Last November, I went on a 3D/3N trip to Vietnam with my sis. It was meant to be a longer trip but in the end we had to make do with 3D/3N to keep everyone in our family happy (long story). I say this has been my most spontaneous wanderlust adventure to date. I used to be organized when it comes to holidays, sporting a detailed itinerary. But I’m getting better on the spontaneity meter.

My sis and I had planned the Vietnam trip as soon as the year 2008 kicked off but our planning only went as far as deciding that we’d go to Vietnam by year-end. Well I did google for some info and asked some friends for recommended “things to do”, but I was never really able to list down an itinerary. The main reasons were that 1) I unexpectedly had to handle additional workload which kept me busy on the weeks before the trip; 2) we could not decide whether or not to squeeze in a trip to Cambodia 3) even though there were lots of websites and blog sites that talk about Vietnam, it’s a bit challenging when it comes down to getting specific and exact information. And horror of all horrors, I was not able to book at any hotel! And we were arriving at around 1:30 am!

It was bliss when I found out that Ho Chi Minh City has its version of Thailand’s Khao San Road, which is synonymous to God’s gift to spontaneous backpackers with no itinerary. Thank God for Pham Ngu Lao, a street lined with travel and tour agencies, backpackers’ inn, restaurants, shops, ticketing offices. Suddenly I had a game plan – to go to Pham Ngu Lao street on my first morning in HCMC. But I was still worried about not having a hotel.

When we got to HCMC airport, my sister literally asked me, “Ate, where do we go from here?” We got a cab and told the driver to bring us to Pham Ngu Lao. About 10 minutes into the cab ride, I changed my mind and told the cab driver to bring us to a hotel called Crystal Inn, which is supposedly located near Pham Ngu Lao. I saw the hotel at Agoda and saw that they had available rooms that evening so I thought it would be wiser to go there even though it’s not on a major street. Inside the cab, my sister and I were quiet but alert..as if keeping quiet would keep us out of harm’s way. Tension mounted when the cab driver pulled over near a road construction, said something in Vietnamese, stepped out of the car and approached a group of men about 20 paces from where we were. It was almost 3am and there were almost no other people or cars around. My sis and I kept still. And relaxed when we realized that our cab driver was asking the men for directions hehe. I guess being in a foreign city at an odd hour and having no hotel do things to one’s imagination.

After stopping and asking for directions a few more times, our kind cab driver finally found Crystal Hotel. I truly thank him for safely bringing two tourists who were almost wandering aimlessly in HCMC in the wee hours to their destination. Crystal Hotel is a budget hotel on a small street called Nguyen Trai. A bell-boy opened the door for us. As soon as we stepped in, the smell of burning incense and the sight of crystally looking lobby greeted us. It’s crystally because there seems to be lots of things such as mirrors, lamps, frames, around that reflected light. A couple of shiny motorcycles lined along a wall also caught my eye. The shiny motorcycles looked like they were both blending with and contrasting against the crystally lobby.

A man, who must be the hotel manager or co-owner, soon greeted us. He was sporting a rumpled white shirt and a rumpled hair do. That or he woke up and went straight to attending to us. He turned out to be a jolly and helpful gentleman. His personality gave the hotel a homey atmosphere. After meeting Mr. Cabbie and Mr. Jollie, I thought to myself, “we’ll be fine”. Before sending us to our rooms, he gave us the password for the wifi connection on our floor (Vietnam is unexpectedly a wifi heaven!). Other hotels didnt have password for connecting to their wifi network but I was glad that Crystal Inn had. I was able to use the same password when I stole wifi connection from another hotel. hehe

Our crystal Inn room was basic but clean and functional. It had all the basic amenities that one would need from a hotel room. Before going to sleep, I emailed a work deliverable that I finished during the plane ride. I dozed off as soon as I closed my eyes.

Last night, Jobi, Pammy, Chels and her friend made a mad dash to Robinson’s Galleria to catch the last full screening of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  The group initially planned to catch the movie at Trinoma, then decided to watch it at Promenade in Greenhills instead.  Due to unfortunate turn of events (such as the last full screening of the movie being sold out), the group ended up watching the movie at galle (and this was such a good thing for me because at the time I was just a stone throw away from galle.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is the film adaptation of 1921 short story of the same title by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  It tells the story of a man who aged backwards, which means he was born looking very old, and died as an infant in his old age.  I find the film beautiful. The story telling,  made from the point of view of Benjamin Button himself, was beautiful and intimate in the sense that it shares the story teller’s very personal thoughts, which were uncomplicated, simple in a certain way, and yet deeply profound. The film pays attention to little details, such as listening to the house “breathing” while everybody is asleep. 

There are many lines from the film that stroke me as well. Here are my favorites:

Along the way you bump into people who make a dent on your life. Some people get struck by lightning. Some are born to sit by a river. Some have an ear for music. Some are artists. Some swim the English Channel. Some know buttons. Some know Shakespeare. Some are mothers. And some people can dance.

Your life is defined by its opportunities… even the ones you miss.

It’s a funny thing about comin’ home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You’ll realize what’s changed is you.

I’m always lookin’ out my own eyes.

You can be mad as a mad dog at the way things went; you can swear and curse the fates – but when it comes to the end, you have to let go.

We’re meant to lose the people we love. How else would we know how important they are to us?

It’s funny how sometimes the people we remember the least make the greatest impression on us.

For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

Some nights, I’d have to sleep alone. I didn’t mind, I would listen to the house breathin’. All those people sleepin’. I felt… safe.

I got this idea from Cath’s blog..looked fun to blog about.

(forecasts from shawn.genplace.com)

OVERALL FORECAST:Lucky stars gather and shine collectively to lit the sky brightly. Be mindful that you face impediment amid the good days, so be careful and never negligent in any aspects. There is hope for fruitful results in your endeavours. Working persons will enjoy good news at the second half of the year. Students are able to perform well academically.

There are offspring luck this year. Good wealth luck brings in extra money.A year to aggressively charge and push forward. Do more good deeds and improve personal relations, which will be of great aid to your career and business. Take adequate rest and caution against minor illnesses.

CAREER: A fresh new start with lucky stars shinning as bright as the morning sun. A sad note is that danger stars lurk in the dark (UHUH..I WONDER WHAT OR WHO THOSE LURKOS ARE) Think thrice before acting (OKAY I’LL BE VIGILANT). Do not act smart; do not be too trusty (GOT IT, BE SUSPICIOUS). Always be cautious against business traps (LIKE MULTI-LEVEL NETWORKING KIND OF STUFFS?) and avoid being blinded by greed (OKIES, NO GREED). Shun speculative activities. Make prayers and do more good deeds and accumulate more merits (OKIES, EARN GOOD KARMA). And then all should be well.

-

LOVE:You feel exhilarated because of the many joyous news. Because most things are proceeding as planned, you feel happy and so romance luck flows smoothly as well. A good time to discuss marriage or start a blossoming romance. Couples are blissful and affectionate.

LOVE FORECAST NOT SO BAD ACTUALLY, IT’S GREAT!

WEALTH: Wealth star shines high. Proper income and windfall lucks flow in from good sources (HA! PROPER IS THE OPERATIVE WORD) . There is investment and property gains too (MAYBE ABOUT TIME I GIVE THAT BUYING STOCKS IDEA A SERIOUS THOUGHT). Vile persons are lurking by(AGAIN, I WONDER WHO THESE LURKOS ARE). Have a discerning eye when interacting with others. Handle deceitful words with discretion (IN OTHER WORDS, MAINTAIN A POKER FACE WHILE YOU ARE BEING GIVEN CRAP). All finance matters should be managed personally (OKIES, NO THIRD PART. NO HIRING OF PERSONAL ACCOUNTANT). Reap lottery winnings early rather than greeding for more.

HEALTH: There is a lot of minor illness sprouting out here and then. Have a proper diet and take preventive measures against intestinal, digestive and head related problems. The young and the elderly are susceptible to flu and falls respectively. Avoid attending wakes. (AWW, OKIES FAIR ENOUGH I GUESS).

OVERALL, THE FORECAST FOR THE MONKEY FOR YEAR 2009 IS NOT SO BAD I THINK. SOO..IT SEEMS THAT AS LONG AS I DO GOOD DEEDS AND IMPROVE PERSONAL RELATIONS AND BE VIGILANT AGAINST DARK FORCES SUCH AS LURKOS, CRAP-THROWERS AND POTENTIAL ILLNESSES, I’LL BE FINE AND RICH AND LOVED. OR SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT.

Oh well, I still believe that we are the masters of our own destinies. But I also believe that luck (which is loosely tied to fate or to the stars at some people put it), or not enough of it, plays a big role in a person’s circumstances.  I guess it doesn’t hurt reading these forecasts and getting whatever you can from them.

Oh no, more than 3 months passed and not a single update on my site. My pitiful web blog.  Anyway..to break the ice…lemme write down some random thoughts…

I think….I envy Jub, Cathy and Mark because they’re going on a 4-day trip to Shanghai, Beijing and Jian (i hope i spelled it correctly)..next week. I’m sure it will be uber fun.  Aside from seeing all those cultural/historical sites, food tripping and taking tons of photos…I would love to experience winter in that part of Asia too.

I think…I’ll be in trouble soon..for not submitting a deliverable fast enough.

I think…I need to leave the office at around 6:30 because I need to buy stuffs at SM and Goldilocks before I meet my family for my sister’s send-off dinner.

I think…do I have to make reservations at Marciano’s? And what to order later.

I think…will I go home tomorrow or stay in the city to do errands and go shopping and meet up with some friends.

I think…I got a pile of DVDs that I was suppose to watch during the long holiday but wasn’t able to. I wonder when do I get to finally watch them.

I think…I wish Cebu Pacific goes on super super super (P1.5k manila-bangkok round trip, P50 manila-cebu round trip) again..but this will be too much of a wishful thinking.

I think…I wish I could join jub, zel, mark and my in their Bangkok trip this coming Feb. Only for the reason that it will the first out-of-the-country personal trip for the aydisee gang together. and we’ve been talking about a potential bangkok trip for over a year now.

I think…I better get back to work.

Before the clock strikes 12, I would like to acknowledge that the iamkr blogsite is celebrating its first year of existence in the world wide web today. Yay! It’s amazing to think that the earth has completed one complete revolution around the sun and still my blogsite is alive and kicking! As my cousin Seth puts it, “unbelievable!”.  I have to say salamat, thank you, merci, gracias, grazie, arigato, terima kasih and all other versions of the word to my regular readers, friends and strangers who drop by my site every now and then, as well as the random guests who end up at my blogsite one way or another.  Knowing that people actually read what I write keeps me inspired to type away some of my thoughts. And to mark iamkr’s first revolution, here are some stats:

47 posts

3,456 hits

142 comments

Top 3 Posts:

Proud to be an Iskolar ng Bayan, 202 views

Say Hello for Me, 78 views

            The island waits, 71 views 

Cheers to me, to www.iamkr.wordpress.com and to all the netizens this part of the galaxy! Til the next revolution! J

Last weekend I visited my hometown for some quality family time. I had not been home since the second week of August and it was nice to get out of the city and breathe fresh air. It was a bit physically exhausting though. I woke up on 5:30am on Sunday morning because I wanted to go for a jog along the newly built irrigation structure in the middle of the rice fields (well not really middle, maybe 5-min walk from the national road). I was already imagining the bliss of jogging on paved grounds, with rice fields on both sides as I watch the sunrise. Alas, I found the pathway leading to the irrigation structure closed. I knew there was an alternative route but I was not familiar with it and it entailed passing through other people’s backyards. For a moment I thought of crossing by walking on the pilapil but I had not done that since I was a kid and was afraid to miss a step and fall onto the swampy and muddy rice fields. Though I was more afraid of ruining the good farmers’ crops than getting soaked in mud. I resorted to jogging on the sides of the national road.

I lasted 45 minutes (with Lead Farmer from Tropic Thunder playing over and over again in my ipod..the song just makes me want to run) and wanted to jog/brisk walk some more but I was getting more and more uncomfortable from the looks that I was getting from people, whether riding in vehicles or on carabaos, passing by. You see, folks back home don’t see joggers everyday as most of them don’t need to exercise deliberately. Most of them get enough exercise just doing their everyday chores and other things. And no, I did not get to see the sunrise because it was a bit cloudy that day. It actually started to drizzle a little on my way back to the house.

Heniways, it was a physically exhausting day because apart from waking up at 5:30am, I also had to do lots of chores since our house helper was on sick leave that weekend and my parents were busy at the store. My brother and I had to do much of the house chores and various errands for our parents. And just when I was about to retire early in the evening, some guests arrived. Old family friends of ours. I could not remember them but according to my parents they used to come to our house a lot years back. It was tiring. No wonder people in the province get to sleep deeply and soundly every night.

It’s been a while since I last posted something on my site. For some reason I could not summon the drive to write “creatively”. Perhaps all those work-related reports that I had to write in the past months took all my writing energy away . Anyways, sitting here behind my computer, partly watching the fierce rain outside the window, partly hearing the thunder that bellows every now and then and partly listening to my officemate’s mp3 player…I knew I had to find an inspiration if I were to keep my job. Writing on my blog seems like a good start. As my lazy brain could only dig as deep as recent memories, as recent as last week, how about I write about last week.

I did not realize how close we are to year-end until it occurred to me that September actually began last week. The “ber” months are typically happy months for me (on second thought, so are the summer months). Perhaps because it has the Holidays, which generally spell good times and good cheer. Looking back at how I breezed through last week, it came to me that I actually kicked off the Ber months with a little bang .

Sept. 1 (Mon). Hmm nothing here. Just did my grocery and watched TV after work.

Sept 2 (Tue). I met up with Varbs, whom I had not seen for a really long time, for dinner at Café Metro in Greenbelt 3. Before leaving the office, I believe I spent 15-20 mins looking for a nearby resto that serves Jamaican Jerked Chicken but could not find any. We ended up ordering General’s Chicken, Bangus Belly with Mango Relish (if I’m not mistaken), and lemonade shake. I like the General’s Chicken, including the eggplant that came with it, even though I’m no eggplant fan. Loved the lemonade shake! After the long dinner, I met up with Oms, and Magne for some chit chat. I had not seen Oms since early August, and Magne since..hmm..UP Fair 2007??

At the end of the evening, my throat was hurting a bit from all these conversation marathons and laughing. But it was really great catching up with them. Good times. Good friends. J

Sept. 3 (Wednesday). Oms took me and Lei at a Thai resto called Som’s in Rockwell “Gilid”. For me, it’s one of my best “hole-in-the-wall” finds in recent memory. The food was great and affordable. Since Oms had been there several times, we let him order for us. We had catfish salad, tom yum, red beef curry and another dish, the name of which escapes me now. My favorites are the last two, and their Thai milk tea (served as a warm milk tea in mineral water bottle that you pour in a glass with ice)! I’ve tried several Thai restos in Manila but Som’s dishes are definitely one of the bests, if not the best ( I also liked the one in UP Diliman back in college). Ambience was also awesome, well at least for me since I love dining al fresco. Think tables and lawn umbrellas along a quiet side street. They also have an air-conditioned canteen but I thought opting for that would be corny. Surprisingly, more than half of customers when we went there were foreigners and artsy fartsy type of people. It’s a piece of Amsterdam in New York. Hahaha. After the superbly gastronomic experience at Som’s we went for some desserts/hot tea at a nearby Coffee Bean.

Sept. 4 (Thurs). I went to the movies with my cousin who was staying us for the week and Haze, my jolly and profound dive buddy . What movie we picked? For the First Time! And yes, I’m a feel-good Tagalog movie enthusiast haha. Especially the ones from Star Cinema. It’s not as good as A Very Special Love. It’s not a good movie at all, save for maybe the first half of the movie because Candy Pangilinan and her penpal in the movie were so funny and because the Santorini scenes were just lovely. The Aegean sea is just so blue and tranquil-looking! I wonder how it’s like diving there. And the houses so..err..white. Haze and I made a pact to visit Santorini someday, doesn’t matter if together or separately, or if we’re already in our 50s when that day comes. We just have to visit Greece! If only to dive and pig out on olive oil!

Sept. 5 (Fri). Plan A was to have a reunion dinner with former officemates from way way back, after which I’d chill with office friends, sort of send away chill for Cath who’s going on a long leave, and after which I’d meet up with some friends at the Octoberfest kick-off. Sadly, the reunion dinner was scrapped due to unfortunate circumstances. I also had to forego the Octoberfest as one of my friends who got there first advised us not to follow anymore as it had become chaotic at the gates due to the volume of people all planning to be merry and drunk. Fortunately, the chill with office friends pushed through after a few months of not having our usual Friday chill. After that I joined my dive friends at Good Earth Rockwell for some booze and good old conversations.

This week, I’m offsetting my busy first September evenings by going home straight from work, which is the wise thing to do given the heavy downpour every evening. J

First thing that made me smile today…… 

A soldier stationed in Afghanistan recently received a letter from his girlfriend back home. It read as follows:

Dear Ricky,

I can no longer continue our relationship. The distance between us is just too great. I must admit that I have cheated on you twice, since you’ve been gone, and it’s not fair to either of us.

I’m sorry.

Please return the picture of me that I sent to you.

Love, Becky……. …….

*******

The soldier, with hurt feelings, asked his fellow soldiers for any snapshots they could spare of their girlfriends, sisters or ex-girlfriends. In addition to the picture of Becky, Ricky included all the other pictures of the pretty gals he had collected from his buddies. There were 57 photos in that envelope…. along with this note:

Dear Becky,

I’m so sorry, but I can’t quite remember who the hell you are.

Please take your picture from the pile, and send the rest back to me.

Take Care,

Ricky

I started the first day of the week, which to some was Sunday but to me was Monday, by waking up at 3:30 am. For someone who had been living on less than five hours of sleep during the weekend, waking up at 3:30am on a Monday morning is less than ideal. My Dad and I started driving back to the city at 4am, fully expecting to arrive at around 7:30am. That was suppose to give me enough time to shower and dress up for work, and my Dad to catch an 8:30am meeting in Alabang. Apparently, we had too great expectations that morning. An accident involving a tanker along EDSA caused a horrible traffic jam. It was too horrible that our travel time was stretched by more than two hours!

Nonetheless, I still consider that morning a pleasant one. Why? Because it was unusually foggy on the express way! Fog is one of my favorite things on earth. Sadly, I don’t get to see fog anymore as much as I used to. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t wake up early enough or it simply doesn’t get that foggy in the city. I just know that morning mist makes the earth look fresh. Promising. I just know that seeing fog these days brings back beautiful childhood memories of waking up to a misty morning in the province during the colder months. Of feeling chilly and warm at the same time as early morning sunshine tries to penetrate the thick fog that envelops the ground. Of the long drives with my family to the mountains up north. I could never get enough of fogs it seems. Besides, I have always been a fan of the green and white combination. And green rice fields and trees against a white foggy background is one of the loveliest, all natural green and white combination one could ever see.

Whenever I ask myself what’s good for breakfast these days, one of the first things that come to mind is Kopi Roti. I’d describe it as a Malaysian-inspired breakfast house. Although they are open during normal food establishment operating hours, their products are limited to kopi bun, kopi, tea tarik, kaya toast, French toast and soft-boiled egg, if I’m not mistaken. I had my first taste of Kopi Roti when my brother brought home kopi buns a year or two ago. Then a few months ago, he and his girlfriend took my sis and me to the Timog Avenue branch. I’m raving anew about Kopi Roti because I discovered a few weeks ago that they now have a branch in Makati, at The Columns! They say it’s been there for several months already. Funny I never noticed whenever we go to Earl’s Deli (yummy imported sausages.even cheaper if you buy them raw and just cook at home!).

I don’t know why, but for some reason Kopi Roti strikes me as a breakfast that grandparents from the province would prepare. The words old, provincial, warm and cozy come to mind. Hmm maybe I’m an old soul, who lived in different parts of the world in my previous lives. Or maybe, the kopi reminds me of how my grandparents would make their coffee. Anyhoots, The Columns is a bit of a walk from where I work but still better than waiting for another detour to Timog Avenue before I can have them kopi, kopi rotti and soft boiled eggs (see photo below. I also like the buns, which are not in the photo).