Nang Panyang and Ate Jane in the Land of Smiles

Nang Panyang and Ate Jane finally came to visit me in Bangkok! They are from HongKong and have been working there for well over 2 decades. They were very gracious to me when I went to Hongkong during September of last year that is why their coming here made me happy as I can repay, to some extent, their generosity. Nang Panyang and my family went back a long way. She took care of me for a very short time when I was still a toddler and the bond that she had with our family was not broken with her leaving. She went to HongKong almost 2 decades ago to try her luck and she was blessed to meet Ate Jane, a fellow Cebuana, who worked in a bank, and who is married to a Hongkongnese. They are a good combination of two generations and I learned a lot from them.

Here are some of the photos I took of them and a link to my Facebook album documenting their visit can be found after the last photo. Enjoy!

caught in river taxi traffic at Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

about to have our breakfast of bami nam moo (pork noodles) - YUM!

on our way to Damnoen Saduak Floating Market on a river taxi

wacky poses - Wat Arun in the background

Ate Jane in Wat Arun

Nang Panyang with two of the 'guards' in the Wat Pho complex

Ate Jane putting in her 20 baht in exchange for a bowl of coins for merit-making

Nang Panyang with the Leaning Buddha in the background

Here's the link to my Facebook album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=199616&id=743294883&op=6

Ave Maria!

Bangkok and the 'Reds'

I am expecting friends from Hong Kong this weekend. I am supposed to tour them around downtown Bangkok, the wats, the klongs, and the what-have-yous. This Saturday's big 'Red' rally (Thailand's UDD political group) may put a big dent on our plans especially since one of the targeted areas is Samut Prakarn, that's where my place is. Will we have to brush shoulders with the 'Reds' this Saturday and Sunday just so we can go around Bangkok? There are a lot of areas to visit though, those that are away from the targeted rally areas but as of now, I am quite tired to think of options - and I am getting tired of the 'Reds'. I understand though that holding these rallies is still within their constitutional rights especially since they were able to hold 'peaceful' rallies recently. What I really wanna say is, "Can we PLEASE get on with it? Move on?!?!"

Judgment Day: Red March in Bangkok

School is cancelled tomorrow, 12 March 2010, in most (if not all) local and international schools in Bangkok and in neighbouring provinces as the Red Shirts hold their anti-government rally. The government has invoked the Internal Security Act (some sort of a martial law) in Bangkok and in other areas and promised to pin down hard those law offenders in tomorrow's and in the next days' demonstrations.

I hope the expected political unrest will not materialize as gov't instability has been hurting this beautiful country for quite a long time now. I hope that the government and the red shirts will be able to come up with an amicable settlement, one that lasts, for overthrowing the current government is sure bound to hurt Thailand and its people real bad.

Here are links to The Nation and Bangkok Post's coverage of the so-called Red March:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/