The winner takes it all

I just saw the finals of The Amazing Race Asia season 2 and I am tremendously dismayed by the third place finish of the Philippine team of Marc & Rovilson. I’d been rooting for them since the start of the race and in most of the legs, they’d been performing really well, finishing first with so much aplomb. I like their self-deprecating humor and acerbic wit, which I hadn’t seen in any of the teams in this season.

While it is true that the Singapore team had managed to nip at their heels in some stages of the race, I was still rooting for them not just because of patriotic desire but I genuinely believed that among the teams, they were the most capable and their personalities were a perfect fit as well. I knew they could do it and at the start of the final leg, they did. They edged the Singaporeans and arrived at Sentosa beach well ahead of the 2 remaining teams. But disaster struck when Rovilson did the task of erecting the flags of the countries they’d been chronologically. Rovilson couldn’t figure out which flag represented what country!

And that is how the cookie crumbled. The Singaporeans arrived last but they zipped through the task to win the race. The Malaysian girls even beat them to finish second. I would like to call on Rovilson’s former History teacher to give this guy a refresher course on world history, or at the very least, flags.

Nevertheless, third place finish or not, among the teams this season, they’re still the hottest! 

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My name is not Susan

Years ago, in the Philippines, I learned through gay writer-friends that a dictionary on gay lingo was being developed. Unfortunately this development did not see fruition primarily because of the dynamic nature of gay lingo itself. The said that by the time this dictionary has seen print, the terms that it contained would have been obsolete, replaced by new terms. One could argue that this can be addressed by releasing editions of this dictionary on a regular basis. After all, more words are continually added to the English language each year so why should gay lingo be any different?

But then again, would this be financially viable to whomever publishes this dictionary? How big is the market who will snap up copies of this dictionary on a yearly basis? Even if many gay lingo terms end up on the mainstream, many think that the idea of a gay dictionary is, at best, a novelty. I remember that Ralph Galan and Ronald Baytan edited a small, pocket-sized gay dictionary. It was cute and it made for a cute gift to give your uber-butch friend or relative. I don’t know how well it did it terms of sales because I didn’t see a second edition but then publishing it might have just been a one-shot deal. I don’t really know.

One viable option, I think, is to have an on-line dictionary that can easily be updated once new information (terms and what-not) is available. Kind of like a wiki-pedia (homo-pedia?) page that can be updated by a number of homo-linguists. 

I mentioned something about how some gay terms and phrases have made it through the mainstream. I had observed this long before, mostly with my older relatives. My earliest recollection of this is an older aunt who referred to money as anda. In the early 80s, I think this was spurred by the popularity of some musicians whose lyrics where both lyrical and colloquial. The band Hotdog comes to mind. I think advertising also played a big role in this. I remember an old advertisement for a multipurpose cleaner. A girl was ready to eat her pastry but it fell to the dingy counter, so she she couldn’t eat it anymore. She gloomily sighed and hopelessly uttered, ‘Gu-tom Jones na ako!‘ Tom Jones was, still is (I think) a gay term for hungry.

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She works hard for the money

I was feeling insecure.

Starting from December and up to a few days ago, my year wasn’t starting well. Three projects that I’d been wanting to do all got the boot for various reasons. The first one, an 8-month consultancy, I declined because the budget was way too low for the type of job and for the expected output. I let that go because I (smugly) reasoned that I wasn’t desparate. Had they asked me now, I wonder how different my answer would be. The second project wasn’t as long as the first, but it was big in scope. A bit high profile because it involved the government. The proposal I submitted was already approved in principle. However, too much time spent on procrastination and waiting for something to happen led to its ultimate demise. The bilateral agency funding this project was closing shop here in Cambodia this month so there was no more time to carry out the project. Ergo, cancellation.

The third (and my last hope) was even smaller than the two projects I have mentioned but it is something I enjoy doing: facilitating a strategic planning workshop of a community-based organization. I was recommended by a friend to this new client and they asked me to come for an interview. I did and I think the interview went very well. There was rapport between us. They liked my training proposal and told me they’d confirm in a week. When the time came they told me that the planned strategic planning workshop had been postponed indefinitely. This happened on the first week of January. I was deeply disappointed.

For the good part of 2007’s last quarter I’d only been accepting teeny-tiny projects. I imagined myself on a break from work. But the truth was I never did well on vacation. Boredom quickly sets in and after a while I would feel the urge to do something or else, I’d go mad!

As the year drew to a close I got distracted by the holiday celebrations with my Filipino friends in this christmas-less country. I was looking forward to working again, counting on the two (at that time) possibilities that kept my options wide open. As the new year began and the projects started falling through my fingers like water, I began to get worried. I had bills to pay, after all: rent & utilities, my housekeeper, small loans, my credit card & life insurance (in Manila), etc. I felt I was slowly and uncontrollably descending deeper into penury.

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Roam

Last Friday evening a friend of mine arrived from Manila for a short visit. He didn’t come here to visit me, or the city, which he hasn’t before. His reason for dropping by Phnom Penh was an emotional one. He came here to see a man. Ryan stayed in his friend’s apartment and we saw each other twice during his 5-day stay here.

On Monday morning, Nill and I took him to Phsar Tuol Tum Pong, or the Russian Market, for some shopping. Ryan had gone here the day before, but Nill and I were still able to take him to sections of the market that he didn’t see previously. Ryan was all-praises for the shopping finds he discovered in this market, which is modest by comparison to the markets in Bangkok (Chaktuchak) and in Saigon (Benthan) but still unique in its own way.

For lunch we went to the Olympic Khmer-Thai Restaurant near the Russian Market. This is a branch of the main restaurant, so it is smaller and the atmosphere tends to veer on fine dining rather than the casual dining vibe of the main branch. Ryan admired the look of the restaurant, the service provided by the staff, and of course, the food. We had Som Tam (green papaya salad), Chicken with Cashew Nuts, and Fish Amok (steamed fish and curry). But what got Ryan really raving was the price. He said that these days, you won’t be able to find a similar-looking restaurant in Manila where 3 people can dine on generous servings of food for just about US$10.00.

After eating we headed to Phsar Thmey (literally, New Market), or Central Market. We didn’t come here to shop, though, because in my experience, the Russian Market has a wider selection of goods and better prices. As a long-term resident of Phnom Penh, however, Phsar Thmey is my preferred place to buy fresh sea-food, some local grocery items (coffee and patis), and fruits. We came here so Ryan can enjoy the wonderful art-deco building that houses Phsar Thmey. From the air looks like a cross sitting in the middle of Phnom Penh. From the ground, the dome at the centre of the structure will simply take your breath away, as it did with Ryan. He wasted no time having himself photographed (by moi) with the building behind him. Ryan posted these photos on his multiply page.

When the afternoon heat became a bit unberable, we proceeded to one of my favorite coffee shops, The Shop (on Street 240) to sit down and rest. I had my usual cafe latte and apple & almond muffin while Ryan and Nill had iced coffee, brownies, and another kind of muffin. Nill had to leave us for a few minutes to do something in the office. Ryan and I had some catching up to do. I’ve known Ryan since 2000, when he became a participant in TLF’s workshops, which at that time I was managing. He, along with some 60 other young MSM, sort of became my ‘kids’ because of my role in TLF. Some of them, in fact, continue to call me Mother Mike up to now. Ryan is one of them. When I left TLF in 2001, I remained in touch with him because of a colleague, Marco, who was Ryan’s boyfriend for some time.

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