tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-219427442024-03-14T00:05:55.972+07:00kawadjani pout, therefore, i amkawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.comBlogger748125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-88487143753793852182015-06-22T21:31:00.001+07:002015-06-22T21:40:39.957+07:00Indonesia, so farApa kabar, bitches!<br />
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I'm nearing my fourth month here in Jakarta, and what a ride it has been. I'm primarily talking about my work, perhaps the most intense job I've ever held. But that's as far as I can tell you about work-related stuff. This blog and work just don't mix.<br />
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So let's talk about the glitter I've been spreading in this side of the world, shall we? Which is not saying much actually given how terribly hectic work has been.<br />
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I've managed to squeeze in a couple of short holidays though. Once in Gili Trawangan (an island off Lombok) last May, and then recently I visited Yogyakarta and Borobudur in Central Java.<br />
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In a country of over seventeen thousand islands, one never runs out of places to visit... so I'm taking it one island at at a time (if I have the bloody time!).<br />
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Anyway, here are the two obligatory post-holiday videos of my holidays.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e78huSfPzRo" width="450"></iframe>kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-59353051868523382222015-02-06T18:59:00.002+07:002015-02-06T18:59:59.184+07:00Final three weeksWell, it's time to move out from Bangkok once again, a little over a year after I came back. That's life: you go wherever the wind takes you. I could, of course, resist not uprooting my self from what I regard as my second home, but it's more of a strategic career decision for me to follow where better opportunities are found.<br />
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Another three weeks and I'm off to another city in another country. The worst part about it is leaving Bangkok and my friends here.<br />
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I've always expressed my love for this city, imperfect as it is. But over the seven years here I've grown intimate with its idiosyncrasies and rhythms. I'm braver to entrust my life on a raging motorsai driver. I don't mind getting a sprinkling of stinking canal water while taking a boat ride on Saen Saeb. Or I can confidently say <i>mai sai cho rot</i> and the cook actually understands it because I have perfect tone now (or so I'd like to believe).<br />
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It's definitely tempting to just get cozy with my life here even if it does not give me long-term security (especially job-wise). In Bangkok, one somehow always gets by.<br />
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I question the idea of starting all over again in all aspects of my life: career, friends, habits, brand of toothpaste, etc. I am too old for having to go through the trouble, chai mai?<br />
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As I'm on the cusp of a major transition I really don't have answer to these questions yet. I have to wrap things up at work and in my apartment in the next three weeks, not to mention the apartment search in a city completely unfamiliar to me. So, there are more important things at hand than wax lyrical about the end of my love affair with Bangkok.<br />
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Anyway, in my last few days here I tend to take all experiences in while they last. I seize the noise of the city outside my window, or take a mental photo of this today's sunset, or slurp my noodle soup a bit louder. There's also not missing on every opportunity to spend time with friends.<br />
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But I'm not going far away<span style="text-align: center;">. I'm just going to a neighboring country. I'm sure Bangkok will always be here to welcome me back.</span>kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-78292329375323747062015-01-11T10:22:00.001+07:002015-01-11T10:22:34.536+07:00Not a Sex TapeWell, well, well, it's 2015! The past year went by so fast, which is always good cos that means I've been busy (sort of) to even think of getting bored. No, I'm not doing a stupid look-back cos that's so... last year.<br />
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Ooops, I'm actually posting stuff that happened in December and then the early part of January, a kind of look-back. I've been lazy with blogging for the past three years, so it comes as no surprise that I'm late in posting this update.<br />
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But really, it seems like I'm shifting careers... from blogger to videographer. Charaught! Videographer, is there such a word?<br />
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The point is, I've recently taken an interest in taking videos, starting with my Las Islas Filipinas holiday. I'm well on the path of becoming the Queen of all Media!<br />
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So, I'm proud to present two recent, ehem, productions.<br />
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First, is my trip with Putney's power couple to Koh Samet. The Londoners (follow them on Instagram through @kinoyblog) dropped by the City of Angels on their way to Manila and Wellington.<br />
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We had a week of debauchery and more debauchery (in my mind!), and in between we took a two-night trip to Koh Samet where all this gay-ness happened.<br />
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And the second video is of my New Year holiday in Hanoi with the Pinoy Mafia in Bangkok.<br />
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We had planned this several months back with the idea of going to somewhere "wintry". Since the North Pole is too expensive, Hanoi is the closest and cheapest place where they have a semblance of winter, and not the "winter" that Bangkokians claim to have at the moment.<br />
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Hanoi is perhaps one of my favorite cities in Southeast Asia, but the last time I visited it was in 2008. I was just happy to be back and rediscover its craziness and charm. We even visited Ha Long Bay!<br />
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So in 2015, expect more videos from me. I might drop one or two sex "tapes"!kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-86710659597418251122014-12-02T11:45:00.000+07:002014-12-02T11:45:42.381+07:00Video QueenOh well, I'm now back in Bangkok after a long holiday in Las Islas Filipinas.<br />
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I should really make my next visit shorter. I love visiting my family and friends, but not having my own space and getting out of my routine (whatever that is) is a bit exhausting.<br />
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For instance, cos I spent two or three nights in Manila and Cebu I was moving around a lot (my gratitude to my kind and welcoming hosts!). And then when I reached Surigao my clothes were just piled in my suitcase. I also missed eating my share of fruits daily, which Surigao sorely lacks (or maybe I just didn't bother searching for them).<br />
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This is so typical of me after I go home. I whine and whine like it's nobody's business.<br />
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Maybe I should shut up already. LOL.<br />
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Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my visit very much. I was particularly happy to have met my family after seeing them last in 2011. And then I also spent a lot of time with my cousins and the few friends who have stayed in Surigao.<br />
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To prove that I had a good time at home, I compiled some video clips of my trip. I was inspired by my cousin's video of her summer holiday in the Philippines. So right from the onset of my trip I was already taking five-second clips of my journey.<br />
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I was daunted by the editing because it was my first time to do so. Thank god for iMovie I managed to pull it off through a slow trial-and-error process.<br />
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So, amigas, here is the final product.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/BPSz1HZxFDI" width="450"></iframe>kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-23132854928568183622014-11-20T22:18:00.000+07:002014-11-21T13:07:16.129+07:00Caridad Once Again!I'm on my second week of a three-week holiday in Las Islas Filipinas. While I have quite a bit of things to share on this blog, I'll first tell you about my short trip to Siargao Island (Tuesday to Thursday this week).<br />
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My mom's home barrio of Caridad is on Siargao Island, east of Surigao City. My cousins, sister, brother, and I used to spend our summer holidays there, getting sun burned all the time from playing too much on the beach, which faces the Pacific Ocean. We ran around in the rice fields and coconut groves and loved riding on water buffaloes.<br />
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Those summer trips in Siargao always meant so much fun although it was far from unbridled because my grandmother always compelled us to take afternoon naps or to go home as soon as the sun set. When I think of my fondest memories of my childhood I think of those summers in Caridad.<br />
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For this trip, I wanted to get a slice of the place once again, after all I haven't visited Caridad for maybe 14 years. My grandmother does not live there anymore though and my cousins could hardly fit a trip there.<br />
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It's quite amazing how little of my grandmother's house has changed. It has the same old cabinets, although they've been ravaged by termites. They are all beaten too by the harsh ocean breeze. But they have somehow managed to stay intact after few repairs.<br />
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I was fascinated to find that they have kept some old kerosene lamps, which have been rendered useless since electricity arrived on the island. I couldn't help my self from taking photos of these various old stuff.<br />
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On my first morning there I made it a point to wake up early to catch the sun rise on Caridad's beach. Oh the place of wonder when we were young!<br />
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We spent so much time taking a dip in its many pools that are revealed when the tide is low while huge waves crash in the distance. I could still easily find where they are and the rocks from which we dove. In fact, I first learned how to swim in one of the deep tidal pools when I was about 7 years old. I also remember catching tiny, flat, and transparent fish and those spindly and soft starfishes that used to scare the shit out of one of my cousins.<br />
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A few kilometres from Caridad is Magpupungko Beach, perhaps the area's main tourist landmark of a huge rock perching on top of what looks like a pedestal.<br />
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And then I stumbled into a few relatives who have stayed in the barrio. They told me of their memories of my cousins and me when we used to stage dance programs on boring, electricity-less nights and how we used torches as stand-in for spotlights. It's fascinating how many of them recognised me simply because of my supposed strong resemblance to my mom.<br />
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The trip certainly made me feel nostalgic of those carefree days, well, under the careful and loving watch of our grandmother.<br />
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While there are many familiar aspects of the island that remain unchanged, I've noticed several improvements. For one, now the barrio has a high school instead of the kids walking 6 kilometres to the nearest one. Also, the highway has been just recently paved with concrete. There are also more water pumps to serve the residents, which it appears is growing like mad!<br />
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Needless to say I had an amazing time in Caridad. It was great to reconnect with my childhood memories. And I'm also happy to see that it is moving forward in the right direction (if only they could stop making too many babies though).<br />
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<br />kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-56714860705153360892014-10-06T19:38:00.001+07:002014-10-06T19:38:21.445+07:00October updateI don't understand how I managed to have not updated this blog for months now. Sometimes I ask my self why I still maintain it rather than shutting it down altogether. <div>
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But I'm sentimental about how this blog has served as a kind of archive or journal of my experiences, so might as well trudge on despite the scant number of entries.<div>
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Anyway, here's a short update...</div>
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I've finally wrapped up the forum that I had been organizing since about six months ago. The forum could've been better, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. </div>
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If anything, my motivation for working hard on the organization of the event is the fear that it would become a big hot mess. I've always been fuelled by insecurities and coordinating the forum was not different. </div>
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Also, I am lucky to have such strong support from my colleagues, to whom I delegated many tasks. The teamwork in my office is astounding and I couldn't be more thankful.</div>
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With that forum over, I'm looking forward to my trip to Las Islas Filipinas a month from today. </div>
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I haven't been home for three years! I truly deserve to take a break and visit my family and friends. </div>
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I'll be in the Philippines for three weeks, spending most of my time in my hometown. I don't have plans for the trip other than spending time with my family and then probably spending a couple of nights on Siargao island. </div>
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I hope I'll have more time to update this blog once I'm in Surigao. I don't know what to write about. That city is boring. </div>
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Many of my friends have since left, even my brother and sister are not based there. I can imagine having lots of time with my mom and grandmother, which is not bad at all.</div>
kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-71385912657503412482014-06-04T17:15:00.000+07:002014-06-17T11:11:02.930+07:00Not a Cover GirlI'm delighted to report that I landed in two magazines lately. Now that explains why I've been absent from this blog, no? LoL.<br />
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No, I'm not on the cover of <i>Time Magazine</i>'s '100 Most Influential People' (yet!). Nor was I <i>People Magazine</i>'s 'Sexiest Bayot Alive' (yet!).<br />
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Last May my piece about summer in London appeared on <i>Mabuhay</i>, the in-flight magazine of Philippine Airlines. Read it here <a href="http://issuu.com/mabuhaymagazine/docs/mabuhay_may2014">http://issuu.com/mabuhaymagazine/docs/mabuhay_may2014</a>.<br />
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Forget the article. The highlight of the exposure is really my photo on the contributors' page. Is that sleazy or what? I didn't expect them to publish the photo; or at least I hoped they'd crop it. But no; I'm right on the page of <i>Mabuhay </i>in my semi-naked (un)glory.<br />
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And then for the June issue of <i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fashion-Lab-Magazine/227891907342186" target="_blank">Fashion Lab</a></i>, a Phnom Penh-based magazine, I modelled a few clothes for an editorial entitled <i>Wasting My Young Years</i>. The title is a song by London Grammar, whose album was playing when we were shooting this on the last week April.<br />
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Fuchsiaboy took the photos. He's also Creative Director of <i>Fashion Lab.</i><br />
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The sitting session was really simple. Fuchsiaboy draped a black cloth on his bookshelf and, using natural light, he snapped some photos. The outfits were military inspired; many of the garments came from thrift shops in Cambodia.<br />
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Fuchsiaboy instructed me just act languid. That was, of course, easy modelling.<br />
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I'm glad the photos came out fine.<br />
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kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-43663804440339031032014-05-07T23:24:00.000+07:002014-05-07T23:26:45.519+07:00Phnom Penh VisitI've just came back to yet another trip to Cambodia. I recently started working again in my old office, so I had to process my work visa in Phnom Penh (I still don't understand why it has to be done abroad).<br />
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So on short notice, Fuchsiaboy kindly hosted me for a week in Phnom Penh.<br />
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I never actually explored the city as much as I wanted to when I visited PP last March. This time I attempted to discover the city a bit more.<br />
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I joined a guided tour of 1960's modern architecture in PP, which included stops at the Institute of Foreign Languages and the Olympic Stadium. Lately I've been interested in tropical architecture and the tour offered me a glimpse of how architects - or Vann Molyvann in the case of the buildings we visited - incorporate cooling systems in buildings.<br />
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I would've wanted to see colonial architecture in PP as well; unfortunately, there were no such tours during my visit. I did a bit of exploration around the Royal Palace instead. I saw the UNESCO Building and the Mansion, the latter having been brought by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of PP.<br />
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The rest of the time I was mostly hanging out with Fuchsiaboy and his fierce gang. We went to the pool one time and then we had several dinners hosted by various Pinoys in PP.<br />
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kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-66298208945630348822014-03-25T14:35:00.000+07:002014-03-25T17:50:13.970+07:00Kembot in CambodiaI recently came back from a ten-day holiday in Cambodia with some very dear friends. God knows I need a brief break from being unemployed, no? Really, I'm tired of being so utterly useless, so it's nice to take my mind off the mounting sense of helplessness I have been feeling the past few months.<br />
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The first stop was Siem Reap, my third time in the popular tourist destination. There I met L, G, and J, who flew in from Ilo-ilo. It was G and J's first time to visit Siem Reap, therefore, a temple run was in order. The thrill of seeing the Angkor Wat complex never ceases despite repeated viewings.<br />
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We then traveled to Phnom Penh where we met FuchsiaBoy and R. The Ilonggo mafia only got bigger, di bala? (Fortunately, I understand Ilonggo!)<br />
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It's always exciting for me to visit a city for the first time. I didn't read beforehand on its must-sees, confident that FuchsiaBoy would show us around. Indeed, he brought us to some great restaurants in the city.<br />
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As for sight-seeing, I was gobsmacked by the scale of the Central Market. I especially love its grand curves and sharp angles.<br />
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For a bit of history, we paid a visit to the Choeung Ek Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Prison. Both places left lasting traumas to Khmer society no thanks to the horrific rule of the Khmer Rouge. There was a heavy energy in these sites, of course; but still they are worth a visit.<br />
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The pack then went to Koh Rong, an island off the coast of Sihanoukville.<br />
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I've seen quite a few beaches in my life but nothing is as stunning as Koh Rong. From our guest house, we had to trek through a hill (or what felt like a mountain to me) for an hour. All my exhaustion went away when I first laid eyes on the clear blue water of Long Beach. Its sand was perfectly powdery white, almost blinding in the midday sun.<br />
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Long Beach has yet to see its share of infrastructure for tourists, and I hope it stays that way. It was simply kilometers of empty beach. Perfection, isn't it?<br />
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We lay on the grass, under the shade of a pine tree and did nothing but soak in the serenity of the beach. We also swam in the warm water, blissfully rocked by the gentle waves. Watching the sun set was the perfect ending to our day.<br />
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The following day we hired a boat to take us snorkelling and fishing, both of which did not go very well. I mean, fishing for bayots? I don't think so.<br />
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We ended up going back Long Beach to do more lounging on the beach and swimming. We simply couldn't get enough of the place.<br />
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On the side of the island where the accommodations are located, we stayed in huts just a few steps from the beach. Electricity was cut off at midnight. We were lulled by the sound of the waves lapping on the shore. And then we woke up to the cool sea breeze.<br />
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Here's hoping that Koh Rong is left undisturbed for years to come.<br />
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Guysh, guysh, thanks for the lovely time in Cambodia. Special thanks to L and R for making the trip possible. I had a blast and will treasure the memories from that trip. Until the next reunion...<br />
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kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-49952283054865070372014-02-06T17:10:00.000+07:002014-02-06T17:10:02.390+07:00Back to the (Shutdown) City of AngelsSo I've been in Bangkok for over a month now. There's really nothing else to say but that I'm happy to be back in what I feel is really my home for now.<br />
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There were so many things I missed about Bangkok that I immediately went around eating chicken rice and kapao gai and getting a Thai massage on my first day here. There were also endless meetings with Bangkok-based friends during the first two weeks of my return.<br />
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I wouldn't pretend I needed to adjust in Bangkok, after all I was gone for only a year. Everything felt the same (except that we had a cool first weeks of 2014). Returning has been just like effortlessly sliding back into the good old things: the food, the people, the city, and avoiding to get run over by a motorbike - an essential survival skill here.<br />
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But what's with this this #BangkokShutdown business? Ooops, I'm sorry. I don't do politics on this blog.<br />
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Oh, there are major changes in my Bangkok experience that I have to mention though. A few of my very close friends have left the city to seek greener pastures. Bubbles is now in the land down under. La Viviana and Genesis have also returned to the Philippines.<br />
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While some people are leaving some are also coming to stay in Bangkok... although I have to keep the identity of those people relocating to Bangkok under wraps lest I be sued. Needless to say, I'm thrilled to welcome more fairies into the fold (you know who you are!).<br />
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So what have I been up to the fast few weeks?<br />
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Well, for a start, I've managed to find an affordable place of my own. After living in the posh side of Ratchada in Rexona Gomorrah's mansion for three weeks, I moved to the poorer side and settled in a small room with a view of my neighbor's balcony. Since then I've attempted to make the room habitable and functional and somehow I'm developing a love for it despite the sorry state of the bathroom and the stink of cat's piss in the lift. But hey, I'm not complaining; I'm just being my usual bitchy self.<br />
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I do miss my old neighborhood in Thewet though as my current one is not as charming. On the other hand, I have a better appreciation of being just a few meters away from the underground, which makes going to the center of town a breeze... well unless you're caught in the frenzy of rush hour.<br />
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On the job-hunting front... nothing depresses me more. I don't even want to write about it here. Suffice to say, I'm as useless as I've ever been while the money in my bank account is quickly being depleted.<br />
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And then I have to face the life of being on a tourist visa, which required me going on a visa run to Vientiane last week. I never had to think about my visa when I used to work here. But now it feels like I have a terminal illness and the doctor just told me I have 60 days to live, but with the possibility of a 30 day extension.<br />
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So here I am back in Bangkok in the most imperfect circumstances. But at least I'm here and I'm here to say (if I get a job).<br />
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kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-75626207677716209362013-12-24T04:06:00.002+07:002013-12-24T04:06:25.278+07:00The End of My Affair with LondonI realized I'm spending my final week in London. I am a bit relieved to leave this city, in as much as I had a wonderful time here. First, allow me to explain why I seem to have a love-hate relationship with London.<br />
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The best bits... London is never boring. You have to be intrinsically super boring to get bored in London where a million things are happening all at the same time. I most enjoyed the city's landscape: its parks, museums, theaters, canals, and bridges.<br />
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For instance, I'm often entranced by the old buildings made of bricks or marble. There's something organic about how they are crammed together, often with diverging styles. London's buildings escape a sense of uniformity because (at least to my untrained eye) they seem to come from different periods. Because there are so many of these remarkable edifices vying for one's attention, they are often overlooked or just simply overshadowed by relatively grander buildings.<br />
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I'm just taking the buildings of the city as an example of its charm. There are of course the numerous parks and squares that are full of their own character. I like Regent Park and Primrose Hill for instance. And then having lived mostly in Bloomsbury, I enjoyed hanging out in its many squares in the summer.<br />
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If it's too cold to be outdoors, one heads to the free and well-heated museums. My favorites are the National Gallery (where I always discover new masterpieces in every visit) and the Tate Modern. The Courtauld Gallery and Saatchi Gallery also have their gems. And if one is patient enough to queue for a day ticket, watching a great play or musical in the West End is not always beyond reach.<br />
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While I have written more about London as a space so far, there is also something to be said about the Londoners themselves. It's remarkable how multi-cultural London is. Oftentimes I find my self not hearing a word of English on the bus whereas the melange of Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, and, yes, Tagalog always make me feel like I'm in a UN convention.<br />
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And even if London is a very busy city, the people are surprisingly polite to each other. The endless exchanges of 'thank you', 'you're welcome', and 'I'm sorry' is admirable for such a densely packed and fast paced city. And far from the stereotype of the dour British character, on the contrary I find them very approachable and welcoming.<br />
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So let's get to the things I don't like about this city. Mainly, I still can't get over the fact that everything costs a gazillion pounds here. Thank god for the 3-pound meals at Tesco. Even going to a fastfood such as McDonalds or Burger King costs like a decent meal in a good restaurant in Bangkok or Manila. Even public transport is outrageously expensive, thus, I'm at the mercy of buses.<br />
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Also, I imagine most young people here living on an average wage spending a significant amount of that on rent alone. And then you add the council taxes, TV license, and other shit. I don't see that as ever justifiable.<br />
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But hey, that's the cost of living in one of the most exciting places in the world. So in as much as London never runs out of things to experience, you need quite a lot of money to do just that.<br />
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I understand that the wages here would somehow make up for the cost of living, but I still hear people complaining about rising prices, especially rent. And with an increasingly competitive job market, finding a good job that would match one's lifestyle remains a challenge. I'd only be constantly frustrated living here if I could not afford much of what I want to do, say, regular visits to the theater.<br />
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So saying good bye to London is bittersweet in that I'm passionately in love with it but I know it's a relationship that's not sustainable.<br />
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I have to say though that just like a good love affair, I have great memories of the city. It embraced me warmly and nurtured my senses, even giving me orgasms I'd remember for the rest of my life.kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-75754106192343606982013-11-12T03:13:00.000+07:002014-03-25T14:57:48.149+07:00Double or single?The days of aimlessness are finally over. A little more than a week ago I finally found a part-time job as a bartender at an event venue in the posh side of the city. The job was a long time coming as I was practically not doing anything a month a half after I submitted my dissertation. Just when I thought it was a bad decision to stay longer in London, I found this job.<br />
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Gurrrl, it's not easy. The hours are long; often times I work for twelve hours with only a twenty-minute break on the sixth hour (although I work only about three days a week). And not that I'm just serving drinks but I also lug around ice bags, crates of drinks and glasses, and even physically dismantle the bar (because the set-up changes every event).<br />
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I was in a complete daze on my first night because everything had to be fast. Besides, I didn't even know how to mix the most basic of mixers. Also, I had to learn how to use a cash register, which until now I still dread touching. I learned on the job by pestering my workmates with endless questions. One of my weaknesses is remembering what people order. I didn't know I have such horrible short-term memory. A lot of times I threw away a mix or glass of wine because I got them wrong. I am a constant embarrassment and I wouldn't be surprised if I get fired any day soon.<br />
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I hope that does not happen because I badly need the money. I'm earning just a few cents above the minimum wage, but what's encouraging me is that when I convert what I earn to baht it's not bad at all. I intend to save all the money I earn now for my jobless days in Bangkok, which could last for months if I'm not lucky.<br />
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My mom is still trying to convince me to find a more stable job in London and hopefully stay here longer. But I just don't have the inclination to live here mainly because it's such a bloody expensive city on top of the fact that finding a job here is difficult these days. Besides, I like the laid back life in Bangkok and that one doesn't need to be a gazillionaire to get by there.<br />
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So now I'm counting my last two months in London, full of hard work while braving yet another gloomy and freezing winter. I just can't wait to lie on the sands of Koh Samet in January!kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-7870914491116198302013-09-20T00:51:00.001+07:002013-09-20T00:51:39.872+07:00Post-MA bluesIt's finally over. The thing I'm here for has come to a conclusion. It's been a year of studying, of my attempts at being a masters student. Last week, I submitted what feels like the ultimate stamp that I achieved something, the much vaunted dissertation. Writing it took me about three and a half months. It sounds like a long time to write some kind of opus but all that effort amounted to only 10,000 words, which is not much actually. The printed copy felt puny in my hands, seemingly betraying all the hard work I put into it. There are days when I felt like my dissertation was a masterpiece and then most days I feel like it was crap.<br />
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Anyway, I'm glad I'm finished with the dissertation and the whole masters business. It's a great experience of course - and I don't know where to start - but it also helped me realized I'm not exactly the academic I wish I am. I find academia too tedious for me. Basically, I'm too lazy to still continue studying after this.<br />
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Having finished my education, I'm nothing but an unemployed bastard. Mind you, I don't have grand delusions of having a wonderful career after this. I don't feel a sense of entitlement the way I used to when I finished my BA. It's really up to me to make the most of my qualification.<br />
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For now though I'm maximizing my student visa, which means I'd have to brave another winter. I'm just looking for odd jobs here and there. It's unbearable being so unproductive after such a hectic one year. The day after I submitted my dissertation I woke up with no plans in my head for the first time in months. It was (still is) indeed a weird feeling of aimlessness. Since then I've just been staying home, avoiding making unnecessary spending because god knows how pricey London is. And oh, I've moved in with my aunts (as I can't afford rent AT ALL) and had been sleeping on the floor (god bless me in winter).<br />
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I've been desperately looking for a job; just about anything would do from waitering to being a shopping attendant. In an ideal world I should be a money boy to a Russian gazillionaire who has a flat in Mayfair or Chelsea, but I'm too old for that. LOL.kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-86498188594270155252013-06-19T04:43:00.000+07:002013-06-19T04:45:53.406+07:00I'm still here...Hi girls! I just decided to drop a few words in this long-neglected blog. I don't need to give you stupid excuses on my lack of updates, if ever you cared to begin with. But hey, here I am, finally having the time and energy to write something. I'm using 'write' very loosely here as I don't have a proper plan on what to write about. So, this is mainly a free-flowing post, and you may stop reading right now if the prospect of my rambling bores the shit out of you.<br />
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Okay, so what has been going on with my life in London over the past few months? My last post was December and in the past six months I've been mainly focused on school. What else, aber? I don't want to make it appear that I suddenly became a dedicated academic, which is not likely to happen anytime soon. It's just that I really don't have anything else to do but study and write papers and more study. That's what I'm meant to do here anyway.<br />
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April and May were particularly very tensed because I was writing the last of my school essays and then soon after it was one month of exams. I dreaded the exam season most of all and I'm glad my daily trip to the library to study is finally over. It felt like I was a prisoner of the library, eating peanut butter sandwich for lunch everyday. All the tedious studying somehow paid off though. Not that I excelled in all of my exams. But suffice to say I passed all of them, which is just exactly my goal. I used to be ambitious, you know?<br />
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So what else?<br />
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Well, I'm still enjoying London, even if the sheer expense of living in this city still drives me insane. With that out of the way, it truly is a great city. I feel like I'm in the center of the action when it comes to culture, fashion, and art. I've been enjoying some of the more affordable theater shows, for instance. I've managed to watch 'War Horse', 'Once', and 'Book of Mormon', the latter being the hottest ticket in town at the moment. But somehow my favorite show so far has been 'A Chorus Line' revival. The music and dancing are both top-notch, but it excels best in its heartfelt story about a group of aspiring professional dancers.<br />
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And then of course there are the museums and galleries. I've visited the main ones (National Gallery and the Tate Modern) several times and I know I'd go back there to relish the experience of being surrounded by the greatest art works of our time.<br />
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When spring came, which was rather late, I learned to enjoy London's parks and gardens. Oh god, the fully bloomed flowers were a sight to behold, a sharp contrast to the usual greyness of the London skies. I have to point out though that there had been sunny spells the past many weeks and the city denizens always use it as a good excuse to lie on the park. Oh, I also welcome the long days of the summer months!<br />
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In terms of travel, it's something I obviously could not do at will because I'm focused on school and I couldn't afford it. But I've done a bit of travelling nonetheless. Last December was of course Heidiland. And then also in December I had a road trip with Tyty and Fatima throughout some cities of the UK. Last March I visited family in Belgium and from there I had a day trip in Paris (an absolute dream come true!). I'm afraid that's all the travelling I've been able to afford, unfortunately.</div>
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So now it's the summer term, meaning it's dissertation writing time. It's a completely daunting task for me. It's always tempting to take it easy because we have loads of time in our hands, or an illusion of it. At least that's what I tell my self, so, I'm trying to build on the momentum of my discipline of studying for my exams into my dissertation writing. Only God knows where this is heading. As it is, I'm tempted to just be lazy, lazy, lazy... it's a surprise I've even managed to write a blog post today.<br />
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kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-63792450055483353532013-01-05T19:39:00.000+07:002013-01-05T19:39:08.837+07:00HeidilandSo the Christmas break is almost over. We will go back to school on Monday and I'm still going crazy over trying to finish a couple of papers due next week. Well, obviously someone has not been putting his break to good use, instead it was mostly spent on hedonistic pursuits.<br />
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The biggest thing I did over the break was visit Heidiland... and I don't know how to start writing about it because it was such a massive trip for me. First, I should thank Heidi la Seoul for making the trip possible. He was already talking about inviting me to Heidiland when we last saw each other in BKK last year but I was not even sure if I would be granted a visa or if I could afford the trip. So it was surreal when in mid-December I stepped off the airport in Basel and the gorgeous Hye Kim Park in his 22-inch waistline was there to meet me.<br />
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Oh, let me get this out of the way before I proceed. I finally saw... SNOW, bitches. Yes, the thing that drives us people from the tropics wild. Did I go wild? I sure did. It was snow all over the place. Everything was just blanketed in white, cold, crisp snow; I wonder how many cups of halo-halo and mais con hielo we could make out of them, no?<br />
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Hye Kim Park then showed me around Basel and climbed to the top the spire of one cathedral. Oh stunning views! It was certainly the fastest way to see Basel because we had such limited time. And then we took the train to Bern, the capital. Every building was green there. Color-coordination, a dream place for anyone with OCD. We finally met Heidi la Seoul and we greeted each other with the loudest kathoey shriek we could muster.<br />
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In the next few days we drove a bit around Heidiland. I don't how to give justice to the scenery, especially the towering mountains that kept on taking my breath away. They all looked so postcard perfect, I could stare at them for hours. We also visited the lakeside cities of Neuchatel and Lucerne, and then Zurich. It was a pleasure walking down the narrow alleys of these cities that often lead to a square, always with a fountain as its centerpiece. I'm just also completely amazed by how each city always has the most awe-inspiring views, mainly consisting of grand, old buildings facing a river or a lake and with the mountains in the backdrop. Divine, divine, divine!!! I just don't have the words to describe them.<br />
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kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-17193533430391797062012-12-06T16:44:00.000+07:002012-12-06T16:44:09.086+07:00Winter Update
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I'm still alive. Cold, but definitely still alive. We're now transitioning to winter, a season people have warned me about. The last few days we've seen temperatures drop to single digits and then finally we were hovering just a little bit above zero. I'm freezing most of the time but there's really nothing much one can do but OWN winter. </div>
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Perfect, now that we've talked about the weather - what else could be more important, aber? - we can move on to trivial stuff.</div>
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Oh, let's talk about school. I've actually managed to survive the first term, which ends in a week (and then it's the winter break!). There was a period during half-term when I asked my self what I was doing in masters school. I felt I didn't belong here… with all these brilliant kids in class! Really, they're pretty much kids but who know a great deal more than I do. </div>
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And then came the first essay of the year (and I'm doing another one at the moment). It was all big drama doing it because for more than a decade now I haven't done any academic writing. Most of the time I was running around the library grabbing whatever stuff I could possibly use for my essay. I was tensed like crazy, I finished a first draft two weeks before it was due. I'm not saying I suddenly became brilliant, but really it was more because I panicked and rushed to write like my life depended on it (which might have been the case, actually). For a paper entirely built on panicking I managed to get a decent grade, although it could have been better (because I'm NEVER satisfied). </div>
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Well, school is not always that dramatic. Mostly, I spend my time being alone, like most students I guess, poring through loads of assigned readings. That's school for you!</div>
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There are just days though when I feel like I need to extricate my self from my desk and take a long walk, especially when the sun's out, a precious moment during winter in London, it seems. Often I go to a museum to diffuse my mind or just walk down Oxford street and gawk at clothes I can't afford. </div>
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On Friday nights I go out with Tyty and Fatima for some wine and Chinese food (the cheap kind, if that ever exists in London). That's all the "fun" I could do because I really can't afford going out more often, chai mai?</div>
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Speaking of finances, it's no secret that London is shockingly expensive. So I'm mainly subsisting on microwave food, bland soups in particular… something like 2 pounds per cup, which is still atrociously overpriced compared to a yummy bowl of noodles in Thewet for only less than a pound. </div>
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At first I had to constantly remind my self that I'm not in Bangkok anymore. And then eventually I get used to the prices and I just basically have to live with it… meaning having a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. Oh, I applied for a temporary sales job in a department store but I didn't get it. On the one hand, I really need the money, but on the other I don't know where I'd get the time to do school work had I got the job. But I still need money, so I'd figure out how to whore my self somehow.</div>
kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-54946548551021279052012-10-05T04:42:00.000+07:002012-10-05T04:43:38.680+07:00The Bayot Goes to SchoolSo it's back to school. Last week was "welcome week" during which we had several orientation sessions in our faculty and department. I met several Thais who are also doing my course, which is of course great. And then I spent the rest of welcome week attending talks on such things as eating healthy (I know, I need to learn a great deal on keeping a 30-inch waist), managing money (oh, this too), and finding a part-job (which should happen now).<br />
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This week I started my courses. As we are required to take three courses, I picked politics, anthropology, and history. I hope somehow I'd be able to tie the three together, especially in writing my dissertation.<br />
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In one of my courses, I met a couple of farangs who used to live in Bangkok, too. It's amazing to find all these Thailand connections all the way here in London. Of course we instantly dived into sharing our experiences from living in Bangkok.<br />
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It's still a bit early to get a good grip on what my professors and classmates would be like.<br />
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However, I feel pretty old in class. Most of my classmates have just graduated from their BAs. So being fresh from school, they really are good on "academic speak", a skill I've lost a long, long time ago. And they seem to know what exactly they want to focus on in their study, say, migration, the politics of such and such, etc., whereas, I still don't know exactly what I'm interested in. Oh, kids these days!<br />
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The past few days I've just been trying to read as many of the required readings as I could. This brings me memories of my BA. I'm a slow reader so I need a lot of time to go through the text and then I quickly make notes... all these boring bits. I just really need to pace my self so that I don't cram the day before the lectures.<br />
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Which means I've got to discipline my self in sitting down to read at least a reading a day over the course of the week... instead of watching America's Next Top Model, no?kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-12199501555931438962012-09-18T05:55:00.000+07:002012-10-05T04:45:18.528+07:00My first week in LondonThere are still a lot of times when I couldn't believe I'm actually in London. I've been here a week and still there's something surreal about being in a place I've always dreamed of visiting. Until about three months ago I wouldn't have thought I'd be here.<br />
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The past week had been tourist mode. My aunts had been amazingly kind to show me around. My first day alone we were hopping from one bus to another until midnight just to see the basic sights, e.g. Oxford Street, Harrods, Kensington Gardens, and Tower Bridge.<br />
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The highlight of my first day here was watching "Billy Elliot", a treat from my aunt. I wish I have the words to describe the musical, simply put I was completely astounded by it all. I was listening to the songs a few weeks before I watched the show but the music still moved me on performance night. The choreography was of course flawless.<br />
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The following days were more touristy stuff, such as the Olympic Park, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, China Town, and Covent Garden.<br />
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The next day, I met an Oxford-based Pinay Fairy ("Lady Chatterley") who brought me to the National Gallery. It was stunned when I saw my first Van Gogh, my reaction was summed up into a loud gasp. And then there were a number of Cezanne, Monet, Klimt, and Turner, among others. I'd definitely keep on going back there.<br />
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Last Thursday, I met two Pinay Fairies who showed me around Soho, supposedly one of London's gay areas.<br />
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Yesterday, I went to the British Museum, which was packed with tourists, so I have to visit again on a quieter day. I then hopped on a bus and walked the Millennium Bridge to reach Tate Modern where I saw a handful of Picassos (yet again another transcendental experience) along with some Matisse, Rothko, Pollock, and Dali. That was such a dream!<br />
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Today I went to Harrods to attend the book signing of Scott Schuman's new book, "Closer". Garance Dore was there as well to sign the pages where she appears. I was shaking the entire time I was in front of them. Yet another surreal moment right there.<br />
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Oh, I also dropped by the venue of London Fashion Week last Friday. I just hung around outside the tents, watching those fashionable people snapped up by street style photographers. It's a bit amusing to observe the fashion scene, but that's all I could do.<br />
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So that's basically a rapid rundown of the things I've been up to over the past week. There are still so many impressions of London I want to write about but that's for next time.kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-88949150502743267342012-08-24T10:21:00.000+07:002012-08-24T10:25:09.023+07:00Iskul BukolExactly a month from now I'd be back to school. The thought of it scares the shit out of me. I haven't been to school in over ten years now and I'm not exactly sure if I still got what it takes to be a student, a masters student at that. I wonder if I still have the same discipline and drive of my undergraduate years.<br />
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After graduating from university I had planned to take my masters in a couple of years. Schools in Las Islas Filipinas usually require masters students to have some work experience. That's what I did; packed my stuff and left for Davao City where I worked in an NGO.<br />
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The plan then was to get a scholarship to study abroad, and I applied to a school in the Netherlands, got accepted, but never received a scholarship. I applied to the same school the next year, and the same thing happened. I also applied to a few other universities but, after about five years of trying, the scholarships were always elusive.<br />
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Just when I was about to give up, someone harassed me into applying for yet another masters program. He graduated from the same school and thought my personality fits with the school's culture. Just to shut him up, I applied: wrote a study proposal and a personal statement, took the IELTS, and the whole deal.<br />
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It's pretty much a dream school for me, but I never tried applying before because I thought it is way out of my league. Besides, after the disappointments over the years, I thought I would never get a scholarship, thus, it would take a miracle for me to be able to afford an education abroad (I can't even afford the international programs in Thailand!).<br />
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Well, the first miracle happened. I learned in November 2011 that I got accepted to the program. BUT, the tuition fee is almost a million pesos, which would take me years and years of selling my body if I were desperate. Well, I was desperate, I seriously asked for a loan from some of my friends.<br />
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Also, I scrambled to apply for a couple of scholarships, which are always VERY competitive and you'd never know what the scholarship committees are looking for that year. I got a rejection from one of the scholarship programs I applied for, and I thought that was it, I'd just go home and plant kamote. Until in June, I received news that I was granted a tuition scholarship by another committee.<br />
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(My story's not complete yet because I have to tell you about how I'm going to afford living in an extremely expensive city. I can't afford it to be honest, but through the amazing kindness of friends I could manage to survive somehow. I'd write about that in another post.)<br />
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So anyway, the whole process of applying to the school and then going through the whole scholarship drama took about a year or so. There were times when I thought it's never going to happen but somehow it's going to happen.<br />
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I have so many people to thank for making it possible, and I haven't held back in thanking them like crazy (I wouldn't be surprised if they're already annoyed with me). The challenge now is to prove to them that I'm worth betting on.<br />
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And then, I have to prove to my self that I somehow deserve all these. Bitch is going to work her ass off at school.<br />
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(Obviously, the photos don't have anything to do with this post.)kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-31875876752534894712012-08-07T11:33:00.000+07:002012-08-24T09:25:35.139+07:00Letting GoIn preparation for my next big leap into the unknown, I've been slowly getting rid of the stuff I've accumulated during my stay here in Bangkok. I'm far from being a hoarder, but clearly my stuff just keeps on piling up nonetheless.<br />
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I still can't believe I've amassed so much shit over those years, considering I regularly threw away clothes, bags, and shoes I hardly used. I also gave some of my books away whenever I went home to Las Islas Filipinas. <br />
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Out of necessity this time, I had to be more thorough in paring everything down to the most necessary things. Or to be more precise, making sure all my possessions would fit in just one large suitcase.<br />
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Surprisingly, it's not hard to let go of my clothes and shoes. I just couldn't be bothered losing some of them. I realized I hardly wear sixty percent of my clothes anyway. Either they're way too small, too big, or have bad quality (which was mostly the case). I'm just happy to get rid of them.<br />
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There are pants for instance I haven't worn for years. I just hung them inside the closet hoping that (1) I'd wear them someday or (2) I'd lose weight. Both never happened, especially number 2, but that's another blog post.<br />
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I gave perhaps fifty percent of my unwanted clothes to some friends and colleagues, while the rest of the clothes had to be thrown away because they're not meant to be worn anyway, say, a polyester shirt (why did I buy that in the first place?).<br />
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The hardest to give away are my books. Obviously, they are of no practical use after I read them, but I collect them anyway. I like how they look. I take pride in my carefully arranged book shelf. And whenever I see one book for instance it stirs up thoughts about its contents and memories of where and when I read them.<br />
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Every time I give away a book I feel like I'm saying good bye to one of my babies (not that I actually know how it's like to be a mother, but who cares; I'm a drama queen after all). I try to match the person's interest with the book I give them so that they can be good "foster parents".<br />
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The things I'm not letting go are my travel mementos. They are by no means expensive keepsakes. Most of them are cheap cliches bought at the airport souvenir shop or some tourist market. But most likely I'd never go back to the places where I bought them, so they are irreplaceable. And of course it's the memories that count.<br />
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I have a clique of dolls from Yunnan, Hanoi, Yangon, and Seoul... they're snooty little bitches in ornate costumes and heavy make up. I have masks from Singapore and Sri Lanka watching over me while I sleep. I have cheap paintings from Kolkata, Chiang Mai, and Yangon huddled together above my bed. A quilt from Jakarta, scarves from Laos and Siem Reap, pottery from Ban Chiang, an umbrella from Yangon, etc. Gosh, there are just lots of them lying around my bedroom.<br />
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The challenge is to fit them in one suitcase, which I will banish into the darkness of the office's storeroom for the time being. I hope by the time I come back to pick them up they haven't turned to dust yet.<br />
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There's something cathartic about throwing some of my stuff away. It's a way to release things that I shouldn't own anyway. The questions I keep on asking my self are: do I really NEED any of them? do they have any practical use? can they be replaced? It turns out, I can get rid of probably eighty percent of what little possessions I have.kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-54919900008427842542012-07-30T11:36:00.002+07:002012-07-30T11:37:05.157+07:00Five Years in ThailandToday marks my fifth year in Thailand. When I arrived here I knew for sure I'd be staying for a year as my first work contract stated. And then when my first contract expired I was given two years and then another three years. (My current contract expires in 2013.)<br />
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It's surprising how the years piled up, and true to the cliche, I hardly noticed time passing by. Probably it shows how much I like my life here. Well, I can't complain about most of my experiences and I owe it to Thailand that the past five years had been nothing short of great.<br />
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Everyday I still find many fascinating things about Bangkok... its small streets, its ever changing landscapes, and the kindness of the people... basically the same things that have enamored me since I arrived in Bangkok.kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-67399147911330669882012-06-20T13:35:00.001+07:002012-06-20T13:35:24.380+07:00KalerksOMG, it's almost the end of June and I haven't posted yet a single entry this month. Well, let me do this post out of obligation to my two readers.<br />
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Here are two major updates this month...<br />
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First, I turned 25 a couple of weeks ago. I know, it's my seventh time to turn 25, but who is counting, aber? As far as I'm concerned I'm a 25-year old boy trapped in a paunchy, wrinkly body.<br />
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But no, I'm not celebrating my birthday. I haven't celebrated my birthday since I turned 21. I just cannot be bothered, really.<br />
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What I'm celebrating, however, is the news that I'm moving soon. <span style="background-color: white;">Moving on with my life, moving from Bangkok, moving to a better future. Charaught! </span><br />
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In three months I'd be somewhere else, living a poor student's life, but hopefully intellectually richer.<br />
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There's still a gazillion things to do, including how to get rid of the shit I've accumulated during the last past five years in Bangkok. And then there's the visa. And then there's raising enough funds just to survive as a student.<br />
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Other than that, I'm basically on my way to (hopefully) greener pastures. Who knows...<br />
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With this great opportunity, I just keep telling my self that I shouldn't fuck this up.<span style="background-color: white;"> </span>kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-60914119947900025872012-05-25T10:49:00.000+07:002012-08-24T10:26:54.821+07:00A Trip to LampangI just came back from a ten-day official trip to Lampang Province in Northern Thailand. Our office brought a team of archaeologists, historians, and the like there to an excavation in a rock art site, and basically I just hung around.<br />
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Not exactly a pleasant experience being in the mountains as I'm not an outdoor person. Ugh, the mosquitoes feasted on me, I probably need a blood transfusion now.<br />
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Anyway, aside from complaining incessantly (which must've driven my colleagues nuts), I also had the chance to visit a village, talk to a few people there, and checked out Lampang's old houses and temples.<br />
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Here are some photos... I experimented with black and white in this trip.<br />
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<br />kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-46603287901512695622012-04-25T14:40:00.001+07:002012-04-25T19:49:40.970+07:00The Waves of HikkaduwaWe arrived in Hikkaduwa, on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, at nearly midnight after a 16-hour drive. We were quite pleased with our hotel because it was right on the beach, the sound of the waves practically lulling us to sleep.<br />
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The next day we of course put on our swimming shorts, lathered a thick layer of sunblock on our faces, and headed to the beach. Gosh, the golden sand is immaculate! The beach front is quite wide and long... it is just endless sand, sand, sand. Hikkaduwa is a famous surfing beach, so it was waves galore too.<br />
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We played in the waves, which were strong, along with the current. I can swim quite well but I was still not comfortable in the waves. If you don't watch out they can in fact send you screaming for your life like you're inside the washing machine, which happened to Ms C and me several times. It was fun but exhausting (and dangerous).<br />
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So we lounged on the beach, under the shade, and drank beer. We watched several surfers riding on the waves. No, we were not brave enough to get a surfing lesson.<br />
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As it is a surfer's destination, I expected Hikkaduwa to be filled with surfers who go on endless drinking binges and parties. But it was pretty quiet there, and far from being overwhelmingly crowded. The atmosphere was just right for relaxation, in fact.<br />
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In the afternoon, while in an internet cafe, the manager of the place told us there had been a tsunami warning after a strong quake hit Sumatra. In two minutes the cafe was emptied of its patrons, who were all tourists.<br />
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Ms C and I waited another ten minutes because we had still to update our Facebook profiles and tweet about our wonderful vacation. What can be more important, aber? Tsunami what?<br />
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The manager had to shoo us away from the cafe, urging us to go back to the hotel and wait for evacuation instructions from the hotel staff.<br />
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On our way to our room the other hotel guests were rushing out, lugging heavy backpacks, and hailing tuk-tuks left and right. We were still undecided on what to do. We felt it was too soon to evacuate (we were told we would have two hours to flee once a tsunami has been confirmed).<br />
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We took precautions eventually when we realized everyone had left!<br />
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We quickly packed our bags and hopped on a tuk-tuk. The driver took us to a hilltop Buddhist temple, about two kilometers inland. Surprisingly, the temple grounds were practically empty. I don't know where the other tourists went...<br />
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We tried to get in contact with the travel guide (who was already back in Colombo) but the SIM card we bought did not work. A Sri Lankan family that was also taking refuge in the temple helped us call our travel guide, who then kept us abreast of the tsunami warming.<br />
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About four hours of waiting on the temple grounds, our kind travel guide told us that it was safe to go back to the hotel.<br />
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The next day, we went to the fort of Galle, half an hour by bus from Hikkaduwa. The old town of Galle (pronounced like gall in gall bladder) was put on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1988.<br />
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The Portuguese founded it in the 16th century, and then in 1640 it fell into the hands of the Dutch, who eventually handed it over to the British in 1729.<br />
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We walked on the fort walls, enjoying the sea views together with joggers and other tourists. There was a lighthouse and a tall clock tower, and several bastions. Venturing into the streets, we stumbled into a couple of Christian churches, a mosque, government buildings, and some old mansions and museums.<br />
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It's easy to get lost in its streets and gawk at the old houses. There are lots of hotels and jewelry shops within the town walls, but the overall feel of the place is just old-world charm (as opposed to blatant commercialization).<br />
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We had to drive four hours the next day to reach Negombo. As our flights were in the morning, we needed some place near the airport, so to Negombo we went. We had a few hours on Negombo's beach, enjoying our last Sri Lankan curry and rice, and watching the sunset. We bought some souvenirs in the evening.<br />
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Seven days in Sri Lanka is very short to see the amazing country. Nonetheless, we experienced its heritage sites, old towns, tea plantations, and beaches in such a short time.<br />
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There's really more reasons for me to go back there, particularly visit more of their old capitals and kingdoms as well as enjoy the beaches in the east, which I heard are much better than the ones in the south.<br />
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Oh, if there's one reason to go back to Sri Lanka, it's really to experience again the people's hospitality and warmth.<br />
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It's funny that several times Ms C and I were mistaken for a Japanese couple. When they learned we are Filipinos, some of them would say "kumusta?" or "salamat" or "pare". These are the guys who have worked with Filipinos in the Middle East, who have somehow picked up a Tagalog word here and there.<br />
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In a lot of ways, Sri Lankans are like Filipinos. Like us they are generous with their smiles, they are curious and they like to talk, and they have a good sense of humor. Maybe that's why it was easy to feel at home there.kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21942744.post-29534995243644512152012-04-22T11:49:00.000+07:002012-04-25T14:49:53.350+07:00Driving through Kandy and the Hill CountryLet me touch briefly on Sri Lankan food before I talk further about our trip. I don't care so much for food whenever I travel. I mean, I don't choose my destinations based on their cuisine; that doesn't make sense to me.<br />
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So I was not exactly excited about Sri Lankan food at all. They have a lot of curries, of course, but I find them watery compared to Indian curries. When I tried Sri Lankan rice and curry they usually come with several side-dishes of fried vegetables, or some mushy type of, I don't know, some legumes or vegetables.<br />
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A couple of times we had Sri Lankan breakfast consisting of string hoppers (essentially rice noodles) that we mixed with some fish curry and mashed vegetables. Didn't enjoy those.<br />
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I don't know, these things are not for me. I'm not adventurous with food. I, in fact, brought crackers from Bangkok just in case I didn't find anything palatable in Sri Lanka. The rest of the trip I ate fried noodles and rotty for most of our meals. I know, shame on me.<br />
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So moving on... from Sigiriya, we drove south through Kandy and the Hill Country. Our travel guide was a bit unclear about the total travel time to the southern coast, our destination for the day, so I didn't expect we were going to drive 16 hours, from about eight in the morning to midnight.<br />
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We stopped by Kandy (founded in the 14th century), the last kingdom of Sri Lanka. It is a popular Buddhist pilgrimage site for its Temple of the Tooth Relic.<br />
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The traffic was heavy when we approached the city because it was just a few days before the Buddhist New Year. Throngs of people were all over the shopping district. It was insane just trying to find a parking lot, after which we walked to the lake to quickly take a few photos.<br />
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And then we were back in the van.<br />
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We drove higher into the Hill Country, famous for its tea estates. Tea is one of Sri Lanka's biggest exports, along with garments and coconut products. We drove past hills and hills of tea plantations and we eventually stopped by a tea factory to see how tea is processed. Most of the processing is done mechanically.<br />
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All this tea thing did not interest me so much because I'm not a tea drinker, but it is clear that tea is a major crop of the country and tea processing gives employment to many people.<br />
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We finally reached Nuwara Eliya, a hill station used by the British as a summer retreat, much like Baguio in the Philippines. The temperature is a bit chilly up there, as is the rest of the Hill Country. A golf course snakes through the city.<br />
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The commercial center was again filled with people doing their holiday shopping. There are a good number of colonial cottages in Nuwara Eliya that you would expect to see in England but not in Sri Lanka. (That's our amazing travel guide, Shane in the following photo.)<br />
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And then we drove further south. That felt like forever! The narrow highways were winding down mountains. It was very scary for me because, one, there were many cars and trucks owing to the holiday, and two, we were driving in the dark. Fortunately, our travel guide is used to driving through that stretch of the highway so all went well (but I was seriously nervous).<br />
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Our last 90 or so kilometers were through a brand new highway connecting Colombo and Galle. It's apparently a new highway, hardly used so far. Also under construction is a highway connecting Colombo and the airport. Anyway, it was a breeze driving from Colombo to Hikkaduwa, which we reached at around midnight. My next entry would be about our tsunami scare in Hikkaduwa.kawadjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00928963432771827590noreply@blogger.com1