7.7.12

Ellie did end up coming to Songkhla on Saturday. Yay! First stop, the Songkhla Aquarium. It is located on the north end of the peninsula, fairly isolated from anything else. Now, it’s not really something to write home about (even though that’s precisely what I’m doing), but for 200 baht ($6-ish), you can hardly go wrong. There is also a go-kart track, for those of you who go to the aquarium to ride go-karts. Mostly, the exhibits seemed to be freshwater fish. Lots of groupers and catfish and that sort of thing. They had one standalone tank containing two different couples of two different types of clown fish. The smaller, “Nemo” clown fish were trying to defend their anemone from the other two. As Ellie said, “It doesn’t seem like a fair fight.”

Another standalone had two frog fish. Those are really strange looking. Pretty small, sand-colored and they look spiny and they just sit on the bottom of the tank. But their fins really do make them look like frogs. The stone fish was scary. I was looking right at him and knew what I was looking at and still couldn’t register that it was really a fish. Won’t be stepping on any rocks in the ocean with bare feet…

Sea turtles! They had a whole tank full of adolescent sea turtles. They have got to be one of my favorite ocean creatures. Their faces are so calm and sweet and they just glide through the water. I could have watched them all day.

We were ushered in to the area with the large tank that houses the sharks and the one ray and some very large sea turtles and a variety of angel fish and groupers larger than a 3-year old child. The feeding show was about to start… The theme song to Mission Impossible started up and a scuba diver rode in on a shark. Yes, a shark.A shark that was longer than the diver with his flippers on. And it was completely docile. He would rub it under its ‘chin’ and the shark would float to the bottom of the tank on its back. At one point, he grabbed one of the smaller sharks and ‘played’ it like a guitar. The ray kept swimming with its mouth against the glass and the diver teased it with food to make it rotate in circles. At the end of the show, a banner lowered in to the tank on the left side with a large Chevron logo telling us to “Come Back Soon”. Chevron. Friend of the ocean. It was all so…Thailand.

I would have paid 200 baht just for that feeding show…

After making our way to the exit, we began walking south as it started to sprinkle. Fortunately, a tuk-tuk arrived on the scene and ferried us to the Buzz Stop for a nice late lunch. We arrived just in the nick of time. It started pouring as soon as we sat down at a table. Ellie helped herself to a ribeye with salad and fries and I decided on the half pound burger. They called it the jumbo burger. Washed it all down with an orange Fanta. Didn’t feel like doing any day drinking. All told, my meal, including drink, was 200 baht. Ellie made very short work of her steak. First one she’s had in a while, I suspect.

George spent most of our meal standing next to the table telling horribly bad jokes. It was a slow afternoon at the Buzz Stop.

We grabbed a motorbike (tandem for the second time that day) and had him take us to Liwiwat. Patricia had told me that there was a place across the street that sold plastic storage containers. I was about at my wits end with the ants. The ‘bear traps’ weren’t working anymore. I had my peanut butter and my Twizzlers in a suspended plastic bag and they were still getting in to them. I had thrown out three boxes of cereal already. Ugh. I hate ants so much.

I also got a mug because I don’t like using a bowl to have cookies and milk.

We meandered around the labyrinth of booths on the street level, which really only consisted of about five different types of goods. Shoes, cell phones, knock-off bags, tea sets, and cheap jewelry. We found a box with two kittens in it and played with them for a bit. The animals in Thailand are so different. Kittens back home would totally wander off. Here, they just hang out in the box and are perfectly content. And when they play with you, they don’t put their claws out.

I showed her around inside Liwiwat. Went to the second floor and got a scoop of Rocky Road.

On her way to Hat Yai from Krabi, her bus had been in an accident and it jarred her neck. She had a massive headache the day before and she thought a massage might be the best thing. We grabbed a couple of motorbikes outside Liwiwat and I had them take us to the Songkhla Hospital, where Pat and I had massages a couple weeks ago. My driver said he would be back in an hour to pick us up.

I passed on getting a massage. Hers only cost 100 baht and she had them focus on her neck and shoulders. I hung out in a comfy chair and read a thick Thai magazine. Shortly before she was finished, one of the male masseurs came up and asked me where I was from, how long I had been in Thailand and what I do. I would have sworn he had been in one of my classes, as he was asking all the questions that I had taught my students to ask. He also asked me how I had found out about this place. I told him a teacher at my school. Then he asked what school and so on and so forth. Had a nice chat until he got called away to do some work.

The motorbike taxi was waiting when we stepped out and he took us back to Greenview. Tried to charge us a hundred. Not likely. He got 30 from each of us. We spent the rest of the afternoon in my room having a good talk about, well, everything. Traveling, teaching, our experiences thus far. At about 7pm, we decided we would head back to the Buzz Stop for a cider. As we were walking down the road to get a motorbike, it started misting. Then it started drizzling. We saw a taxi driver under an awning and he said he would take us when it stopped raining. Please. It was barely even raining yet. His friend said he would take us and wanted a hundred. We settled on 80 for our 4^th tandem ride of the day. It started to really rain on the ride there. I am pretty sure we looked like wet rats when we finally arrived. I know that water had been streaming down my face while we were riding. Sat down at the bar and I enjoyed a Keppler’s whilst she ordered a Singha. Just relaxed for a while and conversed. Found out from George that he was doing lamb for Sunday roast the next day. Oh yeah. Totally down for that. Had Bee call a taxi for Ellie so that she could get back to Hat Yai. It was Bee’s uncle and he agreed to do it for 400 instead of his usual 600. She called a motorbike for me and he shuttled me home. I tried to give him 40, but he asked for 50. I was too tired to barter. I gave him the 50 and he acted like I was still giving him the wrong amount. I don’t know what else I was supposed to do, he clearly said 50.

On Sunday, I had planned to spend the morning working on lesson plans, but instead I watched movies. Eventually, I had some pad see ew with chicken from Noi. I decided that I didn’t have enough peanut butter for my two sandwiches on Monday and that I needed enough other things to warrant a trip in to Hat Yai. I cleaned myself up and caught a wen to Big C. I ended up with two jars of Jiffy, a loaf of bread, toilet paper, milk, four cans of Fanta, a big can of ant fogger, two boxes of cereal, gallon zipper bags and Mentos. Yes, Mentos. I don’t know why. They just sounded like a good idea.

I had an epiphany about ant warfare. It hadn’t occurred to me before I got to the store to get zipper bags instead of storage containers for my cereal and peanut butter. Made way more sense cost-wise and was, I think, a more secure solution to those devious, tiny ants.

I decided to treat myself to…wait for it…TWO scoops of gelato. That’s right. Pineapple AND milky yogurt flavor. I sat down at a comfortable table and read for a bit while enjoying my little snack. It was nice to be out and not have to worry about catching the wen in time to get back to Songkhla. Still early.

When I eventually sat down to wait for the wen, it was about 2:30pm. Two passed (obviously full) before one stopped. He had a single available spot left in the front seat. Don’t mind if I do. For some reason, it was a double green stripe which is unusual because this wasn’t the route those usually take. Oh well. To my advantage. Another two baht saved.

When I got home, I asked Tun about the internet (I hadn’t been able to get it to connect since the previous afternoon). He said he changed the password. Thanks for letting me know. I spent the rest of the day working on lesson plans, posting journals and videos, and watching movies.

I completely spaced out Sunday roast. And didn’t even remember until Monday afternoon. Damn. I really wanted that lamb.