Back in Bangkok. One night in my apparent and my neck felt super stiff. Anyway. I had a realisation, that I only have 4 days off left until I am finished on this job! Crazy! Week 9 went by incredibly fast. I am really enjoying the atmosphere though. It takes time for the crew to get used to each other and it feels like we are all sort of in sync now. I cannot give enough praise and love to the local crew, I hope I get to work with them here again. Our little Van number 7 team also feel well bonded by now. Life is good.

Sunday. Being back in Bangkok feels like home now. We traveled a relatively short distance to this beautiful French looking house and according to the plan essentially had this one scene to complete in a day. Surprisingly for me the day felt as if it passed super quick. We had actors we didn’t work with in a while and they are just so professional, made the day flow so much faster and the energy they brought in was very refreshing. Anyway. Good day at work. Managed to listen to 90 minutes of my audio book somehow in the down times. Surprising actually. Decided to increase my daily reading goal to 1h at least. Got a Thai massage after work, did some meditation and off to bed.

Monday. Could barely get out of bed. Was still haunted by all the crazy zombie slaying dreams I had that night! Day at work was relatively easy, no bells or whistles. Nice interior location, very well air-conditioned! Had some new actors. One of them had the most magical sounding voice. Was giving me vibes of Dumbledore and Ollivander from Harry Potter – made my day. In the evening I rushed to my Pilates class and got a massage afterwards. That felt amazing. I was totally relaxed, did another day of that meditation challenge I am following and passed out like a baby.

Tuesday. Woke up to some extremely vivid dreams of jumping with the parachute, but somehow landing without one. Also I wasn’t alone, but cannot quite tell who I was with. Another part of the dream involved a lot of walking and slicing with a machete through some glossy solid hard ice. It would beautifully crack open and some under layer of clear fresh water would wash it off. It was a very satisfying feeling. Work wise – same location as on Monday, just set as some place else – magic of cinema. The location got me thinking of my evenings back at home (when I still had an apartment to pay rent for). After the day of filming I would kick back on the balcony overlooking the skyline of Vilnius and smoke a cigar while sipping on some apple juice. I do miss home. After work I had a nice long shower, mixed a chia pudding for the breakfast next morning and did some meditation. It was just after 8pm I think, when I accidentally passed out. Had a great sleep though.

Wednesday. Again some vivid nice dreams of being on the island, filming, diving and a bit of love. We got stuck in the traffic on our way to the location. When we arrived we had to rush with breakfast and actually getting on set so I didn’t even had a chance to see where I was exactly. But then we had a bit of a delay with some wigs and prosthetics and all of the sudden I had a chance to look around. Well, without a doubt this was one of the creepiest locations I’ve ever shot in. (And I have shot in an actual Chernobyl twin power plant, so that says something). So the location of the day was an abandoned hospital, but the way it was abandoned was creepy in itself as a lot of medical equipment, like metal racks to hold blood bags or buckets, wheelchairs and push beds were still there. Make up video village was literally set in the morgue! The names of the deceased were still written on the individual fridge doors. I was asking around the crew why they think a lot of the hospital equipment was left behind, after all it is a medical grade metal, it could be sold, melted or remoulded or something. All they said that it was a bad luck to take anything from there and they believe that the place is haunted. Some even had talismans in their pockets for protection. Crazy! This week I really felt like the theme of death was following me. In the evening I had grand plans to finally have a video call with the bf, but I had to do my meditation before hand and I accidentally fell asleep again. I mean I am getting some good sleep, but it was getting a bit annoying.

Thursday seemed that it came very quick this week. The location was so much better than the day before, or so I though at first. We started off with a scene in a hotel and then proceeded to another in a nearby Go Go bar. The place itself didn’t look bad or anything, but somehow you could just feel the seediness of it. I didn’t dear to touch any of the local furniture or tables as it just looked sticky. Also, cockroaches! That place does not serve food so it just got me wondering what exactly they feed on and it was grossing me out. I am still on a fence about this whole “girl” culture, because here it seems as natural as buying coconut milk. I think it’s good that it is all open and legal, but for me it raises questions, whether it affects general position of women in the society and what it does to female rights. I was already told by this guide back in week 3, that “women destroy magic” so is this an extension to that or the result of that? Evening was spent with  the colleagues at the local bar drinking wine and eating way past my usual food time. I think I stayed until 3 am. 

Friday. My only day off this week saw me bright and early for the two back to back Pilates classes starting at 7.30am. After that I had some quick lunch and spend almost 2 hours in traffic on my way to the dive store. I have finally ordered the regulator I wanted and will pick it up in a week as it is traveling from Phuket. Then I strolled to another dive store just to have a look around for any rash-guards or wetsuits the other store might have. It wasn’t the best call as they only store Mares and the traffic outside that shop was literally standing.I chose to walk out of the center a little so I could get a taxi home. Also I finished listening to Steve Jobs book read by Walter Isaacson and for some time when I was thinking about what I had to do I heard my thoughts in his voice. In the evening we finally managed to get together for the Skype date with the bf. People in regular relationships should really appreciate having each other on the daily basis. My current work schedule is so packed that visits seem like a waste of money.

Saturday. Back at work. Not feeling it at all. Purchased a new audio book which I started listening to. On a positive note we wrapped 2 hours early and I even managed to get in 10 laps in the pool followed by 1.5 hours Thai massage before being completely knocked out. And that’s my week.

Stuff I found interesting:

  • I have been dreaming a lot this week. I wonder if my late evening massages have anything to do with it?
  • Been thinking about death a lot. This Steve jobs book started giving me chills as his imminent death was approaching. Don’t think I felt like this before. The creepy hospital, serial killers and my visit to POW cemetery last week contributed to that too.
  • Had a great girl power scuba diving chat with one of the costume girls. Felt very good. 
  • Buying my own dive gear felt empowering. It will be the first time I dive without my dive buddy and it gives me all sorts of feelings. I know it will make me a better diver, but all the first time jitters are back again.
  • The end is so near!!

Cheers with the glass full of properly massaged elephant!