A Deca-month in Bangkok

I just finished my tenth month in Thailand. And in commemoration of this, I am immortalizing these items in my blog. TOP TEN ek-ek in Thailand. hehehe. So me presents...

My TOP TEN...

...memorable Thailand phrases:
1. same same...but different
2. CANNN-NNNNOT! (with matching prolonged Thai accent)
3. I don't know how... (during the stupid-est moment of my life)
4. No more government holidays for me! (when I got scammed)
5. Love you long time dahhling...(again, with matching Thai accent. courtesy of Michi)
6. Sah-tap! (this is supposed to be the word STOP)
7. Wat Arun is always OPEN! (again, during the time I got scammed)
8. Do not write on my map! (during the time I got scammed when the scammer scribbled stuff all over my treasured Bangkok map)
9. Entertainer? (a stupid question a stupid Filipino addressed to Reysiel and me)
10. Constant phrase companions: Sawasdee ka, Khup kun ka(thank you), Mai kao chay (I don't understand), Mai day (not possible), Mae ru (I don't know), Mai chay (No), Mai mi (Don't have), Mai aw (don't like), mai pen rai (no problem), mai chai khon thai (i am not Thai), pu thai mai dai (I don't speak thai), paang mak (very expensive), arui mak mak (very delicious), yu tini ka (here), and the most important --> Tau lai ka? (how much?) Oh di ba...I think I pass survival thai now. hehehe.

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...strange things in Thailand I can never understand:
1. KFC sells the gravy (its not free and unlimited!)
2. McDonald's doesn't serve rice. Neither does KFC (buy separately)
3. All the girls are thin with long straight hair
4. Hair straightening costs me only 600 baht here (in Manila, I can spend up to 5k!)
5. Sidewalk vendors can speak in German! (i am not kidding)
6. Filipinos are everywhere here (internet cafes, chatuchak, malls...)
7. Almost all the men here are...effeminate (I have yet to meet one truly musculine, testosterine-filled, pure Thai guy)
According to one study, Thailand has the lowest masculine percentages in the world! I am in the wrong country dammit!!!
8. their bookstores wrap your books with plastic covers! so very convenient!!!
9. Taxi drivers are fast, furious and suicidal (taking their passengers with them)
10. even in the most touristy of places, a Coke can still costs around 20 or 15 baht (unlike in the Philippines where it can go as high as 50 pesos!) No wonder tourists love it here.

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...unforgettable incidents:
1. Got lost in Bangkok when I hopped on the right bus going in the wrong direction
2. Got scammed while trying to be the tour guide for Ria's brother
3. Went backstage to meet Reysiel's favorite band
4. Met my iniirog #1,and #2 for the first time
5. talking to Shanghai boy till 3 am (ha-ha-ha)
6. went on the Chiang mai trek (with Eileen), drunk and sleepless
7. inside a bar for the first time in my life (never been to one back home)
8. inside a Patpong bar for the first time and saw the infamous PingPong shows
9. Spending Christmas Day with then-strangers (I just met them the previous Sunday at church.hehe)
10. A little girl blandly telling me 'You are sooo fat' before running off to play.

Ahh, Bangkok's just peachy, isn't it?'

all a matter of tongue...

My Whinings...

1. Work is stressful and seem to be piling up more and more everyday. I seemed to have reached a bottleneck in my work pile and the backlog just keeps piling up without anything getting accomplished at all. Good thing there is #4 to look forward to. hahaha.

2. My family just bought a computer, swiped it on my card and now I have instant debt. While I am happy that they are happy, this one tiny part of me resents the fact that I have to put off my Christmas shopping for next month because of this...

3. I've recently felt like an ATM by my family. I mean, hello, do I grow cash out of my ears? Wish I did though. hahaha.

4. Shanghai boy is coming back next week. His training in China just ended and he is dropping by BKK before going back to Europe. I haven't replied to his last email yet, trying to formulate the proper response (di masyadong excited na reply and trying to be standoffish) and of course, there is always the added satisfaction that I made him wait for an email. I've been so very good lately and suddenly, fate presents me with delectable tempation. Sayang...but really, I have to snatch my hand away...really...

5. I had my hair rebonded. It was fine for the first 3 days. Then WHAM! It becomes curvy again. I swear I am curling my hair soon.

6. pesteng giatay! ngano man intawn gipakita pa ko ug litrato na magka akbay sila?

7. I want to go to Hongkong Disneyland! Anybody coming with me? hehehe.

And those are my whine-outs...what are yours? (hahaha. cheerful day noh?)

i should be happy, but...

I have a lot of things to be happy for this week. One, I passed my certification exams. Two, I made up with my aunt and we are friends again. Three, I have my ticket for December delivered to me in the office last Friday. Four, I chatted with webcam with my parents and it was fun talking to them and seeing them at the same time.

But weirdly enough, I feel so restless, almost afraid of something or panicky...I don't know. I think I suck at work lately. I thought maybe I just lacked sleep from all the studying I have done for the past week but I should be relieved already right? Instead, I watched at least 3 episodes of Friends last night, then had this uncontrollable urge to go to the Thonglo BTS station and buy my favorite mango and sticky rice (its really really good.) Hmm..maybe later tonight, I will do that on my own.

I watched Hotel Rwanda last night. What a really depressing movie. Horrible, horrible...really horrible. I kept crying most of the time. I can't believe why people would commit such atrocities. And to kill with machetes! (ok, so maybe this is the culprit of my awful mood last night).

Last Friday, we went out to see Reysiel's fave band with the rest of the Filipino gang ( we have momentarily stopped hanging out with the Germans because they were a bit too annoying already). It was fun, although there were a few scary moments there when some horny, DOM would come up to us and we would scurry away like frightened rabbits. Well, Reysiel got her song dedication from eminem. And we met Ms. Yen's husband (ahh, the most cynical of us was showing her im-in-love side. It was a hopeful sight).

Ok, gotta go fetch my laundry. Can't believe Decmber is soooo far away.... :(