This Is Not a Vacation - This is a Trip

We keep having to explain to everyone that, since we are retired, we can no longer call our travels 'vacations.' We no longer need a respite from our life - we can now LIVE our life without the need to suspend it. Ok, I suppose we do have a vacation from doing dishes, vacuuming and mowing the lawn, but we do not think of this as a vacation.

For days gb70 has been trying to get my iPhone working here so that if we are ever separated, I can track him down - phone-to-phone. In this effort he have been to over two dozen kiosks and businesses having it unlocked, SIM-carded, updated, restored (oooh, that was a mistake), and still it does not work - not even as a phone, and certainly not as an iPhone. It is not like him to give up, but he has given up. The last 300 baht-worth of minutes he loaded into it depleted without a single use within two hours. This is not the stuff vacations are made of.

Our second day here we went back to see the dentist we saw here last year for our annual check-ups and cleanings. As you may know, gb70 is allergic to pain, so he was relieved to see a dainty young woman dentist this time, in the place of the man we saw last year. Despite her delicate bone structure and being soft-spoken, he discovered to his dismay that she could pack a punch with the dental tools. We had very thorough cleanings and bite-wing x-rays for one-third the cost of a dentist Stateside. This is not the stuff vacations are made of either.

After the dentist, I disappeared into The Best Salon - yes, that is what it is called. Originally I wanted a pedicure, but when I saw all the other clients being pampered with a worker at each hand, another on her feet and a couple working on her hair, I decided I needed a little more work. There were four people tinting and highlighting my hair at once. I know - I should have arranged for a photo. They must not get very many farangs in that salon, because there was also quite an audience of the front office ladies watching as the colorists were concentrating on my blond locks.

It is so efficient for the client to sit in one place to have all those services performed at once! I especially enjoyed the shampoo room, where I climbed up on a padded table and lay down comfortably with my head over the bowl of the shampoo sink. I usually dread the pain of leaning my neck over the edge of those sinks in the US salons. I could easily have gone to sleep as the lady shampooed my hair way more than was necessary. It reminded me of the glorious head massage I got in Taiwan when I was being shampooed. Yes, they even lathered, rinsed, repeated and then massaged in the conditioner. Heaven! The local ladies also received massage on their legs and feet during their shampoo time. I am not sure how I should have asked for that treatment, but I will figure it out before I go again. This is starting to feel a bit more like a vacation.

We are enjoying the local food, the warm hospitality of the executive lounge here at Renaissance Ratchaprasong, and we have been faithfully going to the gym each morning to try to stay healthy. One morning we walked to Lumpini Park - a good brisk walk from our hotel. Once there we found the locals' gym - there are several Muscle Beach-type stations, and there were many groups practicing Yoga, Martial Arts and Tai Chi.

I joined one group of elderly people in their Tai Chi routine, which I found quite invigorating. If it were not for the heat, even at a very early hour, I would go back again. It is a good thing we went without money on us, because the food stalls all around the entrance to the park would have quickly helped us to negate any benefit from the exercise: fried tofu, fried bananas, and many other yummy treats!

Maybe this is a vacation, after all.

goldenbear's honey
Friday, 24 February
Renaissance Hotel, Bangkok