We got off the metro at Petchaburi Station and started
walking on Asok Montri road towards The Eugenia. It was a road of heavy traffic
and dense smog, yet when we passed by a small open-air market the air filled
with the distinct smell of grilled chicken and decaying food.
“It smells like Thailand!” El Mago said excitedly.
“Yes, like rotten food,” I responded without a quote of
cynicism.
El Mago found this very amusing. “That is the way you talk
about this land, which has hosted you with so much affection!” he joked.
The truth is that there are many markets around Thailand
where one can buy raw and cooked food and the smells mix. And, where fresh
meats are sold without the use of refrigeration at a constant summer
temperature, it stinks. The juices of chicken, pork and fish drain from the
tables onto the ground and rot throughout the day. The smell is somewhat
covered by the succulent aroma of grilled meats, mainly chicken. Even as a
vegetarian, I liked the smell of roasted flesh and burning charcoal, which
briefly brought me back to my childhood.
We walked
passed a university campus and sought in vain for a street to turn left. We
were almost at the next metro station when we finally found it. We became
disoriented. El Mago used the GPS in his phone and after a long time of walking
and retracing our steps at a quiet neighborhood we found The Eugenia. It was an
unusual building in that part of the world, as if it should have been in some
British colonial city. They received us warmly and had us sit on a couch, then
handed us chilled coconuts. Our eyes danced on everything at that magical
place. Each item looked old yet really well kept, and we felt as if we had
traveled back in time. They guided us to our room, which was enchanting. The
floors were covered by thick rustic wooden boards and there was a box bed with
delicate white curtains. In the bathroom there was an iron bathtub with
separate faucets for the cold and hot water.
Unfortunately,
there was not time to enjoy this wonderful place. The Phantom of the Opera was
starting in a couple of hours and we still had to eat lunch and get ready.
Quickly we walked downstairs and were stopped by a vision: in the next floor, a
window let the white sunlight of the late afternoon fill in the space. It was
beyond beautiful.
We had
Indian food (one of the pleasures of being in Bangkok) around the corner from
The Eugenia and came back to sit by the pool, which was green and surrounded by
plants and looked like a pond. El Mago smoked and I impatiently waited.
I was so
excited to wear my new beautiful dress. I showered in the charming and
uncomfortable bathtub and quickly got ready. El Mago took his time. When he was
almost ready he noticed that he had forgotten his socks, so he resolved to wear
his flip-flops.
Contrary to couples that have been together for enough time to
dress alike, we did not match at all. While I wore my lace black dress and
heals, he wore brown jeans and an open shirt over an under shirt –with the flip
flops. I guessed that dressing down for a special evening like that was one of
his ways of pushing me away. He had been more careful about his clothes the
time we had gone to the movies, the night of his confession.
We rode the
luxurious tuk tuk from The Eugenia to the MRT station. In our way there a
strong wind from an imminent storm blew dirt around and when it calmed down it
started to pour. We ran the few meters from the tuk tuk to the station but
still got drenched.
After months
of living in a semi-developed island where the biggest entertainment was a
visit to the shopping mall, coming in a theater hall full of people was
extremely exciting. It was an uncommon event, even for Bangkok. The famous
musical, The Phantom of the Opera, made it from the Western World and so many
people had wanted to see it that additional functions had to be offered.
The plot was
allegoric to our own story. A phantom fell in love with a young woman but she
would not love him back, despite all his efforts. He felt sorry for himself,
then angry, and finally resigned. All the songs touched my heart. I wondered if
El Mago felt identified with any part of the drama.
When we left the theater it was not raining any longer. We
took the metro back to the area of the hotel and walked around to find a place
to eat dinner. It was not easy for either of us to find food we would eat. We
compromised to sit at a bar and order salads. The bar was on the corner of one
of the roads to perdition in the Sukkhumvit area. I was not too hungry. Right before sitting El
Mago had brought up again the implicit non-exclusivity clause of our relationship.
I felt exhausted. However, dinner ended on a good note and we went for a walk
on this street to experience a different kind of cultural activity. Lovely
creatures wearing very little; men selling apparently useless items (oversized
teddy bears and fruit baskets); moms begging with their babies; foreigners filled
with excitement; music, smoke, alcohol, lights, voices, laughs, everything
entangled along one short block.
We sat at an outdoor table of one of the bars and El Mago
ordered shots of a licorice flavored drink that felt like fire going through
the throat. At one point, El Mago had to use the toilet inside. He came back
with his eyes wide open and the funniest expression. The vision of about a
dozen naked women dancing on the bar had shocked him. He had seen more exposed
vaginas at once than he had probably seen in his whole life.
We changed bars and had more shots. A creature of the night
in small clothing and big fake eyelashes came to talk to us. We both flirted
with her. The lights, the music and our words blurred together into a haze of
nonsense. Only one thing was true: being with him.
Then we stumbled a few blocks and found The Eugenia. And
the iron bathtub. And the canopy bed of soft linen.
On Sunday, after a night of bad sleep and a good coffee we
paid a second visit together to Jatujak Market. It was hotter than the previous
time and the hangover did not make it any easier… Still, we managed to walk
around and buy a couple of things. An hour before I had to go to the airport we
sat at the Jatujak Park, right by the lake. We were not returning to the island
together because El Mago had decided to stay a couple more days. I did not want
to go.
Staying at beautiful The Eugenia inspired him and he told me,
“We both have similar ideas about what we want to do; someday we should do
something together. Maybe a hotel. But it will be strict business. Do not
create false ideas in your mind”.
I asked him to hug me and he quickly acceded, but it was like
hugging an armored man. He was sand filtering through my fingers.
People lounged in the sun by the lake, chatting with friends,
buying food for the pigeons and enjoying the passing Sunday afternoon. We were
ten thousand miles away from our native land, and yet the picture was so familiar.