Daily Prompt – Another Trio

Write about any topic you wish, but make sure your post features a bookcase, something cracked, and a song you love.

Casey put down the box in the hallway, straddling the top of it to push the two flaps on top together, and then using the heavy-duty packing tape, taped the top of the box shut. She carefully sat there on top of the box, let out a giant sigh as she looked around her, observing all the other piles of belongings that still needed to be packed.

Daily Prompt – Feeling Fancy

You’re given unlimited funds to plan one day full of any and all luxuries you normally can’t afford. Tell us about your extravagant day with as much detail as possible.

So… how am I meant to do all different things all over the world, when I’ve only got 24hrs in a day, and it can take 18-20hrs just to get from one country to the next?

10 Nov – A Specific Skill Set

What knowledge do you have that others don’t? Write a “how to” post about anything you’ve got skills for, small or large.

 

I’m actually not really sure. I think about those in my immediate circles such as Family, friends and co-workers.. and the kind of skills that set me apart from them…

Daily Prompt – The Kindness Of Strangers

When was the last time a stranger did something particularly kind, generous, or selfless for you? Tell us what happened!

Usually it’s the other way around – what did I do to a complete stranger that was completely selfless… but to have it this way, hmmm, that’s actually quite tough.

I’ve been trying to think about this for a while and one that springs to mind was a few years ago. I was interstate and went to one of those small Chinese massage places. The one’s that look kinda dodgy. The ones where they don’t actually speak any English, and generally don’t actually understand what you’re saying.

This one day I went in to have my calves and feet massaged after a few hard days of dancing and bouncing around, and I pointed them out to this lady, who smiled and nodded and took me into a room and got me to strip down to my jocks and cover myself with a towel. After trying to explain over and over again that I wanted my feet done, she still didn’t get it. SO I just went with it. Granted I only asked for a 30min massage, but it turned into 45 mins as she massaged my neck, shoulders, back, glutes, and in the last 5 minutes, quickly got to my calves and feet.

I was kind of annoyed, but I also felt a bit guilty about being annoyed. Yes, she didn’t give me what I wanted, and by the time she had finished, somebody who spoke english had returned to the store. I explained to them the situation, and said although the massage was really quite good, it wasn’t what I asked for, despite trying to tell her several times.

The guy apologised profusely, and explained everything to the lady in Chinese. She felt so sorry, and started talking to me in Chinese, I kept telling her that I didn’t understand, and had to use the guy to translate for me. I said that it was okay, and next time I come back, I’ll have a proper foot / calf massage instead. She kept talking to me, and grabbed my hand, motioning me towards a chair. I tried refusing, but she wasn’t having it. She literally dragged me across the room and forced me into the chair. The guy came with us and translated what she was saying, explaining that she felt so bad for not providing the service that I asked for, and instead, would do so now, for free. I kept saying that wasn’t necessary, and that I would come back another time to pay for it myself. She still refused.

As I sat in the chair, she grabbed my foot, and pulled off my shoe and sock, and then the other, and pushed me backwards to recline. Somebody brought her a small bucket of warm water, and she put my feet in there to soak.

Meanwhile, the guy who was translating, began to give me a head massage, whilst she gave me a hand massage. After about ten minutes, the water had gone dark and had cooled considerably. She removed my feet, dried them, and gave me another 30min foot / calf massage. It was absolute heaven!!

By the time she finished, I was on cloud nine and felt incredible. At the same time, I also felt so guilty for even mentioning my frustration earlier – I didn’t want her to do anything out of anger or obligation, but at the same time, I was kind of glad that I did. For the following three days, every evening on the way back to my hotel, I called in there and had a 30min foot / calf massage, and always gave them a big tip. I believe in paying for quality, and this woman was fantastic.

She never needed to do what she did, but I had an instant respect for her for her decision to make me sit down again. It worked out in her favour, as it brought me back another three consecutive days.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/the-kindness-of-strangers/

Daily Prompt – The Wanderer

Tell us about the top five places you’ve always wanted to visit. GO!

1. NEW YORK

Daily Prompt: Nothin’ But A Good Time

Imagine that tomorrow, all of your duties and obligations evaporate for the day. You get the day all to yourself, to do anything you please. What types of fun activities would make your day?

Does that day also happen to be about 48hrs long, so I can actually fit in everything that I would like to be able to do on a ‘day off’? A day off really should be longer than all the other days, especially given my list below… or I’ll need to have two consecutive days off for pure indulgence.

1. SLEEP

Yes.  I put this as #1, and all in caps because it’s the most important and my absolute FAVOURITE thing to do on a day off.

The day would start off with a wonderfully luscious sleep-in. One of those mornings where it’s a bit chilly, but the sun is warm, and beaming in through a bedroom window, and you wish it was possible for these already fluffy pillows and doona just to get that little bit fluffier and softer, so you could just disappear into them for a couple more hours of slumber-heaven.

2. Breakfast

The one thing that I absolutely love about travelling, is a free buffet breakfast. Oh, it’s HEAVEN!! Moreso when there’s no agenda. I think the best time I had with a buffet was, surprisingly, at an airport in the Virgin lounge. The airline had completely messed up my flight home, and told me to be at the airport at 8am for a re-scheduled flight at 9am, only to turn up and have them say that there’s been another change and I’m not on a plane until 2pm. I then demanded lounge access, which they gave me, and it was fantastic.

I got myself set up at a table, watched a Harry Potter movie with Hulk, and basically ate myself silly.

So. Much. Food!!

3. The Beach

What better way to enjoy a relaxing day, than heading off down to the beach for a bit of a swim, and a nap in the sun… then more swimming, and more napping, followed by more swimming and some more napping.

4. A Massage

Now, I’m not talking about a quick 30min neck and shoulder massage, I’m talking at least a 90min – 120min full body, deep-tissue oil massage. I’m the sort of person who puts their body through quite a lot, but then neglects it, and then I complain like a whiny little kid when I’m in pain from sore muscles. (SIDENOTE: Must get back onto my foam roller and look for my spiky-ball.)

What I love, is being able to have a long full-body massage just to really work out all the knots throughout my body, and put things back in some kind of alignment again. Granted, most of the time I find myself falling asleep – it’s quite embarrassing because I snore, but I find that I’m just in such a deep state of relaxation… I love it.

4a. Spa / Sauna / Steam

The other side to a treatment like this, is being able to have a spa / sauna / steam session either before, to help relax and loosen up the muscles, or after a long massage. It can be pretty awkward if it’s done afterwards, because I end up like a rag doll, and struggle to a) keep myself upright and b) conscious – too much time in a steam / sauna room, tends to make me really hot and sleepy… which then brings me to the brink of fainting / passing out. And let’s face it, that’s not necessarily a good thing.

5. A Nap.

This is probably THE BEST part of the whole day… being able to do everything listed above, and then come back to either lay on a sun-saturated bed (or couch) and curl up for a lovely arvo nap. But, one that’s at least 3 – 4hrs long. Anything less than that is a waste of time, and it just makes me feel even more tired than I was before.

6. Gaming

Now that I feel quite refreshed and relaxed, it’s time for a gigantic cup of tea and about fifteen biscuits (or a block of chocolate) and then the PS3 goes on, and I fire up one of my games. At the moment I’m right into Lego Marvel Super Heroes, but at the same time, in the back of my head, I’m completely aware that I’m not giving any time to my other favourite game, Tomb Raider. This game is so good, and so addictive, I usually find myself sitting there, tears streaming down my cheeks because I can’t even bring myself to blink because I find it so engrossing.

Alternate 6. A Bath

By this stage, I’ve woken from my nap and had something to eat for dinner. Then I think one of my favourite things to do is run a bath and use something like a fancy bath bomb, or some relaxing bath salts, and then I’ll either get in (and feel myself slowly broiling from the inside out because the temperature is so hot) and I’ll already have my laptop set up to watch something. Sometimes it’s a couple of episodes of a TV series I’m watching, or it might even be a movie.

And then, when the water has gone cold, or the show / movie has finished, there’s only one thing left to do…

7. Go To Bed.

It’s been a long day of pampering, and self-indulgence, and you know what, it’s exhausting. So all I need to do now, is go to bed and sleep for about 10 – 12hours, so I can wake up all nice and relaxed and refreshed tomorrow – ready to take on the world!

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/daily-prompt-good-time/

Daily Prompt: Isn’t Your Face Red

When was the last time you were embarrassed? How do you react to embarrassment? 

I usually do stuff that I will end up getting embarrassed over quite a lot… Well, embarrassed if people actually know what I did / said etc.

Funnily enough, I am generally quite self-deprecating because I’m usually trying to tell a funny story, or make somebody laugh etc, so I find that at times I’ll end up telling an embarrassing story. However, in saying that, I do have my moments when I get highly embarrassed about things, especially if it’s something that’s brought up, that I wanted to remain private. Those kind of things usually catch me right off guard, and more often than not, I just want the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

And, of course, when I’m having these moments, everybody else around me is like,

The last time I embarrassed myself was during a recent trip overseas. Well, it wasn’t what I did that was necessarily embarrassing, but moreso the fact that I actually told other people about that was embarrassing… and so now I’m going to share that story with you…

So here I am overseas on this work trip. I had a free couple of hours, so I thought to myself ‘I think that I might go get a massage. It’s long overdue and I’m feeling quite tight and sore from all the exercise I’ve done in the last couple of days’. 

So I figure seeing as how I’ve seen a number of small asian-operated massage places around town, I’ll try one that looks the cleanest and get like a 90min massage to really work on getting all those knots out. So I go to one that I had set my sights on previously.

…please come back in 30 mins.

Bitch, I don’t have 30 mins.

So I go to another place that I saw the other day… except this one has two locations in the same complex, so this should be fine.

Please come back in 30 mins.

Oh come on!!

So I head to the other location… only to find there’s actually nobody there.

DAMN IT!!

Time to find another place… I know I saw another one around here somewhere… Meanwhile, I’m checking the time, and by this stage, I’ll be lucky if I’m able to get an hour in. I find another place (HOORAY!!) who then asks me to come back in 15-20mins… (SERIOUSLY?!?!)

So now, I’m thinking that I’m not even going to have time to get a massage at all before I have to be back at the gym for a class at 6pm. By this stage it’s 4:40pm and I’ll still need to  go back to the hotel, change, and then race to the gym in order to make my class.

I’m already starting to feel defeated and thinking I should just go to the hotel when I see a sign for massage in some arcade. By this stage, frankly, I don’t care where it is, I just want a massage.

I walk up to the sign outside the door and checking their services and times and I hear this ‘HERRO!… You rike a massage today? How you feel?’

‘Oh, Hi… yes, I was wondering if I could get my lower back and my flutes done for 30 minutes?’

And he looked at me completely puzzled. So in true language-barrier-charades style, I pointed to what I wanted to massage, and he finally understood what I was saying. He lead me inside and took me into this room with a couple of massage tables and asks me to strip down to my briefs.

I was already beginning to feel somewhat uncomfortable as it was in full view of everybody else in the main room having head / neck / feet massages, but he quickly pulled a curtain across to allow me some privacy.

The massage was okay. The pressure was good, but could’ve been better. I already had asked him twice to increase the pressure, and the poor guy couldn’t handle it, I think he was getting more of a workout from it. Every now and then he’d find a different spot and I’d make a small groan sound from the pain and he’d always reply with something like ‘Ahh yes, painful because so tight… so, so, so tigh. You need regurar massage!’

So he attacks one side of my back, then the tops of both sides of my glutes… but not the other side of my back. WHen he finished I questioned him about it, and he said that I only asked for one side.

Seriously, who goes in and asks for a lower-back massage, but just on one side??

Anyway. So I’m starting to stress out about the time and then all of a sudden the old Chinese woman who works there is talking to the guy, then she comes over to me, barks something at me in Chinese, grabs my arm and drags me back to the table.

She continues to talk to me in Chinese, and I keep looking at the guy for some kind of translation, and he’s not saying anything, so I have to remind him I DON’T SPEAK CHINESE, and he just looks at me as though I’ve just babbled something incoherently.

So I look at this old lady, who looks like she’s about 80, and slowly tell her I. DON’T. SPEAK. CHINESE!! and so she makes out a few audible words and then starts to talk to the guy, who then finally begins to translate.

Turns out she wants to give me some free Chinese medicine… so she gets me to lay back down on the table, pokes around on my back and then shows me a small vile of white liquid. She keeps talking to me in Chinese, asking me all kinds of questions, to which I just don’t answer because I’ve know idea what she’s saying.

She sprinkles some of the white liquid on my lower back and then covers it with a length of cling-film. She prompts me to sit up and the guy tells me that she’s just put some medicine on my back, and I might end up with a small warming sensation. I should keep it on for forty-minutes.

Bitch, I don’t have 40mins. I have to GO!!

Then as I’m starting to put my top back on, I start to feel this warming sensation… which begins to get more and more intense. Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, it feels like my back is on FIRE. Searing white-hot fire. It’s like Tiger Balm but the real shit that you can’t buy in Australia, you have to buy it in Thailand or something…

So whilst I’m sitting there thinking that I’m getting third-degree burns, she grabs my arm and takes me back into the main room and pushes me down into a chair…

…to give me a quick head / neck / shoulder massage… Oh, and to contort my body into position they’re not designed to be twisted into!! Ten minutes later, I’m paying my money, stressing out that I’m now going to be late for my class.

Then I’m outta there and power-walking down the main street to the hotel. I’m sending Hulk a string of messages recapping what just happened, and asking him to get some things ready for me… and getting no reply. He’s probably asleep. DAMN IT!!

Then all of a sudden I start feeling hot and sweaty. Where’s one of the primary places people sweat?? Oh that’s right, their lower back! And who’s just had the white-hot liquid of fire spread all over their back?? Yeah… so the burning sensation of fire is starting to rapidly intensify, and then I can feel it beginning to make it’s way even further down my back.

Suddenly, It’s between the top of my butt cheeks. I’ve developed crack sweat. Which, any other time is bad enough. However, crack sweat that’s coming from the white-hot elixir of fire, is a whooooole other story.

Have you ever tried to put something like Tiger Balm, or Deep Heat onto your anus? No? Oh, right, BECAUSE IT HAS NO RIGHT TO EVER BE IN OR NEAR THAT AREA, EVER!! Well, I wasn’t that fortunate, and now my arse, literally, felt like it was on fire. Trying to keep up my pace back to the hotel whilst I feel like there is fire in the rear of my jocks is probably one of the worst experiences ever (without actually causing an injury).

Still haven’t heard back from Hulk, and I’ve got 15mins to get upstairs, change and get to the gym by 6pm.

I race upstairs and sure enough, Hulk is fast asleep. GOD DAMN IT!! Then I launch into whirlwind mode… Literally, tearing around the hotel room packing a pack, filling drink bottles, prepping a protein shake and then I just freeze. I can’t take it anymore. I grab a towel, wet it, get completely naked and rip off the cling film from my back and attempt to wipe off the fire-liquid as much as I can.

Here’s a tip… it actually makes it worse!!

But I didn’t have time to worry about it. Nothing was going to make me miss this class. NOTHING!!

So I get my stuff together and race downstairs and off to the gym… only to get there and find out that the class before mine is running 45mins late.

…what?

After all that.

After all that stressing out, I have so much time up my sleeve. I should’ve gone to have a shower whilst I waited, but I didn’t take a towel with me. So instead I had to sit there and wait, whilst my arse was on fire.

It was excruciating, but then when my class started, I completely stopped thinking about it. I was too in the moment to think about it or even care.

 

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/daily-prompt-red/

Jan 10: Acupressure

Have you ever tried acupressure to treat a problem? What was your experience with it?

Usually whenever I go and have a massage I look something like this

Provided I’m not moaning and groaning… or worse, snoring. I love massage. I can’t get enough of it. My ideal holiday is to somewhere like Bali or Thailand when I can get two massages per day, every day, for about 2 weeks, on the beach. That is my idea of absolute heaven.

I do love a bit of acupressure and sports massage. Given that I work two jobs, I’m always feeling stressed and tense, and my body is full of tight muscles, acupressure really helps a lot to relieve some of that tension and work out some of the knots. Generally I carry my tension in my neck and my lower back, and there are some trigger points and pressure points that my physio will find and just go to town on.

There’s one particular point in my neck… I can never remember what it’s called, but I just know that when he finds it, he literally squeezes it with his thumb and his index finger. It’s one of the most painful and uncomfortable moments – it’s just pain shooting right up the nerve endings into my brain… but it slowly subsides, and the tension goes away.

That’s the one thing I don’t like about acupressure, is that for me, I know it’s going to hurt. A lot. But I know that I can tolerate the pain and discomfort for the end result.

There’s actually a massage place that’s opened up at the end of our street. I noticed it last night when I was walking home, and I’m thinking that I might go and check it out – see what they have to offer and whether or not it’s worth going back again.

Daily Prompt: The Best Day Ever

You get to enjoy the best day ever — describe in detail what that means to you. Where are you? What will you do? What’s the weather like? What will you eat? Who will you see?

Best day ever??

It’ll involve being here:

With Hulk.

Having a couple of massages or one big 3-hour massage

Swimming with some turtles and / or dolphins

The sun will be nice and warm, I’ll actually be getting a tan, rather than just burning and peeling like I always do. I’ll be enjoying lots of fresh fruits and rain water – it will be absolutely perfect in my own little piece of heaven.

 

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/12/25/prompt-best-day-ever/

Daily Prompt: Keeping Up with the Jones’

Tell us about the one luxury item you wish you could afford, in as much detail as you can. Paint a picture for us.

I wonder how many people are writing about the same things in response to this prompt? You know, things like bigger TV’s, flashy cars, the latest iDevice, expensive jewellery / clothing / shoes etc.

Well, I’ve got one thing. An overseas holiday.

I’ve never actually had a holiday. Yes, I have travelled, and I’ve even been overseas to do so (although, that was only New Zealand and it’s only been twice!) but still, it counts (although not according to my passport that still remains stamp-less!). Anywhere I’ve travelled to has been for either two reasons: family and / or work.

But what about me?! What about travelling for me?! I know of far too many people who are always banging on about how they’re off overseas for x-amount of weeks, or they’ve just come back from such-and-such a country, or they’re planning a 2 week trip to Thailand (again) for the third or fourth time this year, or how they’ve just sent their child off overseas for a six-week trip to Europe.

Are you fucking KIDDING ME!?!? How on earth do people afford these things? Seriously, how much money are you making if you can afford so much travel?? Even if you are lucky enough to get cheap flights and possibly, cheap accommodation, yes, that makes it much more affordable, but some people seem to just have money coming out of their ears, and those are the people who love to flaunt it in everybody’s face.

LOOK AT ME!! LOOK, DAMN IT!! LOOK AT WHAT I’M DOING WITH MY DISPOSABLE INCOME THAT YOU CLEARLY DON’T HAVE!! LOOK AT HOW THIS MAKES ME BETTER THAN YOU!!

…fuck off.

I want to travel for me. And Hulk. But mainly for my own self-indulgent pleasure.

I want to find myself on a beach somewhere. Don’t necessarily care right now, those details are secondary. A beach with white sand and crystal clear waters. Massages by (or on) the beach twice a day. Copious amounts of sleeping and lazing around in the sun to work on getting a fabulous tan (instead of this pasty-white skin that I’m rocking at the moment). Fresh produce everyday, fruits and vegetables and seafood. Lordy, so much seafood!

I want to go canoeing, and snorkelling on reefs, and taking underwater photos of beautiful fish and turtles. I want to go swimming with dolphins, and then end up crying uncontrollably from the onslaught of raw pent-up emotion. I want to find myself in paradise; in a place where the rest of the world doesn’t even exist. I want to completely forget about the stresses of work, and working two jobs. Forget about the stresses of being constantly tired, and being time poor, and having late nights and late dinners. I want to be able to eat dinner at a normal time, and eat it at the beach!!

But the worst part of it all, is that some bitch out there is going to turn around and tell me that they’ve just come back from 3 weeks in the Maldives, and tell me about how utterly ahmaaaahhhzing it was, and that I ‘simply must go there sometime’.

Oh should I? Thanks for confirming that one for me.

 

 

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/daily-prompt-jones/