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Published: April 29th 2009
I arrived in Surat Thani from Phuket on the bus the day before Nok's wedding. Nok and I met back in 2006 when I used her as a tour guide in Bangkok... we hit it off, became close friends and have stayed in contact ever since... In 2006 I also used another guide, Tong who has featured in several of my blogs.. again we became fast friends and have remained in contact ever since...
I introduced Tong and Nok to each other after feeling that they would hit it off... and not only did they become friends.. but Nok is now employed by Tong in her tour company! I was excited to be going to the wedding, not only to help Nok celebrate, but to also spend the weekend with Tong who was traveling down from Bangkok for the weekend.
Anyway I digress, getting off the bus I was reminded again of the frustrating dual pricing system that I stumble across in Thailand... sometimes it really gets to me and today was one of those days.. a tuk tuk driver approached me and asked where I was going.. as soon as I told him he told me it was
100 baht. Non negotiable apparently. Having spoken to Tong on the phone, I knew that it should be 40 baht... but nope he refused to budge.. so I walked away from him. Eventually by using my limited Thai language skills I was able to get a tuktuk to take me for 80 baht.. hardly worth the hassle in the end.. but its the principle of the matter!
The Food Fest Begins
I arrived at the hotel to find Tong had already checked us both in. After dumping my bags in our room we headed out to find some food... I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast and was starved... this was the start of what became a massive food fest weekend! As we walked out of the hotel there were a group of little shack restaurants on the main road. We picked the first one that was closest to the hotel and sat down. The menu was in Thai with no English translation so I let Tong decide what we would eat... "Spicy?" she asked.... "Yeah why not!"
What came out 10 minutes later was some of the BEST food I have ever experienced in all
my travels around South East Asia... we had a prawn omelette, a spicy Tom Yum soup, prawn salad and rice... and YES it was HOT!!!! I had tears running down my face and my mouth was on fire.. but I soldiered on and kept eating.. the bill came to less than 200 baht ($8) for both of us... WOW! After we finished we went across the road to the big Tesco Lotus (a shopping centre) where we got some nibbles and had a look around. I got a small scoop of Macadamia Nut icecream from the Svensons (how could I resist!!).
Blissful Spas
We went back to the hotel afterwards and decided to try out the hotel spa... what followed was 2 hours of pure bliss, and it only cost me 1000 baht ($40). Firstly I had a body scrub where a lady spent 50 minutes scrubbing every inch of my body (incl. my breasts!!) with a creamy grainy scrub... my skin was glowing after! I had a shower and then sat in a herbal steam room... when I first got in there I wasn't sure if I was going to freak out.. it was tiny
with just enough room for one person to sit in there... and the hotter it got the more I started to wonder if the door could be opened from the inside... I eventually relaxed and let my mind wander, breathing in the herbs and sweating out the toxins... I was in there for about 15 minutes. After my time was up I was given a huge glass of water to drink before again showering then I had a relaxation massage.... it was SO good. I got to choose the massage oil... I picked Jasmine cause it smelt so nice.. and then the next hour was spent getting a massage (yes my breasts were done too.. I still don't relax when I have some Thai girl massaging my breasts, but I tried to zone out and 'appreciate it') LOL
While doing my shoulders/neck she must have realised how tense I was and so she proceeded to go from relaxing to almost killing me in pain... but it was soooooo good and afterwards my neck/shoulders felt a million dollars.. I think there was a tear or two however! I then was given a herbal tea to drink and told not to
wash the oil off until the morning! My skin was glowing the next day!
I went back to the room where I used Tong's laptop for awhile to do some blogging, while she went to bed early... we were to be up at 5.30am as we were being picked up by Nok at 6.30am for the wedding (yes it really did start THAT early!!).
Love Actually
We rose bright and early and got ready for the first part of the wedding. I was able to dress in my casual dress for this part which was good. It was so hot already! Nok and Terry turned up at the hotel just before 7am running late. They picked both Tong and I up, as well as Terry's Mum (Ros) and Dad (Andy). Nok looked amazing in a traditional Thai wedding dress... and Terry looked great (but uncomfortable) in his traditional Thai outfit!
We drove out of town to Nok's parents house... when we got there we were ushered inside to the lounge room where there were 5 Monks seated. Nok and Terry sat directly in front of them. Being 'special' guests arriving with the Bride and
Groom we were ushered in and directed to sit not far behind them.. As part of the Buddhist ceremony you are not allowed to have your feet pointing towards the Monks therefore we had to sit with our feet to the side, pointing back away from them (very uncomfortable after the first 10 minutes). My butt and legs had pins n needles not long after and I started to wonder how the hell I was going to stand up when needed! I noticed Terry's Dad, Andy, having the same trouble!
The ceremony went for a long time. The first official part was the Monk's blessing. It was soooo good. They were singing/chanting and it was haunting to sit there and listen to it. I was fascinated by one of the Monks - he looked so 'buddha' like! One of the other Monks however appeared fascinated by me, and kept smiling/laughing at me everytime I looked at him! He was so smiley! I loved him!
After a while the Monks gave a blessing to Terry's parents, handing them small Buddha Amulets. It is held in high regard to receive an Amulet that has been blessed by a Monk... after
they received them I was pushed forward and told to get one.. I felt a little awkward.. not wanting to intrude on the wedding ceremony but Nok was insistent.. I crawled forward.. legs numb but feet still facing away from the Monks.. held my hands out and the Monk dropped a tiny gold Buddha amulet in my hand. I wai'd him (the polite Thai greeting of hands together in front of you, bowing your head slightly) and scuttled back to behind them.. I was sooooo excited to have received one! I couldn't stop grinning, and it now sits just under my computer screen! I love it!
After the official Monk ceremony, the Monks were led outside and fed. We wandered down to a seperate area where a stack of tables were set up and were also fed lots of food... At this stage it was only about 8.30-9am and I was eating food that I would normally be eating at 7pm! There was so many dishes I cant list them all but I ate and ate and ate.... After we finished the next part of the ceremony began...
A procession of people come marching down the road towards
Nok's house. The last people being Terry and his family. It is tradition for the male to 'pay' his way up to the brides bedroom. Nok was upstairs in her bedroom and along the way Terry was stopped by people who he had to give money to in order to pass and continue! There were firecrackers going off everywhere! People would hold a chain or rope or something similar in front of him and he couldnt pass it without paying the money. Eventually he paid his way into her bedroom! LOL
The next part of the ceremony then began.. it was a lengthy process of Nok and Terry sitting on the floor with members of both families coming to them... an exchange of gifts / blessings were given. It started with both sets of parents and worked its way through a range of other people (I am not really sure who was who but I think it went in order of 'importance'). This part went for quite some time... Afterwards Nok and Terry were given a tray of food. They both had to take the dish covers off together and then Nok fed Terry the food dish by dish.
There was a certain order to which she had to feed him all the various things but I wouldnt be able to remember it let alone list it here!
Finally after all this and many many photo sessions, the first part of the ceremony finished. It was about 11.00am at this stage! We headed back to the hotel, briefly stopping at the reception centre (where the night time celebrations would be held). Tong and I were dropped back to the hotel and Nok went off to have a costume change and have her hair/makeup re--done... a 3-4 hour process (same as that morning!).
More Food!
Once back at the hotel Tong and I decided to go get another feed. This time we went to Tesco Lotus and ate at the MK Restaurant. This is a chain restaurant around Thailand... I have never eaten here before but it was SO good. We ordered sooooo much food it was ridiculous! Just as we were about to start eating this loud music started.. I looked up to find all the waitresses had stopped what they were doing and were now dancing in the aisles! Hilarious!
We ordered
Green Noodles with Garlic, Roasted Duck and also had a soup meal that you cook at the table. There is a big pot of water in the middle of the table. You order meat/veg to put in and then you get to drink the broth as well! We had lots of vegetables but also had fresh prawns, fish cakes, pork, jellyfish, squid and other things I cant remember. Everything was amazing! I tried the Jellyfish, but wasnt convinced on that one! It didn't really have much taste to it but it had the WEIRDEST texture of anything I have ever eaten... it was squeaking/crunching in my mouth but was soft to bite through.. I really can't describe it... I let Tong finish that one off! All up the whole meal including drinks (watermelon shakes rock!) cost us 360 baht (bargain!). Tong then went off to have her hair washed/blowdried at a salon in the Tesco while I went back to the hotel to start getting ready......
Dress Crisis... ARGH!
I got to the hotel and pulled out the 3000 baht dress I had got made in Phuket especially for the wedding. I tried it on and
the crisis began! It looked awful.... and there was NO way in hell I was wearing it! LOL Don't get me wrong it was a lovely dress, BUT with the weight I have put on lately it made me look like I was due to give birth at any moment! I rang Tong and told her I needed a new dress! She told me she would finish her hair, get a tuktuk and meet me out the front of the hotel.... We ended up heading to the wedding centre where Nok was getting her hair/makeup done, as they had dresses you could hire. We both looked through our options and I chose a lovely pink/black number that looked really slimming (well it did until we saw it in the photos... it was so unphotogenic!!) - the cost to hire = 500 baht for the night! LOL
Tong couldnt find anything she really liked so decided to stick to the pants/top she had bought with her. We then jumped in a tuktuk and went in search of shoes for my dress... a hard task in a country that doesnt really cater for big feet! We found a local market in
a big warehouse and set about the task. I found some shoes that fit me (just) and were only 200 baht ($8). Loaded with dress and heels we headed back to the hotel.. by this stage we were officially running late and Nok said she would get her brother to pick us up at 6.30pm.
The Wedding Reception
We arrived at the wedding reception where we were greeted by Nok's parents... I awkwardly wei'd them both, signed the guestbook and got our photos taken with the bride and groom at the door. We were then seated at a table. Luckily some of the guests at my table spoke a little English! I counted a total of 6 Westerners (including myself!) and was told that there was probably a dozen or so Thai's that could speak English (out of 700 that were there!!). The reception was HUGE! I sat quietly at the table drinking Singha beer over Ice and Whiskey n Coke. Food constantly came out onto the table. Some of it was AMAZING and other bits were okay, but just not for me! LOL.
The reception was styled a little on a Western wedding, but
not much. There was live music, karioke and the obligatory tossing of the bouquet (which I dont think they knew much about). I was trying to hide in the corner when this happened but one of Nok's friends who spoke English got on the microphone and was like "REET REET you come you come" .. I cowered in my seat shaking my head before about 4 people including Tong (thanks Tong!) dragged me reluctantly to the middle of the dancefloor... As the bouquet came flying backwards I ducked to the side and let someone else catch it... I was towering above them all and it could have been mine if I wanted it .. but yeah nah! LOL
I went to the toilet halfway through the dinner and had my first experience at a squat toilet and heels! Very interesting but I survived! I was later told that there was one western toilet down the very end of the stalls! LOL Oh well! I'm a pro at squats now!! We left the reception about 10pm that night.. and on the way to the car I felt something weird on my shoe.. I looked down and the sole on one
of my bargain shoes had fallen completely off! No wonder they were soooo cheap! Hehehehehe! We collapsed in bed exhausted... a big day ahead of us tomorrow.....
Quick more food....
In the morning I had a sleep in and then packed my bags. I became ruthless and threw out alot of stuff.. trying to get my bag under the required Jetstar weight. We had breakfast and then I decided to get a prawn salad to take with me from that little amazing restaurant next door... we had about 15 minutes until our lift to the airport turned up so we went for a walk to the restaurant.. at the last minute we decided to eat there and re-ordered the same dishes as the other day... we ate it in about 10 minutes flat and raced back to the hotel for our lift.... we were officially running late for the airport, but made it just on time.... I later wished we had missed the flight!
The REAL flight from HELL
At theairport we were due to board at 1pm and take off was scheduled for 1.30pm.. as we were walking towards the plane
I surveyed the landscape noticing that the skies were BLACK. I remember feeling sick and I quickly text Trent that I loved him... yeah I know! Dont say a word! No sooner had we got on the plane we were taxi'ing down the runway.. it would have been no later that 1.10pm. I later found out from the air hostess that the pilots had decided to try 'beat the storm' ARGH!!!!!
By the time we were taxi'ing down the runway the rain was absolutely pelting down and the wind was almost gale force! The plane was literally fish-tailing down the runway and the plane was shuddering sooooo badly... I was gripped in fear, unable to believe what was happening... Nooo don't delay the flight just beat the storm! WTF!
As we left the ground the plane was shuddering violently swinging side to side and dipping like crazy... I was saying my prayers and gripping Tongs hand so hard. I remember hearing Tong saying "oh this is no good"... I was in such a state of panic... my whole body was shaking.. I am bad on a good flight, let alone this!! We were not far off the ground
(maybe 30 seconds) and there was an almighty BANG. It sounded like we had hit something (like the ground maybe!)... the plane dropped a really big distance (cant be sure how far) .. people all around me were screaming.. I remember groaning a little but I was even too scared to scream... I think I have now worked out I am not a screamer in a plane crash.. rather the one that sits there with mouth open and nothing coming out... I grabbed my bottle of Valium and put one in my mouth (yeah I know it would not kick in for awhile but I did it anyway)... I had no water to wash it down with and relied on the little spit that was left in my mouth!
We kept going up but the plane dipped and shuddered most of the way to Bangkok... I was terrified.. but I have to say the air hostesses were lovely coming to check on me (I couldn't stop my shaking) and giving me free Iced Tea! Couldn't they have found something stronger!!!
Farewell Thailand Once Again
Once in Bangkok I almost kissed the airport floor... I said
my goodbyes to Tong and decided to ride out the last few hours in the airport.... I went straight to a massage shop and got a foot massage.. it helped to relax me! I did some internet and ate some Hungry Jacks before boarding my 10pm flight home to Melbourne... The flight home was pretty uneventful.. There was some turbulence but after the day flight it was nothing and I felt pretty relaxed.. I popped a couple of sleeping pills not long after takeoff, put on an eye mask, put in some earplugs and curled up under my Jetstar blanket.... The sleeping pills did a strange thing however... my body and eyes physically shut down so I couldn't open my eyes... but my mind was active almost all through the night.. I was aware of my surroundings.. halfway through the night I popped another to see if it would knock me out but it didnt.... I dont think me and sleeping pills mix!
Cold Cold Melbourne
Once in Melbourne I was picked up by my friend Chelle who promptly drove me to the following places (in order) to satisfy my cravings: 1) Krispy Kreme donuts drive-thru
2) Subway and 3) Gloria Jeans for a much needed Caramel latte! It was so cold that my next stop was Big W where I invested in some clean underwear (yes I had run out!) and a jumper!
I spent the night in Melbourne at Chelles house where we polished off some red wine and port. We didnt make it to bed until about 3am and accidentally slept in... the following morning she drove me to the airport for my flight to Adelaide. Again we miscalculated traffic (and had technically slept later than we should have), and I almost didn't make my flight but alls well that ends well and I am now officially home and baked!
Long blog (PHEW!) ... but last blog.... for now.... Next blogs will be Vietnam in October.. stay tuned and see if I can keep myself out of trouble this time around! Thanks to everyone that sent me lovely comments along the way and read my blogs! I appreciate everyones support... There are 3 pages of photos attached.. couldn't cull it down any further..
Love and safe travels
Reet xxxxxx
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Rene
non-member comment
beautiful bride Nok
Reet thanks again for the journey, withdrawls now until October, Nok looked sooo beautiful and happy, and the also beautiful Tong, 2 of Thailands finest.....That plane flight scared the sh*t out of me reading about it. Can't wait for Vietnam blogs, take care, Rene xxxx