ZEN Bitchin'

As I am writing this, I can feel a distinct throbbing on the inside of my right arm. It is not painful, but it is a physical reminder of what I did last Sunday, Valentine’s day. I have written in my previous post my feelings on (with a delicious experience related to) Valentine’s day. This year, like years past, I wasn’t paying much attention to it much, even though it is difficult to ignore it here in Phnom Penh (again, please refer to said previous post). On Friday night, I was supposed to have dinner with V, my closest-thing-to-a-date, but he begged off because of a pressing family matter. When he suggested that we had dinner on Sunday itself, I almost bristled, and said, “Let’s see”, and left it at that. I didn’t tell him that I have an extreme aversion to going out on a date on V-day itself.

In any case, I wouldn’t have been able to go with him since I had already signed up to join a group of friends to volunteer at Habitat for Humanity as construction workers for a day (which, as it turned out, half a day in our case). This particular activity is somehow connected to  PiNOYs for Change, a group that was formed with the specific purpose of providing support to Noynoy Aquino, but at that time it was not clear to me.

I woke up at 5.30AM on Sunday to make the 7Am trip to Oudong, which is about 35 kilometers from Phnom Penh. I traveled with D because he brought his 2 year-old daughter with him, commando-style (meaning: no nanny). A third of the contingent were already at the site when we arrived. About half an hour later, the last group arrived. After a quick breakfast and a short safety orientation by the construction manager, we donned the required gear (gloves & hard hat for the brick-layers, plus goggles and face masks for the brick-makers) over the suggested outfits (rubber shoes, trousers, long-sleeved shirts) and we were off to work.

» Read the rest of this entry «

On May 27, my friend D celebrated his 42nd birthday by going on a trip to Ho Chi Minh City (otherwise known as Saigon), a place he has never seen before. Having nothing better to do (one of the realities lived by a freelance worker), I tagged along. We planned to make this a photographic tour of the city. This turned out to be an adventure, in many unexpected ways.

First, we almost missed our bus. I waited for almost 10 minutes outside D’s house. The bus company had 2 stations, and they’re quite far apart from each other. I asked our ride to take us to the main station but D reminded me that when he picked up his sister last year, he did it at the other bus station. So we went to the other station and it was empty. We asked the staff to call the main bus station but we were told that the bus already left. The tuktuk chased the bus for about 5 kilometers before it stopped. This chase was punctuated with frantic phone calls to the driver and conductor–both of whom spoke little English.

I don’t pretend to know HCMC like the back of my hand, but I was prepared to show D the sights which are familiar to me. My plan was to spend the next day on foot: walking along Pasteur Street, where we can pass by some of the must-see sights in the city such as Ben Tanh market, the city museum, war museum, Notre Dame cathedral, the Post Office, and the Opera House, among others.

So early the next day, cameras on hand, D and I set out from our hotel. I am posting the photos in my other blog, Ways of Seeing. You can check this link to the photos. In the meantime, let me regale you (or bore you to tears) with the highlights of this interesting trip. I hope my statement that this trip was an adventure didn’t cause you, dear reader, to have lofty expectations. The adventures D and I had were not of the swash-buckling kind (swish? I’m not sure) but they were fun–at least to us.

Anyway, enough of the disclaimers. It should also be noted that our walking trip was guided by a 2-year-old map of the city.

D was most impressed by the architecture of many of the houses and buildings in Saigon. He admitted he didn’t expect to see buildings that he liked. We walked by Ben Tanh Market, which was a much-cleaner version of the Tuol Tom Pong Market here in Phnom Penh. Top on D’s agenda was to see the War Museum, upon the recommendation of his American wife. I wasn’t particularly keen on seeing it (being a believer in flower power) but I was just tagging along this trip so I was willing to give way. We had a hell of a time finding it, though. First we ended up in the City Musuem, which was fine and a bit tourist-y, to tell the truth.

Our planned route was to hit the farthest point of Pasteur Street, which would take us to Tan Dinh Cathedral, then we planned to hit the War Musuem before going to the loop that had the Notre Dame Cathedral, Post Office, and the Opera House. But as with most best-laid plans, things didn’t happen this way.

Case in point: contrary to the map, the Tan Dinh Cathedral is no longer a cathedral. It has been a market, for how long, we don’t know. The biblical connection was too apparent to ignore. From a place of worship to a place of commerce. I can still remember that parable taught to me in catechism. Fortunately, the Notre Dame Cathedral was a delight. I entered a real church again after so many years. We almost heard mass and chatted with the Vietnamese priest. I even gave (and received) a rosary as a gift. The last time this happened to me was more than 15 years ago.

Like I said, the War Museum was a challenge to find using our old map. And when we found it, I found the place grim and grisly (big surprise). There is a clear anti-American bias that permeates the place. This is not misplaced, though. The Vietnam War, up to now, is a controversial and divisive event in history. While it is true that Americans were indeed indiscriminate in cruelty to what-they-perceived as their enemies, I think that the Vietnamese were equally cruel to the Americans as well. I mean, it’s war; everybody is cruel in a war. What the museum showed me–more like validated, actually, was that in a war, nobody really wins. Or, even if one side claims victory, this victory is Phyrric, at best.

For some reason, we also missed the City Hall. The map is not entirely to blame here. Though it doesn’t appear on the map, it was in the same loop as the Opera House. I completely forgot about it, probably because I was thinking of watching a movie at Diamond Plaza (which we didn’t do also).

D and I had dinner at a restaurant facing the Opera House, where the slightly pricey food was just about the same quality as the food in the restaurant in the backpackers’ area. We had a good lunch at Jollibee, though. I missed eating there because (1) there’s nothing like it in Phnom Penh, and (2) I avoided fast food for the last year. We got back to the hotel a bit rained on, feet tired, but fulfilled nonetheless.

Like true and consummate (read: stereotypical) tourists, D and I spent the next morning at Ben Tanh Market shopping (not much) and packing for the afternoon trip to Phnom Penh. Perhaps inspired by almost-missing the bus coming, we arrived at the bus station an hour early. By Friday evening, D and I were back in our adopted city, our CF cards brimming with photos, our minds relaxed and recharged from the quick holiday, our lives enriched by the whole experience.

Stay (Faraway, So Close) – U2

If you had been checking out my other blog, you will notice that the last 5 posts all featured photos from my last visit to the Angkor complex in Siem Reap. I went to Siem Reap on Labor Day weekend and spent 2 days straight roaming around the complex. This has been the longest I had spent on visiting temples.

Of course, about a couple of years ago I would periodically visit Siem Reap (I would tag along with my then-lover) and stay there for as long as 6 days. Although then-lover and I would drive around the complex in his motorcycle every afternoon (after his work-day is over), it was not like the tour that one gets when one pays for the tickets. These afternoon drives were not bad, actually. We would often go to these obscure places where we would see remnants of a temple jutting out of the middle of a rice paddy. Sometimes we would end in a seemingly remote part of the woods where we would make out until it was dark.

But let me point out now that my last trip to Siem Reap had anything to do with my ex. In fact, I would like to apologize for mentioning him at all in the last paragraph. If I do so again later in this post, I hope this apology is still in effect.

Almost a month ago, I had my fifth anniversary of living here in Cambodia. I arrived here on April 19, 2004, right after the Khmer New Year. About two weeks later, on Labor Day weekend, Navuth (not my then-lover) brought me to Siem Reap for the first time. We, along with his wife and 2 cute children, boarded his battered 1993 Camry and drove to Siem Reap via Pursat, Battambang, and Banteay Meanchey. This was not the usual route. Navuth wanted to show me more sights along the way, as it turned out. We packed a lot of food, and we stopped at every opportune time to eat and enjoy the sights. We reached Siem Reap after a 10-hour drive. We spent almost a day roaming around the temples.

So to ‘celebrate’ my anniversary, I decided to take a trip to Siem Reap and commemorate my first trip there. I deemed it was also a good time for me to ’spend time’ with my new DSLR camera. To ensure this, I left my point-and shoot at home. I got there on Thursday afternoon, but I ended up staying in the hotel most of thr afternoon because of the rains. In the afternoon I met a friend and his family briefly at the mall beside the hotel. In the evening I had dinner with Fuchsiaboy at V an A, a vegetarian restaurant, where I had pasta with coconut milk sauce. The Spool Artist and his wife joined us for drinks later at Linga Bar.

Moi at Banteay Srey, C2004

Early the next morning, with the tuktuk I rented for the day, I headed to Banteay Srey. About a couple of hours later we were on the way to Ta Prohm but I asked him to stop by Prasat Kravan. He complained that we should have stopped by it on the way to Banteay Srey but I paid him no mind. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see it; this small temple was our (then-lover and I) favorite temple. When I first laid eyes on it in 2004, I told then-lover that it was my favorite temple. He smiled and said that he liked it best, too. But I was glad to have stopped by. Some restoration/ cleaning has been done on the bas-reliefs inside its 3 towers, and it looked better than when I first saw it. I was a bit sad to see caterers and deejays setting up in its grounds. Being a ‘minor’ temple, the authorities allow functions to be held here.

Still moi at Prasat Kravan, C2004

Ta Prohm was still as magnificent as I remembered it. The difference now is that the main gate is closed to the tourists, and that there are wooden walkways around the interiors of the temple, dimishing the ‘jungle’ atmosphere of the place. Of course, Bayon with its giant faces is still awesome. I had a good time looking for other angles to photograph these stone faces.

Moi werqing Ta Prohm, C2005

After a lunch of fried noodles and fresh coconut juice, I headed to Angkor Wat. Even if I have seen it about 10 times, Angkor Wat is still breath-taking. However, my experience was a bit diminished by: (1) the oppressive heat; (2) the swarm of tourists–although it was good for boy-watching; and (3) my favorite section of Angkor Wat, the eastern wall with the bas-relief of ‘The Churning of the Sea of Milk’, was closed because it was being restored/ maintained. I spent more than a couple of hours there before going back to the hotel.

Notice the emptiness?

For dinner Fuchsiaboy and I went to Takezono, the Japanese restaurant at Sokha Hotel. I had some salmon sushi and prawn tempura ramen. It was perfect, and the price was surprisingly cheap as well. I hadn’t planned what I would do the next day so after a single drink at Linga Bar, I went back to the hotel.

When I woke up the next morning, I decided that I would go to Koh Ker and Beng Melea–two sites which I have never visited before. Beng Melea is located 60+km east of Siem Reap town while Koh Ker is around 120km away from the town. I called a taxi company and asked to rent a car to take me there, instructing them to pick me up at 7.30AM. After about 2 hours, I was in Koh Ker, armed with just a guidebook. Koh Ker was an Angkorian capital for a brief period of time only but it was a complete city, built around a massive baray (reservoir). There were more than 25 monuments and driving around, I managed to see at least 15. I will post the photos in my other blog.

On the way back we stopped at Beng Melea–believed to be a prototype of some sort of Angkor Wat. Probably because they were of the same size, and it was built almost a century earlier than Angkor Wat. Along with Koh Ker, Beng Melea was another awesome site. The only fly in the ointment is the gaggle of kids running around the temple like monkeys, offering to guide you or asking for money. By the time I got in the car, it was raining again. I went back to the hotel tired but fulfilled.

For dinner, Fuchsiaboy and The Spool Artist invited me to their house/ laboratory. There I met 5 of their friends and we had some Filipino food with a pesco-vegetarian twist. The table-setting was marvelous; our names were even printed on the placemats. Too bad mine had some ‘printing errors’. I demand a re-print (wink-wink)! I went back to the hotel at around 1AM.

Table setting a la Fuchsiaboy and The Spool Artist
See the Zen Bitch on the placemat?

I was to return to Phnom Penh at noon the next day so I stayed in bed a little longer, having a relaxed breakfast, packing my stuff. I bought my favorite Khmer sausage at my favorite shop before heading to the bus station. By 7PM I was back at home.

So there. It was a great trip. I’m glad I made the trip. I was happy to reminisce with the old, familiar temples, and excited about seeing the new sites (I can’t stop talking about it with my friends). It was also great that I got to see old friends, and spent time with new ones. I even have a small crush on this French guy I met at the dinner but I don’t think he’s gay so let’s just leave it (and him) at that (hahaha!).

Turning Japanese – Sprung Monkey

On Sunday I woke up at around 9AM. The flat was silent, as Danika has left for work. After a breakfast of Milo and peanut butter sandwich, I went out. It was looking to be another sunny day, as opposed to the almost daily dose of rain in Kuala Lumpur. And since I was able to do a lot the previous day, my schedule for my second day in Singapore was pretty flexible. I only had 2 appointments, a lunch with J and an evening concert with Danika. In between, I thought I could do some shopping–actual or window, that is.

So I headed to Paragon. The first shop I went to was Muji, the Japanese ‘non-brand’ shop. I love all things Japanese. I am all for the aesthetics of Japanese design, whether it is architecture, interior, landscape, and fashion. I first heard of Muji from fellow blogger fuchsiaboy, who fears that he’s turning me into another brand-whore (no worries, there, D–I’ve been one even before we met–hahaha!). On the flight from Phnom Penh to KL, Muji was featured in the inflight magazine. Serendipity? Why not!

The shop was all that I imagined it to be, if not more. I was almost salivating from the stuff that they had. The clothes weren’t for me, though, because they don’t make it big as, say, Marks & Spencer. But the other stuff were so cool, I wanted to buy them all. Alas, I had to content myself with purchasing a few items; I was watching the weight of my luggage, the rest of which I left in KL. To show my appreciation to fuchsiaboy, I got him a couple of small items that he can use in his design work.

J

As we waited for our food (burger for him, baked fish for me), we found ourselves talking like old friends. In spite of our 11-year difference, I felt we had many things to talk about because (a) he is mature for his age, or (b) I am immature for my age. Kidding! Both of us are male nurses (Focker alert) who do volunteer AIDS work. Enough said, eh?

After a nice meal and chat, J and I went to Kinokuniya where he introduced me to ‘Fables’, a graphic novel series that puts a new twist on fairy tale characters. Then he had to go to meet his family for their regular Sunday family meets. I had an hour and a half to spare so I went back to shopping. I found a nice throw-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink bag on sale at Takashimaya, plus a shirt and chinos at Marks & Spencer.

I returned to Danika’s flat at around 5PM, because we were to have dinner first before the concert of the Japan Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra at the Esplanade. By 5.30PM we were off, dressed in our theatre-going outfits. Actually I was hopelessly underdressed: I just wore a checkered shirt and jeans. We had dinner at 7,107 Flavours, a posh-looking Filipino restaurant. I love their logo. And their Kinilaw na Tanigue was wonderful too; it reminded me of the kinilaw I used to enjoy in Mindanao.

7,107 Flavours logo

The Esplanade

After dinner, we crossed over to the Esplanade Theatre to watch the concert. The Singaporean pianist, who was in the first half of the show, was adequate–I’d seen better Filipino pianists, to be blunt. But he was quite good. The music in the first half wasn’t that impressive for me. But the orchestra and the conductor were really good. I liked the music after the intermission better. By 10PM Danika and I were back home. I packed my bags for my bus trip to KL the next morning. I slept at around midnight.

I was up at 6AM, and left Danika’s house at 7AM to head to the bus station, located at the Harbour Front Centre, which was about 20 minutes away from Danika’s flat. Danika was getting ready to go to work when I left.

Because it was a day trip, the bus went on a 10-minute break at a rest stop. Nice, clean rest stop. With at least 2 mobile stores selling refreshments and snacks. By 1PM I was back in KL. I took a taxi to Prince Hotel, where my luggage was, before I went to Number 8 Guesthouse. But the darn cabbie was asking me a flat rate of RM15 for the trip. Malaysian cabbies are nasty, especially when compared to their Singaporean counterparts.

The Rest-stop

I was at Number 8 by 2PM. I stayed here last in 2006 and I was impressed. I guess it was unrealistic for me to expect it would remain the way it was. It has deteriorated so much that I regretted my decision to stay here. I should’ve just stayed at Prince Hotel. After a good massage, I went out to meet Abdul at Pavilion. Our appointment was at 6PM so I had more time to stroll. We walked further to KLCC, where we had dinner at Madame Kwan’s, which purportedly served an excellent Nasi Lemak. Abdul wasn’t impressed, though. I, however, liked my Nasi Bojari. For dessert we went back to Pavilion, which was closer to where we were checked in. We had dessert at MOF, a Japanese sweet shop, where we unknowingly got an overdose of red bean paste. It was nice, nonetheless.

I was very happy to see Abdul. I missed seeing him when I was in Singapore last year and this year. Good thing he went to KL. The next rainy morning I was off to the airport at 8AM. However, when I got there, I wasn’t able to check in right away because of a glitch in the airport’s computer system. They couldn’t print boarding passes and the ground crew were finding it very hard to write on the passes long-hand. The consequence of technology.

When it was time for me to check in, the glitch was repaired. At the gate, a phallanx of black-clad bodyguards sent the Khmer who were waiting to board in a kind of flurry. They were bowing to a short, stately old man whose eyes disappeared when he smiled. I didn’t think about him anymore until we landed in Phnom Penh. We stopped far from a tube but the plane doors were opened. Through the window I saw that a red carpet was unfurled and down went the old man, followed by his entourage, welcomed by many people below, along with a military escort.

In exchange for the inconvenience of descending a plane under the noon-time heat, I got to do that on a red carpet. Too bad I didn’t take a photo in time. By 1.30PM I was back in the quiet of my home. Tired. But relaxed, recharged, and rejuvenated (not to mention nearly broke–hahaha!) from this trip.

You Gotta Work (Supermodel) – RuPaul

I arrived in Singapore at 4.30AM Saturday, after a 5-hour bus ride from Kuala Lumpur. The trip was uneventful; the bus was way better than the buses that plied the Phnom Penh-Siem Reap or Ho Chi Minh route. I got to my friend Danika’s flat at around 5.30AM. He didn’t answer the door so I called him. He was on a night shift at the hospital. He misunderstood my email and thought I would leave KL at 5AM.

I offered to get his housekeys from him at the hospital, which I reached only after getting lost 2 times, after 20 minutes. I stayed at the kitchen/pantry of the emergency department of the hospital until 8AM, the end of his shift. Before going home, we bought some sandwiches and coffee at Starbucks.

I told Danika the story of the fake Starbucks in Phnom Penh and he didn’t know whether he would be amused or alarmed. After eating at home, we went to bed to catch some sleep. We agreed to go out at noon.

Our first stop was IKEA because Danika was in need of some shelves for his books and shoes while I, well, I hadn’t been to IKEA and I’ve always wanted to go. So there. Danika got her shelf, I got a few small things that will help me organize my closet and kitchen. That done, we proceeded to my (our) important destination for the weekend.

So we headed to the National Museum of Singapore and bought tickets to the Christian Lacroix Costumier exhibit. But before going in to the exhibit, we had a marvellous lunch at Novus Cafe, located within the museum. The Pesto Risotto with Arugula and Sun-dried Tomatoes was delicious. And their Carbonara is the real thing–not lathered in cream as the other wannabes.

Waiting for our food at Novus Cafe

After eating, off we went to the exhibition. It showed Christian Lacroix’s costumes for various operas since the 80s.

The exhibition featured 60-80 pieces, each installation as elaborate as the costumes themselves. I will post more photos at Ways of Seeing. But what I loved more about the exhibit was the quality of Christian Lacroix’s sketches. They were good enough to be considered artworks already. Some of the designers I know do not really like illustrating their designs, for varied reasons. In fact, only Rajo Laurel comes to mind when I think of fashion designers who draw as well as they make clothes.

Designs for ‘Carmen’

for one of the cast of ‘Othello’

Danika showing off the souvenir programme

Fuchsiaboy asked me to buy him a book on the exhibit. It was something I would like to have as well but the price was way beyond our personal limit. Besides, the book was about Christian’s fashion in general–would’ve been nice if it focussed on his opera work. So I contented myself with the little booklet about the exhibit (shown a la-Vanna White by dear Danika).

After the exhibit, Danika let me go off alone to Sentosa Beach, which my friend J calls the ultimate tourist trap in Singapore. I wanted to see the Underwater World exhibit. So I went to Vivo City, the mall that connected the city to the nearby island. As in all things Singapore, I think Sentosa as a whole runs like a well-oiled machinery. The ticketing system, the monorail, the shuttle services, the aquarium itself, I do not see the ineptitude that I am so used to in my dear Cambodia.

View from the monorail station

Under the sea (or just water)

So how impressive was the aquarium? Fairly impressive, I will admit; especially if you haven’t seen the Ocean Park aquarium in Hong Kong. I will have more photos in my other blog once I have finished processing them (good luck on when I will finish that–hehe). After Sentosa I hung around Vivo City–purchased a few books in PageOne, browsed at the Mac shop for accessories for my MacBook, and had a dinner of Hainanese Chicken Rice and Gadu-Gado. I went home at around 10PM, and didn’t sleep till 2AM the next morning.

work it – missy elliott

Last Sunday, I went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to participate in a training organized by TSF–an institution that has been both my client and my provider of PDA (professional development activities, not that PDA!) This was not my first workshop with them, as this was certainly not the first time I have been to Malaysia. The last time I was in KL was February 2008, at the tail-end of my relationship and at the start of my sickening affair with my gall bladder.

Many things have changed since then–the loss of my lover and gall bladder being the most apparent. I have recovered from these maladies, as my professional career regained its former footing. And only recently, my personal life seems to be on a kind of roll as well.

I have begun dating people and I have to admit that I like them equally. They couldn’t be more different from each other: one is my age, manages his own business, and is so relaxed in his life station that I am a bit perplexed with him. Me the frantic rabbit. The other is as old as my cousins in Manila–which means he’s very young by my (former?) standards. He is almost done studying to be an architect, but he also dances as a hobby. He is very fastidious in everything that he does, and he gives off this almost frenetic energy that I kinda miss. Me the pederast. Gawd!

I was one of the first to arrive at the workshop venue, this was probably why I was given an excellent room at the top floor of the hotel. I had a nice view of the pool from a somewhat vertiginous angle.

I will not write about the workshop, mainly because I think it is very difficult to do so in a few words. It is about consulting work. It is something about a shift in perspective. A way of looking differently at things. If you ask me about whether I was satisfied in the workshop, I would admit that I’m kinda on the fence on that. I learned new things, that’s for sure.

What I’m more happy about the workshop is being able to see old friends again. Ted, who took a break from his busy school schedule in Manila. Joseph and Agus from our 2007 workshop and Soe, our TSF all-around guy. I also saw Brian, whom I just met in India a couple of months ago. Ray and his partner were also in KL so we saw them one night and had a few drinks with them at Frangipani.

I was surprised to receive a lot of messages from other men when I left a message in one of my social networking sites that I will be in KL for a week. At least 6 people left messages on my profile. I talked to 4 of them and ended up seeing two people: a German guy based in Kuala Lumpur, and a Malay guy who was also visiting KL (he was based in Malacca).

Travel is indeed conducive to promiscuity.

Just before midnight on Friday, I travelled by bus to Singapore to spend the weekend there. I am staying now at Danny’s house near Little India. I will write about my trip here tomorrow. Meanwhile, let me leave you with an image of this strange bread that Ted and I encountered in KL. It was called charcoal bread or something and rightfully so. The roll was black as a moonless night. But it was sweet and chewy so I liked it nonetheless.

What can I say, other than ‘I love darkness!’