Burn Baby, Burn

I miss smoking. It has been three days since my last pack of yosi from Manila ran out.

I know smoking is bad for my health. But who cares? I think smoking is elegant. Most models smoke, don't they? So why shouldn't I?

Cigarettes here in Bangkok cost like 60 baht (Marlboros), the cheapest being 40 baht (which are fucking shitty). That's nearly 50 pesos per pack (and that's the cheapest ha). Compare that to the 30 pesos you'd spend on a pack of yosi back home.

The past months whenever I have friends from Manila who come here for a visit I always ask them to bring me a box or two of Marlboro menthols. However, I've been giving packs to my colleagues and friends here like I'm some fucking Santa Smoking Claus and now all of my stock's gone.

I don't want to buy yosi now coz I know once I have a pack somewhere I'd be smoking like a fucking chimney. I might stack loads of lollipops instead just so I have something to fiddle with.

(That's two posts for today. Bumabawi lang. Besides, I'd be gone for a couple of weeks. Traveling to the north. See you all soon!)

Halo-Halo Delight

Last Tuesday evening, I dragged the Pranses to a restaurant that serves halo-halo right in the basement of a popular department store in Silom. I only knew through a Thai officemate that My Little Home, the name of the restaurant, serves halo-halo. The place does not even indicate in their menu that they serve other Filipino food such as adobo, pancit, and kare-kare. Only those who are in the know would actually order those dishes. While there are a couple of Filipino food stalls in BKK (inaccessible and chaotic Pratunam), I'm not sure if they serve halo-halo at all. The very day my colleague gave me the halo-halo tip I was instantly on craving mode.

So there I was sitting in My Little Home, beaming like a starving street child when my tall glass of halo-halo arrived on the table. Of course I had to start with the ice cream on top (yeah, we had special halo-halo) and worked my way down. I taught the Pranses how to first properly mix all the ingredients under the thick layer of ice and not until we finished that part of the ritual did we start stuffing ourselves with the delectable dessert.

Each country in Southeast Asia (I heard) has their own version of halo-halo... or at least anything that has crush ice, milk, and some beans or jelly mixed together. I've tried the Thai kind, which is equally interesting.

Halo-halo of course is very MAJOR to me. I swear it's my favorite dessert EVAR. And for some reason, it reminds me of my childhood when all it matters is just eating halo-halo and then I'm all happy. No other food can do that for me, well maybe except adobo and binagoongang baboy. (Tang ina, na-gutom akech.)

The halo-halo in My Little Home did not disappoint. All the basic ingredients were present, except for ube and leche flan. It was also a bit too sweet and could use more milk, but I'm not complaining. And certainly, it was very special coz I was sharing an evening of halo-halo with, ehem, the Pranses.

Photo credit: The Urban Sinner

Mingaw (Sarah Edition)

Haller, haller, haller!!!

Ano na?

Miss you na girl.

Sana magparamdam ka naman *sob*.

Tamad-tamaran Confession

This is what I feared all along... a bout of laziness.

Since coming here to BKK, work has been one big relaxing affair. Read: no pressure, no deadlines. Truly, I have the most undemanding work. I'm not sure if I'm extremely lucky or what. Most days I stare at the monitor reading blogs like my life solely depends on them. If not, I'm on YM and MSN chatting with friends from back home. There are days when I take three-hour lunch breaks, taking a nap in my bedroom (I live in the office), and when I go back to my desk nobody even noticed that I was gone.

I remember working in this NGO in Davao for three years wherein I constantly see my self gasping for air while struggling with the seemingly endless work. I was holding two equally demanding positions, so you can only imagine what kind of multi-tasking I was up to (not to mention the extra research work I did on the side). I was on the road quite often, traveling all over Mindanao. Organizing conferences, which we did almost every quarter, was the most demanding of all tasks and soon after we finish one did I realize that there's another big conference coming up. I've never been as relieved as when I handed my resignation letter to my boss.

When I worked in yet another NGO in Manila last year, I found my self bored with the fact that I was not neck deep in work anymore. For some reason, I craved for a more demanding environment, which this NGO was totally not. When my supervisor would give me a task, he would often tell me that I can finish it when I can. How breezy can that be?I had so much time in my hands. Hence, my blog was quite updated and that's also when I started exploring other people's blogs.

And now BKK, in another NGO that does not care if I'm working on my desk or watching endless porn (I don't... uy, defensive). I just got used to the idea that, well, I can pretty much waste my working hours like nobody's business, leading to what I fear is mental stagnation and unbridled indolence.

That is exactly what's happening to me right now. Fate has to be playing a joke on me as suddenly I'm swamped with documentation and editing jobs that have very tight deadlines. But no, today I came in at work at 10 am and immediately went to visit every blog on my bookmark list. I promised to start working after lunch break, which I spent instead on chatting with friends on YM and MSN.

Thirty minutes before the work day ends, I realize I've only edited one paper (and what a bad job I did on that). But then, it's too late to start working now, right? So I might as well post this entry instead.

Photo credit: Savage Chicken

For You, Guapo

Come Away With Me
by Norah Jones

Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song

Come away with me on a bus
Come away where they can't tempt us
With their lies

I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high
So won't you try to come

Come away with me and we'll kiss
On a mountaintop
Come away with me
And I'll never stop loving you

And I want to wake up with the rain
Falling on a tin roof
While I'm safe there in your arms
So all I ask is for you
To come away with me in the night
Come away with me

Finding My Castle

I skipped work yesterday to tag along with my friend, T, to Silpakorn University Sanam Chan Campus in Nakhon Pathom Province, 56 km away from Bangkok. T is taking his PhD in education at the said university, one of the top schools in Thailand, and last night he presented his paper on the education of street children in the Philippines. Since I assisted him with the paper, he invited me over to his presentation wherein I also answered a few questions about education back home (or what little I know about it).

The highlight of the trip was visiting Sanam Chandra Palace that sits on the edge of the campus. The palace complex, composed of a dozen or so buildings of varying sizes and materials, served as a retreat and residence of King Rama VI (1910-1925), as well as a training ground for the Wild Tigers Corps, a para-military troop. Meandering around the immaculate palace grounds are a series of ponds spanned by small bridges.

(Warning, serious camwhoring ahead... of course!)

I swear I had one long, continuous orgasm while walking around the complex, seeing all those well-preserved architectural treasures.

I especially went berserk when I saw the Phra Tamnak Chalimongkhon-at, a castle-like structure influenced by English Romantic style (completed in 1917). I’ve seen it featured in a book and had since been curious to see its quirky moat and bridge. And who would've guessed I would simply stumble into it? It’s a thing of fancy really, I found my self beaming like a child while crossing the bridge towards the two-story “castle”. On the opposite end of the bridge is an equally enticing red building that houses some memorabilia and photographs of King Rama VI. The preservation efforts for the building earned it Thailand’s Architectural Conservation Award in 1997.

(Photos were not allowed inside any of the buildings, by the way.)

While most of the buildings in the complex were patterned after Western styles, the Phra Tamnak Tab Khwan (completed in 1911) was designed according to Central Thai traditional style. It originally served as the headquarters of the Scouts in the King Rama VI period. Mostly made of wood, the house stands on stilts and is capped with swooping roofs that give it a sense of flight. In 1984, the house was conferred an Architectural Conservation Award.

Walking towards the other side of the complex, I came upon the Bhimarn Prathom Residence, a Western-style building replete with ventilation panes and elaborate railings to suit the hot climate. The house is a maze-like affair, with dozens of rooms and chambers connected by a series of fancy walkways. As a piece of architecture, the house is superb but it can really benefit from a bit of wise interior decorating to veer it away from its current gaudy interior (how about some historical context dear?).

My last stop was a section of the campus that showcases eccentric sculptures, Silpakorn being the top art school in Thailand.

Pool Party

It was time to pull out my musty swimming trunks last Sunday for a pool party courtesy of a BKK-based Filipina who I knew through D during a picnic last December. L, PJ, and I found ourselves on the 10th-floor pool area of the apartment of our host and in the company of a number of artists, retirees, and entrepreneurs. A bit of kebab and chips, together with a good selection of alcohol (and they had San Miguel Beer!!!), was all it took to get the party in motion. (We arrived there at 3 pm and left at half past midnight!) We dipped in the pool (damn, I realized how much I miss swimming) for an hour or so. With plenty of cameras going around, what else is there to do but camwhore?

Laterite Overload

A number of my colleagues and I went on a field trip in Prachinburi last Thursday and Friday to check some archaeological sites (Khmer period) made of laterites. I swear I have no idea what a laterite is prior to this trip (see the Wikipedia entry on laterite here). However, I remember this material used in several temples in Angkor, which were distinct for their orange tint. The temple we saw in Prachinburi was nowhere near as grand as any of the Angkor monuments, however, it is a very important one as it houses the oldest Buddha foot imprint in Thailand.


We then moved to some ancient city, whose name escapes me right now, to visit other sites, mainly holes in the ground carved from the rich deposits of laterite around the area. My archaeologist colleague told me that the purpose of these holes were largely ceremonial although the mystery behind the smaller holes has yet to be uncovered.


Time to check in at the hotel. As we were in some un-touristy city, I expected to be holed in some dingy hotel room. Surprisingly, we ended up in a five-star hotel that sits on the edge of a lake. Very fancy indeed!


The next day was MAJOR laterite overload. Stop after stop we ended up in the numerous laterite "mines" that dot the outskirts of the town. I swear the entire province could be sitting on a humongous slab of laterite. The laborers of the mines only need to dig a few meters to find a sizable laterite deposit and, using a rotating blade, they literally slice the laterite that sit on the site. After which each tile is chipped off the ground and passed on to another group of laborers who polishes them. Laterite is popular in landscaping (footpaths, driveways, etc.) and wall finishings.


While we were hopping from one laterite mine to another, my colleagues and I noticed that we have yet to spot a Seven-Eleven in the town, which is a far cry from its over-abundance in Bangkok and perhaps all other cities in Thailand. Many many years from now, archaeologists and anthropologists would probably call the period we live in as the Seven-Eleven civilization. The number of Seven-Eleven would be a indicator of the social and economic advancement of a particular province. If that's the case, Prachinburi would miserably fail in that criteria.

Mingaw

Six months. I can't believe it sometimes. Time does fly so fast.

All I can say is that the risk's worth it.

But I'm in this homesick mode lately, for some reason I don't know yet.

I definitely miss most my sister. My best friend. Need I say more?

I LOVE YOU YOT!!!

Come back. Come back to me.

For the past week or so I've been reading Ian McEwan's Atonement in preparation for the critically acclaimed film. The book is one of the most satisfying reads I've had recently. I especially admire how the author successfully builds up the tension on the first half of the novel and the longing on the second half. The mood is lugubrious and the pace is a bit tedious, but herein lies the beauty of the book. You root for the consequences and anticipate the resolution. I've always wondered how the film would effectively translate all these, especially coz the book is very introspective.

Last night I found in the papers that there was a sneak preview of the film version. Having finished only three quarters of the book so far (I'm a terribly slow reader), I was hesitating whether I should watch the film, which I've been eagerly awaiting, even before wrapping up the book. Patience is not really one of my virtues so in a snap I was in a cab for the 10.30 pm screening at Central World.

If you're planning to watch the film, please stop reading right here as I cannot help writing some spoilers.

From the opening credits down to the last minutes of the film I was mesmerized. Just like the book, there was a deliberate and long amplification of the moments that lead to the "crime". But you'd always know that something is coming up if you notice all the subtleties of the character's expressions and movements. A lot of the events in the film are all about build up and it's not until the last minutes of it does it rise to a thrilling crescendo, which left me shaking my head in awe (and I resolved to finish that fucking book pronto!).

Playing the 13-year old Briony Tallis, Saoirse Ronan grabs you by her excellently delivered deep-rooted sense of menace and imagined omniscience. If there is any actor who crushes everybody else in the film, the young Ms Ronan successfully clinched the bragging rights. James McAvoy is a close second and certainly his career would take off from here on. Keira Knightly on the other hand is surprisingly capable as the restless and fiery Emily Tallis. (That bitch is skinny I was drooling over her green, cascading gown!).

One of the more remarkable moments of the film (and there are lots of them dear) is the sex scene in the library. From tentative start of the encounter to its hurried climax (ooops!) I was constantly saying to my self: damn, that's passion as I remember it.

Most of the elements of the movie are truly admirable. Cinematography is superb. Watch out for the long beach scene. The music is also cunning, seemingly beating to the rhythm of the audience's overwrought heart as the revelations unfold.

For some reason, the film reminds of Casablanca and The End of the Affair, two of my most favorite films. Damn, I'm such a sucker of unfulfilled love.

Photo credits: 1) The Gaze, 2) IMP Awards.