104 posts tagged “bangkok”
This is my view from my flat as of 15 minutes ago.
And when the dark skies finally released its fury, the skyline of the city which I could normally see from my window practically disappeared. I closed the heavy drapes scared of the lightning and I actually heard the water sloshing against the glass windows and the veranda. I'm on the ninth floor but I am scared that the water will get to me; there's water seeping through the gap of the glass door I'm scared it will flow into the carpet. But one can just imagine those in eastern Manila watching as the floodwaters seeped and took over their homes.
I've never been scared of rain, in fact I love it as I said earlier because it's always a good time to curl in bed and read. But of late, nature has become scarier. Typhoons in Taiwan and the Philippines, earthquakes in Samoa and Indonesia and they brought floods and landslides, claimed lives and properties.
I was on my way to Manila on that Black Saturday (September 26). My flight was delayed for two hours but I didn't realise until we arrived in Manila how bad the situation was. After all, the Philippines is along the typhoon belt, storms are of regular occurence. But it was an entirely different story when we landed; our plane was grounded on the tarmac for an hour and I was stranded at the airport for six hours. That's nothing compared to those who lost loved ones and properties that's why I consider myself lucky.
The Climate Change talks ended today in Bangkok. There was little optimism that much will be resolved. The world's rich countries still refuse to lower their emission targets, if at all. They're rich, maybe they can afford the cost of nature's fury that their pollution dump into the rest of the world. But what about poorer countries?
I love the rain but now, it brings fear.
I love the vibe especially on weekends when you can just hang out in the outdoor tables of Au Bon Pain or McDonalds. There's an Ootoya restaurant, iBerry and Greyhound Cafe. There's a daisu on the second floor. And there's a Villa Mart that caters to expats missing food from back home (from Japanese to Korean to Italian and American etc).
And across the street, there's a shop that sells Singaporean Hainanese chicken. Except for the sauce, it tastes authentic. And down the street, there are little shops one won't find in Paragon or Emporium. If only I can move my lazy butt out of the flat on weekends.
Today is a holiday in the Kingdom because it's the Queen's birthday.
I thought about it thoroughly and even returned to the new pad just to give it a closer look.
The cons just outweighed the pros: the bed was smaller, the bathtub was not that big anyway, there were a few places for my books, DVDs and bears. And the closet being right next to the main door (just like in a hotel room layout) really bothered me big time.
If it was only the bathtub, I didn't even have time to use the tub in The Gallery Hotel's glass-encased bathroom. If it was the kitchen, I can just buy a hot plate so I can cook because that's the only thing lacking in mine; of course, it won't be embedded into the kitchen counter like in the new pad but I can live with that. If it's the view, I don't look out of my apartment all the time anyway and if I want to see the pool, I can just go down and lounge by the poolside.
I like how my room is tucked in the corner of my floor and I don't have to be bothered by people walking down the hallway to the lift.
In the end, it was more about space, comfort and privacy.
I'm a fan of tom yum soup. And now this... hao chuu!!! Thai omelet is no longer my fave comfort food.
Here's the recipe to make it; the pictures actually look anemic. The rice should be red with all the chillies. Yum!
Says SMAP member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi when arrested by police last Wednesday at a Tokyo park for public indecency:
"what's wrong with being naked?"
Zhende! Give the guy a break, the temperature is breaking the mercury, he just wants to be cool.
No... this is not Tsuyoshi:
But it looks very summery to me... ah the beach! Though I could not imagine going there with the unbearable heat.
This Monday, the 27th is supposed to be the hottest day this summer here in Bangkok.
Maybe we'll see more Tsuyoshis in the Kingdom.
Today was the ultimate Hell Day.
But there's a silver lining in everything if you just look closely.
1. The Thai PM proved to be very articulate and he would take time to answer questions, one of which was a very sensitive topic but he managed to answer it diplomatically. This wasn't the first time I've seen him in person so his being handsome did not surprise me but our guests from outside Thailand were duly impressed.
2. I finally met in person our young Taiwan CEO/publisher (he is an SOB/ son of the boss). OMG. He is like a Taiwanese pop idol incarnate. He talks with an American twang (which makes me suspect he is an ABC, or to be accurate, an ABT or American-born Taiwanese), which reminds me of Wang Lee Hom or Van Ness Wu. And then, there is the fashion, which finally convinced me he is just pretending to be a media tycoon and in reality is actually one of those "idols" back in his native Taipei like the likes of Xiao Mei and Joe.
3. I saw DS again, the deputy boss from Indonesia. He was witty as usual and when we had cocktails at The Dome, he was very chatty. Even with the champagne, I could not match his wittiness but he was fun to talk to as usual. I just had to swoon to NV all the way in Jakarta.
4. And last but not the least, Nice Boss from China. Though I think my attention span is getting shorter.
P.S. on my BB, sometimes we have this LQ and I just want to wring his neck and makes me entertain thoughts of resigning. But he's impervious, he doesn't probably notice it that I already want to kill him.
Okay... hell week is about to end. One more day. I hope I won't speak too soon.
For the first day of the year, one of my all-time favourites happy MV by Sun Yan Zi (Stephanie Sun):
