Day 21: Denial, (something better than) Dreyer's and Dinaldalem

Today is my second to the last day in beautiful Bangkok. I was full of plans: wake up early, check out the shops on one of the satellite streets along Thanon Silom (and buy a few things, of course), do the laundry, cook lunch, whisk my sisters to Central World for gelato and a little bit of retail therapy, come home and make dinner, have some Swensen's ice cream then do another circuit of Thanon Silom in the night time.

But something unexpected happened: I opened my office mail and answered a few messages. Then a few more. Another one here and a couple more there... Before I knew it, it was 4 in the afternoon and I wondered where the day had gone.

In the interest of fairness, I was able to do one load of laundry (Sissy went to the laundromat with me), made lunch (just fried a few pieces of chicken and asked Sissy to get some pad thai from Momsie's favorite vendor along Thanon Convent), cooked dinaldalem for dinner, hung the laundry out to dry, got ice cream to go from Swensen's, and went on the Silom circuit.

I get asked this a lot: what's dinaldalem? When I was in high school (senior year), my roomie brought a dish with pork strips, pork liver and potatoes (P-cubed, yeah huh?) and I immediately exclaimed, "wow, dinaldalem!" to which my roomie (Lani, it was, who hails from Bataan) replied, "higado yan". Right... same dish, different names. In Ilocano, dalem is liver. So the dish literally means "liver-ed" or "cooked with liver". Traditionally, when a pig is slaughtered, some of the better parts of the pig are taken and sliced (still warm, ugh!) then cooked in a big pot with strips of liver, garlic, vinegar, salt (or fish sauce/patis) and cracked black pepper. Imagine adobo with patis instead of salt and you get dinaldalem. I ate it a lot growing up: my Mom's version, another by my Nanay (Mom's mom), another by my Mommy (Dad's mom), or by one of Nanay's siblings (they're all great cooks. Must have inherited that gene... eherm!). But I have a secret: I have never tried cooking it until yesterday.

According to my Popsie (who has eaten more than twenty versions of the dish), it is good and spicy. Ooops, I may have gotten a little heavy-handed on the ground black pepper but what the hey! It was edible and, I must admit, quite nice. The pork was tender and the chicken liver (my favorite kind of liver, besting even foie gras) was cooked just right. I think I'll be making this dish a few more times in the next few weeks (in Manila, though. *sigh* ) to perfect it. Harharhar...

Before we had dinner, we went to Watson's at C.P. Tower on Thanon Silom - a couple of buildings away from Dad's office - to pick up a few toiletries for my sisters. It was also having a sale, so all the better! We met up with Popsie at the store then went over to Swensen's on the lower ground floor. Swensen's is an ice cream parlor and is (according to the impression I got, anyway) a local brand. Thais are very loyal to their local brands, which may explain why the branches I see are usually packed. They're also very common here. To date I have counted at least five branches all over the places in the city (C.P Tower on Silom, Central World on Ratchadamri, Siam Paragon, Platinum Mall and MBK) that I have visited.

I was expecting to get a tall glass with three or four flavors but Dad suggested getting a quart (149 baht) or two (249 baht) to go. Being a sucker for all things frozen and creamy (and delicious), I went for the two-for-249 promo. We got Rum Raisin and Midnight Brownies. After placing your order, they hand-scoop the stuff into plastic quart container, wrap them up in aluminated (as in, lined in aluminum?) paper bags with their red and silver logo all over - with a few pieces of dry ice. The packaging is so cute! Efficient too, with an added bonus of watching your toilet bowl bubble and spew smoke for a good five minutes when you dispose of the dry ice (we live about five minutes away - on foot - so the pieces were more or less intact). Just remember to turn on the vent!

What can I say? The texture was beautiful... too dense to be ice cream but too light to be gelato, it was creamy and smooth - melting almost as soon as it hits the tongue and coats the mouth with a film of flavor that's so... there! The Rum Raisin packs a punch - the rum assails your taste buds (not too strong - for me anyway, as I love big flavors) then mellows out to let the velvety vanilla shine through. When all the cold ice cream melts away, you're left with whole pieces of rum-soaked golden raisins to munch on. Perfection!

A contrast to the in-your-face flavors of the Rum Raisin was the stealthy-but-oh-so-sinfully-good oral attack (that somehow sounded so wrong!) of the Midnight Brownies. The first spoonful makes you go, "hmmm... chocolate. Brownie bits. Quite good" that progresses to " Ah, maybe a darker sort of milk chocolate. The brownie chunks are so moist!" and culminates in a " ... a creamy dark-but-milk-chocolate. Velvety chocolate. Oustanding brownies... Must eat more. More! MORE!" by the fifth spoonful. It's a trap, a flavor that holds on and doesn't let go until the last spoonful. Such eating pleasure! Chocolate bliss or Buddha-hood, you decide.

The texture reminds me of Dreyer's but smoother and creamier. The flavors are bigger... and I wish I started eating my way through their menu the moment I arrived. Woe is me. Lesson learned. Day 1: eat ice cream at Swensen's after lunch. Dinner, have gelato at Central World. Repeat until my visa expires. Harhar...

After indulging in two-days worth of calories in ice cream, Sissy and I went on a circuit on Thanon Silom. Our usual route is: right to Silom from Convent, straight until right before Rama IV, cross Silom to get to the other side (yes, the side where Thanon Pat Pong is - with the ping pong show. Harhar...), walk on until a little past United Center then cross again, go back along Silom until Convent. Then Walk on to convent to Soi Phi Pat 2 para makauwi ng bahay. In that short stretch of sidewalk we covered (took as an hour, since we were browsing the merchandise, of course), we bought: three fabulous watches and a couple of pairs of high-heeled shoes. And we spent less than 800 baht. Happiness!

At Liberty Square (Silom corner Convent), we saw Khun Chao with his roti cart. While he was making my usual roti with egg, we asked him what time he packs up to go home (he's usually in front of our condo at 6pm then he moves to Liberty Square at around 8pm) and were shocked when he replied "3 in the morning". I'm going to miss him and his yummy roti.

For those who keep asking, roti is "bread"... but this specific product is not of the baked sort. It starts out as a supple ball of dough soaking in what I think is a sort of flavored oil(midway between the size of a tennis ball and a golf ball). Khun Chao whacks it on the greased surface of his cart, which he pulls and shapes until it is paper thin and about 12 inches in diameter. He then sets this afloat on a puddle of oil in the middle of a 16-inch hotplate (bowled in the center to hold the oil). After three seconds, he cracks open an egg onto the roti dough and spreads it around, allowing it to cook in less than seven second. He then folds the sides over until he forms a square. This is then flipped over and a dollop of margarine is added. He allows both sides to brown, drains it for a few seconds on a rack before placing it on a chopping board. It is chopped into sixteen bite-sized squares, loaded onto a piece of stiff paper, drenched in condensed milk, crowned with granulated white sugar and poked with a single wooden skewer. 18 baht will buy you this culinary wonder and I have been having it almost everyday for the past two weeks...

*sigh* I only have less than 48 hours left until I need to leave Thai soil and step on my Lupang Hinirang... I still cant decide if I'm happy about it or not.

I still don't want to go home. I wonder if the classifieds show some promise...

Day 20: Three More Days, More Cooking and Rain, Finally!

I woke up after 9am yesterday. It has become quite a habit and I hope I don't carry it over to Manila, when I need to go back to work (argh!).

Like I said, for lunch, I just reheated the gambas I cooked the other night (made specifically for next-day consumption) and what was left of the sinigang. After lunch, I defrosted a kilo of chicken thighs (seven huge pieces) and stuck them in a marinade. For those who'd want to replicate it (this is for you, Sissy, since you love it so much), here's how I did it:

Wash the chicken thighs and clean out the butts if they're still stuck on there. Get a gallon-size Ziplock bag - make sure it's clean! Into the bag, pour in about four tablespoons of good patis (fish sauce), the juice of three limes (the tiny Thai ones) and about a teaspoon of ground black pepper. Smoosh around to mix then toss the chicken pieces in. Burp as much air from the bag as possible and seal. Smoosh the chicken around to ensure even distribution. Store in the chiller section of your fridge while it marinates. If the chicken pieces are a bit thick, score on the non-skin surface to facilitate cooking.

Heat up a bit of oil in a non-stick pan, about 1/8 inch deep. Heat up to 160 degrees Celsius (at least that's what the induction cooker says the temp is). Pat the chicken pieces with a paper towel to get rid of excess marinade (don't be tempted into allowing it to drip into the hot oil, it won't add flavor. It'll just burn due to the sugars from the lime, trust me) then place it skin-side down on the hot oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until the skin browns and crisps up. Lower the temperature to 130 degrees Celsius and flip the piece of chicken. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until juices run clear.

Ideally, the meat should stay in the marinade overnight. The first four pieces that I cooked for dinner last night stayed in the marinade for less than four hours but was already flavorful. The last three pieces should taste better for lunch later (paired with pad thai from Mom's favorite vendor on Thanon Convent. Must remind her - mai sai prik!) and I can't wait!

I also reheated the last of the chop suey (discovered the survivors in a microwaveable container at the rear-most reaches of the fridge) with some of the broccoli I blanched earlier yesterday. Perfect!

So I didn't leave the house, as it rained several times today. Plans to go to Central World for last-minute purchases was thwarted by Mother Nature. Awww darn, I had three days left until I need to head back to Manila (aka, the Real World) and I lost one day to the rain. Ironically, I love the rain and I was glad it rained today - it was getting too warm. Still... one day lost! Oh agony! (I'm kidding, of course)

Later on today (since it's not almost 4am), I'm going to the laundromat to help the sisters load their washing. Then head out to Thanon Convent for the pad thai - must be there at 11am. Lunch hour gets crazy! After lunch, the Three Little Pigs will head out to Central World for last-minute purchases which will include (available merchandise and remaining baht willing): a baseball cap, ground coriander, microwave anti-spatter dome, and some toiletries for the sisters. Of course, a trip to Central World warrants another visit to Gelate. I wonder if their Lemon Sorbet is any good...

Day 19: Central World, More Cooking and Internet Failure

Yesterday, I did a little bit of cooking too. Just seasoned some beautiful pork loins with salt, pepper and granulated garlic before shallow pan-frying them to just-cooked juiciness. Paired this with the last of yesterday's chop suey. Thank goodness, goodbye chop suey. Enough consumption for one year, methinks.

After lunch, the Three Little Pigs went to Big C to purchase the last of the stuff I want to bring back to Manila. After the purchases (and a pint of DQ Oreo Blizzard), we went on to Central World, which is like Shangri-La Mall (on Shaw Blvd) on steroids. A little bit of cam-whoring in the ladies' room (yeah, we are a picture-hungry lot!) and a lot of walking around, we settled into three scoops of amazing gelato at Gelate on the fourth floor. The Ferrero tasted exactly like its namesake: crushed, refrigerated and made creamier. The kiwi was like peeling, pureeing and freezing the fruit then popping it in your mouth: kiwi-flavored brain freeze! It was beautifully flecked with those tiny black seeds. The passionfruit was the best of the lot, in my opinion and Sissy's. It was appropriately sweet, tart and luscious. A perfect palate cleanser after the decadence of the Ferrero and a good follow up to the mild flavor of the kiwi. We're going back... maybe tomorrow.

When we got home, Dad was home and we cooked sinigang na ulo ng salmon with lots of shrimps. Woohoo! Popsie also defrosted the smaller shrimps by mistake, so he peeled those and I cooked up another batch of gambas for today's lunch.

After dinner, went online.. only to lose the internet at around 1am. Sucks, but no right to complain... we're only freeloading on the darn connection. So God bless whoever owns that account, hehehe. It also rained last night and I didn't realize until that moment how much I missed it. I almost ran up to the rooftop to cavort under the raindrops, but checked myself as it was 1:30am and I certainly do not want to get sick on my last couple of days here.

This morning, just heated up the gambas and sinigang for lunch. I also blanched the broccoli and asparagus for later use (purchased last Sunday, they were quickly losing freshness... sayang naman! They make for good snacking anyway). No plans for today... yet. Just more wishful thinking that I didn't have to go back to Manila.

*sigh*

Day 17: TRO on Shopping and Overbaggage Fees

Three days ago, I did a "practice" pack, wherein I pack up my stuff as I would do it a day before I leave to check how many kilos I have in excess. At that time, I was about five kilos over-baggage. So I issued myself a TRO: no more shopping for myself. The only things I will shop for are pasalubong for the peeps back in Manila.

Yeah, right!

So today, Popsie took the Three Little Pigs to the Holy Redeemer Church on Soi Ruamrudi for the 11am English service (there is a 12nn service but is conducted in Thai). Well, today is the Feast of the Epiphany and I amazingly remember what it's about. Hardeeharhar...

After the Mass, Popsie and the sisters greeted their peeps from CFC (Couples for Christ) and YFC (Youth For Christ) respectively while I browsed the tiangge that the church had going in the function hall. I was surprised to see a store selling Pinoy stuff: Ligo sardines (green and red), Lucky Me pancit canton (regular, chili and chili-mansi), and Knorr sinigang mix.

Lunch was at a carinderia behind the church. It's owned by a Thai family but the dishes they serve were 90% non-spicy. One could choose two to three viands (I had shrimp with mushroom and chicken with green beans and carrots) to be ladled over a plate of rice. Too much rice, if I may add, as I barely ate half of the serving on my plate. Gulped some ice-cold freshly-squeezed dalandan juice and I was ready for action.

We walked to the Lumpini Park station of the MRT and took it to Phra Ram 9 to get to the I.T. Mall in what I think is called CP Tower 2 (Popsie isn't so sure either). I bought a 500GB external hard drive to back-up all my files on my work machine... I don't want to risk what happened to Dada's laptop a few months ago.

After the pocket-heavy purchase (ok, it wasn't THAT expensive... I'm just bemoaning the fact that I could have bought numerous dresses, shoes and belts with the same amount. Harhar...), Popsie and the Three Little Pigs headed on to MBK. We took the MRT back to Sukhumvit station, where we got off and crossed over to the Asoke station of the BTS all the way to the Siam station. At the Siam station, we crossed over from the BTS-Sukhumvit line to the BTS-Silom line, and rode one station down to National Stadium.

At MBK, I bought shirts for all the peeps back in Manila (ouch, ang dami nun!) as well as a few foodstuffs. All that walking pooped me out, I can tell you that! So after all those purchases, the four of us headed on home via the BTS - from National Stadium to Sala Daeng station.

So now, I'm home and trying to fit all that stuff into my suitcases. Good luck to me. I'll let you know how it goes...

In the meantime, let me munch on some roti from Khun Chao so I can gain back some strength. Harharhar...

Manila, much as I miss you, I'm really not ready to come back home. But I have no choice. I'll see you in six days, durnit!

Day 15: TechnoMart Flashback, Pesto Pasta and an Empty Ratchaprasong

Woke up at 9:30am today after a little over 6 hours of sleep. Too much drinking from the previous night rendered my brain useless for anything except sleep and the occasional nocturnal sojourns to the bathroom to take a leak.

Lunch was sinigang na spareribs (which I burned my tongue on, durnit). I pigged out, naturally, before spending a little time chatting over YM. Shopping is over and done with (theoretically... is it wishful thinking?) so no plans to go out to Silom tonight. After all, walang pasok so only a few vendors would be out there. So what to do?

Like I said, today's goal was techno-overload. On the itinerary: Pantip Mall.

Popsie, Bradir and I took a cab to the said mall, which was a few meters away from Platinum Mall (tempting, indeed!). Looking at five floors of electronic madness, I was transported to TechoMart in Seoul - circa December 2008. That time, I bought a PSP and a Cowon O2 for Jen. This time, I bought... nothing. Harhar. I was looking for a 500GB external hard drive but Popsie kept insisting on a 1 terabyte drive. "Konti lang kasi ang diperensya ng presyo", he says. But how on Earth do I fill up 1000GB? My pictures, despite how huge a picture-freak I am, will barely take up 10% of that space! So what to do? Postpone the purchase for the trip to what Popsie refers to as I.T. Mall... wherever that is!

Walking back to Big C from Pantip, I noticed something strange: Ratchaprasong (the shopping area/district along Thanon Ratchadamri - you know, all those designer stores and those malls surrounded by hotels) was strangely empty. Like Ayala Ave during Holy Week. Like my brain when I go back to work on the eleventh. Mwehehehehe...

When I got home, it was time to check the AS400's after the shutdown. It was ok, a few missing records but nothing a manual run can't fix. Mom made pesto to smother the spiralli with, while Sissy and I walked along Convent to Silom for some kai thot (fried chicken). At 10 baht for each chicken leg, not a bad deal eh?

I'm still not in blogging mode, as I'm a bit sad that Mom and Bradir are leaving for Manila tomorrow night. Almost makes me wish I booked my flight for January the second instead of the ninth. Almost is the operative word since, truth be told, I'm not ready to go back to the Philippines yet. If it were up to me, I'd stay here for a year. Harhar...

But that's not in my hands... so I'm doing what I can: drinking up this ice-cold 630-ml bottle of Singha beer. It's light and a bit sweet: like San Miguel Light crossed with Cerveza Negra. Cheers to 2010!

P.S. The Weather Pixies look so cute! They all have fireworks in their own skies... Either that or I'm drunk... Hardeeharhar!

Day 13: Shopping As Cardio

Day 13: Woke up later than usual at 9am (GMT +7). Internet is still alive! Harharhar... after a few minutes online, the Three Little Pigs took a bath (like I said, Little Pigs always stick together!) then off we went for more... you guessed it right, shopping!

Today's shopping was supposed to be less about me and more about pasalubong for the peeps back in Manila and stuff for my family here in BKK. Operative word(s): supposed (to be). Because I still ended up buying a few things for myself... specifically, more dresses and a pair of shoes. Harhar... I also got me half a kilo of Bing cherries for 200 THB. Not bad! They're sweet and juicy and good... and a good snack while walking. The pits are the pits, though (pun very much intended).

I actually have more shopping to do but this time it is strictly for pasalubong purposes. Strictly! But first, kailangan ko muna ma-holdap ang tatay ko. I need his ATM card... Mwehehehehe...

Planning to welcome Year 2010 over at Central World with the family (sans Bro and Wifey, who will be spending their New Year's Eve and Day with Wifey's family and their two little furballs, Doug and Hunter, in Bataan)... The city has some sort of countdown like in Times Square. Might as well... it's not like fireworks will be everywhere here in BKK. I miss Manila. =(

Ok, just a short post for now. I'm really not in a good mood. Maybe a better mood and a better post is in order... on the first day of 2010. Happy New Year, folks!

Day 12: Expensive Internet versus Free Internet and Late Night Shopping

Day 12, continued: I finally got connected on the darn expensive WiFi at Starbucks on Convent. I got to check my office email, post the docs I needed to post, send the emails I needed to send and clean up my inbox. After that, I chatted with Kyx for a little while then went on home.

Still no internet at home. I'm so pissed... Then Sister tells me about a site that gives out free internet (one hour per month) for every username you create. How easy was it to create a username (and claim one hour of internet usage gratis)? I won't say it's easy as pie, since I don't bake and baking is not something I will categorize as simple (this is also a classic Kasseopeia digression, which is a good example of "easy"). Let's just say, all you need is an active imagination and the ability to type. SO, with that in mind, I created a username and I surfed for free for an hour. Hurray!

The plan for the day was: shopping. Then shopping. Then more shopping. But things change, especially plans so we ended up doing laundry (how exciting!), watching a few movie downloads, writing on journals (I did this) and reading a few verses. Shopping was postponed... for the evening!

So we watched Paranormal Activity (I'm so glad I did not choose to watch this at the cinema over 2012. I would've felt so cheated!), Shutter - Hollywood version (not so scary. The idea of Megumi didn't scare me since she was a benevolent ghost and that damn Ben Shaw deserved everything and more, damn him! So I can't wait to watch the original version, which Rap kindly lent me early in November and I haven't gotten around to watching. Sorry...), 2012 (the first five minutes, which we missed in the cinema because Italianni's has horribly slow service) and The Proposal (at this point I was already writing on my journal so I was just glancing back every now and then. I've seen it, anyway). I miss watching TV (or in this case, the laptop) with my mom and sibs. We're all night owls and we usually did this a lot in Manila - stay up late and do nothing productive. Heck, it was great for bonding. I'll miss this when I go back to Manila.

After dinner, my dad went for the bed (he's the only one in the family who subscribes to the early-to-bed-early-to-rise philosophy. The rest of us think sleep is a waste of time if we're gonna do it for all eternity anyway) and the rest of us went for... Thanon Silom! Shopping should be an Olympic sport!

I walked away with two new dresses (fit for the office, how about that?) and a couple of pairs of earrings. I got my mom a dress for herself, two shirts for my nephew (Bradir's kiddo), a bottle of acetone for Sissy (for her nails, not to manufacture illicit substances, you idjit!), and a couple of chilled sliced melons. After sundaes at McDonald's, we went on home and hit the sack.

Woke up at around 1am and checked my phone. Missed a couple of messages (which made me very sad), couldn't go back to sleep, wrote a little bit on my journal... then finally drifted off to sleep.

This is the beginning of Day 13 and I'm due home in 9 days (theoretically 8, but my flight is in the evening so the last day still counts. Besides, it makes me less sad)... and I got my Internet back! Woohoo! Thank goodness. Strabucks WiFi and international calls and texts on roaming was becoming extremely expensive...

Day 5: The Shopping Bug Bites Again!

Shopping is not something I enjoy doing on a regular basis. But when I shop, I do it all in one go. For me, shopping is a One-Time-Big-Time affair. It also means it's a one-time, big-time drain on my wallet.

Having visited Platinum Mall on Day 2, the family and I (minus Dad, who had work) made our way to Bo Bae Tower. I had awakened at 8:30am; late by my standards (as it is by that of Bro and Wifey) but crack-of-dawn early for my mom and sisters. So instead of traipsing around the six-floor paean to consumerism at 10am, we ended up hailing a cab at a half-hour past that time.

Arrival at the Bo Bae Tower meant two things to me: food and shopping. With the last meal being more than 12 hours before, the former need was crying for attention. I put my arm around my mom's shoulder and whispered "I'm hungry. Feed the monster!" She's my mom, so she didn't freak out; she's so used to me. So without further ado, my mom lead her brood to the 6th floor Food Station. Here I got a bottle of water for 20THB, a dish of kai tom (chicken rice) for 30THB and a huge chunk of honeydew (looked good but tasted watery) for 15THB. Not a bad hoard eh?

The monster thus fed and already behaved, the shopping began. Shirts, shirts, and more shirts were the order of the day! With a few pairs of underwear thrown in for good measure (pun intended - it was a needle-in-a-haystack search for MY size, durnit!) and a few good cycling shorts, we were battle-weary and ready to head home.

At 5pm, the rush hour begins so we had a hard time getting a cab. Having successfully hailed one, mom shepherded my sisters, Bro and Wifey into the car and off they went. Mom and I had a leisurely walk to the main road, intending to take the train back to Thanon Silom. Luck was on our side, though, as a kind taxi said YES to Mom asking him to take her to the heart of traffic-land! Upon arrival, we found the sisters, Bro and Wifey on the street... eating! Of course, what else was new?

Back at the condo, we all went through our purchases. I must say, all the shirts I got (most expensive being 130 THB) were treasures. Now all I need are shorts and jeans.. I can't wait to shop again!

Bangkok: Day 1 and Day 2 - Sleep is Futile

After a 30 minute delay, three gate changes and a lot of cranky passengers, I finally got on the plane for the 3 hour, 25 minute flight to see my family. I picked the wrong flight to get on, apparently, as I got here almost 1am BKK time (2am Manila). Next time, I'll pick an earlier flight.

Methinks, coming here to see my family over the long vacation is exactly what I need in this crazy period in my usually uneventful life. Though I put my personal phone on roaming, I am receiving only text messages. The calls cost too much so I diverted all my incoming calls to my office number, which is turned off BTW. The text messages I've been receiving have been... inspirational so far.

Day 1: Dinner at 2am, sister bonding till 5am. I can't believe how much I missed my mom's adobo and ginisang munggo. I missed my dad's corny jokes and my sisters' chatter. Coming home to the smell of home cooking and seeing my mom's happy face wiped away all the chaos from NAIA and Suvarnabhumi Airport. Bro and Wifey arrived on an earlier flight but they waited for me (with my Dad) before we all came home. We ate dinner discussing our favorite food, our strange eating habits and the difference between international airports in the countries we've visited.

After dinner, we all stayed in the living room and chatted for a few more minutes. Then my mom and dad turned in. Bro and Wifey retreated to their room. The sisters and I camped out in the living room and chatted our heads off until 5am. Bliss!

Day 2: Woke up at 7:30am GMT+7 ... and the house was quiet. Nobody woke up until after 10am. I can't speak for Bro and Wifey, though. They may have opted for a little... loving time. Hahaha... So after a quick breakfast of sliced dragonfruit (sweet and grainy... unlike the waterlogged mess I get in Tagaytay), we were off to go SHOPPING! But before that, we stopped by a carinderia along Convent Road for some yummies! Among all the stuff we had, my favorite was definitely the som tam... the dressing is SO good... I even dipped raw cabbage and fresh mint into it for snacking. I think I ate a farmload of raw veggies yesterday.

So...shopping. Shopping! I went crazy, methinks. Although I bought a few pieces for my mom, I still think I ended up spending almost 7K THB (about 9K php) on that one shopping trip. Can you blame me? SIX floors of shopping madness! And that's only the beginning. I haven't even gotten started on bags and shoes yet!

My dad's condo is right smack in the middle of the CBD, so all around us are office buildings, right-hand drive vehicles, traffic in reverse (North-bound comes from the right side, South-bound comes from the left... it's disconcerting, I tell you!).... and food carts. Food everywhere! If we hadn't eaten lunch before shopping, am sure I would have bought something off every vendor I saw on the street.

Som tam stalls shared space with those amazingly good puto-like cakes that smell like pancakes and pandan (1 THB each... I couldn't stop munching on them). Beautiful fresh strawberries (20 THB, 100 grams... sweeter than a Baguio strawberry but crunchy), glistening emerald honeydew and brilliant papaya reposed on ice, fried tofu and a lot of other stuff - they may have made their way into my gullet!

Tomorrow, I vow to to brave getting lost (my crappy sense of direction is legendary), getting misinterpreted by the locals ("hoy" in Thai is... THAT part of the female anatomy), indigestion and being run over by cars and buses speeding in from the wrong side of the road... I will walk around the neighborhood. After all, there's a Starbucks a few blocks from home. Gotta go get my tumblers and mugs! Harharhar...

The Seoul Train Part V - Korea Sparkling

Korea Freezing!

It's freaking -11C right now... and windy too.

Not that I'm complaining... I love the cold. It's an energizing change from the heat and humidity of Manila. The weather is good for walking around and observing the locals. Heck, I can even use the stairs to ascend to our 7th floor office without breaking a sweat!

Well, much as I love the weather, I also have to protect myself. Freezing to death isn't a nice way to go (on second thought, what is?) So I'm glad I have my anti-it's-so-freezing-cold-you-might-freeze-your-nose-off-weather arsenal!

Meet my tulo-ang-sipon-sa-sobrang-ginaw minions:

My Balm Soldiers

No woman (and men too!) in her (his too) right mind would go around without lip balm. The wind is a bitch and staying unprotected has very ugly (and painful) consequences.

I adore the mositurizing qualities of Blistex Complete moisture (blue tube). Imagine your dry, chapped, cracked and bleeding (eeeew) lips are pieces of steak and the balm is like butter. Slathering it on is so good, it's almost orgasmic!

Mint is #1 in my list of lip product flavors (second being strawberry) and so I lurve Burt's Bee's peppermint lip balm. It was a Christmas present from S last year and it's still alive today! I think this is a bottomless tube, as I have been painting it on my lips for 11 months now. Le miracle balm! Hehehehe...

Cherry is not one of my I-like flavors but Nivea Lip Care in Cherry lends a nice color to otherwise pale lips (blame the cold).

And in case you're wondering...yes, I slather them on at the same time. Sequence is right to left. Harhar...

Purple/Pink trench from Banana Republic

When I saw this in the shop, I fell in love with it. I showed it to my mom and gave it her stamp of approval. I heart this coat. It's so un-wintery (color-wise anyway! All I see here is black, gray and all shades of brown) and a bit funky... like something a grandma with three-foot long needles would knit. I sometimes get asked by the college kids here, "where you get your coat?" and I tell them I bought it in Manila. Their eyes widen and they gasp "You have Banana Republic in Philippine?" (Yes honey, we have Louis Vuitton too!) Priceless!

Black Trench from J. Crew

This wasn't one of my choices when I was shopping back home. But another Banana Republic dress I saw (and bought) went well with this so I this sucked out resources from my wallet too. I heart the buttons on the sleeves.

On the inside...

The lining is done in silver and hot pink. I lurve!

Pale pink metallic jacket from ab.plus

This winter-worthy jacket, I got from the mall... on sale! Whee! I'm not particularly fond of pink but my other two color choices were black and gunmetal... Color is so my thing. So pink it was. It's filled with goose down (according to YuMi) and should keep me warm when we go snowboarding. I hope it does. I'd like to have fun, not freeze my butt off thankyouverymuch!

Neck neck mo!

Many people forget about protecting the neck when the weather is chilly and the wind is blowing (blast-freezer is the first thing that comes to mind) but I'm not one of them. I brought two pashminas from home in two colors: hot-pink (yes, I am not a fan of pink!) and sky blue. They kept me quite warm even at -5C temperatures but they're no match for the chilly gusts. For that, I got myself a 9-foot long black muffler from Bean Pole at Shinsegae mall in Non Dae Mun (more on that shopping trip in another post). It's so long I can wrap it around my neck and still have enough material to cover my mouth, nose and ears... and make a swimsuit! Well, maybe not the swimsuit...

Bean Pole = Ralph Lauren?

It's wool and woven in an intriguing pattern, quite unlike the ones I saw at Zara. My other color choice was white but there was no way on Earth I could maintain something white. So I snapped this black one up and didn't think much of the price until I converted it to USD...then to peso. F%cking sh*t! Maygaaad! Buti na lang it's soft and warm... I sleep like a baby in the bus when I wrap this around my neck. Instant pillow!

HeeYong says Bean Pole is like their local Ralph Lauren. Yessiree! I believe that now! Oh my aching wallet...

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On a not-so-totally unrelated note, we went to E-mart to get some groceries. Passing thru these scanners, I beeped! I was surprised so I emptied my pockets of metal and still I beeped. The girl manning the scanners frantically tried to communicate to me (in Korean, of course) what the matter was. After about five minutes of frantic Korean (hers), English (mine) and hand gestures (ours both) I discovered the culprit.

Not following directions!

Haller! Nakalimutan ko lang naman gupitin itong lintek na tag na ito na may RF thingamajigee sa loob. Hey, I bought this the day before I had to leave Manila. I just threw it into my suitcase and got it dry-cleaned here. Gimme a break! Mwehehehe...

Yes, it's my beloved purple/pink trench. And it got me into trouble!

Love is such a female dog sometimes...

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Listening to: One Step at a Time - Jordin Sparks

We live and we learn to take one step at a time

There's no need to rush

It's like learning to fly or falling in love

It's gonna happen and it's supposed to happen

That we find the reasons why