Before 2018 ends, it is time for my year-end essay! I will compensate for my inability to update the last few months with this mega post.
Compared to the holidays of the previous years, this year is quite laid back. It was not as frantic as before.
Ayala Malls Circuit’s Christmas decoration
One of the things I am proudest of this 2018 is that I was able to make better choices for my health. This includes a change in my diet, and a better drive to exercise regularly.
Last day in Thailand! I could not believe that the 18-day stay drew to a close. It felt only yesterday that my newfound friends and I braved the train to Bangkok with our luggages in tow.
Mon and I thought of buying a new set of luggage, as sort of souvenir from our trip. It would be very useful for our planned trip to Seoul in December as well.
I’m gonna miss this place
Our flight back to Manila wasn’t until 2:00 PM. We had plenty of time to do some last minute shopping before checking out of the hotel at noon. But we were wrong.
Like what I mentioned in the previous post, our breakfast in the hotel was only good for one. Thus, for our last full day, we just walked somewhere on the way to the city center to look for food.
We luckily found a stall selling breakfast. But more than this, I finally saw a barber shop! I badly needed a haircut because I was already melting with the humidity. I did not want another near-fainting spell when going to Chatuchak Weekend Market like the week before.
Downtown Bangkok
After getting a haircut, we went back to the hotel to prepare for the day. It was almost lunch again anyway, so it would be better to bring Mon to where Harry and I went last week to eat Tom Yum: Pee Aor.
At Bangkok’s best Tom Yum: Pee Aor
It was only a couple of minutes walk from Ratchatewi station. I did not take photos while we were there. I was busy taking videos (you can watch the video at the side or below this post).
I know that lemongrass is certainly palatable. However, I already reached my lemongrass limit. I just cannot eat another plate with anything lemongrass in it.
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On my last few days in Thailand, Mon arrived on an AirAsia flight to spend the weekend in Bangkok. We did not bother transferring to a new place as we got a good rate from the hotel. *winks* However, it was only a breakfast for one person, so we had to eat outside.
Our morning started early, based on the research we did the night before on how to reach the temple complex. We took the BTS until the last station of Saphan Taksin, where we found a long queue of people for the ferry.
Passing by Wat Arun
By the second week that I arrived in Thailand, I felt really uncomfortable with my hair. I normally get a haircut once a week to trim the sides, but I could not muster the courage to go to a barber shop. I then had to brave the weather again, hoping not to suffer another near heat exhaustion.
It was a very delightful ride. The first thing that I have observed was how the waters, lookswise, of Chao Phraya were not too different from the Pasig River. However, I can see a couple of big fish occasionally swimming to the surface and I did not smell a hint of stinky odor. How I wish our Pasig River was as developed as this. It would have been an excellent alternative in braving the Metro Manila traffic.
Aboard the ferry from Saphan Taksin
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As mentioned in the previous post, I had to stay for two more days in Thailand to attend another set of training. Only about sixteen of us stayed.
I almost arrived late during the first day on, Thursday, which was a bad thing because the venue was at the same hotel. But on my way to the meeting room, I bumped into Asuka. She was looking for me because she will be on her way to the airport to go back to Japan. I thought she was staying for another day and I forgot that she had to leave so soon. This is one final encounter worth getting late for!
Bye bye Asuka! Continue Reading
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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
I even had to the time to write ‘Invictus’ thrice. I could not believe I still remember the poem by heart.
Handwritten Invictus by William Ernest Henley
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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
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
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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
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