Goodbye 2010

The weather has been generally wonderful for the past week: cloudy, gloomy, overcast with a few periods of light drizzle.

I've had good times, mostly. The ducks, the dogs, Jen and I spent both holidays with my parents and siblings. Food - and lots of it. Long talks with my siblings, mostly deep into the night. Interacting with my Dad, whom I get to see so infrequently.

For the first time in 5 years, Jen spent New Year's Eve with me and my family.

Nadyne shaked like a leaf in the minutes leading up to and a few minutes after the midnight firecracker spree.

Nikka was nonchalant; it's her second time to be exposed to such decibel levels.

Happy 2011, everyone. Here's to wishing it will be kinder than 2011. May we all find what we're looking for.

Day 23: Sawasdee Kha, Bangkok... Day 24: Mabuhay, Manila

Day 23: The Three Little Pigs fell asleep at 4am. Dad woke us up at 7:00am and we were in Lumpini Park by 7:45am. We took lots of pictures in the park, which I realized, has a Burnham Park meets UP Diliman Academic Oval vibe.

As the sun rose, the temperature went higher and we indulged in a little bit of guava juice and lots of time in the playground. Pictures to follow on FaceBook. Friends-only though...

On our way back home, we passed by a vendor near the Zuellig World building selling cakes. One type had green "cream" while another had white. Four greens plus four whites went for twenty baht. Twenty freaking baht! Try getting them in a Thai resto here in Manila and you'll pay 70 to 100 baht for four measly pieces! Argh! Anyway, the takoh cakes here in Manila are usually reminiscent of maja blanca - with corn bits embedded in the cake. The ones I got in Bangkok had either yam (green "cream") or some sort of sweetened root crop (white "cream" - texture similar to singkamas).

For lunch, Popsie and The Three Little Pigs went down the street from the condo for some kai yang (roasted chicken -we had one leg/thigh and 8 wings), sticky rice in a woven basket and somtam (salad of shredded unripe papaya tossed with fish sauce, sugar, water, lime juice, tomatoes and dried shrimps) that we requested: mai sai prik - do not put chili. I learned the hard way that asking for anything to be "little spicy" is not a safe bet... "a little' is relative!

Passing by Manang's store, we bought a few limes and a couple of potatoes... for my afritada It would've been a success except that Thai tomato sauce was sour to the max, so I ended up having to add sugar and butter to make the afritada seem less like chicken pickles! Harharhar...

Before dinner, Sissy and I headed back to Ete at the Silom Complex for my last hurrah at cookie dough ice cream. Unfortunately they didn't have it so I settled for a duo of Nutella and Green Tea (both tasted what they should taste like: Nutella and Green Tea) while Sissy had a duo of Mocha Crunch (fantastic!) and Bannofi (not too good - the banana component was too artificial).

At 8:30pm, we left for the airport. Nobody was in tears! Instead, we were laughing and joking with each other all the way from the cab until I went into Immigration at 10 minutes before 11pm. In between, I had to remove the shampoo and body wash I packed because I was two kilos overweight. Had I known they were not going to weight my check-in luggage... I would have packed my check-in to ten kilos then stuffed the shampoo and body wash into my check in luggage! Durnit! Anyway, we stayed near the edge of the airport by the convenience store joking around, taking pictures, teasing each other and generally having a good time!

My flight was delayed by 15 minutes (not bad), before which Doc Ceccz asked me if I wanted to join her and Rei at Prov... errr? Hehehe... I teared up when the plane began to move into position for take-off. I slept on and off for two hours (first hour, I ate and read the bible), waking up only when the pilot announced our final descent to Manila. I teared up again... I was back in Manila... whether I liked it or not!

Jen and Joc were at Terminal 3 to pick me up when I got out at 5:20am. Between plane, luggage pickup and immigration (ghost town), it took me a little over ten minutes and I was in a cab home. We deposited my stuff at home, got the stuff for Jen's family then sped over to Caloocan via LRT. I played with Nikka (my, she's gotten huge!) then slept like the dead. Woke up a few hours later and had early dinner/late lunch of mechado that Jen requested especially for the day (thanks Mama F!).

Back at home, I sorted my purchases into their respective laundry piles then promptly fell back asleep. Kyx arrived at around 11pm with... dyaraaan! A huge bouquet of stargazers and purple lilies! Beautiful (but so huge... in his words, pang-Miss Universe)! Calla lilies na lang,kumpleto na ang favorite flowers ko! Hahahaha... He and Momsie made chika for a while. In the meantime, I watched CSI: New York! (KJ, yes, I know!)

So there... am back in Manila... whether I like it or not! I'd like to go back... In time for Song Kran, I hope!

Day 22: My Last Hurrah... Blue Pill, Please!

I'm still in denial that yesterday was my last full day in Bangkok (and later, the last time I'll be sleeping in this house for this trip) so I woke up a little later than usual. I even logged on to my work email, answered emails, posted documents and other such work-related things. I also made lunch (ginisang giniling and buttered veggies - snowpeas, carrots and baby corn), which Dad was unable to eat coz he had an 11am to 12nn meeting (I can relate).

After lunch, I washed plates, poked around FaceBook, lurked in a few blogs... then took a bath. A few minutes before Sissy and I were to leave for Central World, the heavens opened up and cried for me. Aaaawwww, I know how it feels! I really hate to leave.

The rain abated at 4pm and on to the BTS - Sala Daeng station Sissy and I went (Sis opted to stay home and sleep). We got off at the Siam station and walked to Central World. We got Bro's Skullcandy Asym earphones in white then stopped by Gelate on the second floor. We had blackberry (nicely sweet and tart but full of those gosh-darned seeds!) and vanilla bean! Yum!

We took the BTS back to Sala Daeng and went on to Body Shop at Silom Complex. On our way out, we spotted Ete - a shop that claims to sell home-made ice cream. Being ice cream, monsters, Sissy and I sat down to Mint Chocolate Chip and Rookie Rocky (rocky road meets cookies and cream). We had originally wanted Cookie Dough and Bannofee but they were out of stock. I'm still gonna try tomorrow, even if it means being late for my flight! Harhar...

Popsie and the Three Little Pigs sat down to a dinner of lunch leftovers plus kai thot from my favorite vendor on Convent - I'll miss those guys! After dinner... more ice cream! Dad finished off the quart of Rum Raisin from Swensen's while Sis and I tried but failed to conquer the Midnight Brownies. Partida, I ate almost a quarter of a whole papaya before I even started on the ice cream!

Plans for tomorrow include: jogging at Lumpini Park in the morning (I also want to take pictures in one of the park's many playgrounds), lunch at the kai yang place on Convent, a trip to Ete for Cookie Dough ice cream, and an early lunch at Manong English along Convent. But you know what they say about plans: they're but plans till they actually happen!

Goodnight, guys! See you in Manila!

*sigh*

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 18: House Arrest, Chopping the Suey and Packing Up

Today found me here at home... all day! I found I wasn't too sleep deprived last night so six hours of snooze time was enough for me. Woke up at 8am, and immediately went into cooking overdrive. Yes, cooking. On the menu: chop suey.

Defrost the pork? Check!
Peel the shrimps? Check!
Wash and cut up the veggies? Check!
Clean the straw mushrooms (and discard those that have gone bad since yesterday)? Check!
Slice the pork into thin strips? Check!

So into a cold pan (yes, cold. As in, no heat on the burner...) went strips of pork fat, skin on. Turned the heat up to Medium and let the fat render (ah, pork fat... smells so good!). In the meantime, bashed up and minced six cloves of garlic. Diced a good-sized onion too, shedding a few tears in the process. After a good ten minutes in the pan, I fished out the now-crispy pork, lowered the heat to low and tossed the garlic in, followed by the onions a minute later. Tossed in a good amount of patis and let that cook. Turned the heat back up to Medium, tossed in lean pork and let that cook for a good seven minutes. Added a good splash of oyster sauce and some water.

When the contents of the pan came up to a boil, I returned the cracklings, eeerrr... crisped pork strips. Dumped in the bell peppers, carrots, baby corn, asparagus, and straw mushrooms. Let that cook for four minutes (more like five, though) before tossing in the shrimp, broccoli and Chinese pechay. After two minutes, adjusted the seasoning (needed a bit of salt) and added a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce.

Et viola! Ready for lunch... unfortunately, it was a lunch made for eight people. There are only four of us here at home. All good, though. Leftovers were cleaned up at dinnertime.

So today, I didn't leave the house... not even to go down to the ground floor... I'm starting to like days like this and I don't want to go back to Manila! I don't want to go back to work! Boohoohoo...

Anyway, I repacked my stuff earlier this evening and I succeeded in fitting most of them into a couple of sports bags. The rest of my clothes will go into my hand-carried luggage. Only 1 kilo overbaggage! Hah! Blame the suitcase! Dead weight = 5 kilos! Grrrrr... On the upside, I may or may not pay for that one kilo at the airport (hey, 320 baht can still buy me a dress! Or a pair of shoes...). On the downside, I have an excuse to squeeze in a little more shopping. Uh-oh...

So tomorrow, The Three Little Pigs will go to Central World and Siam Paragon for some last-minute purchases... then the bag stuffing shall begin in earnest. Thankfully, I bought all my pasalubong yesterday and have been able to allocate luggage space for them.

Only four days to go and I will bid beautiful Bangkok sawasdee kha. I wish I didn't have to leave...

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 14: Sawasdee Pi Mai Kha!

Yesterday, our plan to welcome 2010 over at Central World was thwarted. After going to the grocery at Big C, we saw the stages being set up along Ratchadamri (saw one in front of Central World and another in Siam Paragon. Not sure if there were more within Ratchaprasong) and the crowds that were gathered. It was HUGE, rivaling that of the crowd in front of Galleria during EDSA Dos. Okay, that may be an exaggeration but it was only 7pm!

Mom, Sissy and I were planning to take the jet-jet (Bus number 77) since Dad, Sister and Bradir took a tuk-tuk back home with the groceries. Walking out of the Big C, we saw that most of Ratchadamri was closed to traffic, since the aforementioned stages were up and running. So Mom, Sissy and I just took a few pictures on the street and bought three pairs of those plastic headpieces with horns that light up. No traffic = no buses so we decided to take the BTS. We walked to Ratchadamri station but ended up taking a tuk-tuk to Sala Daeng station, as it was cheaper (50 THB as opposed to 63 THB if we took the BTS) and we wouldn't have to climb three flights of stairs.

At Sala Daeng, we bought pesto from Tops. Then we got 200THB worth of fried chicken legs (that's twenty pieces!) from a vendor at Liberty Square on Thanon Silom, a couple of blocks from home. The plan was to cook some spiralli, smother it with pesto and serve it with fried chicken. EPIC FAIL! The maids of the condo invited us for dinner and drinks on the courtyard. Of course it was impolite to say no... so off we went.

The food came in varying degrees of wicked spiciness: the kai (chicken) was not spicy, the moo larb (ground/chopped pork - sauteed with lemongrass, cilantro and I dunno what else) was a bit spicy, and the kikiam with tomatoes and onion was wickedly spicy! It made good pulutan for the Isan wine (a kind of fermented rice wine from Northern Thailand - it was sweet and potent. Reminded me of basi) and the wine coolers. After drinking myself to a mild buzz and dancing like heck, we headed upstairs at around 10:30pm. An hour and a half, a quick shower and a few drinks later, we ran to the condo's rooftop to watch the fireworks from all around the city! Another perk of living in the middle of the CBD: we are surrounded by hotels and our rooftop offers a 360-degree view of the fireworks. It's World Pyrolympics - for free!

After the fireworks, we went back to our unit and started drinking. We didn't last long (rather - I didn't. I was reduced to being the bartender) and we decided to catch some Z's.

Today, our AS400's are on shutdown mode so I'll need to be online at around 3pm my time to do some testing - hopefully. Sucks to be without SameTime. Thank goodness for YM and Skype!

So, here's 2010! I hope it will be better than 2009 because last year was a freaking PAIN in the rear end, I kid you not! My 2010 forecast isn't very encouraging. To be quite honest, I kinda saw this coming but to actually read it in black and white (and seeing the past year flash before my eyes while watching the trailer of 2010) was a little too much for me... had to have a drink afterwards. Oh, what the heck! Cheers! Thank you to everyone who was a part of my 2009. Here's to OUR 2010!

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 9, Day 10 and Day 11 - No Internet, No Life!

My internet has been on downtime since Christmas Day. Am now at Starbucks (it's more expensive here... just like in Seoul. A bid to lure the peeps to buy local? Maybe!) taking advantage of the Wi-Fi, which is peng mak (very expensive) at 150 THB for an hour. WTF?!? But what the hey, beggars can't be choosy... on second thought, I chose to pay for this so I should stop complaining and start blogging, yes? Yes. On to the post...

Anyway, Day 9 found my family in Thana City in Bang Na (near the Suvarnabhumi Airport) for CFC Central Bangkok's get together. It's theoretically a post-Christmas party but it's really just an excuse to get together, have a potluck lunch/dinner of delicious Filipino food and sing karaoke the way only Pinoys can.

Momsie and Popsie camped out in the living room until early morning to finish cooking pork spareribs adobo and my Mom's special kare-kare (to the uninitiated, it's pork hock in peanut sauce and eaten with shrimp paste). Mom and the Three Little Pigs made the nata de coco delight on Christmas Eve.

Thana City is like Eastwood City - a veritable garden of condominiums and golf courses. Of course I exaggerate. There was just one golf course. I stick by my claim of a garden of condos, thought. At the Prestige Condo, there were two swimming pools. TWO, darnit! While in our condo at Silom, we had a shower. No tub. Where's the justice in that? Oh... we're just a few minutes by bus, train or cab from the nearest malls. Bang Na takes half an hour by cab on the highway. There's the trade-off. Ok, I rest my case.

Being the picture-fiends that we were, we had several sets of 10-second timed ten shots in the playground (yes, there was a playground) and the gazebo. My family is a crazy lot, as you all probably already know. Pics are on Facebook, just in case you're curious. Friends-only, though, so don't say I didn't warn you.

As I've said, Bang Na is near the airport so every now and then a plane roars through the sky, making us look up. I have the habit of trying to identify the airline by the markings on the tail fin and body, so I kept chanting "Thai Airways, Air France, Cebu Pacific, AeroFLot... wait, is that PAL?" with every new take-off. Bro and Wifey cringed at each one, though, as they were due to leave in a couple of days. Boohoohoo...

We got home late to Bang Rak... like 10pm? The sisters and Bradir stayed up till the wee hours of the morning. I hit the sack at midnight. The next day was shopping day, so I needed my energy to be UP UP UP!

Day 10 - Jatujak, here I come! We left for Jatujak at 11am. We took the BTS to the Mo Chit station then walked. And walked. And walked. Then we shopped. And shopped. And shopped. Oh, yeah...we shopped too. Then we got sunburned. But who cares about sunburn when I was able to buy my pasalubong for my whole team plus my officemates... and a few other items for special peeps in my life? *wink wink*

After Jatujak, we took the MRT back to Sala Daeng Station. After a close encounter with the not-so-dead/not-so-living, we walked on to Burger King. After a heavy snack (no lunch... we opted to stay hungry and keep shopping - not a bad idea, on hindsight), we decided not to go on to MBK and Panthip that day. So Bro and Wifey went on to MBK with Popsie to buy more pasalubong while the Three Little Pigs plus Mom and Bradir went on home.

I had a bum stomach that night but I still went out with my sibs and Mom to feed Bradir some kwai chap. We also proceeded to get drunk... on soy milk (I prefer the one with sesame seeds - not too sweet). We also went walking along Silom in search of a few things to buy (shopping, of course, is first and foremost on everyone's mind). But my tummy allowed me to walk just one block when it beckoned me home for "call of duty". There's still tomorrow, anyway.

Day 11 - Bro and Wifey are flying back to Manila at 11pm tonight. I also finished re-reading The Time Traveller's Wife... and cried again, like I did the first time. FInally, Jen and I can discuss the novel (again) without me forgetting the little details (I need Memo Plus Gold - Kuya Kim had something going there!) and muttering "I need to read it again". I also made a BIG decision today: something that will change the course of three lives, one of them mine. What that is and why I made that decision is for me to know (and for you to find out, dear reader. Unless you're one of those whose lives will change) so don't ask. I won't tell. Let's not waste each other's time.

Cooking is a sure-fire stress reliever for me so I defrosted and peeled a kilo and a half of shrimps. Then I cut up five heads of broccoli, minced a head of garlic, a large onion and diced four tomatoes. I made garlic-buttered broccoli and gambas. Both dishes were wiped out at dinner.

So now, it is the beginning of Day 12 and my internet is still dead as Ninoy and Cory. But free internet is out there...somewhere. It takes patience to find it and not have to exchange a new dress for an hour online. Unfortunately, patience is not my virtue...

Day 7 and Day 8: No Action... Then Too Much Action!!!

Day 7: The plan was to get up early and frolic at Lumpini Park. What do you think happened? Of course none of my supposed companions woke up in time to go to the park! So what does a girl with thwarted plans do? Stay online, of course! I edited my photos list and posted what I thought was postable... then I slept. For a little while.

When I woke up, Sissy and I helped Momsie cook one of my favorite foods: spareribs casserole! So in our bed clothes, we cut and squeezed the limes then peeled and minced garlic. Fun, fun, fun!

Early in the evening, Momsie and Bradir dragged me to United Center to fetch Popsie. Before I knew it, we were on the BTS at the Sala Daeng station en route to the grocery.

Now, I do love trains and all its incarnations (digression: I've never been on the PNR trains. Although I know the rails have been rehabilitated and new trains have been installed, the trains of yore still haunt me... you know, coffins on rails?) so I expected to be wowed by Bangkok's BTS. I was not disappointed. Stations and trains reminiscent of LRT Purple Line (aka LRT2) had me at....errr, I dunno what the announcer said. It was in Thai. Hehehehe... Nonetheless, I absolutely loved the train. Though the foot traffic reminds me the MRT at rush hour (think Magallanes North Bound at 6:30pm), Thai peeps don't bump and jostle. In fact, they don't mind being a few minutes late in boarding the train as long as they make as little bodily contact as possible. Practical, maybe not. Polite, most definitely.

So... on to the grocery. It's pretty much an ordinary grocery store. Kinda like Shopwise or Cash and Carry. Except I found a few things to shoot (covertly, as cameras aren't allowed in there) and they scared me sh*tless...

We got home quite late, which made me miss a few important YM messages but what the hey... I can always leave offlines. *wink*

Day 8: Christmas Day. Sissy's 19th birthday. Temple Tour day! I woke up at 8am (GMT +7) after just 4 hours of sleep... Since the Little Pigs were still snoring, I went online and chatted with Kyx. I also saw Jen and Nikka via webcam for a few minutes. (Ang laki na ni Nikka! I really miss her!)

After a quick lunch at Somtam Convent (Bradir's first time), we were on the BTS towards the Saphan Taksin station where the ferries were to take us down the Chao Phraya River and on to the wats (temples).

First stop: Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn) where the Hundred Buddhas are. There's also an obelisk-like tower which we were able to climb for 50 THB (about 70php), which was all good except that 1) I was required to wear a cardigan over my sleeveless dress and, 2) Wifey was afraid of heights. Nonetheless, we got some great shots (including one of moi sitting on the higher terrace overlooking the Chao Phraya River... before the guard blew on his whistle vigorously and signalled furiously for us to get off that darn terrace).

Second stop: Wat Po (Temple of... I have no idea). Home of the Reclining Buddha... that HUGE piece of gold shaped into the classic Buddha. We actually took more pictures here than at Wat Arun, mostly because we were fascinated with my camera's 10-second timed - 10 shot function. Just kidding! We were a photo-crazy lot so we took lots of pictures!

After dragging ourselves around the wats, we went on to the Grand Palace. Unfortunately, we got there 20 minutes after closing time so we took a couple of tuk-tuks to Siam Paragon, BKK's answer to Power Plant + Shangri-La Mall. We had dinner at Sizzlers (reminiscent of Friday's), which included unlimited soup, salad and dessert for everyone who ate there. We spent 3,000 THB for eight hungry peeps... not bad!

With full bellies, we went on the BTS back to Sala Daeng to have some ice cream at Swensen's. Alas, we arrived a few minutes after closing time (not our lucky day) so we postponed it for another day... hopefully on the 27th, as Bro and Wifey are leaving on the 28th.

So, will tomorrow be as busy as Day 8? I sure hope NOT! However, there's still a lot of shopping ahead... and Swensen's... and Gelatoni... and...

Day 6: Staying Indoors and Bradir Arrives!

Like Day 4, I didn't get my requisite 15 minutes of sunlight for maximum Vitamin D synthesis. I did, however, go out with Mom to the laundromat down the street for two loads of washing. Sis (KT) came too, acting as the photographer. Harhar...

Carrying the laundry... heavy!

Staying indoors, I was online checking office mail, chatting on office IM with my team mates eager for the long Holiday weekend, and on YM with Kyx testing out the webcam on my sisters' laptop. Thanks to that, our meal of kai yang and pad thai was broadcast over the web... while it was being devoured by one (huge) happy family (sans Bradir).

When one stays indoors for 24 hours, one will get bored eventually... Which happened to me! So, what's the best thing to do when indoors and bored? Turn on the A/C and eat! After eating, look at pictures to decide which to upload.

Bradir arrived a couple of hours ago and finally, we're complete! You bet there were tons of pics taken and I ought to post them soon. But since I'm feeling lazy right now and it's 3:20am here, I prefer to sleep... so goodnight, world! Will post the pics tomorrow.

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!

Day 4: Food At Home (And On The Street, Too!)

The light of day did not touch my skin yesterday... except through the windows of the living room. The sisters and I yacked our heads off till midnight, after which I fell asleep. We were planning to go back to Lumpini Park the morning after: to jog, take pictures and cavort on the playground. Alas, the sisters decided that Hotel 626 was boring and went on to Assylum 626, effectively depriving them of sleep that caused them to snore until past 2pm. Go figure!

So Mom and I kept ourselves busy with laundry and cooking. Yehehehesss! If there's good food on the street, there's better food at home! While mom sorted the laundry, I cut up some tomatoes, onions and ginger for pinaputok na pla-pla. The tilapia she bought from the market were HUGE! Picture a behemoth with singkong butas for eyes. Deciding to stuff the giant swimmers a few minutes before grill time, I cut up some kangkong for a stir-fry.

Chuvaness was doing her 6-millionth reader contest and I was watching the site meter sporadically throughout the day. The prizes were COOL... and not to mention, madami!

So anyway, I stayed in the house reading Her Fearful Symmetry (I finished it at around 2am this morning. I loved it more than The Time Traveller's Wife - maybe because the protagonists are twins. Two sets, at that!), surfing the Web (and getting fashion tips, harharhar), and checking my office email. My mom said, I should be on vacation but I can't help it. Anyway, if an issue comes up while I'm on vacation... guess who's gonna handle it anyways? *lol*

As I mentioned earlier, my dad's condo is smack-dab in the middle of the CBD. We live on a street parallel to Thanon Silom, kinda like Ayala Ave back in Manila where the office buildings are. Everyone walking around the area is dressed like they're all leaving on Lear jets at any second or will be airlifted to their next meeting destination. It doesn't help that down the road is a Catholic school that caters to children of diplomats and those of the hi-so (high society aka anak-mayaman). So what, you say? Like I said, we live in the middle of the CBD and as such, we're given to going out on the street dressed in full pambahay regalia (my Havs get lots of exposure here... *lol*) in search of the elusive manong roti (he's so hard to find...), the addictive puto-pandan (not its real label, of course) and the sweet merangue barquillos (not its real name, either). On our way to Silom, we bumped into my Dad walking home from work. We didn't find the treats we were looking for, so we went home.

In the evening, the sisters and I took more vain-pics (aka self-portraits) and did more ten-shot antics than should be done when wearing only underwear and wearing sleep clothes. But what the hey, I won't see them again for another five or six months and there is no better time to be a kid and be crazy than NOW! =)

On other news, I tried voice chat on YM using my work machine. That's when I discovered I could use it without the need for a headset! Hurray! Thanks to Kyx for urging me to try. Wouldn't have discovered it if not for you! Goodbye, cumbersome headsets! This beats hands-free overseas calls anytime!

So today, we're supposed to be shopping (again) but the two other Little Pigs (my sisters - I'm the third one, hehe) woke up later than expected and are now pulling me towards the shower. After all, the Three Little Pigs always do things together. Ciao!

Bangkok: Day 3 - Can You Stomach This?

This is my series on my holiday vacation in Bangkok. Here are the other posts:
Day 1 and Day 2

Day 3 began lazily... literally. My sisters and I were in bed until 10AM. Though I woke up at 7:30AM (force of habit: 4 hours of sleep is plenty), I stayed in bed for an additional two hours, on office IM with Kyx and checking office email (eeewww!).

When the household began to stir, I went to work making two kinds of fried rice (oyster sauce and adobo), frying hotdogs and making sunny side-ups while sipping Betagen (Yakult but way better!) in front of the stove. Sissy took over my IM, chatting with Kyx.

After a particularly heavy brunch (made heavier with some spicy dumplings to be dipped in a black-vinegar like concoction), the family members all took our own individual naps (I didn't... I just wrote a few notes, took stock of my shopping expenses and packed away the stuff I bought from the day before) while Bro and Wifey opted for some QTT.

Three hours later, we were taking our baths (The Three Little Pigs always bathe together... hehehe) and trading sneakers to go walking/running/jogging at Lumpini Park. The park reminds me of Burnham in Baguio. Burnham on steroids. It has two (?) lagoons, vast running paths and a multitude of people. It had at least three areas for aerobics or yoga or whatnot... and at least two playgrounds.

The family and I got there late; it was almost evening when we started walking (and Bro started running with Wifey and Sis). Not much photo opportunities so we vowed to come back when the sun was higher in the sky and our cameras didn't need a flash to get our faces on memory. Harhar...

So we walked along Silom again, stopping to look at some shoes on the sidewalk (killer heels ala-Blair for only 140 THB!), some funky shirts (caricature of a sad groom and happy bride with "GAME OVER" written below), and some mango with sticky rice. Mango with sticky rice!!! Aaaarrgghhh... I bought two orders (80THB each) with a fist-size ball of sticky rice and one whole mango each.

We hurried along to have steaming bowls of kwai chap... fresh rice sheet noodles and various animal parts that never see the sunlight in a meaty and satisfying broth. For only 45 THB, this was good chow. A big serving too, as I barely finished mine.

Patpong was part of the plan, but it was still too early (8pm) and we wanted to wait for Bradir on the 23rd so we postponed our... adult education for another day. So on we walked, stopping by 7-11 for a bottle of yummy soy milk and a few bottles of freshly-squeezed dalandan juice.

Back home, we talked more about our childhood - mostly gross, embarrassing stuff like who pooped in whose jeans (not me!), who got lost in the department store (me!), and other childhood antics. I missed these guys... and am glad I'm here.

So back to the mango with sticky rice... it was gone in five minutes. Sweet, juicy slices of mango chased down with rice topped with viscous gata... heaven in a mouthful.

Now excuse me while I wipe the drool from my chin... That vendor will see more of me every night!

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...