Plan B

I’ve been asking some of my colleagues if my company would allow me to go on unpaid leave for a year and so far I got bad responses. This ain’t right, since it is unpaid, though I get the risk of being replaced by somebody and I myself would be on floating status. Worse, the company would allow me to go on with my leave with my last paycheck. Frankly, there’s a part of me saying that I should risk everything to find happiness. On the other hand, I can also go with the allowed 6 days of block leave but not to South America anymore. It gives me like 21 days of vacation since I only work three days in a week. Twenty-one days for a journey to find myself and what life has to offer, into Tibet and Nepal.

Gap Year?

I've been thinking of going on a Gap Year since 2007 and until now it hasn't materialize. The first thing that comes to my mind is South America. There are a handful of countries that I can visit without the need to apply for a visa, Brazil in particular. I actually have plans of going to the east coast (NY and DC) later this year but the travel bug has been biting me all over again and now I've been thinking of going on a backpacking trip to South America.

I'm tired of the rat race and I believe that I really need to do this to find myself.

Rainy Days

Good morning guys. It was a rainy morning when I went to work today. I had to go out of my usual way just to get to my office. It reminded me of the things that I’ve been going through lately. That life has a lot of ups and downs, but sometimes we have to go around it, perhaps to avoid getting wet or worse being soaked. Life always has its way of getting us into a lot of trouble and problems but no matter how hard where we are into right now, we have to keep our composure and faith, and of course to keep swallowing the bitter pill called life.

Que Pasa?

I missed writing and updating my blog. I've been busy with my life for the last four years. First and foremost, I moved from my previous job with Aviva to one of the local banks here in Singapore and almost three years after, moved to another bank, hopefully it'll be for good.

Well, I started to gain weight in early 2007 so I began hitting the gym and I was able to trim myself down again, to the point of being underweight, plus some stretch marks on my lower back. I also got hitched in October 2008 and I spent time traveling back and forth to the Philippines to visit my friends and family in 2007 and 2008.

I was also in the US from May-June 2010 to celebrate my big "three-oh" in Las Vegas. I will be sparing you guys from reading, just wanted to keep you updated on more or less what happened to me in the last four years that I was gone.

I'm Back!

It's been four years and five days since I last posted on this blog. A lot has changed and I'll be creating a separate entry for the changes that I've made in my life. Right now, I have more time to keep everybody updated on what's happening to me. Thanks for reading!

Stucked - Suratthani , Thailand (09/25/2006)

It was 1:15 PM and I found myself inside a public bus going to Phuket town proper hoping that I'll be able to catch a van to Suratthani and from there, I'll catch an overnight train to Bangkok.

The bus was slow, I had regrets of not taking a van from Patong that goes all the way up to Bangkok, but I've wanted to emphasize budget travelling, hence I took the public transport which was really slow. I arrived the town proper at around 2:00PM and I flagged a motorbike that took me to the travel agent which I had a van reservation with. I was late, as expected, and the next van will be leaving an hour later so I chilled out for a while, sipping some cola on a local restaurant while killing some time. The van left at exactly 3:00 in the afternoon and it only took 4 hours to reach the town of Suratthani. I got off on a shopping mall that have hired motorbikes so I asked one of them to take me to the train station. "Sahtahnee Rotfai", as I mumbled these words, the motorbike driver told me that he had to charge me 120 Bahts, contrary to the amount that I was expecting. I didn't bother to argue since I was in a hurry and off we went to the railway station.

Drizzling as it was, I was clinging on the shoulders of the motorbike driver as he literally zoomed past cars, other motorbikes and traffic lights. Probably he noticed that I was on a hurry. The train was scheduled to leave at around 8:45PM but the ticket agent told me that the train will be delayed indefinitely due to the muddy tracks. I haven't had a complete meal that day so I checked out some stores that sells chicken barbecue on stick and some sticky rice on banana leaves. It was great experience, eating like a local and the food was filling.

The train arrived 2 hours behind schedule, when I was using the restroom, without my knowledge. I can't blame anybody except myself for not being conscious of what happened. For a few minutes that I used to answer the call of nature, I had to spend the night in this small town of Thailand. I tried to talk to the station assistant manager and luckily, he ordered the ticket agent to refund my payment. I made another reservation, this time for the first train the following day which will be leaving at 10:40AM going to Bangkok. The man at the agent was also kind enough to tell me about the cheap inns near the train station.

Queen Hotel, as it is named, was very far for the royalty, even the subjects won't agree to it's name. The TV only had three channels, all of them in Thai, and the bed was damn hard. I felt the springs of the matress on the other side of the bed, probably the side which was used more often. The worst part is the toilet, though it has water, you can see the brown sediments on the toilet bowl, probably not being cleaned for a few months. I really wanted to advice the reception counter staff to use muriatic acid in cleaning their tiles, sinks and other porcelains but I didn't bother anymore since I'll only be staying with them for the night.

The Beach - Koh Phi Phi, Thailand (09/24/2006)

The van which was suppose to take me to the port of the main town Phuket was a few minutes late. It was already 7:00AM and the clouds were dark. I was thinking of cancelling my trip because I know that I'll just be disappointed.

A van later on pulled up in front of the place where I am staying, and without hesitation, I opened up the door and tried to get inside. The driver asked for my receipt and he told me that they were to pickup another person not me. Much to my embarrassment, I quickly had to go out and I know that I turned red when I did that because all the people were looking at me. They thought that I am a Thai and thought I will communicate to the driver in Thai. Then another van pulled up and this time I was right. I was the last one to be picked up and we headed to Phuket Town.

The port was packed of tourists and locals alike when I arrived and there were two speedboatds that were docked side by side. I managed to get a good seat since I am one of the first who boarded. I've decided to just place my things on my seat then enjoy the view outside. As soon as we left the port, the Sun was already shining, much to my relief.

I sat on the bow(front) part of the ferry, along with some other tourists. The inhabited islands that we passed by were really fascinating. There are natural mangroves that spans hundreds or even thousands of kilometers along the coast lines. It was an amazing experience that I was still able to see a natural habitat of fishes. A few minutes had passed and the ferry stopped at Loh Phi Phi Ley, one of the two islands in Koh Phi Phi, the other being Koh Phi Phi Don. Thailand has classified Koh Phi Phi Ley as a Marine National Park, giving it a protected status which prohibits staying in the island. The government only allowed day tours and snorkelling, which we did. Aboard the ferry, there was a commotion at the back, then when I checked it out, the tourists were grabbing masks, fins and life jackets. I told myself that these Western tourists are ignorants. They can't wait for their turn. How mean I was, coming from a tropical country, I was already used to this setting, the sun, sand and the sea, heheh. I casually lined up and got my own set of snorkel gear.

The water was lukewarm, and the fishes were swimming everywhere. I was able to swim and look at them closely. It was a really marvelous experience to see these fishes' different colors under the sun and the clear waters.

On the way to Koh Phi Phi Don, we passed by Maya Bay and we were not able to go to the exact place where the movie, The Beach was filmed. The tour guide told us that they only allow smaller boats to visit Maya Bay, much to my disappoitment. From there, we headed to Koh Phi Phi Don where a buffet lunch was waiting for us, beyond my knowledge that it was included with what we paid for. The tour alone was already worth every penny of what I paid for. This is the part of Koh Phi Phi which is habited by the locals. Everything was there, from tours to souvenir shops, to restaurants. Now I know where will I stay next time, and from there, I can easily go to Maya Bay by renting a small outrigger boat for a few hundred Bahts. I can't believe myself that this place was devasted by a tsunami in December of 2004, but nature has it's own way of rebuilding itself, rapidly, that it was still able to maintain its beauty like nothing has happened.

It was a tiring but fulfilling day. I was asleep on the ferry, on it's way back to the port of Phuket town. Then from there, there was a van waiting for me that shuttled me back to my place.

Let There Be Water - Phuket, Thailand (09/23/2006)

Waking up with a slight hangover from the previous night's session, I had to go straight to a local coffee shop to give myself some kick in. When will I ever learn of not drinking too much?

Oh well, there's not much to do for this day since the weather was not cooperating with me. I just paid for my scheduled Phi Phi Island tour, hoping it will be a sunny day tomorrow. I kept on walking through the market after I went to the travel agency. It was filled with everything, from linen clothes, batik clothes, fake signature bags , to accessories made of shell and assorted dvds. I am sure that my friends will enjoy shopping here come February because there a lot of things to buy. For now, I have to enjoy the island myself. I've expected that the weather will not be that good compared to when I first went here last April which is summer here in Southeast Asia.

I just killed my time browsing the web, and I was able to read that there are a lot of scams involved when you try to cross Laos from Nong Khai, Thailand. I already expected that I'll be in for a ride, much similar to the one that I've experienced in Cambodia. Maybe I just want to prepare myself, or at least try to.

I had to sleep early so I won't miss the van that will take me to the port of Phuket Town, 15 kilometers from Patong Beach.

Junkie - Phuket, Thailand (09/22/2006)

I had my first complete sleep in weeks.

I started my day by having a breakfast at Starbucks. A brewed coffee will surely make your day right. Then I had to look for a money changer, where I had to change some US Dollars to Thai Bahts. The best exchange rate that I saw was 37.14 Bahts per US Dollar.

I was still figuring out how will I arrange the leg from Vientiane to Hanoi and what are the best cities to stop by. Patong beach is full of people, from weekend travellers, to backpackers, to family and corporate gatherings. It is a place to be, but not yet the place to be. I've decided that whatever it takes, I will be going to Maya Bay, in Phi Phi Island, or as the locals call Kho Phi Phi. I also checked the nearby beaches, like Surin Beach which is about 20 kilometers from Patong Beach and it was a dead place, so I've decided to just go back to my room and rest for a while. It's good that there are motorbikes that you can rent or ask someone to drive you around for a fee. At first, I was thinking of hiring a left-hand drive 4WD Suzuki Samurai but I forgot that my driver's license was expired already so I had to scrap the idea. I just went to my room and just had some shots of Bacardi with Coke before passing out for the afternoon.

It was already 7:00PM when I heard my tummy. I ate at a local street-side Thai noodle stall. I had a pork, beef and seafood mixed noodle, for 40 Bahts. The food was amazing, and just as expected, they thought I am a Thai when I said, Kip Tan Krap. It was obvious that I cannot understand the waitress who took my order when she told me the amount of the food that I ate in Thai.

Then came the moment that I've been waiting for, booze time. I thought I had enough, but hell no. I started my second session at around 8:00PM. I went to Banana Disco, it's the hippest club in Patong, as far as I'm concerned. But it is less compared to the clubs that I've been in Manila. I paid 200 Bahts for the entrance and it included two consumable drinks. I had two bottles of Bacardi Breezer Lemon for a change. It's good, and it didn't have the bitter after-taste.

It's still early and the place was already packed with foreigners and locals. I notice that some are the elite and the others are the elite-wannabe, just like me, hehehe. I've noticed two drunk caucasian chicks, probably Australians, checking me out and there's this group of white guys, probably Australians too, checking the two ladies. I heard that they were talking about rugby, and most probably they are rugby players because of their built. I had to find a way out before they'll gang up on me because of envy, hehe.

I didn't notice the time and it was already 10:00PM when I went to another bar called, Tiger Disco. I had to shell out another 200 Bahts for the entrance, for being a foreigner. This policy really sucks and I hate it. This time I had two bottles of Heineken beer.