Postcards from the edge

Bago pa umiral ang aking katamaran, bago pa manlabo ang aking pang-alala sa king Chinese adventure, ise-share ko na ang ilang photos na aking kinuha. hope ya enjoy viewing these as I enjoyed taking these shots. 

This is the gate to the Forbidden City or otherwise known as the Palace Museum. Ganyan talaga sya kalaki, lending truth to my theory na lupain talaga ng size queens ang China.  

Nung i-upload ko ito sa Flickr, ang caption ko dito ay "every home should have these". Door Lions po ito, and ideally placed in the main entrance of Chinese houses. Of course, these lions should be in proportion with the house they are guarding. Kahit po sila size queen, nag-iisip din naman sila, noh! 

One of the many throne rooms. This apparently belongs to the emperor. The empress her her own throne, in another building! Pero aminin, ang building na ito ay nasa likod ng building ng emperor. Na-realize ko tuloy, pag pala empress ka, lagi mo tanaw ang puwitan ng emperor. Mwahahaha! 

This was taken in the imperial garden, which is filled with flowering plants, ancient trees and a number of these huge gazebos (or pavillion daw, sabi nung literature). By the placements of these structures, I imagined they served as rest stops for the empress and her huge entourage when she's walking around this equally huge garden.  

When I saw the bark of this particular tree, two words came into my mind: SLEEPY HOLLOW. Aminin, nai-imagine ko na lalabas dito si Christopher Walken sakay ng kanyang kabayo. If you look at it longer, you can almost see a face peering out. Awooo! This tree is said to be more than 300 years old. 

This is the Temple of Heaven. This is not part of the Forbidden City but the grounds surrounding this temple is said to be 4 times the size of the Forbidden City. Most of it is just trees and gardens, though. This massive pagoda is at the center. May religious function ito nung panahon ng hindi pa komunista ang China. The Temple is wooden at wala raw ni isang pako! Super wooden joints ang drama. Made me remember my wish to be a carpenter. 

This is the Summer Palace, where the royal family retreats pag di na nila ma-take ang init ng Beijing during summer. The Empress Dowager (my idol) was said to have supervised the building of this massive complex, which embraces a beautiful lake where freshwater pearls are abundant. This was taken from a boat I took to cross the complex. Masakit kaya sa paa lakarin, noh!? 

A closer view of the Palace, which is not open to the public. At saka, kahit open siya, matarik ang hagdan paakyat sa kanya! Hindi ko pinangarap akyatin ito on foot. The Empress Dowager was said to have used the Chinese army's entire war supply of silver to use as flooring of this palace. O di ba, ano'ng laban ni Mrs. Marcos sa kabonggahan?  Ayun, natalo tuloy sila sa giyera. Hihihi!

A view of the beautiful lake in the Summer Palace complex, kasama pa ang kamag-anak ni Grandma Willow. Ayun si Pocahontas, may payong na pink!

Parang ang haba na nito. I'll post the next photos tomorrow. Abangan! 

Could it be magic?

In the last few days I have seen (through cable TV and the internet) the frenzy surrounding the world-wide release of the final Harry Potter book. I read that UN workers in Afghanistan were able to purchase the much-hyped book through a clever logistics company. Imagine that. The world indeed gets smaller every day. Fortunately, Cambodia is insulated (for now) from this frenzy, except for the frequent airing of the last Harry Potter film at HBO. Its close neighbors Bangkok and Saigon have succumbed, I think, to Potter-mania but that hasn't happened here in quaint Phnom Penh.

Buti na lang!

I am not a fan of the Harry Potter books. I know that I'm probably in the minority on this but it is the truth. And please don't tell me that I am probably one of those critics who haven't even read any of the books. I did. I tried, at least. It was 1998 when I held the first Harry Potter book. A friend bought it and he was clearly enamored of the story. Since I somewhat trusted this friend's tastes in books, I gave it a go when he lent it to me. After about 20 pages, I started to skip lines and paragraphs (not a good sign). After 50 pages, I started to yawn (a really bad sign) and after about 20 pages more I couldn't hold it anymore. It failed to engage me, my open mind notwithstanding. I felt the same way reading 'The Celestine Prophecy', which sent me to sleep, in the 3 times that I attempted to read the book (I didn't even go near its sequel).

This would not be the end of it, however. In 2004, I visited my friend in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. I was coming from Cambodia, I stayed in her house for a week before traveling to Bangkok to attend the AIDS Conference. She let me stay in her teen-age son's room. I had forgotten to bring a book for my nightly reading and on my second night I saw that the boy had a complete set of Harry Potter books, both in English and in Thai. I took the newest book in the series (Book 5, I believe) and started reading it before I slept. I read this each night, but didn't manage to finish it because we had to go to Bangkok. I had less than 100 pages to go. I have to admit that I was entertained, but was it enough for me to invest in the series?

Hindi rin.

My main misgiving about the Harry Potter books is, while I was entertained reading it, I had a difficult time remembering what I read shortly after I closed the book. In the nights I was reading it, I had to always back-track a few pages to remember where I stopped the previous night. Michael Crichton's books have the same effect on me. Exciting while you're in the story but ultimately, it doesn't resonate after the reading experience is over. The prose is a bit clunky, which for me is inexcusable for a British writer. Much of the magic is at best, a rehash of classic fantasy works, or too-obviously derived from contemporary culture. I'll just wait for the film to come out, thank you very much.

It is great that the Harry Potter books have (allegedly) stimulated a generation of young people to read books but they should know that there are a lot of original and better-written books in and beyond the genre. If there is anything we can learn from this phenomenon, it is that there is a whole universe of books out there to be read and enjoyed while enriching the mind in the process.

To many readers, Harry Potter has opened the door to this universe. It's time to enter.

China girl

hello my dear friends,

how are you? i hope this finds you well.

as the subject states, i am indeed almost finished
with my work here in beijing with unaids china. well,
technically i worked with the state council on AIDS
working committee (SCAWCO), which is like the PNAC (in
the philippines) and NAA (in Cambodia). they are the
PR of this round 7 global fund AIDS proposal. all i
need to do today is to do some last-minute edits,
format the document then burn CDs for distribution to
the CCM tomorrow. yesterday the chief of planning of
SCAWCO (he heads the proposal development team) hosted
a dinner at a very posh hotel to celebrate our
accomplishment. i met his bosses, and a few of his
friends who work with FHI, the World Bank and other
agencies. ang laki ng hotel, grabe, 12 buildings sa
isang compund.

it was fun, kahit ayaw na naman nilang maniwalang
bakla ako. they seriously think i'm just this fellow
who likes to makes jokes, even about himself. hay!
bayaan ko nga sila. basta ba huwag nila ako isama na
mambabae e keri lang. however, after dinner and a few
drinks, everyone suddenly thought they wanted a foot
massage. que horror! nakatimo pa sa isip ko yung foot
massage na nakuha ko sa saigon with ted, hav & kimrun
last april kaya tensed ang bakla!

buti na lang, on the way to the massage area, me
nadaanan kaming recreation area na may 6 lanes ng
bowling, mahjong tables at video arcade. nagkataon
naman na si shio (taga-WB; world bank ha, hindi warner
brothers) e mahilig pala sa video games, kaya ayun,
join ako at almost 2 hours yata kaming nakipag-barilan
sa mga zombie (house of the dead 3) at sa mga world
war II-era na japanese soldiers at samurai (di ko alam
title, kasi chinese yung name, pati yung mga bida).

entonses, past 12 na ako nakabalik dito sa hotel. at
eto, simula pa lang ako kumakayod.

pero anyway, i-share ko lang ang aking few insights
about beijing and my experience here.

1. ang laki talaga ng beijing. biro mo, ang population
ng city na ito ay malaki pa sa population ng cambodia.
everything is big: the hotels, the roads, yung mga
apartment complexes, malls (korek, me malls sila).
syempre, coming from quaint cambodia, lagi tuloy ako
nakanganga tuwing gagala kami kasi nabibulaukan talaga
ako sa laki. sana ganito din kalaki ang mga lalaki
(pero hindi e… cue 'sayang' by claire dela fuente).

2. sa ilang araw ko na pinag-stay dito, ang laki ng
itinaas ng aking level of tolerance sa mga intsik!
hehehe!

3. kahapon din habang lamay kami sa opis ng scawco,
ang lunch namin ay macdonald's. o, di ba, after so
many months nakakain uli ako ng macdo. at aminin, ang
lasa ay di kalayo ng macdo sa manila! di kamukha sa
thailand (maganda tingnan, walang lasa), or sa KL
(lahat maanghang), at sa surabaya (mas maanghang pero
halal, ching!). buti na lang walang curry (like sa
delhi) kelangan maimbestigahan ang kfc at pizza
company…

4. speaking of tolerance uli (seryoso na ito), tumaas
din ang aking tolerance sa pagkain ko ng spicy food
(good luck sa almoranas). ito kasing hotel ko e ang
cuisine ay mostly from yunnan province, na katumbas
pala ng bikol in terms of loving chili. pati yung
aking contacts sa scawco e mga taga-yunnan kaya lagi
ako kinakaray sa restaurants na yunnan ang lafang. ni
hindi man lang ako yayain kumain ng peking duck!
okray!

5. hindi rin ako na-OP (out of place pow) kasi dito
pag maaraw, lahat (boys & girls) nakapayong! ang
saya-saya!

marami pa ako gusto i-share kaya lang baka isumpa niyo
na ako sa haba nitong email ko. abangan niyo na lang
sa aking blog ang second half ng aking chinese
escapade.

starting tuesday kasi wala na ako work kaya rampa na
ang bakla to see the sights here. ang aking planned
itinerary ay temple of heaven (which is close to my
hotel), tiananmen square, forbidden city, great wall
(hindi yung buo, ha! kasi baka di na ako makabalik sa
cambodia) at summer palace na itinayo ko (empress
dowager). kasama ko ang aking chinese friend na si
pipi. yes, alam na niya ang 2 kahulugan ng palayaw
niya sa atin (mute at little girl's vagina). kasi
naman e ang first name nya WANG. kung ako e mas keri
ko na ang PIPI (kasi it denotes kakiputan–ewan!).
nasa agenda rin namin ang pagkain ng peking duck.

so there, i would say good-bye for now. i will see
some of you soon!

i love you all!

baby tsina

I left my heart in Chiang Mai

I was no more than a stray summer wind that blew over her mountain tops and blended with her cool breeze before leaving just as quickly as I came.

I spent only 3 nights in Chiang Mai to attend a short meeting of old and new colleagues and friends, and I left it too soon. It was nice to see old and familiar faces from last year's Hanoi institute and Surabaya program. Abdul and Ericka alone made the trip worthwhile. I had some apprehensions about attending, due to its proximity with my Beijing consultancy and the work I was leaving behind in Phnom Penh.

Also a welcome sight was Sirinate, a new friend I made in Kuala Lumpur 2 months back. Her mild-mannered charm (that betrays her sharp mind) continues to allure me. And her Burmese partner is also a sight to behold (a fact that wasn't lost to Abdul–naughty bitch!). It is seldom that I meet a writer whose beauty is only matched by his excellent writing skills. I wasted no time informing him that I am a fan of his works.

The hotel was marvelous–old but still regal, and the staff were very friendly. My only regret is i forgot to tip the bellboy who welcomed me when I arrived on Monday afternoon. At that time I had no Baht in me and I completely forgot about the tip in the flurry of things. 

I can't wait to return. 

After the love has gone

Tomorrow I am leaving for Chiang Mai to attend a regional meeting on sexuality. There'll be quite a few Filipinos in this meeting and I don't know most of them. And two days are not enough to get to know them so… After that I am jetting off to Beijing to work on my first consultancy outside Cambodia and the Philippines. I am very excited to do this because if I do this well, it could start my new career in China. And I've always wanted to see the Forbidden City and the Great Wall also.

However, I am leaving Phnom Penh with a heavy heart. Professionally, there's a project that's long been delayed that will be delayed further because I am leaving. I had wanted to finish it before this trip (which had been scheduled since last month) and this consultancy (which was confirmed only 2 weeks ago). I hope Tony does not get tired of hiring me.

On personal matters, Kaloy and I haven't been speaking with each other since Wednesday. I just got so irritated by his cavalier attitude towards me. On Tuesday we shopped for groceries and when it was time to pay at the cashier, he went out of the store to smoke, leaving me to sort out the goods at the counter and with no one to help me carry the bags out. Good thing the driver was alert. And when we got on our ride, he had the nerve to tel me that he intended to walk home and leave me with all the groceries. I told him if he did that, he'd find his cans of beer scattered on the sidewalk, like a trail, to our front door.

Then that night, when I told him to wake up early so we can go to the market together, he refused to go with me. I told him if he didn't go with me, i will not speak to him again till next year. So there. And I don't intend to be the first one to talk to him, even if it means leaving him without anything (fresh food or money).

I was not asking him to help me with my personal stuff. Shopping for food, which we both eat, should be a shared task. That's what makes me mad. He has exerted great effort not to be regarded as a guest in my house but as a flatmate but when it came to doing shared tasks, he balked. It's not as if he was busy working; he was just having his daily social drinks with himself. 

Anyway, as I promised myself, I wouldn't let this (him) affect me negatively. I'll focus on my trips instead.