Friday December 21, 2001 : Last Day
This was my last day in Manila for perhaps... a very long long time. Tomorrow I fly to Bangkok (Thai Airways TG 621) and will be spending my holidays there. Then in the new year... well... Only time will tell...
I woke up early and took a few more things over to The Last Homely House in San Lorenzo. Then I visited Bruno's Barber Shop for my last Wilson haircut. One of the many things I will miss about Makati. From there it was up to the budget mall of Park Square One... A place I once spent a lot of pisos and a lot of time... To buy what I consider a required item... mini-plug headphones for my Walkman. My old ones died yesterday. Then it was on to HSBC for some money changing... Then it was to the appropriately named QUICK STOMACH Pinoy food restaurant where I picked up some rice and chicken for Dorie and I to eat. Why is the place called QUICK STOMACH? Eat some... You'll find out.
Dorie and I spent the afternoon together, eating and hanging out. I walked her to her boarding house at around 6:00pm and saw where she lives. Humble by first world standards, and her room was about the size of my current washroom... however her landlady was very nice and there was a feeling of family there. Kids, cats, dogs, and people preparing food. I left her there and headed to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel for one last swim in the wonderful pool. I said my goodbyes to Tom and the other gym staff and headed out. I will miss it.
My next stop was to meet up with two old pals who are in town for the Yule season, Nice Guy Dave and Superdry. We met at the Filling Station for some pizza and talked until around 9:00 pm. It was great to sit and talk total nonsense with them. I have missed that sort of thing.
Well...
Next stop: Bangkok.
Thursday December 20, 2001 : Five Days until Christmas
I have had the absolute WORST migraines the last two days. I think it's the lack of shortbread cookies... which somehow my body feels it NEEDS... this being the Yule Tide season and all!
Oh well. I'll just have to be content sitting by the pool.
Speaking of which...
Today at the Mandarin I was surprised by the ex-girlfriend of Heir W... None other than Gorgeous Jenny. It was a nice surprise. She is one of those people who would be right at home sitting talking to Sandy at the GFM... Although I think some would miss that because she is... well... Gorgeous. We talked for a bit, then she headed out with her friends for a bite to eat. I returned to the solitude of my Walkman.
Two more days.
Tuesday December 18, 2001 : Karaoke Crimson
Last night Rene invited me to the Peninsula Hotel Transport Desk Christmas party... This was a gathering of hotel drivers at a small obscure Karaoke bar, the ceiling of which was about 4 inches away from the top of my head. He and his coworker picked me up at around 9:30pm and we drove over in the red car, parked and went on it. The party had started at 6:00pm, so many of the drivers had a bit of a head start. There was food, and since there are no women employed in the transport desk, female companionship was also provided. Rene's birthday is today (the 18th) so he was wished a Happy Birthday... I was welcomed as some sort of guest of honour, although I am not sure why.
There was a lot of drinking and a lot of spilling of beers, and all of Rene's coworkers introduced themselves to me. Everyone seems to have a relative working somewhere in Canada. Everyone HAD to sing a song so I was given the Karaoke song book and began my search for something that I wouldn't totally embarass myself with... instead as I am going through the songs starting with the letter “e”... what do I find?
EPITAPH
by King Crimson (from their 1969 debut LP)
I almost fell out of my chair laughing. WHAT THE HELL WAS THIS SONG DOING IN A KARAOKE MACHINE? Mixed in with Celine Dion, Brian Adams, Abba, and all the other top 40 pop standards!!! There it sat like the alien monolyth from Kubrick's 2001... EPITAPH... Possibly the most depressing song ever penned.
Of course I chose that one. So came my Karaoke debut... singing a song about the destruction of mankind by warmonging fools... as the teleprompter showed images of nice sunny days, flowers, coastlines and beaches... The automatic ranking mechanism inside the karaoke contraption gave me a big thumbs up, scoring me a 91... although I am not sure how the thing knows how well you did.
“and tomorrow I might be crying” indeed.
and I was. Crying in pain and agony from a pulled muscle in my back. It was as if I had sleep on a bed stuffed with bowling pins. Dorie tried to correct things but was unable. I even had her stand on my back but she doesn't actually weigh enough to even get a single crunch.
I spent the day walking endlessly. I went over to San Lorenzo and dropped some things off at the Last Homely House. I am storing them there until I leave. Then I walked to Sharp Travel and saw Manny. He had to adhere some little sticker thing to my open ended ticket which I am using to go back over for Christmas. Then it was to the bank, then to the Mandarin where I took a much needed swim and drank a pot of tea in the sun. I met Dorie back at the apartment at 5:00 pm and had some food with her. We watched THE NEW MUSIC which all you Canucks will know is produced in Toronto. That was strange. Gordon Downie from The Tragically Hip was reading some poetry while some band rambled away in the background. It was nice to see the Toronto skyline, and not disguised as some American city...
Monday December 17, 2001 : Missing The Chalk
I spent most of the weekend with Dorie. I hadn't really realized how isolated and alone I've been this autumn, and her company has been wonderful. It may be another difficult goodbye... Something I try very hard to avoid, but somehow always end up with.
Small L texted me. She's been “working” in Korea, which she thankfully escaped from... The job not being what she'd been told. She went to Boracay, so I will be unable to see her before I leave for Bangkok. Oh well...
Last night Dorie and I met up with Nice Guy Dave and Jenn at Fibs Bar. He just got back from the Euro-zone and was glad to be in the tropics again. We hung out for a while and talked about where everyone from our chalk had ended up. It made me strangely homesick... not for a place, but for a group of friends. Even with the post-M breakup despair I found myself in back in February, the trip to Boracay with Apple, Superdry, Snowy and Flashback was excellent. I look forward to seeing Geri, Jake and Maggie in Bangkok...
So, with all this Christmas cheer going on (somewhere) I would like to say Merry Merry Ho Ho etc to the chalk, wherever they might be... Apple, Geri, Superdry, Flashback, NG Dave, Jenn, Snowy, Brady, Maggie, Jake, NYC, Barman Neil, Silver Fox, The Professor and Mary-Ann... MERRY CHRISTMAS GOD BLESS YOU EVERYONE...
Thursday December 13, 2001 : Learning Not To Drown
Today's big chore was walking to the bank. I saw some cops (not security guards) with M-16s by the Mandarin. I'm not sure what they were up to.
Later I went back to the Mandarin for a swim. There has been some folk taking a Red Cross Life Guard course at the pool for the last week. Today some of them did a test of some sort. It was interesting to watch them.
One of the many things I've managed to do “over here” is overcome my FEAR of the water. I almost drowned when I was on a school outing in grade one (didn't know THAT did you?!) and was pulled out of the deep end as I sank by my teacher. That fear combined with my change-room shyness made swimming classes rank as horrific as Participaction tests. I didn't learn to swim until I taught myself in a stream when I was 11... And since, even though I could sort of swim, I never felt very comfortable about it.
Now, however... although I am by no means a good swimmer, or a strong swimmer... I really enjoy it. Especially in the Mandarin pool. Or the Evergreen pool... Or the ocean.
Wednesday December 12, 2001 : Participaction
I have just gotten back from the Mandarin Gym. What a workout. I HATE WORKING OUT. I'd rather sit by the pool and eat Ding Dongs and raw Tang, and wash it all down with A&W rootbeer floats like I did when I was 8. Work out?
Back in those days we didn't need to. My best friend Jon and I would get all wired up on sugar and ride our bikes all over Chilliwack in a quest for adventure. Yes, those were the days. 1972...
If things are THIS GOOD AT EIGHT... Sixteen will be TWICE as good... or so I thought as I lay in bed and stared up at the sparkly sparkles in the stucko ceiling.
Perhaps saying I HATE working out is a bit strong. I really hate the idea more than anything. Once I am doing it, I am fine. There is a feeling of dread that I get before I begin. Something deep rooted...
I believe it is actually trauma from my childhood experiences with PE class (Physical Education). During the 1970s, the Canadian Federal Government imposed upon us a caste system called “Participaction” which was supposed to raise the physical standards of the average Canadian grade schooler... We were forced to do all sort of horrible situps, pull-ups, and to leap, run, jump and so forth in hopes of qualifying for a sew-on “Medal”... Bronze, Silver and Gold... and for the super-jocks the AWARD OF EXCELLENCE. My best friend and fellow Halifax Rifle Cadet Billy and I were certain that the whole thing was thought up by some Nazi war criminal who had evaded capture and some how infiltrated the Ministry Of Humiliation. Each level of achivement was based solely on age. The program seemed to ignore the variety of shapes, sizes and physical ablities in a class of kids. The result was each year the same Aryan super-kids would decorate their jackets with new Gold and Award Of Excellence patches while the shy, short, fat, thin, awkward or unathletic kids would have none. Just another excuse to be made fun of or get beaten senseless on the way home. Our bastard of a PE Teacher seemed to enjoy the whole process like some sicko death camp guard, as the ones he deemed in his tiny pea brain as “unworthy” were shamed or injured by this fascist torture. One of Billy's (who had the unfortunate last name of Dingle and received alot of abuse) best quotes from this time was while we were forced to run around like frightened animals as PE teacher shouted and raged at us...
“This is like something from Planet Of The Apes”.
I will be 38 in three weeks. I have no choice but to work out. The staff of the Mandarin Gym are excellent and very helpful. I must say I feel pretty good afterwards, and am glad to be able to go there.
However.
If I had a time machine... There's a certain PE teacher who I'd roll down the Pump House hill.
Tuesday December 11, 2001 : Two Weeks Shopping
Despite the fact that the halls have been decked all over Makati, and even though behind me sits an fake 8 foot Christmas tree with bogus presents underneath it... It just doesn't feel like Christmas! To hear a group of Pinoys singing “I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas” is as bizarre thing. I just can't get around the concept of Christmas when its 32 Degrees out. How can Christmas exist without snow?
Strange.
In 11 days I will leave for Bangkok.
Friday December 7, 2001 : Rain & Fevers
What was it that Dorothy said in THE WIZARD OF OZ? “If I ever go searching for my heart's desire again, I'll look in my own back yard...” Something like that. I'm sure Kevin Quain knows.
The Fever came to visit me on Wednesday night. I thought I was still hot from the gym. Then the headache that had haunted me all day got worse. I found myself slipping down that weird slop of mud into the thick and vivid pool of dreams that seems to wait for me at the other end of The Fever's magical touch.
I had a dream I was home and in The Grapefruit Moon. Sandy, Sunni and a few others were there and I was sitting with them outside. It felt so nice to talk to them.
Oh well.
The other dreams...
Not so enjoyable.
It rained all Thursday. I didn't mind, though. I slept almost all day. Dorie brought me food in the late afternoon, which was nice. Chicken and rice. It was good after being ill. I feel 100% better now. More spooked by the dreams I'd had than anything else.
Sunday December 2, 2001 : Weird Weekend
Well, it wasn't THAT weird. I didn't have any kind of paranormal experiences or anything. I just feel some kind of "change," but I can't exactly put my finger on what exactly the change is...
I went over to Brook's on Friday for a while and hung out. Saturday I was slumbering and swimming and reading at the Mandarin Oriental's pool. I ache in areas I am unused to aching in. I am told this is a good thing. I hope so.
I have a new friend named Dori, whom I met at the internet cafe I now use. We hung out early Saturday evening. Saturday night was a big party at some friends of Brook's. They lived in a gated area outside of Makati, and I must say that the house was amazing, as was the spread set out for the party. Their house was like a museum of cool stuff they'd picked up all over Asia and it almost seemed like a museum or a groovy import store. It was a good night. I met a lot of new folk who's names I instantly forgot. One fellow who works for the US Consulate reminded ALOT of Justin M. This made me realize how much I miss our conversations. I had the unique experiance of NOT drinking all night and watching some of those around me blur into that alternate place which I once knew well. I caught a ride back to Makati at about 2:30 am.
Dreams...
Walking towards some mountains in a tropical country I've not been to. It wasn't here or Thailand. The shape of the mountains was so strange. I can't place who I was with. I knew them from the world of dreams but in the waking world they are strangers to me. Our guide was armed and dressed in a dark green uniform. In the dream, I wanted to take his photo but he wouldn't let me.
Standing in a class room while this older fellow led the kids through a weird martial arts like kata. He said "with your art, focus not on the momentary issues of politics, but on the unspoken issues of the heart. Create new ideas the way an inventor joins unrelated pieces of metal to make something new." Who was this fellow? I don't know. I had to write what he said down when I awoke.
And speaking of strange...
I switched on the TV this afternoon and stumbled across some kind of Christmas movie on HBO... Who do I see looking out of the TV at me? My old roommate from 1991, John Devonish! Seeing Toronto on TV is something I am almost used to... but seeing people I know is really weird. John is actually the last person I ran into before I left Toronto to go to Ottawa on my way here. Strange!
Monday November 26, 2001 : Update
I am sore. I am sunburned. I spent the weekend laying by the Mandarin Hotel pool, under a big old palm tree while listening to wonderful music on my Walkman. I have a mix tape I made almost a year ago for The Original Chris Chiasson that provides great poolside entertainment.
Not much else is new. I haven't heard boo from the Hotel Detective, not that I expect much action anyways. I am looking forward to my Christmas trip to Bangkok, however, which I've pushed back to the 22nd.
Tonight was 3rd work out session, and it was much more difficult than the last two. Heavier weights, more things to wave about, and struggle with... However, I must admit I enjoy it more than I'd expected.
Friday November 23, 2001 : Can't Keep A Good Man Down
After all the stuff that has happened this year... The incident with my cash being lifted seems to have had no long term effect on me. I was really bummed yesterday but today... It just doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I can always get more money. And I will.
Whether I will ever be able to walk normally or descend down a flight of stairs again is another question! I limped around all day. I managed to have a nice nap between 3:30 pm and 5:00 where I had a dream that my friend Strider in Toronto was playing me a tape of his songs... I wish I could recall them now...
I wasn't going to work out tonight but... I did. It wasn't as bad as I'd feared. The swim was wonderful as always, and the sauna was truly nice for my ancient bones.
Now for some YURI'S REVENGE!
Thursday November 22, 2001 : A REAL Reason To Groan!
I discovered that someone — no doubt one of the cleaning staff — rifled through my stuff and made off with a great deal of Christmas cash. The hotel detective (and I always thought they only existed in the minds of THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS) came and did his investigation. The building, of course, was trying to blame Susie, since that's easier for them. After the Hotel Detective talked to her, though, he dismissed that idea.
Oh well.
I can always get more money.
But I had intended to buy a plane ticket with those funds...
In other news, I can barely walk, or bend my arms. Ouchies indeed.
(for those uneducated in the ways of Nickelodeon, “Action League Now!” is a brilliant bit of animation from the series KA-BLAM. The 10 minute segment involves action figures being run over, or crushed. For more info...)
Wednesday November 21, 2001 : Ouchies...
Today I did my first offical workout with the gym's trainer. As “The Flesh” from Action League Now! (He's super strong and super naked) says when a concrete block is dropped on him... OUCHIES!
It started out quite easy... I walked on this contraption that looked like Doctor McCoy's idea of a treadmill for 25 minutes... (I kept thinking of DEVO's 1982 New Traditionalist Tour where they played their concert while walking on conveyer belts!) Once the the thing stopped though I was Mr Rubber Legs! I stumbled over to the weight torture zone and was instructed in a variety of “easy“ beginner exercises...
The most difficult moment for me was doing these over the head free weight things that required a certain degree of concentration (so you don't drop the weights that you are trying to lift on your head)... What I REALLY wanted to concentrate on was the woman across from me who was exercising her bum muscles on this strange bum/leg exercise contraption... which by all the evidence I observed works quite well...
Must not... look at... her... bum... must focus... on ... breathing... must... not.... get... woody.... Think ... about evil grade 2 teacher... think about... sumo wrestlers... do.... not .... look... at... lovely... flexing... bum in ... tight... fashionable fitness outfit...
After all of this, I was given instruction on “crunches”... after years of being forced to do horrible FULL sit-ups by a different sadistic martial arts instructors these seemed almost pointless.
Shower...
and the best part of all
THE POOL!!!
All to myself.
Walking was nearly impossible. Swimming was wonderful. I had a nice hot sauna and headed out... Walking like a 95 year old man who's had 2 strokes. I'm sure tomorrow I will REALLY have a reason to groan.
Monday November 19, 2001 : Pool Side
As watching TV, practicing guitar and playing Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge are not enough things to keep me from losing my mind, I have joined up at the Mandarin Gym. Not just because I want to look good naked, or because its right around the corner... But because I get access to the swimming pool. The wonderful huge swimming pool.
When I used to go to the Karate class that was held there on Tuesdays and Thursdays I would look at that pool and want to run and leap in... But I never once swam in it... Last night was my first time and it was wonderful. I was the only person there and I splashed around for an hour. The pool holds some bitter-sweet memories for me though, as it was where I would call M. at 6:45 pm... To wake her in Ottawa at 6:45 am...
Raining season is ending and the pool will be there for me when the hot season begins! By the way... to all you folk in Canada... How's the weather?... it was 36 C here today... That is 87 F for you old fogies.
Sunday November 18, 2001 : Terry Fox
Here's an exchange of text messages with Rene that occured as I walked to Bruno's Barber Shop to see Wilson... (please note Rene's running while typing these messages on the number pad of his hand phone... and I am walking through traffic... SAFETY FIRST!)
Me: How r u?
Rene: OK JUST FINISG JOG WID MY KIDS
Me: U jog with ur kids?
Rene: KIDS GO BIKING,ME JOGING. DO U KNOW ABOUT TERY FOX? THEY HAV MARATHON IN PICC. A CANADIAN SPONSOR 4 CANCER.
Me: Of course I know Terry! Every Canadian does. Ran across Can to raise money. Died before completing, BIG hero.
Rene: OH YE SHE GREAT HA. I DIDNT KNOW THEY HAV A MARATHON 2 DAY. IF ONLY I KNOW I COULD JOIN THERE.
Me: Terry as in Terrance! Terry Fox was a guy!
Rene: OH! SORRY. I TAUGHT TERI A WOMAN!
Me: Its okay! It was my first laugh of the day.
Rene: OK GOOD TO LAUGH. TALK 2 U LATER. CEL BAT IS LOW. WORK SKEDULE NOW IS 2 PM 2 TEN AT NITE.
Friday November 16, 2001 : Junk Emails
One annoying and costly time waster when you are checking your email in a cyber café is these forwarded bits of electronic junk. It's bad enough being pitched on porn or debt consolidation when you open your email, but this stuff sent by family and friends really winds me up. "Oh it's just in fun..." you say in a whiney voice... NO its annoying. ESPECIALLY stuff like the following. I got this and I just had to reply to each of the "facts" it presents...
Ya, I'm in a grumpy mood. It's the heat.
HERE IT IS AGAIN - reality check time
Subject: THE CLASS OF 2004
The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1982. They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan Era and probably did not know he had ever been shot.
Unless they get into college, where we would hope that they would actually HAVE TO PASS a history course where no doubt they had some questions about the Reagan era, or which president in the early 80s' was shot.
They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged. Black Monday, 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression.
And I was prepubescent during vietnam and missed the bear market during the 60's... Your point is??
There has been only one Pope.
He was shot you know. He has a finger missing.
They were 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart and do not remember the Cold war.
Instead they get to deal with extremists using leftover weapons from that period.
They have never feared a nuclear war.
Except they fear a nuclear attack from some fanatic.
They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.
But they will have the image of a jet flying into the World Trade Center stuck in their heads for the rest of their lives.
Tiananmen Square means nothing to them.
Unless of course they took history at some point between grades 1-12 or have a Chinese classmate.
Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic.
Or yummy candy that is good to eat. Something the people who wrote up this thing DON'T know.
Atari predates them, as do vinyl albums.
Someone failed to mention that vinyl albums are still being pressed and unless they are cowpokes they will know what Atari is.
The expression "You sound like a broken record" means nothing to them.
The same way none of us knew what "the pot calling the kettle black" ment. Duh.
They have never owned a record player.
Bullshit.
They know EXACTLY what a "record player" is. They call it a turntable.
Chances are if they are male they have TWO OF THEM and they are connected by a mixer.
They have likely never played Pac Man and have never heard of Pong.
Again bullshit. If they rave or watch MTV THEY KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THESE ITEMS ARE... These are icons to them.
They may have never heard of an 8 track. The Compact Disc was introduced when they were 1 year old.
They may not have heard of an 8 track if they were born on a desert island!! If they have seen ANY movie or TV show set in the 70's which is likely they know EXACTLY what these items are.
As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 33 cents.
But chances are they don't care because they use EMAIL.
They have always had an answering machine.
Wrong. They've always had VOICE MAIL.
Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they seen a black and white TV.
If they have ever walked into a store with a security camera they HAVE seen a black & white TV.
They have always had cable.
Unless they live in the country where they've always had a dish.
There have always been VCRs, but they have no idea what BETA was.
Because in 1982 after Regan was shot by the Pope and he fell on the Soviet Union we banned ANYONE EVER TALKING ABOUT BETA.
They cannot fathom not having a remote control.
The same way I can't fathom someone taking the time to write up this annoying list of things that don't matter.
They don't know what a cloth baby diaper is, or know about the "Help me, I've fallen and I can't get up" commercial.
Considering there has been a return to using cloth diapers and I know many folk who use them... I don't buy this. Catch phases sadly never die so they may have heard of that dumb ad, the same way I knew what "a little dab will do you" even though the gunk people used to smear in their hair had been out of style for years...
Feeling old Yet? There's more:
I don't feel old from reading a list like this. I feel old by seeing how totally out of touch the Baby Boom generation is.
They were born the year that Walkmen were introduced by Sony.
And a great year that was! Thank God for the Walkman. Any time someone starts rattling on about the 1960's or Woodstock I can stick in a cassette of WIRE's "IDEAL COPY" and smile smile smile.
Roller skating has always meant inline for them.
They were spared the torment of being dragged to roller rinks where white trash bozos with mullets and mustaches knocked you down as they raced to the snack bar to pick up some jailbait!
Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show.
And since they probably watch Conan they don't care... at least no more than I did about Johny Carson when I watched David Letterman.
They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool.
I have no idea why Jordache jeans were cool.
Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.
Unless they had a hot air popper or went out to a movie theatre.
They have never seen Larry Bird play.
Who the hell is Larry Bird and what does he play?
They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.
Because the movie and everything relating to it was banned in 1982 after The Pope and Ronald Regan crushed the Soviet Union.
The Viet Nam War is as ancient history to them as WWI, WWII, and the Civil War. They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.
Since they skipped their history classes...?
They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.
But they suspect they are contact lenses that are hard. Possibly early ones before we figured out how to make them soft. This would be a guess.
They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.
Because that show was only on BETA! And they NEVER re-ran THAT show...
They never heard: "Where's the beef?", "I'd walk a mile for a Camel," or "De plane, de plane!".
Yes the great 1980's catch phrase ban wiped those out.
They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. was.
Why not? Because reruns of Dallas were also banned.
The Titanic was found? They thought we always knew.
Who wrote this crap and why weren't THEY on the Titanic!
Michael Jackson has always been white.
And a robot.
Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not rock bands.
Except for the fact that those bands are played ENDLESSLY on MOR radio stations that target boomer women... which we assume is who their mommies are... DUH! No wonder they listen to 240 BPM drum loops.
McDonalds never came in styrofoam containers.
huh???
They stopped using styrofoam in the early 90's... so I image if they were born in 1982 they went to McDonalds at some point before their tenth birthday!
There has always been MTV.
Started by Michael Nesmith... You know the Monkee with the wool cap?? Did you know that?
They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter.
But since they use COMPUTERS and probably type and aren't stupid I imagine they could figure it out.
Do you feel old yet?
No.
Do you feel stupid yet?
Have you ever actually met anyone born in 1982? Do you have any idea what you are talking about? Do you make these same type of assumptive generalizations about ethnic groups? Did you get fragged in Nam? Did you go to Woodstock? Are you on the grass?
How about not sending me stuff like this.
Tuesday November 13, 2001 : Brook's Birthday
I have been spelling Brook's name incorrectly. Sorry Brook. And happy Birthday.
I attended Brook's big birthday bash at a restaurant called "Shiraz". There were quite a few folk there and I was shy. It was fun, though, and the food was excellent.
Monday November 12, 2001 : NEUROTICA
Good morning, it's 3am in this great roaring
city full of garbage eaters ravaging parking
spots beneath my plaza window I see cheetah in their
tight skins and tired heels all-night hippo in
the diner crossing the street swarthy heards of young
impala flambastic gibbon even a struggling monza
and over there that brilliant head ornament on that
Japanese macaque but look closely at the hammerhead hand
in hand with the mandrill, it's a sight you're
unlikely to see anywhere else on the planet...
.
the stench and noise, yes, yes, the howler's
resonating repertoire is not too bad when mixed with
the more musical twern of the tropical warbler but the
impatient taxi blare the squawking elderly ibis and
the glass-eye snapper hawking papers I can certainly
live without also be cautious of the poisonous
boomslang laughter social droppings of the fruit bat
and purple queen fish and who's that babbler conversing
with a magazine stand? evidently he's getting a good reply...
arrive in neurotica
through neon heat disease
I swear at the swarming heards
I sweat the foul terrain
I rove the moving scenery
I have no fin
no wing no stinger
no claw no camouflage
I have no more to say...
Say...isn't that an elephant fish on the corner over
there look at that blush baby mud puppy noolbenger
rhinoderma marmoset spring peeper shingleback skink
siren skate starling sun-gazer spoonbill and suckers,
they seem to be everywhere, well it's a live revue
random animal parts now playing nightly right here in neurotica...
so long...
Lyrics by Adrian Belew
He must have visited Manila...
Sunday November 11, 2001 : Remembrance Day
Today is Remembrance Day, the day on which Canadians remember the many who died in the last two world wars, as well as in Korea and more recently as UN peace keepers. I have associated this day with my Father since as far back as I can recall. No matter where we happened to be living at the time, he had taken me to the "Poppy Day" memorial services. That association became even stronger in 1990, when in early November my Father died.
I miss him greatly.
Saturday November 10, 2001 : Filmed In Toronto
Everything is filmed in Toronto. If I turn on the TV at any given moment, I can find at least 3 shows that were filmed in Toronto, and I can find even more educational shows made by TVOntario if I care to look on the local channels. The Hallmark Channel seems to be the one with the most Canadian produced shows. It's weird to watch something and recognize a place which I've walked past a thousand times... Stranger still was walking through the Park Square Mall today and seeing Toronto's Chinatown (complete with street cars) being used as a backdrop in a Karaoke video!
Some days I get truly homesick.
Friday Novemeber 9, 2001 : Tropical Depression
Tropical Depression Lingling has left us and is now heading to sea. Lingling is predicted to turn into a typhoon before it hits Vietnam. It really didn't do much to Manila. A bit of rain, a lot of wind, and a more comfortable cool temperature were all that we saw. However, up in the north the death toll stands at 120, with 200 or so missing.
Monday November 5, 2001 : This Is Not A Movie Review
Late yesterday afternoon there was a blackout across Makati. I find things like that VERY annoying. Especially since a North American like myself expects there to be a good reason for such an inconvenience. A storm, or a flood or natural disaster will do... but to just have the power GO OFF for no real reason other than some one fell asleep or spilled their Jollibee Mango Juice on the power plant's controls...? Those are NOT good reasons.
I had looked forward to a hot Susie meal all day, but in the end I was forced to walk in the dark to the Rockwell Mall and eat mediocre and overpriced food. I was supposed to meet up with Jenn's pal Joanne, however that also failed to materialize. In the end, I went and sat through Kevin Smith's new film "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" all alone.
Which brings me to the main thought of this entry...
THE 90'S ARE OVER AND "JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK" IS PROOF!
I remember seeing Wim Wenders' 1991 film "Until the End of the World" in 1998 and thinking how dated and how packed with 80's clichés it was... Especially since the movie was set in the futuristic year of 1999 (I'm still waiting for Sony to release the cool video recorders used in the movie). The best thing about that film was the soundtrack. "Jay and Silent Bob" can't even boast of that. It had this annoying incidental music that sounded like it was borrowed from "Blues Clues".
As I sat and endured this film I thought to myself... is it me, or is this just not funny anymore?
Mind you there were a few funny gags. I did laugh out loud more than once. The "Planet Of The Apes" spoof was very funny, especially with "Clerks" hero Dante screaming "I'm NOT supposed to even be here" while an ape experimented on his brain.
But jokes about Scooby Doo and associates smoking dope? In 1993 it would have been funny. Now its just TIRED. Tired like swirly "celtic" tattoos. Tired like needless piercings and metal things poking through skin. Tired like spoiled angry first world brats screaming about the injustice of "the system, Man". Tired like Quentin Tarantinoish "Reservoir Dog/Pulp Fiction" rip-off road movies that glorify mindless violence, killing cops and helpless store clerks by half wits who hold their pistols sideways because it looks more cool.
Attention KMART shoppers. The 90's are over.
I will always love Kevin Smith's first film "Clerks". I will also always have a soft spot for "Mall Rats". "Chasing Amy" is a classic... But then... something went wrong. "Dogma" has been blocked out from my memory like some traumatic alien abduction and alien probe.
In the end I believe that Jay and Silent Bob CAN NOT exist outside of the 90's. This fact makes me safe from any possibility of them flying to Manila to beat me up.
Saturday November 3, 2001 : Smog Free Makati City
The last two days have been holidays in the Philippines. With this two-day break from traffic, the thick soup of smog that normally hangs over us as been blown away. Today I noticed that with the smog gone I can actually SEE Manila Bay from my bathroom window.
I have been listening to the wonderful mix tape Justin M sent me. My favourite track is Martin Tielli's cover of a Scott Walker song called "Farmer In The City". It's a haunting song that reminds me of the Autumn of 1995. A time when I had little "hope" personally, but a time that preceded the wonderful year of 1996...
I feel much better today than I have in about a week and a half. I am still finding myself sleeping in a heavy sweat-soaked fever with the equally heavy fever dreams... Dreams real enough to wake me and to make me question certain things regarding their meaning.
Friday November 2, 2001 : Bedside Companion
What was I for Halloween?
I was sick.
I spent Wednesday and Thursday confined to quarters, with only enough energy to switch channels on the TV. There was plenty to switch from and little to switch to. When I was a kid, the good thing about being sick was watching TV. Now it seems like a punishment. I ended up deciding that the lobby security channel was the most entertaining of all.
I did manage to stumble across some truly disturbing stuff. Dennis Hopper in "Space Truckers"... oh my. A low point in his career. Bill Murray in "Where Buffalo Roam"... if I hadn't been introduced to the ramblings of Hunter S. Thompson from another, more knowledgable source, this movie would have made me hate him forever... The Solar Entertainment channel had a great selection of horror movies for Halloween. The only scary thing about them was their production values.
Thursday was All Saints Day, which here in the Philippines is a national holiday involving visiting graves and lighting candles. I played with my ER-1 and practiced guitar. I am continuing on with a few new ideas, but it's too soon to really say whether or not they will become anything "real".
On Tuesday I did receive a package from Justin M... He'd sent it to the Last Homely House and Brooke left it at her work for me to pick up. It was a mix tape!! Full of strummy songs for me to enjoy in this pop music wasteland.
Monday October 29, 2001 : Letter From GRH
Last night I went out with Jenn & Joanne to Rockwell and saw a movie. It was a good evening. Walking to and from Rockwell is so nice... so much like being back home.
Today Brooke texted me and let me know that a letter had arrived for me at The Last Homely House. I made arrangements to come by and pick it up this evening. Susie came by and made me a wonderful meal tonight, and after I'd eaten and had finished watching Star Trek: Voyager, I walked over towards San Lorenzo Village.
I saw Markie G, Captain Pike and their friend Hash at Starbucks. I briefly stopped and talked to them, then headed over. I picked up the letter from Brooke and left her and Karl to eat their dinner. I had guessed the letter was from my friend Gina Rae in Toronto and I had guessed correctly. I read it by the weird globe-like street lights as I walked back out of San Lorenzo. “Mid-Winter Night's Dream” by the Rheostatics played on my Walkman while I read.
I was wonderful to feel as if I had been touched by some part of my “home” as I walked along reading... I do not disclose much of my inner workings here on this site, but I will say the letter was a welcome thing.
Sunday October 28, 2001 : Out Under Cloud
I stayed in last night and watched the debut of the HBO mini-series “Band Of Brothers”, which is based on the exploits of the American Paratroopers of “Easy” Company during the liberation of Europe in 1944. It was quite well done and I think more historically accurate than the flag-waving “Saving Private Ryan”. It will be continued next week.
I went to bed relatively early but not before watching “Robot Holocaust”, which is possibly the WORST movie I've ever seen. The National Geographic Channel has been replaced by the abomination called “Solar Entertainment” Channel... Solar plays awful B movies all day, all night — movies so bad I feel that I have been transported to the Satellite Of Love...
I was up early today. I spent most of the day lounging around the apartment. I walked down to the Power Plant Mall at Rockwell and visited the book store. I may go out with Jenn and Joanne later tonight depending on how I feel.
Saturday October 27, 2001 : Fever Dream
I was quite fevered by the time I got in last night. I went to bed and slept right through until 2:30 pm. I had some very strange dreams, the strangest being that I was visiting Vancouver Island, and was attending this “gathering” of “monks”. IF that’s what you would call whatever it was we were. It was truly a spooky dream. There I was kneeling with a hundred others until I was called upon to demonstrate how to “vanish” as if it were some martial art techique.
I went to Greenbelt this afternoon, then made my way to Park Square One. I had a few things to buy including a supply of antibiotics, as I feel as if I may be getting another eye infection. I am not well today. I will go back to the apartment and spend tonight watching TV I think.
Friday October 26, 2001 : Rockwell
Jenn and her friend Joanne were supposed to meet me at Greenbelt at 8:30 pm, however I ran into them as I walked down the tiny side streets off of Burgos. They are staying in an apartment there. So with that suprise we headed to Greenbelt Mall in a cab. Once there we went first to “National Sports Bar”, then when that was too full and too loud we went to Chili's... But the line-up there was huge, so we headed to The Rockwell Centre over by my place. We had some difficulty with getting a cab to take us. The first guy tried to haggle with us, wanting 100 pisos for a 40 piso drive, the second guy had his meter on already at 73 pisos and refused to switch it off... Finallly on the third try we got a cabbie who took us over with no problems.
I have only been to the mall there once before with Brooke and MC. I had no idea that there are restaurants and cafés along the outer edge and that there is a big strip of Patios... It was wonderful to sit outside under the moon and palm trees in nice area away from all the noise and smoke. It reminded me so much of being in Toronto in the summer time... except for the palm trees and the shadow on the moon being in the wrong place.
I'm not sure what the place where we ate was called. It was great, though. I had several of these “fruit shakes” — pineapple and orange! Mmmmmmm. I was great to hang out until 11:30 pm with Jenn and her friend Joanne. I must say, Joanne spoke excellent english and was, as Superdry would say, “a proper fit bird”... A good evening all around.
Wednesday October 24, 2001 : Riddle Me This...
I met Brooke, Malcolm and associates at The Craik tonight for the quiz. Karl is back from abroad and was there as well. We did sadly on the quiz. Oh well, there is always next time... It was a good evening. I felt more “at home” and had a good laugh with Malcolm. I didn't stay late, though. Malcolm and I walked down towards Makati Ave, he went to Heckle and Jeckle to play billards, and I headed back to my place.
Sunday October 21, 2001 : Greenbelt
Last night on my way back from checking my email, I ran into Markie G near Starbucks... He was off to his older brother's bar "High Heels", so I came along. There was a crowd of folk there, some of which I'd met before. I talked to Markie G's friend Big Jeff, as well as the muscle bound super-hero-like Captain Pike to name a few. I didn't stay too late though, as I've been mildly fevered for the last week.
Today I met up with NG Dave's girlfriend Jenny, her 3 year old son Paolo and Jenny's friend Bablyn. Jenny seems intent on setting me up with one of her friends! Bablyn was rather shy. Paolo was not. We went to a restaurant in Greenbelt and had some food there. NG Dave is overseas right now, but should be back for Christmas. Jenny misses him a great deal. I gave her a copy of the photo I took of them on the steps of Fibs back in September (that seems like last year now...) I hung out with them until around 2:00 pm, then made my way back to my apartment.
I have been avoiding walking up P. Burgos past all the annoying guys selling wrist watches and trying to drag you into one of the girlie bars. Instead I walk up the preceding streets through some simple areas where people sit and live their normal lives. It started to rain as I reached this area and I had to laugh at the dozens of kids who were streaming out from shelter to run around laughing in the rain. I was greeted with a chorus of "Hello Joe!" from them.
I love my MEC tropical raincoat. It keeps me warm and dry.
I had to lay down when I got in. I was both fevered and cold, the only cure for this state is to sleep. I drifted in to that spooky fever dream world until 6:00 pm when Susie showed up with my laundry and cooked me an amazing meal. The 3 hours sleep and the excellent food have helped. I discovered I had no load on my handphone, so I took a trip to 7-11 and got a card then came to the Internet Cafe nearest my place and checked my emails.
Saturday October 20, 2001 : Ideas
Sleep sleep sleep. That's what I did today. It was needed. I have been mildly fevered lately. It rained this heavy rain this morning that was like someone was spraying the windows with a fire hose...
I worked on a new musical idea today for many hours. Slowly it takes shape. First as some strumming, then as some picking and strumming, then as 3 plinky guitar tracks on the Palm Studio... then comes the drum programming on the ER-1... then the combination of the guitar and drums on the Palm Studio with a rough vocal track... I am still a long way from going in to Perfect Mix with this idea, but I can see clearly that this little ditty will end up there with in the next 2 weeks.
Thursday October 18, 2001 : Anthrax & Public Enemy
Not much new here in Makati. Security is tight, and the brilliant strategy of seaching bags for explosives by poking around blindly inside them with a stick continues at all building entrances.
Markie G and I were subjected to Alan Parson's Projects horrific 80's classic "Mr Roboto" in a taxi. That was upsetting.
Brooke has got me hooked on watching reruns of Star Trek: Voyager on the Hallmark Channel. I find this show strangely comforting.
Last night I met up with Brooke and her chalk at The Craik for another Quiz Night... Our team only got 41 points... as sad showing indeed. Malcolm, her engineer friend from Glasgow's team won the big prize; a bottle of Chivas Regal. He and I ended up talking about a variety of things until late, while Brooke was absorbed into a game of billiards.
Malcolm is working with improving the water supply (or lack thereof) around the poorer sections of Metro Manila (which is basically EVERYWHERE outside of Makati). His stories of having to deal with local gangs who object to the improved water supply because they control the sale of water in a specific area, or having guards with armalites to protect the water systems from "water theft" would seem outlandish if I hadn't lived over here for so long... Even with such tales, he seemed to really love his work, and expressed no desire to return to the cold grey of Glasgow.
I have been working on some musical ideas, but I am reluctant to go back in to Perfect Mix until I am certain of my ideas.
Monday October 15, 2001 : A Wise Man Once Said...
Remember folks, a joke isn't funny unless EVERYONE is laughing.
A word to the wise is sufficient. Remember Lot's wife.
Sunday October 14, 2001 : Fever Dreams
I slept a lot yesterday. I'm amazed at the heaviness and thickness of the dreams I have when I have a fever. Yesterday was difficult. I would wake soaked and cold from dreams that seemed so real... just to slip back in to sleep and in to another equally real dream, until the dreams and the waking times were so mixed up I was unsure of which was which. Now the fever dreams are all faded except for images that I don't have a context for: A grocery store where I am examining the price of a block of cheese... Walking across a bridge with someone (possibly Space Walk Shirley) and past a British SAS sniper... Faces of people I know ONLY from dreams, and faces of those I miss in Canada. I feel as exhausted from the dreams as from the fever.
By the way...
If you stop by my Journal, please sign the guestbook and say hello...
Saturday October 13, 2001 : Fever
I had a fever last night. I slept most of the day.
Wednesday October 10, 2001: The Craik
Last night I met Brooke The Half Elven at an Irish pub called "The Craik" (pronounced crack). It was quiz night, so Brooke was there with many of her friends. MC was there and many introductions were made... but I must admit I am very bad with remembering names in situations like that. It was fun, although I felt a bit shy... And it was strange to be around a bunch of expats who weren't my chalk. I left at around 11:00pm. I haven't been sleeping well the last few nights so I was tired.
I got an email from K. I must admit... It made me realize how much I miss her.
Tuesday October 9, 2001 : This & That...
It is nice to be back in Makati. I do miss K quite a bit though... Yesterday I went over to The Last Homely House in San Lorenzo and hung out with Brooke. It was strange to be back there. Even though my time there was only a few weeks ago, it seems like months to me now. Brooke and I ate pizza and watched lame TV and talked. That was nice. Proper conversation with someone in that Grapefruit Moon sort of way... Brooke would fit in there perfectly.
I checked my email afterwards, then went to Starbucks and ran into Markie G. We hung out for a while, then headed back to our respective homes.
Susie came over today. I have hired her part time again. She was shocked to find me back, as she had thought I was back in Canada. She made me a great meal tonight. It was good to eat Susie food once again.
I watched "Mall Rats" on HBO. That was truly weird to see HERE... It reminded me of living at 1019 in 1996, working at Gina Rae's, hanging out with Zach and Janice in the summer and playing in The Applicators. Or at least I THINK I did those things... It is a long time ago now...
Saturday October 6, 2001 : Back In Manila
My flight from Bangkok would have been more enjoyable if I had been left to sleep. I'd been awake since 4:00 am, and all I wanted to do was fall asleep to Emylou Harris' "Red Dirt Girl" on my Walkman. However, every time the drinks, headphones, moist towellettes, salted green peas (this is Asia, no peanuts on this flight), duty free, or food came by, they'd insist on waking me up. (Geri had complained of a similar experience on the way back from the UK) Finally I gave up and watched "Bridget Jones' Diary" with Kevin Quain as the audio track.
We arrived in Manila, and I walked with the herd to the customs line-up. There was a three piece acoustic band playing as I passed the duty free shops. They all smiled and nodded at me as I walked by since I was carrying my guitar. Once at immigrations and customs, I stood in line and waited to get my passport stamped (I'm running out of pages!). I noticed that there were immigration officials running around with video cameras filming everyone in line and there was one fellow with a 35mm camera with a HUGE telephoto lens taking selective snapshots... I imagine this has something to do with the hunt for terrorists, as the Philippines has been a hotbed of extremist troublemakers for some time.
Rene met me in the red car and we headed back to Makati. I am staying at a hotel called Prime Towers just off of P. Burgos. I am uncertain if I will stay there for the long term or not. It will do for now. I met up with my friend Markie G for some dinner at around 6:30 pm. We went out after, but I called it an early night as I was beat.
Today I went with Rene to a place called Green Hills Shopping Center. It is basically a mall FULL of flea market-like vendors selling whatever. The section we went to was the area for cell phones... The objective of our day being to either repair my non-functional Ericsson T28 which took a dive in Brooke's pool, or to replace it with a cheap alternative. Each vendor (and there were literally HUNDREDS of them) of cell phones and their many possible accessories had a repair fellow sitting near by. The repair guy would sit by a card table with soldering iron and tools, ready to repair or customize your handphone. He would for a small fee fix a broken phone or remove the line block so you can change providers, or he could add flashing lights, new annoying ring signals, or brighter back lights for the display... what ever you desire to make your phone unmistakably yours.
Rene found a fellow who was willing to try to fix my phone. It took him two hours and cost me about 1200 pisos but... HE FIXED IT. The problem was that the keypad had been ruined by the water and had to be replaced. The other problem was that Ericsson has beaten a hasty retreat from the cell phone market, and my T28 is as rare as an Edsel and just as difficult to find parts for. Still, I'm certain he overcharged me, but considering I paid 18000 pisos for the phone, and it would have cost me at least 5000 to replace it with a lesser model... I was glad to have my it back. The only fault with it now is a ghostly smudge that hangs back behind the display LCD screen. A reminder to me NOT to take the phone so close to the pool.
Rene and I went to a small diner for some food. It was okay but we regretted not waiting and going into Chili's in Makati. Rene dropped me off at Prime Towers and headed out. I am to meet Markie G later... Now I must rest!
Friday October 5, 2001 : Leaving Bangkok
I am writing this entry from an internet cafe in the Bangkok Airport. My flight starts boarding in 20 minutes...
K met up with me last night at around 7:00 pm. She brought me a strange snack. A McDonalds Taro Pie... I have NO IDEA what Taro is. It tastes like... sweet mashed potato... in that McDonald's pastry that we ALL remember from our childhoods. She forced this snack upon me last week, and since my reaction to it was more positive than the reaction to the deep fried grasshopper... she figured I'd love a Taro Pie. She was correct.
We watched the mind snappingly stupid but highly amusing "Dude, Where's My Car"... The perfect movie to watch while eating fast food. The Chinese Food drive-thru scene amused K to no end. She switched from calling out "Daaaaavid...." in the haunting "A.I." tone to saying "and then... and then... and then..." for the rest of the night.
The good-bye this morning at 6:00 am in front of Evergreen Apartments was sad. I hope to see K again, though, at Christmas time.
Anand picked me up at 8:00 am and drove me to the Airport. It was noticably empty. I checked through security and customs... And now, folks....
Time to get on my plane.
Talk to you all from Manila.
Bangkok out.
Wednesday October 3, 2001 : Movie Night
I spent the morning out by the Evergreen's pool or in it... I had some tea, and chatted briefly with Geri's friend Steve, who's also staying at the Evergreen. Thai Airways called, and I got the confirmation number of my flight on Friday.
At around noon, I met up with Geri for a bite and hung out for a few hours. I gave her some copies of the photos of her Birthday Bash, and she told me about her trip to the UK.
I met up with K at around 5:30 pm and we went to the movies. K took me to see the three hour Thai epic "Suriyothai", which tells the story of Queen Suriyothai who was killed in Battle in the 1500's. K was concerned that I would find the Thai history lesson boring or the movie too long. I did have some trouble following the many names of the different warring kingdoms, but I really enjoyed the movie, despite its sad ending. After the movie we went back to the Evergreen.
Tuesday October 2, 2001 : Here Comes The Flood
There was a huge rain storm last night. It caused a great deal of flooding on the roads, which of course brought the city to a standstill. K and I had planned to go to a movie, however... this proved impossible. Just getting from point A to point B proved nearly impossible. There was a point were I had to take my shoes off, roll up my pant legs and walk through the waters... an amusing thing, until I considered that much of the overflowing water had come from the sewage system. After a great deal of effort, we got to the elevated BTS and took the train back to Ratchathewi. We had food at Fresh Milk then came back to The Evergreen. Needless to say I washed my feet.
Khae left at 6:00 am.
Geri is back in town. She was pleased at how clean her apartment was. I can't take credit for that though. Maggie's maid is the one responsible for that. Hopefully Geri and I can get together at some point today.
I have decided to wait until the new year to return to Canada. I just can't deal with the idea of cold. Not yet anyways. I'll be heading back to Manila this week.
Monday, October 1, 2001 : Back To Evergreen
K left at 6:00 am and I walked her down to get a taxi. I was mistaken about her "only" taking blue and red cabs. The reason she'd waved on 3 taxis Sunday morning was she wasn't finished "saying good-bye" to me.
I came back to the apartment and packed my stuff up. I had some tea, then went for a swim. I ended up falling asleep by the pool for about half an hour. I listened to David Gray's "White Ladder" on my walkman and was out by the pool from 8:40 am until 11:00 am. It was a beautiful morning.
Maggie's maid came by and did her thing while I finished packing my stuff. At 1:00 pm, Anand came by and drove me and my gear back to the Evergreen. Sunny put me in a room on the 15th floor and I checked my email. I was going to go for a swim but it began to rain quite hard at around 2:30 pm.
My time in Bangkok draws to a close.
Sunday, September 30, 2001 : Good-bye Superdry
K came over early yesterday, which threw our routine into confusion. We ended up crashing early, and I woke after many strange dreams, thinking it was 4:30am, when in fact it was... 9:30pm. K was busy talking Thai in her sleep, so I let her rest while I stood in the dark and looked out onto the rainy Bangkok skyline for about half an hour. I contemplated my situation, but still have no idea what next week will bring. My time in Manila seems like a dream, and my time at The Last Homely House seems like it was 4 months ago...
I played happy channels and had some tea until K got up. We had a snack, watched some unmemorable TV and eventually went back to bed.
K left at 6:00 am, and I walked her down to the main road where she caught a cab. I've noticed she'll only take the blue and red cabs, never the green and yellow ones. I have to remember to ask her why this is. I went back up to the apartment and watched a bit of news.
I went over to Superdry's at 11:00 am. It was a HOT walk over. The sun was out and it was very humid. This was Eric and Superdry's last day in the apartment. All of the original furniture was put back in its original places, and all of Superdry's stuff had either been given away, or tossed in the bin. It was weird to see the place so empty. The last strange item for Superdry to debate the fate of was a bag of nicotine patches valued at about 300 bucks. We discussed if you could use them to start smoking rather than to stop. This seemed to make sense since, as Superdry pointed out, they had helped him to continue smoking. In the end, they went in the bin.
Eric made the first trip down with the "silver trolley of death". He'd already moved most of his stuff out, but had a few items left to take, including Superdry's only functioning TV set. We took that down to the front and Eric went and got a taxi. Superdry had come down to take the trolley back up. With that, it was good-bye for now. Superdry's flight out of Bangkok was this afternoon. That leaves me the one of the few remaining members of our chalk left here.
Geri comes back tomorrow, so I will be moving back to Evergreen for a few days, then it will be my turn to say good-bye to Bangkok... and sadly, to K.
Friday September 28, 2001 : Wrong T-Shirt
I actually sat by the pool for an hour or so today. Then it clouded over, and I had to go inside before the big rain came. The rain here reminds me of Vancouver a lot. At night, the view from the 28th Floor is like something from Blade Runner... especially in the rain.
I went out with Superdry, Eric and some others last night. I didn't stay out too long, though. I wasn't really in the mood, and I had to meet K at 1:15 am in the lobby of the Apartment. I actually waited for her outside since the clouds had cleared up and there was a cool breeze. All these drunk Japanese business men kept arriving back at the building and stumbling inside at around 1:00 am. They were all giving me a sort of strange look. I realized later that I'd been wearing my "Bridge On The River Kwai" T-Shirt...
Thursday September 27, 2001 : Day Of Rest
I met up with K last night and we walked for a while. She bought some fresh fruit from a vendor which was a much more welcome snack than deep-fried grasshopper. We went back to the apartment and watched a movie on HBO. Then we crashed.
She left at 6:00 am, and I walked her down to the main road where she got a taxi. Then I went back to the apartment and slept more. It was a lazy day. I listened to music, and watched "The Mexican" on VCD. Tonight I'm going to go over to Superdry's for a bit, then I'll meet up with K.
Wednesday September 26, 2001 : Storage
I had a bad dream last night. In the dream, I was watching TV with these people, and the news was showing a US Navy ship that had been sunk with all hands by terrorists. I was very upset in the dream. Sunniva came into the room where we were watching TV and hugged me. That was comforting.
The storage of all my stuff has been sorted out. Thanks to Superdry's help... A great relief indeed. The next thing I must sort out is my plans for the autumn... Do I stay in Bangkok? Do I go back to Canada? Do I go back to Manila? Do I go somewhere new?
ONLY TIME WILL TELL...
Tuesday, September 25, 2001 : K's Day
I promised K that today would be "Just for her"... In fact, the day was her day just for me.
She showed up at around 10:00am, and we had intended to set out right away, however there was a major downpour that had us trapped in the apartment for about an hour and a half. Once it let up, we headed out and hopped in a taxi. K had quizzed me on what I had seen and what I hadn't seen and with that information we went off to The Grand Palace and all its adjoining temples.
The Grand Palace is, of course, the place where the King of Siam has resided for as long as Bangkok has been the capital. The Thai people take their Monarchy VERY seriously so things like singing numbers from "The King and I" are not suggested. In fact... that movie is banned here. (and rightly so with that annoying "Uncle Tom's Cabin" bit...) When we entered the outer court part, the first thing that greeted us was a guard room with about 20 guys sitting around, their rifles with fixed bayonets all sitting nicely in racks. Also sitting for all Islamic Extremists to see was a very real and very loaded .50 Cal machine gun on a tripod. K found my fascination with this very amusing. We headed in and bought tickets, K getting in for free being Thai. From there, we wandered around the grounds looking at the endless temples and Buddhas. The amount of gold was unbelievable. The inlays on the walls, the paintings, tiles, everything was so colourful and so beautiful.
There was a great deal of shoe removal. Several of the security guards in charge of the shoe racks were amused by the thickness of the socks M knitted me last Christmas. The shoes of the foreigners are kept separate from the Thai shoes of course. We being such filthy unwashed barbarians and all. Oddly, the foreign racks were usually all saddles of some sort with the exception of my trainers and big thick wool socks.
There were several museums, none of which were very large, but were full of priceless antiquities. The weapons museum was really interesting. Especially since every arms manufacturer in the late 18th century seemed to have sent the King Of Siam a pistol or two. The Green Buddha Museum had a lot of beautiful vases and crystal. Something I wish my Father and his best friend Doug could have seen.
We went in to see the "reclining Buddha" which is inconceivably huge and, as the name suggests, is reclining as if watching TV on the couch. K insisted that I follow her lead in the temples with the lighting of candles and incense and so forth. Each bundle of incense has a tissue paper that contains a thin piece of gold foil that you have to stick on to a statue. The gold foil, however, seems reluctant to stick with out a great many attempts. Both K and myself were rubbing flakes of gold foil off of our faces, clothes, hands and, in K's case, out of her hair for hours afterwards.
The Grand Palace was indeed grand. We watched the changing of the guard, and wandered around looking for the exit when we'd seen enough. Once outside the walls, K led me over to a row of vendors across the street to play a carnie type game and get some food. The game was shooting these strange stuffed toys off of their perches with an air pistol. It was an exceedingly easy game. We came away with 6 little creatures for K to take to her baby. I had some really good lemonade, and then K decided she wanted a snack...
DEEP FRIED GRASSHOPPER...
She bought a small bag of these goodies and insisted that I wasn't allowed to make a fuss about her eating them until I had tried one. So, being a trooper, I did. K insisted it tasted just like chicken. It didn't. It was truly disgusting. It was like eating crunchy fried straw or hay soaked in soy sauce... It didn't actually taste as "unpleasant" as it did unfamiliar... but the IDEA that I'd just bit the ass off a big bug was too much for me to get past so I couldn't continue. My reaction of course amused K to no end. She took the remaining half of the grasshopper and popped it in her mouth, head and all and crunched away. All I could do was tell her I wasn't going to kiss her for at least an hour. She just laughed. We wandered along the road, K continuing to try and get me to try to eat things just to wind me up. I bought a small flute thing for 40 baht which the kid selling could play like Zamfir but I could barely make a sound with... I'm sure it will be good to sample.
K was still hungry despite her bug feast, so we taxi'd it to The Siam Centre and had some Pho. She continued to try to gross me out by eating the biggest prawn I've seen recently and making a large production out prying its head open and sucking the meat out. I was happy with a bowl of Pho Ga. No K, grasshopper and chicken DO NOT taste the same.
Next stop was the BTS and a train ride to some new cinema where we saw A.I., the ET of this decade. The movie wasn't bad up until a certain point... (the point where that annoying "Sixth Sense" kid is underwater in the Police hover thing)... THEN of course it goes on and on and on and sinks into a soppy "happy ending"... oh man... how painful. It could have been a really cool movie if it had just known when to end. K enjoyed it though and found the fact that robo-boy's name was "David" very amusing (to K my name is David, not Lorne). She taunted me with that for the remainder of the evening, calling my name in this haunting voice, like in the movie.
After the movie we grabbed some take-away and went back to the apartment to eat and watch a VCD of the movie "The Little Buddha". K, of course, fell asleep halfway through.
It was an amazing day. K is truly wonderful. It's going to be so hard to say good-bye to her.
Monday, September 24, 2001 : Packing Up
I spent much of Sunday digging through my stuff deciding what goes with me and what is being stored. I had to find the CD with the Cakewalk Files of the songs I recorded in July at Perfect Mix. Those two discs took forever. I went through a box of photos from my whole time in Asia. So many good memories and faces of people I miss, like Flashback Terry. The 300 odd photos M and me from last Christmas were hard to look at. Happier times... I miss my conversations with her.
It stormed really heavy through the early evening so when I headed out to Geri's the street in front of Superdry's building was flooded two feet deep with water. Superdry and Eric were highly curious as to how I was going to handle it, so they watched (and no doubt commented like it was a football match) from the 11th floor balcony. I scoped out the road and saw it was impassable so I went through the underbrush along the side of the road. I got a bit wet from the leaves but my shoes stayed dry.
I met up with K at 1:00 am and we watched half of the movie "Monkey Bone" then crashed. She split at dawn. I walked her down to the road then went back to bed. Maggie's' maid came by and woke me with the washing of the dishes J had left behind. I got up at around noon and went back over to Superdry's. The waters had subsided.
This afternoon arrangements were made for storage and shipping, and then Superdry and I watched the movie "Snatch" on VCD and ate some tasty pizza. I hadn't seen it. It was a highly amusing movie.
This evening I fired up my computer and spent the afternoon burning the remaining bed tracks I'd written in ACID PRO onto a CD... Many of these little ditties I had forgotten about. Some are quite twisted... Whether they will ever go beyond being bed tracks is hard to say. Only time will tell. At least I have them.
Saturday, September 22, 2001 : Back To Superdry's
K left at 6:00 am. I slept until about 9:00 am, then got up and had some tea and watched the news. Images of angry men with beards and hats burning flags and setting themselves on fire by accident. As much as Ol' George W seems out of touch and ignorant at times, these clowns truly frighten me. So much anger and so much ignorance topped off with a certainty that there is only one belief that matters... It's a very dangerous thing. They say truth is the first casualty of war. I think reason is the first casualty of a Jihad. And I fear this may kick off in a bigger way than people realize.
I did manage to enjoy my last day (for now) at Evergreen. I sat out by the pool and listened to music on my Walkman, and also swam a little.
I had a bit of food at the 8th Floor Cafe and said good-bye to Joom, then at 3:00 pm got ready to move back over to Superdry's for one more night. I packed my stuff up and said good-bye to Sunny and the wonderful staff at the front desk then took the BTS over to Asok.
Tonight I spoke to Maggie and at 10:00 pm went over to J & Geri's. J was there so we hung out and talked. Geri got off okay last night but he was worried since she got stuck in the UAE due to some kind of problem at the airport there. I picked up the keys to that apartment from him as he's off for a couple weeks and I'll be able to stay there until I decide what I'm doing.
I walked back to Asok, and just as I got there it began to storm. I had my MEC coat on so I was okay, although my pants were soaked just crossing the street. K and I had agreed to meet on the BTS walkway if it was raining, so I waited there for her. I watched the street kids running out barefoot into traffic to try and sell flowers or just beg. The amount of rain coming down and the wind made it an unbelievable sight. Eventually I saw the familiar figure of K coming under an umbrella towards the BTS. I ran down from the overpass, past the kids who, while the traffic light was green, were playing under the water pouring off of the top of the walkway roof, to K's arms. We jumped into a cab and went back to Superdry's both very super wet.
The storm was still quite intense. The power went off several times, however, we did manage to watch most of the movie "Detroit Rock City" on TV. K decided that the kid who tries to win the money for his KISS ticket by stripping reminded her of me... I'm not sure why, but I guess that's better than the burn-out one named "Trip"...
Friday, September 21, 2001 : Book Day
Today is what I count as my Birthday. my actual Birthday is December 31, however due to that dates unfortunate proximity to both Christmas and New Year's, it is a day seldom remembered even by my family, and a day I only seem to celebrate when I am dating someone. September 21, 1977, however, is a day that has more meaning to me. It's the day I began writing my journal. I have kept a journal ever since then... 24 years now! So, today is what I have called "Book Day" since I was about 14.
Reflecting on what's happened in the last 12 months and looking at where I am going is a big part of my Book Day entry. I still keep a physical journal, which contains a lot more information and personal things than this Web Journal can... So my reflections will be contained there, not here... However, I will say that I feel that the last year's ups and downs have ultimately been good for me, and that the next year will be somewhere I can use lessons I have learned this past year.
So... all that said, here is today's entry...
I went over to Superdry's today and hung out with him until the afternoon. It was a pretty lazy day. I spoke to a slightly hung over Geri and arranged to meet up with her. She heads off to the UK for a week or so tonight at midnight.
I went back to The Evergreen and had a nice swim in the pool. The sun was setting and I could hear the Buddhist monks chanting in the temple nearby.
J & Geri came by briefly and then I walked with them up towards the BTS. They went to the MBK Mall and I met K at Asok, then came back and we had some yummy Thai food at Fresh Milk. I had intended to move over to Superdry's tonight however the weather was not permitting.
While we ate there was a major monsoon thunderstorm. The amount of rain that comes down during one of these storms is unbelievable. if you are from Ontario, you might be used to the summer storms that dump lots of water really hard in a short space of time. These storms are similar except the amount of water is ten times as much, the intensity of the down pour is greater and the storm will last several hours.
We tried to wait it out after we'd eaten but finally we just gave up and made a mad dash for the Evergreen. I gave K my MEC raincoat and off we went. I was soaked, but once we were back I changed and we settled down for the evening. It was a lot like old times...
The sad part of the evening was explaining to K that I had to leave Thailand in early October and that I may not be back for a long time... The look she gave me was absolutely heart breaking.
Thursday, September 20, 2001 : Geri's Birthday
Last night, after I'd settled into Superdry's, I had Anand drive me over to pick up K from her work. She was surprised and happy to see me. We came back to Superdry's and she stayed until dawn.
This afternoon I checked into the Evergreen Apartments where I will stay for a few nights. I wish I could remain there, but it's not in the cards right now. The staff were all happy to see me and I had a bowl of soup in the 8th Floor Cafe, served, of course, by Joom.
Tonight was Geri's big 21st birthday party at a bar called Spazzo's. Superdry, his roommate Eric, and myself got fancied up and went to it at around 10:00pm. It was quite the event. Geri's boyfriend J was there, as was Maggie, and Snowy's old friend Steve, as well as others who I've only met once or twice before. There was a live band who were quite good, although they seemed confused as to whether they were in Bangkok or Hong Kong. Geri got up and sang Gloria Gainer's disco classic "I Will Survive" with one of the vocalists, and stole the show.
I stayed until about 12:30 am, then took a cab back to Evergreen. K showed up at 1:30 am once she was finished work. Despite the language barrier, it's nice to be with her again. She's so trouble free.
