Today on the calendar I literally wrote down Laundry Day. I knew I had to do mine this weekend so it had time to hang dry prior to my Monday packing 🙂 Gotta give it a few days in the Thai humidity.
As I was hugging my laundry box filled to the rim, I got on the elevator only to encounter a nice man who explained that the laundry facility at our condo was closed until October 7! Yikes! Good news is they are putting in all new washer and dryers which will be fantastic after that date, but what the heck was I going to do in the meantime.
I crammed all my clothes into a duffel bag with hopes that I could handle it while driving Tia. Laundry detergent in my purse, I googled “laundry” and found a place near my local 7/11. Now….could I figure it out? Honestly been awhile since I’ve been to a laundry mat.
Now what? The machine wouldn’t take my coins or let me select a temp. No big deal right?! I’ll just take my clothes out and try another machine. But the door was locked. There was no opening it! No matter how hard I tried! (OMG all of my bras and undies are in there!—-and investment to say the least!)
A nice woman sitting at the counter waiting on her laundry tried to help while continuing to speak on her cell. She basically shrugged and said it was not opening. Duh! In my best Thai, I humbled myself and asked her what I should do. This was a self service place. Nobody around. She called someone and put her finger up telling me to wait. I assumed she was calling a big burly man to come and rip the door off.
A few minutes later a Burmese woman arrived with the traditional paste on her cheeks, only to push the same buttons I tried and to witness the situation. A lot of chatter between the two women, who I truly appreciated! The one left and purchased what I thought was a lottery card from the 7/11. She scratched it off. I was hoping maybe she won.
It was some sort of additional SIM money so her friend then made a call and handed the phone to me. I was terrified. I explained my situation in slow English. The woman on the other line asked if I could wait. I told her I wasn’t leaving because I needed my clothes. She kept asking me if they were finished or not. Not sure why that mattered, but I said no.
The woman from the phone arrived. She was Chinese. I am so impressed by the cultural diversity here and the power of the women! They are in charge of everything in Thailand and keep all the businesses going. She pressed the same buttons and I sat back entertained at this point. Appreciating the efforts, I was thinking the mechanic would have to be called in to remove the door.
But instead this clever woman peeled back a sticker on the machine revealing a hole which she shoved her key into and jimmied the door open. I was so VERY appreciative! As I put my load into the next washer, she passed me 20 BHT to pay for my warm water. It was then I realized why my towel load cost so much! I ran it on hot. They charge by water temp, not by load. Interesting but makes total sense since hot water is not readily available. All facets here run one temp. If you want anything other than that temp, you have to purchase a water heater.
I’ll admit not a very exciting day, but I still wanted to share. I’m heading to a restaurant tonight called 3 monkeys. I google mapped it and its in the middle of a jungle. This is going to be fun!
Tonya Takes Thailand 