{"id":874,"date":"2010-09-26T15:36:46","date_gmt":"2010-09-26T15:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/averral.com\/blog\/?p=874"},"modified":"2010-10-01T02:11:02","modified_gmt":"2010-10-01T02:11:02","slug":"cultures-collide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.averral.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/cultures-collide\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultures Collide"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On today’s lazy sunny Sunday afternoon, we decided to try the newly opened Thai Massage place in the city. It felt like were we indeed walking into Thailand from the shop’s entrance. The receptionist and masseur are native Thais, and the shop’s decor was inspired by Thai Buddhism statues and artworks. I noticed an orchid sitting on the pillow of the massage chair and wondered for a moment when was the last time I saw such colourful flowers in cold, gloomy Melbourne. The temporal exoticism of paradise recalled my memories of tropical islands and crystal clear blue waters, batik silk and wooden canoe boats. A shock came over my senses when the female Thai masseur greeted us in a subservient and demure tone, which was very unexpected of a female in an equal western society. Or maybe, I myself as a woman had been transformed to be assertive in my speech to be taken as seriously, that being demure is a sign of weakness.<\/p>\n

J and I went hunting for mooncakes in Chinatown and found the most gorgerous colourful looking mooncakes in white almond, purple yam and green tea flavours. We feasted our eyes in the asian grocery store carrying a range of japanese snacks, chinese dumplings, malaysian coconut cream and vietnamese paste. J settled for Kimchi soup for dinner, while I preferred australian wine with cheese, and fresh strawberries with melted dark chocolate on the side. I cuddled contentedly on my bed from the feast to dream of my lullabies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On today’s lazy sunny Sunday afternoon, we decided to try the newly opened Thai Massage place in the city. It felt like were we indeed walking into Thailand from the shop’s entrance. The receptionist and masseur are native Thais, and the shop’s decor was inspired by Thai Buddhism statues and artworks. I noticed an orchid […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[369],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n