Travel/Work Thailand: bye Kanchanaburi and River Kwai!

*extremely picture-heavy post

After several days of stay in Kanchanaburi, our stay had to come to an end. I know that at one point people began getting tired of the lessons, but hey, it was needed.LOL I feel the energy dwindling a bit on the last two days and there was a slight decrease of participation from almost everyone.

I still got to hand it to the trainers, though, because they were unwavering. Oh the things you think of when you have seen it all already!

Our training quarters

Our training quarters

I even had to the time to write ‘Invictus’ thrice. I could not believe I still remember the poem by heart.

Handwritten Invictus

Handwritten Invictus by William Ernest Henley

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Travel/Work Thailand: first week is almost over

*extremely picture-heavy post

Several days in Thailand but I was still barely scratching the surface of the course.

Sure that from where I belong inside our own organization, I am quite exposed with most of the core activities that we are doing. Still, you get surprised with some things you know for the first time and input from your colleagues working at a different context.

Green, green and green

Green, green and green

It rained for the first time in Kanchanaburi on Thursday. The trees and grass looked extra green, and I snapped my flip-flops by stepping on a muddy patch. Before we knew it weekend was approaching and we will be traveling back to Bangkok to spend a weekend in the city.

River Kwai from our training room

River Kwai from our training room

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Travel/Work Thailand: first phase

*extremely picture-heavy post

A month ago, I mentioned that I’d be in Thailand for two weeks to attend a training. Well, it finally happened and I could not be more excited to undergo our organization’s rite of passage.

I arrived a bit early at NAIA Terminal 2, with enough time to look for the participants from our other office. My colleague from a different team will be arriving at a later date because he had a class for graduate school. I was a bit nervous as well because the typhoon Lawin was due for landfall the same day as my flight. I had enough of a traumatic flight in the midst of a typhoon, after the horrid travel back to Manila in October last year after the WHO meeting in Guam.

Anyway, I sometimes wonder up to what extent I do my best not to talk to people I personally do not know. At times I can be very friendly, but most often, I just shut my trap and freeze on my tracks. This time was different though and I mustered the courage to approach my colleagues from the other office. I already know one of them from a previous course this year, where I discussed something. On the other hand, it would be my first time to meet the other two. Nevertheless, I was delighted to know that they were very friendly and we immediately hit it off. With a quick lunch at Jollibee and a minor gossiping on what to expect during the training, the next thing we know was we were already boarding the flight to Bangkok.

Flying over the South China Sea

Flying over the South China Sea

For starters, I recommend installing MyPal app on your mobile device. Aside from civil aviation rules prohibiting people from turning on their cellphones, the app will allow us to watch a selection of movies, series and even get copies of back-issue local magazines. The coolest thing of all — seeing our exact location on the map as we fly across the South China Sea.

After a couple of hours, we landed at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok. It is a beautiful airport and as a Filipino, you always tend to ask yourself ‘Why are our airports not this pretty?’. But that is a subject for a separate discussion altogether.

At Suvarnabhumi International Airport

At Suvarnabhumi International Airport

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