The
reason why I know this is that I was a philosophy
major in college. And the big bad secret of
why so many lost seemingly rational and healthy
college men study philosophy is not to discover
the meaning of life. It is because they have a thing
for small breasted bohemian girls wearing tight
black turtlenecks. Let's put it this way: I don't
know what Angelina
Jolie studied in college but she looks like
a philosophy babe. And what I am leading up to is
this: Starbucks owes a major debt to the forlorn
loners and tortured artists of our universities'
philosophy departments for keeping the tradition
of being self-absorbed and trying to look cool while
the body absorbs unnatural amounts of caffeine. Howard
Schultz didn't invent the cafe/coffee house culture,
it was the philosophy students of the world that
kept the tradition going and all Schultz did was
to bring it to the masses. Pondering these historical
truths, I, as a former former philosophy major
AND being from Canarsie, hometown of Howard Schultz,
I think I deserve something extra, like having a
lifetime membership for free Starbucks coffee and
if you agree, please send an email to Starbucks
on my behalf.
Other attractions of the street are a whole line
of popular restaurants including O'Reilly's Grill,
an Irish pub, Bua for Thai food, Zen Japanese restaurant,
Italian Pola Pola and soon to open Coyotes, which
may be a Tex-Mex place. The only other place I actually
go to is my favorite traditional massage place,
Baan Ruen Nuat.
Baan
Ruen Nuat
When I think of a spa I think of a wooden house,
preferably made out of teak wood. The problem with
many massage places is that they are not what they
advertise. Instead of a natural and elegant spa
atmosphere, you will end up at a matchbox-like shop
house with wires dangling precariously out
of the walls. Of course, the quality of the
massages is important too. The main thing to look
out for when getting a massage is to make sure that
the masseuse does not damage your ligaments, joints
and tendons. The second most important thing is
to enforce the No Coughing Rule : If your
masseuse is coughing and sneezing all over you,
chances are good that you will catch whatever it
is that is bugging the masseuse. At that first sign
of an infected masseuse, you need to abandon etiquette
and hurt feelings and ask for a replacement, mucho
pronto.
The good thing about Baan Ruen Nuat is that you
can extend the feeling of being outside Bangkok
even further because the place is actually an old
wooden house that is located way deep inside a soi.
The owner has sunk some money into the place and
it shows. The natural wood elements of the old house
are highlighted and there is a Zen-like spaciousness.
You feel like you are upcountry in some small slow-moving
town. The quality of the masseuses has been, in
my experience, consistently good. Massages are slightly
more expensive than most traditional massage places
but less expensive than a spa.
