The Crazy Angmo And His Angry Wife: A Girly Weekend In Bangkok

I Hate Traveling

I know the posts across my social media platforms project a different perspective but I truly dislike traveling. I dislike packing my luggage, the administrative hassle of booking a trip, going through the immigration and security procedures and then landing up in the plane at a designated seat next to someone who might lean towards me throughout the flight and drop his head on my shoulder ever so often as he pretended to snooze while I gag because of his severe body odour while I try to dodge his bad case of dandruff at the same time. I dislike traveling.

Over the years, I had always traveled with a purpose. I traveled for business, for boxing training, for yoga, or on writing assignments, and most of the time with my husband. On personal trips, he would make all travel arrangements. I just showed up at the airport with my packed bags. Hassle-free.

A Timely Trip With The Girls

So it surprised me somewhat, when I agreed to go on a girls-only trip to Bangkok over the long May Day weekend recently. The rules were: 1) no boxing gloves, 2) no gym gear, and 3) no men. We were planning to paint the town red, eat and shop our way through Bangkok, indulge in daily massages or a manicure and just enjoy the camaraderie and laughter as a collective sisterhood of looney colleagues who were also close friends over the years. Initially, it sounded like a bizarre nightmare for me. I could not think of a worse trip. Without my boxing gloves and gym gear, I felt lost. Manicure? I had never done a manicure in perhaps 6-8 years. Eating and shopping spree? I am on a strict high- protein, gluten-free, no processed food, no sugar diet, and if it isn’t a sports or fight gear shop, I would not spend time in it.

However, this girly trip came at a right time. Dad had just passed on slightly more than a fortnight ago and I had been deep in grief. Work had dealt so much stress because of the recent reorganization of my team. I had been training almost 7 days a week in boxing, muay thai, strength and conditioning sessions and sprints on Sundays that my body was beginning to holler for a wee bit of rest. I had been doing so many client readings in Tarot and Numerology right up to wee hours of the morning sometimes when overseas clients request for skype or email readings. I have been working on several sports-related articles for various websites at the same time. These were gradually taking a toll on me and I thought this trip would be a timely reprieve.

It was.

So Much Fun

This girls-only trip was the best decision I made for myself. It was truly a critical component of self-care. Somehow, the 10 girls that banded together for this trip had such wonderful chemistry. We laughed, we ate adventurously, we snapped at each other jokingly, we shared worries with our respective room mates, we talked through the night, we shopped every nook and corner of every mall, we watched out for each other, we waited patiently for each other, we broke up into smaller groups according to our respective shopping and dining patterns almost instinctively and we completely threw our daily cares away for a wee weekend and focused on just us.

It was my first girly trip. It took a long time for me to embrace this strange concept of traveling together with a bunch of close friends simply because I am very protective of my privacy and my space. However, I was glad these girls shared my space and allowed me to share theirs.

Would I do it again? Hell, yes! When is our next trip girls?

About The Writer

The writer of this blog post is a Marketing and PR professional for over 20 years. Due to her love for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), she is also a freelance sports writer on the side, contributing MMA-related articles to several sports media. She works in partnership with her husband, David Ash, who is an avid sports photographer from www.singaporemaven.com. She is passionate about Boxing and Muay Thai and nurtures a dream to fight competitively one day when her coach stops making fun of her. She is also a psychic intuitive by birth and runs a consultancy that does tarot and numerology readings under her brand, Sun Goddess Tarot. This blog is affectionately called "The Crazy AngMo" as she is married to one, although she has not yet explained to THE Ang Mo that when translated, he has been labeled “the bloke with ginger hair”.