I’m getting braver, you know. Like, for example, the other day I went into a Real Local Restaurant (formica tables, bare walls, not a Westerner in sight). I perused the picture menu and wondered which of the 18 white dumpling-like things – the pictures were very small – I would have for lunch.
Suddenly, the waiter grabbed the picture menu from me and handed me a piece of paper with “FISHBALL, tofu, vegetables” printed on it. The price – 30 baht (about 70c) – was scrawled underneath. I beamed at him, trying to look more confident than I felt. A couple of minutes later, I was presented with a steaming bowl of broth, brimming with noodles, three different types of tofu, lemongrass, chillies, onions, coriander and a few bobbing dumplings. Of course, it was utterly delicious.
So today I did an even braver thing. After an afternoon spent in my guesthouse, suffering the most godawful, debilitating, stomach-curdling, galloping case of…no, wait for it…writer’s block, I decided to take a break and go for a haircut.
I’ve been having such humidity-related hair issues in the past five or six weeks I had overlooked the fact that I was direly in need of a trim. Shaggy and unflattering are about the kindest adjectives you could use for the “hairstyle” I’ve been sporting.
I passed a small hair salon on Phrapakklao Road yesterday and it seemed as good a place as any to go. “Hello,” I said cheerily in Thai to the salon lady, before realising I do not speak very much more Thai at all, let alone any haircut-related Thai.
I pointed at my head and made a scissors motion with two fingers. The salon lady came over and picked up a chunk of my hair. I made the scissors motion again, but this time indicating that she should lop off a couple of inches. She picked up my fringe and I repeated my scissoring gesture. Then she took a look at the back of my head and let loose a torrent of Thai. I smiled hopefully at her. More Thai. I responded with a questioning, but still hopeful, look. “Same-same?” she asked brightly. “Same-same,” I said.
After a bracing shampoo with icy water and much smiling, nodding and sign language later (we discussed my split ends in sign language), I had me a haircut. It’s rather nice, actually, although my fringe looks a bit, eh, interesting. Total cost, including a hefty tip? Two hundred baht. Or about €4.50. Shear good value, if you ask me.