It was a month before my birthday back in 2011. Shorty told me to book my dates and that she had a surprise for me for my birthday. As it got to the date, someone ended up spoiling her surprise for me so I knew exactly what she had planned.
She had booked a short trip at a nice resort in Krabi. I was really disappointed at first because:
1) I wanted to spend my birthday with my friends. I wanted to have a small party and the opportunity to catch up with people close to me. I didn’t want to spend it away.
2) I’m a city person and I’m the kind of person who has to do something all the time. So I don’t enjoy beach holidays because I don’t like just laying around doing nothing which is exactly what beach holidays are meant for. To be fair though I don’t really remember going for a beach holiday before that… it’s just a perception I had about beach holidays.
I reluctantly went and the next few days became engrained in my mind as one of the most memorable holidays ever. I think about it more than my holidays to the USA or Japan or anywhere else. It’s ironic that the holiday I dreaded going for the most turned out to be the one I remember the most.
I have Shorty to thank though. She brought me outside of my comfort zone and introduced me to a kind of holiday I never knew to appreciate before.
I learned to escape the comfort of the company of friends and appreciate the joy of spending all my time focused on one person.
Through our dinners and mini-adventures I feel I got to know Shorty and understand her a lot better. I learned that I didn’t need the company of many people to feel happy. I just needed the company of one person. One right person and I learned that trip that Shorty was that right person for me.
I learned to appreciate the little things like swimming while Shorty ordered some fries and a Pepsi to eat by the poolside.
And I learned how sometimes the best experiences come totally unplanned.
Shorty and I were walking down an empty street when we came across this shoddy looking massage parlor. We felt like a massage so we went in. We had the usual foot massage and then I spotted something I had never seen before. There was an option for a 45 minute head massage.
All I had to do was lie down, and they would put some oil on my head and just rub my head. It was the first proper head massage I’ve ever had and the best. So good I remember falling asleep only to wake up later with my head still being rubbed.
For the next few years I hunted for places that did just pure head massage but was always disappointed. i did find one this year in Bangkok but it wasn’t anything like what I had in Krabi.
Sometimes the best experiences and the biggest surprises come when we least expect it.
Thank you Shorty. For bringing me outside my comfort zone and unexpectedly giving me the most memorable holiday I’ve ever had.
The good thing about having a blog is that I did blog about this trip. So if you want to read it you can read it here and here. Ah an entry from 4 years ago.
Timothy Tiah – Co-Founder of Colony, Kuala Lumpur Co-Working Space