakfast for her colleagues. So, we all headed to this local stand that consisted of several meats on display as well as a huge vat of sticky rice. It was delicious :). Pee-ann ran off somewhere to do what she needed to do. . Pee-ann gave me and Kyle this dessert, and that was the reason why she was gone. God, I love her. Pee-oii went to get another blessing from a monk, and went to this stand to buy some other type of food. She headed back to the truck, only to have a waft of doughnut smells following her. She gave me and Kyle a bag too. Such great hospitality.

Me and Kyle arrived back in our condo around 7am. I unlocked my door, said goodnight to Kyle, and slept till 10am.

After I woke up, I ate breakfast that we brought back from the local market this morning. It was all very delicious.

I finished up my Bangkok post, watched some more Thai T.V., and saw this Ajoo [Korean] character on air. I found it funny/nice because he needed a translator on T.V., and I wish I had one for myself. :)

Kyle headed out to eat some ‘afternoon tea,’ where I was too full from what I had in the morning, I caught up on some news. I decided to join him after 30 minutes to ride my bicycle as an excuse for exercise. I locked my room door, and realized I locked my own key in my room. I didn’t panic, because I remember watching this Taiwan news on T.V., that to open my type of door, I could use a hammer and a book to knock it open. I didn’t find a hammer, so I found a substitute glass can (Nescafe brand haha), and tried popping the door open. THAT WAS A BIG FAIL. So, I rode my bike to find Kyle heading home, and we rode to Ms. Chutima together.

I tried explaining to Ms. Chutima about how I locked myself out—God, that was embarrassing. But, we had a language barrier. So, the next best thing (I admit, I’m quick on my feet and quite smart when it comes to communication barriers) I did, was to draw a door and a key, and point. Haha, she got it. She had a bucket full of keys, and all the keys were nestled within each other. 10 minutes later she hands me an unbranded branch of keys, and I bike back in lightening speed, and the first key I tried popped open my door, and I was exuberant :). Kyle came back with me, and then I mentioned about the local market that holds on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays outside the outskirts of the airport. I asked him if he was interested in going, and so I grabbed my wallet, MY KEY, and we headed back to give the chain of keys back to Ms. Chutima.

Kyle and I headed out on a 3km journey—it really wasn’t that bad. And, my knee didn’t pop out—I think this idea is just the only thing stopping me from doing a lot of activities which is sad. But this thought needs another post in and of itself :). ANYWAYS, we head to the local market, and I didn’t get that many stares because 1. I think I didn’t have a bag/purse on me (just a wallet tucked in my shorts), 2. my shorts were just above knee length, 3. I didn’t have my camera, 4. I was with Kyle who looks a lot more Thai than I do. The people there still gave me smiles, and I felt warm and comfortable as usual. I wanted to buy fruits because I ran out of my Rambutang. I proceeded to a fruit stand that sold Pineapple with this “酸梅粉” package that seems similar to the Taiwan version. I asked “gee baht?” and the owner replied “ee sip.” I was like, shit, there’s no such number as “ee” and I know “sip” is ten. So I handed her 20baht, hoping ee sip would be less than that. She took the money and I was on my way. The whole time Kyle was like, “uh, shit, I think ee sip means 10baht.” I was like “are you SURE she didn’t say si sip because that means 40 baht.” The whole time I was thinking, shit, just because I don’t exactly look Thai, she’s going to cheat me of my money? But, I was also like, it’s only 20 baht, how much cheaper can it get in Taiwan?

As we were walking through the market, I saw a stand that sold desserts similar to the one Ms. Chutima and Bo bought the last time I was with them. I decided to buy exactly that for Pee-ann, Ms. Chutima, and Bo because 1. I owe all three of them too much, 2. Ms. Chutima had to go through the trouble of finding keys for me, 3. it was the right thing to do, and it made me happy doing so :). I was afraid I’d get cheated like the last stand I approached, so I stood nearby watching other customers handle the situation. I saw 2-3 customers grab three bags of goodies, and handed the shop owner’s daughter 20 baht. I did the same, hoping they won’t charge more for me. AND THEY DIDN’T! My heart giggled. The daughter smiled at me, which made me feel even better.

Me and Kyle headed back to our condo, and we greeted the security guards. It was a fun-filled day.  We went to visit Pee-ann to drop off my dessert for the trio. Turns out ee-sip meant 20baht, and that made my day/night. Ms. Chutima and Pee-ann are narak jin jin!!!

It’s only 6.41pm, staying up for the Worldcup tonight (?), not sure. I did wake up at 5.30am today, and I get to wake up at 8.30am tomorrow for work :), so… we’ll see in a few hours. GO SPAIN!!

I heard Joe’s coming to visit [in the middle of the month, which is around 4 days]. He can’t back out, can he? He still has Kyle’s 4000baht. If he does come however, is he going to take us to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, or even better, Koh Samui ???? :) I can’t wait till he gets here, I don’t know why.

Did a total of 6km by bike. Did around 100 sit-ups. Did a lot of eating. Did nothing to lose weight so far, I think. Haha.

6.45pm: Come Home- One Republic. :(

8.20pm: just got back from a night trip to 7-11. Pee-oii, Pee-ann, and a new person Pee-see went to buy chasers for alcohol. Soda water, and pepsi. I went to buy Yakult :) and the Koala chocolate biscuit thing. AROI!! I think I’m going to be drinking tonight…after 13-15 (?) days of soberness. This is good enough. Who’s going to stop me? If I don’t drink tonight though, I’ll be totally fine. So, apparently, Pee-oii, Pee-ann, Pee-see, Kyle and I are going to drink under the stars tonight…the  sky seems to be a little cloudy :(, but we’ll see.