A Farang
For All Seasons -- Part 3
A Farang For All Seasons -- Part 3
There's not doubt about it; Demi was hot stuff. Sip may be one in
a million, but Demi is definitely one in a couple hundred thousand.
And she didn't steal anything, as far as I could tell.
Because she was a good sport, I offered to buy her breakfast but she
wanted to hit the road. I got out of the shower first, and put a
generous amount of baht on her purse as she was drying off.
Demi came over to me and asked, "You big butterfly?"
Remembering my problems with psycho Nueng from last trip I said,
"Yes."
"No problem for me. You want you come see me, okay?"
I could do worse.
There are a lot of different ways one can book a room at the Nana
Hotel; one can use the reservation form on the Nana's Website, book
through NanaTours and receive a discount, or book through a room
consolidator. But I always send an email to Jaruwan, and book
directly through her. I don't get a discount, but I've been doing it
for years and I know that it will always get done right.
There are a couple older ladies and men that work the front desk at the
Nana Hotel that are not much to write home about; they do their job, but
that's about all than can be said about them. There are also a
couple younger girls that work behind the front desk that are actually fun
to talk to.
On a previous trip I started wondering if maybe Jaruwan was one of the
younger girls, so I asked and sadly she is not. It seems Jaruwan
works in a back office, and doesn't come out front. They offered to
get her for me, but I let it go.
This morning as I tossed my room key in the box, the thought struck me
that Jaruwan has always done a pretty good job for me. My
reservations are always difficult because I only stay a few days at a time
in Bangkok, and over the years there's always multiple guests in our
little group (i.e. Antman, Burnout, Hammers, Gooner, MikeM33607,
PommieBruv, TiggerBKK, Reeb, and Ulyman, just to name a few). On top
of all that, I always request a special room (my lucky room), and Jaruwan
makes it happen.
Well, it's high time a thank you was in order. I asked the old
woman behind the front desk for paper and pen, and wrote out a little
thank you note to Jaruwan. Then I asked for an envelope. I folded a
few baht into the note, put it in the envelope, sealed it, wrote Jaruwan's
name on the front, and handed it to the old woman.
Hammers, PommieBruv, and Esteeb were already enjoying life at GBB by
the time I finally got there.
I had always thought I was one of the younger guys in the group…
Okay, Antman (the perma-newbie) is younger, and I know Gooner must be
younger… But I was shocked to learn Esteeb is 5 years younger than
me. Yeow… I thought he was at least 5 years older, maybe
10. Maybe it's all the booze and cigarettes, but something has aged
Esteeb beyond his tender years.
MikeM showed up and said GoodGirl wanted to talk to me. Sheesh,
now what… Well, that just reminded me that I wasn't getting
anywhere with GoodGirl, and I should give Sip a call. I ran up to my
room and called Sip at home in Korat. She would have to pack a few
things and catch the bus, and would meet me in the Nana lobby at 7PM.
We enjoyed the rest afternoon at GBB, and moved to Big Dog to catch the
beginning of the parade. Hammers' admirers instantly surrounded him,
and one girl (who I can't recall ever seeing before) said she knew my
girlfriend and me.
"You don't know me."
"I know you, sure. And girlfriend!"
"Which girlfriend?"
"Girlfriend with big milk."
Well, that doesn't help narrow things down a bit as a have a particular
weakness for the girlfriends with big milk. I'm surprised she didn't
add that the girlfriend was also short, with long black hair; it would
have been just as useful. With any luck I can stay under the bargirl
grapevine radar, or they'll send all the girls with big milk my way.
Hey! That wouldn't be too bad…
We watched the parade for a while, and I was amazed by how many katoeys
passed by. I know they have some at Casanova, Cascade, and
Obsession, but there were a fuck off lot of katoeys going to work!!
MikeM and I settled in the Nana lobby a few minutes before 7 to wait
for Sip. 7 came and went with no Sip. A little while later, we
decided we could wait just as well at GBB and still keep an eye on the
traffic going into the Nana. It wasn't long before waiting at GBB
also began to cramp our style. With a quick search of the Nana lobby
to make sure Sip wasn't inside waiting for us, we hit the go-goes at NEP.
Angelwitch wasn't completely packed yet, so it was easy to find a
seat. We drained a few beers and talked about the girls we've been
spending most of our time with; Pim and Lady for MikeM, and GoodGirl and
Sip for me. MikeM had a falling out with Pim, and I was writing
GoodGirl off, so that left Lady and Sip.
MikeM had met Lady his first night in town this trip, and she had
stayed with him every night since. Lady seemed nice enough, but one
gives up a lot when they stay with only one girl.
I had known Sip for a few years. Sip was rather plain during the
day, but when she got dolled up to go out she turned heads. More
than a few guys that drank with us during the day, refused to believe she
was the same girl when she was fixed up for a night on the town.
I suppose another report could be written to tell the story of our
friendship; but the short version is that we met in Phuket, I was so
impressed with her I brought her back to Bangkok when we left, stayed in
contact with her over the years, put her through beauty school, and tried
to spend time with her whenever I was in the country. Except for
last November.
Calling Sip last November as I promised to do would have been the smart
thing, but instead I got tangled up with GoodGirl. Sip wasn't happy
about my not calling her, but I promised I'd make it up to her. I
guess this trip would be my chance.
There's no doubt in my mind that Sip would make some guy a decent wife;
she was quite a social butterfly, had a pretty hot body, and was tops in
the sack. But I knew it would prolly be a couple years before I
moved to Thailand, and I really didn't want to pay to take her off the
market.
I paid her well for our time together. She said I was her friend
and I didn't have to pay, but I would always tell her the money was for
something else; like the trip back home, or whatever.
Even though she told me that she was working in a beauty shop, I
wouldn't have been surprised if she found time to also work in a bar or
freelance. I had no expectations of her, and didn't feel she was
obligated to me in any way. If we were together and having fun,
great. When we were apart; she had her life, and I had mine. I
liked her, but I had no illusions.
MikeM and I realized we lost track of the time. We left
Angelwitch and sharked the Nana lobby, but still no sign of Sip. I
didn't want to go far, but I was NEPed out. Since GoodGirl wanted to
talk, I figured now would be a good time. I expected MikeM to bail
so he wouldn't have to confront Pim, but he agreed to bite the bullet and
join me at Morning/Night for a quick drink.
As happened every night last trip, 'Rock DJ' began to play the moment
we set foot in the bar. That DJ has the eyes of an eagle, and
they've earned him another beer!
The usual girls surrounded us, and led us to a table. As we were
sorting out our drink order, GoodGirl joined our table and was included in
the round. We had fun dancing and singing along with Robbie
Williams, but when the song was finished, GoodGirl and I moved to another
table for a few moments of privacy.
GoodGirl got right to the point; she wanted to go with us to Pattaya.
Damn, damn, damn… That was a surprise. I really didn't
expect it. I begged off with some excuse that was so embarrassingly
lame I can't even remember what it was.
GoodGirl looked deflated. She had stuck her neck out pretty far
when offering to join me, and maybe she lost some face when I turned her
down.
We continued for a while with some uncomfortable small talk, and then
joined MikeM and the girls. Downing my drink, I checked bin, and
left without the change so I could get out of there as quickly as
possible.
I filled MikeM in on the developments as we made our way to the Nana.
It was so good to see Sip again. Sip was as hot as any girl could
be, and having known her for a few years she was also comfortable.
She hugged MikeM and I hello, and we ran her bag up to the room to stash
it.
Since no one had eaten yet, we hit Thai Pot for dinner. Sip
remembered my favorite food, and did all the ordering for us. When
the food was delivered to the table, she chased the three or four
waitresses away and took over the duties of serving MikeM and I. It
was just nice to watch Sip. I'd forgotten how much I liked
having her around.
When we all had our fill, we headed to Angelwitch to catch one of the
later shows. I got the feeling if this wasn't Sip's first night in
town she might of wanted to BF one of the Isaan dancers, but tonight it
would be just her and I.
As we sat and watched the dancers, a familiar face wandered by -
NYSaint.
"Hey, Saint!"
"Hey, Jai! What the hell are you doing in town?"
"I'm here on business."
"Business? What kind of business?"
"Monkey business!"
I love that line; it works every time…
This was the night of NYSaint's birthday party, and he had a couple
girls stashed at a disco but needed to wrap up a little business with the
Angelwitch guv. NYSaint wrote his number on a scrap of paper, and we
promised to get in touch in a few days. But plans are usually the
first thing to go toes up in the Big Mango.
MikeM wanted to collect Lady from her bar, and I was looking forward to
getting Sip back in the room so we checked bin and hit the road.
As soon as we closed the door to our room, Sip wanted her present.
Present? Was I supposed to bring a present? The six weeks
before Antman and I began this trip were spent working in Hannover,
Germany. I arrived home and only had 9 hours to pack and get ready
for this trip to LOS; there was no time to even think about presents, let
alone go out shopping. No doubt because I'm a good boy and eat all
my vegetables, the force of Cupid's arrow pushed me into the Duty Free
shop at SFO, and they just happened to stock the large bottle of Sip's
favorite perfume. I dodged a bullet that time…
As I handed it over, I thought I was pretty lucky to have stumbled into
the Duty Free shop at the last minute; however, I couldn't help but think
it was a little cheeky for Sip to expect a present. It's not like
she asked me to bring her anything… And it was no big deal really…
I tried to dismiss it thinking that every girl I've ever gone out with for
any length of time expected presents, but still… Maybe it's just
me… Anyway, it stuck in my craw, but I wasn't going to let it ruin
my day.
Sip, like a lot of girls I know, likes to get picked up, so I threw her
over my shoulder, carried her into the bedroom, and tossed her on the
bed. We took a few moments to get acquainted again, and then
scampered to the ab nam.
Sip was excited to have some bubble bath, and we made a lovely mess of
that bathroom. As we relaxed in the warm water of the tub, I was
pretty glad the room was tiled from floor to ceiling or else the maids
would have really had their work cut out for them.
On the way to the bed, I stopped in the living room and took the phone
off the hook. No sense having the wrong girl call and risk spoiling
the mood.
In between tussles, we shared our thoughts and plans for the
future. No one knows what the future will bring but it was nice to
see that ideas we had for the future didn't exclude the other, and they
were both something we could live with.
Sip's expectations from life were modest, and so were mine. I
might like to live in Bangkok for a while to take some serious Thai
language classes but after I got some Thai under my belt I thought it a
good idea to move out of the big city; maybe down the coast, or up in the
hills. Who knows, maybe even Korat! My thinking was Bangkok
would be fun for a little while, but I'm sure the smog and congestion
would get to me. Maybe I could find a place where it was cheap and
easy to get to Bangkok if friends were going to be in town.
We were still making up for lost time when the sun started to poke its
way through the curtains and into our room.
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