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"One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble
Not much between despair and ecstasy
One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble
Can't be too careful with your company
I can feel the devil walking next to me."
Please refer to one of the previous entries, One Night in Bangkok
One of the richest traditions we have in my opinion, is our word Po signifying respect/formalness which is like Lei in Italian or Usted in Spanish. And this is slowly being diluted by our very hodge-podge culture, especially by Western influence. I hate it when people I address with Po tell me: "Huwag mo na akong i-Po, pinapatanda mo naman ako!" (Don't address me with Po, you're making me (feel)older)
Last night, while Noel and I were buying Pan de Sal from Pan de Manila along Katipunan, two little boys were coaxing us to buy the sampaguita leis they were selling. We gave them chocolate milk tetra packs instead, to which they smiled and said "Salamat Po." (This was genuine thanks instead of grumbling as some other kids that beg on the street do when they are given food instead of money) And to me, it is such a beautiful way of saying thank you. Salamat Po. Something which would be wonderful to hear more of.
Without my voice for the most part of last night and the whole of today, I was teasing Noel that I feel a little like The Little Mermaid- except I didn't trade my voice to the sea witch for a pair of legs. It's part of the whole flu package that started the day before we left Bangkok. I've been groggy and croaky, hacking like an old man and filling up our basurahans (wastebins) with kleenex- ugh! Ever notice how those that lose their voice are talkative people? Notice how this ailment hardly ever happens to guys. Hehehe.
Anyway, it's been tough keeping quiet. Literally. Our friend Mel dropped by for a bit, and I had to type on the computer to be able to communicate with her. It felt really funny. Thanks Mel for being patient. :)
I also had to ask my dear husband to do the groceries all by his lonesome today. He came back with some pretty funny things like 3 different flavors of toothpaste and 2 different cans of insect spray! Hahaha. But thank you, for doing that for us today, Noely. :) I really appreciate it!!!
Before hitting the grocery, Noel asked me if he could get the latest Warcraft game he sneakily reserved without me. It will pretty much skew our budget so I made a deal with him that he has to start using his rowing machine again. He is now happily stuck in front of his computer monitor playing with the elves and dwarves. Tomorrow he has to keep his end of the bargain. ;)
After sleeping early the night before, we start the day at 6am. Eat breakfast and hurry on to the tour van. Today we avail of the free city tour, where we go to 2 Buddha temples, one golden, one huge and reclining. Plus a jewelry factory after. We longed for the taste of 'cha num dien' or Iced Tea with Milk after a long tour of the temples. And thanks to our tour guide, Olive, they served this to us on the house at the jewelry factory.
We then head to Chatuchak Market (not sure if I am spelling this all correctly, but that's what it sounds like) on an empty stomach and searched for a cool place to eat in... Wrong place. We just made a quick round of the busy market that sold all kinds of things from food to clothing. Too hot. We decide to go to MBK, one of the many malls in Bangkok. We have a nice Teppanyaki lunch at Oishi, at their food court.
We shop around in the mall for a while. I notice a lot of transvestites, one almost looked like a girl except that he had too huge a pair. We then head towards Siam square and realized that we were looking for Siam Center. Frustrated we go back to our hotel rooms and take a nap.
For dinner, we finally found a decent Thai restaurant. SARAP! That's the thing with Thailand, you can get great food at a resonable price.
(Day 3 to be continued)
I should really win an award for person who successfully messes up song lyrics as I thought this 80's song went "One Night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble!" Actually, here's how it really goes:
"One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster
The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free
You'll find a god in every golden cloister
And if you're lucky then the god's a she
I can feel an angel sliding up to me."
This was the song playing in my head as we vacationed in one of the places of my childhood. Pictures of this summer's family adventure soon! :)
We are back in Manila after a nice 4-night stay in Bangkok at the Arnoma hotel. Here was our itenrary:
Day 1: After a long day at the airport we arrived at our hotel rooms tired at 2pm bangkok time. We rest for a while and go to the nearest mall across for some fast food late lunch. We then go to Isetan/Central World Plaza to do some shopping.. I was disappointed at the Kinokuniya bookstore. It was nothing like its Singaporean counter part.
We have dinner at a "Hot Pot" restaurant and ordered a weird drink thinking it was the Thai iced tea. It turned out to be sago with milk. So tired we went right back to the hotel and slept early. On our way back we saw a baby elephant on the street, with its trainers selling little pieces of fruit for 20 baht for us to feed it with.
(Day 2 to be continued)
Our vacation in Bangkok is coming to an end. Tomorrow we leave back for Manila. This was not the first time I came to Bangkok. Via and I spent our honeymoon here and in Phuket 3 years ago. I feel that there were some changes between that time. Makes me even feel worse that Thailand seems to be growing much faster than the Philippines.
Quick summary of our trip (more to come soon): Riding elephants, Buddha watching, more bookstores, some shopping, great Thai food, and slightly cloudy but still very hot and humid.
I stayed up last night watching Sideways starring Paul Giamatti, on DVD, which is probably why I feel like this on a Friday (read previous entry). But it was a very good film and was worth staying up late for. It came out in theaters a couple of months back and won best writing (adapted screenplay) at the last Academy Awards. A well deserved one. It is a character driven movie revolving around a guy, coming out of a divorce, and his friend, who is getting married. They have a week of wine sampling at the Napa Valley strech and meet women on the way.
I liked how they constantly describe the taste of wine and how it somehow jives with the whole setting, characters and situation. The pace is steady with some injected comic relief. Which reminded me of another DVD I watched recently called Napoleon Dynamite.
In contrast to the mostly dramatic tone of Sideways, Napoleon is an almost slapstick comedy. But still it is character driven and is about Napoleon who is a high-school student in a small backward town in the states. The pace of the two is the same. I love the deliberate shots in Napoleon Dynamite. The characters are always framed in the center in different distances. Their actors faces are expressionless which adds to the comedy.
This makes me think how come we in the Philippines can't come up with movies like this? It's not high budget. No special effects. Just good writing.
As the world watches the Pope's burial. I am here at work starting blankly at my screen trying to begin the day... now it's lunch time and I havent started on anything. AaccK!! Don't you just hate these days when you just can't get a move on?
It still brings tears to my eyes when I watch CNN's extensive coverage on the passing of our dear Pope John Paul II. Here was a man who forgave the one who shot him and caused him to fall bleeding to the floor. And to do so with an embrace... I was humbled to recall the many times I held onto my anger because it felt impossible to let go of it or felt that the offender was beyond all pardon.
Thank you for helping me remember with your great example, how anger cripples one's self if we allow it to fester. So many will not be the same people they once were for even just a split-second encounter with you, wonderful human being, angel of a man. The whole world mourns your loss but rejoices that you are freed from your pain and are rejoicing in the reward of Eternal Life. We know you continue to pray for and watch over us in the wonderful place that you now belong to.
Today will be the last day that my little sister (11 years my junior) will sing the Assumption school song above. I'm sure it will be an emotional time for her as she grew up in that school, having started there when she was in Prep- by then I was already a senior in Assumption as well. And now she's the senior. It will be tough for her to say good-bye to her good friends but as college beckons in a few months' time, so will new ones.
And in this few months' time she'll be moving in with us she'll be an Atenean too! (Which brings our team's count up to 5! YAY! My whole family is die-hard La Salle save for my Dad, Noel, my Ninong Hen, the occasional balimbings, me and now Fran!) So kudos to you, my favorite sister! My only sister. Good job! CONGRATULAZIONI e BOCCA LUPO! (Congrats and good luck!)