After going through that series of unfortunate events, my karma did a 360. I had a swell time vacationing in Chiang Mai! What a way to end 2007.
Today is just so fucked up.Too many problems happening at the same time.
First, I lost my ATM card. I know it's not a big deal as long as I have the card cancelled promptly, but I am actually flying to Chiang Mai in a few hours. That means I'll be traveling with the few remaining bucks in my wallet- a measly 200 baht. My mom usually tells me
to always bring cash with me, and unfortunately she has a point. She usually tells me, Si ya puede bo pisa tomates de tindera na calle, que laya bo paga? (If you step on some street vendor's tomatoes, how are you going to pay?)
I found out that I lost my ATM card just as I was about to pay for my dinner in a resto. When I feel like I need some loving, I usually treat myself to an expensive (expensive for me, at least. Die, you rich people) dinner and this time the bill was for 500 baht. I frantically fumbled for some cash when I realized my card was missing. Good thing that I have enough left in my wallet, I was already seriously thinking of giving the waiter my cellphone. Or my body.
From this point more problems arose. Seeing that I was going to travel without cash and was running the risk of being a headless chicken in a foreign place, I decided to rebook my flight to allow myself some time to go to the bank and get a replacement card. So I call up the airline and ask for the rescheduling. And guess what, they tell me I need a credit card for this transaction. I don't have a credit card in Thailand and have no plans of getting one (I cannot be trusted with a big credit line) and now it's proving to be an inconvenience. Could I use my Philippine -issued card? Yes, the airline agent on the other line tells me. But I need to fax them some document before they can charge the rebooking fee to my account. I don't have a freaking fax machine and apparently, it's the only way besides having to go to the airport and pay in cash. And I don't have freaking cash.
So I call up my friendly neighbor and shamefully asked if I could borrow some money. Good Samaritan neighbor was truly helpful and lent me 500 baht. That should be enough.
And then suddenly I realized I actually have money in my Equitable bank account in the Philippines, I could just withdraw from the ATM. I triumphantly fled to the ATM for a cash withdrawal. Then the third problem happened. The machine fucked up and decided not to give me my money but deducting the amount from my account just the same. I didn't have my phone with me so I had to borrow the security guard's mobile phone to call the bank (I gave him 20 baht afterwards). After discussing with the bank agent for a few minutes, she tells me it's okay, the transaction has been reversed. I make an account inquiry and see that my money is still uncredited. What do I do? I ask the agent. She tells me that I may have to get in touch with my bank and instruct them to check on the problem because from their side the error was already reversed. And it might take some three weeeks to have the problem fixed. Jesus H. Christ. I made a few more account inquiries to check if the system has updated and then realized some 50 baht was being charged against my account everytime I made a balance inquiry. And I made a lot.
This was actually the same money that I have waited for 3 whole months to be credited to my account. This was my last salary check from Shell Philippines and I had difficulty encashing it because in case the bank hadn't noticed, I'm in Thailand now and couldn't sign the check. I had to get in touch with the bank manager from Equitable Bank and ask for help from my friend Jefrey in Manila to find a way to get my money. And now this.
What is wrong with the world? What is wrong with my world?
And just when I thought I had enough, a mouth sore develops on my lip. It just doesn't get any better than this.
I have been buying and watching so many DVDs these past few days I can't even keep track of what I buy anymore. Case in point, I found out today I have 2 sets of Family Guy season 5. My TV rack is slowly piling with DVDs. But the movie buff in me in simply saying, Just fucking watch 'em.
Speaking of movies, I was able to catch I am Legend and boy, was it something. If I had a heart condition I wouldn't have made it to the door.
What would you do if you were the last person on the planet? If I were the last person on earth I will probably just copulate with a grasshopper and create a race of hoppermen. Or a bat and create... batmen.
Filed under
movies
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World Report:
Saudi king pardons teenage rape victim -- report
RIYADH – (UPDATE) Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has pardoned a teenage girl
sentenced to six months in jail and 200 lashes after being gang raped, Al
Jazirah newspaper reported on Monday.
The Arabic language daily said it had been informed of the royal pardon
from its own, unidentified, sources.
But in the same article, the kingdom's Justice Minister Abdullah bin
Mohammad bin Ibrahim al-Sheikh told the paper the king had the "right to
overrule court judgements if he considered it benefiting the greater
good."
The girl, who was 18 at the time she was raped, was attacked at knifepoint
by seven men after she was found in a car with a male companion who was not a
relative, in breach of strict Saudi law.
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interests
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I'm not making any Christmas wish list this year because the sad fact of life is that I may not get anything from anyone this time around. I live in a country that doesn't celebrate Christmas and I don't have any close friends here yet.
Times like this I need happy pills.
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christmas
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It didn't make much in the box office in its time, but The Weather Man is, I think, one of the few amazing films out there. Stars Nicolas Cage. It's like watching a movie, documentary and fastfood advertisement rolled into one. Watched it today on DVD and interestingly, it gave me some perspective as well as a few good laughs.
But if I get thrown a falafel or a cheeseburger while walking down the street, uh, don't push it.
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movies
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meet some nice and cool people like Master J from Siam Pinoy, and other people who were nice enough to welcome me to the group. There were lotsa booths set up in the embassy grounds, all of them selling Filipino foods. Amazing! I had lechon that night (bland, but I was in the "spirit") and bought some goods like Lucky Me noodles (haha) and Zaragoza Portuguese-style sardines. I also surprised myself by buying an entire box of C2 lemon iced tea. As I have no car, you can imagine me carrying this box around and hailing for a cab. There was a band playing some OPM (Original Pinoy Music) staples like... I don't actually know the titles because I don't like listening to OPM. It is NOT in any way turning away from my roots, it's simply a matter of taste in music. I mean, come on, Jessa Zaragosa?
Finally got it after downing 20 cups of my favorite Toffee Nut Latte.
Not fair though that in the Philippines it's got a leather a jacket. Oh well. All hail, pop culture.
So, Chiang Rai.
Well, I came, I saw, and it was all good. It was company team-building activity and the trip was so jam-packed we barely had time to breathe all throughout the trip. I was always trying to catch sleep in the bus but every time, I just ended up with a blasted headache. Chiang Rai is all the way up there in the northern-most portion of Thailand and I had the chance to see and have lunch overlooking the famous Mekong River which runs through Tibet, China, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.
We had many stops along the way, like some very grand flower and horticulture park, a Buddhist temple where we were taught how to meditate (or in my case, take a nap without snoring) and some very nice countryside sceneries. The cool thing, however, was that up until the last minute I didn't know we were gonna cross the border and go to Myanmar for some bargain shopping. And because I didn't have a clue about that part of the trip I did not bother to bring my passport - which means I had some explaining to do at the immigration. There were three foreigners in the group- myself (Filipino), a partner of the firm (from New Zealand) and a client (from Singapore) and all of us did not have our passports with us as we learned of the trip to Myanmar too late. The immigration clerks initially wouldn't allow the three of us in, but after a talk with someone from the immigration office (and some name dropping I guess - but don't quote me), we got VIP passes. It didn't really mean anything except that we had to pay a larger fee (about 500 baht) to cross the border, compared to the measly 30 baht for Thais. The company paid for this of course.
I was a little wary walking about the market in Myanmar. I mean, I've heard about what they did to Buddhists in the news, their government is not exactly the cheeriest people on earth. I was careful with taking pictures and did not bother to use my famous haggling skills with the vendors. In the marketplace I got for myself the entire two seasons of the TV series Prison Break on DVD. I finally get to watch Prison Break. Copy, yes, so sue me.
The following day, we were off to cross the border yet again, and this time it's Laos. I learned my lesson and brought my passport with me this time. Apparently, we were standing at one point of the so-called "Golden Triangle" so it's easy to cross to nearby countries. The "Golden Triangle," aside from being a dangerous finger-blasting firecracker back home in the Philippines, references to the three adjacent neighboring countries of Thailand, Myanmar and Lao, which are separated by the Mekong River. From our hotel, the "Imperial Golden Triangle Resort" (get it?) which faces the Mekong River, we can actually see the two countries not too far away: Myanmar on the left, Laos on the right. Cool.
Speaking of cool, since Chiang Rai is in the country-side, the climate was very cold. Some 10 degrees Celcius I was told. In the evenings and early mornings, the wind was very cold I'd get the shivers even with 2 layers of clothing on.
During the trip I got to know some of my officemates a little more. I also found out that some people are bothered by my name. Jesse, they tell me, is a girl's name. "Actually all the Jesses I know are guys," I explain to them. "All Jesse's we know are girls," they say. This confused me because from what I know, Thais have very unique and long names like Pimonporn or Chalermpong, but not Jesse. "Like who?" I ask.
"Jessica Simpson," one of them replies.
Ahh. Can't argue with that.
Anyways, here are pictures from the trip. They open up as a set to my flickr.
From Wikipedia:
Loy Krathong (or Loi Kratong, Thai ลอยกระทง) is a
festival celebrated annually throughout Thailand. It is held on the
full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar,
in the western calendar this usually falls into November.
“Loi” means “to float”. “Krathong” is a raft about a handspan in diameter traditionally made from a section of banana tree trunk (although
modern-day versions use specially made bread 'flowers' and may use styrofoam),
decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, flowers, candles, incense
sticks etc. During the night of the full moon, many people will release a small
raft like this on a river. Governmental offices, corporations and other
organizations also build much bigger and more elaborate rafts, and these are
often judged in contests. In addition, fireworks and beauty
contests take place during the festival.
Loy Krathong Festival of Light was over two weeks ago. I went to Benjasiri Park and experienced the fesitivities. Quite cool. They release some small rafts into the pond (or any body of water) in the hopes of letting go of their grudges, anger and bad luck and starting anew. They will also release some hot-air lanterns at night and bid their problems bye bye.
I'm concerned about who cleans up afterwards.
