Girls' Valentine's weekend à trois in Chonburi

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I wondered if Valentine's Day would actually be celebrated in Thailand, but I quickly found out that many of the hallmarks of American Valentine's Day have made their way over here-- giving chocolates and red roses, cards, and heart-shaped everythings seem to be standard procedure. Tami, Courtney, and I conspired several weeks ago to have a girls' weekend in Chonburi, and it was a perfect way to spend the 'holiday' weekend.

On Thursday evening I noticed that a couple of the usual street stands near my apartment had turned into all-out V-day extravaganzas of red and pink heart-shaped pillows and balloons, flowers, and even Ferrero Rocher 'bouquets' (see photo). I got a care package from mom last week, just in time for the holiday. It had the old V-day standard- candy hearts- and other candy, as well as sparkly heart-shaped stickers, for the kids. At school, many of the children had their own heart-shaped stickers that they would stick on all their friends (and teachers). Students would proudly come up to tell me how many stickers they had gotten.

The girls came up on Friday night (Courtney from Trat and Tami from Ban Phe) and we had a leisurely weekend of sleeping in and eating. It was fun to have visitors again and it was a good weekend for some 'girl time.' On Saturday, after we finally got up, we had our gift exchange. I made the girls mixed CDs (the "Jai Dee" or "Good Heart" mix), Courtney gave us 4 small candles that spelled out L-O-V-E, as well as chocolates with clever messages, like: "I love you. I like you a lot;" "True love never grows old;" and "Valentine's Day is every day," and Tami gave us little elementary school throwback valentines with a pencil, some delightful chocolate-covered pretzel-like things here called Pockies, and most exciting of all-- a plastic heart filled with a package of Easy Mac! Oh the simple joys we now cherish!

After the gift exchange we got ourselves together and headed off to Bang Saen. The tide was WAY out and so the beach appeared to be even dirtier than usual. We walked up and down the pathway with all the food carts, considered the possibility of riding the bicycle-built-for-3 (but never did) and then walked back down the beach. After getting a snack, we decided to head toward the mall to try to see a movie. What luck! A Thai romantic comedy with English subtitles was playing called "Before Valentine." It ended up being the perfect blend of cute, corny, and interesting, and even got me a little pleasantly teary-eyed in the end when all the loose ends were tied up. After the movie we went for pizza at Pizza Company, followed by a game of bowling! I hadn't been bowling in forever and was definitely looking forward to it. The bowling alley was called "UFO Bowl" and we had to buy their signature socks since we had forgotten to bring any. The funniest part was that since feet are the lowest, dirtiest, and most offensive part of the body in Thailand, the shoe attendant took our shoes and handed us the bowling shoes with oven mitts on both hands! It looked so funny! We finished up the evening in Bang Saen with a decadent chocolate fondue (à trois) at Swenson's and headed back to 'the 'Buri.'

On Sunday we set off in the exceedingly hot sun on a pilgrimage to the hotel pool and when we got there it was. . . drained for repairs!! I was so discouraged (and desperate to get in some water). It was already 2 PM by that point, so Tami decided to head back to Ban Phe since we were near the bus station. Courtney and I carried on with the mission, though, and were rewarded by an even bigger pool and some funny, giggling little boys for company. After the pool we got an hour Thai massage (for less than $5-- the going rate in Chonburi).

It was a very satisfying way to spend the weekend-- quality time with some of my favorite TEFL girls!

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Photos

Tami, Courtney, and I at Bang Saen
Here we are enjoying our takeaway plastic bags of soda. In Thailand instead of giving you the glass bottle for takeaway and making you pay a deposit for its return, they give you your soda in a small plastic bag with ice and a straw.

Comments

[Stephanie Null]

fondue
I demand that we have that fondue next week! it looks delicious....are those mini scoops of ice cream? sign me up

[lkrhoads]

haha- i knew you would like that one! yes, indeed, 9 scoops of ice cream in the flavors that you choose. it was fabulous, especially because i had a coupon!

[Courtney]

Steph- you must must have the fondue! worth it even though it's pricy (by our cheap SE Asian standards haha) Laurie- great weekend, as always! love the pics

[lkrhoads]

I'm afraid living here may have turned us into irrevocable cheapskates. How will I ever go back to paying anything more than $10 for an hour massage (and $10 is almost too expensive here!!)