Getting settled into Phuket

I meant to get up at 6 to go running but I overslept. Luckily my dad called to say hi at 7am (4pm California time) and I was able to start my run at 7:15. I love Phuket in the morning. No crowds, no heat, just a beautiful ocean and some fellow early morning exercisers. Okay, occasionally there is the smell of stale beer, but otherwise it is perfect!

I managed to survive my very slow 2 mile run though my body reminded me that I haven’t run in months. Fortunately, there were no small children playing that early because they could easily have run circles around me. Unfortunately, this made my legs pretty sore so my massage was less relaxing than yesterday. My back was also a bit sore afterwards as this masseuse seems a little less experienced and pressed on my spine a few times. She was the same one as yesterday and I was hoping for someone different today. I wonder if the better ones work in the evening when it is busier. At least my neck, arms, and feet feel great! It also occurred to me that the last time I was getting massages in Thailand was before I became a certified masseuse myself so I had a very different perspective.

Food Street vendors hanging out before work

I got hungry earlier today so around 5:30pm I wandered over to Food Street. This had the added advantage of getting me through the Spring Break party area while they were still setting up. The food vendors were hanging out, waiting for the crowds to come. As I sat waiting for my order to be prepared, an old lady selling bags of fried sweets ambled by. I declined since I’m sure I would eat the whole bag, but some of the vendors greeted her and bought some from her. One of them (the lady I ordered from yesterday), bought some wandered about, sharing her bag with the other vendors. It was then that I realized they aren’t competitors, they’re friends. It reminded me of my old days selling beanie babies at shows and afterwards sometimes the other vendors and I would go out to eat.

Food Street

Food Street stalls 1

Food Street stalls 2

fish in Food Street

Fish in Food Street 2

Golden Touch Massage 2

The next day I got up early and got a nice (still slow) run in. After breakfast I decided to try a different massage place so I walked over to Golden Touch Massage #2. This masseuse had great hands and my back felt amazing. Sadly, she also pressed down several times on different parts of my legs which tweaked my bad knee. I did indicate pain and she adjusted, but I really liked Kum’s (the first lady’s) routine better, that’s the series of strokes or movements they do. I decided to go back to the first place at night and see if I could get someone else, figuring that if they were trained by the same person they would have the same routine for a particular massage (30 min foot with 60 min back).

This reminded me of the book, The E Myth (The Entrepreneur Myth…great book for those starting a new business), which talks about how McDonalds made It big by having consistency. If you start a business, that’s what people want. They have an expectation and they will be disappointed if their expectation is not met (This is true in many things besides business as well). For example, say you go to a barber for a cut and shave and before the shave he puts a hot towel over your face. The next time you come back there is no hot towel, but instead he brings you coffee and massages your scalp. Some might say this is better, but you expected the hot towel so you are disappointed. Objectively I know this last massage is overall a better massage and my back is now relaxed and not sore, but I really liked how the first person did a few minutes of hand massage (especially now with my recently diagnosed arthritis of my thumb joint). I guess with me and massages the first person has the advantage as they set my expectations.

This time at Food Street I went with the Greek lamb gyros. Typically at home I think they use ground lamb, but these folks used lamb shank. Again, the lamb shank is better, but I was expecting ground lamb so was a little thrown, but I still enjoyed the meal. I finally got to get my “meat on a stick” aka my favorite food to get in foreign countries.

meat on a stick vnedors

my meat on a stick!

strawberries I couldn't resist buying

Today I also remembered Craig’s tip about tipping…usually the people cleaning hotels don’t make a lot so the extra tip you give means a lot more to them than it does to you. That’s pretty much true for all of Thailand so I mentally revised my tipping amounts to be higher and more frequent. Seriously, 20 baht is only 65 cents so I should be tipping everyone for everything! Call me a taxi, here’s a tip. Change my big bills to smaller ones, here’s a tip. And while the masseuses are very happy with a 100 baht, 150 baht is less than $5 and 200 baht is only $6.50!

The people here are so kind and happy. Even seeing the young women escorts laugh as they chat on their way to work or order fresh grilled kebabs from the mobile cart in front of their establishments, it seems like they are enjoying themselves. I wonder if it’s not such a bad thing for them. Perhaps they just see it as a well paying job. More power to ‘em, who am I to judge?