sweet, satay, and sour (part 1)

SOUR

my weekend was Delightful, but at the present, i'm in a bit of a grumpy mood. so i'll get my complaining out of the way first. two things today that were very frustrating to me were:

1. this morning i took a cab to Long Tan to eat at my friend's Indonesian restaurant, and i would have taken a bus but was running a little late. i got a taxi from a little group of taxi-drivers who park by "my" bus stop, so i see them every day and they always greet me and one even gave me a bag of dried fruit once. the foreign teachers i live with give those guys lots of business so it seems we have a mutual good relationship, and the prices always seem fair. but today, i was taken on... shall we say, the "scenic route" to get to Long Tan. as soon as he made the first turn i knew something was up, and protested but he assured me that this way was better. it was most definitely not! better for him, maybe, because he could overcharge me! when we finally reached my destination, i paid what he asked for--i don't know enough Chinese to fight with a cab driver who i have to see every day. but it left me feeling helpless and taken advantage of. i know this isn't unique to Taiwan either--it's happened to me in Mexico, Costa Rica, and yeah, probably Chicago. but still...

2. tonight i went for a massage at a place that i walk by frequently. i'm always tempted--it's only about $30 for an hour, and no appointment is needed. i wasn't feeling energetic enough to go to Taipei for ballet class, so i figured i'd do some serious relaxing instead. i flip-flop-slipped through torrential downpour to get to the massage place this evening, thoroughly looking forward to my first Taiwanese massage. i was ushered into a small room by a small woman who didn't speak any English. i didn't think it'd be a problem--all i'd have to do is lay down and enjoy, right? bodyworkers should be intuitive beyond the language barrier. was i in for it! she mauled me. she was pushing so hard! usually when i get a massage, i ask the masseuse to press harder--i like it when they get into those deep muscles, but this was ridiculous. i stopped her a few times to explain that i wanted her to ease up, and she understood, but apparently kept forgetting. here's what my back looks like tonight:



that's not all of it, but you get the idea. my whole back is covered in splotchy, broken-vessel-bruises. i feel like i've been in a car accident, with that whip-lashed achiness. i'm guzzling loads of water. i would imagine that such pressure set free furious tribes of toxins to rush into my bloodstream. OUCH. it's so frustrating that i couldn't ask what kind of massage it was, or if she had any sort of training, or tell her i didn't get what i paid for, etc etc. but here i am, a foreigner who can't speak the language here, and so...

from time to time, i will get ripped off by cab drivers and beat up by tiny masseuses...

and there's really not that much i can do about it.