All I wanna do

All I Wanna Do - Sheryl Crow

Last Saturday I was finally able to go to Siem Reap again. It has been almost a year since I last went to this town. My first plan to go a couple of weeks ago got shelved because of changes in my work schedule. Fortunately, this trip pushed through, even with minimal planning.

I arrived in Siem Reap about half-past 1 in the afternoon. The bus trip was as comfortable as I remembered. The new terminal of Mekong Express was less frantic before because they have organized the tuktuk drivers by issuing tickets to passengers instead of subjecting them to the barrage of tuktuk drivers offering their services to the hapless passengers. Also, this was an effective way to standardize the rates.

After checking in at the Angkoriana Hotel (wherein I got a corporate rate booking, thanks to my friend M), I immediately called the person I was supposed to meet (for a work-related thing). We had coffee at the hotel restaurant and by 4PM we were done. With the ‘business’ side of my trip finished, I was now free for the ‘pleasure’ part of my trip.

V called at 4.15PM and asked if he can see me. I said yes and within 15 minutes we were talking (and so on…) in my room. He left at around 6PM. Then Eng and I made arrangements for an intimate dinner and night-out in honor of his boyfriend’s birthday. We met in one of the bars along pub street for some beer. There I met their other friends Luc and Sophea. From Pub Street we went to Viroth’s for dinner. We had Sour Fish Soup, Chicken with Basil, Grilled Minced Pork wrapped in some fragrant leaf whose name I don’t remember now, and because it was a birthday dinner, a noodle dish. Food is good at Viroth’s, as before. The waiters are hot, too.

After dinner we went to Miss Wong for a few cocktails. I was disappointed with their Planter’s Punch, though. I can still recall the great Planter’s Punch I had at Sokha Hotel in Sihanoukville. The interiors of Miss Wong, meanwhile, is great; especially the portrait of ‘Miss Wong’ herself. I ordered a second cocktail to wash off the bad taste of the previous cocktail. Fortunately, the Tequila Sunrise was decent enough. From Miss Wong we proceeded finally to Linga Bar for the night’s main festivities. I ordered a cocktail called Naughty Schoolgirl. Nothing spectacular, but it sure packed enough punch to render me pleasantly tipsy.

When the clock struck midnight, Eng and Sophea brought out a blueberry cheesecake. It had candles and Rathanak’s name was written on a thin sheet of white chocolate. Eng had told me that Rathanak did not like big suprise parties, hence the small size of our group. Nevertheless, he looked happy with what Eng did for him and soon after we found ourselves consuming 2 kinds of vice: alcohol and sugar. I went back to the hotel at about 1AM.

After breakfast, I walked to the Angkor National Museum. This museum has been open for just a year and boasts a lavish exhibition of Khmer culture. In sipte of what the guidebook said, cameras were not allowed in the museum so I was only able to take photos of the facade. There were also audio guides available, like the ones in Forbidden City in Beijing. I decided not to use this because I am not a ‘newbie’ to Khmer culture. There are 8 galleries inside, all equipped with audiovisual presentations that provides context and background on each exhibition. The galleries include 1,000 Buddha images, Pre-Angkor civilization, Khmer religions, great Khmer Kings, Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, stone inscriptions, and ancient Khmer fashion.

As can be expected, the Angkor Wat gallery is the most magnificent of the galleries. The audiovisual presentation was projected into a series of screens around a model of the famous temple. Unfortunately, the spotlight that’s supposed to focus on Angkor Wat wasn’t working properly, hence, diminishing my experience. I bought a coffee mug from the souvenir shop. Overall, the museum was a nice place to visit. It was clean, cool, and high-tech. Staff were friendly, too. In terms of cultural (archeological? not sure on this) value, I kind of feel more for the museum here in Phnom Penh. Some people may find the entrance fee ($12 for foreigners, $3 for Khmer) prohibitive, too.

After this I met Eng and we went to the market to buy the things he needed for lunch. Eng cooked pork menudo while Rathanak made salad with a nice, peppery dressing. Sophea joined us; he was returning to Phnom Penh at 2PM. When he left, Eng, Rathanak and I walked to AHA to meet Loven, a fellow blogger. Eng and Rathanak have known him but it was my first time to meet him. The coffee and Loven’s company were great. Joleif, the Norwegian guy I met from CouchSurfers was finally able to join us. Since arriving in Siem Reap the day before, we had been exchanging sms as to when and where we can meet. After a lot of false starts, we finally met. I introduced him to the rest of the group.

When we left AHA, Rathanak and Joleif proceeded to Artisans D’Angkor while Eng and I went to my favorite shop that sold Khmer sausages. We then met them at Artisans. We browsed, marvelling at the nice products and the exorbitant prices. Since Joleif and I hadn’t gone to the Night Market, Eng and Rathanak promised to take us after dinner. In the meantime, we stopped at Pub Street to cool off with beer. I had a couple of mugs of Angkor beer and found myself suddenly and happily tipsy. We then had dinner at one of the food stalls in the old market. I had yellow noodles with Khmer sausage. Then we were off to the night market. Lots of things to buy, although I think most of them can be found in the markets here in Phnom Penh too.

For a night cap, we went to have dessert at Hotel de la Paix. I saw the current exhibit that Don wrote about in his blog. We lounged at the monstrous and super-comfortable couches and I met some of Rathanak’s friends who were there too. Joleif, Eng, and I talked to each other because the rest of them were francophones. The hot chocolate and almond croissant were great. Unfortunately, the croissant was too big and I couldn’t finish it. We took some photos in the hotel. I loved the interiors because I like the symmetry and simplicity of Art Deco.

The four of us took a tuktuk and after dropping off Eng and Rathanak, Joleif and I shared a quiet moment as I took him to his guesthouse. He was flying to Laos the next morning and we probably won’t be seeing each other again so our good-byes were kind of poignant. When I got back to the hotel I realized I was very tired. I was happy to find out they can arrange for a male masseur. I then got a 90-minute massage that relaxed me immensely.

The next morning, Eng and I met at the Blue Pumpkin, bought some provisions (quiche, brioche, and focaccia) and took a 7AM trip to Phnom Penh. By 1PM I was already back in the flat, catching up with Vic for lunch. By nightfall, I am reminiscing memories of this recent trip, the first in which I didn’t lay eyes on any temple.

Deck the halls

This post was inspired by The Spool Artist. 

I love greeting cards. I love receiving them. I love sending them. Back in the Philippines, I would often go to my favorite bookstore (National Bookstore is a favorite, then Powerbooks later) or stationary shop (Gift Gate or Blue Magic) to browse greeting cards. I’d buy cards that caught my eye even if there was no specific occasion. I’d store them and when the need arises, I’d just select from my stock (which was good) or shop for the card (even better!) that would be appropriate for whoever is receiving it. If i had lots of time, I’d even make my own cards for some really special people.

Since becoming (sort of) tech savvy, I’ve lessened buying these cards and opted to make electronic cards instead. Sometimes I’d browse through on-line greeting card sites but most of the time I’d just whip up something in CorelDraw then email it. My cards were simple then, but very personalized.

When I arrived here in Cambodia in 2004, one of the first things I noticed is that stationary shops do not carry greeting cards. Even the supposed upscale shops have only the littlest selection. I remember buying greeting cards whenever I traveled to make up for this lack (B2S in Bangkok, Kinokuniya in Kuala Lumpur, and Borders in Singapore, among others).

I started making my own electronic Christmas card in 2004. The 2004 Christmas card was very simple and easy to do. No photos, just plain text and the simplest graphics. I think I spent about 15 minutes designing this card. Nevertheless, I injected my own brand of humor in the text. Friends and (a few) relatives loved it.

In 2005, I performed in a drag show for the first time. It wasn’t my first time to be in drag; I did that in an office Christmas party in 1999. In between the shows, my friends and I would practice putting on make-up and dressing up and hamming it up for the cameras. In a pinch for an idea for a card, I decided to use one of these photos as the main image. The colors of the original photo were not very pretty; it was tinged green so I tweaked the photo a bit then designed a card all around it. The design of the whole card sprung from the photo. I christened myself Lil’ Miss Naughty. The design takes off from the ‘wanted: dead or alive’ posters we often see in western/cowboy films. The fonts, the images, and the color scheme all pay homage to the western/cowboy films design and imagery. A lady friend couldn’t get over the 4 layers of false eyelashes I wore on each eye (two up and two down). I was just happy at how it turned out.

In 2006, I did another drag show with my friends. This was the show that I am most proud of. All our numbers featured the music of Dame Shirley Bassey. We called the show, ‘Oh, Shirley!’ and while we were selling tickets to the show, some people actually thought that Ms Bassey was indeed coming to Phnom Penh. Now ain’t that a kick in the head. But I digress. One of the more applauded numbers on the show was a back-to-back number, where I lipsynched to “Climb Every Mountain” while another did “I Don’t Know How to Love Him”. Of course, I was the nun and the other queen was the whore. I decided to use my photo taken in this number. I named myself Sistah Blistah (inspired by Alanis Morisette). Since the photowas taken inside a club, I decided on a disco-esque motif. My aunt, who was living in the States, called my Mother in Manila to tell her how cute I looked in my Christmas card. My mother didn’t know what she was talking about so I showed the card, which was the wallpaper in my iBook. My mother remarked on how we looked alike.

By 2007 I had somewhat retired from the drag show scene. Nevertheless I realized that I had so many photos from my last performance in 2006 that I can still make a drag-themed card for yet another year. I chose my photo from the opening number of the show because in this number I was wearing a fabulous robe with ruffled collar. I was tweaking the photo when an idea struck me. Why not turn this image into a playing card? This led to my monicker for the 2007 holiday season: the Queen of Hearts. I designed a red & white starburst background for the photo, with bubbles, well, bubbling out. It’s like a snowed-on Japanese Samurai flag, so stark in its color scheme of white, red, and green. My boyfriend that time liked this card so much he used it as wallpaper in his PC in his office.

So now, what’s for 2008? The inspiration hasn’t struck me on what kind of card I will make. I’m still retired from the drag scene, in spite of a false start a few weeks back. I am very open to other people’s ideas and suggestions. I am tempted to not dress up like a lady this year, though to be candid, as a fellow, I’m just not visually interesting. A couple of weeks ago, tired and listless from too many hours in front of the computer, I wore my old wig, wrapped a red dupatta round my head and cam-whored by myself. About an hour later of selecting and tweaking the photos, one of the photos turned out like this:

I posted a bunch of similar photos in my facebook. I like to call it the hybrid of two iconic images: Afghan Girl (in National Geographic) and Sadako (Ringu film).

A friend, upon seeing the photos, said she’s looking forward to what my Christmas card will look like this year. Pressure’s mounting!

Not too late

As the Filipino proverb goes, ‘Huli man daw at magaling, maihahabol din’ (or, better late than never?). So here it is, after 6 months, the 6 winners of this blog’s anniversary CD Life’s A Bitch! Music from the blog! (Palakpak, mga dukha!)

In no particular order:

Ging

Gibo

Gerry

Mai

Nina

Blue-bourgeoise

Congratulations! I will send you an email to make arrangements on how I can send you your CD. Thank you for joining this little (self) promotion!

It’s going to take some time

Last night I caught ‘House’ over at AXN. The main case of the episode involved a 600-pound man whose disease turned out to have absolutely nothing to do with his most obvious symptom: his morbid obesity. Like other cases in the series, most of the time was spent on the efforts of the medical team to find out what was wrong with the man, as their assumptions and theories (and disparaging remarks from a member of the team, and it’s not House) are shot down like birds during open season. This particular episode struck me because in many ways, the obese man and I are alike in many ways.

Well, let me just clarify that I do not tip the scales at 600 pounds. But like the man in the episode I love to cook (ergo, to eat). I also work mostly from a home office. I have few friends. I am almost always single but manages to have an active sex life (he, through a series of female sex workers while I, through a few, well-placed fuck-buddies). I rarely exercised (emphasis on the ‘d’–more on this later). I drink periodically but never smoke. And, my blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol levels are all normal to the point of boredom. But like him, I still got sick.

My surgery, the ensuing complication, and my somewhat protracted recovery got me thinking really hard. Gallstones are not directly linked to obesity, though it is a predisposing factor. But having it, and getting my gall bladder removed really provided the impetus that, yeah, it’s probably time to seriously consider taking steps towards losing all these weight. Not that it hasn’t crossed my mind already.

I mean, I’m not the obese guy who loathes himself for being fat. I was a skinny boy who didn’t gain weight until I was 11 years old, I think. Sure, I went from being plump to chubby to fat then back to chubby, to plump, then fat again in a span of 25 years. And yes, I also had my share of teasing and taunting because of my weight and ineptitude in sports. However, I did not emerge from these psychologically scarred. If anything, my self-esteem remained intact, probably because I have possessed a heightened self-awareness at a young age.

I remember laughing off an enemy’s poorly written barrage of insults that focused on my weight, in reaction to my attack on his despicable character and questionable intellect. But I digress. The point that I’m trying to get at is simply this: I realized that at my age (at any age, if you ask health professionals, I’m sure), my weight is simply intolerable. While my blood chemistry remains normal (in spite of that minor blip with the gallstones), I should take the opportunity to really work on losing weight. For my health, most of all. So I can continue living as the devoted companion of my friends and the scourge of my enemies (joke!).

My weight has fluctuated over the years because of many reasons. A mostly sedentary lifestyle with sporadic periods of physical exertion, stress eating, joyful eating, adjusting to a new country, among others. I gained a lot of weight between 2003 and 2004 when things became untenable at work in Manila. In my first year here in Cambodia, I lost a lot of weight adjusting to the new food, new water, new mode of transportation, etc. I ballooned again in 2007 when professional frustrations and relationship nuisances seemed to have converged right at my doorstep. And then, I got sick in March 2008.

In between these fluctuations, I took diet pills and diet supplements, enrolled in gyms but didn’t continue after only weeks of training, became a vegetarian for almost 2 years (but didn’t really lose that much weight–improved my bowel movement tremendously, though), did yoga and meditation, etc. In early 2007 our family doctor prescribed an appetite suppressant but it worsened my insomnia, increased the break-out of my pimples, and gave me palpitations so I stopped taking it altogether.

Right after my surgery, the same doctor prescribed a couple of post-operative medications that will help replace the lost function of my gall-bladder, resolve the anemia which I got after the surgery, and to help me lose weight (jump-started by my surgery, I think), a mild form of appetite suppressant. He also advised me to exercise. He suggested walking. Phnom Penh is a city of parks. I imagined it’d be a suitable option.

So I started to walk right after coming back from Manila. I would wake up at 5.30 in the morning, put on some shorts, a white shirt, socks and sneakers, clip on my iPod shuffle, and hang a white facetowel over my shoulders. Then I’d proceed to Hun Sen Park, or the Vietnamese Friendship Park, or the riverside and walk for an hour or so. I also started eating less and watching what I ate (though this may be difficult to discern because I still love to cook for my friends, eat in restaurants, etc.). After about a week or so, I began to feel better about walking, about being vigilant on what I was eating. I didn’t take the appetite suppressant because I was afraid of its side effects, despite my doctor’s advice to the contrary.

Then I started losing weight. At first I didn’t weigh myself regularly. But I felt clothes becoming loose, especially around the waist. Then I discovered old clothes that I couldn’t wear anymore suddenly fitting me again. Friends began to notice before I did. You can even compare my two photos in the previous post, taken one year apart, to see the difference. And I began to feel good. I mean, the aesthetic aspect of losing weight is, of course, very flattering to the ego but I think feeling good physically and psychologically are far more important benefits. I find that now I have more strength, stamina, and more zest to enjoy life. So far, I’ve lost about 12 kg in 8 weeks.

I am, however, not perfect. I have been sort of a truant on walking. I still walk, though not everyday as I did in the last 6 weeks. In fact, I think I didn’t walk for about a week before taking it up again. I would probably need some other form of exercise, just for variety. The gym comes to mind. Despite this setback, however, I am determined to give this all my best. I will see this challenge through and a year from now, I promise to be very close to my ideal weight. It took me a while to become huge. So I know it’s going to take me some time as well to lose these excess weight. But I am willing to wait. After all, patience and persistence are virtues of winners.

Sure looks good to me

I first met my friend Derick’s mother and younger sister more than year ago. When Derick told me that they were coming to Phnom Penh on holiday, I was eager to meet them. Because Derick had earlier told me that his mother and sister were both beauty queens in their home province of Samar (Miss Samar in different decades). Images of these gorgeous but aloof mestizas from an island province’s alta sociedad, regal in their gowns and crowns, waving to the darker-complexioned and mud-heeled masses (hehehe) flickered inside my mind.

When I finally met them, they struck me as good-natured and down-to-earth. Both seem to be mildly embarrassed when they discovered that I knew of their ‘celebrity status’. Their company made my supposed business trip to Koh Kong (with Derick) fun and interesting. Olga regaled me with tales involving her experiences in beauty contests and her gay entourage of make-up artist, hairdresser, stylist, walking, posing, and public speaking coach, and an assortment of groupies. Her story of how a Pitoy Moreno gown, first worn by Mother, was ‘re-constructed’ to fit the styles in the next generation of contestants like Olga and her nieces was priceless.

This year, Olga and Mother came back for a longer holiday. Though I wasn’t able to join them in their holiday in Siem Reap, we often saw each other in church and in dinners. The photo above was taken in one of those dinners. The baby is Micah, Derick and Michelle’s first born (and my god-daughter). What I’m most thankful for is that they found time to make me some new drapes for my new home. I have known of their skills in the sewing machine but I never thought they would be able to make something just for me. When I realized they were really serious, I took Derick and Olga to the market to buy fabric. We had fun shopping for fabrics and accessories. They immediately set to work right after. I would’ve wanted to watch them work but I was afraid my presence would put undue pressure. I remember I used to like watching my grandmother and mother sewing stuff in their electric Singer sewing machine (Gawd, I’m so gay!).

A few days later, my new drapes were done. I offered them to have dinner at the house, so they can also meet Vic, my room-mate. I also invited other friends that night. I cooked my so-called signature dishes: pork menudo sans tomato sauce and chicken asado. Derick and I hanged the drapes the same evening. I loved it. Olga was self-deprecating of her work but I think it’s just brilliant.

I love the way it changes with the time: during the day it allows sunlight and the breeze to pass through and at night, it provides enough cover from prying eyes. And the details are absolutely lovely as well. Very nicely done; I would’ve paid good money for it (had they allowed me). That evening, we posed for a group photo with the drapes as background. The photo didn’t give it justice, though, as it focused on us cam-whores.

Loads of thanks to Olga and Mother. I do hope to see you again, whether in Phnom Penh or in Manila. Luv you both!