This was a day that, in hindsight, was far out of the ordinary.
It was the kind of day that you don't anticipate when you're sitting at the breakfast table.
It was the kind of day that also, if I may say, brought you surprises here and there along the way.
Breakfast this morning included my usual choice of hard boiled eggs with Caesar Salad Cream, but joy of joys, in the cooked food section there was Pad See Ew- stir fried flat rice noodles with soy sauce- which is a favorite of mine, and which I can never resist, so I took some.
Thinking about it now I wish I had helped myself to a full plate.
Especially since I love how they do their stir-fries!
But at that time I had thought I might be able to have it more frequent, so didn't think much about taking a larger portion.
Then again, I dont' seem to be able to eat a lot at one go these days.
In the afternoon we had a meeting near Phrom Phong, at this cafe in a little lane behind EmQuartier, so we decided to head there early and try figure out where it was.
But then in the midst of preparing we thought we might do a spot of lunch first before going for the meeting, so, yes, we ended up at EmQuartier.
You know, all this while I had thought that the shopping mall only hosted top-tier restaurants and coffee cafes.
But there was actually a Food Hall, called the Quartier Foodhall, and here we found a stall from Go Ang Pratunam Chicken Rice.
Needless to say, we were thrilled.
Ok, I was thrilled.
Especially since this was a time when I might not be able to go to their main restaurant near Ratchadamri Road.
So this afternoon we ordered the platter that had both the steamed chicken, and the breaded chicken. I'm not sure if we had the roast version, but, yeah, there was that cube of chicken blood, and yeah, I ate up all the rice.
It would be silly not to.
When the meeting finished, we hopped over to Ekkamai a bit, then headed to one of my favorite luxury spas in Bangkok for a (birthday) massage.
It isn't just the plethora of treatments here in Urban Oasis Spa that charms me.
It is also the fact that she's located in what feels like a Thai traditional house only a short distance from Thong Lor.
Stepping into her premises here at 59 Soi Ekkamai 21 in Watthana is akin to stepping back into a bit of history, a bit of time. From the time where you climb up the steps to the entrance marked by a large heavy wooden door, you're made to feel like you're being welcomed as a guest into someone's home.
The staff guide you to a sofa where tea and wet towel is served, where you can cool down as you look out the windows to the courtyard garden below, and where you are then shown the menu of treatments that you can choose from.
This afternoon we chose the King and Queen massage that included hot stone, hot oil, and a pressing of the meridian points.
It's been a long time since I've done a hot stone and hot oil.
But it is really effective in making you calm down and relax.
The hot stones are amazing.
At first I had worried that they might be too hot, but no, they were comfortable, and effective. When placed at specific points on the body, in particular, you could feel the warmth spreading out under your skin like a soft, gentle touch, releasing whatever tension there might have been inside.
The hot oil, too, even if it took a bit getting used to, again, warmed the skin, and along with it, the nerves that affectated the system total.
Therapists of Thai massage tend to be very skilled in detecting trouble spots in your body, and this afternoon, there was special emphasis on the hips, the shoulders, and certain chiropractic points on the spine.
I won't say whether or not my entire body system felt released- I'm not able to tell- but certainly I felt the circulation, the warmth, and the relaxation that comes with having body tissues gently massaged.
I only wish I had been in a good frame of mind to enjoy the last part, also my favorite part of the massage- the head.
Head massages are my thing, really, and there has hardly been a time when my scalp is being massaged and I don't fall asleep.
But there was a bit of a time I had to meet for today, and honestly, in hindsight, I sorely regret it.
Fortunately Oasis Spa is the sort of place that's got enough network, open space, and quiet, for you to make a phone call, and that's what I did before taking their transport car back to Phrom Phong.
Here we chanced upon a Prime Burger outlet- where exactly in the vicinity I don't remember- but it wasn't very far from the BTS station, I know.
This evening we ordered a burger with truffle mayo and pineapple, then a side of sweet potato fries.
Nothing short of satisfying, I tell you.
The beef patty was tender, full of flavor, and had a tad feel of oil, but it wasn't greasy, and even though you felt the oil on your lips, you didn't feel uncomfortable, or that it was too much.
On the contrary, you felt it slide into your mouth as soon as you took a bite.
Imagine, meat juices, warm oil and all, bursting away on your tongue as you munch through your part of the burger.
So large and so filling it was that I'm glad my friend and I split the bun. I would not have been able to finish it otherwise.
From Phrom Phong we took the BTS back to Chidlom.
And here's where the latter part of our adventure started.
WE GOT TRAPPED IN THE LIFT.
It was the lift bringing us from the gantry platform down to the road. There were no signs when we first stepped in but suddenly the lift halted, the doors wouldn't open, the emergency alarm started beeping, and I could hear the faint sounds of traffic coming through the gaps of the door.
Lift alarms have to be one of the most ear-splitting, penetrative sounds I've ever experienced.
They're not kidding when they say it's shrill enough to hit your inner ear.
They're also not kidding when they say it's aggravating to the one trapped inside.
Quickly I had my friend and I to slip on our earphones.
It didn't block out the sound entirely but it did muffle it down to a tolerable level whilst we did the Emergency Call to the station control.
Their response time was quick, I have to say.
No sooner had we contacted the station control that an English-speaking person popped over the intercom and asked whether we were okay. I had thought that would be it, but no, from time to time the same person checked in on us, popping up on the intercom asking in English if we were all right.
What's better, she kept us updated just how long the rescue crew would come.
At one point she said ten minutes.
At another point she said they were on the way.
Which they were, because not too long after we heard voices, clunking, more clunking, and then, after 25 minutes, the lift doors opened... to the sight of four very concerned faces focused on us as we stepped out the door.
What surprised me wasn't just how effective the four-man rescue crew were.
What surprised me was the look of concern written all over their faces. It wasn't merely on the faces of the staff from the station control, or her manager. It was also there in the lift maintenance guy, and the first-aider who had come along armed with a first-aid box.
I didn't need any medical care, but the staff took one look at me and had the first-aider pass me a cotton wool with some sort of chemical meant to either calm you or collect you.
Perhaps I had a look of frenzy about me.
But, really, it was more of a paisei kind of feel that I was having, like I had troubled them or that I might put them into trouble, something of the sort.
I'm not sure what the protocols are- like, would they have to report to the higher-ups, would there be an internal inquiry as to why the lift suddenly broke down etc etc- but at least, there was thoroughness in the lift rescue.
And only made more assuring with the presence of Thai hospitality.
It would be a very different feeling, I tell you, had the staff at the station gone into a panic, or worse, hysterics just when I was sitting there with the incessant shrill entering my ear.
It would also have been a different feeling had the staff been commandingly curt over the intercom to me.
But they were reassuring, and if you ask me, what actually helped was the sense of urgency I detected in her voice.
To someone else it might not be a big deal but Thais generally- on a professional level- tend not to show emotion in their voice. Gentle and patient, yes, not urgent and concerned, no.
For her to be sounding the way she sounded meant that she, like her colleagues, took this mishap (and the poor hapless tourists stuck in the lift) very seriously.
I appreciated that.
Very much.
It makes for one to know that help is on the way, and that there are people in this world who take enough pride in their job to not look (and be) nonchalant when mishaps happen, and something goes wrong.