I got a taste of a Thai massage today and am a convert. I have never heard so many creaks from my joints in places I had no idea could make that sound, but it mattered not as I basked in the post-massage glow throughout the day.
It was our second day in Phi Phi, and so far, we have been snorkelling, eating, and drinking. Safia suggested a massage, which is plentiful on Phi Phi Island. We went to a random one with the friendliest staff outside.
Massages in Thailand differ from those I am used to in Jakarta. (I have never gotten a massage in Singapore despite living there for the last three years—it’s too expensive!)
Back on Phi Phi Island, at a random Thai massage place, we all lay on a mattress in an elevated area with clothes on. There is no privacy except for the curtain, but that’s fine because we are clothed. It’s a dry massage, which is the key to Thai massage, I later learned.
The massage was done by all women. They started with a polite Thai greeting and asked me how much pressure I preferred. Then, the massage started.
Afterwards, they asked me to relax in the middle of the message. I thought I was already relaxed, but I tried to re-relax, and that’s when they started to crack my whole body with parts of their bodies. My friends, that is the specialty of Thai massage.
I thought of the movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
In Bahasa, there is a slang idiom called Ngeri Ngeri Sedap (fear with pleasure). I was scared that they would disjoint me when I saw, with my side-eye, what they did to my friends lying on both sides. However, eventually, when I let go and thought, come what may, I was cracked and emerged the better for it. So much so that I plan to get another one tomorrow and one more the day we fly back to Singapore.
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