My Very First Blog

After the traumatic experience at Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum that left me feeling depressed, it was a great relief to hear that our good friend and host would be bringing Jam, his friend and I to the karaoke that night!

So right after that enjoyable French dinner at Van's Restaurant, we went straight to a karaoke place. We were brought into a large room complete with nice sofas and of course a karaoke set. Sorry there are no photos as cameras were strictly forbidden. I thought it would be just like Redbox Karaoke in Malaysia and I was eager to choose the songs I wanted to sing.

To my utter surprise, a row of young and beautiful girls were lined up in front of us! Seemed like it was more than just a karaoke - it was more like a night club! The three of us had to pick one girl each. I picked one and she sat next to me the entire time.

We had some fun singing and dancing but I did not do anything more than that (if you don't count the touching and hugging) although we were allowed to do so. The girl could not really speak English and so we had some kind of communication breakdown. But in the end, I learnt a few Khmer words and phrases from her LOL!





When we returned to out hotel room later that night, the three of us decided to call for massage service in our room. We had massage almost every night since coming to Cambodia - the rates were so cheap! There was a notice inside our room which states the rate for massage service, which is USD5 per hour. We told the receptionist at the lobby about our request before going up to our room.

Fifteen minutes later, the door bell rang. Jam went to open the door and in came a short, plump lady. She gave a puzzled look when she saw the three of us in the room and then she giggled out loud. What the heck! Both Jam and I let our friend had her first LOL!

A few minutes later, another lady came in. She's pretty hot but I thought with her very heavy make-up, she looked more like a hooker than a masseuse! Anyway, I quickly secured her as my masseuse cos I did not want to risk putting up with another plump lady! Hahaha!

By this time, we were already wondering how come they did not all arrive at the same time! We were told that the third lady was on the way. She eventually came not long after.





What happened next was nothing short of a joke. It was the worst massage I had ever experienced in my life! The girl massaging me did not know how to use the proper pressure and massage techniques. I could hear Jam complaining and scolding his masseuse. Apparently, she did not know how to massage either.

It soon became obvious that the three ladies were not there to provide massage. They were prostitutes! No wonder that plump lady gave us a puzzled look and started to giggle when she first came into our room! Horrors!

Jam was angry and told them to leave. The girl who massaged me was not happy that I paid her USD5. She said she had to take a taxi to reach the hotel and USD5 was not enough. I told her that the rate was agreed beforehand but of course, she had expected me to tip her for the sex service which of course she did not provide because I did not want it!

Anyway, after some argument, I decided to pay her USD7 just to get rid of her. She left with a sour face. I guess it was our first time calling for massage in a hotel room and we did not realize this actually meant calling for prostitutes! How naive we were!





But that's not the end of it. After the girls left, we got a call from the receptionist at the lobby asking us if we were happy with the service. Apparently, he was trying to ask for tips! Jam's friend told him off angrily over the phone. We had wanted proper massage, not sex!

It was a horrible experience for us. What a night! But I have to honestly say I had no regrets. This incident had somehow made my trip that much more memorable and kept me in stitches even to this very day!

When I first checked in to Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok, I was given this piece of paper.



It was a notice to inform me about the Welcome Drink that I and my friend would be getting for staying in the hotel.

We had actually forgotten all about it until I saw this piece of paper lying by my bedside on the morning of our third day in Bangkok.

We had planned to go for a massage at the hotel that day but decided to go enjoy our Welcome Drinks first. For that, we needed to go to the hotel's rooftop D'Sens Bar and Restaurant.



The D'Sens Bar and Restaurant which serves French cuisine was indeed a nice place, overlooking Bangkok's panoramic city skyline. The views would probably be even more breathtaking at night!



D'Sens boasts a well-stocked wine cellar featuring many of the world's finest wines!

Oh! What a funny design. They have an aquarium in the bar!



I spent some time looking at the fishes swimming in the aquarium. LOL!



And then we were given our Welcome Drinks!



Ooh, I love the drink! I think we were given the French Kiss cocktail. Or maybe not - I was not too sure. Got to ask my friend about this!



The French Kiss is a mixture of vodka, raspberry, coconut and pineapple juice - I sure could taste the coconut and the pineapple!



After that, we went for our massage at Dusit Thani's Devarana Spa. This is the staircase leading up to the spa.



The entrance to Devarana Spa looks grand, don't you agree?



Once inside the Main Reception Area, I was in awe of the sparkling water pond and vibrant colours of the interior.



Devarana is a Thai-Sanskrit word, meaning 'Garden In Heaven'. What a nice name!

We chose the cheapest and basic package and went for a one hour massage.



I was not allowed to take pictures of the massage room so these were the only pictures I managed to take of the spa.

It was indeed a very rejuvenating massage and I thoroughly enjoyed it.



Coming Up Next : The Four Faced Buddha Of Erawan Shrine

On the morning of our second last day in Bali, we decided to go for some authentic Balinese massage at Jari Menari.

We had booked for the massage 2 days earlier. Yes, we had to book it 2 days early as it was fully booked on that particular day we originally wanted to go for the massage!



Jari Menari is located along Jalan Raya Basangkasa in Seminyak, not very far from the Harmony Hotel where I stayed. Refer to the map here.

This is the front entrance to the massage centre.



Jari Menari literally means "Dancing Fingers". Our driver told us that the massage here was good and he highly recommended it.



The unique thing about this massage centre was that all the masseurs here were males!

I guess most people would prefer female masseurs but I did not mind at all as I badly needed a massage and I figured a man would be strong enough to give me a good, deep massage that I was craving for.



There were different types of massages to choose from and I went for the Perfect Massage priced at 350,000 rupiah (RM130) for a 90-minutes session.

In fact, all of us went for this Perfect Massage as it was the most suitable.



I took some photos of the interior while we waited for our rooms to be ready.



Before we knew it, we were called and led into the changing room where we took a shower. My two female friends were led into the another changing room at the other end. After shower, we were led to our individual rooms.

Sorry but no more photos beyond this point! : )

So how was the massage? Suffice to say I enjoyed it tremendously although I must say there were some parts where I thought the masseur was a bit too rough. But I like that they not only massage your body but also your arms and hands!

Accompanied with soothing Balinese music and chirping of birds and sound of water flowing in the background, it was 90 minutes of pure bliss! By the way, the sound of water flowing was real as there was a wall behind me with water flowing down into a pond with live fishes!

It felt really good and after the massage was over, I was totally rejuvenated!



Maybe I should go for the 4-hands massage next time! In case you do not know what a 4-hands massage is, it is actually a massage done by two masseurs at the same time!

By the way, the centre also offers training for anyone interested to learn about massage.

For more details on Jari Menari, you can visit the website here.

Looking at the Ulik Mayang Spa brochure, I was instantly captivated by its tagline "...where tranquil ambience rejuvenates the new you..."

The price was quite reasonable for a four-star resort too, so my friend and I did not hesitate to book for a session of body scrub treatment using lemongrass!

We were indeed fortunate that the Ulik Mayang Spa was just a short distance from our chalet. And the rain that poured for almost two hours stopped just in time for us to walk over there!

Waking up my friend from his enjoyable nap was not too difficult as he was eager to go for the massage. Haha!

This is the front entrance of Ulik Mayang Spa.



We were asked to leave our shoes outside. Stepping in, we were asked to sit down while they prepared the room.



The interior looked really comfortable to me.



By the way, I learnt that the name Ulik means to sing or murmur in a soft, calming way while Mayang is tied bunches of coconut blossoms that are used in traditional Malay treatment as a medium to free your mind and soul from evil spirits.

In other words, Ulik Mayang Spa is the place for you to ease your physical, mental and spiritual stress. What a lovely description!

I liked the intricate design of this wooden carving on the wall.



I could not wait for the body scrub treatment to start!



A while later, we were ushered into the massage room. We were each given a large towel and a disposable see-through underwear. I wondered why we need to wear that underwear when you can see through it. Haha!

As I was changing in the changing room, I was surprised to see my friend coming out of the bathroom clad only in his towel tied round his waist, and holding the underwear.

I asked why he was not wearing it. Guess what was his reply? He could not fit into that underwear. Haha! I could not help laughing! Hahaha!

He went out and requested for a larger underwear but unfortunately they only have one size fits all. So he had to make do without wearing any. Haha! Sorry my dear friend for laughing at you, but I could not help it - it's too amusing!

Jokes aside, I actually don't see what's the point of wearing that underwear. By wearing it, my butt would not get scrubbed! So maybe I should have asked for a discount since my butt was left out of the scrubbing exercise and was not as smooth as other parts of my body. LOL!

For the next 45 minutes, it was absolute bliss as we were scrubbed and massaged while soft, relaxing balinese music were being played.

The massage therapists were good with their hands. I could even smell the lemongrass which was one of the ingredients used in the scrub.

For those of you who have never gone to a spa before, do not worry about nudity. Only the body part that is being massaged will be exposed. The rest is covered with towels. Normally, the massage starts with your back and when you are requested to turn over, the massage therapist will hold the towel or sheet so you are covered when you turn over.

After the body scrub treatment was over, we went to take a shower to clean ourselves up and changed back to our clothes before being ushered to an area in the waiting room.

Here, we sat down on the comfortable chairs provided facing the lovely Kenyir Lake while sipping hot, soothing ginger tea.



Didn't I tell you there will be more photos of my legs? Haha!

And if that is not annoying enough, below are my friend's legs as well! LOL!



It was really nice sitting there enjoying my cup of ginger tea!



I thought the ambience was really nice here. The balcony overlooking Lake Kenyir was soothing to the eyes and to the senses. Now if only our chalet's balcony had a similar view!



We paid RM90 per person for this 45 minute body scrub treatment, which I though was quite reasonable.

We enjoyed it so much we decided to come back again the next day. They had a special herbal sauna and back massage promotion priced at RM75, and we did not hesitate to book for that! I will blog about our second massage in a future post.

After leaving Ulik Mayang Spa only did I realise that I was hungry! So we walked to Tembat Restaurant for our very late lunch.

We both ordered this sandwich dish which was not too bad, considering the horrible dinner we had the night before.



The plate of sandwiches and fries with mayonnaise sauce was however, quite pricey at RM19 but as long as it was tasty, I would not want to complain too much about the price!

After lunch, my friend and I went over to the counter and requested (no, insisted) for an a-la-carte dinner for the night. We did not want to pay RM45 again for the buffet like the night before.

The girl at the counter said she would talk to the manager about it and get back to us, so we just kept our fingers crossed!

Coming Up Next : My Boat Paddling Adventure At Lake Kenyir