Yesterday, we went for massages at a place that has good reviews. It’s a no-frills place where the therapists are blind. Some are completely blind, and some less visually impaired. Fatah brought us into a room with two massage beds separated by a curtain. He looks like he’s in his mid twenties. He raised the beds into a beach-chair position and said we should start with foot massage before switching to traditional body massage with oil.

After having a really stiff neck and shoulders for days partly due to being confined in an airplane seat for a total of 19 hours, Kenric, for the first time ever, was looking forward to a massage. He even told me to “Relax”. The next two hours alternated between pure pain, silent screams, involuntary flinching and making sure Kenric was still alive.

Kenric’s therapist was quite chatty. He said he bet that Trump would win the election and won RM200 (approx. USD $50). He then bet again with the same person and won RM500 (approx. USD $125). As he expected (through watching The Apprentice), Trump was just making empty promises during the campaign with no intention or action to follow through. Did I mention the guy is blind?

Fatah was a lot quieter. He recommended that we try Masak Lemak Cili Api, (spicy coconut curry) if we go to his home state, Negeri Sembilan. Each of our two-hour massages came to RM100 (approx USD $25). While Kenric was in the bathroom, Fatah offered me banana chips. I said I wanted to take a picture of them to show my friends. The bananas were cut length-wise and the chips were savory, as opposed to the sweet banana coins in the U.S.

I asked how long he’s been doing this. He said, “Ten years, since I was twenty-three.” I said, “You’re thirty-three? You look a lot younger.” I instantly regretted saying that. It’s so unfair that I have a clearer visual image of how he looks than he does. He has been to Beijing for training and he continues to take courses to enhance his skills. Seeing how I’m feeling a lot better today, I will definitely get follow-up treatments from Fatah, if possible.

At the street corner, we bought two very delicious curry puffs from a street vendor (hawker). They are a hundred times better than the ones Kenric and I made for our coworkers. I couldn’t resist the durian sold from the back of a lorry, so we got one. It was 1.1 kg (2.4 lbs) and cost RM 16.50 (USD $4.17). It’s not of the prized Musang King variety, but it was still pretty darn good. Kenric liked it a lot better than the frozen ones in San Francisco. After that, we walked around in Little India, formally known as Brickfields.

Map of Places Visited