Thai massage with Aum

Let me first introduce to you little Ting Tong before I get the ballet that is Thai massage underway. Ting Tong in Thai means crazy, and my teacher, Aum, has it tattooed behind her ear. This short stack is covered in tattoos, drinks whiskey like a champ, and has a soothing voice as she coos "Dahling" at everyone she encounters. I went to sign up for  her massage course and she was clearly on a day off, drinking beers with the girls. I stopped by the market at night for some cheap eats as her and her friend screamed at me to join them. They had already conquered four bottles of Sang Som, this is looking promising. The best part was she kept saying "oh! I have to teach tomorrow dahling, look at us!" I was under the impression she forgot it was me. But this set me at ease for the next days events. I arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed as I waited for Aum to finish eating or wake up or what have you, ha! But she came in gracefully with a giant smile on her face and a "oh dahling, I think you know how I feel" all to well Aum, let's do this! She was a fantastic teacher, hung over as she was, the little gem even fell asleep during my practice on her. That made me laugh the most as she peeked at me through half open eyelids and said "ok we break dahling, I need a nap" cool, see you in a hour, you ball of fun. Basically she demonstrates on me, describing how her hands are the placement, pressure, duration, etc and then we switch and I go to work on her. I was pretty nervous but she had me at ease instantly with her soft slumber like voice saying "gooooood" "you have good thumbs, good pressure" and my favorite "chtick chtick chtick" which means you are done and can write down what you just did. We made it through the whole course in just four hours, I was pretty impressed considering all the work that goes into it, right up to a face and scalp massage (hello extra ten dollars in my services for hair!). I have an entirely new appreciation for the strength and limberness of these tiny woman. I was sweating, my back hurt, and when I woke up this morning I had muscles I never knew I had, mainly in the butt area. Now the Thai ladies have got the massage down pat, they move around you like little spider monkeys, manipulating and massaging, in one fluid motion. I however, was far less graceful and almost fell over several times as well as "cheated" a bit on certain sections because my body is not used to being bent over someone in such a way. I struggled the most with compensating for how tiny Aum is and stretching out the legs, I've never been praised for my balance. But came out feeling confident, her gentle voice is always helpful. Fun Fact: Thai massages hurt. But well worth it when it's over, who's up?! I need practice.