12-24-08

I will share with you all the story of the Thai massage. Between all of us exchange students seeking to foster comradery it has become the stuff of legends; a continual joke at my expense. When I arrived in Singapore I was one of the first exchange students at Sleepy Sam’s hostel. I settled in and, as you know, began to explore the terrain immediately. The days began to pick up speed and before I knew it I was four days deep down here. The heat is inescapable. The only relief to be found is inside where the welcoming embrace of air conditioning awaits. Take two steps outside and without years of acclimation you will begin to leak like a sieve. I had continuously wondered for days, endlessly afloat in a sea of unseen. The sights, smells and sounds spurred me beyond normal fatigue. On day four I wondered into a block I hadn’t yet seen and found an entire street dedicated to massage parlors. With my ear buds plugged in, courtesy of Christmas and my big bro, I could not hear what the girls in front these parlors were chanting while I passed. Minutes later I sat down at a near by food court and realized what a toll the last couple days had taken on my body. What a treat it would be to settle into a comfy bed and let someone coax my muscles into relaxation! So, after my meal, I moseyed back towards “Massage Avenue.” I stepping into some parlor and some hostess usher me towards some back room. A young Thai girl came in and since my shirt did not bare enough, she instructed me to take off my jeans as well. I should have known something was amiss because as I obliged she stayed… During the entire ordeal she kept grazing uncomfortably close to the family jewels until finally she told me to “flip over.” As I turned onto my back my eyes were met with a doe eyed stair that only a young teenager can muster. She took a serious tone and quietly whispered, “You want happy ending? No charge for you… I like you!” It was all I could do not to role and laugh hysterically. It really happens… They really do say it; just like in the movies! So now whenever something happens be it an awkward situation, an accidental nudge, whatever… we’ve been saying “you want happy ending?” And that story is where it came from.

P.S. no I am not a pedophile… I did not get a happy ending…