my prayer

The idea of travel has been eating me for a while now. God knows I’ve been ripping my heart and my mind out, trying to find my purpose. I need to know what to do about my life, this life I spend sitting in front of the computer, doing work, surfing the net, and anything not involving any strenuous activity. Well, today is the culmination of years of pondering, the never ending coffee conversations about the future, and the nights I lay awake on my bed, thinking, what the hell should I be doing. 

Before I resigned in IBM, I was set on writing my way out of poverty, probably live in Laguna for a few months until I’m able to stand on my own again. I gave myself another chance at DSM, however, hoping maybe there is something for me in the corporate world after all. But what I really want is to write. I couldn’t find myself writing at times but I would really, really love to write. I would write for work, for myself, for my audience around the world. Prof., a friend I met seven years ago once told me he felt I was destined for something big. Well, Prof., I think this is it. I believe in it with all my heart.

I was afraid. What if in the process of writing my way into the world, I lose contact of society. Be a recluse behind closed doors. Being the blabbermouth that I am, I shared my dilemma to Jaime, a man who truly inspires me. He said, “CJ, what do you think about writing from different places around the world?” And my heart exploded. I felt fireworks ignite inside my chest. I am going to write from beautiful places around the world. I will find beauty in grit, in chaos, in nature, in people, in frustration, in traffic, in family, in love, in my future lovely kids, and in my future lovely husband. For this I thank the truly inspiring people I got to know through the wonderful age of information, a.k.a. the internet. They are the travel writers around the globe, the writers and film makers who make my eyes twinkle with light, and my friends who believe that our life is an expedition and we should trek the best out of its stony path.

Today I start my journey to the future. And the whole world will be my address. I will walk all its paths with a smile pasted on my liver and my heart giggling with delight. And may God be always with me. Amen.

my bangkok diary: day 2

April 14, 2012  

Today is my third day in Thailand, but since it’s still early morning and I haven’t done anything yet, I’m gonna talk about yesterday’s adventures. But let me describe first where I am right now. I am in the hostel lobby and it is full of guests. Behind me is a Caucasian guy, who looked at me before I sat down and write this entry. In front of me is that guy over there at the counter. I think he is in the processes of checking himself in.

Have I told you that there are tons of tourists here? I mean, from all over the world. Mostly whites, I guess. Then there are the yellows, the reds, and the browns – although I can’t really tell who the tourists are among the brown ones, since Thai people are mostly brown. I didn’t see much black people though. And by the way, the weather here is scorching – at least where there is no air conditioning. The heat can slap you as if it's a wet lasagna. Lasagna that was just retrieved from a pot of boiling water, that is. So if heat is your cup of tea, then go ahead and book a flight to Bangkok.

Okay, so going back to the purpose of this entry, let me recall what happened yesterday…

Yodchai, our driver, picked us up at 8:30am. We went to the floating market, which was a two-hour drive from Bangkok. When we arrived at a small boat terminal, we were met by people who manage the boats that take tourists to the market and the elephant village. The funny/scary part was, we were only able to bring money that was just enough for the boat-ride and elephant-ride fees. What about if we wanna buy something? We were like, “holy kamote!” I told Ai and Oli that we look like traveling paupers.

We took the boat anyway, stopped at the first two stores, and then I told the boatman not to stop at any store anymore. The items sold were so expensive and we were going to Chatuchak anyway. Of course, I didn’t tell the boatman that we didn’t have any money left. Ai was actually concerned that people there may think that Filipinos are poor. I should have suggested that we introduce ourselves as Vietnamese or Cambodians.

For people who didn't have any money left, we looked too darn happy about ourselves. =P

After going to the market, we went to ride the elephants. Yeyyy!!! – one more item crossed out from my bucket list. 

I was honestly afraid of the elephants because they look so powerful, and they’re tall so sitting on the back of one scared me out because I’m afraid of heights. What really shook me up was when our elephant went to the murky water (which I assume was full of shit) because it may decide to stay and submerge under water. It would have been one hell of an experience but I feel lucky it didn’t happen. Hahahaha…

 

After the market and the elephant ride, we were so ready to go back to the hotel, take a rest, and get some money. Yodchai, however, told us that we better go to the temples since it will be on our way to the hostel.  He even lent us money to pay for the entrance fee. Cool, no?

We went to Wat Po, where the huge sleeping Buddha was. Wat Po was super amazing and it was overflowing with people. It was also insanely hot there. Good thing I don’t have much fat in my body to sweat. Although, I did sweat as much as I could, naturally.

After Wat Po, at around 3:30pm, we finally went back to the hostel. We slept a little, changed clothes, and went to the lady-boy cabaret show. It looks nice in pictures but the production was fairly simple and the dance numbers were not well rehearsed. I didn’t really think it was a waste of money, though. Since, we are in Thailand, I think it’s a must that we see lady boys perform. =P

Si ate ang bida ng tanghalan.

Oh, before I forget… the Songkran activities are in full swing. I’m afraid it would be hard to stay dry for long.

Their containers hold water. These people splash water to passers by.

Wet kids. They splash water on whoever crosses their path.

my bangkok diary: day 1

April 13, 2012 - 7AM - Lobby of Lub D Siam

Yesterday was my first day in Bangkok and I'm already in love with this city. Oh, by the way, Thailand is pronounced as Tai-land (silent "h") -- unless you wanna call it the land of thighs.

This is where we we are staying...

The Lub D Siam is a top-rated hostel that's also frequented by western tourists. It stands at the heart of Bangkok.

 It's the coolest place ever.

This is our chic dorm room.

The stairs.

View from the veranda: The National Stadium sky train station.

Thailand pretty much looks like the Philippines and Bangkok looks like Manila, except that Bangkok is much cleaner. Their vehicles here don't produce smoke, similar to the other places I've been to like North Carolina, Hong Kong, and Macau. I also noticed that there are Indian influences in Thailand's art and architecture. It's like Thailand has a combination of Chinese, Malay, and Indian culture.  

The Tuktuk.

I didn't know that the Siamese Cat... is actually Thai. Lol.

 As for the language, I have heard locals say "no English," which is so different from the PI, where almost everyone understands English, even the tinderas and the jeepney drivers. But so far, we haven't really had difficulty with regard to communicating with the locals. And by we, I mean Oli and Ai and me. Connet wasn't able to come, which is a bummer. But actually, I'm not so bummed because right now, in Bangkok, there are tons of sizzling locals and Caucasian tourists. Yum.

They look like this...

And this...

Have I told you that my favorite color is purple? =P

But we aren't really here for the boys. We're here to celebrate our ten years of friendship! Yup! It's been ten years since I've met my wonderful friends, when we started out as staff in our college newspaper, The UPLB Perspective. Now that we have money (well, kinda...), we decided to celebrate it outside Manila. =)

Oli and I came from Manila, while Ai came from SG. Ai waited for us in the BKK airport for 4 hours so that's why she was so elated when we finally arrived.

The reason we chose Bangkok as our destination is because we are a huge fan of the movie, The Love of Siam, and we are so infatuated with its lead actors (Pchy and Mario) that we decided to get a glimpse of them. Unfortunately, we are a day too late for the premier night of Pchy's latest movie, Home. The pemier night happened the night before we arrived in Thailand, and it was held at a mall near our hostel. We're like: whaaatttt???

But the good thing is, we were able to watch Home last night at Siam Paragon. And guess what, it has English subtitles! I almost clapped in the cinema because I prepared myself to watch it without the subtitles and only hoped to get the context clues of their actions. 

And you know what? The film was awesome. It was funny and romantic and full of heartaches. I wanted to cry like a baby after watching it. It helps that the cast is so gorgeous.

Ai wanted to have her picture taken with this life-size carton poster but she was shy.

Dinner before the movie.

Hmmm.... well... well... well...

Look what we found!

This is where Tong and Ying stood as they watched the August band perform for the Christmas concert. #TheLoveOfSiam

This is where the August band performed!!! *faints*

 Anyway.

I need to go to our room to prepare. Our driver will be coming in 20 minutes and I've got to pack my bag.

Oh wait... Ai and Oli just came down. I guess we're gonna have breakfast. Talk to you later!