The Tattoo, the Hangover, and the Layover

I knew I wanted to do second tattoo as soon as the needle stopped buzzing from the first one.  The artist that did the drawing that became my Manta also did a nice one of a shark, and after a few minor modifications, I had what I wanted.

My brother had told me that Eak, the tattoo artist that did the manta was still around - but that was in the fall, and by the time I got to Chiang Mai, he was gone.  Looking for alternatives, I found Naga Tattoo, a shop run by a guy named Ugly who seemed to have a lot of good reviews from people online.  I talked the design through with Ugly's partner, Nicky, and set up a time for the next day.

Getting tattooed hurts, but is mostly tolerable.  Getting this one on my lower leg was more tolerable than getting it on my upper arm 2 years ago, and Nicky powered through the job in just under 3 hours.  There was a lot of fine detail work, so more time and more pokes with a smaller needle.  In the end, it came out just as I had hoped.

Of course, no tattoo is complete without a celebratory night out on the town.  Ours started at Ginny Place Cafe with a lot of good food and drinks, then proceeded over to the Boxing Stadium for some Muay Thai fights, 100 baht bets ($3), local beer.  A couple of Ian and Tee's friends who teach English as their day jobs are Muay Thai fighters at night. They weren't fighting that night, but they helped us get up close and personal with the boxers.

After the fights, we wandered up the street the a very sketchy looking row of pool table bars.  Turns out that these are the "katoey" - or ladyboy bars where Thai males put on their little black dresses and spend most of their time primping and posing.  We shot several rounds of pool and had a few more Tiger beers.  by 1am, I was done, but Max was just getting started. This is why I booked us separate accommodations throughout the trip :)

This morning, I woke up to an email from United Airlines that said exactly this:  "United flight UA838 from Bangkok, Thailand (BKK) to Tokyo, Japan (NRT - Narita) on February 15 is canceled."  That's it - no we're sorry, no alternatives, and only directions to contact a United representative at the airport.  Of course, here in Chiang Mai, there is no United presence.  I tried to call United, but due to the winter storm on the US east coast, it was impossible to speak to anyone.  I tried the Bangkok office, but it's a Buddhist holiday today, and the office was closed...

Fortunately, Tee came to the rescue, dialing office after office until she got through to someone who could get into the system and make changes.  We ended up getting a Thai Air flight tonight - about ten hours earlier than our original flight - that will connect well with our flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, but will end up giving us a 12 hour layover in Tokyo/Narita.  Max has a friend in Tokyo who's offered to show us around for a few hours, so we may get the full Anthony Bourdain experience.  I'll keep you posted.

Postscript:  Max and I arrived in Tokyo after a pleasant and fairly short (5 hours) flight from Bangkok on an Airbus A380 (big plane!), only to find Narita Airport being drenched with pouring rain and blowing winds - not the most conducive to a quick outing to the city.  We decided to stay put, but were looking for some minor compensation from United Airlines for canceling our original flight plans and giving us this wonderful 12 hour layover.  All we wanted was access to the United Lounge - but no - "it is not possible" the kind Japanese woman at the counter told us ("no soup for you!).  

Knowing we had a long day ahead and that free food and drinks and comfy chairs were just on the other side of the glass, I ponied up $50 each to get us inside - but gave Max the firm direction - we will extract $50 worth of food and drink out of this place before our flight leaves.  This should be interesting....