positively bangkok

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Actually, in this case, it's:  When in Bangkok, do as the tourists do.

I got a massage.  How can you not when it's $30 USD per hour.  So I did.  One and a half hours of aromatherapy oil massage and one hour of foot reflexology.  Life is good, and very short, when you're lying naked on a massage table, the lights are dimmed, half-cheesy and half-hypnotizing music is playing in the background, and a pair of hands is roaming all over you.  I think I'll do it again today.  Sorry, no pictures of that to show you all.

Part of the adventure of going on a foreign journey is in meeting fellow travelers whose spirit dwarfs yours and whose sense of exploration makes you feeling like nothing but a simple tourist.  While in Siem Reap, I met a Scot named Jed who has been traveling in Asia for over a year:  China, Nepal, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, and a few others.  He has no clue how long he will stay in each city until after the fact - it's the definition of living day by day.

I asked him what prompted such a journey, and, like what some of you may be feeling, it was a discontent toward his work.  So he handed in his resignation letter one day, packed up his bags, sublet his apartment, and flew off.  Sounds romantic, doesn't it?  It's the stuff that movies are made off, but it's also the stuff that lives lived with courage and uncompromising ideals are made off.  When I told him I thought he was brave for such undertaking, he laughed and said that everyone tells him he's brave, but he never considered himself so - it was simply something he wanted to do, had to do.

So when we make a commentary on another person's life and experiences, is it in reality one on our own?  By my saying that he is brave, am I at the same time saying that I lack the courage to do the same?  What about criticisms?  Are they projections of our own sense of guilt and dissatisfaction or reflections of our insecurities through an attempt by reprehend another?

Perhaps I should start being more positive.

You're all so pretty today.  And hot, sexy, irresistible.  Someone tie me down!