My Asinine Thoughts

…that is a silly question.

I came back to the Philippines a little over a week ago and as soon as I came home and ate aning’s beef steak and papa’s breaded shrimp, I immediately unpacked the boxes in my room filled with books, clothes and knick knacks. I placed most of my books in the bookshelves, organized my closet, arranged my earrings, fixed my dresser, hooked up my computer and printer, checked my sheets and then plopped down on my bed delirious with happiness.

My two months in Taiwan was fun but painful and now that I’m in the comfort of my own room, I can say that I’m glad I went back. I had to go back to know that I made the right decision to leave last year. Taiwan will always be my second home, especially since there are people who live there whom I care about a great deal. If I ever do go back in the future, I know that it will only be for a short visit and I’d probably just travel around the island.

Then in about 3 weeks I would need to start putting most of my things back into the boxes again. An exercise in futility you might think, but not for me. After moving around for the past 4 years, nothing will take the place of my room and my space here in our house. It was nice to see most of my things together, to have them within my reach and not thousands of miles away even if it’s only for a few weeks. I’m happy about leaving again but with apprehension on the side, nothing new.

I haven’t been doing anything much for the past week, just hanging out at home and taking it easy but I suppose I better get moving soon since I have so many things I need to do. I have to organize 2 birthday dinners, a bridal shower, a reconciliation between 2 friends if it’s possible, meet up with several friends and cousins, go to my dentist, my doctors, my dermatologist, to the spa, get a blood test, buy pasalubongs and things I can’t buy in the US, fix my papers, go to embassies etc etc etc. I think I’ll start next week… or maybe the week after that.

I did get a facial this week though. I went to Belo and had a glycopeel and a power peel in one session. I thought I was going to end up looking like Freddy Krueger afterwards but I discovered that the glycopeel treatment was just cleaning with no peeling involved and the power peel was the same as the diamond peel so I didn’t look so scary when I went out, my bangs on the other hand were definitely scary because Doris butchered them last Sunday (Why Doris? Why?)

I was in the Philippines for a couple of weeks to take care of my traveling papers and to drink copious amounts of Tokyo Tokyo red iced tea. Oh, I also went home to be with my folks before mama leaves for the US again. I wasn’t able to meet up with my friends save for a few because I.Am.Lazy! Haha! The heat that greeted me when I arrived was enough to incapacitate me for the duration of my stay. I kept meaning to call my old friends, yet everyday I find excuses not to such as:

1. It’s too hot, I don’t feel like making a phone call.
2. It’s too hot, I don’t feel like going out.
3. It’s too hot, I don’t feel like moving at all.
4. It’s too hot, I’d rather watch videos all day.

So that basically sums up my visit to the Philippines. The one time I had to go out almost all day and had to commute, resulted in my getting an eye infection the next day. It was pretty scary since my left eye reddened, swelled and looked and felt like jelly (I poked it several times, couldn’t help it since it jiggled).

Anyway, the heat lessened when my family and I went up to Baguio during Mother’s Day weekend. Traffic there was a bitch but at least the temp was cool, plus the food’s great. The day after we came back was the only time I started packing for my trip and as usual I had a difficult time making all of my things fit into my luggage (which was eensy weensy this time, thank you Cebu Pacific!)

The next morning, I said goodbye to popsy, syoti, mommy (who won’t be back in the PI for a good long while) and ditsi, who drove me to the airport. Poor ditsi had to go to the airport 4 times this week. Arnel had to leave for China on Monday, I had to leave for Taiwan on Tuesday, Arnel came back on Thursday, mama had to leave for the US on Friday, then Arnel had to leave for the US today.

As soon as I got settled into my seat inside the plane, it was lights out for me. I was so tired from (last-minute) packing and the ghost experience from the night before that my eyes closed of its own volition.

I woke up for the food of course. Even if it sucked.

I’m taking a break from the Phils for a few months to spend the holidays with my family. Sigh, another break yeah. That seems to be all I’m doing the past few months and it’s not as fun as it sounds.

I’m hoping the few weeks of my stay here would clarify things a little bit.

Anyway, touristy things must be done on the side.

I just got my e-ticket today. Grabe! Ang mahal! I thought the peso was strengthening against the dollar? How can I ever fulfill my dream of traveling all over the world if ticket prices are so steep? (Get a job for one, loser!)

I should have been more careful with my money when I was in Taiwan so that I could travel around Asia during my Pinas break. Cebu Pacific fares are so cheap! Even if I add the leche fee at immigration, pwede pa rin! I was supposed to visit my best bud Cheryl last August and I bought the ticket already and everything, but forces beyond my control prevented me from going to HK. Bwiset.

Definitely next year when I come back from my vacation (from my Pinas break), I will make sure to put aside enough money for traveling and further studies when I start working na. I would love, love, love to backpack through Asia. All I need is the money and a traveling buddy or two who wouldn’t mind roughing it a bit since it’s going to be an el cheapo trip all the way!

I’m 29 today and I’m depressed as hell. I chose to postpone my birthday celebration tonight because I’m just totally bummed out with life. I asked papa not to buy cake or cook anything because I’m really not in the mood. Since I was feeling down, I decided to go on a diet so that hawa-hawa na. Dieting always depresses me (I do it so often, one would wonder why I’m not stick-thin yet) and since I was feeling depressed anyway, might as well make the most of it.

Bawi na lang next week because I have several cakes in mind that I want to eat. There’s Honey Crunch Cake and Mango Torte from Dasma, Chocolate Mousse from Red Ribbon, Choco Roll and Plain Mocha Birthday Cake from Goldilocks, and the Frozen Brazo that ditsi made me try when I came home a couple of months ago. I couldn’t find Kookie Korner anywhere in Glorietta but I haven’t given up. I’ve also been dreaming about Japanese food for the past few days. I really really want and I’m requesting some of my friends to humor me and eat at a Japanese restaurant when we go out. I can practically taste the Philadelphia Maki with Salmon! Yum!

I was supposed to go to Nagoya Castle first but since it was raining I thought I’d hit the malls around the Nagoya train station instead. When I got there, they were all still closed, even the underground malls, of which Nagoya has plenty. So I walked around a bit under the rain, checking out the place, observing Japanese people going about their day. It was nice and cool and then there it was! A shop that was open! The 100 Yen Store! Yehey!

Several useless purchases later, the malls started opening and I went to Kintetsu Pass’e mall first. The clothes there were lovely. I seriously considered purchasing this beautiful dress worth Y13,000 - until I unwittingly hit upon a solution to curb my overspending tendencies. I said to myself that I’d look around the mall first and get back to it later. It was brilliant! Since I can be extremely forgetful, I only remembered I wanted to buy the dress the next day and by then I was running out of money already.

After Kintetsu Pass’e, I went to Takashimaya Department Store and then to Matsuzakaya. I ended up in a huge record store divided into 3 sections. One for music, one for movies, and one for porn. The porn section was HUGE! I gravitated towards the music section and marveled at the collection of cds before me. I saw a Japanese only release Ash CD which fell victim to my brilliant plan. I made a mental note to get back to it after I’ve browsed every CD in the store - and then I got one of my infamous headaches. Balik hotel, bwisit!

After recovering from the sudden and debilitating headache, I got on the train again to see Oasis 21. It sounds like a nightclub but it’s actually a futuristic shopping complex right next to the Nagoya TV Tower. As soon as I got out of the subway station, I saw the beautiful water spaceship and went straight up to take lots of pictures. None of the pictures with me in it came out right though, I still need to practice the “one-armed take” some of my friends have already perfected.

Right below the water spaceship were boutiques and dining places as well as a tourist information center. Of course I shopped again and went really crazy over the clothes at Lowry’s Farm and Honey. Ang gaganda! The clothes weren’t as expensive as I thought they would be, but then I was coming from Taiwan where they add 100% or more to the price of Japanese products. I bought a couple of tops and snacked on cream cheese sushi. Yum! Operation Oasis 21: Success!!!

Since I was already in the Sakae district, which is the equivalent of Xinyi District in Taiwan, or Ayala in Manila, there were lots and lots of malls! So I went to each and every one of them, unfortunately there wasn’t enough time to visit The Loft at Nadya Park, which came highly recommended based on what I’ve read online. I promised myself to go early the next day. More shopping was to be done!

The next day, after another dismal breakfast I went straight to Nagoya Castle so that I could say I did something else besides shopping in Japan. The place was huge, the castle looked really great, and I took lots of pictures (again, pictures of me with the castle aren’t fit to be posted). It’s not a lot of fun sightseeing by yourself, there were a lot of cool stuff in the castle but there was no one I could talk to about it, so I just shut up and took pictures. Shopping alone is a different story. I like shopping alone just as much as I like shopping with other people. The only difference is I spend more when I shop on my own because there’s no one there to stop me and bring me to my senses.

After I’ve accomplished my goal of seeing at least one cultural landmark, I went back to Sakae to shop at The Loft and completely lost my head this time over stationery. Yes, stationery. I’m too old to fall for this but there you go. I bought pens, stamps, notebooks, stickers (!!!), cards… and I paid in cash. So it was around this time that I started running out of money. But there’s more to The Loft than just a great stationery section, the building itself is pretty cool! The architecture inside and out is really different, unlike any other I’ve visited before.

After The Loft, I went back to Oasis 21 to inquire at the tourist information center because I still haven’t found a supermarket anywhere! I’ve been to almost a dozen malls but I’ve yet to find an honest-to-goodness supermarket where I can buy instant noodles, instant rice, and chocolate burgers… Which was the whole point of going to Japan anyway, to buy as many of it as I can. But alas! Even the people from the tourist center had difficulty coming up with supermarkets I can find in Nagoya. Unfortunately one of the supermarkets they recommended was beside a bookstore. The supermarket was disappointing, the bookstore wasn’t. I bought Fermat’s Last Theorem by Simon Singh as well as Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy there. Nice!

Eventually I found a supermarket near Kanayama Station and bought a lot of instant noodles and instant rice. The chocolate burgers proved elusive though and found them only after more than an hour of walking around Osu Kannon, they cost around 40% less than what I pay for in Taiwan. But by then I only had a few hundred yen with me, the banks were closed, and the store didn’t accept credit cards. I looked at the choco burgers mournfully, said a few swear words and went home - with only enough yen to pay for my train ticket back to the airport the next day.

One fine day in May, Joyce burst into my room filled with plans of going to Japan during the Dragonboat break. I never thought of going to Japan since it’s too expensive; I never thought of exiting the country again so soon after my last trip and my next trip; I never thought I could even get a visa here to go to Japan. It turns out that I could get a visa, and I could afford to go as long as it’s Nagoya (Joyce and I compromised, she wanted Okinawa, I wanted Tokyo), and that I could make myself exit the country again with very little prodding.

After we’ve visited the embassy and booked our flight, Joyce suddenly couldn’t go. Words were exchanged, punches were thrown, significant amount of hair was pulled…not. Joyce and I are believers of minimal exertion, so we just pouted for a bit and shook our fists at life. I decided to go on my own though because I already had the Japan buzz which I couldn’t shake no matter what I did. This would be the first time I’d be touring on my own and it was a little scary but also exciting! I did say I’d start doing things this year that I’ve never done before so this will be a good start.

When I got off the plane, immigration went smoothly but I was stopped at customs. I had a small duffel bag with me plus my handbag, but when the customs officer saw me she made me open all my bags and thoroughly rifled through my stuff. She kept on skimming my folder (filled with researched info on Nagoya like shopping places, local food, all the train lines) as if she could read them! She could barely converse with me in English, I doubt if she could understand all the info I printed and carefully laid out. Then she started asking questions about where I was from, where I was going, how long I was going to stay, and remarked with surprise in her voice that I was traveling alone. Is it so odd for a 28-year-old woman to be traveling/touring alone these days?

As soon as I got out of the arrival section of Centrair Airport, it was pretty easy figuring out what train to take to get to my hotel. I got on the Meitetsu Line that goes from the airport to Nagoya Station, then I transferred to the subway line and a couple of minutes later, I was standing in front of my hotel.

NAGOYO:

As soon as I opened my hotel room door I found out how I was able to afford the trip. Every hotel I’ve ever stayed at conformed to how a hotel should look like in my mind. This hotel was definitely not it. It was probably a 2-star hotel? I’m not really familiar with the star ratings, I usually just let other people book the hotel and pray to God I won’t end up somewhere scary. Too late.

The room was tiny, smelled funny, and the bathroom was of the portable kind! It wouldn’t have been so distressing if I had someone with me to poke fun at the situation, but I didn’t and I didn’t have a mobile phone so I just went to the bathroom and went straight to bed. I tried watching TV for a while but it only had 12 channels and most were about news, there were a couple of channels previewing porn though.

The next day I woke up really hungry because the last meal I had was on the plane, and you know what they say about plane food, right? My hotel stay came with a free breakfast so when I went to the mezzanine where they served breakfast, lo and behold!!! Teeny tiny fish, fried eggs, weird-looking noodles and a few slices of fruit were the only ones in the offing. I ate the fish, I ate the egg - I had to eat something! I immediately got out of the hotel only to find out that it was raining hard, the temperature was around 18 degrees and I was only wearing a t-shirt. I did come prepared though since I read online that June is the rainy season so I had an umbrella with me. I just thought I’d get lucky and that the weather would actually cooperate with me on my trip. I guess Mother Nature and I had our lines crossed.

I applied for a visa at the Japanese Interchange Association in Taipei a few days ago. After I submitted the required documents last Tuesday, I got my visa the day after. There were no lines in this Embassy equivalent (although the visa waiver for Taiwanese citizens probably had a lot to do with it); the guards were very polite, helpful and nice, and the consuls were just as pleasant and accommodating. Everything went smoothly despite the fact that I had a PITA* passport.

It is a change when you compare it to how things work back home when you apply for a visa to a rich country. You’re sometimes made to feel like some kind of opportunist or criminal only out to take advantage of what their country has to offer. What’s worse, the Filipino personnel in foreign embassies are more prone to power-tripping than the actual foreigners!

The Taiwanese people in general are regarded as welcomed tourists abroad because they have money to spend and they don’t overstay. As long as you have an I.D. and a steady job, visa is cake. Had I known that my time here would be relatively short, I would have taken advantage of their system and applied for as many visas as my PITA passport would allow. I’m not a Taiwanese citizen, but the embassy people here are not that jaded yet. I would have also traveled more because the tour packages are cheaper compared to the Phils, and there’s less tax. My disposition always sours whenever I exit NAIA because there are so many things I have to pay for! First there’s the airport tax of P1,620.00, then the terminal fee of P750.00 and exclusively for my passport, an extra P2,500.00 to immigration for extra huthot.

*Pain in the ass

Christmas time:

Christmas is in the air so they say. Bus drivers here are already wearing Santa Claus suits and shops are full of Christmas decorations. Christmas cards, Christmas gift wrappers, Christmas lights, Christmas trees, snowmen, snowglobes, ribbons, and pretty lights are everywhere… the only thing missing from the Taiwanese way of celebrating Christmas is to actually celebrate it by not having to go to school or work. Normally this would piss me off especially since the 25th falls on a Monday, but this year I won’t be here because I. Am. Coming. Home. Tomorrow!!!

Celebrating Christmas:

This will be the first time I’ll celebrate Christmas back home since I left for Taiwan a few years ago and I am excited, but I would have been more excited if I wasn’t on a diet. Yes! Diet during the holiday season!!! I may cheat but not much, and it’s not because I have a lot of self-control but because my sister Pebbles is getting married in January and I’m the maid-of-dishonor! I have to wear an actual gown(!) No pictures of me wearing the damned thing would be posted anywhere near here unless by some miracle it was shot at an angle where I looked slender or ditsi’s friend comes through and he photoshops the hell out of it.

The food I will miss:

I’ll be home for almost 4 weeks and 2/3 of that time I can’t eat. I told ditsi that as soon as we get to the reception… fuck the diet. I can’t believe I won’t be able to eat the traditional fare at Tita Inday’s house on Christmas day. There’s the KFC chicken, spaghetti, salad, chocolates atbp. I’ve been listing down the restaurants I’m gonna go to as soon as I’m able, to name a few:

1. Jollibee - spaghetti, palabok, chicken joy, peach mango pie, even jolly hotdog
2. McDonald’s - longganisa meal, quarter pounder (they don’t have it here), twister fries
3. Shakey’s - mojos
4. Dominos - baked spaghetti, apple crumble
5. Kimchi - beef stew
6. Pancake House - spaghetti, grilled cheese
7. Mister Donut - spaghetti (yes, I love love love spaghetti)
8. Red Ribbon - chicken empanada, coffee crunch, chocolate mousse
9. Hotshots - Bacon cheeseburger
10. Tokyo Tokyo - red iced tea! potato balls, gyudon, tonkatsu, yakisoba
11. Aristocrat - pork bbq, java rice
12. Cafe Med - chicken kebab
13. Kaya - beef bulgogi, chicken bulgogi, chap jae
14. Little Asia - the beef with cheese thingy, fish
15. Hap Chan - wanton, fish fillet with lots of garlic on top!
16. Le Ching - siomai, shrimp dumplings, spareribs
17. Italiannis - spaghetti
18. KFC - gravy gravy gravy, mashed potatoes
19. Donuts!!! GoNuts, Krispy Kreme, Dunkin, Mister Donut - lahat yan!
20. Luto ni nanay - mechado, sabaw ng baka, adobo, chicken curry, beef steak, beef stew, Cobb’s chicken

I need to breathe. All of that in 1 week, I’ll have to get on a wheelchair to board the plane back to Taiwan when my vacation ends.

In preparation for my vacation:

I’m very worried about leaving my little kiddies for such a long time. I have set this time table for them from the time we started the school year up to July next year and I don’t want it to get all fucked up because I was gone for a long time. Hopefully my sub will do a good job in taking over my duties. We are already starting with long vowels and longer and more difficult words so it’s pretty exciting haha! So since last month I’ve been planning three different lesson plans (for three different English classes) for the teachers who will sub for me including notes about who’s naughty or nice I also finished this AVP that the boss has been asking for to show during the Christmas program and I truly hope she remembers to use it because I slaved away in front of the computer for hours doing that.

Next was Christmas gifts. I’m always on a tight budget any time of the year, any year of my life so shopping was a bit of a challenge. I didn’t want to buy anything heavy because I’m bringing home a lot of things already but I fear that when I get to the airport tomorrow, money will be parted from my wallet as I pay for my excess baggage. I’ve been buying assorted snacks and trinkets and bilins and I hope I remembered all of them because I’m not going out of the house anymore tonight because it’s raining and so frakkin’ cold. That’s what I’ve been doing for the past few weekends, just shopping - sometimes alone, sometimes with Joyce, sometimes with Jeff and sometimes with both!

I was also panicking a few weeks ago because I still haven’t found a pair of shoes that I will need to wear with my gown. Ditsi said it had to be light gold and I said meh! No problem! There are tons of pretty shoes here in Taiwan from the seediest nightmarket to the poshest mall. Wrong! Well, partly wrong because there are a lot of shoes here but finding one that would fit my ginormous feet? Not so easy. I’ve been so used to wearing rubber shoes and flat sandals that finding a pair of delicate, ladylike shoes became this whole ordeal. I was trying on so many and nothing would fit I felt like one of the ugly stepsisters in Cinderella! I was about to throw in the towel when one day some of my friends and I went to Taipei to do the things we needed to get done when Joyce spotted a pair of light gold shoes in this poshy shop. I was busy buying my ice cream cone at McDonald’s at the time (I had no lunch! That was my excuse) and when I went out, they were gone. Yun pala, they inquired na about the shoes for me so when I went into the shop, I tried it on and it FIT! Then I looked at the price tag and almost fainted. I was thinking, how much do I love ditsi? Hmmm, more importantly, how much pride do I have left? Even if I look like a pale longganisa in my gown, at least I’m wearing really nice shoes. So I closed my eyes and handed the saleslady my credit card. Kaching!

Delayed start in preparations:

I’m in a bit of a rush now because I hit a few bumps at the end of November. First, I got a cold, then the flu then an ear infection. One after another for more than 2 weeks!!! I hate getting sick and I never used to get sick when I was back in the PI. The occasional fever o
nce a year and that’s it! This year has been bookeneded with trips to the doctor. I hope I fare better next year.

I went to Macau with Joyce recently and felt like I was in the Philippines. There were so many pinoys all over the place that I could swear I was only in Ongpin or Intramuros… until I almost got hit by a car because everyone was driving on the wrong side of the road! I expected to find lots of casinos and European-style architecture, which I did. I expected to eat better fare in restaurants than what can generally be found in Taiwan, which I did. I expected I’d win millions playing the slot machine, which I didn’t because we didn’t have enough energy left to go to one of the casinos. I blame it all on exhaustion from too much walking under the glaring heat of the sun. I didn’t expect I’d get sunburned in Macau, but I did.

The first 24 hours were spent walking around Macau looking for Senado Square, Ferry Terminal, Fisherman’s Wharf, New Yaohan, Three Lamps district and the Red Market. We found all of these places either by walking round and round consulting our maps and by (finally) taking the bus. I was quite frustrated with the bus system at first and was sorry they didn’t have a subway system but in the end, it was cool. After realizing how small the place is, it didn’t matter anymore.

Senado Square has a lot of beautiful buildings and churches but not enough shops to take the edge off walking. We had dinner at Now Cafe which can be found along some narrow uphill street (they all looked the same at night, sorry). We tried a couple of their Portuguese dishes, Portuguese baked chicken for Joyce and African chicken for myself, both dishes were yummy to the tummy! The dishes were reasonably priced considering the huge portions but the prices of drinks offered were scandalous. A can of coke light cost MOP$22 which is about P160.00/NT$95! Tinipid ko nga yung inom ko. The next day, Joyce and I had lunch at Singing Bean Coffee which is near the entrance of the square just below Watson’s. They also serve huge portions and the price of drinks and food are very reasonable. My tummy is still thanking me for the huge MOP $20 Famous Crunch Cake I had for dessert. If I ever go back to Macau again, I will buy the whole cake and not just a slice!

Macau Fisherman’s Wharf is a definite tourist attraction. A walking distance from the Ferry Terminal, it’s a theme park/shopping area/architectural dream. Three main edifices can be seen from the front, on the left there is Vulcania, a man-made volcano with indoor rides. In the middle there is Aladdin’s Fort which has shops and kiddie rides (Psst! I tried the magic carpet. I wanted to try more rides kiddie or not but it wasn’t in the cards this time around, maybe next time). On the right, there’s the Roman Amphitheatre complete with guards (who looked Indian and definitely smelled it according to Joyce) . When we got behind the amphitheatre, we found shops and more shops and most of which will open in the near future. So in short, wala ako masyadong napala. But what really impressed me was the main boulevard. It was peppered with some really lovely buildings with different designs inspired from countries around the world.

10/1

Since ditsi has been to Thailand several times before, I would have to go on this tour on my own. This was fine by me…until I found out I would really be the only one on the tour. Apparently, most people book tours in the afternoon, I was the only stupid one wanting to tour in the morning. I’ve been waiting for more than 15 minutes at the hotel lobby when I finally met up with my tour guide, Tama. Apparently, he’s been waiting for quite some time as well. The only reason he didn’t approach me was because he thought I was a man.

Okay, I admit to possessing some manly attributes (my legs) and mannerisms (my siga stance) and have been stupidly mistaken as a lesboff a couple of times but the reason he thought I was a man was because the stupid travel agent indicated that I was a Mr. Michelle Sy. The mess was sorted out when Tama finally went to the concierge and was told that Michelle was a female name.

After that long intro, yeah, we went to the Grand Temple, it was grand, there were lots of temples, tons of tourists, and even more temples. I kind of didn’t have the chance to let my mind wander off since I was the only tourist Tama was guiding. To entertain myself, I asked him a bunch of historical, linguistical, and nonsensical questions. Now I know some tsismis about the Royal family and that Thai language is way too difficult for my piggy little mind to comprehend. Ever. Photo ops were scarce since I couldn’t ham it up over there and it was also a little awkward turning my guide into a photographer as well. I think I’d have to go back again next time just to get some decent pics of myself with the beautiful temples at least.

Gem’s Gallery rhymes with shyet, robbery!

After my temple tour, I was driven to a jewelry-making shop which I thought was just a boutique operation. It turned out to be Gem’s Gallery which claims to be the world’s biggest jewelry store. Whatever. After 10 minutes, I was hypnotized into buying a few trinkets. I’m not into jewelry at all and much prefer the fancy (i.e. cheap) stuff but there was just something about the place that screamed, BUY! BUY! BUY! I left in a daze.

Nononononono. That’s just me running out of words to rhyme with swank. We moved out of the Hyatt because we’d rather spend our money on tangible things, ahem. We saw our room at Asia and immediately departed for Chatuchak weekend market. Ditsi has been quite manic about this place. Manic! Manic! Manic! Ever since we came, it was all “I have to see Chatuchak! I have to see Chatuchak!” Hah! I couldn’t even remember the name during the first few hours. I was like, where are we going? Chuchu? Chupak? Tsupak? Chukchak? Chupa Chupa Chups?

The Chatuchak market is a divisoria times 10! It’s really huge with tons of stuff for sale. It’s only open during the weekends that’s why gazillions of people descend on it from all walks of life. I think this place is a punishment for those who love a good bargain too much. Wall to wall people in 30-plus-degree heat can be very unpleasant, to say the least. Definitely Eeew de cologne. As soon as we went inside, I immediately regretted wearing jeans. I felt like my legs were on fire! I bought ugly shorts and went to the toilet to change. Horror awaited me there, ladies and gentlemen. Anyway, I think ditsi found some good buys, but not a lot. We were interrupted by another rainstorm you see.

Ditsi read in a guide somewhere that Chatuchak floods. We bore witness.

Notice all those nice orderly lines on the map? We got lost in the middle and when the rain hit, we were walking along an eskenita (narrow path) when water suddenly came pouring in. My favorite, trusty and very old Rockport sandals were as good as lost.

I will never go back.

We still had enough energy to go to MBK for more shopping. We haven’t really made a dent yet on our list of pasalubongs, mainly because all we’ve bought so far were for ourselves. We had dinner at some forgettable Thai restaurant but were saved at Swensen’s. I’ve never heard of this place before now, and I won’t soon forget bwahahaha! Ditsi and I were having such a difficult time choosing which flavor of ice cream to buy that we finally decided on the chocolate fondue. The chocolate fondue consists of 9 scoops of ice cream of your choice plus chocolate fondue, cream, brownie, melons, and wafers! The winning ice cream scoop? Peanut Butter Chocolate!

That’s why we went to Suan Lum again, to walk off the calories. That and slippers. A slipper is not just a slipper after all, it’s tons of slippers! Ditsi and I bought lots but when we came home we still regretted not buying more… for other people.

10/2

Friggin’ alarm clock wasn’t loud enough. By the time we were ready, we were late for the tour and that’s when ditsi noticed a couple of things missing. Our rackets! We got on the tour bus with a pissed off tour guide, no breakfast, pissy tourists whom we kept waiting and immediately launched into sleep mode pissed. Where are the %$#@% rackets?

We rode a riverboat from Ayutthaya to Bangkok for the last leg of the tour which was nice since I was completely knackered. We were on the Chao Phraya river I believe and the water was muddy as hell but not at all stinky (a shiver went up my spine when I thought of our dear old Pasig River). The boat ride was a nice respite, for ditsi and I still had urgent business to attend to when we got back to our hotel, and that is to look for the missing friggin’ rackets! We thought of every possibility and made the necessary inquiries but we just couldn’t find them All efforts, not to mention money were wasted dagnit! There was nothing left to do but continue shopping.

I surrender! I’ve had enough. I told ditsi to go on without me since I was going back to the hotel to soak my aching joints in the tub and get a massage. I thought about the tub in our room and had second thoughts…nonetheless, I will go back. I gave ditsi my last (2) one thousand bahts and got on the BTS. I was on my way to the hotel elevator when a sight accosted me. An English-speaking fortune teller with an empty seat in front of her…

10/3

Ditsi and I went to the airport with more than enough time to spare. So we went shopping again and finally got that massage we’ve been hankering for since we first came. A massage in an airport is more expensive so we decided that a foot massage will suffice. We sat on the chair, placed our feet on the masseuse’s lap and promptly changed our minds. A foot and a back massage would be much better, thank you veddy much!

I did so much the past few days that it all caught up with me when I landed at the Chiang Kai Shek airport. I was actually stopped before passing immigration because I had a temperature. I thought about all the chicken curries I consumed while I was in Thailand andI got scared. Finally the lady inspector said it was only 一 點 點. A big Whew!

When I got back, ditsi and I started chatting and regretted a LOT of things. When we go back next year, we will be wiser. There’s no such thing as enough slippers. Chatuchak can go to hell. Suan Lum must be on the priority list. Do not lose expensive rackets. Bring an umbrella. Bring dollars (I’m the idiot who didn’t). Do not stay at Asia Hotel (me). Eat more ice cream at Swensen’s.