Week 3: heaven and hell on earth
Hell. I read somewhere that an office is hell with fluorescent lighting. Week 3 of April found me affirming this over and over again in my head. It was just hell week. Wyeth got their money’s worth as I worked and slaved my ass off non-stop for 3 days. I had like 45 tasks on my list of things to do (not kidding). And every time I marked one task as done, I’d add another one at the bottom. It was just plain hell. Burning, crucifying hell where I was on a sizzling hot treadmill chasing after time while being whipped left and right by beasts that look like men with goat heads (ok that’s really disturbing). I’d go to bed with the list dancing in my head like can-can dancers doing the can-can-can and I’d wake up panicking and running over the things that needed to be done that day as I shampooed my hair and gulped down instant coffee and drove off to work. I felt like my brain had dozens and dozens of neon-colored Post-its and I didn’t know which one to read first. I actually considered resigning to become a bum. Ok ok I filed VL for 2 days so I had to advance a lot of work but still, it was a really huge price to pay for a little R&R.
Heaven. 4 days in Bangkok with my friend Al Jean. 4 blissful days of shopping and Thai food, clubbing and sight-seeing. Absolute heaven. I love traveling and I wish I had all the money in the world to go all around the world. Damn, I wish I can find a job that will let me travel everywhere minus the pressure. Haha. Dream on Maya. It was my first time in Bangkok and this is what we did (will post the pics soon):
Day 1
8:30 flight via Thai Airways. “Bangkok. Economy. International.” check-in at the Sofitel Hotel in Silom where we oohed and aahed at our accommodations and at the view Welcome drinks at Pat Pong – first taste of Singha beer and an interesting couple of hours at this controversial red light district watching go-go girls. Bubble bath where I fell asleep in the tub and woke up at 4 am with my toes and fingers all wrinkled up like prunes
Day 2
Did the tourist thing by visiting the Wat Pho Temple, home of the giant golden reclining Buddha (which reminded me of my College Philiosophy Professor Dr. Co) and the famous pagodas of their previous Kings MBK mall shopping where I screamed “why oh why was I born in Manila and not here?” upon seeing the really cheap shoes and clothes Lunch at Food Corner – lunch for 35 baht! Pork fried rice and coke for 10 baht Siam Square shopping where we bought shoes, shoes and more shoes Dinner at Silom Village: grilled shrimp with garlic and butter, stir-fried morning glory veggies with nuts, fried grouper with garlic Drinks at a vodka bar in Sukhumvit where I relived my Vodka7 days A bottle of Merlot and JD&Coke at Saffron Sky Bar of the Banyan Tree Hotel, overlooking all of Bangkok. Pretty romantic place.
Day 3
Starbucks at Amarin Plaza, Mo Chit area – caramel macchiato and buttered croissant My first tuktuk ride to Pratunam Market (Bangkok’s 1-6-8) where we bought kikay stuff and pasalubongs Bayouk Sky 2 mall where we bought more accessories Lunch at Food corner MBK (again). Cheap and good food! MBK shoe shopping and grocery shopping at TOPS for sampaloc and curry powder and fruits. I did a little store check as well. Motortaxi ride back to hotel for 10 baht – I rode a motorcycle taxi cause I was too tired to walk all the way from the BTS to the hotel. I put on the lame excuse for a helmet and clung to my shopping bags and to the stinky driver for dear life. When I got to the hotel, I took the longest and most relaxing shower of my life. Thai Massage at Chang Spa for 250 baht – I’m ticklish so I was laughing the whole time then I fell asleep… Dinner at Joe Louis, Swanlum Night Bazaar (a better Metrowalk gimik area) - fishball in green curry, stir fried beef with nuts, pork in red curry Gimmick at Q Bar, Sukhumvit Soi 11 where we drank Tiger beer, Singha beer Bacardi breezer and Jagermeister with Red Bull. Entrance was 600 baht but the drinks were relatively cheap. Bonding over Bacardi Breezer, Mudshake, almonds and Lay’s potato chips in the bath tub. Q Bar closed at 1 am so we bought drinks at 7-11 and got drunk in the hotel room and talked about the usual topics and suspects.
Day 4
Jatujak Flea Market (ala Divisoria with all the Pasilios) – super pawis day I felt like I was going to collapse from the heat. We had strawberry shake and fried pork with sticky rice as
merienda. Late lunch at the DinHao Cuisine resto (sour soup, barbecued pork, pork dumplings) – really good food! Mango with chili powder at the park before getting on the BTS back to the hotel Dinner at Brown Sugar turned Thang Long resto, Luan Sung Soi (fried fish, soft crab shell salad, shrimp and thai rice with shrimp paste and lots chili! Grilled pork with sticky rice) – again really good food and great ambience. I heard somewhere that the Princess occasionally dined there and they’d close the whole Luan Sung Soi just for her. Clubbing at Bed Supper Club where we each downed 4 glasses of JD and Coke and danced like there was no tomorrow with all the hip tourists in Bangkok. The music was great, the DJ was fantastic and the crowd was super fun. If you plan to go here, you need to bring your passport to get in. This place is a must see if you wanna have a good time.
Day 5
8:30 Limo pick up at the hotel. We dragged our zombie asses off to the airport KFC Brunch at Don Muang International Airport Headed Back to Manila and to reality It was really fun. We were never bored. When we had nothing to do, we’d talk about the people around us in Filipino or imitate the nasal announcements made over the train’s PA system “Next station is Sala Daeng.” We also pretended to be Thai whenever we saw tourists and greeted them “chenes” instead of “Sawasdee Ka” with matching head tilt while trying not to laugh. When people asked us where we’re from, we’d say Jakarta or Singapore depending on our mood. A lot of people thought we were locals though because of our hair. We also played games like “Spot David Beckham in the Pepsi ad” and “What place in Manila does this area look like?” Binondo, Taft and Divisoria were the most popular answers. Bangkok is not that pretty but it sure is a colorful place.
My first overseas trip with my college friend Al Jean. I had the greatest time. Thanks for being my tour guide, my photographer, my make-up artist, my gimmick buddy, my luggage fixer, my human alarm clock and my travel mate. If only we could do this every month!! Again, Khop Khun Ka. Next stop for Sayuri and Pumpkin: Cambodia J Hopefully the other girls can come with…
Hell. I read somewhere that an office is hell with fluorescent lighting. Week 3 of April found me affirming this over and over again in my head. It was just hell week. Wyeth got their money’s worth as I worked and slaved my ass off non-stop for 3 days. I had like 45 tasks on my list of things to do (not kidding). And every time I marked one task as done, I’d add another one at the bottom. It was just plain hell. Burning, crucifying hell where I was on a sizzling hot treadmill chasing after time while being whipped left and right by beasts that look like men with goat heads (ok that’s really disturbing). I’d go to bed with the list dancing in my head like can-can dancers doing the can-can-can and I’d wake up panicking and running over the things that needed to be done that day as I shampooed my hair and gulped down instant coffee and drove off to work. I felt like my brain had dozens and dozens of neon-colored Post-its and I didn’t know which one to read first. I actually considered resigning to become a bum. Ok ok I filed VL for 2 days so I had to advance a lot of work but still, it was a really huge price to pay for a little R&R.
Heaven. 4 days in Bangkok with my friend Al Jean. 4 blissful days of shopping and Thai food, clubbing and sight-seeing. Absolute heaven. I love traveling and I wish I had all the money in the world to go all around the world. Damn, I wish I can find a job that will let me travel everywhere minus the pressure. Haha. Dream on Maya. It was my first time in Bangkok and this is what we did (will post the pics soon):
Day 1
8:30 flight via Thai Airways. “Bangkok. Economy. International.” check-in at the Sofitel Hotel in Silom where we oohed and aahed at our accommodations and at the view Welcome drinks at Pat Pong – first taste of Singha beer and an interesting couple of hours at this controversial red light district watching go-go girls. Bubble bath where I fell asleep in the tub and woke up at 4 am with my toes and fingers all wrinkled up like prunes
Day 2
Did the tourist thing by visiting the Wat Pho Temple, home of the giant golden reclining Buddha (which reminded me of my College Philiosophy Professor Dr. Co) and the famous pagodas of their previous Kings MBK mall shopping where I screamed “why oh why was I born in Manila and not here?” upon seeing the really cheap shoes and clothes Lunch at Food Corner – lunch for 35 baht! Pork fried rice and coke for 10 baht Siam Square shopping where we bought shoes, shoes and more shoes Dinner at Silom Village: grilled shrimp with garlic and butter, stir-fried morning glory veggies with nuts, fried grouper with garlic Drinks at a vodka bar in Sukhumvit where I relived my Vodka7 days A bottle of Merlot and JD&Coke at Saffron Sky Bar of the Banyan Tree Hotel, overlooking all of Bangkok. Pretty romantic place.Day 3
Starbucks at Amarin Plaza, Mo Chit area – caramel macchiato and buttered croissant My first tuktuk ride to Pratunam Market (Bangkok’s 1-6-8) where we bought kikay stuff and pasalubongs Bayouk Sky 2 mall where we bought more accessories Lunch at Food corner MBK (again). Cheap and good food! MBK shoe shopping and grocery shopping at TOPS for sampaloc and curry powder and fruits. I did a little store check as well. Motortaxi ride back to hotel for 10 baht – I rode a motorcycle taxi cause I was too tired to walk all the way from the BTS to the hotel. I put on the lame excuse for a helmet and clung to my shopping bags and to the stinky driver for dear life. When I got to the hotel, I took the longest and most relaxing shower of my life. Thai Massage at Chang Spa for 250 baht – I’m ticklish so I was laughing the whole time then I fell asleep… Dinner at Joe Louis, Swanlum Night Bazaar (a better Metrowalk gimik area) - fishball in green curry, stir fried beef with nuts, pork in red curry Gimmick at Q Bar, Sukhumvit Soi 11 where we drank Tiger beer, Singha beer Bacardi breezer and Jagermeister with Red Bull. Entrance was 600 baht but the drinks were relatively cheap. Bonding over Bacardi Breezer, Mudshake, almonds and Lay’s potato chips in the bath tub. Q Bar closed at 1 am so we bought drinks at 7-11 and got drunk in the hotel room and talked about the usual topics and suspects.
Day 4
Jatujak Flea Market (ala Divisoria with all the Pasilios) – super pawis day I felt like I was going to collapse from the heat. We had strawberry shake and fried pork with sticky rice as
merienda. Late lunch at the DinHao Cuisine resto (sour soup, barbecued pork, pork dumplings) – really good food! Mango with chili powder at the park before getting on the BTS back to the hotel Dinner at Brown Sugar turned Thang Long resto, Luan Sung Soi (fried fish, soft crab shell salad, shrimp and thai rice with shrimp paste and lots chili! Grilled pork with sticky rice) – again really good food and great ambience. I heard somewhere that the Princess occasionally dined there and they’d close the whole Luan Sung Soi just for her. Clubbing at Bed Supper Club where we each downed 4 glasses of JD and Coke and danced like there was no tomorrow with all the hip tourists in Bangkok. The music was great, the DJ was fantastic and the crowd was super fun. If you plan to go here, you need to bring your passport to get in. This place is a must see if you wanna have a good time.Day 5
8:30 Limo pick up at the hotel. We dragged our zombie asses off to the airport KFC Brunch at Don Muang International Airport Headed Back to Manila and to reality It was really fun. We were never bored. When we had nothing to do, we’d talk about the people around us in Filipino or imitate the nasal announcements made over the train’s PA system “Next station is Sala Daeng.” We also pretended to be Thai whenever we saw tourists and greeted them “chenes” instead of “Sawasdee Ka” with matching head tilt while trying not to laugh. When people asked us where we’re from, we’d say Jakarta or Singapore depending on our mood. A lot of people thought we were locals though because of our hair. We also played games like “Spot David Beckham in the Pepsi ad” and “What place in Manila does this area look like?” Binondo, Taft and Divisoria were the most popular answers. Bangkok is not that pretty but it sure is a colorful place.
My first overseas trip with my college friend Al Jean. I had the greatest time. Thanks for being my tour guide, my photographer, my make-up artist, my gimmick buddy, my luggage fixer, my human alarm clock and my travel mate. If only we could do this every month!! Again, Khop Khun Ka. Next stop for Sayuri and Pumpkin: Cambodia J Hopefully the other girls can come with…
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