Adventures in Thailand – Page 5 – pause then press play

Immediately after the incident with the mouse, I was told that morning to move out of the Manager’s Suite. Not because of the mouse, but because the Manager’s Suite was reserved for paying guests. It was part of the staff accommodation and was not part of the main hotel, but sometimes drivers from the mainland in need of a place to stay for the night would take it.

Either way, I was delighted to get out of there, so I moved within the day into the “yoga teacher’s room” (previously occupied by Lala) and I slept like a baby.

After all no mouse, no worries…it was pretty much so…until..

mold

MOLD….

So it’s super humid here on Koh Chang – the most humid place I’ve ever been to. I’ve been to the Mexican jungle, the Indian jungle…hell, I grew up in Malaysia where it’s just sunshine and rain. So when I say it’s humid, you better believe it’s humid.

Anyway, with humidity, comes…

MOLD…

After living for 10 years in the Arctic, I conveniently forgot about mold…and gecko-poop on walls. But now, my memory is clear as crystal. And on the Friday night, I cracked open a bottle of Thai fruit wine and spend my afternoon scrubbing the mold away that had grown on my laptop bag, my camera case, purse and other dark fabrics. It seems the mold only likes dark fabrics as my white shirts were fine.

I used vinegar and laundry soap. Weeks have passed and so far, it has been good.

I did find some more yesterday on some shoes I put in a bag, so it seems that it will just be an ongoing battle for me. I believe it’s the design of the room which has badly ventilated. I’ve kept my fan going in my room for circulation and I’ll just have to keep an eye stuff for the first signs of it. I also bought like 10 dehumidifiers (made by a Malaysian company). Though I’m not entirely sure how well they work.

All things considered, it is a small price to pay for waking up to this every morning:

When I arrived at my resort, I was in awe. It was just like the photographs. Serene and peaceful set amidst a mangrove swamp. Jungle everywhere, it was raw nature.
spa2

The previous yoga teacher was leaving the island the next day, so I was keen on meeting her beforehand, but she wasn’t there when I got there. I was shown to my room, which they referred to as “The Manager’s Room.” It was a corner unit and slightly larger, with an extra set of windows. I felt lucky to get “The Manager’s Room.”

Still, it was nothing fancy. The room was very old and very basic. A bed, a desk and chair, a dresser and a closet. Nothing glamorous, which is what I expected for staff accomodation. Most of the staff accommodation had 1 bed and 2 closets, with no desk and no dresser.

The room smelled funny, a lot like pee. So as much as I wanted to just go to bed, I started cleaning and kept cleaning. I swept out the cobwebs, wiped the floor and walls with peppermint oil and swept away what appeared to be gecko feces from the floors. Geckos are unavoidable in this part of the world and very normal. Growing up in Malaysia, I knew this for a fact. Though they make me squeamish sometimes, they eat bugs and cockroaches, so I let them be. I also scrubbed the bathroom floor with was very grimy and wiped everything down. Then unpacked everything.

After cleaning for a couple of hours, I was exhausted, so I went to bed, too tired to even eat. I slept for about 3 hours and woke up to someone knocking at my door. It was Lala, the yoga teacher, outside my door. She introduced herself and must not have known I was sleeping as I forgot to turn the lights off. I drowsily heard her tell me to meet her tomorrow for a little bit of a walkthrough and I said OK. Then I excused myself due to extreme fatigue and tried to go back to sleep. The rest of the night I drifted in and out of sleep due. That is the night #2 in Thailand without proper sleep.

Night #3, was alright. I said goodbye to Lala, bless her soul, what a lovely girl. And right after dinner, headed to my room to attempt to sleep. Around midnight, I woke up. I heard some sound ruffling behind my head and I flung out of bed as fast as possible, turned on the lights and was completely terrified. There was nothing. I thought I was going crazy, and then out of the corner of my eye. I saw it. This.

A mouse on the floor. He stared at me, and I stared at him. When he started to move, I screamed. He jumped up on the desk and ran up and away into the air-conditioning unit.

I spend the next day wiping down the floor and walls with peppermint oil which is supposed to deter mice. That smell of pee I realized was mouse pee. Ya, it didn’t work. Night #4 & #5 he came back to visit. Same story, his scattering would wake me up, I’d turn the lights on, watch him stare at me and run away. I broke a picture frame trying to scare him away, which ensued cleaning broken glass the next day.

By the 6th night, I realized he’d fallen in so deeply love with me. I guess I don’t blame him. How could he not? I was dreamy. This time, he got into bed with me and cuddled right in my palm, right by my face. Perhaps, if he went in for a kiss, he would have turned into a prince. But instead, I screamed and flung him as far as I could. Heartbroken, he went back to his air-conditioning unit. As you figured, I couldn’t sleep after that.

I had to tell someone, so I Skyped the fiancé and told him all about how a mouse scampered around in my palm and it was planning to eat me. He let me finish, then laughed out loud because of this…