Thoughts on Travel to Thailand

February 28, 2009
Makati City,
Philippines


Today has been a relaxed Saturday. One happy moment was an unexpected find at Fully Booked in Greenbelt 5. I thought the cute little blank-page journal would be perfect to fit into my shoulder bag when I travel. I have a larger-sized journal which I keep at home and which is also cat-themed.

When I got home I set the little blue journal by the side of the travel book I had for Thailand (and other SE Asian nations.)

Looking at the book's cover and the blank pages of my spanking brand new notebook, I suddenly grabbed a red pen and scribbled some verses. Not that I am aspiring to be a poetess who seeks to be published, but sometimes writing down haikus and short lines helps me "unload" my mind of subconscious worries and thoughts...or helps me to amplify happy feelings.

I was reminded of a tv show wherein the folks who traveled around their country brought pen and paper to draw sketches or write a short poem when they visited a place. In my case, I have to use my imagination since I don't think I will be in a meditative mood by the time I get to Bangkok :-)


black, dark silhouettes...
  temples against the blue sky.
forgotten god-kings.
....

soft velvet blanket
crushed under my fingertips...
blank gaze of worry
....

wood boat sways gently
   with its colorful burden.
Floating market day...
....

One day in Bangkok -
Buddhist temples and beaches.
I smell the spices.
...

changed just now to:
One day in Bangkok -
Buddhist temples and beaches.
Spices permeate the air.

Chao Phraya river -
sing songs with water and wind....
I shall listen intently.


* The Blue Cats and Butterflies cover on the journal I bought was designed by Laurel Burch. She is a self-taught artist and "flower child" who lives in California. In the 1960s she sold handmade jewelry on the streets of Sanfo.  She continues today to create vibrant images of whimsy and allure with paper and paint.

I included a picture of the journal here, because it made me think also of Thai silks in dark blue.

PICCA: Philippine International Comics, Cartoons and Animation Festival

Start:	Oct 15, '09
End:	Oct 18, '09

Information below taken from this link:
http://hugzone.multiply.com/journal/item/49/Philippine_International_Cartoons_Comics_and_Animation_PICCA_Festival

This is the first!

A colorful ambitious event celebrating the arts of cartooning, comics creation, and animation. Four days of exhibits, competition, workshops, talks, caricature sessions, book launching, recognition awards, spiced up with music and dance.

When: October 15-18, 2009

Where: SM MegaMall Atrium, SM MegaMall Art Galleries, PowerBooks, Poveda

DAY ONE, October 15 Thursday

Morning

Opening of Samahang Kartunista ng Pilipinas and Friends Exhibit

Opening of Competition Entries Exhibits

Start of Talks on Cartooning and Comics

Afternoon

Continuation of Talks on Cartooning and Comics

Cartoon Workshop for Children

Launch of “One Hundred Years of Filipino Comics” coffee table book

Evening

Parangal sa mga Tagapaglikha ng Komiks



DAY TWO, October 16 Friday

Whole Day

Samahang Kartunista and Friends exhibit

Competition Entries exhibits

Caricature Sessions at the Atrium

Talks on Animation and Intellectual Property Rights

Screening of “Urduja: and other animation shorts

Evening

Awards and Culture Night



DAY THREE, October 17 Saturday

Whole Day

Trip to Tagaytay for foreign guests and Cartoon, Comics, and Animation VIPs and friends for a taste of Pinoy cuisine and holding of on-the-spot sketching and caricaturing

The exhibits at the SM Megamall continue



DAY FOUR, October 18 Sunday

KOMIKON More exhibits, comicbook launches, merchandizes

Last day of exhibits at SM Megamall



NOTE: More details to be announced soon. Please expect slight changes in the activities as the Festival days approach. Let us join hands!

Decided: Bangkok Trip

Start:	Mar 5, '09 10:00p
End:	Mar 9, '09 2:45p
Location:	Bangkok, Thailand

I seem to be at a loss when it comes to short trips...

I'm dithering between going on a short hop to Bangkok, Macau, or sleeping the rest of the weekend here at home :-)

---------------------

Feb 23, 2008

Bought PAL ticket. Econofare. 138$ for round trip...I'm being presumptuous in thinking I can take March 9 off, but worse comes to worst...will bring laptop and do some of my work on Monday there...hehehe..*Cross fingers*

Bangkok, here I come!

Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Festival

Start:	Feb 12, '09 1:00p
End:	Feb 15, '09
Location:	Pampanga, Philippines

am unsure if I can go there..but hey, what a lovely opportunity...

The Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Festival continues to be a popular international sports aviation event. The 2006 festival featured 30 multicolored hot air balloons and more than a hundred balloon pilots from Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. It also drew an approximated 60,000 visitors to the event.

This annual event that occurs between January and February at the Omni Aviation Complex in Clark Field, Angeles City, Pampanga. It features multicolored hot air balloons with more than a hundred balloon pilots from around the world. The festival also features a number of events in skydiving, flag jumps, micro light and rocketry demonstrations, small plane fly-bys and fly-ins, remote-control airplane and helicopter flying exhibitions, freestyle aerobatics, precision maneuvers, light airplane balloon bursting, ultra-light flying formation and bomb dropping, kite-making and choreographed kite-flying, hi-start launch gliding, pylon racing, banner towing, aero-modeling symposium and races between ultra lights and motorcycles.

ZZZ Ze Muzikal

It finally pushed through...after many PMs here and there, and text messages.


I met up with Marie and Dino on February 7, 2009 at CCP to zee...ehem..I mean...see the musical version of Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah.








ZsaZsa Zaturnnah is of course the comic book super-heroine created by Filipino graphic designer and illustrator Carlo Vergara (shown in picture here with Marie and me).


I first speed-read thru the first comic courtesy of Janine, one of my software developers in a previous company. It was not only a hilarious read, but what my querying endlessly about one gay term after another probably gave my team of young people a fit of coughing and giggling (and they did know about those gay terms!)


The show was really a barrel-full of laughs, dancing and singing, fashion forward aliens (syeet..ang init siguro nong costume), gay zombies (puts a new perspective to being sexually-assaulted), a hunk (ehem), a giant frog (I love frogs!) and melodies guaranteed to make you sing along (afterwards of course)




Dino with with Vince de Jesus above who not only plays the role of Ada but is also responsible for the musical's lyrics, composition and musical direction.






After the show, although we waited for Eula Valdez (who plays the mighty, drop-dead sexy ZZZ) she made no appearance but we managed to corner and get a picture with Red Anderson who plays Dodong, Ada's love interest.

We three proceeded to Tropical Hut afterwards to munch on food and tidbits about ze muzikal...





Starring:
EULA VALDEZ as Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah
Tuxqs Rutaquio** Vince de Jesus* Joey Parras** as Ada
Lauren Novero* Arnold Reyes** Red Anderson as Dodong
Kalila Aguiluz Nar Cabico** Wilma Doesnt
and the Tanghalang Pilipino Actor’s Company

*3pm show
** 8pm show

Direction CHRIS MILLADO
Music & Lyrics Vince de Jesus
Adapted by Chris Martinez
from the graphic novel of Carlo Vergara

P700 (Front/Center) P600 (Side) P500 (Back)

Complete schedules:
Feb 6, 13 (Fri) 8PM
Feb 7, 14 (Sat) 3PM & 8PM
Feb 8, 15 (Sun) 3PM & 8PM

Mar 6 (Fri) 8PM
Mar 7 (Sat) 3PM & 8PM
Mar 8 (Sun) 3PM & 8PM

Its sadder for the ones left behind...

*grits teeth and grits teeth some more* alternating with

What a fitting end to the string of fiascos last week.....
(blame the phone company)

In the late night last sync meeting I attended the other week, out of the blue my manager said some worrisome and irksome news which blindsided us. I cannot obviously give the details but it will mean some upheaval for our team which has been meeting targets and working smoothly together.

My first memory of my current boss was his picking me up from Cincinnati airport and making sure I had breakfast at his house, cooked by his wife who usually didn't cook because she was too busy at the hospital.

What a fitting start to this week which looks to be more of the same...
(again, same phone company to rant at)

This morning, I woke up groggily from 4 hours of sleep, to text messages from two friends in Cebu who said one of our batchmates just died. She left behind a young son and a husband who has always been there for her. She had breast cancer. Most of us who saw her last in a party to commemorate the New Year, her son's birthday and Three Kings last year didn't have an inkling that she had that deadly killer in her cells.

My last memory of her would be of her carrying her son, laughing at us and smiling brilliantly at the camera.

This evening, I hear another kind of news bound to upset the processes and way we do work from one of our Finance guys who we've always worked with comfortably. My best memory of him was his describing how he was going to celebrate Mother's Day with his..well..mom. She wasn't feeling well that day.

I couldn't stand it anymore - not after last weekend when I pondered about the significance of the change at work, not after this morning when I contacted those I could and repeated over and over again the news and funeral details to my college classmates and shared acquaintances who knew my barkada, and not after again being cut off in the middle of doing my work from my emails and tools with a looming deadline at my back.

I typed on MOC to one of my teammates in Belgium (lucky that the DSL came back for 5 minutes)...

Chat:
C: "Wonderful!" *groan*
H:"I hate this.."

C:"Well, it is strange though.......*censored*........... so it should not be that way"
H:"Exactly."

C:"Tsk..tsk...who's next? Mark Hurd? hehehe"
H:"Hehehe..."

And on that sad, ironical note (at least I was restrained  in my reaction), I end my thoughts.

in lieu of PM: CHAT with JOEY

hi Joey,

how are and your being such a good loser? *grin*

basically, tinamad na akong hanapin san yng lumang PM natin when I was in Cinci and talking about travelling to Hawaii afterwards, so eto..blog na, hahaha!

could you please give me your address coz I will be googling fare and hotel packages sa internet ngayon to see how much and where I should book myself ..marami yatang Honolulu eh...tingnan ko sa week of April 4 kc off na kami till April 12...

kc kanina nakita ko mga 1700 and upwards na sa fare lang..was trying to see how I could scale it down once I pair it with accomodations...or how many days would be enough para masabi ko I've zipped around Hawaii na. and tasted its food...mmm...

thanks!

Cat

Como agua para chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate)

Start:	Feb 21, '09 6:00p
Location:	Instituto Cervantes Philippines

To celebrate the month of hearts, Instituto Cervantes de Manila offers a film cycle which depicts the relationship between food and love in a film.

Since I've seen this movie a long time ago, and I've read the book a long time ago, fellow fans may enjoy watching this in February 2009.

In Spanish with English subtitles
This movie is about how life used to be in Mexico. It is a love story between Pedro and Tita, and why they coudn't get married because Tita's mother wanted her oldest daughter to get married first, and have Tita to stay and take care of her. It shows how marriage was imposed on those times, and how a love between two people can change everything. This picture set a new epoch in Mexican movies all over the world.

Instituto Cervantes is located at:
855 T.M. Kalaw St.
1000 Ermita, Manila
Philippines
Tel.: (632) 526-1482
Fax.: (632) 526-1449
cenmni@cervantes.es

Metro: LRT United Nations

Zest Airways - Asia's most refreshing airline.

http://www.zestair.com.ph/
I've not tried this, but I kept hearing about it from friend Keen who likes travelling and researching on ways of travelling which are cheap

Then, just when I thought I heard the last of it, their ticket office opened very near to where I currently reside. Hmm....and I heard its pretty cheap tickets too.

Check out their promos for local destinations...

The Kanji SITE - A guide for students of Japanese Kanji

http://kanjisite.com/
As if hiragana and katakana were not enough..there is also kanji you have to memorize...however its fun to know the history of such characters...

Kanji is defined as the Japanese system of writing based on borrowed or modified Chinese characters.

Printable Jane Austen fanfiction

http://meryton.com/ellenspdf/index.html
I heart Jane Austen...I forgot to share this before..but I've bookmarked this some time ago.

This site includes fan-fiction in case you hunger for more stories and some of the original from Ms. Jane herself..

Cebu Pacific Go-Lite fares for domestic travel

Got the following article from Cebu Pacific thru Keen. Thanks Keen!
(font in bold or italics are mine)

ITʼS SUMMER OUT THERE!!!

Start your summer holidays early with fares starting from P188 all-in.

What better way to start your summer revelry than with a domestic seat sale! Over 100,000 seats have been allocated across all of our domestic routes.

Fly for only P188 all-in from Manila to Busuanga, Cebu, Iloilo, Legaspi, Naga, and San Jose (Mindoro).

Snatch your P288 all-in fare for Manila to Cauayan (Isabela), Laoag, and Tuguegarao; and Cebu to Bacolod, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Dumaguete, Iloilo, Surigao, and Tacloban.

Only P488 all-in for flights from: Manila to Bacolod, Calbayog, Catarman, Caticlan (Boracay), Kalibo, Puerto Princesa, Tacloban, Tagbilaran, and Virac; and Cebu to Caticlan (Boracay)

P688 all-in fare is up for grabs for Manila to Dumaguete and Roxas; Cebu to Clark, Cotabato, Davao, Dipolog, General Santos, Legaspi, Ozamiz, Puerto Princesa, Siargao, and Zamboanga; and Davao to Iloilo and Zamboanga.

CEB offers a P1,188 all-in fare from Manila to Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Cotabato, Davao, Dipolog, General Santos, and Zamboanga.

The promotional sale starts now until February 10, 2009, or until the allotted seats are sold out, for travel beginning February 4 until March 31, 2009. This promotion is non-refundable. Fares quoted are ʽGo Liteʼ fares.

ʽGo Liteʼ fares can be availed by passengers with no check-in luggage. Passengers with check-in bags will just add P200 upon booking.