Edelicious: Bangkok, February 23-27, 2006

Went to Bangkok for my International Marketing class. Woohoo. My first out of country for this year. It was fun. I was able to experience Thailand, that's what I can say. I was finally able to shop in Jatuchak, Pratunam, Baioke, Suan Lum. Jatuchak is the really big Divisoria. Ironic. I've never been in Divisoria but I've gone to Jatuchak. Though I'd never go there again. Everything was cheap there but it's always a must to haggle in those places. Some vendors would be so sweet, while some would get mad when you asked for a really low price. I've never seen so many tinagges in my life and I never want to see any more. My knees, legs, feet and my back hurt. I was able to shop though. I know it's really bad that I didn't give my friends anything. I just gave stuff to my family..particularly to my siblings. I bought a lot to myself, but duhh..as if my sisters ain't using it. For my parents, not so much. They already have everything and they've been there anyway.

I wanted to enter their gigantic malls (4x the size of Shangri-La, they say) but the people whom I was with didn't want to because they want to buy a lot of stuff. I was lucky though, there was midnight madness in Chit Lom, their own version of Rustan's where everyone's beautiful and stylish, the stuff are quite expensive. I splurged on a pair of shoes and a silk top (which I'll be wearing on Saturday..haha!).

Although the main purpose of going there was shopping (or the seminar..haha), I was able to see their culture. Thailand is generally a buddhist country so I was able to see their temples: the Common Temple (for the common people) and the Royal Temple (built by the Royal Family in 1872). In the Common Temple was the Golden Buddha. That Buddha before was wrapped in cement but it was stolen and then the thieves cracked it open, shattering the cement into pieces and found that inside was another buddha purely made of gold. As for the Royal Temple, there lies the biggest Buddha in Bangkok. I forgot exactly how long it was. It was built by the Royal Family along with the temple so that's where they worship. There was a long line of 110 bowls where in I dropped coins for ONE wish to come true. I hope it does. :)

We also went to Pattaya. A 2-hour bus ride from Bangkok. It's a very commercialized beach. There was Hard Rock Cafe and tall hotels. We went to Coral Island riding the super speedboat (Thais drive fast!!!). It's worse than Boracay. It was covered with umbrellas and a million tiangges. It wasn't a very nice sight. The water is clear and the sand is white though. The beaches here are still the best. Was able to parasail. I loved that.

The food was great. Tom Yam, Pad Thai and milk tea are my favorites. After shopping, we'd always go to the street vendor of Pad Thai and milk tea. It would re-energize all of us then we'd go to the Suan Lum, the night market.

Of course, going to Bangkok without checking out the sex shows would not be complete. We checked out the sex show...more like the "Pekpek show." Stuff coming out of the vaginas of those women: blades, ropes, neon flowers. They had magic tricks: a bottle of Coke with water will be sucked in and then she'll transfer it to an empty bottle, but this time Coke will come out. Pekpek writing "Welcome to Thailand," shooting darts, blowing trumpets and cigarettes...Eewww. There was the pekpek apir which was just out of this world. Then the sex show. Literally. It was gross. The women were old. They had cuts in their lower abs that showed they've given birth. Then for the sex show, the woman looked so young and she was the prettiest. She was so fragile. I pity all those women. People all over the world come over to see them do those things. It was degrading. (What was annoying was that they were playing the APL song during one of the exhibitions...I wanted to cover my face!). On Bended Knee will never be the same to me. Hayy buhay nga naman!!!

Got home yesterday very tired. I had to unpack and then get back to work for Green Evo. Finalizing all the things, etc. It's already driving me crazy... I need to get that Thai massage after all this!!!

**I don't have pasalubongs as always.. I was so stressed I decided to splurge on myself. Selfish, I know...forgive me. It's my birthday present for me. :)