Discovering a new side to Bangkok: quick trip to the hospital

Just got back from the Bumrungrad International Hospital (Sukhumvit) to have my hand sutured. Accidentally cut the base of my left index finger with a meat cleaver this morning!

Apart from profuse bleeding which I've never seen before live, I kept wondering why I was not feeling any pain --- except whenever the wound was inspected. Must have been my adrenaline running and/or the angels I asked God to send to heal my wound quickly! Hahaha :)

Past injuries must have taught me how to stay calm in situations like these. I was trying hard not to laugh when I found myself trying to calm down the reception staff, Khun Sarin, who went up to my apartment to check my wound. I asked her to sit down when I thought she was about to faint at the sight of blood gushing out and simply instructed her step-by-step what to do: clean my wound with antiseptic, cover with balls of cotton to absorb the blood, tape with plaster while I put pressure on it to stop the bleeding. She was to hail me a cab to bring me to the nearest English-speaking hospital while I dress up to leave (another challenge altogether!).

Suffice it to say, true to its reputation, the hospital I went to had a very able and efficient staff with very good facilities. In between negotiations to cut down the number of stitches and whether to suture with local anaesthesia or not, they managed to close up the wound with 7 stitches that can come off in 7 days. The doctor, Dr. Weerapat, was surprised when I asked if I could watch him suture my wound since the affected area was already feeling numb at that point (I actually felt the first few stitches). I've always wanted to know how that looks like in real life. I don't know why he asked me if I was a doctor. I sat up and watched but he stopped sewing onto my skin then he just gently asked me to lie down. Fine. I wonder why he didn't let me watch. One of my doctors before, Dr. Wang, didn't mind if I watched him take out the stitches from my knee (when I had my ACL surgery). Maybe because Dr. Wang knew me well enough not to get queasy over these things.

Nevertheless, regardless of nationality, I felt again the same almost awe-struck gratefulness to my doctor and the medical staff who attended to my wound as I've always felt towards others in the past.

Most people I know hate the smell of hospitals because it reminds them of death, suffering and despair. I don't know why I've always liked the smell of hospitals. Maybe because it reminds me of healing, renewal and hope.

Thank God for doctors!

Blog quiz mirrors on the wall

I was reading a friend's blog and saw a few facets to her as she shared results of blog quizzes she had been taking. It suggested that if she were a superhero, she'd be Wonderwoman, a true Harry Potter fan and that she is very selfless (to a fault) judging from her bathroom habits.

So I decided to take one of those quizzes she passed on (I won't tell which one) and suprisingly went on a mindless binge taking one after another. I'm almost certain half of it isn't true. Here's the result of a predicatable question: How daring are you?

It's interesting to see how a computer can say the kind of sandwich, mixed drink or bikini I could be. The topics span from esotheric-philosophical to downright silly. I went LoL when it churned out if I had a bad girl reputation or not. If you knew me you would know what I am if I were ;)

Here's the link to the blog quiz if you're interested: http://www.blogthings.com/howdaringareyouquiz/

One Reason for yellow Mondays & happy stray dogs

Only a fool will miss the obvious fact that this nation absolutely adores its longest reigning monarch (apparently also in the world), HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Much has been reported about his image (voluntarily) plastered all over the country and Thais wearing yellow on Mondays (Monday is the day the King was born and yellow is the colour for Monday), clearly to pay tribute to him --- no doubt for his immense contribution to this country.

As an outsider looking in, it's impossible not to admire this influential and well-loved leader. It's fascinating to see how 'real' his relationship is with his people. It's almost like that of a grandfather with a grandchild --- the closest analogy I could think of is that of the fondness devout Roman Catholics have for the late Pope John Paul II.

The King's influence on the Thai people is so far-reaching that I shouldn't have been surprised to find out that one of the reasons stray (native) dogs thrive in this country is because the King is a strong supporter of these 'un-pedigreed' canines. I had mentioned previously how it amazes me to see the chubbiest dogs in this country. And it's quite a common thing to see groups (packs) of stray dogs lazily sprawled on pedestrian lanes with no care at all if you notice them or not. Back in my country, the stray dogs I've seen are not only the most pitiful scraggly creatures one would ever find. You also see this 'praning' (paranoid) expression on their faces as though they were about to be punished (butchered?). I know it's weird but try looking hard at one and you'll see what I mean. But here in the Land of Smiles, you will find the most contented and relaxed stray dogs. They are as unperturbed as their local human counterparts.

What has the King got to do with it?

The King is a dog-lover who promotes caring for the native variety. Testament to the principle of 'mahalin ang sariling-atin' (love your own). He has a dog named, Thong Daeng, who's actually a popular figure in this country owing perhaps to the book the King wrote about this dog. To quote Wikipedia:

"Thong Daeng, a female copper-coloured dog, is one of the pets owned by King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. Bhumibol adopted Thong Daeng in 1998 from the litter of a stray dog that had been taken in by a medical center he had recently dedicated. Her name means "copper" in Thai.

"Bhumibol called her "A common dog who is uncommon," and in 2002 wrote an affectionate biography of her titled "The Story of Thong Daeng". The book is commonly referred to as a parable on many social topics. For instance, the King wrote that "Tongdaeng is a respectful dog with proper manners; she is humble and knows protocol. She would always sit lower than the King; even when he pulls her up to embrace her, Tongdaeng would lower herself down on the floor, her ears in a respectful drooping position, as if she would say, 'I don't dare.'

"All the names of the dogs owned by the King start with the word "Thong" (lit. gold).

"The book instantly sold out in Thailand. Riot-like scenes unfolded in shops as customers wrestled and fought with each other over the last few items. Since demand was so high, the book became an esteemed gift. Shortages of the book had to be kept down by multiple reprints."

Here's a copper-coloured stray dog in Koh Samed who struck the perfect pose to get us to feed him our left-over dinner. At nagpadala naman kami (and we let it get to us)!

Vatican City

A trip to the Vatican City forged my sentiment about Michelangelo being one of the greatest, if not the best, visual artist of all time. I personally feel his frescoes at the Sistine Chapel, which took him 4 years to finish, encompass his genius as a painter. Here is a self-portrait within “The Last Judgment” which he said depicts exactly how he felt after he finished, which was “very exhausted, like creeping out of (his) own skin.” When our tour guide explained this unusual self-portrait, I couldn’t help thinking how he could prefer to immortalise himself in such a “negative” way. It was only when I actually saw the Sistine Chapel for myself, which was stagerring to say the least considering it was work “he accepted reluctantly, because his only real love, then as in all his life, was not painting but sculpture,” that I began to understand why he felt so “spent.”

Later on, readings consistently revealed the same “reluctant” if not almost “resentful” feelings he had about this famous fresco. “This was due not only to the sheer size of the surface that he had to cover with frescoes (some 500 square meters) and the complex design of the whole work, but also to the extremely uncomfortable position in which he had to work, and the poor lighting, which made the task even more difficult. During all these years Michelangelo had gradually become more unsociable, bad-tempered and irascible…he was, as we put it today, a ‘difficult’ person, but in fact he was only giving vent to the nervous tension inside him.”

Unfortunately I don’t have photos to share of the Sistine Chapel or other paintings for that matter. Either I was scared of our tour guide who admitted she felt “defiled or slapped whenever tourists flash their cameras” or I genuinely felt I needed to give my proper respect by refraining to do so. It’s probably in between both.

I don't know if it's because I don't ‘respect’ sculptures as much as paintings --- in my mind, sculptures are probably less sensitive to light as paintings. I could be wrong --- but there I was amongst throngs of people who clicked away (still mindful of my tour guide's sentiments who didn't seem to mind). So here are a few things I took. I have so many other stories behind each piece but I don’t want to bore you with the details. So I’ll just hide behind the statement, “pictures speak a thousand words."

Milano – Italian Cuisine and Coffee 101

In contrast to my disappointment at not being able to explore more of the city, I found that the most tastefully satisfying meal I had during this trip was in Milan. An Italian colleague brought us to this slick ristorante where I had my dose of seafood pasta and my first formal instruction (later to be consistently stressed, reminded and added on by dozens of other after him) on the DO’s and DON’Ts of Italian cuisine:

1. DO follow the order of when you should be having your anti-pasti, pasta, secondi, etc. DON’T have things mixed up like having your main dish served with your salad, very much unlike us Asians (consistent across countries) who like everything all in the ‘middle.’ This explains the discrimination, I mean, the dagger looks we sometimes got from waitresses in the earlier cities we visited. They must have thought, “What barbarians!”
2. DO have coffee after dolce (desert), pure and unadulterated (espresso as we foreigners call it) unlike the kind you find in Starbucks --- that coffee Italians call “Americano.”
3. DO finish every platter of food you’re served. It is an insult to the chef (usually also the ristorante owner) if you DON’T. Again, unlike this Asian trait where we often leave a piece of every dish (served in the ‘middle’) --- aka in Filipino as the hiya (shy) piece --- and bashfully ask the others if no one is taking it before finally consuming.
4. DO take coffee (espresso) at the right time which is after 10 am. DO take capuccino during breakfast before 10am because you still have the rest of the day to digest it since it’s relatively heavy (with cream) compared to the typical coffee
5. DO have the option to take coffee with milk --- this they call macchiatto.
6. DO enjoy your meal slowly. Every delectable piece (and they are delectable) is prepared very carefully by the chef or the cook (who would oftentimes be their mother, wife if not themselves). That’s why, as practically every Italian I talked to professes, McDonald’s or Starbucks DON’T and will not work in Italy (ok, might work for the really unfortunate masses, they say) because fastfood, to them, is simply anti-culture.

Taray!

Overcoming shopping jitters and more food finds

Shopping. Thanks to friends who insisted that Jatujak (or JJ or Chatuchak) was an absolute must for them to come over to Bangkok, I wouldn't have re-discovered the wonders of this shopping destination. Recent reviews (and personal experience), have led me to believe the Weekend Market is starting to lose its plebeian appeal.

And for a non-shopping enthusiast like myself (notice, this is the first time I've written about shopping...in a place like Bangkok!), I felt brushing sticky shoulders through sweltering heat and a confusing mixture of incense, salted fish scent and exotic fragrances was not worth all the trouble.

Fortunately, Marla, whom I consider to be the shopping expert amongst us girls, managed to make it a rule that we get ourselves to Chatuchak during the first hour, ensuring we're out by noontime. Needless to say, the results were as fabulous as most tourist guide literature promise: great finds at great bargains.


Likewise, I finally discovered MBK (Mah Boon Krong) to be a good place to find, as most testify, clothes, bags, etc. I usually go there for home stuff but now know I can get more than that. Yes, after half a year in this city!

* * *

Food. One of the greatest highlights of my friends' trip here is the food tripping. Are you even surprised? From trying out different supposedly "high-so" (local slang for sosyal) places, according to Thai locals, like Baan Kanitha...
...to simply hanging out at my place. Fortunately for us, Roy loves to cook and cooks well, too. This was the first time I actually saw my friends wash dishes. Nice to see their more domesticated side. But sorry, Heids, we didn't get to try the street food. Next time.

Laundry Business

My friend Roy left a short story on my laptop last Thursday. Not only does he own and manage a laudromat (with Marla) back home but he also writes! I don't know if it was because he was bored stiff with all our female chatter but he simply decided to quickly type up a short story and leave it on my computer. Tell me, how often does anyone give you a short story?! :)

Amidst a tight schedule the next day, I couldn't help unravelling my 'present' entitled "John's Laundry and Redemption Center." Okay, I thought, this must be partly the story of his life. Interesting...

To my surprise, it made for a very appropriate Good Friday message.

* * *

John's Laundry and Redemption Center
Somewhere in this city sits a little laundry. It’s rather small, just a fifteen square meter deal, and yet, the loads it takes can border on the ridiculous... (FULL STORY)

MSR drops into town

My high school friends of over 20 years, aka the MSR, just spent the Holy Week here in Bangkok with two of them, Heidee and Marla (with husband Roy) having flown back to Manila this afternoon, and Jika (with husband Mike and son Joshua) flying back on Tuesday.

No, MSR does not stand for some chick squad spun off an 80's version of "Mean Girls." It's an acronym Jika and I coined after picking up an ad agency habit of submitting Weekly Status Reports to clients. After college, the Monthly Status Report (MSR) was launched amongst the four of us --- catch up with each other every month --- which has amazingly persisted to this day. To my knowledge, the only times any of us had missed an MSR (if at all) was whenever something absolutely unavoidable happens like giving birth or relocating to another country for work. Yes, even in between travels and honeymoons, we still manage to see each other.

With my recent posting, I've obviously missed out on a couple of MSR's. It was really such a treat having all of them over (complete attendance!) at the same time. They were apparently planning to come here during my birthday but my parents had that covered. Hence, they came the next soonest time possible they could all come together. The other blessing? Good Friday (6 Apr) was also a national Thai holiday (Chakri Memorial Day) so I got to maximise the time I had with them.

Here with Heidee, Jika and Marla during my despedida (send-off) dinner last year at Fire Lake Grill in Tagaytay (Philippines).
More on the MSR visit...

Back in Baipai...

Yes, my parents and I immersed ourselves deeper into Thai cuisine at the Baipai Thai Cooking School. I mentioned before that I was pleasantly surprised at how they were such troopers during their entire visit --- expected this from my Dad but I have to give my Mom a lot of credit. In the midst of complaints to our Thai teacher that she'd rather be eating the food we're supposed to be cooking (when the dishes started to get more 'complicated'), not only did she manage to cook her own set perfectly but is, as of this writing, already recreating it now that she's back in Manila. My Mom would have most likely graduated valedicatorian in Baipai if we were graded! Good thing we weren't. She rose up to the teacher's challenge: "This is not a restaurant but a cooking school. You're not here to eat. You're here to learn to cook." Taray.

If there's anyone, however, who seemed to have had the most fun, I would think it was my Dad. This was the first time I saw him smiling ear-to-ear out of all the snaps I took while they were here. Here are my proud parents with the Goong Sauce Ma-kam (Prawin in tamarind sauce) they cooked:

Other dishes we learned to cook that day: Gai Hor Bai Toey (Chicken wrapped in Pandanus Leaf)

Som Tam (Papaya salad) --- Very different from our own achara (pickled papaya). This is one of my favourites. I could eat it everyday!

Gang Pehd Ped Yang (Roasted Duck in Red Curry) --- lives up to its being Royal Thai food. Not the easiest thing to make because there's just so much that goes into it.

My parents visit & Kanchanaburi Part I

Tomorrow my parents would have been here in Thailand for exactly two weeks. It's been great hanging out with them and learned they were such troopers. Yes, including my Mom! I must say that, truly, "my cup overfloweth" with all the new experiences shared with them in this country. I feel very blessed.

The next few blogs will be devoted to describing how their visit had been. First off would be the weekend spent in Kanchanaburi. I had previously gone to this province with a couple of Pinoy friends last October to check out the key tourist spots. This time I went with my parents to appreciate its more "historical" side. So before I rattle off with another round of historical ramblings, I'll let you in on its more "tourist-y" attractions.

* * *

Kanchanaburi is a province 128 km West of Bangkok. There you will find the well-known "Bridge over River Kwai" from which the award-wining 1978 film "Deer Hunter" (Robert de Nero, Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken) was based on. We also visited the Tiger Temple, Lawa Cave and the Hellfire Pass.
The Tiger Temple is a monastery and sanctuary to wild animals. Legend has it that some tigers had found their way here for protection by the Buddhist monks who later on became their 'friends.' We also saw deers, herds of wild boar as well as a black bear cub.

We had to climb hundreds of steps to get to the Lawa Cave. It housed eight chambers (rooms) with awesome stalactites and stalagmites to behold. Here you see Mabs, Dong and Claire in one of Lawa Cave's more impressive chambers.


Apart from reflecting on the state of PoW's who perished while building the Hellfire Pass, we soon discovered that this historical site offered some of the best photo opportunities compared to the others we went to. Below is Dong's postcard-pretty 'candid' pose as an example :)

Meeting prehistoric ancestors in Jakarta

Couldn't help remembering my history classes here in Jakarta. It offered living proof that we Filipinos are truly descendants of Indo-Malay people (who walked on landbridges long before we could recall the name of our oldest forefathers)!

Skimming the surface. Apart from a closer semblance to Indonesians compared to other Southeast Asian cousins (from Thailand, Vietnam, etc. who seem to have stronger Chinese influence), we are very much prehistorically related to Indonesians in terms of our positive disposition (friendly, extremely hospitable), food (greasy) and language. In fact, one of the highlights of this trip was figuring out some of the Bahasa words I encountered. Dig this:
BAHASA / FILIPINO (DIALECT ) / ENGLISH
dua / duwa, dalawa / two
pitu / pito / seven
walu / walo / eight
libu / libo / thousand
pintu / pinto / door
gunting / gunting / scissors
balut / balot / wrap
anak-anak / anak / child
mura / mura / cheap
mahal / mahal / expensive
makan / mangan (kapampangan) / food
babi / baboy / pig
kambing / kambing / goat
krupuk / kropek / some crunchy fishy-smelling snack

I even found this dish that closely resembled our bulalo (bone marrow soup) except it tasted more like beef sinigang and they had a different way of taking out the marrow. They suck it out with a straw! Eeeeyyyummmm...

Trang and Rahul marvelling at this thing called the krupuk, found in almost every market stall --- in different shapes and colours, too!
And just when I thought that the kulintang was originally ours, I find that they have it too! Either they invented the musical instrument or we did! Does it matter?!? :) This isn't exactly the kulintang but I saw a lot of it in the souvenir shop as well as the sungka!
Under our skin. Both our nation's histories share a similar pattern. Our culture has some Chinese influence the same way that theirs has traces of Indian culture. Our countries were both colonised by European nations for several centuries and somehow been bruised by that experience. In spite of this we both seem to carry on a deep sense of religiousity. Indonesia is about 80% Moslem, 20% Christian while the Philippines is about 80% Christian, 20% Moslem.

The Limbacos

My adoptive family in Bangkok (clockwise left to right): Kevin, Elaine, Nick and Gabby.

National Children's Day

A month ago (16th January), Thailand celebrated National Children's Day. Our church (Every Nation, aka Victory in the Philippines) marked this day by orgnising an outreach to more than 300 children at a community in Central Ladprao, Bangkok. The community is a Day Care for less fortunate children who, to my mind, are not used to being well-attended to, much less receving gifts like toys or school supplies. It took a good 2km walk going to and from the community coming from Big C Ladprao Mall. Cliche as it may sound but it was worth enduring the noonday heat just to bring smiles to these children. To borrow from the newsletter of Malen Talusan, a Filipino missionary at our chuch:

"On this day, we distributed bags filled with groceries, snacks, colouring books, crayons and pencils to to children of drug addicts and parents who work in the provinces. We played games and shared God in a natural way. Please continue to pray that one day they will grow up in a secure environment...full of God's love."
Children at the community we visited playing "The Boat is sinking." That's Pastor Jonas (Bernales), in black, looking on.

My parents' Birthdays and a Thai Wedding

Parents' Birthdays. Was home in Manila last weekend to celebrate my father's 60th birthday last 5th February. Without much fanfare he chose to quietly spend it with his siblings. A week before his birthday was my Mom's (31st January). I'm just grateful for the time spent with family last week.

* * *

Thai Wedding. I attended my first Thai wedding last 7th January. My officemate Yoong (bride) got married to Santi (groom).
Similar to Chinese-Filipino weddings, Yoong and Santi (who are Chinese-Thais) had their wedding ceremony earlier in the day attended only by family followed by a cocktail reception at the Intercon in the evening. There must have been about 1,000 guests during the reception with the Thais all dressed to the nines! The Thai women were all professionally styled and fashionably dressed (they wore modern clothes, not traditional Thai costumes as I had presumed). Astonishingly, the men all seemed to be wearing D&G or Armanis! The programme was fairly straightforward with speeches from Yoong's and Santi's respective big bosses followed by an interview of the couple, a song number from one of our officemates and a champagne-pouring ceremony (for abundance).
One thing I realised that night is that Pinoys, compared to Thais, give equal, if not more, weight to food over looking fabulous.