Wanderlust Heaven!

Had dinner with Japanese friend Hira, who’s retired and has lived in Chiang Mai for nearly 10 years.  He was recently in Japan, to see his elderly parents – I asked him how his trip went, and he told me that Japan depresses him, because there are so many old people and so few young these days.  He has a point there – Japan is getting old fast, and needs to make some moves to ensure that its population doesn’t drop precipitously.

We talked about why we like countries like Thailand and some of its ‘developing country’ brethren.  The exoticism is an obvious draw…these countries are so different from the West that they’re instantly appealing.  I also like the human ingenuity on display here – Asians aren’t prima donas, they work their way through their problems in a creative and resourceful manner.  I also like the WYSIWYG nature of these places – sure, there’s lots you aren’t privy to, but when you walk down a gritty Bangkok or Manila street, well, the street is pretty much a reflection of the human soul and spirit, in a way that a posh high street is not.  A dirty 3^rd-world street is a relatively honest place.

Hira is over 60 years old, so after dinner he went back to his place and I went out.  The Night Market area, on Loi Kroh Street, is where you’ll find a collection of nightspots.  I went into a club called StarSix, where they played a random selection of music, ranging from the theme to Dreamgirls all the way to Highway Star by Deep Purple.  They also had a faux S&M show involving hot dripping wax, set to Highway Star.  Methinks Ritchie Blackmore and the boys would appreciate that…

Afterward, walked over to No. 1 Bar, an old fave that’s a bit less fun now, for some reason.  Started walking back to the guesthouse, was enticed into a small bar en route for a drink.  Saw a food vendor outside and got a few skewers of chicken – there was a chili on one of the skewers, and it nearly did me in.   I can take almost any type of pepper, but this must have been either a GM product, or an aberrant natural one.  I could hardly breathe, nearly puked, and wound up getting a Coke to calm my throat.  A good Indian lassi would have been better, but this is Thailand…

After recovering I walked home.  There was an elephant being taken round, with the usual donation requests – I had to dodge it to get down the street.

Noticed in my alma mater’s quarterly magazine (now thrice-yearly, due to economic conditions) that there were blurbs on two of my old friends, one of whom covered the Red Sox for the Boston Herald and just jumped to the Boston Globe.  Interesting.

Next morning, had a call with a former colleague who’s a key player in the Mumbai group I might join.  That went well – found out that he was posted in Johannesburg in 1997-8, and left just a few months before I got down there.  He’s now in D.C. and I’ll probably see him in Boston in February…

Have done approximately zero sight-seeing here in Thailand, as expected.  And I’ve only taken one or two photos, which I won’t bother to post here.  I’m just hanging around, doing a bit of work and networking, and recovering from the demands of Israel.  Refreshing.

Went to the U.N. Irish Bar that night.  Saw a super-cute local girl at the bar, exchanged smiles (or so I thought), and after a half-hour or so I asked the waitress to send a drink over to her.  She seemed surprised, but did order the drink…after that, I think she was embarrassed and my plan fizzled.  These maneuvers tend to be risky, but I hated the thought of leaving the bar without making any move at all.  Not sure whether my move violated cultural norms, or whether I’m just ugly…

It’s all Thai sanuk (having fun), anyway…

Had an early morning flight back to Bangkok…got up at dawn and packed.  Got a tuk-tuk to the airport, en route saw a number of orange-robed monks walking around with their alms bowls, and I noticed a sizeable street market near the city moat selling food and flowers.  Much like scuba diving at night, when you get up at dawn you see an entirely different ecosystem.

Noticed in my dayplanner (yes, I still use one) that it was the third anniversary of my final formal day of employment (when unused vacation time was factored in) at my old job.  Yowza.  I think this streak will end pretty soon…and in fact, as I’ve been helping out on a project proposal, it in some ways has.

Got an email from friend Harsh – turns out he’d be in Bangkok that very day.  Made plans to catch up over drinks that afternoon.

Did you know that Darwin and Lincoln were born the same day?  Fascinating.  Certainly one of the more momentous birthdays in history…I can think of a flipside analogy: July 4, 1826, when Jefferson and Adams both died.

Tried to find the medical clinic at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, but I somehow passed it and then was on the outside.  Vowed to come back early the next morning, before my flight to Manila, and finally get the damned yellow fever vaccine.  Wasn’t that thrilled to get the actual shot though…my arms had hardly recovered from the pain suffered from the 3 shots I’d had a few days before.

Got to VP Towers, checked in, and saw Bob for a few minutes.  Did a few things, took a nap, and went to meet Harsh in the Erawan section of town.  Was searching for  a web café, but instead found a large British India store inside the renovated Central World Mall.  Perused the goods and bought a nice shirt, replacing the one mangled in a recent laundry misadventure.   Total time in store – 11 minutes.  I love it.

Met Harsh at the Erawan Hyatt, where he was staying.  Haven’t spent much time in 5-star hotels lately, this was a nice change.  We met in the lobby and then walked over to a Heineken outdoor beergarden, where we talked for an hour or so.  Good to catch up with Harsh, despite some of our topics – he recently moved from Bangalore to Boston and his accounts of the brutal winter and the grim economy didn’t cheer me that much.

Back to VP Tower.  Met up with Bob and his girlfriend Kate, who took me to the outskirts of Bangkok, to a huge club that was part brew/gastropub, part live music spot.  Lots of Thai families were here, eating, drinking, listening to music, and enjoying the last gasp of the weekend (it was Sunday night).  We ordered a 3-liter ‘beer tower’ and some terrific fish.  Kate, who’s Thai, took good care of us, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  Not the type of place you see many farangs (foreigners), although, like most places in Thailand these days, we saw some.  Still, a very real and local experience, not one you could glean from your Lonely Planet guidebook.

We finished up with a nuclear tom yum gai (spicy chicken soup) that was positively nuclear.  Even Kate was sweating and questioning her mortality.  I’ve always said that Indian food is way spicier than Thai, but I guess that doesn’t always hold.

Got a few hours sleep, then back to the airport.  Saw that my flight was delayed – wasn’t sure if they had changed the regularly scheduled time of the flight or if it was a one-off delay.  I should be better about checking online before heading to the airport, particularly for flights booked far in advance.  The airline sometimes emails you if they change the time, but not always, particularly if it’s a partner airline.

Used the extra time to track down the medical clinic and get my yellow fever vaccine.  My previous one was from Joburg in January 1999, and was due to become invalid in 3 more days.  It was a pain to find the clinic, but once I did it was just about US$15 for the shot, which took all of 3 minutes.  Check.

Walked by a large Jim Thompson silk shop en route to my gate.  Was starting to feel a bit crappy – was it the shot?  The lack of sleep?  The food and drink from last night?  I wasn’t looking forward to the 3-hour flight, but steeled myself and soldiered on.

And the flight to Manila was smooth.  The best thing?  I had no seatmates, and the seats themselves were Recaro brand – I’d only seen these seats in high-end sports cars, never in planes.  My seat was so comfortable, and spacious, even in cattle class, that I settled right in and soon I was feeling much better.  I guess I wasn’t having a reaction to the shot…

Read the Thai Airways inflight mag.  There was an Incredible India ad in there, and randomly enough a former yoga teacher of mine in Goa was featured.  Julie Martin, from Brahmani Yoga in Anjuna.  I didn’t find her classes as stellar as those taught by my teacher in Tokyo, Leza Lowitz…admittedly my standards are pretty high.  Anyway, I soon shifted to mostly practicing on my own, but it was still cool to see Julie featured in there.

Landed at Aquino Airport.  Got off the plane – and was hit with a gust of hot air.  Manila was much warmer than Bangkok.  No problem.  Got my bag, got a taxi into town.  They have a new meter taxi system, significantly cheaper than the prepaid taxi service.   Listened to the radio and talked with the driver – a few golden oldies came on during the half-hour drive.  ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ was one of them…I like this song but can’t find it on iTunes.  Maybe I have the title wrong, might be ‘Dreams’ and not ‘Head.’  Anyone?

Got to my hotel, Citadel Inn, right in Manila’s heart of darkness, P. Burgos Street.  I’ve written of this place in old posts so won’t elaborate here.  Suffice it to say that it’s a lively and crazed area.  Noticed quickly that an old favorite, Café Mogambo, was gone.  Wasn’t surprised – the place was managed into the ground and it had gotten progressively less fun over the years.  But I had fond memories of going there with friends Eric and Abbie and playing jenga with the barstaff there years ago.

I love Filipinos.  Everyone says hello to you on the street.

Went out fairly hard that night, something in the air here.  But I behaved and got to bed before the sun came up.

Checked email the next morning – to my dismay I got an email from friend Kathy, an old pal from my Lake Sunapee (New Hampshire) days.  Her mom had passed away unexpectedly and Kathy was understandably badly shaken by this.  She had helped me when my mom died years ago, I replied to her email and also made a note to call her that night at a decent hour.

Manila is a great shopping town, and I was in sore need of some fresh stuff, so hit a few malls.  One, Powerhouse Mall, is one that’s nearby Makati City, where I was staying.  I’d gone running (literally) around this mall several times, but never thought to go in, I had a few go-to malls already.  But I heard that some of my fave shops – British India, Zara, Marks & Spencer – were all in this mall, and given the proximity I decided to check it out.  And it was excellent – I got nearly everything I needed there, with only a quick trip to the Glorietta branch of British India for a final t-shirt.  No need to go to the distant (but impressive) SM Mall of Asia – saved a couple hours right there.  And much of what I bought was marked down – I was getting shirts for US$10-15.  Not sure what that says about my fashion tastes…

Noticed a Max Brenner chocolate shop/bar at Greenbelt Mall, where I meandered towards the end of the day.  Max Brenner’s an Israeli chain – you don’t see that many of its stores, and Manila’s probably not an intuitive place to find one.  But Manila surprises you – it’s malls are sophisticated and there’s a reason why Hong Kongers are happy to jump on a plane here.

Took a cab that night to Malate, dinner with former colleague Vince.  Last time we’d seen each other was at my 40^th birthday party, at Ciboney Bar nearby.  Ciboney was now closed, and had become a godless Offtrack Betting parlor.  Ugh.  Met Vince this time at Casa Armas, my standby Spanish joint in Manila.  Was glad to see the maitre d’, Jun, still there – it’s a timeless place and he’s such a friendly fellow.  Had a great time – Vince is a terrific guy, we traded gossip and news, and ate tapas and paella, with a few beers and a pitcher of sangria.  I don’t think the RP has drunk-driving laws, but Vince did leave most of the sangria to me, he was driving.

I was hoping to run into Jaime, a Spaniard I’d met last May, my previous visit here.  But he wasn’t at the bar, his usual hangout.  Anyway, I might come back to Casa Armas before flying out of Manila in early Feb.

Watched hours and hours of the Obama Inauguration that night and early morning.  Was more than pleased to see the last (one hopes) of Laura Bush’s medicated smile…and Bush’s apelike facial expressions.  So ignorant, these two, so small, and yet so much damage caused.  Please, America – never again.

Huge crowds on the National Mall.  They wheeled Dick Cheney out in a chair – he hurt his back moving his crap.  Nice metaphor.  I think he’ll be dead in a year.

This might have been a defining moment in my lifetime.  This needs to work, Obama needs to come through.  I don’t want to see a world where China’s the dominant power – even in its depths (i.e., the past 8 years), the U.S. is generally an admirable, well-intentioned land.  Let’s get back there, folks.

My mother would have loved this event.

I sighed when Obama took the oath, even though the Chief Justice flubbed the wording.  Later I heard that they had to do it a second time at the White House.  Leave it to the Republicans to screw up a 35-word ceremony.  Hopefully this isn’t one of those key steps on the way to becoming a banana republic…

At least now Bush would no longer have the power to order an Iran attack.

Took a break from the endless coverage to visit Bandidos bar, where I played a couple rounds of jenga and beat the bargirls there.  One was pretty good, but I pulled a move from the heavens and won by a hair.

Got up the next day and switched the news back on.  The time diff with the East Coast was 13 hours, so the Obamas were still cycling through the 10 balls.  A bit repetitive, but hey, Michelle Obama’s a fox and I’m happy to see her 10 times.

Read a few magazines and did a bit of work prep.  Took a brief nap, went for a good run, then headed out to Fort Bonifacio to meet friend Bettina for dinner.  We met at Barcino, a very nice Spanish place.  Had an enjoyable dinner, talked with Bettina and her friend about diving…Israel…U.S. politics…and, of course, Spanish wine and food.  Walked out of there feeling like a burgermeister…

Next morning, headed to the airport to fly to Cebu.  The cabbie didn’t want to use his meter.  I asked how much…he said 600 pesos.  I told him to stop the cab and let me out.  I had a hangover and didn’t feel like negotiating with a rip-off artist.  That figure was simply insulting, it should cost 200.  I got him down to that swiftly and we drove on.  I think he felt pretty damn sheepish about trying to screw me – but I was happy I had been strident, I just despise cabbies who try to get away with stunts like that.

Got into Cebu, one of my favorite cities.  Had missed the Sinulog festival by a few days.  Really need to come to town for that one of these years, they celebrate the city’s patron saint, the Santo Nino (baby Jesus), the icon for which was brought here by Magellan and his men (I think).

Very hot here, hotter than Manila.  But I can take it.

Checked into Casa Rosario, a great little pension right near Osmena Fountain, in the heart of the city.  Same welcoming people there.

Traded texts with a former girlfriend, Faith, who I’d be seeing here at some point.  When I’m in the RP I always feel relatively popular…

Had a bit of work to do, primarily a phone call with a former client.  He didn’t ring at the appointed hour, so I had to leave my hotel room and take my notes and pen with me around town while I took care of errands.  I think returning to work will be hardest for me in terms of process – I’m an organized guy and dislike daily surprises and disruptions.  I can deal with ‘em, but prefer people to have their shit together and do what they say.  The content will not pose a problem, at least I think it won’t – I like getting into the content and am quite good at interpreting data and telling stories.

Got a call from friend Steve in Dumaguete.  I’ll go visit him in a few days and go diving there.  Should be a nice stint.  Dumaguete is such a cool little place.

Went for a run at the outdoors sports center.  Even at 7 p.m. it was 28 Celsius, the run was good but hard.  I need to get more sleep, really.

At the sports center there are all manner of classes – aerobics, dancing, etc.  You see little kids learning to do the major dances, and they’re already pretty good.  No wonder Filipinos are so good at singing and dancing – they get an early start at places like these, which are for the general public and cheap as chips.  My track entry fee is about US$0.30.

Showered and went out.  Client still hadn’t called – oh well, I can’t control everything.  I had called him at 2 p.m. on Skype and spoken with him, but he was running out and promised to call back at 5 p.m., which hadn’t happened.  I can be a real control freak, but decided not to worry about it…things would play out and we’d speak at some point.  Had dinner at the outdoors Larsian BBQ area, which is basically a square area lined with competing BBQ vendors.  Had a nice chunk of blue marlin, some chicken, and pork skewers.  Total bill:  164 pesos, or US$3.50.  Then did a round of bar-hopping, stayed out fairly late, and turned it.  Normal night in Cebu City, the Queen (or Pearl) of the South.

Will go to see Dr. Pardis, the chiropractor here, later today.  Dr. P has helped me immeasurably and whenever I’m in Cebu I go see him.  Back is currently fine, but who knows what’s brewing – I am a big believer in preventative medicine.

I’ll stop here.  Enjoy your week, watch Obama’s progress, and see you later.  Over and out.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 at 9:57 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.