kawadjan

Must-Watch: 'August' and 'Weekend'

2012-01-19T14:44:00.000+07:00

Recently I saw two gay films I have been urging my friends to watch.

First there's August (2011), which tells the story of Troy who returns to LA in the hope of reviving his relationship with his ex-lover Jonathan. They had a summer affair that ended bitterly but Troy wants to give it a second chance. Jonathan, who is now involved with Raul, is at first resistant to Troy's moves but the temptation is a bit hard to resist.

One of the film's insights is that when lovers stray from their relationships, it's not always because they're inherently cheating pricks or that they mean to hurt their partners. Cheating may happen when a person allows things to spiral down from a series of whimsical decisions, sometimes just to quell a curiosity just like in Jonathan's case.

There's nothing ground-breaking about the film, but what's interesting is how some of the circumstances in the tangled relationships of the three main characters seem familiar to us through our friends or even through first-hand experiences.

It does not hurt of course that the actors in the movie are as hot as summer in August.

And then there's the much-hyped gay movie of 2011, Weekend. This is yet another familiar story of one-night stands among gay men. We've been all through that at one point or another.

What seemed like a single encounter flourished into a deeper connection between Russel and Glen as they explore their pasts and experiences as gay men. On the latter, they discuss a bit of the politics of being gay in modern Britain. In fact there's a lot of talking in the movie, which is why some people have called it the gay Before Sunset.

And just like in Before Sunset, Russel and Glen also grapple with the reality that their relationship is short-lived. So there's a very subdued tension between them while they make the most of what little time they have.

The actors have exceptional chemistry, helped, ironically, by the contrasting personalities of their characters: Russel's pensiveness and Glen's detachment.

Again, there are no breakthroughs in this film, but it excels in treating a familiar subject with deeper sensitivity and complexity than most gay movies I've seen.

Good news is both films are now available for download.

A "Wicked" Experience in Singapore

2012-01-11T19:08:00.001+07:00

I was in Singapore last weekend, my first time to visit the island state. I've never been interested to visit Singapore before; that is until I heard "Wicked" would be staged at the Marina Bay Sands. I've been a big fan of "Wicked" for quite some time now. It's just one of those big Broadway musicals I could only dream of seeing. Besides, it was also a good reason to finally see the Lion City.

Well, my impressions of Singapore are all the things you've heard about it from other people: it's clean, has lots of trees, it's orderly and efficient, and so on. Those things I immediately noticed, especially the trees.

Did someone tell you it has loads of Pinoys too? We are everywhere there! In the bus, on the train, on the pavement... every freaking where. It's nice though. It's like being back in Manila, only it's way, way cleaner than the usual.

So I also have Pinoy friends there who warmly welcomed me to their home for two nights. We hopped around the bars in the gay area of Tanjung Pagar (if I remember that correctly) on my first night there.

I fell in love with that area just around China Town - all those quaint old shophouses and temples - where I also went to meet some more friends for lunch at a hawker's place. By the way, I was absolutely thrilled by the diversity of food one can find in Singapore. No, I did not try chicken rice or crab chili thingie when I was there. That should be for next time no?

I also missed going to the Singapore Art Museum, which was in my itinerary. I just ran out of time, so I instead went straight from China Town to Marina Bay Sands.

Gosh, that is one posh place. I'm not too sold out on the architecture though (I saw the mall mostly). It's meant to awe, the sheer enormity of it - glass, steel, lights, and all - is supposed to sweep you off your feet, but obviously not mine. I don't know, I just felt disconnected from it. Or maybe I'm just bitter because I could not afford anything there. :-)

So it's time to watch "Wicked". I was there way too early, I was one of the first few people who entered the lobby. Excited much?

The show was ahhhmazing. I'm not kidding when I say that I had goosebumps practically through the entire show. I've been listening to the musical's songs for ages now, and to finally see them given life by the actors, dancers, lights, costumes, and set was nothing short of a transcendental experience.

For me, Glinda (Suzie Mathers), the good witch, stole the show. She's perky, endearingly self-absorbed, and, how shall I put this... kikay.

Elphaba (Zoe Jarett) was overshadowed perhaps because she lacked intensity. She's a good singer of course, but I expected Elphaba to be more fervent, if not angrier. Even the "Defying Gravity" segment lacked power... but then maybe I just expected too much from the scene.

The other scene I most looked forward to is the one in which they sing "For Good". I've always loved that song and seeing it performed on stage almost made me cry.

So watching "Wicked" was a dream come true for me. All those songs are still playing in my head. And as I write this post I'm listening to its recording. Thanks a lot for the kind soul who made it possible... you know who you are.

A note to my 21-year-old self

2011-12-31T11:58:00.000+07:00

Oh no, the last day of 2011. What a year for me! But I'm not going to look back on it in this post. I'd rather go back ten years ago when I was 21.

I've always thought of writing a "note to my XX-year-old self", so I chose to write to my 21-year-old self because 2001 was a pivotal year for me. For one, I graduated from university, hence, I entered the world of being a real adult. And most importantly, I lost my virginity when I was 21. Okay, okay, I'm a fucking late bloomer. Charot!

So what will I tell my 21-year-old self?

On life in general, I'd say: "Gurrrl, life is not always fair. Most of the time, in fact, life is just damn unfair. The sooner you accept that, the more at peace you'd be with life." Harsh, but true, chai mai?

On your goals: Keep them high, but also make the most of surprising opportunities. Don't be afraid to tweak your goals along the way; it's not a sign of failure, but it only means you can adapt.

On knowledge: Be hungry to learn new things. Read. Most of the time there's no practical reason for knowing these things except to exercise your mind, a worthy goal in itself. Travel. It costs a lot but you'd have a lifetime of memories.

On your skills: You'll never be a good singer. Focus on what you do well and keep on honing it because you can always be better. Also, learn new skills that you can be good at. But, again, you cannot sing.

On success: Don't feel entitled to success. You have to earn it. Work your ass off. You may not always have the results you want, but be proud of your efforts nonetheless, and be humble about your achievements.

On other people: Respect them all the time and they'd respect you back. Three words: empathize, empathize, empathize. Be mindful that everyone has a story.

On family: Continue loving them with all your might. Your parents are as human as you are, so be generous in affirming them you love them.

On friends: They come and go, most of them at least. But nurture the few ones who you feel would accept you in spite of you. You'd be lucky with your friends. They're all amazing and generous. You'd have them for life.

On men: All men think with their dicks. There are many nice, decent, loving ones, of course, but ultimately they are all driven by their cocks. Don't take it personally; it's just how nature programmed them, including yourself.

On sex: This will be your year, gurl. Just don't expect too much. There will be NO fireworks. With the right person though it can be quite special.

On beauty: Enjoy that18-inch waistline. It will stay for only another two years, and then it all goes downhill from there.

In conclusion: Be fearless. Take risks. Keep on learning. Enjoy your youth. Love your family. Treasure your friends. Life would be very kind to you. And, bitch, 31 is not as old as you think.

Favorite Things of 2011

2011-12-27T11:35:00.000+07:00

It's that time of the year again when I list down my favorite "things"... for lack of a better term.

I really don't have a proper criteria, just that these are personal favorites from the year that's just about to end. These are the things that I felt were highlights of 2011, the things that make 2011 more memorable. (These books and films for instance didn't have to be released in 2011, but I had access to them in only 2011.)

So let's start.

My favorite film is "Dogtooth" (2009). This Greek film blew me away for its unusual depiction of parenting. It resonated with me because often I question to what extent parents should influence the "reality" that their children are exposed to. This movie has some answers that made me squirm.

My favorite documentary is "Exit Through the Gift Shop" (2010). This is one hilarious and irreverent documentary about street art, its driving forces, and how it has crept into the mainstream art market.

My favorite album is absolutely Adele's "21". I mean, haler!!! Enough said. I'm almost tempted to name Lady Gaga's "Born this Way", but I based my choice on the number of times I listened to each album, and "21" has been on loop in my computer since it was released.

Which makes my favorite song "Someone Like You". I'm sure I'm not alone in naming it their favorite song of the year, and it's easy to understand why.

My favorite novel is "Room" (2010) by Emma Donoghue. It's very difficult to read it at times because of the horrific experience of its main characters. But it ends with a positive note, somehow. I've been recommending this novel to all my friends.

My favorite non-fiction book is "The Case for God" (2009) by renowned scholar Karen Armstrong. The book traces the history of religion (mainly the Abrahamic ones), its philosophy, and practice, and asserts that religion is transcendental and best known through practice.

My favorite website is Piratebay. How on earth would I survive the year without this website where I get my movies and music, aber? I looooooove Piratebay! My second favorite website is Google Reader where I now read all my favorite blogs.

And my favorite blog is still "The Sartorialist". Scott Schuman's blog has evolved to featuring profiles and interviews of his subjects. But he is still consistent in his taste for classic and often times quirky fashion on the streets.

Talk about fashion, my favorite model this year is the androgynous model Andrej Pejic. Now he is the quintessential model: a chameleon. He is as good as a "male" model and as a "female" model. Truly, he represents fashion today, one that is undefinable and fearless.

My favorite clothing brand at the moment is Uniqlo, which opened in Bangkok a few months ago. I love its basics because I'm now on a "basics" phase. It's a big plus Uniqlo is soooo affordable.

Lastly, my favorite trip of the year was my ten days in Myanmar (blog posts here and here). It's a country I've long wanted to visit and it did not disappoint. I was completely enamored of the colonial architecture in Yangon and the serenity of the beaches of Ngwe Saung. I'm definitely going back to Myanmar in 2012.

Happy New Year, my dear ten readers and thanks for still following the blog.

When NOT to go to Seoul

2011-12-20T14:00:00.002+07:00

I almost didn't get a visa to Seoul because the embassy only had two days to process it. Usual processing time is three days. But because I was in Surigao and there was a Thai public holiday, I had to ask the embassy to reconsider my case.

The visa was issued to me the very same day I flew to Seoul with a number of colleagues for a two-day meeting.

I was already warned by our partner in Seoul that the weather was going to be below zero. Thank god, Uniqlo in BKK has some thermal underwear. I used to scoff at the racks where they sell warm clothes. Who needs them in Bangkok? Now I understand.

But nothing could have still prepared me for the weather in Seoul. The average temperature was something like -3... at daytime! One night we experienced -8! I'm not a fan of cold weather; and it was also my first time to experience winter.

Those thick coats we see on TV and the movies look cute all right, but NOT in real life, I realized. I just couldn't stand having to wear two socks, two underwear, a shirt, jumper, coat, scarf, hat, and gloves. Awful! And my skin was flaky and itchy as shit.

I hated my time in Seoul, whereas it was lovely autumn weather when we went there last year. This time around, going outside was just discouraging. I shivered like crazy the moment I stepped out of the hotel. At times I literally ran to the car from the hotel lobby.

Well, on my first day, I had the courage to go to the National Museum of Contemporary Art. It was a long subway ride. The museum is located in the mountains, a good contrast to the concrete and steel of downtown Seoul.

But other than that opportunity of exploring Seoul, we were mostly holed up in the warmth of the meeting room. Even shopping was not an option as they were selling winter clothes now. Duh.

I'd go back to Seoul anytime there's an opportunity though. It's a lovely city, with heritage and modern buildings sitting side by side. The shopping is not bad either. But definitely, I'd rather be on the right season when I go back there.

Last day in Surigao

2011-12-07T09:24:00.001+07:00

I'm on my last full day in Surigao. It's another rainy day here; nothing surprising about it. And the neighbors are singing karaoke for all the village to hear. Nothing surprising about that as well. Okay, I'm not going to whine on my last day here.

My sister and brother also visited Surigao a couple of weeks ago. We went to the beach a couple of times and hung out with cousins and other relatives.

And then after Davao, I met some of my closest friends for some catching up on our lives. It always amazes me how much our lives change, in say 10 years. Our expectations from others, as well as from ourselves, are often very different from how they turn out to be. Not that I'm disappointed about my friends' lives... on contrary most of them are happy (as far as I can tell). I guess what I'm saying is that life is just fucking unexpected.

Just yesterday, I unearthed my box of mementoes in which I store old letters, among many other odd bits of papers. When we were in high school, my friends and I sent each other letters and notes. It's a lot of "thank you for being my friend" - you know, high school stuff. It's always reassuring that my friends and I have withstood the test of time and distance (thank you Facebook and email!).

Anyway, so that's all what this trip is all about. Just some much needed time with family and friends, and realizing the value of the people that are constantly in our lives in spite of the changes we all go through.

Now I'm ready to go back to Bangkok because frankly I'm now bored in Surigao... what can one do with all this rain, aber?

Visiting Davao

2011-12-01T15:11:00.001+07:00

I'm in Las Islas Filipinas at the moment to visit family and friends. I intended to stay in my hometown, Surigao City, the two weeks I'm here. My mom has other ideas, though. She decided to drag me to Davao as she had been keen on visiting my sister who now lives there.

Davao was my home for about four years. I moved there after graduating from university and I worked in an NGO during my stay there. So over the years I have accumulated a number of close friends, with whom I've kept in touch over the years.

Meeting them during my three-day visit was on top of my agenda (aside of course from spending time with my mom and sister). I wish I had more time to meet more of my friends and former colleagues, but I simply didn't have the time.

I had a bit of a chance as well to visit some places I used to frequent when I lived in Davao, in particular my former office, which has radically changed. Now I know only two people there and the rest are new employees.

In terms of landscape, there are definitely heaps of changes in the city compared with the last time I visited it a couple of years ago. Well, there are more malls, if that's any sign of progress and definitely the city got more crowded and the traffic worse. Despite these changes, I still see the appeal of Davao's relatively more laid-back rhythm and cheaper cost of living.

It was definitely a short three days in Davao, but the trip was worthwhile... including the harrowing ten-hour bus ride back to Surigao.

And there's always Diana Krall

2011-11-22T12:00:00.001+07:00

For some reason I always run to this song whenever I hit these little snags in life. I remember posting this as well four years back because there's always some comfort in telling your self that in love you win some and then lose some. It's often certain in relationships that when you love you also get hurt eventually. It's the natural progression of relationships. When things fall apart, and after the initial doubts and perhaps the onslaught of nagging questions, as well as the pain, we just have to live with it and move on.

"Why Should I Care"

Was there something more I could have done?
Or was I not meant to be the one?
Where's the life I thought we would share?
And should I care?

And will someone else get more of you?
Will she go to sleep more sure of you?
Will she wake up knowing you're still there?
And why should I care?

There's always one to turn and walk away
And one who just wants to stay
But who said that love is always fair?
And why should I care?

Should I leave you alone here in the dark?
Holding my broken heart
While a promise still hangs in the air
Why should I care?

Art is in the Details

2011-11-05T11:10:00.001+07:00

The 57th National Art Exhibition has been on show at the Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre for several weeks now. The exhibition is also an art competition. The first time I went there I was very much awestruck by the pieces, so I went back there yesterday to take photos, which I'm sharing here.

By the entrance of the exhibition is Phanee Phoudom's 'Society of Consumerism'.

Also near the entrance is Sittichoke Wichian's 'Kite and Bond No. 2', a mixed-media installation employing traditional kite techniques.

This massive piece is entitled 'Woods (Painting Embellished with Glass No. 2)' is by Kajondet Niwyin.

This is my BF's favorite, a very intricate, and presumably tedious, drawing on canvas by Jiratchaya Pripwai called 'Meditation Therapy No. 1'. The piece is huge, so you can only imagine how much time was spent on this amazingly executed drawing.

My favorite, on the other hand, is Suporn Kaewda's 'Formation of One Thing Lies on the Deterioration of Another No. 3', a 2.5 x 3.5 meter oil pastel on canvas. I believe this is the Grand Prize winner. The ripples of the water are very mesmerizing as they are, but if you look closer the ripples are in fact made up of detailed drawings of mythical aquatic creatures (at least that's how the figures look to me).

I was mainly drawn to the paintings that were heavily detailed, such as Attapon Seetrongprasert's 'Heritage No. 1', which looked like it was made of ancient hieroglyphics.

Also intricate is Hathairat Rodkeaw's 'Southern Path No. 2', which used acrylic tempera on rubber. The "leaves" have drawings of monks, fish, and other cultural aspects of Southern Thailand on them.

There's also something raw about the Wiwat Jindawong's 'Agricultural Way of Life No. 5', a drawing measuring a massive 2.6 x 2.95 meters.

Equally massive (1.92 x 3.5 meters) is Pradit Tungprasartwong's 'Panna or Wisdom: Means of Survival' (oil on canvas). I guess this is also one of the winning entries, but I find it somewhat gimmicky for my taste.

Not as big (only 1.83 x 1.11 meters), but with heavier impact on me, is 'Self', a digital print and hand-cut paper by Kamolpan Chotivichai.

Among the sculptures, of which there are many, Surasok Sannung's 'Sustainable Happiness No. 1' made a very good impression. It used local pottery techniques.

I was also struck by the rigidity of the angles of 'State of Surrender', a fiberglass casting by Pangsak Nateetornmongkol.

My favorite sculpture there is Yutthasilp Siritap's 'Suffering from Malignant Disease'. The size is stunning, rendering it so much power. The subject of fierce dogs and hungry crows tearing apart a man's body into pieces has such a visceral impact on me. It was placed near the end exhibit, a fitting conclusion to a celebration of the talent of Thailand's artists.

And some more photos....

Time of the Flood

2011-10-23T17:05:00.002+07:00

These past two weeks I wake up everyday expecting flood water lapping at the entrance of the building I live in. It's always a relief to see things are as normal as it can get, but the risk of flooding is still imminent.

Those following the news would know by now that Bangkok is gripped with the fear of a flooded city. Nearby provinces such as Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani have been inundated for at least two weeks now, so Bangkokians are saying it's only a matter of time when it's the capital's turn. So far central Bangkok has been spared of the flood, thanks to canals diverting water.

While the weather in Bangkok and most of Thailand is now sunny, the past months have been particularly wet, hence, filling up the dams with massive amounts of water. The dams released water a bit late, that's why it's only now we're feeling the brunt of the rainy season. The disaster has so far ravaged 175 districts in 28 provinces, affecting 2.45 million people.

I took a stroll around my neighborhood a few minutes ago to check on the situation. I live about a hundred meters away from the river. Yesterday, there was some serious flooding several blocks from my area as a result of the Chao Phraya River overflowing its banks. The situation is compounded by tidal flow, so there are times of the day when the river's water level is particularly high.

Since about two weeks ago when the threat of flooding seems more imminent, some business establishments in my area have already stacked sand bags in front of their doors. The nearby 7-11 has in fact built a concrete fortification around it.

Walking farther to the bank of the Chao Phraya, I saw some houses half submerged in water. Sand bags were keeping the water from overflowing into my street, but the water level was just a few inches from the top of the sand bags.

Interestingly, houses closer to the river bank, say less than 50 meters away, were not even protected from the flood. There was a glaring absence of sand bags, instead the neighborhood seemed to be treating it as another regular weekend. Two children were playing in the water run off close to the gutter.

When I went to the nearby pier, most of was already under a few inches of water. Again, sand bags kept the river from inundating the street. Sand bags were also used to divert water from flowing into the street, but in general life at the immediate vicinity of the pier looked normal, with some businesses still open.

Looking at the canal, I was surprised to see the water level there was in fact lower than normal. Flood gates kept the water from rushing into it. There should be about three meters difference between the water levels of the canal and the river.

As of now there's way of telling how and when the flood will recede. There are reports of the flood lasting another six weeks. I still feel a bit confident that Bangkok would be spared - at the expense of the surrounding provinces and suburbs, unfortunately. But for good measure, I'm keeping a stock of cup noodles, yogurt, peanuts, and raisins.

In Chiang Mai

2011-10-14T11:34:00.001+07:00

I finally have the chance to update this long-neglected blog. It had been a super busy September at work for me, extending all the way to last week when my colleagues and I headed to Chiang Mai for a forum and then a meeting.

We spent the first three days in the Chiang Dao, about an hour from Chiang Mai. We attended a forum of performance artists from all over the world, and the venue was a compound of several houses and performance spaces. The best part of the venue is the lush rice fields surrounding it and the tall mountains rising in the horizon.

We also stayed in this resort close to the foot of a hill. I had a small hut to my self, and it's just perfect because it did not have television or air-conditioning. The weather was mostly cool, and the place was so calm and silent except for the occasional sound of geckos. Too bad we did not have enough time to enjoy the resort because we had late nights at forum.

After Chiang Dao, we moved on to Chiang Mai where I was holed in a dark recording studio for two days. The first day was particularly long, the recording stretched all the way to about ten at night. And then when we returned to the hotel we did not have any energy left. Too bad because I haven't been to Chiang Mai in two years and there's really a lot of places there to hang out in.

Now I remember that we went to the Sunday night market, but it was so crowded for me to enjoy it. I was lucky though to find a little oil painting of a rooster, which I got for only ten dollars.

Amanda of AusNTM on BCBG Max Azria SS 2012

2011-09-09T15:10:00.001+07:00

I was looking at the first batch of collections of New York Fashion Week, and as always BCBG Max Azria was one of the first labels to present. I read on Altamira that for models the BCBG Max Azria runway is a good indicator of their success for the entire season.

But today when I looked at the photos of its collection (also see the video here), I was more entranced by the amazing dresses than the models themselves. Suddenly I spotted a familiar face, that of Amanda Ware, who won the sixth cycle of Australia's next top model.

Isn't it exciting that she's walking with the likes of Arizona Muse, Fei Fei Sun, Ruby Aldridge, and Sara Blomqvist?

Amanda is a good model, a favorite of mine early into the competition. Her win was however overshadowed by the horrid mistake of the host in announcing on live TV the winning model of that season. So I am pleasantly surprised that Amanda is making a name for her self on the modeling scene despite that rather awkward launching.

A quick look at Amanda's Wikipedia entry showed that she in fact debuted during the 2011 fall-winter shows, appearing on Philip Lim and L'Wren Scott, among a few other brands. Seems like AusNTM has another successful model in the making, following Alice Burdeu's reign on the world's major catwalks a few years back.

I'm watching the current season of AusNTM, and really the quality of its contestants is astounding. Picking just one favorite is very challenging. Each girl is unique and simply mind-blowing. It helps of course that they are young, on average about 18 years old, so they are mostly fresh-looking.

On the contrary, ANTM has ceased to become a modeling competition; and especially with the launching of ANTM All Stars (premiering later this month), it's more of a bitch fest for aging has-been (even barely) models.

Asian Beauties for Miss Universe 2011

2011-08-31T13:06:00.010+07:00

This is it. I don't think any introduction is needed because any self-respecting gay man would know it's that time of the year again when our adrenalin levels are off the roof leading to the coronation night of the Miss Universe.

As usual, I will limit my bitching to the girls of Asia. I simply don't have time to do the African, European, and especially the Latina beauties.

I don't have any solid basis for my opinions except for their official photos and short interviews (posted on Youtube). Well that only accounts for ten percent of my judgement; the other ninety percent being based on my untrammeled meanness.

So let's get this over with, no?

Miss China

Girl's got a hot body and she knows how to use it. I don't understand the big hair though, which along with the drag queen make up, has swallowed her delicate features. A pink gown for a beauty pageant has not helped any one win the crown, unless it's prom queen she's vying for.

Miss Indonesia

She's actually my second favorite Asian girl this year. She's quite smart in her interview, albeit her answers are a tad too predictable. Her photos are always dynamic, but the gown with the curtain fabric has to be burned ASAP. Her best photo in the set is the beauty shot; look how minimal make up brings out her eyes.

Miss India

India often sends very striking and super intelligent girls. For some reason, this year their representative bores me.

Miss Japan

Isn't she cuuute? Her "dancing" photos are superb and clearly one of the best in the bunch this year. Her other photos seem to say she's approachable and easy-going, which are always good to have in beauty queens. Her interview confirms that she has a bubbly personality, so I'm definitely rooting for Miss Japan.

Miss Korea

Oh please. Next.
Miss Malaysia

I've never noticed any of Malaysia's past representatives except this year. I swear she's my favorite Asian girl. She's amazingly articulate, and she reminds me so much of Lara Dutta (Miss Universe 2000). What fault can I find in her photos, aber? I am crossing my fingers Miss Malaysia wins the crown this year.

Miss Philippines

Shamcey does nothing for me in the photos, especially in the dancing photo in which she looks a bit deranged. Her beauty shot is outstanding though, she looks genuinely happy to be there. But the pink gown? What did I tell you about them and prom queens? Better call Pitoy Moreno for a replacement!

Miss Singapore

Nothing about her excites me, to be honest. And you can tell she hangs out a lot with her gay friends, based on her pose in the evening gown. Isn't that sooo Mutya ng Pilipinas 1992?

Miss Sri Lanka

This woman, on other hand, needs gay friends.

Miss Thailand

Gurrrlll, get rid of those false eyelashes! Now! Miss Thailand is rather memorable for me because in her video interview she said she wants to become a plankton. How original! Should be exciting what she could think of during the Q&A on pageant night. Meanwhile in the evening gown photo, I love the edginess of the studded leggings but the color easily brings the garment to bubblegum territory.

Miss Vietnam

I don't know... Miss Vietnam this year does not excite me. Her interview was rather tepid, her photos lack oomph; except for the evening gown one. Diaphanous gowns that flow well, which she ably demonstrated above, have been big hits in the Miss Universe of late, so let's see if this girl wins by the gown.

Shelf Life: "Room" by Emma Donoghue

2011-08-23T15:52:00.003+07:00

I read "Room" (2010) by Emma Donoghue on the plane ride from Bangkok to Manila and I wished that flight was long enough for me to finish the book in one sitting. Right on its first few pages, "Room" has definitely the power to grab you into the world of its 5-year old narrator, Jack, whose life is contained in a tiny room he shares with his mom. Jack's naivety in the midst of horror is at once heart-warming and tragic at the same time.

The Washington Post calls it "one of the most affecting and subtly profound novels of the year", while the New York Times says it is "sophisticated in outlook and execution". "Room" was listed for a slew of citations and won the 2011 Commonwealth Writer's Prize.

Rediscovery

2011-08-18T14:52:00.006+07:00

I was in Manila last week for an official meeting held at the National Museum. Well, it was not a bad idea to be holed up in the museum for a few days, and the farewell dinner was in fact held at a grand marble hall where they also served amazing Pinoy food. During my stay in Manila we also visited the San Augustin Museum and the Bahay ng Tsinoy museum.

I managed to sneak to Greenbelt to meet friends. They are pretty much strangers to each other but I had no choice but to meet them in one go because I hardly had any time to catch up with them. But that was fun.

Also, quite luckily, the Bitch of Bangkok was on holiday in Las Islas Filipinas with his wife. We just had a few hours to hang out (they just arrived in Manila from Vigan and I was leaving for Quezon Province early the next day). We hung out a bit in Malate over some beer, but our meeting was very short. Oh well, I hope there's a next time. I'm very relieved though the couple loved their trip in Las Islas.

As mentioned, the next day the conference participants were off to Tayabas, Quezon, about three hours south of Manila. There we witnessed the official declaration of stone bridges in the city as National Cultural Treasures. In the evening, we had a drinking "ritual" of lambanog, courtesy of the city mayor.

Back in Manila the next day, I headed straight to the Cultural Center of the Philippines to catch Agnes Locsin's "Encantada", a ballet about the clash of animism and Catholicism in the Philippines. It was magnificent because it was very Filipino, from the movement, to the costumes and music (the latter being a pieces of Joey Ayala).

After the ballet, we had a few hours break and then we watched the revival of "Noli Me Tangere: The Musical", also at the CCP. Gosh, it was clear I already forgot most of my "Noli" because I hardly recognized the characters and plot. Mark Bautista played the role of Crisostomo and Cris Villonco was amazing as Maria Clara.

Too bad I did not have time to fly to Surigao to meet my mom. But other than that, the trip, despite its packed schedule, was a very profound experience for me because, cheesy it may sound, it gave me the opportunity to rediscover Pinoy culture.

A Golden Experience

2011-07-18T12:32:00.008+07:00

My last post on Myanmar....

A trip to Yangon is not complete without seeing Myanmar's chief landmark, the Shwedagon Pagoda. To prepare for the visit, Lara Stone and I wore longyi, the tube garment practically worn by everyone in Myanmar. Finally I had a good reason to wear a skirt!

The pagoda was walking distance from our guest house, we even had a view of it from our bedroom window. Because it was a Sunday, many people were heading there as well. Using the east entrance, the road leading to it is lined with food stalls and at the foot of the hill on which the pagoda stands is a market selling Buddha statues, other religious items, and some souvenirs.

As soon as we stepped on the stairs leading to the pagoda, we had to remove our slippers. The stairs are steep and it was certainly a long climb for us.

Because the shops along the way are a good distraction I was not prepared when we finally reached the summit.

My heart stopped the moment I laid my eyes on the pagoda. I swear my mouth dried and I felt my heart beat fast. I'm far from being a spiritual person, but the pagoda's sheer size had such a visceral impact on me. I did not expect it to be that HUGE! It helped that the place was in blinding gold (considering it was an overcast day), so I was practically on the brink of a transcendental experience.

The main pagoda is surrounded by dozens and dozens of pavilions, each as intricate and gold-laden as the other. The spires of the pavilions made me feel like I was in a forest with towering golden trees.

The pavilions were filled with worshippers, most of them facing the direction of the pagoda, while others were offering incense, bathing Buddha statues, chanting, or circumambulating around the pagoda.

We went back to the pagoda that evening. The atmosphere was a lot calmer by then because there were less people. Still, the place was very otherwordly as the pagoda was washed with light.

A monk showed me certain spots at the base of the pagoda where one can see the changing color of the diamond at the apex of the spire. At one time it is icy blue, and then you move a few inches and it suddenly turns either fiery red, orange, yellow, white, or green.

Prior to visiting the Shwedagon Pagoda, I deliberately did not read up on it. I wanted to see it with fresh eyes and somehow the plan worked because I was just filled with awe when I finally made it there.

That could be said as well of experiencing Myanmar finally, a trip I wanted to do since as far back as I could remember. There I saw inspiring beauty and felt the sincerity of the people I met. I know for sure I'm going back.

Architecture Porn in Yangon

2011-07-15T12:01:00.008+07:00

It was late in the afternoon when we arrived in Yangon, and dark, heavy clouds cast a gray pallor to the city. From the cab, though, I had a quick glimpse of numerous old buildings in the downtown area. I was also surprised by the many trees lining the city's avenues. I knew right then I was in for a treat.

Lara Stone and I ventured into the streets near our guest house in the evening of our arrival, but I could only see faint traces of the grand buildings wrapped in darkness (Yangon hardly has streetlights to speak of). So the next day, I woke up early to walk around the wet streets of the city; it was monsoon season after all.

I've never before been so captivated by so many colonial buildings as Yangon (Hanoi comes close). It was definitely a dream city for architecture lovers because there's always an interesting building nearby. Some of them even prominently display their date of completion, and I saw a good number of buildings constructed in the early years of the 20th century.

Many of the buildings are government offices, most likely the same halls occupied by the British colonial government. There are also buildings used by trading companies, as well as a big share apartments blocks.

The apartment blocks are a sight to behold. Occupying blocks and blocks of the downtown area, they are mostly sitting side by side in narrow, straight streets. The first floor is usually a business enterprise, and then very steep and dark staircases lead to the upper floors, some as high as eight stories. The details of the windows are doors are very enchanting. My neck was strained from looking up the multi-colored balconies flanking the streets.

Hanging from the balconies are dozens of long strings with clips attached to the end at street level. Because most of the apartment buildings - including the very tall ones - don't have elevators, one cannot go up and down them as much as you like. So when there's a food delivery, for instance, the plastic bag is attached to the string and someone pulls it up.

Charming apartment blocks aside, there are also many imposing colonial buildings in the port area. Some of the roofs of the Bogyoke Aung San Market also has beautiful lines. The Yangon train station is worth visiting, as well as the art deco style cinema houses on Bogyoke Street. There are also numerous mosques dotting the downtown area.

Unfortunately, most of the buildings have not been well-maintained. While it's very romantic to see them stained by time, the moss would eventually affect the structure's stability and it also eats the details of the adornments. I'm particularly worried about the apartment blocks that have been installed with unsightly air-conditioners and plastic or metal awnings that do not go with the buildings' original style. There are also many huge buildings that seemed abandoned. They are practically crumbling, such as one building with a beautiful dome that has caved in.

The most serious threat to Yangon's colonial architecture though is the number of newer buildings popping in the downtown area. Every time I see a new building I think of the old structure that used to stand on the site. They new buildings are made of concrete, glass, and steel that in no way try to blend with the surrounding old styles. I wonder how soon enough before these new buildings obliterate the old ones, thus the loss of Yangon's charm and heritage.

The Shores of Ngwe Saung

2011-07-11T20:35:00.005+07:00

I just came back from a nine-day holiday in Myanmar with Lara Stone. I spent 4 1/2 days in Yangon and 4 1/2 days in Ngwe Saung. I have a lot of things to say about Yangon so let's set that aside for the moment, shall we?

For now I'd tell you about Ngwe Saung, a beach town east of Yangon. The five-hour trip took us through the Ayeyarwady Delta. The scene along the way was of endless plains of rice fields and the occasional village made of thatch houses. The delta was devastated by Cyclone Nargis a few years back but I didn't see any trace of the destruction.

We reached a town called Pathein, 29 kilometers away from Ngwe Sau. So we hopped on motorbikes for an hour's trip through winding roads over hills. Several times I thought I was about to die, thankfully we arrived safe in a guest house by the beach facing the Bay of Bengal. As it was the low season, we had the resort pretty much to ourselves.

The moment we arrived at the beach, Lara and I explored it while the tide was low. We walked towards a tiny rocky island that sits a few meters away from the resort. It was a bit cloudy, being monsoon season; and the waves were humongous.

The sound of the waves crashing on the shore easily put me on relax mode. I spent most of the time there sleeping, sipping coconuts or drinking beer, and then going back to sleep. It rained occasionally, and along with the soft breeze, the weather was just perfect for sleeping and nothing much else.

One morning, Lara Stone and I played in the waves. And then we rented motorbikes to explore the small village behind the row of expensive resorts occupying the village's beach front. I was surprised to see such swanky resorts there, it looked like Thailand instead of what I thought were unspoiled beaches of Myanmar.

At low tide, we rode our motorbikes on the shore, heading towards the fishing village. It was just the most exhilarating part of our time on the beach. We sped on the moist sand that reflected the cloudy sky. It felt like we were gliding over a sheet of glass, the salty air sweeping our faces.

After crossing a couple of small streams, which required our motorbikes to be loaded on wooden boats that brought us to the other side, we stumbled upon a couple of fishing villages. Fishermen were unloading nets from boats surrounded by a frenzy of ladies grabbing fish and piling them on small pails that they put on their heads as they walked towards the village. Some ladies were crouched on the beach, untangling shrimps from nets. We bought some of those shrimps and had them for dinner.

The rainy weather, the huge waves, the towering palm trees, and the scrumptious sea food in Ngwe Saung all reminded me of Siargao Island where I spent my childhood summer holidays at my grandmother's house.

Lara Stone and I were also very fortunate to stumble on Shwe Hin Tha Resort where we stayed for four nights. The people there were very accommodating and charming, they completely made us feel at home. The food is good overall, and they were even willing to bring our meals over to our hut. It helps a lot as well that they have the perfect spot on the beach with beautiful views and sunsets.

Bette Davis Eyes

2011-06-28T14:59:00.005+07:00

The best thing that ever came out of the recent men's spring-summer 2012 fashion week is this video of some of the hottest male supermodels this season... sans clothes.

Here I see Paolo, Marlon, Daisuke, Francisco, Paolo, Janice, Joan, Sebastian, Sam, and a handful of other mouth-watering boys making love to the camera.

Directed by Luca Finotti.

Lara Stone Returns

2011-06-16T11:15:00.000+07:00

I did not know that I'm in fact fiercely territorial until Lara Stone started camping in my place for two weeks now. I would not necessarily call it "living together", after all he's only staying here for a month, but it's certainly a new "arrangement", for lack of a better term, for me.

Well of course I'm thrilled he's back and we have lots of time to spend with each other. Reading the Sunday papers while having breakfast in bed; going for a swim every afternoon; endless talks... you know the drill. It's fun and I'm certainly knowing him more and more.

At the same time, I'm knowing my self more. One major discovery is, as mentioned above, I am absolutely crazy about my space, basically made up of the four corners of my tiny bedroom. Everything has to be in perfect order; and like the cosmos, it has it own laws, any diversion from which would lead to imbalance - my mind mainly.

Nobody told me my very idea of order would be rocked big time with the arrival of Lara Stone.

First came the queen bed to replace my erstwhile twin bed. Consequently. the bedside table and baskets have to be moved a foot. Then came the working desk, supplanting the small bench by the windows. The table invited laptop cables and cell phone chargers, along with an army of papers, folders, boarding passes, keys, wallets, tote bags, cameras, and whatnot, to pile on it. And then mushrooming in the cabinet are small vials of face creams, lotions, and perfumes that block my bracelets and necklaces from full view.

Don't get me started on the bathroom. Well, there are now two towels hanging from the rack, but at least they are color-coordinated. But gosh, the sink counter! Lotions are invading the "dental care zone' (we are talking about a total space of roughly three square feet). And on the "shower zone", green bottles of shampoo and conditioner disturb the all-white color scheme of my body wash and shampoo dispensers.

My bookshelf, with its books carefully arranged according to size and colors and accessorized with travel souvenirs, has sprouted books that simply just don't belong there. They have elbowed their way into the space of the Vietnamese water puppet. Now my dry gourd form Laos is pressed between a frayed notebook and a damp map of the Skytrain. The horror!!!

Did I tell you already about the dirty clothes strewn on the floor? How can that happen when there's a hamper in full view?

I'm not saying that Lara Stone is a slob. In fact, he is very obsessive in doing the laundry and he also fixes the bed every morning. And oh, he cleans the bathroom, a task I can finally relegate to someone, thank God.

What I'm whining about is how my sense of order has been disturbed lately. I'm mourning how I lost the total control of my space. Fortunately, Lara Stone has positively responded, albeit slowly, to being trained at arranging bottles of moisturizers from the smallest to the largest, or that books of the same color stand together.

Prevail

2011-05-23T13:22:00.007+07:00

I remember those days when there was once a very active blogging "community". It should've been about four years ago when I felt that I could hardly catch up on reading the blogs I regularly follow.

It was exciting to read people who shared my interests on a host of things and I also admired how well they articulate their thoughts. I made friends with a good number of Pinoy bloggers and God knows where that has brought me.

I cleaned up my blog roll yesterday and it was sad that many of the bloggers I used to follow avidly have been left stagnant. I deleted these inactive blogs. Meanwhile, many active blogs are updated erratically, or at least the frequency of new entries have considerably dwindled.

Which brings me to wonder, is blogging (almost) dead? Was it just one of those passing fads that have come and gone?

It might very well be, and two of the culprits of its demise are Facebook and Twitter. Who cares to write a proper post when you can just update your Facebook account with "So and so is..."? You can also upload all your holiday photos without writing much about the weather or cuisine there. Or using your iPhone anywhere you can to tell people whether you liked a movie or not via Twitter, all in 140 characters?

Because my motivation for blogging then was to update my friends and family what I've been up to, Facebook has definitely become a more convenient alternative to those lengthy blog posts. Commenting is also instant, thus, interaction is more dynamic. I've even treated Twitter like a chatroom with friends from all over aside from my mundane (and really stupid) updates on what I'm having for dinner or how many laps I did in the pool today.

So for many months now my blog has functioned as my bookmark. I open it to check which blogs I follow have been updated, courtesy of my blog roll. (But lately, I've been using Google Reader more frequently and it's definitely far more convenient.)

Laziness in blogging always prevails these days. I used to go out of the house precisely because I want to blog about something, say a new exhibition, movie, or shopping place. At times, I felt like I was a journalist, armed with a small notebook and a camera. Even before I sat down to write a post, I've already developed an outline of the post in my head along with an idea of what photos go with it. I even took notes whenever I read a book to help me write a decent comment the next day. Blogging also made me a keen observer of what my friends are doing and saying, all in the hope of getting some good material to write about. I used to list a number of topics under the heading "stuff for the blog".

I miss the discipline of writing though, of attempting to put my thoughts into words (albeit mostly unsuccessfully), or just plainly bitching about minor things (at least that was cathartic, no?).

But that's a lot of hard work, mind you. I reached a point of shameless indolence, and Facebook and Twitter proved to be alternatives to serious research and thinking.

It's no comfort of course that I'm not alone in this lackadaisical attitude to blogging. If I can only shake each blogger I miss reading back to their senses , I would. Then, I also understand why they have opted for Facebook or Twitter in lieu of blogging.

I'm not taking that direction though despite my apparent dearth of posts. I am still very much sentimental of this blog (and it still gives me a good reason to write), hence, it's going to stay. Fuck Facebook.

Rock Arts in Northeastern Thailand

2011-05-18T15:10:00.007+07:00

I was away on an official trip to Northeast Thailand where we brought a pack of archaeologists and heritage management professionals to rock art sites.

It took us over twelve hours to reach Pha Taem National Park in Ubon Ratchatani province. The park has the longest rock art site in the country. The huge paintings are on a huge side of a tall cliff overlooking a tributary of the Mekong River and across it is Lao PDR.

It's my first time to see rock paintings, and their size at Pha Taem made the experience very awe-striking. There are various subjects like fish, humans, livestock, turtles, tools, and a variety of geometric shapes scattered all over the rock walls. These remnants of the work of pre-historic men are tantamount to having a glimpse into their imagination as well as interpretations of the world around them.

We then moved to Udon Thani province to Phu Prabat Historical Park. Along the way we stopped by Ban Chiang, a World Heritage Site known for its red pottery. Some artifacts found in burial sites have been dated to about 2100 BC.

I've always wanted to see Ban Chiang because one of the chief archaeologists of the site was my former boss. In fact there are many pictures of him all over the beautiful museum.

At Phu Prabat we saw rock art on the magnificent rock shelters dotting the landscape. The paintings are Phu Prabat are smaller, thus less striking. The rock shelters are definitely the main highlight of the site. These natural rock formations were supposedly carved millions of years ago by glacier movement. It has also evidence of pre-historic and historic human activities (but not settlements).

Aside from the rock paintings, the site also has sculptures in various styles and periods, namely, Dhvaravadi, Buddhist Khmer, and Lan Chang. Some of the rock shelters have been converted into Buddhist monastic sites and these still serve as places of worship to this day. Because of the historical, natural, and cultural importance of the area, it is in the process of being nominated as a World Heritage Site.

The trip was definitely a good chance for me to spend time with my colleagues who again proved to be such a very hard-working lot. I also did a bit of shopping for pots, baskets, and woven textiles.

Batch 2001

2011-04-21T15:37:00.007+07:00

Ten years ago today I graduated from college. I was batch 2001. I was not exactly super thrilled to earn a degree my dad chose for me (as mentioned in a previous blog entry). I was just happy – make that relieved – to finally finish university and start a new life and career.

Academically, I was absolutely mediocre, just passing every subject I took, except from Accounting, which I dropped once. I had a bunch of 3.0s (the lowest passing grade) in Natural Science, Math, Economics, and Statistics. My highest grades, somewhere around the 1.0 range, were in Literature, Art, Psychology, Philosophy, and Sociology. My grades in the major subjects were on the 2.0 range because I do not really care so much for Public Accounting and Budgeting, Techniques in Personnel Management, or Administrative Law (the horror!!!).

My social life as a student was not that bright either. I was a complete recluse in the dorm; instead I spent most of my time in the library or watching movies in the university's cinema. Except for one student organization, I wasn't a member of any other group because I was just too shy to even apply. I could not afford going out with my friends either.

Yes, I had friends; quite a good number of them actually, but I kept close to the people in my first year block. I did not make any effort to make new friends. I was super shy, awkward, and bereft of social skills, which I find normal anyway for people of my age then.

I don't want to make it appear that I had a miserable time in the university. Well, maybe for the first two years I was trying to make sense of a new life. After all, my university was worlds away form the small town I came from.

The university in fact developed my self confidence, or at least it eventually did. It takes loads and loads of work to survive in that university. Only in my junior year did I realize I earned a place among my peers. Living from home was also a test of my discipline and independence, and God knows how meager my allowance was.

So ten years ago today I wore the university sash (the traditional graduation garb of the university in lieu of togas), received my diploma, and took heaps of photos with my classmates. It was a time of uncertainty for many of us but we had grand dreams as well, say conquering the world, for instance. Well, we were young and idealistic...

Pilipinas Kay Chaka (sort of...)

2011-04-05T20:07:00.003+07:00

Just to conclude the account of my trip to Las Islas Filipinas...

I don't like saying this but I don't like going home if not for my family and friends. The Philippines has simply lost its amor on me. It's always exhausting, especially whenever I stay in Manila for a few days (thankfully we only stayed a little over 24 hours there this time). I don't see any improvement in its infrastructure; it's as congested and polluted as ever.

The city looks like grimy blocks thrown randomly. There is no sense of planning, or even an effort to plan at all. Public transport is as dilapidated as ever, and over-burdened by its roughly 20 million residents.

Lara Stone, surprisingly, was enamored of it, he said he would've wanted to stay longer. But that's most often the case for visitors who find something positive about Manila. They see something exotic in such a chaotic place, but they don't necessarily live in the city for an extended period. They don't experience the inconvenience of having to queue for the MRT or breathe its fetid air daily.

For me who has lived in Manila for several years I get frustrated to see it not just getting stuck in squalor but in fact getting worse and worse.

The same is also the case for my hometown. I'm sad to see many swamps in the city that used to be filled with mangrove jus rapidly overtaken by slums. The roads that cut across the swamps only sent a message to people that they can erect their houses by the road, clearing precious mangroves, and using the swamp as one septic tank.

There's nothing wrong with building roads per se, but regulation should've been enforced to keep encroachers at bay. Better yet, give people affordable housing options.

Also, there's such poor urban planning in the city. There are hardly any pavements to speak of. Tricycles (our version of tuktuks) over-run the streets. We even experience traffic congestion now in such a tiny city.

In fairness to my hometown, I'm seeing new businesses springing up here and there. This modest development is surely a call for the city administrators to plan ahead on how these developments are going to be managed such that the livability of the city is not compromised.

OK, that's the customary post-visit-to-the-Philippines whine, thank you very much.

***

Anyway, so the highlight of the trip was indeed attending my sister's wedding. This entailed meeting many of my cousins from my mother's side. I have not met some of them in ages, at least those who live now in the US and some other far-flung province.

I was thrilled to hang out with them. I realized how little we have changed, in fact. We're the same rowdy, crazy bunch that used to send my grandmother in fits when we regularly visited her in Siargao for many summers.

Because I had such limited time I only got to meet a few friends in Surigao. I find these meetings very precious because some of my friends are going through key moments in their lives. I have the utmost admiration for their tenacity and courage, something that I draw inspiration from.

By the trip's end, I felt thankful (to whom, I don't know) to be surrounded by such wonderful friends and relatives.

***

As expected, none of my relatives or friends made a big deal of Lara Stone. I meant that in the positive sense, of course. I am lucky to have open-minded people surrounding me, and I confidently introduced Lara as my boyfriend.

They welcomed him with such fondness, but then that's expected because Lara has amazing charm anyway (tse!). He was in fact more keen to hang out with my relatives than I was, after all I had ANTM episodes to catch, no? It was very heartwarming to see him blend seamlessly with the crowd, and he quickly caught up on Pinoy humor, too.

***

Having two weeks with Lara after not seeing each other for five looooong months was the most fun I've had in recent months. It's not all romantic time, of course. We annoyed each other a few times, but that's normal because we're both stubborn in our belief that one is always right and have no qualms expressing it.

For the most part, I appreciated more his openness to new experiences and people (I was more stressed during the trip than him). There are more things to say about his awesomeness but that's something I'd tell him instead of posting it here.

Finally!

2011-04-01T09:16:00.003+07:00

My sister and Don have been together for eleven years. They celebrated their anniversary by finally getting married last Wednesday. I couldn't think of a better match for each other: they're both chilled and quirky.

So for their wedding, they decided to make as little fuss as possible. Had their mothers not insisted on getting a church wedding, they would've just went to the judge instead. Anyway, so they went to church and did the whole priest thing. I walked her down the aisle along with my mom.

And then they had a very simple reception attended by my sister's close friends from Davao and a bevy of relatives, mostly from her side. There could've only been a little over a hundred guests.

Don and my sister ditched the cheesy parts of conventional weddings. No cutting of the cake, no stupid doves, no throwing of the bouquet, no speeches (save for some words of thanks from the couple), no horrendous give-aways, and no dances. We ate at the reception and took some photos. That's it.

Because the reception ended early, we went to karaoke after that.

One Day in Manila

2011-03-28T12:27:00.005+07:00

Lara Stone's on his first trip to Las Islas Filipinas. We arrived here early morning of Saturday, slept for less than four hours, and went around Manila.

Our first stop was the Shoe Museum in Marikina. Lara specifically requested to see Imelda's shoes, of all things. The museum was smaller than what we expected, with only 800 pairs of shoes out of the 3,000. Shelves of foot wear - from the dainty to the powerful to the gaudy - line the walls of the museum. Prominent brands I noticed were Charles Jourdan, Chanel, Dior, and Ferragamo as well as brands specially made for Madame by the famed shoemakers of Marikina.

Photos of Madame also adorn the wall, with focus on her encounters with world leaders and celebrities during the halcyon days of the Marcos "empire".

We then took the train to Qiuapo, home of the Black Nazarene. I've always loved Quiapo. For me, it best represents Manila - full of contrasts, rowdy, and mysterious. We were drawn to the macabre religious images sold outside the church and then ended up buying amulets and charms.

Lara seemed to have been captivated by Manila, even the slums, which he called "sturdy". I don't know.

We were lucky to find vegetarian food at the food court of the Megamall. At least he was able to try veggie meat adobo. I also offered him to try halo-halo (a mix of crushed ice and fuits), but he was repulsed by the kaong and gelatin, calling them plastic fruits. What sacrilege to our national dessert!

I also introduced him to a few of my friends from Surigao, Manila, and Davao. It was wonderful to catch up with some friends, but if I had more time I would've wanted to meet more people.

The former Czarina of Penang hosted a dinner/party for La Bayots de Bangkok. Bubbles was also visiting Las Islas for the first time in six years. We had a blast with other blogger friends based in Manila and SFO. Super thanks to the Czarina for the wonderful evening!!!

We ended up hopping to a gay club in Ortigas. It was packed, after all it was a Saturday. For some reason the waiters at the club are way cuter than its patrons. I haven't danced that much since, I don't know... 1999 perhaps? The great company of friends really made a huge difference and I wish we have more opportunities to hang out in Manila or perhaps some other city.

We flew to Surigao yesterday. It has been rainy so far. We'd be lucky if the weather would be nice enough for some time on the beach.

Happy Blog Anniversary

2011-03-23T16:03:00.003+07:00

Ayay, I totally forgot my blog has turned 5 years old last 20 March.

Wow, it has been that looooong?

My sincerest thanks to those who still have the patience to visit my blog despite my erratic posting of late. I will try to get back to my blogging duties soon.

Mmmwah, bitches.

On the Island of the Gods

2011-03-17T09:45:00.006+07:00

If there's anything about Bali that most impressed me it has to be the spirituality of its people.

The most evident expression of which is the tiny offerings of flowers, incense, and crackers placed in small baskets and laid in front of houses, shops, and on altars. These offerings are practically everywhere. As we traveled around the island, altars (akin to spirit houses in Thailand) are ubiquitous.

Ornate temples made of bricks, sandstone, and straw are also all over the place. Tanah Lot is a temple on an outcrop battered by huge waves. We went to Uluwatu, which is dramatically perched on a sharp cliff. We were mesmerized by the kecak dance - a retelling of the Ramayana and some local legends - performed on the grounds of Uluwatu.

On our way to Ubud, we stopped by the holy springs of Tirta Empul. There we had the chance to observe some pious people praying in front of an altar. A priest rang a small bell while people chanted with him. There's something very entrancing in the devotion of the people we saw at the temple, which pretty much speaks about how important spirituality is among the Balinese.

So from the religious to the profane... we ate pork in Indonesia. But then perhaps it's only on the island of Bali you can do that, right? They have this famous dish called babi goreng (or something) that's similar to the lechon of Las Islas Filipinas. Our cab driver brought us to this hole in the wall where they served us a platter of roast pork, deep fried pig's intestines, and all these other sinful parts of a pig. Yuuum! One of the best meals of the trip.

Did I mention Bali is expensive? The food is expensive (except for the roast pork). Transportation is expensive. Shopping is overpriced. Alcohol costs an arm and a leg. Whew!

But then, we were fortunate that we can stay in Bali in style, thanks to the Amigas of San Francisco (TERIMA KASI, bitches), who paid for the swanky villa where we spent a good amount of time swimming in the pool, quaffing Bintang beer, smoking Gudang Garam, and swapping a whole range of stories about our lives (and other peoples').

Ultimately, the best part of the holiday in Bali is the time spent with friends. Their company really made the trip full of unbridled kabaklaan, echosan, and kagagahan.

Marching On

2011-03-07T18:35:00.002+07:00

Yikes, it's already March! I don't intend to do a monthly post in this blog... But sadly, I've been completely negligent of my duty to my six readers. For the past weeks I have not been compelled to write something simply because of good old laziness.

I couldn't blame lack of material. I've seen amazing movies in February, and had been to a few Pinoy mafia raids, and the fashion weeks in NY, Milan, and Paris have come and gone. None of these compelled me to write. Sigh.

If there's anything occupying my head this past month it has been swimming. Owing to my dramatic weight gain these past months, I finally took control of my expanding waistline (the diet of peanuts and water is hardly werking) by going to the pool four times a week. Anyone who follows me on Twitter must be quite annoyed at my constant updates on my progress in my strokes and breathing and all that shit.

Yes, I'm taking swimming very seriously. I swim one hour per session and always trying to swim better. I like challenging my self, otherwise what's the point of doing something? I do drills, read blogs, and watch Youtube videos to improve my technique.

On the weight part, yes, swimming is werking. I'm way trimmer now. I'm making swimming work for me and I'm very happy because I see results after only about five weeks of constantly going to the pool. So there, I'm definitely serious on channeling my inner Little Mermaid in the name of vanity (what else?).

OK, so what else is there to look forward to in March?

This weekend magsasanib pwersa ang mga Pinoy Bayots from San Francisco and mainland Southeast Asia (read: Bangkok and Siem Reap) on a trip to the Island of the Gods... Baliwag Balisawsaw Balintatanaw... BALI. This is going to be a major holiday full of camp and flame, my dahlings.

Imagine, Lyka Bergen meets Fuchsiaboy? Bubbles meets Mama O? Kawadjan meets Ekra Tan? Need I say more? So beware, I'm going to flood this blog with photos of all the gay terror we will spread in Bali.

Many thanks to the Las Tres Estrellas of San Francisco for dragging us along on their bakasyon grande.

Anyway, after Bali I'm heading to Las Islas Filipinas, Perlas ng Silangan, for a visit to the family. My sister is finally getting hitched... and girl listen to this, I'm walking her down the aisle along with my mom.

Carolina Herrera or Inno Sotto? Givenchy or Patis Tesoro? Ok, I've decided to settle for Puey Quinones. Charing!

My only wish is that I DON'T overshadow my sister on perhaps the biggest day of her life. But I'm not saying I won't... if I can help it. Who knows?

On top of that, I'm going home with the bf, which means he would see the little city I grew up in, meet my relatives and friends (he has met my family about a year ago), and we'd have time together (more than anything else). Gosh, it's been five looooong months since we last saw each other, no? I'm eagerly counting the days until we meet again that's why I can't wait for this month's days to just move along.

Emoterang Frog: V-Day Edition

2011-02-08T20:36:00.005+07:00

So it's the love month. Yipeee! Uhm, NOT. God knows I'm not a big fan of Valentine's Day. Last year Lara Stone and I spent Valentine's night having an HIV test; very romantic, indeed.

With less than a week to go, I suppose most people are busy preparing for V-Day. I remember back in Las Islas Filipinas, all the restaurants, hotels, and motels are fully booked on this day. And well, the single people among us might just choose to sulk, or have some sort of single's night.

Well, I'm not exactly single but I don't have anyone to spend V-Day with this year... at least physically. Having been suddenly thrust into a long distance relationship I still have to figure out how to make V-Day special with him, if at all.

This LDR thing has been going on for quite a few months now and it's not as hard as I thought it would be. Thanks to Skype and Black Berry, we manage to keep in touch very regularly. Such electronic communication never equals having him around - oh, far from it - but what choice do we have? There are times when I baaadly feel like touching or hugging him, but I don't lose sleep over it. Those are just passing moments. In general, things are mostly smooth.

I guess our advantage is we built a good foundation during our time together in Bangkok. We really took the time to know each other, to develop trust, and so on. It's quite difficult to describe what exactly that foundation is, but perhaps a large part of it is the confidence that we are mutually working for the relationship.

The thing is, I don't know how to do LDR. I just take it one day at a time. I have friends who have been through long-term LDRs, and I gathered sooo many different approaches from them. I couldn't come up with a framework for LDRs based on the diversity of my friends' experiences. Perhaps there are no formulas? Or perhaps, I just have to do it my own way. It's like going around a forest without a map or compass. One thing though, right from the very start I told my self to relax.

So including this V-Day I'm just going to chill. In fact I've made plans, but not because it's V-Day. It just happens that Lea Salonga is coming to BKK for a Valentine concert, so, of course I'm going to brave the traffic and drag my (now) fat ass to the other side of town. I hope she sings On My Own kase parang bagay ang title sa aking mood. Chowz!

I Heart 'Cheeze Looker'

2011-01-31T18:21:00.005+07:00

Among the many Thai magazines I love, I never fail to buy the monthly issue of Cheeze, the magazine covering street style in Bangkok (see previous entry). In December 2010, Cheeze released the first issue of the exclusively male street style magazine, Cheeze Looker (see Facebook page).

I can't be more thrilled!

Bangkok's men are no doubt as fashionable as the women here; and with such a wealth of stylish men around, why not devote a separate magazine for them, chai mai? I guess among the young men in this city, when they pay attention on how they look they don't think they're being robbed of their masculinity. Cheeze Looker is, thus, a celebration of the fashionably daring Bangkok man.

Over the years, I observed that K-pop is the reference for Thai fashion, men's fashion included. Think of how a typical Korean pop star is styled: spiky hair, skinny jeans, dark colors, and pointed shoes. The weakness of the fashionable people in Bangkok is they also tend to get trendy. There are easily dozens and dozens of these men walking around Siam Square looking like they come from the same K-pop cookie cutter.

And then late 2009 through the rest of 2010, men sported the dorky look (I don't know how else to call it really). Basically, button down shirt, tapered pants and folded a few inches above the ankles, and some leather shoes sans socks. I'm still seeing plenty of them around until now; and honestly, it's the easiest way to tell who's gay. (Samples are found below.)

Fortunately, Cheeze Looker's editors and photographers know exactly the hackneyed looks. There is barely space for such non-original styles (well, there are a few cliches here and there). Overall, the magazine features lots of quirky and unique looks, with lots of individuality and experimentation.

I love the nonchalance of these men on the pages of Cheeze Looker; proof that style is not what you're wearing but how you wear the clothes.

On top of documenting the zeitgeist on the street, Cheeze Looker is also a style guide through its editor's picks. And like Cheeze, it also functions as a shopping guide, thus, making the magazine indispensable for those who are keen on exploring the fashion scene in the city.

Oscar Blues

2011-01-24T21:02:00.005+07:00

Let me get this out of the way first... I LOVE TORRENTS. I mean, what is there not to love about it? I download everything these days such as America's Next Top Model, Project Runway, and The Amazing Race. And of course some of the latest albums as well.

I even use torrent as a verb now. Like, I torrented Regine Velasquez's Narito Ako album. Example lang, tse!

And thanks to torrents I have been able to catch up on the latest movies that haven't been shown in the cinemas yet.

So tomorrow the Oscar nominees will be announced and I thought I'd say my piece about those so-called Oscar "hopefuls". No, this is not my prediction, after all, I'm sooo not good at being a Madam Auring. Neither are these the best movies I've seen in 2010.

Let's just say I'm going to share my thoughts and impressions on those movies predicted to figure prominently (or already have) this awards season.

And yes, these are ranked, so let's start.

13) Social Network

Thin characters. The movies good, but I won't say it's spectacular... far from it, in fact. And wait, Justin Timberlake? Enough reason for me not to like this movie.

12) 127 Hours

Ugh. This movie is painful to watch for obvious reasons. I had to watch some sections of it as a thumbnail. I even put it on mute. The cinematography is good though, and what is there not to like about James Franco, aber? Other than that, this is just another hyper-stylized Danny Boyle movie.

11) Inception

The script, I think, is clever. And I like Marion Cotillard, Ken Watanabe, and Joseph Gordon Levitt. The music by Hans Zimmer is annoying, it just never stopped. Besides, I don't do action films. I tend to sleep through them, including this one.

10) Toy Story 3

I missed half of this film because I slept through it, too. By the time I woke up the credits were rolling. But from what I've seen of the first half, it was quite charming. I'm still thinking of watching this again. But maybe not because just like action movies I don't like animated ones either.

9) Black Swan

This scared the hell out of me, so in that sense the movie worked for me. Still, the reviews raised my expectations and ultimately I was disappointed. I think this movie is just too hysterical for my taste. I'm not even impressed with Natalie Portman. Well she danced her ass of, so what? Dancing is not acting, love. Her performance is basic. *shrugs shoulders*

8) Rabbit Hole

I'm a sucker for film adaptations of stage plays. The story is obviously touching, the characters are well-explored, and Diane West is stellar in it. But I was distracted by Nicole Kidman's lips. This role was not for her AT ALL. I can see fellow Aussie Naomi Watts doing it best, but not Nicole's over-bloated lips.

7) The Kids are All Right

This I love a lot! Julianne Moore and Annette Bening are perfect for the roles of the lesbian couple. It has a funny script too for such a seemingly sensitive topic. Things were kept very light-hearted while having a good grasp of "modern" and "un-traditional" families.

6) The Fighter

The acting in this film is its strongest asset. I would be damned if Melissa Leo and Christian Bale don't win the supporting actress and supporting actor trophies (duh, respectively). Even Amy Adams made a surprising tough girl act. The weakness of this film is its predictability, like, underdog wins big time, blah, blah, blah.

5) The King's Speech

This one also has a strong cast. While Colin Firth is fantastic in the role of King George VI, Geoffrey Rush stole my heart away. Too bad Christian Bale is going to win this year (well, Geoffrey Rush already has an Oscar anyway). The cinematography and production design also capture well the period. While the movie is a good character study of a leader in crisis, the way it's told, however, is conventional.

4) True Grit

Two words: Hailee Steinfeld. Who's that gurrrl? The first time she came on screen I was dumbfounded. And by the time the movie ended I wanted to bequeath to her my sticker collection from the 80s. She carried that movie and without her I would've just slept through it again. (I don't have an appetite for another drunk Jeff Bridges.)

3) Winter's Bone

Now this is how you do a triumphant combination of character study and unconventional story-telling. The plot is in fact simple, but there's so much texture in the characters and their motivations are clear, yet, not simplistic. And dear god, thank you for sending us Jennifer Lawrence! Please don't turn her into a Miley Cyrus.

2) Never Let Me Go

This is the movie I had been waiting for through 2010. I worship the book it was adapted from and the movie certainly did not disappoint. I'm rarely satisfied with film adaptations of books I love but this definitely did justice to the Kazuo Ishiguro masterpiece. OK, obviously I'm biased why I love the movie, but how can I help enthusing over it when it captures so well the chilling atmosphere of the novel? Love the acting of Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, and Keira Knightley as well.

1) Blue Valentine

I did not have high expectations from this film, after all the critics are not exactly having orgasms writing about it, although they heaped generous praises on it as well. Let's say it's not exactly the movie everybody's talking about. But for me, this is easily the one of most mesmerizing movies I've seen lately. Perhaps it's the heartfelt performances of Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. Wait, I think they did a phenomenal job in the movie. Its strongest element, however, is the writing. The characters are so richly-explored and the pacing of the story (with the use of interwoven time frames) brings out the dilemmas and evolution of the husband and the wife very well. It is intimate and believable; and ultimately, without cliches, it tells us that nothing is quite simple in relationships.

When I was 10

2011-01-11T20:38:00.003+07:00

I saw him today. On Facebook. My first boy crush. Instantly, I was brought back twenty years ago when I was in Grade 5, when I started getting attracted to boys, and, well, I never looked back since then.

I do find it amusing that the catalyst for my affection for boys/men was no other than him.

He was a transferee from a different province, so, right from the very first day of Grade 5 he immediately caught everyone's attention. He was the typical tisoy boy (I marveled at how light-brown his hair was), with an easy confidence, and speaking with an Ilonggo accent (in fact he spoke Tagalog with and Ilonggo accent). Not long after he arrived in school, every girl had a crush on him. He was, of course, voted as the Escort for the grade level that year (yes, we voted for Muse and Escort in school... argh).

Let's call him R. I remember I could not look straight at him, or just feeling awkward whenever he was around. But I could not stop stealing glances at him as well. You know those weird things we do when our crush was around? Yun.

It did not bother me that I'm a boy having strong feelings for another boy (OK, a stupid crush). I was in a Catholic school, but I never felt guilty for the attraction, although I did not tell anyone about it either.

One time, we went on a field trip. The night before the trip, I prayed the rosary, specially asking Mother Mary for R and I to sit together on the bus. I bloody swear I did. And somehow the prayer worked because the next day we sat beside each other. I was ecstatic, needless to say; I even offered him my Hi-C, which he refused.

I wonder if indeed I eventually became a bit obsessive over him because at one point I started talking aloud to my self, pretending he and I were having a conversation. It lasted one summer break.

In Grade 6 he was moved to another class. He was elected Escort of Grade 6, naturally (ugh). Anyway, that meant I did not have enough chance to interact with him except in drafting class when all the boys of the same grade level would have a class on drawing and wood work and all that macho shit, separate from the girls who were taught sewing and embroidery. By then, his mystique has dissipated from me; I realized he's not that smart after all, and in fact he became a part of the gang of naughty boys. Big disillusionment!

In high school I noticed him around campus, acting some sort of a leader of those jocks that excelled in basketball (what else?) but kept on getting caught in fights with boys from other schools. By then, I completely lost interest in him. (I became asexual in high school.)

And then in second year high school he got one girl pregnant. They were both thirteen. The girl was also in the same high school. She had to stop going to school for a year as a result of the pregnancy. R, of course, continued going to school where his friends started calling him Tatay (Daddy), a title he seemed to carry with pride, despite having no role in raising the baby.

Years later, after my university years, I bumped into him on Siargao Island where he seemed to live a surfer lifestyle, or pretty much being a bum. When I saw him, it struck me that he was not as gorgeous as I thought he was... or say, he was not as gorgeous as when I first saw him.

So today I saw him on Facebook. Stalking his other albums, there are photos of his wife and daughters. I stared at his photos, trying to trace, and recollect, his features when he was ten years old. Doing that did bring me back to memories of how stunning he was, or at least how I perceived him then.

New Year in Laos

2011-01-06T14:46:00.007+07:00

I was Laos when the clock turned midnight on new year's eve. My Filipino friends and I barely made it to the fountain where the countdown took place because we were so caught up in some chitchat in a nearby cafe in Vientiane. The fountain was packed with revelers, with quite a good number of Thais on holiday and Western tourists.

But half an hour into 2011, the plaza was slowly getting empty, while we looked for alternative venues for some dancing, but alas it was sleepy Vientiane after all, so we too went back to the hotel, walking in the deserted streets of the city with a chilly air blowing from the banks of the Mekong river.

I was in Vientiane for a workshop, which ended on 30 December, so, I decided to stay a few more days to spend the New Year there. Laos has always been so charming, with its gentle people and dramatic landscape. And of course, who can resist drowning one's self with Beerlao, the best beer like EVAH!

I swear Laos is one of my favorite countries in the region. Other than Vientiane, I have been to Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, and Champasak on previous holidays. I'm always impressed how Laos relaxes me like no other place; perhaps it's too much beer or because life is just absolutely laid back there and the people are very polite, with wide, beaming, and sincere smiles.

On New Year's day, I hopped on a bus to Vang Vieng. Vang Vieng is like the hub of young backpackers in Laos and is famous for its water tubing, parties by the river, endless drinking, and some drugs, I heard. It's not exactly a place to find a quiet time in; you just cannot escape the endless thumping of techno music, drunken revelry, and replays of Friends in the many restaurants in the middle of the town.

However, Vang Vieng definitely still has quiet parts, especially if you venture out to the fields, go inside caves, or find a peaceful spot on the river banks while watching its always splendid sunsets.

This is the peak of the tourist season though, so, having some peace and quiet is the last thing can one expect. Luckily, I snagged the last room in a cheap guest house by the river (a little less than 8 USD). Unluckily, it was freezing in Vang Vieng, and freezing I mean something like, I don't know, perhaps 20 degrees in the evening. Again, I have to remind you that I'm a tropical bayot and anything less than 27 degrees is automatically winter for us in Surigao.

So anyway, before I went to Vang Vieng I was completely convinced that I would spend my time getting carried down the river on a tube, which after all is what Vang Vieng's all about. I packed tank tops, shorts, and sandals, only to find out that the river would instantly kill me. I don't understand how those tourists dare dip in such freezing waters all day long!

In fact, I stayed inside my room most of the time, napped like there was no tomorrow, while covered with a heap of thick blankets. I could not even take a shower because the guest house's water heater was purely a wall accessory. It did not help that the hut's walls were so thin, I felt like everything was sooo damp.

I enjoyed Vang Vieng nonetheless. I really did. Well, there's always Beerlao for some company, and damn, I could marry Beerlao any time. Obviously, I'm not alone in my undying love for the beer as proved by the many drunken backpackers slouched on daybeds in the restaurants.

The only time I could go out to enjoy the scenery was like between 10 am to 4 pm when it was warm enough, but even then I was wearing a sweater while being surrounded by girls in bikinis hanging from the arms of equally half-naked men.

When I went to Vang Vieng last time it was the rainy season. The river then was muddy and totally uninviting, hence, we ended up doing a mega photo shoot. What to do, aber? This time around, the river was clearer, shallower... but cold.

I just refused to get wet or else it's instant hypothermia for me. I took a boat tour instead, which brought me upstream. I got a glimpse of some river life - people washing their clothes, kids swimming, men fishing, etc - and then eventually of the tourism-oriented aspect of Vang Vieng: floating bars, river swings, and so on.

The next day, hours before I left, I ventured across the river to the corn fields where I saw signs leading to a couple of caves. I chose the farther one, about 40 minutes hike under the shadow of the karst cliffs surrounding the fields. I don't know what to say about the cave, really. We know how they're like: dark, damp, and slippery. Note to self: don't do caves again.

So it's back to Vientiane where I managed to catch the evening market by the river bank. I love those colorful embroidered bags! And then, as a tribute to my wonderful stay in Laos, of course I had to guzzle one more big bottle of Beerlao.

Emoterang Frog

2010-12-28T15:52:00.004+07:00

As 2010 comes to a close, the cliche is we take a look at what happened within the year and make an emo post about it all. I love cliches, you know? So here it goes...

Well, I really don't have any reason to whine for 2010, and that's quite a feat considering I whine for a past-time. Easily 2010 is one of the best years of recent memory, in all fronts in fact.

Work, while completely hectic, had been fulfilling. The office entrusted me with a couple of projects that I poured blood, sweat, and terms on. Ok, just a few sleepless nights. I like the challenge and tension of it all though; I like being busy and useful. Both projects ended this month and I'm quite proud of the accomplishments, although I wish they were nothing less than perfect.

In relation to work, I was also able to travel a bit this year. My first trip outside Southeast Asia was in Yunnan in September, followed by a meeting in Seoul in October, and then another official trip to Orissa, India this month. Despite being work trips of just a few days, I still managed to get a feel of the places I visited... and well someone else paid for those trips.

Speaking of holidays, my family visited me last May. It was the height of the crackdown of the "red shirt" protesters in Bangkok, my family did not see many parts of the city. Just having them here was good enough for me. They really liked Thai food and my mom was impressed with the canal tour - the most touristy of activities out there. I'm happy my mom made it for the trip despite her health. And I finally introduced my BF to my her.

Which brings me to the most significant aspect of my year... *blush blush*. It is the right time, and he is the right person, and I am in the right frame of mind, hence, things fell into place. We are close to celebrating one year together. The past twelve months had been a joy because of him. With how things worked so well during that period, I'm definitely looking forward to a more romantic future for him and me.

By the time this post finds its way on the blog I'd be in Vientiane for a workshop, which ends on Thursday. I'm staying a bit longer there to spend the new year, throwing toasts for 2011 with Beer Lao in my hand.

A Sad Truth

2010-12-24T18:20:00.002+07:00

I will not talk about weight in 2011. That's one of my resolutions for next year.

I'm going to seal my mouth whenever I see an obese person even if deep inside I wanna tell them that they look like trucks with legs. I will never again berate my close friends about how their waistline is expanding three inches every time we meet, even if I know those are exactly the words they need to hear and they should be thanking me for telling them the sad truth. I will stop counting my friends' chins, or reminding them that their clavicles are suffocating.

I know that through the years I have been mean to people with a body mass index of more than 16. I'm not going to apologize for my behavior. Uhu, no way. But for next year I'd be kinder and embrace people even if I my hands don't meet at their back when I literally hug them.

You see, karma is a bitch. I've been gaining weight my self this year. I don't know how it happened, but twice I had to exchange trousers at the department store because I bought them TWO sizes smaller. It's tragic, I know.

It must be me hitting 30 this year. I've been developing a paunch that just does not want to go away no matter what I do. I've been following a strict diet of peanuts for dinner to no avail. I hardly eat these days, in fact.

I had to give away half of last season's trousers to charity. The baby tees don't fit me anymore, so I sent them to the orphanage as well.

I miss the good old days of me shopping in the teen's section because everything else is way too large for me then. I miss shopping at the women's rack in Zara where hefty women throw me envious looks whenever I grabbed size 26 jeans. Sigh.

As I said, karma is a bitch. A fierce, fierce bitch. It must be the universe getting back at me for my cruelty to fat people. It's a message I'm listening to, hence, the resolution not to talk about weight next year. This will be my last weight-related post. (Well, I'd try.)

And if it makes everyone happy, I'm confessing: I'm officially obese.

Indescribable India

2010-12-20T18:51:00.005+07:00

India is everything that I expected it to be... and more. It is vibrant, colorful, and exciting, I don't know where to start! There's just heaps of things I want to share, but I'm afraid I can't do justice to the experience. Perhaps that's what India is all about; it's beyond incredible, it's in fact indescribable.

I expected India to be not easy to travel in so I was pretty much prepared for inconveniences and many surprises, which I adored every bit of. One night we stayed in a hotel without hot water, and evening temperature was about eight Celsius.

Or the food at the restaurant did not come on time; and in general time was always under-estimated and flexible, hence, the schedule of the trip was all over the place. For three days in a row, for example, we had lunch at 5 pm and dinner at 8:30 pm. Nonetheless, there are so many things to love about India that made me let these inconveniences pass.

I have never seen so much color on the streets, thanks to the resplendent saris - in bright fuchsia, orange, green, blue - Indian women wear all the time, whether they are on the rice fields, carrying baskets of rocks on their heads, or tending their goats.

I was completely arrested by the way they elegantly fold the sari around their bodies and still function under such intricate drapery.

We also had the opportunity to experience warm Indian hospitality wherever we went. Because we were sort of an official delegation, we were greeted with dances by the indigenous communities we visited. Often there are men beating big drums and women dancing to the thumping.

School-children gave us flowers in all the schools we visited and then they'd sing us some songs or show us how they study in school using their local, ethnic languages. They are a bit coy in interacting with us, otherwise, they are very participative in class wherein they use indigenous materials in learning.

Also, we had the opportunity to meet local education authorities and district administrators, the latter were all women. It's indeed impressive to see very intelligent women occupying these positions. They were all so articulate about the issues of their districts and definitely dedicated to improving the lot of the school-children.

The commitment of the local education officials in making basic education accessible to indigenous children was very laudable. The people implementing the projects are very knowledgeable about their work, it was an honor to be in their company.

Other than work, we also had some opportunity to visit the Sun Temple in Konark, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. India, after all, is the source of most of Southeast Asia's culture, therefore, Konark in particular reminded me of the many temples I have seen across Thailand and Cambodia.

We also drove a lot around the Orissa countryside on our way to the schools. We saw newly-harvested rice fields and villages composed of mud houses. The highways of Orissa (and also the state of West Bengal) are an experience altogether.

Driving was definitely free for all, and we had to contend with humongous trucks that could not care less for us in small vehicles. The travel down those highways was such a scary affair: brazen motorcycle drivers going against the flow, horns blaring like mad all the time, trucks inches away from crashing into each other, and the occasional bull and goat making a slow highway crossing.

Our last two days in India were spent in the West Bengal capital of Kolkata. I instantly fell in love with the charm of the city, with old, crumbling buildings whose walls are covered with moss and grit, yellow cabs that must be at least fifty years old, narrow streets lined with spindly trees, and large fields in the middle of the city that are full of cricket players.

We, of course, visited the Victoria Monument, Kolkata's landmark, and then the National Museum of Kolkata, as well as a bit of shopping on our final hours in the city.

Needless to say, India was such a mesmerizing experience for me. Again, traveling in it is far from easy, but I think all our minor sacrifices in comfort were amply rewarded because we went to parts of the country that many outsiders may not have the chance to see.

Nonetheless, we only saw a tiny speck of the massive country that is India. There are more things to see, undoubtedly. The best gauge for saying that you enjoyed your trip is whether or not you want to go back to that place the moment you left it. As mentioned in the previous post, it had always been my dream to go to India, and now that I've finally made it there, I cannot wait to go back soon.

In India

2010-12-15T08:35:00.001+07:00

By the time I've posted this I'm already in Orissa Province, east of India. I remember last year wishing to Santa for a trip to India, although I specified I wanted to see Rajasthan. Well, my destination is not exactly Rajasthan but it's still India nonetheless.

I've been wanting to see India since... forever. It's one of those countries that never ceases to amaze me, and I've always admired Indians for their eruditeness.

I'm completely stoked for this trip. It's actually a work trip; we're visiting schools in remote tribal villages (quite similar to my trip to Yunnan in September). We're also seeing the temples of Orissa and a couple of days in the pulsating city of Kolkata.

So expect stories when I come back this weekend.

Must-watch: Undertow

2010-12-06T09:47:00.004+07:00

All the elements of a good film and more: stunning scenery, flawless acting, sensitive writing, with a touch of folk tradition, good old macho culture, and a poignant - and amusing - twist. Directed by Javier Fuentes-Leon, this Peruvian film is a memorable gem.

Go catch Undertow (Contracorriente, 2009).

(And it's available on torrents now.)

Resurrection

2010-12-05T11:24:00.005+07:00

A week ago, I deleted some of the links on my side bar for blogs that have not been updated for six months or so. It's quite disheartening that some people start a blog that somehow captures your attention and then the writer suddenly stops; I mean not even a hiatus but completely discontinuing the blog, like some relationships that end without closure. The Filipino term for it is bitin, and I don't know how to translate that.

Well, to write a blog is work. I would not say it's hard work, but still you put some effort and time in it, especially if you want to keep a certain quality to it. So I don't blame bloggers who find it quite taxing to maintain a blog over a certain period. One loses interest, or you have better things to do, or sometimes you simply run out of material. I respect that.

So it does take a certain level of commitment and consistency to maintain a blog, and I have very high regard for people to continue to churn out entries regularly. These people are really there because they enjoy writing and sharing their output. That's a lot of dedication right there.

And it's also a feat to maintain readers' interest. There are gazillion blogs competing for a fickle-minded audience. It's difficult to figure out what makes them want to go back to your blog regularly. If you know the content that piques readers' interest, you have to keep on writing about it, organize a storyline, and be consistent in posting.

So when I was "editing" my blog links, I wondered how many people have stopped reading my blog mainly because I've been completely erratic in posting over the last half of this year. An average of four posts a month is clearly a big departure from the dozen or so I used to produce. Yes, I do care about maintaining readership, otherwise I'd just close down this blog and write a journal instead. Blogging is always tinged with a certain level of narcissism, you know.

Over the past few months I've mentioned how my work load has increased considerably, hence, the lack of time for blogging. I'm very excited with the new responsibilities I've been handling lately. I like the challenge a lot; I like concentrating on accomplishing tasks, even if, say, I have to kill someone to achieve a certain level of quality in my work. No, I haven't done that... yet. :-) So, definitely I have no extra time for blogging, given my work responsibilities lately.

Also, this year I've been quite busy meeting my domestic duties as a full-pledged housewife. Ehem. Definitely there's a lot of things to write about on this subject but I want to keep things private. *Sabay hawi ng bangs* Being a housewife took much of my free time then, including cooking useless tofu adobo, among other things. My weekends in particular were entirely spent with Lara Stone.

You might ask why I'm talking in the past tense now. While I'm still very much a wife, I just don't have a "house" to speak of since Lara was shipped to a faraway land. Thus, I suddenly found my self facing a huge gap in my weekends; I don't know what to do with them.

What better way to spend uneventful weekends but reviving this blog? Yes, I'm back, that's what I've been wanting to say all along.

Don't delete me from your blog links yet because you'd be hearing more regularly from me. I have many stories to tell, including my upcoming trip to India... Incredible India as well as a beach holiday in Koh Samet, and New Year celebration in Laos. I will also share more of my recent reads and movies watched, and a bit of kabaklaan and binayot here and there; basically more of the same shit I've been spewing through these years! So stay tuned...

Loy Krathong at Phra Athit

2010-11-29T17:21:00.004+07:00

Thailand celebrated Loy Krathong a couple of weekends ago. Loy Kratong is one of the most important festivals here. It is believed that people symbolically let go of their "baggage" on this festival by releasing floats or lanterns. This is now my fourth Loy Krathong and it still remains as my favorite among Thailand's many festivals.

Loy Krathong is always celebrated during the full moon, hence its date changes annually. This year, Bubbles and I went to the Phra Athit riverside park. Just like any location that has a body of water in it, Phra Athit was packed, and there was even a show recounting the origins and associated rites of Loy Krathong.

There were also many stalls selling desserts and drinks. I was ecstatic to see a stall selling cotton candy. I hardly see cotton candy these days. I remember as a child I always got one after Sunday mass.

From Phra Athit, Bubbles and I went to the Rama VIII bridge where heaps of people were releasing lanterns. The air was heavy with smoke when we reached the bridge. But the sight of numerous lanterns floating in the air like tiny fireflies was worth it. Later that evening from my window I could still see the lanterns flicker in the night sky.

By the way, last week, we had some visitors from Siem Reap and Hong Kong. Pout kung pout, love.

Inked

2010-11-26T20:47:00.002+07:00

After ruminating for about a couple of years to get a tattoo I finally got one last night. For a long time I haven't had any concrete reason to get inked. Today, however, is the first anniversary of my father's death and I have long wanted to immortalize him in some way. It just so happened that I prefer to do it in a corporeal manner.

I want to remind my self of his legacy to me, being the most influential person in my life (my mom having that equal role). Since my dad died there has not been a day that I do not think of him, so I did not get the tattoo to remind him of me. It's just that I want to honor him in a certain way.

But really, my dad wouldn't have liked my getting a tattoo. He has always told us kids not to get any piercing or tattoo. He's simply conservative. So no, he would not approve of what I did, although it wouldn't be the first time that happened.

Anyway, back to last night... I simply walked to Khao San Road and went inside a tattoo shop, one of hundreds around that part of Bangkok. The place looked clean enough and the people looked sensible.

They traced the pattern I printed from the internet, they transferred it on a carbon paper, and then I had the print on my arm. I decided to put it on my inner right bicep because I want it to be inconspicuous. I'm not doing it to parade a tattoo.

The process was rather straightforward. No drama on my part, I mean. It was not really that painful, although I did wince many times just because I thought it was painful. I swear getting a Brazilian wax was more harrowing.

The tattoo is tiny and it's in black. It only took the artist three minutes to ink it in. And then it was over. I was given an ointment to apply on the tattoo twice a day. That's it.

The design is an old Filipino script called alibata or babayin. I used the modified version. I learned it in university over ten years ago and I had to refresh my knowledge of it through the internet. It's for you to find out what it means. :-)

Now that's a reason to give gifts this Christmas

2010-11-15T18:28:00.000+07:00

Castaway in Koh Lipe

2010-10-31T14:39:00.005+07:00

A few days after arriving from Seoul I went down south for a short beach holiday with Lara Stone. It's about time I take a break as I haven't been on a holiday since May.

Our destination was the island of Koh Lipe in Satun. We stayed in the charming Castaway Resort on Sunrise Beach.

I loved Castaway! It was tastefully done and it does not have any of the tacky frills that one sees in regular beach bungalows in Thailand. The most admirable part of their operation is they try to go green. For instance, they recycle your bathwater to be used as water for flushing the toilet. And the people manning the resort are completely nice, on top of the wonderful food (we certainly got hooked on the fried somtam salad).

Koh Lipe is rather tiny. If I remember it correctly it's only like six kilometers square. The Chao Lay are the indigenous people living on the island, however since the boom of tourism, many people from the mainland have been living there, thus stressing the island's resources. Add to that the large number of tourists.

Koh Lipe's tourism is the only obvious industry on the island, with many construction projects going all over the place. We also saw heaps of garbage in some parts of the island, a common sight in many of Thailand's beaches. I hope somehow the residents and tourists of the island would get their act together to save it from becoming yet another beach that's victimized by unchecked tourism.

Other than that, Koh Lipe is quite a paradise. The views of the nearby island of Koh Adang, with its towering peak brimming with thick forest (most of the area is part of the Koh Tarutao National Park), is majestic. One afternoon Lara Stone and I kayaked from Koh Lipe to Koh Adang.

The green waters of Koh Lipe open up to a beautiful world of corals, fish, and other marine life. We snorkeled a couple of times, including a snorkeling day-trip, which brought us to a few nearby islands.

Other than that, it was a completely lazy holiday for us. We sat on hammocks facing the water, read, drank fruit juice, and took lots of nap. In the evening we had a few occasions of romantic walks on the beach or just sharing a hammock while watching the moon hover the water.

Four Days in Seoul

2010-10-28T16:02:00.007+07:00

The flight to Seoul took nearly five hours and I swear it was the longest plane ride I've been on. It was unbearable to be strapped in my seat for that long. It did not help that Asiana had crappy food and the seats were cramped.

I was in Seoul a couple of weeks back for a two-day meeting. Luckily we had some free time, giving my colleagues and I to explore the city a bit. As I did some prior research, I was the "tour guide" for the group. It was a bit of a challenge to figure out the massive subway system of the city, but later on I really got the hang of it with the help of a few locals.

The weather was transitioning to fall when we visited Seoul; or at least a few of the trees had started to change color. I have never seen fall prior to that. Also, by my standards, it was rather chilly, although the temperature was only between 18 to 9 degrees. In Surigao, we freeze when the temperatures reach 27, which hardly happens.

But the good thing about fall is people were layering light jackets and some scarves. Thigh-high boots were de rigueur among the girls. I was mesmerized by just looking at the clothes. And damn, the people in Seoul are not only fashionable but they can also be quite gorgeous. Most men are pretty solid, at least compared with Thai men, and have cheekbones reaching for the hills surrounding the city.

Oh, those hills. They dot Seoul, like green islands jutting out from a sea of concrete and steel. The morning sun cast a glow on them, which I observed even from my tiny hotel room in the shopping district.

Shopping is certainly big in Seoul. We stayed in a location that's akin to Pratunam in Bangkok, which had malls huddled together. We also went to Myeongdun or something, which is comparable to Siam Square in its hipness, only ten times better. I nearly cried when I saw H&M, which, honestly, is a tad too over the top for a reaction. But that's me, a drama queen. Damn, I even missed the chance of going to Uniqlo, but that would be for next time (I hope!).

Shopping aside, there are many more reasons to go back to Seoul. It has quite a few World Heritage Sites in the middle of the city, which I'm sure is worth checking out. I heard Seoul also have a good night life. Regrettably, we were so tired after a whole-day's meeting, we simply didn't have the energy to paint the town red.

I guess the more lasting impression for me of Seoul is Korean cuisine. I rarely notice food. However, the food in Korea always seems fresh and healthy, with vegetables aplenty, headed by kimchi. I also had mustered enough courage to eat raw octopus (or its small cousins), which was still wiggling inside my mouth when I bit into it.

Seoul Preview

2010-10-20T17:02:00.003+07:00

I recently came back from an official trip to Seoul and I had a total blast there, even if majority of the time we were actually working. But I still managed to squeeze in many sights and experiences.

Seoul is such a vibrant city and I have many stories share, but as I'm insanely busy at work at the moment, I'd post a couple of photos for now.

Peg Kung Peg

2010-10-11T18:32:00.000+07:00

Well, well, well... look who's the inspiration of the Bakla Mafia in Bangkok?

Uhm, that's all.

In Yunnan

2010-09-28T20:04:00.057+07:00

I've never traveled outside of Southeast Asia before so I never cared for visas... until I had to travel to China last week for work. I did not know that there is so much drama for us Third Worlders who want to go to China. Day after day new requirements were asked until finally I was seen as un-threatening to our big neighbor up there. *rolls eyes*

This trip is actually a continuation of the trip in Sangkhlaburi; it's a program for a Southeast Asian delegation that I organized. You bet it was exhausting as hell to cart around nearly 30 people from one bus to another, from one airplane to another.

In the China leg alone, we took one flight in each of the four days we were there, on top of hours traversing the jagged peaks of Yunnan province on a minibus.

From Bangkok we flew to Kunming, and then another flight to Lijiang (where we stopped by the World Heritage Site of Lijiang Old Town), drove to Jianchuan, and then visited a small school in the village of Shilong.

Many times we had to wake up as early as three or four in the morning just to catch our flights. And then I was checking in people to our flights, loading bags onto the minibus, unloading them when we reach the destinations, checking in the people at the hotel, and making sure nobody gets lost. I was pretty much a shepherd in China.

Obviously I hardly had time to enjoy China with the many logistical arrangements that I had to oversee. What are my memories of that four-day trip then?

Well, there's the beautiful landscape of the province, the golden fields of corn, the towering mountains, the deep valleys... which I all saw while on the bus.

And then there was the charming architecture of Lijiang Old Town, its twisted and narrow streets, the doorways that open to cramped courtyards, the sea of tiled rooftops, the endless streams that run around the town, and the electric colors of the fabrics hanging from the shops.

I could not also forget the enthusiasm of the children at the school we visited in the remote village of Shilong. They welcomed us with a song and then they danced for us wearing their tribal costumes. We also observed how they learn in the classroom using their own native language.

It was a quick four days indeed but it was an interesting peek into such a vibrant and diverse country. I obviously saw a small parcel of the vastness that is China and I still dream to see Beijing, Guilin, and Tibet (if you count it as part of China).

In Sangkhlaburi

2010-09-26T22:27:00.000+07:00

I haven't had the chance to update the blog for weeks now because I was running crazy at work organizing a study visit to a town in Kanchanaburi and a small village in the mountains of Yunnan. I swear I've never worked this hard in this office as I had these past months and I'm quite happy to have significant contribution to the office as well as maximize my skills.

I avoid talking in detail about work in my blog, simply because work and faggotry should not mix, in my opinion. So for now I'm just sharing some of the photos I took during that two-day trip.

Sangkhlaburi is a small town on the hills of the Thai-Burmese border. The main landmark of the town is a long wooden bridge crossing the small lake found in the middle of town. On our visit we dropped by a temple and a village of the Mon tribe. The main purpose really was to visit the school the Mon children attend.

The Major Major Tape Measure Challenge

2010-09-12T20:53:00.000+07:00

Fuchsiaboy and Betty, who are both based in Khmerlandia, were in BKK over the weekend to finally settle the age-old Preah Vihear dispute. Ay wait, let's not go that direction because I don't want to be deported from Siam.

We in fact wanted to solve the mystery of who among us girls have the the smallest waistline.

We all know that waistline is a serious business for me. I have been starving through 2010 in preparation for the most critical competition there is. I have lived a diet of peanuts and fruit juice these past months in the hope of being in top shape for this day.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, I'm not going to delay the tension here.

First contestant is La Donita Rose of Siem Reap! Half-Belgian, half-Japanese, La Donita's motto in life is "To couture or not to couture, that is the question." His biggest mistake in life wearingh the glorified trapo creations of Eairth by Melissa Dizon.

Second contestant is... ay, the second contestant is La Greta, the Sirena of Surigao. Half-tilapia, half-lapu-lapu, La Greta believes in the saying "Clavicles are the new cleavage." His biggest mistake in life is... no, he does not make mistakes because he is perfect.

And the third contestant is Betty La Fea the Belle of Belgium. Betty speaks Flemish and French with an Ilocano accent and he believes that "I did not expect to be in the tough ten." (Profound ang lola nyo!). His biggest mistake in life is wearing the same Don Protasio top that La Bubbles wore on the same night. Fashion faux pas nang major-major!

The results!

Coming in at a shocking 34 inches is... La Donita! (Well, that was rather expected, after all, La Donita had been spotted frequenting the Siem Reap branch of Swensen lately.)

First runner-up, at 29 inches is... La Greta! (Who, after learning of his poor performance, completely lost his mind and had been sighted roaming around the dark sois of Bangkok like a deranged katoey.)

And running away with the crown, at 27 1/2 inches, is the cadaverish, Betty la Fea, who will walk away with a box of A4 paper and a bottle of fish sauce that will nourish him for the next 12 months.

See you in the next pageant, girls! (Di pa tapos ang laban!)

Living la Vida Imelda

2010-09-06T19:06:00.000+07:00

Over the years, one of the must-dos when in Manila is to join a tour of famous guide Carlos Celdran. He must be doing the tour for about a decade or so now, and he has thus gained prominence as Manila's premiere tour guide, and has appeared in countless publications worldwide.

I joined one of Carlos' tours more than three years ago. We went around the heritage area of San Nicolas (see previous entry here) and since then I've been dying to join another tour. Finally, I had the chance to do so in my recent trip to Manila.

Along with my BFF from my university days, Meredel, we went to the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) complex for Carlos Celdran's Living la Vida Imelda. It's no secret that I'm a big Imelda fan. Well, I don't approve of what she did as a First Lady and I'm completely disappointed in the Filipino people for voting her in the current Congress.

Nonetheless, it cannot be denied that Imelda has an allure for her crassness and delusion, least of all, to which I could not help being drawn. She's the embodiment of the corrupted soul of the Filipino, desperately yearning for validation but without a deeply-rooted self-confidence to carry her through, hence, she faltered scandalously and with such tragic, and oftentimes comic, repercussions.

The tour is a journey through the life of Imelda Marcos (as well as Ferdinand) with the CCP as a backdrop of the grand myths she perpetuated as a First Lady for more than twenty years. Envisioned as the epicenter of the arts and culture of the Philippines, the CCP is considered as the apex of her and Ferdinand's "edifice complex," a hunger for grand infrastructure projects to proclaim to the world that this scattered islands on the edge of the Pacific Ocean cannot be ignored.

The life of the Marcoses has been well-publicized through the years. Carlos thus relates these facts, personal anecdotes, and wild rumors during the highly entertaining three-hour tour. Carlos' boundless energy and panache in telling the tale of the Marcoses is an attraction in itself - akin to performance art - only overshadowed by the sheer ridiculousness of the erstwhile first couple.

The tour starts at the CCP where we found our way into Box 25, the private box of Imelda and Ferdinand during the halcyon days of their regime. We then snaked through the narrow corridors of the theater, with Carlos leading the way, a cassette player perched on his head, and dancing to the tune of "Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika" and other OPM songs.

We then found our way to the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), which surprisingly has retained its glory over the years. The lobby, with its stunning chandelier, never fails to give that sense of grandeur of the building purposely constructed in 1976 for the first IMF-World Bank Meeting.

A humongous painting by Filipino painter Jose Joya also decorates the lobby and its halls are decked with Ang Kiukok and Manuel Baldemor paintings. Well-preserved furniture from the 1970s are still found all over, giving the place a truly retro feel.We were then led to the main plenary hall of the PICC where the tour ended.

I do have tremendous admiration for Carlos' handling of the tour. It is supremely entertaining and informative (at least for those who do not know the Marcoses so well). There are many familiar facts and myths retold during the tour, but he also somewhat dispels some rumors, particularly those relating to the tragic collapse of the Manila Film Center and the assassination of Ninoy Aquino.

I also admire the tour's access to many parts of the CCP and the PICC, especially coz we pretty had these places to ourselves (well, sort of).

Did I change my mind about Imelda after the tour. Absolutely not and neither does the tour aim for us to do so. At the very least, it only reaffirmed our belief that the Marcos regime was one of the most surreal and darkest moments in our recent history. But then, it is also a reminder that Imelda has given the Philippines some international recognition, only for the vilest of reasons.

Paradigm Shift

2010-09-03T11:07:00.000+07:00

I finally met two of Manila's fashion blogger royalty, Toxic Disco Boy and Inckarlcerating. God, di ako prepared coz I was wearing some office-y clothes whereas Toxic and Karl were in their drapery splendor and decked in eye-blinding cutlery... I mean silver accessories. I looked like their alalaay with a Surigaonon accent!

They were in fact wearing some clothes from Paradigm Shift, a clothing line the girls design themselves. It's truly inspiring how they successfully translated their point of view into something commercial. I heard they will soon sell their creations in a boutique in Podium, which obviously is worth looking forward to.

I love the panache and courage Toxic and Karl have in presenting themselves. Many folks were stealing glances of the girls' billowy tops, diaphanous accents, and deadly rings, but they just keep on sauntering like fab gazelles in the midst of buffaloes in jeans.

I told them they are a bit misplaced in Manila's relatively conservative fashion scene. Where they truly belong is Bangkok, where their forward approach to fashion would be more appreciated. Besides, they'd die shopping in BKK's streets. So Toxic and Karl, gooorah na to BangCock!

I keep coming back to Manila

2010-08-28T22:30:00.000+07:00

In Manila for a week starting tomorrow.

Will try not to gain weight while I'm away.

See you soon!

Pinay Bloggers in Siam

2010-08-17T08:10:00.011+07:00

When I moved to Thailand one of the first things I did was search the web for Pinoy bloggers in Bangkok.. well the bayot kind, to be specific. Unfortunately, I did not find one at that time. Fast forward three years later, I have come across a number of Siam-based bloggers, which certainly is a welcome treat. It's always nice to find out how my kababayans (countrymen) see Bangkok through their own eyes and indeed I found a variety of perspectives among them.

The first blogger I stumbled on is Man of the Rose, and my, my, my what a find it truly is! Man of the Rose features the delectable side of Thailand, its men in particular. Cee, the author, posts photos of Thai men (and other Asian celebrities and models, but mostly Thai) in various states of undress, including see-through moments that leave very little to the imagination... or au naturel some times.

I believe Binibining Cee gets his photos from Thai fashion magazines as well as gay-oriented magazines and websites. Thank God for Cee's resourcefulness, any visitor to his website would have more than enough material for wet dreams to last a lifetime. Warning, this site is mostly NSFW.

The other blog authored by Cee is Carlo de la Rosa's I'm Not Most People. Here he posts a hodgepodge of stuff, from Thai and Filipino celebrity gossip, to movies, theater, and features stories of some of his trips.

I've in fact seen Carlo a few weeks back at Charice's mall appearance in BKK. He was covering the visit and had the chance to interview the Pinay star... but I was too shy to say hi.

The next Pinay bayot blogger is La Primera Chismosa in the City of Fallen Angels, Gossip Girl TS. The blurb in his profile says: "I am Gossip Girl based in Times Square. Your reliable source of everything juicy and scandalous about the lives of Upper TS office goers. I rely on your tips so message me and let's give everyone something to talk about. Everyone gets SPOTTED. And you're next. You know you love me. XOXO"

Gossip Girl TS is a hilarious account of the misadventures of his other bayot friends, and that includes my dear Bubbles, who is featured in the latest post titled "The XYZ of :Love." I also happen to know most of the people whose lives GG (Gossip Girl) exposes. GG is undoubtedly a gifted writer, making the mundane and raunchy sound at least a bit classy and ultimately amusing.

Speaking of La Bubbles, he has a blog too! Atbp. ni Biloc is his musings on life, love, and lust. Ok, maybe not lust, but how can you separate that from La Bubbles, right?

It's quite difficult to pinpoint exactly what Atbp. ni Biloc is all about. It's at times philosophical ("But whatever the LOTUS entails, for me it’s a flower that gives radiance. You appreciate the form it shows and how it blooms"), political, or just simply musical. A example of the latter is his latest post on Lani Misalucha's Tila, which I suspect is La Bubbles' ode to the rainy season in this part of the world? Ladies and gentlemen, please help me figure out Atbp. ni Biloc.

Rounding up my finds of Pinoy-authored blogs in BKK is the latest addition to the small group, Siam Stylista. I am totally excited that finally there's a street-style blog covering the many fashionistas in this city (I'm not exactly sure if this is the first and only, but it's the only site of its kind I've seen so far).

It's a relatively newly-started blog and the author has been quite consistent in posting. At the moment, it's still difficult to figure out the aesthetics that draws Siam Stylista to his subjects, but he's off to a good start nonetheless. He even had the chance to interview the owner of one of my favorite Thai brands, Wonder Anatomie (Donita Rose, check it out!).

By the look of it, there's a growing number of Pinoy bayot bloggers in Bangkok and one can only wish that our number increases even further. Again, these are the only blogs to my knowledge but there could be more out there. If you happen to be one of those authors I forgot to mention, please feel free to drop me a message.

The Girls from Asia

2010-08-12T22:11:00.000+07:00

Well, here we are again! One of the most-anticipated moments of the year when girls from all over the world scramble over a stupid crown Donal Trump puts up for grabs. The new Miss Universe will be crowned in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks or so. And that means bayots all over the world will be closely scrutinizing each contestant, as already started by Lyka Bergen?

As part of the big crowd of beauty pageant "observers", I have a few things to say about the evening gown photos of the contestants.

Last year I checked the women from Asia and I'm doing the same this time. I'm just wondering though, where's Miss Vietnam?

Anyway, let's start.

Miss China. You. Must. Be. Kidding. Me. I did not even know China celebrates Halloween and now she comes as what, Tinkerbell? Such a beautiful girl (look at those skinny arms!), but what is she doing in this gown that not one courageous drag queen would ever want to wear?

Miss India. This is a beautifully draped gown and the color is very sophisticated. I also love the glittery shoulder pad. But his Cheri Gil wanabee could not even work the gown properly. And that headband? Is it keeping that atrocious hair in place? Hmmm... this is how you DON'T win a beauty pageant, my love.

Miss Indonesia. Now this is how you work a gown... if and only if you want to tell people that you don't have a proper ironing board in whatever seedy Las Vegas hotel Donald Trump put you in. Besides, the color is too bubblegum to be taken seriously, and those frayed seams cheapen the gown even more.

Miss Japan. This is how you work a gown. Now, seriously. Her pose, along with the hair, complements the shape of the gown to perfection and I love that fierce look on her. However, I find the material of this gown too heavy. Also, what's with insects this year, aber? Do we have an entomology theme?

Miss Korea. Love this! Love the gown, love the pose, love the hair, love the body (hellow clavicles!), love the accessories, but I don't love the face. I think she's quite pretty but the way she angles her face here is just plain boring and she is virtually without a neck.

Miss Malaysia. She has a really beautiful face, and those eyes are very arresting. But again, she looks stumpy here because like Miss Korea she forgot to use her neck. The gown, on the other hand, is making me sleep. The color is not going to catch any of the judge's attention and the curtain fabric used drags it even further.

Miss Philippines. I love the dynamism of the pose, she looks like she's dancing. Also, this is how you use your neck to full advantage. But while the gown moves well, the color and material are, as Lyka said, very Divisoria. Someone please put this stunning girl in a decent gown! And I'm not talking to you, Pitoy Moreno!

Miss Singapore. Does anyone have some Paracetamol? I see a major migraine on its way, ladies. Or is she just bored by her boring face? I'm sure she's not alone. And that gown, why does it have to be such a heavy material? It makes it her look obese! Next!

Miss Thailand. Let's start with the obvious... this gown is completely over-worked, especially for a beauty pageant. It's distracting us from her face and gives her too much bulk. Someone give this girl some scissors to trim the gown with. And while you're at it, please also give her a lesson on putting make-up.

So that rounds up our girls from Asia this year. I obviously could not tell yet who among them is strong, but I'm so uninspired by this year's contestants from this part of this world.

It's early to tell though coz we've only seen the gowns. I checked the photos of the other girls and their gowns look equally cheap, if not cheaper, than the Asians. I could not wait to see the swimsuit photos to give us more basis on betting for our favorite girls.

So let's keep our eyes open for Miss Universe action and may the best girl win.

Threesome

2010-08-08T14:43:00.000+07:00

A wonderful addition to the small body of literature by Filipino gay men is the collection of books written by three bloggers, published by Grey Matter Publishing. The publisher, La Czarina, is a close friend. Finally, after a rather protracted process of publishing the books, they successfully launched them few weeks back (congrats, love!). My BKK-based amiga, Norlybelle, brought me and La Bubbles' copies.

The first book I read is The Chronicles of E because I've never read his blog before. I met the author, E, in BKK last April and I sheepishly confessed to him that I don't visit his blog, although two friends are avid readers.

The Chronicles of E tells the story of his crazy relationships ("Me in a relationship meant only one thing: I needed a place to stay and I need money"), drug addiction, and short stint as a boy-for-rent.

The bulk of his entries, however, focus on his journey as an HIV-positive person."I never really believed that there were a lot of people here in Manila or in the Philippines who have HIV or AIDS, so I always thought that the chances of me getting HIV was like winning a Nobel Prize."

From his initial ignorance on the real state of HIV infection in the Philippines (I learned through a friend that between January to May this year around 700 have tested HIV positive in Manila), he gives us a first-hand account of how he had to deal with being poz. He also has to go through the motions of reconciling with his family (his "evil aunt" took care of him as a child) and how he is on a path to fulfilling his dreams, which he feels is now limited because he is HIV positive.

Written as an online journal, E portrays him self as a completely imperfect character, if you may. His tone is far from preachy, nor does he claim to have found any redemption. On the contrary, just like most of us, he is a work in progress and that evolution, along with his flaws, makes the book very poignant and raw.

The second book I read is The Wet Book: Stories from the Bathhouse by McVie. His blog is far from being a stranger to me. I've been reading him for about four years now. Last year I saw McVie in a club in Manila and I was completely starstruck when I introduced my self to him.

Well, obviously I'm a McVie fan and for quite some time now I'm convinced he deserves to be published. Thank God someone finally noticed! While making up only a portion of his blog, his entries on his escapades in the bathhouses of Manila are some of his most hilarious posts. I've actually read on his blog many of the chapters in the book but it's still quite fun to go through them again.

"In the darkness of bathhouses there's a strict feeding hierarchy... [The top-feeders] are the ones who either have The Face or The Body. [The bottom-feeders] are depressing creatures cursed with unprepossessing features...", from an entry titled Animal Kingdom.

As a guy who works in advertising, McVie is definitely gifted with wit. As such, his entries always deliver a good punchline. Add to that the variety of crazy people he meets in the bathhouse, for instance a guy pitched a pyramid scheme to him after having sex.

McVie's book sent me laughing in many chapters. Aside from the entertainment value, however, the book succeeds in giving us a glimpse into the dark and mysterious corners of bathhouses, thanks to McVie who is brave enough to tell us the inside stories.

Completing the threesome is Dear Migs, Letters to the Manila Gay Guy. Migs' blog is definitely one of the most popular gay blogs in the Philippines. But because he writes on a wide array of topics, when I first heard MGG will come out as a book I was curious what part of the blog the publication will focus on.

So apparently they extracted the most popular letters sent to Migs over the years. While Migs sort of gives his advice to the letter-sender, a major percentage of the book is allocated to the comments (in the form of advices) left by MGG readers.

Following such a "democratic" approach, Dear Migs is very insightful on how the current generation of Filipino gay men think. And as I allowed my self to be quite judgmental while reading the book, my eyes were constantly rolling - clockwise and counter-clockwise - as I went through the letters and comments.

Oh the bloody drama! How Pinoy!

Divided in chapters, the book opens with a letter titled "Am I Gay?". The letter-sender, William, asks, "I'm afraid if I do become gay, I'm going to ruin my future. I'm not going to have a son, I will have to marry someone and consummate that marriage even if I'm gay. Plus, I'm Roman Catholic. The Church says homosexuality is wrong. Maybe this is the reason why I don't admit I'm gay even to my self."

That opening letter alone gives you a good glimpse into the ceaseless crisis of guilt and fear that many Filipino gay men go through. (I don't want to trivialize their problems, but those lines in the letter have been repeated way too often to be anything new to me.)

Or how about such dilemmas as "Afraid of growing old and lonely," or "Am I falling in love with him? My girlfriend doesn't mind us going out since he's her cousin," or "I'm a discreet bisexual."

There's something cliched about the letters, but sadly many can relate to the writers' issues as well. If MGG's book can help those who ask the same questions, then it is definitely helping many Filipino gay men come to terms with themselves.

The comments, meanwhile, are sometimes hilarious. To the writer of a letter that detailed his first brush with love that eventually failed, a reader said "Sister, alam mo ansarap mong batukan. Gaga, as in gaga ka talaga sa pag-ibig. Bakit mo sisirain ang buhay mo dahil lang sa isang lalaki?"

There's something sisterly/brotherly in the comments. A lot of the advices commiserated with the letter-writers, while others simply served a strong slap on the faces of the authors of letters who most need them.

Reading the three books is like having a conversation with three gay friends. E is the confused kid, McVie is the witty ate with a hearty laughter, and MGG is the amiga who dispenses advice at the tip of his fingers. The books thus give readers a casual feel, at times revealing, but always insightful. Congrats, La Czarina for a job well done!

Pasok Po...

2010-07-28T22:15:00.000+07:00

A couple of entries ago, I posted a few photos of my soon to be obliterated view from my bedroom. This time around, I'm bringing the camera inside my room to record the knick knacks I surround my self with.

As mentioned before, I've been living inside this tiny bedroom for nearly three years now.This Friday marks my third year in Thailand, so this is a post to celebrate what is yet another year in the Land of Smiles, if you may. (Gosh, it has been that long?)

Like most bedrooms, mine has evolved over the years: from the spartan, characterless space that it was into something I consider as a treasure chest of my travels, well sort of. What I like about the latest incarnation of my bedroom is how its ornaments remind me of my little trips here and there as well as memories of home and the people close to my heart.

While I don't have a theme for my bedroom (puhlease, I don't want to live in a film set), my only rule is I have to use organic materials as much as possible, so there's a lot of wood and grass in my bedroom instead of some metal or glass (which I could not afford anyway).

Anyway, let's begin snooping around, shall we?

Let's start with the accessories I hang on my little shelf. The photo below shows some necklaces Fuchsiaboy gave me, such as this rather controversial cork necklace, right Donita? Also, I have a necklace a teacher in South Cotabato gave me when I went there for a field visit three years ago. You can also see in the photo the little origami cranes Liwayway brought me from Japan.

More accessories, please. Here's a stack of bracelets I hardly wear these days. And of course the humongous safety pin that Fuchsiaboy introduced me to. I used to have about four of them but I gave the rest to my sister. The copper holder is another present from La Donita from a Khmer artist. (Don, ang laki ng presence mo sa room koh!!!)

Here you can see my little hand-made terracotta cows and oil burner from Koh Kret. The tea set is from Bubbles, which he brought me from South Korea. The little Japanese fan is another present from Liwayway.

Below is my pen holder, which is actually a sticky rice container. The round basket behind it is another accessory holder (some pins, brooches, bracelets, etc.). The bigger basket serves as a receptacle for my wallet, cellphone, and watch - I hate these items being just thrown around the place. The little BluGre mug is a gift from Thea when I visited Davao last year. It now contains loose change.

Now let's talk about my baskets. I have about ten all over my bedroom. I prefer to keep my bags, CDs, books, and some clothes in them rather than getting a proper cupboard. I find closets rather ghastly, and please let's not talk about plastic containers. I love the texture of woven grass, hence the profusion of baskets. I get most of them from Chatuchak.

I got the pretty quilt in the first photo below from my first trip to Jakarta last year.

Recently I decided to post some photos of my friends and family on my wall. I should've done it a long time ago because it's really nice to be reminded everyday of the people who matter most to you. These photos always make me smile.

Hanging above my bed is this thingie (I honestly don't know how to call it) from Penang when I visited the former Czarina of Penang a couple of years ago. In the background is Lara Stone... that's how I call the big painting that towers beside my bed.

My bedside table has some books and a reading lamp. If you look close enough at the black book you can read the title of the book I'm currently reading.

Below is a photo of the grass mat I bought from a man selling them on the street. It was dirt cheap so I decided to get one. I love how it adds texture to the floor. The mangosteens are my dinner tonight.

Also you can see a part of my bed, which I bought early this year. My old bed was sagging and we all know every gay man needs a strong bed, chai mai?

This is my fern Daria Werbowy. I have taken care of plants before but somehow they don't thrive that well under my care. So I've since sworn not to welcome any living thing in my room until one day my BF forced me into getting one. I grudgingly dragged home the fern last May and it has somehow survived all these months. It has grown on me, to be honest because it does bring a lot of life into the room. Please God don't let it die.

Let's move on to my window chuchuvelles where a few creatures reside. The top ledge has a collection of elephants I got from Surin and this Ganesh statue a guy gave me. I don't know how to call that woman with a soft wrist (it was also given to me along with Ganesh), but it is prominent in Thai spirit houses.

The next ledge has this pendant/toy I got from a trip to Amphawa and then the male puppet is from Hanoi. The Rama puppet is from my latest trip to Indonesia and the bulol rice god is from the Philippines (I found them in Kultura).

Several months ago I bought a wooden bench from Chatuchak. I actually needed it for my work-out but it has served mostly as a table for my books, candles, and flower vase. The terracotta container is from Koh Kret and I picked that little box from a second-hand stall at the Philippine Embassy in last month's celebration of Independence Day.

And of course the flowers, which I try to change every three days. I love them flowers to death! It's amazing how it lifts my mood every time I see them first thing in the morning.

Lastly, here's my new plant that I bought just this evening. I'm naming her Alek Wek. After the success of Daria Werbowy, I feel more confident in taking care of another supermodel plant, hence, Alek. She's also my gift to myself for my third year in BangCock.

The wooden chair is a recent acquisition. It's really one of those cheap things you buy in the mall, but I needed a fold-able chair to sit on while I read the papers in the morning while having coffee. To make it more elegant, I covered it with a fabric I got from Si Pan Don in Laos last year (hola, Bitch of Bangkok!).

So that's pretty much my little crib, dear readers. Now close the door on your way out, ok mai?

Botox Princess

2010-07-26T09:50:00.000+07:00

Guess who was just recently in town? It's no other than the Queen of Botox... CHARICE! Yes, Charice Pempengco ITSELF, the new poster child of Botulinum toxin. Sad, but true.

So fresh from Belo's clinic, Charice did not hesitate to show off her new face to her fans in Bangkok last Friday. Of course go ang bakla from Surigao, di ba?

I expected to see only at most 200 people to watch Charice in Siam Discovery. Afterall, who would want to watch Charice in BKK except Pinoys, di ba? So I thought it was going to be one intimate concert.

When I arrived there one hour before her performance, I was dumbfounded to see a crowd filling the ground floor of the small-ish mall. And then there were also quite a good number of people on the upper floors looking over the atrium.

Soon enough, a bigger crowd formed. I'm not exactly good at estimate crowds but the audience could easily reach about a thousand, but that's a wild guess. Of course there lots of Filipinos but the Thais definitely outnumber the Pinoys. There was a good number of Thai school girls and baklitas holding signs to welcome Charice to Bangkok. Many of them were even singing to her songs, which was played while we waited for the Botox Princess.

It was a long wait indeed because the starting time was moved to half an hour later. Goodness, my Louboutins were already killing my feet. Anyway, suffer for botox... ay, Charice.

With the time extension, more people came in and I could hardly move as the people pushed towards the stage. I was soooo not ready to die in a stampede for Charice, please lang. Mystica pa siguro, keri lang. Charing! Ay, Charice!

Anyway, there was a front act... some winner of Academy Fantasia (Thailand's American Idol). I love her, she's so skinny and tall!!!

When Charice was called on stage for the pre-peformance interview the crowd erupted in screams and cameras started flashing all over the place. First thing I had to check was her jaw muscles, if indeed they're smaller, or at least frozen. Hmmm... not really.

But I was more concerned she would have a locked jaw in the middle of the interview. I prayed to the Virgin, and somehow it worked coz Charice charmed the crowed, even saying a few Thai lines.

Also, Charice's English has improved quite a lot since I first saw her on Ellen and Oprah. Recall: "I can't bilibit!". There's a new sense of confidence from the girl this time. She seemed relaxed, although not exactly spontaneous either. There's definitely a big room for improvement on her language skills especially now that she's appearing on Glee.

And so Charice sang about five songs. It was quite mind-blowing how such a small girl could pack a huge voice inside her. Well, that's a given of course; that's what got her on Oprah to begin with.

More than the voice, I guess she really has a strong appeal coz she could charm the crowd. She knows how to engage them, working them before she belts out an out of this world note. I could tell she enjoys performing when the crowd is responsive and so she stimulates them even more.

And no, thank the Virgin, no locked jaws during her performance.

A Room Without a View

2010-07-25T09:58:00.001+07:00

I've been living in a tiny guestroom in my office building for three years now (an anniversary post is on its way). Being on the top floor, I call it the "attic". Romantic, no? The space is rather cramped but I like it that way.

The best part of the room is not inside anyway, rather it's the beautiful view outside. Our building is not surrounded by really tall buildings, so I have a nice view of the neighborhood.

On my first day here, I was immediately struck by the temple roofs not far from my building, which I can see from my bathroom window. I can also see the Rama IX bridge from the wide windows running on the entire length of the bedroom. Even if I'm on my bed I can see the spire of the bridge and it's pretty much the first thing I see when I wake up.

For years now I've been enjoying my view. I especially love the sunsets. I have gazillions of photos of the sunset from my bedroom. Many times I'd sit on the rooftop and just watch the sunset, or relish the view of the bridge and temple roofs lighted up in nighttime. I have in fact spent many evenings on the rooftop with friends drinking some beer, smoking, or just enjoying the breeze... and of course the view.

Starting last year, things around the neighborhood started to change. The construction of a new building right on the temple grounds was started. Slowly, columns of steel bars crept higher and higher. Concrete soon followed. Cranes were erected and the buzz of a typical building construction can be heard late into the night.

At the government office just beside my building, they also demolished a row of small structures, leaving behind a dusty surface. Soon enough, the surface was flattened, deep holes were dug, and gigantic cranes sprouted overnight. The construction was started about a year ago, almost at the same time as the school building, and in both sites construction workers have been deep into their work since then.

Aside from the noise, which luckily I don't hear much of when I'm inside my bedroom, I'm truly, truly mourning the loss of the view that I used to enjoy. Currently, the school building construction has effectively obstructed the temple roofs and a large part of the bridge has been replaced by this ugly green tarp that covers the side of the construction site.

From the side of the government building, I'm also losing the view of the Pratunam area, which I used to see on clear days. Replacing it is a phalanx of despicable columns that continue to rise and rise as each day passes.

Currently, the construction is ongoing and I imagine it to last a few more months. Until then, I'm very sad to lose the view from my room inch by inch.

Shelf Life: Ilustrado

2010-07-15T15:50:00.001+07:00

When my sister visited me a couple of months ago, she gave me Ilustrado as a birthday gift. I actually requested it from her after hearing quite a bit about the novel since it won the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2008 for what was then an unpublished work.

Ilustrado finally came out this year. I have the Philippine print, but I've also seen the international edition in Kinokuniya in Bangkok.

I swear it's very rare to see Filipino books in Thailand. One time I saw a used copy of Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere at the Sanam Luang night market... translated to Thai no less! That was one quite proud moment for me but other than that Filipino books are hard to come by here. Well, I saw Jessica Hagedorn's Dream Jungle at B2S a little over a year ago, but that's it.

Now back to Ilustrado. The attention Miguel Syjuco's novel has brought to Philippine literature comes in no better time. I could not remember any recent Filipino book that garnered this much international attention. It has received good reviews from the New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Guardian.

But most importantly, it has piqued Filipinos' curiosity and has encouraged us to grab a copy rather than the latest Dan Brown or Paolo Coelho (parang awa, pwede?).

This is no doubt a novel worth reading, especially for Filipinos, because it highlights the corruption of our culture by no one but ourselves. Syjuco zooms in on the alta sociedad, the upper crust of the society, their frivolities and insensitivity to the glaring poverty of the majority.

He also plays on the joke that is Philippine politics wherein a leader of a religious cult, a separatist senator, a security guard, the country's president, and a starlet collide... entertaining (perhaps distracting?) the masses to no end.

While the schizophrenia of the Filipino culture and history serves as a backdrop to this novel, the plot revolves around the main character's, also named Miguel Syjuco, search for the lost manuscript of his mentor, Crispin Salvador, who is one day found floating in the Hudson River.

Miguel flies to Manila in search for the manuscript. While he unearths the many facets of the life of Crispin, he is also pushed into confronting his past as a prodigal grandson and his halcyon days as a member of Manila's nihilistic set.

Soon enough, readers would find a story within a story within a story in a novel that is filled with overlapping narrators and point of views. Syjuco refers to newspaper articles, excerpts from a biography, blog posts replete with comments, popular jokes, and magazine interviews.

As a caveat (and possible spoiler), there's really no reason to try to string all the story lines together. The novel is made up of at once entertaining and at the same time profound parts that might not be worth summing up. The parts are better than the whole in this book's case.

For Filipino readers, many of the criticisms Syjuco fires against Filipino culture is somewhat familiar because many of the characters and events are parodies of actual people and situations. At times his observations come from an outsider's perspective, owing perhaps to the fact that Syjuco has been living away from the Philippines for years now.

If there's anything negative I can say about Ilustrado, there are many lines in the novel that I feel were just overwrought, bordering on the pretentious. I guess the writer is just overeager to show his skills, but that's my assumption.

Otherwise, the novel is an enjoyable read and, while not the best Filipino novel yet, is definitely a good addition to Philippine literature.

Back from Depok

2010-07-11T21:15:00.000+07:00

I was away last week to attend a meeting in Indonesia. It was my second trip to Java and this time around we stayed in Depok, a town two hours away from Jakarta. I had no prior idea on what Depok is all about, except that the University of Indonesia is found there. I soon found out that it's rather nondescript; the dusty streets are clogged with traffic.

We got to see some malls, but that's the last thing we wanted to visit... if only Depok has other attractions. One note about the malls, people are allowed to smoke inside. I don't know if it's allowed all over Indonesia because that's what I saw as well when I visited Bogor last year.

Anyway, back to Depok... on our last day there we were brought to a massive mosque with a golden dome. I was quite struck by the sheer size of the building. I haven't been to a mosque before. Too bad we could not go inside.

It was early evening when we went there. Hordes of people were spilling out of buses, perhaps to say their evening prayers. There's something frenzied about the place as people dashed from every direction. We opted to stay outside the mosque because there were people praying inside.

When I'm in Indonesia I always feel like I'm home. Basta, there's something about Indonesians that remind me of Pinoys.

How to be an Angel

2010-07-04T18:05:00.000+07:00

I visited a few galleries last Saturday with Miss Bubbles, so here I am sharing some photos (no, I'm not yet a photo blog... puhlease).

Our first stop is Kathmandu Photo Gallery, a few steps from where Bubbles lives. Kathmandu is a charming shop-house that had been converted into a gallery, and is close to the Hindu temple in Silom.

Luke Cassidy-Dorion is currently showing his photographs of Ramkhamhaeng University in an exhibit called Ram.

A few blocks away from Kathmandu is Silom Galleria, perhaps one of Bangkok's premiere locations of art galleries. (But what do I know, I haven't exactly explored the other galleries in the other parts of town.)

What I like about Silom Galleria is you can see a good number of galleries in one stop because it has about a dozen contemporary art galleries interspersed with jewelry stores. I haven't visited the place in ages though so I thought it's time I drop by it again.

On our visit last Saturday, however, I noticed that some galleries have shut their operations while others are simply closed temporarily.

Among the open galleries, I was very struck by the exhibit at Artery. There was a sprawling painting that was somewhat a parody of The Last Supper as well as some other works that seem to play with classic masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa. Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to ID the artist as the exhibit has yet to open (in about two weeks' time, I guess).

I was very impressed as well with these black and white oil paintings from another artist.

We then moved to another gallery. I forgot its name though but they had good collection of eclectic pieces.

As always, one of the highlights of any trip to Silom Galleria is a stop at the Thavibu Gallery, which specializes in contemporary art from Thailand, Vietnam, and Burma. There's a nice lady there who's always cheerfully giving some background information about their exhibits even if it's quite obvious that I could never afford any of those pieces that run up to half a million baht.

The current exhibit called How to be an Angel is by Vietnamese artist Truong Tan. Using the traditional Vietnamese lacquer painting, which I heard is a painstaking and time-consuming process (but the output is always divine!), most of his pieces, I noticed, are homo-erotic.

Fall on Your Knees

2010-06-29T19:38:00.053+07:00

La Donita, as in Fuchsiaboy ITSELF, was here in BKK for his semi-annual pilgrimage to the cathedrals of consumerism in Bangkok.

He again paid tribute to the patron saints of fashion and design such as Balenciaga, Marni, Marc Jacobs, Maison Martin Margiela, Comme des Garcons, Dries Van Noten, etc.

He also walked on his knees all over the hallowed grounds of Chatuchak weekend market, and kissed the rings of the ecclesiastical who's who of Thailand, e.g. Playhound, Tipayaphongpoosanaphong, Wonder Anatomie, WWA, and The Alchemist, among many other members of the clergy.

Standing firmly beside La Donita in this religious journey is the equally pious Bo Parcon ITSELF. Who is Bo Parcon, you might ask? Well dahling, Bo Parcon IS Bo Parcon! And Senorita Bo found an instant BFF in no other than Breathless Bubbles.

Toxicdiscoboy and Betty... you were missed. *Sabay raise ng left eyebrow.* Charot!!!

Imagine Peace

2010-06-28T11:32:00.000+07:00

I made a trip to one of my favorite buildings in BKK, the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. Let me remind you first how it looks like inside. The lines and light of the building are truly elegant, and the space never fails to inspire me even if I've been there so many times.

On my visit last weekend, one of the floors had an exhibit of students' works.

Another section had a show titled "Be Skeptical." Quite a good number of quirky multi-media pieces in this floor. Here are some of the works that struck me.

The main exhibit is called "Imagine Peace: Contemporary Art in Thailand in an Age of Disorder," which is organized by the Ministry of Culture "to heal the emotional emotional wounds of the people and to recover Thailand's public image" as well as "(to) encourage artists to create art works to express their desire for peace in Thai society." Hmmm...

Check out this piece by renowned artist Louise Bourgeouis, which is part of this exhibit.

Also there are two pieces by one of Thailand's premiere artists and architects, Sumet Jumsai.

More beautiful artworks below...

Maggie's Back!

2010-06-25T13:57:00.000+07:00

Well, well, well... look who is in town?

Yes, it's my sister from my Chinese mother... Maggie Cheung. She lived in BKK for six months last year for an internship at my office. During that time she and I were hanging out together like crazy. It helps of course that she is into shopping and partying too!

It has been a year since she went back home but we had kept in touch through these months. Maggie is nearly finished with university and is trying to embark on a career in her native Macau.

Despite her busy schedule, she took the time for a holiday in BKK. She came with her BF, Kenneth. We had the chance to catch up last Tuesday at an Indian restaurant.

Right now, Maggie Cheung and Kenneth are enjoying the sea and sand of Koh Samet.

It's definitely wonderful to see again an amazing friend.

Weekend Report: Useless Tofu Adobo

2010-06-21T14:03:00.002+07:00

Some good-old weekend report...

I had the temerity to cook adobo for Lara Stone last Saturday. We met at the supermarket in Silom and we got some tofu in lieu of chicken or pork because Lara is a vegetarian. I could have ran to the nearby Filipino store for Silver Swan soy sauce but we did not have time for it.

Instead I used some Thailand-made soy sauce, which was too light for my taste. I ended up pouring a whole bottle of soy sauce into the pan of diced tofu. Of course we know how salty that would get. I poured out some of the soy sauce from the pan and added loads of sugar, which helped little in the salty situation I was caught up in.

But that was not the only cooking emergency that evening. The red rice we were cooking in the rice cooker had too much water, it was nearly porridge-like. I had to scoop out some of the water while it was boiling.

I don't know why I braved cooking for him that evening when I know very well that I'm not exactly a kitchen diva. I don't even like food, period. I tried to be the hero of course by refusing Lara's offer to help in the kitchen (what does he know about Filipino food, aber?). Instead, I left him on the couch watching a football game between The Netherlands and Japan. The result of the match surely made Lara happy.

Back to dinner. I served the dinner with trepidation and I even warned Lara that it was not how I wanted the adobo to taste like. But Lara was kind enough to eat the adobo tofu. He said in fact that it wasn't as bad as I proclaimed it was. And we all know he was just being polite.

I swear the tofu was uber salty. I even ended up dousing it with copious amounts of vinegar, which all the more made the adobo taste despicable. The rice was good though and we ate most of it and left the salty adobo alone.

Time to say goodbye to my dream of becoming a housewife.

The evening progressed to us watching 500 Days of Summer. It was a choice between Cinema Paradiso and the romantic comedy. Obviously we chose the right film. Hahaha.

I always wake up an hour or two earlier than Lara. Yesterday I took that time to read the first chapter of Miguel Syjuco's Ilustrado, which my sister gave me for my birthday.

When Lara woke up we had breakfast, after which he started massive cleaning of his apartment while I sat on the floor sorting out DVDs. The cleaning took the most part of the morning and we eventually treated ourselves to some laps in the pool at about noontime. I'm proud to report that I've significantly improved my freestyle. London 2012 here I come!

We took a ride to Little India in the afternoon to get some fabrics to drape his couch with. We decided to use three colors of fabric to give the living room a much-needed burst of color. I've never done fabric shopping before and it was quite a delight to rummage through rolls and rolls of dusty cotton.

Lara, I discovered does not like purple. I don't get it; tell me what's wrong with purple, aber?

4th of July (Fireworks)

2010-06-17T12:08:00.002+07:00

Kelis is not selling Milkshake this time, but damn, she's back and is bringing lots of fireworks with her. While I watched with mouth open the video of her other recent single Acapella (see video here), I was more entranced with the styling and clothes than the song itself.

In this new video, on the other hand, I'm not exactly a big fan of the styling. The clothes look a bit too 70s to be taken seriously in an age of music videos in which clothes matter as much as the song. Beyonce, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga lead the pack.

So Kelis has some catching up to do, or at least her stylists do. There's a certain way to make a round girl like Kelis look more divine than what she's made to wear in 4th of July (Fireworks). She looks like she was made to wear the gowns from last months' Santacruzan in Barrio Anahaw. Besides, the choreography is just completely lifeless! Someone needs to be taught to dance by dragqueens, hon.

But please press play, don't mind the video, and just listen to the song.

I soooo cannot wait to dance to this!

Shelf Life: The History of the Burgis

2010-06-16T23:05:00.004+07:00

I meant to write this entry in time for the 112th Independence Day of Las Islas Filipinas last June 12, but I was caught up in a few things, so I'm making this pahabol entry.

Still it disturbs me that we mark our independence day on the declaration of the first Philippine republic in 1898 when in fact we were sold for a measly 20 million dollars by the Spanish to Uncle Sam, marking the start of fifty years of American colonization until it was formally granted to us in 1945.

Coincidentally, a few weeks before Independence Day, I stumbled upon a book called The History of the Burgis by Maril N. Francisco and Fe Maria Arriola (GCF Books, 1987). Burgis is the Filipino term for bourgeois and was for time used as a pejorative to describe the snootiness and crassness of the rich, nouveau riche, and even the middle class.

According to the authors, burgis as a label is both an economic condition and sensibility. A burgis lifestyle for instance can mean having disposable income for trips abroad or also a Westernized mindset that separates the burgis from the masa (masses).

The book's introduction mentioned that "[t]o understand the role of the burgis in our society, we need to take a good look at our history," after all, the burgis played a major role in the many upheavals in Philippine history. Our national hero, Jose Rizal, was clearly burgis as a member of the ilustrado class (the so-called "enlightened ones" who were educated in Europe). All of the Filipino presidents were burgis. And of course, the People Power movement that toppled Marcos was largely a middle-class revolution.

The History of the Burgis thus traces the evolution of the burgis: how they came about, their many incarnations, and their very profound impact on Philippine society (either as collaborators of the colonial governments or as instigators of change). The book has comics-style illustrations, deftly playing on the events and people that mark history, making it fun and easy to read (it's far from a hard-core history book).

What struck me most about the book is that while it was published in 1987 (fresh on the heels of the People Power revolution), and with the nearly quarter of a century since then, it is still undoubtedly relevant today. The oligarchs still rule Philippine politics and rob our country's coffers. Economic power still rests on the hands of the few. And most of the rich people continue to act blindly in the midst of glaring poverty in the cities and elsewhere.

The authors best say it: "Burgis is being removed from the realities of a developing country. It is being trapped in a First World consciousness while living in the Third World. It is ignorance and disinterest in how a nation's bounty can be shared by all of its citizens" (p. 14).

The Philippines remains essentially feudal and paternalistic and the sad thing about it is such system seems to persist and will continue to persist in the many generations to come. I honestly do not see our country changing for the better soon. Well, that's what a corrupt system breeds: cynicism.

While seriously treading dangerous waters here, it has crossed my mind why the Philippines is not going the direction Thailand's rural class just recently took. In fact, the income gap in the Philippines is much, much, much wider than Thailand. And maybe I can also safely imagine that corruption is way much worse in the Philippines, no?

I wonder if the Filipinos' relative freedom to express their political views help quell such a "revolution". In fact criticizing the government, "the system", and "the culture" has become a national past-time. Perhaps while corruption, injustice, and poverty prevail back home, we can always give a dirty finger to the bitch in Malacanang, hence, still tempering our discontent? I really don't know, but I should give that assumption much better thought.

At least with a culture that encourages criticism against the government and the elites, I still see a little bit of hope among the new generation of burgis. I noticed that there's quite a strong political consciousness among the educated class, especially in these days of easier exchange of information and views.

However, getting an example from the recent elections, the so-called "educated vote" remains right at the top, and their message failed to trickle down to the masses, thus explaining why half of the elected senators in last month's elections are movie actors. A huge gap does still exist in terms of making informed decisions (as an example) and unfortunately our dysfunctional educational system continues to fail the rest of the Filipinos.

So in the midst of all these gaps, there exists the masa and the burgis, the pesante (peasants) and the panginoong maylupa (landords), the uring manggagawa (working class) and the kapitalista (capitalists). What's obvious in the case of the Philippines is that such a system takes generations to change. Perhaps it's time we examine again the burgis in us?