Annual Convention

I'm just on the way to recovering from a cold and cough, both of which are repercussions of the previous weekend's debauchery. It was that time of the year again when Pinoy Fierceness congregates in one place for a blast, Bangkok being this year's lucky choice. 

Remember our Bali escapade last year? Yes, I'm talking about (more or less) the same fierce people.

We had our two birthday girls from San Francisco, La Fuchsiaboy from Siem Reap, two socialites from Ilo-ilo, and Gibo (who doesn't have a title these days). 

Knowing very well there's going to be loads of partying and excess, I did not smoke, drink, or party three weeks before they arrived. And I had to try hard to lose weight because damn we're a judgmental bunch.

So last weekend turned out to be a chika-fest with loads of smoking, drinking, and dancing. How else would you spend your time with friends, chai mai?

It's so hard to believe we've known each other for four years now, and considering we've only met through blogging (those were the days). 

Halloween Weekend Report

OMG, I can't believe it's already November. Las Islas Filipinas should be celebrating Todos Los Santos today and the Feast of the Dead tomorrow. I miss that crazy holiday already! Anyway, hope everyone's having a grand time at the cemeteries all over the country.

Meanwhile, here in BKK we will be celebrating Loy Krathong tomorrow. Loy Krathong is the festival of lights and surely I'd write about that next week.

For the mean time, I shall do the requisite weekend report. Dios mio, haggard the weekend that was ha, so shall we start?

Last Friday evening I met amiga Nikki, who was my trainer when I worked for six months in a call center in Manila. She recently got married to Carlo and they were traveling around the region (Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Singapore) for several days.

Of course I was the Tourism Authority of Thailand's agent yet again, di ba? I walked them around Silom and we eventually ended up in Suan Lum Night Bazaar for dinner where we met up with Heidi (la primera Bitch of Bangkok).

I had to leave Nikki and hubby in Suan Lum coz Heidi and I were supposed to meet Bubbles for the Face Hunter party in nearby Ruam Rudee.

Yeah, I'm talking about the Face Hunter a.k.a Yvan Rodic, street-style blogger extraordinaire.

Oh, don't ask me who Face Hunter is. Like have you been living under a rock these past four years? *Rolls eyes*. He's like more important than the Pope noh!

You can check his street-style blog Face Hunter and his other photo blog Yvan Rodic (the latter blog is actually more interesting for me). He stopped by BKK after Tel Aviv, Seoul, and Taipei. His BKK trip was followed by short visits to Kuala Lumpur and then Jakarta. Only God knows where he's heading next.

I had like four seconds talking to Yvan, and I immediately noticed he was holding a Cannon G10 in his hands. Now that answers what camera I'm going to buy.

Oh, he also took photos of the skull brooches I wore that evening. But we all know he took another 5,000 photos of the fashionable people of BKK the five days he was here, so I can only wish that my little brooches would land on his blog.

OK, let's talk about Halloween.

The Khao San Road area is definitely the place to go for Halloween so off we went walking around its streets crammed with gazillions of revelers in their most horrifying costumes of the year.

We eventually ended up in our usual street-side bar manned by a Burmese guy whose facial bone structure can solve the world's biggest problems.

Miss Liwayway joined us later in the evening with friends from a Manila-based magazine publisher. We also bumped into a BKK-based Pinay whom I shall call Chiqui Nene (do you like the name, Chiqui?). She apparently reads my blog so lemme say HALER!!! to Miss Nene (wearing a pink head band in the photo below).

The evening ended with us heading to some club in a basement full of straight people. I swear nothing terrifies me more than being surrounded by straight people. A fitting end to Halloween, non?

Ping Pong and Bowling

Hay, the week that was... let's do some recap, shall we?

Wednesday, three Binibining Pilipinas title-holders visited Bangkok. It was my pleasure to host Dindi Gallardo (Bb. Pilipinas - Universe 1993), Liza Berroya (Bb. Pilipinas - Universe 1992), and Alou Gonzales (Bb. Pilipinas - Universe 1991).

This is some old random Bb. Pilipinas picture.

Dindi Gallardo and I were colleagues in Davao around six years ago and had been very good friends since then. The other two ladies are friends of Dindi.

The girls were doing their Southeast Asian tour of duty and they stopped over in BangCock for a day. They arrived on the overnight train from Hat Yai (they came in via Penang) and were on their way to Siem Reap the next day.

Dindi Gallardo does the (in)famous Kawadjan pout.

Needless to say, I was the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) agent yet again. Like I know, right?

We obviously did not have much time to waste so I immediately whisked them away to Pratunam coz the girls were serious on their intent to amass more evening gowns for the next round of barrio beauty pageants back in Las Islas Filipinas.

Professional beauconeara ang mga bruja, di ba?

As the girls were looking for new gimmicks in the talent competition - aside from the over-used Sisa play-acting (Basiliooooo, Crispiiiiiin!!!!), interpretative dance with billowing curtina fabrics, and "modern" singkil involving three cargadors hoisting girls on bamboo poles - they were very specific on watching the ping pong shows.

Here we go again...

So to Pat Pong we went for that authentic BangCock tourist experience. I chose to stay outside coz the sight of monster pussies does not exactly excite me in any manner whatsoever.

The three title-holders came out squealing from the ping pong show. The TAT would be so proud of me, chai mai?

Last Friday, I went out to play bowling with Neomie Lenoir and his BF, Chutima Durongdej (Miss Thailand Universe 2009).

Joining us were three other Thai title-holders: Gavintra Photijak (Miss Thailand Universe 2008), Farung Yuthithum (Miss Thailand Universe 2007), and Charm Onwarin Osathanond (Miss Thailand Universe 2006).

It was an all-gay evening, which makes me wonder... bowling and campiness do not usually go together, chai mai? I don't know, badminton would have been a more obvious choice. Or at least volleyball. But bowling?

Anyway, at least the lighting in the "bowling place" (what do you call THAT exactly???) in Paragon is not that bad.

Good gawd, I knew it was a horrible idea coz the baklas obviously were way beyond dismal in our bowling skills. At least we practiced our trash-talking to the max though. THAT I'm good in!

The evening ended with us bayots heading to the Silom gayborhood.

And I could not be more than a big cliche by going to yet another evening at Silom last Saturday evening with Best Fierce Friend (BFF), Bubbles, who is a Binibining Pilipinas emeritus himself.

Oh BTW, big week for me ahead! Maria Myrna Sese Panlilio (Bb. Pilipinas 1964, the first representative of the Philippines to the Miss Universe) is visiting BangCock this weekend and we are watching Lea Salonga's concert (for real!).

Maria Myrna and I are going in Pocahontas and Mulan costumes, respectively.

Adios Las Islas Filipinas

Finally I'm back in BKK after having been gone (more or less) for four weeks. I cannot be more relieved I'm home ("home" meaning BKK). It had been a frantic visit to Las Islas Filipinas, you have no idea how exhausted I truly am though.

In the coming days I'd surely post more about my trip home.

It's fascinating how I'm looking at things in the Philippines using a seemingly different set of eyes. Many times I was amused at the familiar, but also there are many things I paid more attention to whereas I used to consider them as mundane aspects of everyday life in Las Islas.

And then there are of course the number STILL frustrating things about home that I thought have changed for the better since I left. Anyway, I'd go into the specific reflections of my homecoming in the next entries.

For now I'd tell you about my last days in Las Islas.

So after the Cebu trip, I still had a few days in Surigao. Fortunately, uber best friend Nikki also went home so we had more time together, mainly spent on meeting friends, who by now have went to marry and, uhm, reproduced.

Nikki's mom, who is a city councilor, has this wonderful project that distributes pencils, pens, and papers to grade-school kids in Surigao. Nikki was nice enough to drag me to a couple of school visits outside the city center, about thirty minutes by car.

The smiling faces of the children when we handed them the pencils were treat enough. However, it was sad to see the state of their classrooms. It's not like the buildings were crumbling but they can certainly make use of better desks, more lighting, among other basic things.

The trip was also a good chance for me to see some parts of the "countryside", albeit we were not exactly that far from the city.

I truly love Surigao's landscape of rice fields squeezed between rolling hills (I failed to take pictures of this though). We also went to another village called Day-asan, located in a mangrove forest and where houses are built on stilts above the water.

Bye, bye Surigao!

Before finally leaving for Manille, I went out with my amigas and spent more time with la familia.

As soon as I landed in Manila, I messaged a number of my friends about the queen's arrival. Oh, the queen is me, BTW. Tse!

Fresh off the plane, I had dinner with La Ate at Fat Michael's, which is close to her place in Evangalista. After which, I met Daisy's kids and then the next day I was off to my former office in Quezon City where I gave them a workshop on posing. Hahahaha.

La Meredel (a super friend in college) and I visited the Ayala Museum, which has an excellent exhibit called Gold of the Ancestors on the use of gold in pre-Hispanic Philippines. Lo and behold, many of the items came from Surigao. There was also a small show of Philippine costumes called Embroidered Multiples.

La Meredel and I then walked around the swanky Greenbelt 5. Gosh, Las Islas has brought mall design to a whole new level. Despite the seemingly lack of change in the country, malls in Cebu and Manila have been constantly upgraded and refurbished. I'm not complaining though.

Speaking of which, I have no other motivation to visit Las Islas in the coming months but to shop. Gosh, I'm shallow, what's new, aber?

I cannot get over the many edgy stuff churned out by Filipino designers. I even went crazy just being in Bench, Human, Folded and Hung, and even Penshoppe and SM.

I thought shopping in BKK is cheap, but Manila is even cheaper it seems. But I kept shopping at a minimum, hence a trip back to Manila is in order.

Anyway, back to more meetings with fierce friends from the university. And then I went to Malate with Japheth, a close friend from Surigao. At Bed I met one of Manila's most popular blogger and I swear I was way beyond star-struck, my hands were shaking when I talked to him.

On my last full day in Manila, I went berserk shopping. Well, not really. I wish I did.

It was damn frustrating not being able to buy more clothes, bags, and shoes (am I sick or what?) but instead I stocked up on my favorite Philippine-made moisturizer. Hahaha. Only Celeteque touches my skin! Tse!

Anyhoot, la Ate and I made our way to Quezon City via a harrowing ride on a packed MRT. Dahling, you have no idea what I mean by packed. Ewwwww...

In QC I met blogger friends Miss Fiji, Miss Antigua (who visited BKK recently), and Celia Rodriguez (peace, Kiel!). It was a fabulous dinner, not least of which was the best humba I've tasted, and bottles and bottles of San Miguel over our musings on life and love. Choz!

And then, I brought my sister to Malate, her first time in a gay club, to meet Joven (a friend from the university) and Mark (from Surigao).

A note on the gay men in Malate... why are many of them wearing baseball caps? I don't get it. Is it a way to amplify their obsession with trying to appear as straight as possible? Please lang, ha. Nonetheless, I'm not complaining about the number of gorgeous men in Malate, although many of them look aloof and stuck up... and have horrible fashion sense. Well, it's just my impression.

Anyhoot, on day of my flight I had breakfast with Davao friends, Lu and Ipe to catch up on their very sporty lives... they are obsessed with ultimate.

And then it was time to leave for BKK after lunch at Jollibee (of course!) with my sister, who G said is out-fiercing me. Tse, G!

Ok, I'd stop right here. I will not recount my horrible time at the immigration of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). I swear, I do not have the best feelings for the immigration officials of Las Islas Filipinas, not for the Overseas Workers Welfare Administrations, and most definitely not for the the pinheads at NAIA. Isang milyong TSE sa mga nabanggit na opisina ng gobyerno. TSE, TSE, TSE!!!

That said, I'm so freaking relieved to be back home in BKK.

Weekend Report: Watak-watak Edition

The weekend report starts on Thursday evening when I was invited to Heidi's place for pizza. With us were his wife Hye Kim Park and our office's intern from Macau, Maggie Cheung.

Maggie Cheung and I took the early evening boat to Saphan Thaksin and from there it was her first ride on the BKK's skytrain. Too bad it was only for one station.

The four us then found ourselves on the pool deck of Heidi's building, and pizza easily transitioned to vodka. Hye Kim Park can certainly make a mean cocktail using some flower tea.

Friday evening I met Yvonne for a movie date. Yvonne is the widow of my colleague/friend who died last month. She used to regularly watch movies with her husband and I thought it would be nice for her to have some movie buddy in me.

We decided to watch The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which turned out to be such a disappointment.

She and I had late dinner after the film. Dinner took a rather sad tone when we started talking about her husband and so I could not help my self from bawling. As in major hagulhol itez. Tears fell on my chicken noodles and the people in the restaurant stared at us perplexed.

Feeling weighed down by how the evening turned out with Yvonne, I called Bubbles and we met at McDonald's in Silom. He noticed how swollen my eyes were but thank god I was wearing water-proof mascara that evening. Anyway, Bubbles and I eventually ended up in Silom Soi 2. Zzzzzzzz...

Valentine's Day. I made reservations at a river-side restaurant close to my building. I had three dates for the night, namely Bubbles, Maggie Cheung, and my Singaporean colleague, Ermitanyo. (Maggie Cheung, Ermitanyo, and I all live in the office building.)

We had a table at the roof deck of the restaurant aptly called In Love. It was lovely to watch the sun slowly slipping down the horizon, framed by the Rama VIII bridge. Definitely romantic if not for the fact that we are all single.

From my area we decided to head off to Silom, stopping by for coffee and then some cocktails in Silom Soi 4. Maggie Cheung and Ermitanyo (who, I have to note, is straight) were keen on visiting a gay club. The original plan was Lang Suan, but Bubbles reckoned Maggie Cheung and Ermitanyo would appreciate the drag show in Soi 2.

We thus found ourselves jostling with the crowd at Soi 2, which was surprisingly sparse for Valentine's day. I wonder where the rest of BangCock's baklas were.

A Bubbly Weekend

Saturday afternoon, ferosha Bubbles and I took a cab to Pratunam...

... and we ended up inside the vast and labyrinthine Platinum mall...

... where Bubbles tried on a few pants. But alas, none of them fit him. We all know how small the sizes are in most Thai markets, chai mai? Meanwhile, I bought three black shirts.

We moved to Central World where we found lomo cameras sold outside the mall.

We drank outside the mall, soaked in the nice, warm weather, and appreciated how the setting sun cast a beautiful glow on the surrounding buildings.

Inside the mall was a lion dance show for the Chinese New Year.

While watching the show the paparazzi caught us...

... also while Bubbles was shopping.

And more paparazzi shots while having coffee where we also met some Filipino tourists.

We went outside again for dinner while watching an international music festival. Wonderful performances!

But the paparazzi was all over the place.

So we went back inside Central World for some post-dinner coffee.

But the paparazzi was unstoppable.

We fled them by running to Lang Suan, that string of bars at the edge of Lumphini Park. We were there as well the previous evening. It had been more than a year since Bubbles and I were at Lang Suan. And we thought we needed to check out the place again.

Although the boys there are gorgeous, perhaps the hottest in any gay bar in the entire BangCock area (and there are many), the music is just bloody horrendous. Oh, don't let me explain further. The music is simply not my type. Period. So for that sole reason, we avoided going to Lang Suan for the longest time and opted for Soi 2 instead.

But fortunately last Friday we ended up in one Lang Suan bar that plays decent remixes and house music. Now why didn't we find this much earlier? And for that, I think I'm going to be a Lang Suan regular.

I also like Lang Suan coz the people are more relaxed, none of the stuck-up bitches in most Silom bars. And the Lang Suan crowd looks more... uhmmm... expensive. May breeding kumbaga.

Furthermore, the men go there with a pack of friends to go drinking and dancing, and sleaze is not part of the agenda it seems. None of the prancing and snaring that one sees in other bars in you know where. Very, very laid back indeed.

And lastly, they have way better fashion sense than in any gay area in BangCock, noh!

But the bars in Lang Suan close promptly at 2 a.m. (some even earlier). So last Saturday after Lang Suan, Bubbles and I hopped to nearby Silom. Deciding to stay away from THE bar, we instead checked out the other bars in Soi 2. Lo and behold, the we ended up bumping into the same Lang Suan crowd (more or less). Couldn't complain, dahling.

The evening (or early morning) ended with Bubbles and I hanging outside Soi 2, watching a parade of men leaving the bars/clubs. Goodness, I lost count of the many well-dressed bayots! Some of them were just perfect for a shot in a street-style blog, I swear. I was practically squealing at the magnificence of what some bayots were wearing. Oh, I'm soooo inspired!