USA Vacation tour

Jo Ann [my wife] and I had a tour of the US mainland from April to August 1992 [5 months]. We drove through a total of 29 states - coast to coast, twice [northern states and southern states] and logged 19,000+ miles on a brand new Ford Taurus. The pictures were scanned from the originals in our albums.

Depressed in the "Land of Smiles"

Depressed in the “Land of Smiles” on Christmas seems to be an incompatible sentence. Some sort of conflict of subject and predicate maybe or whatever, and yet I will admit the veracity of the statement. Please excuse me guys, but I have to be true to myself, which means that when I write about my victories and happy times I also have to balance my blog with the times that I am in the pits, which is not very often.

To describe the feeling would take a whole page from the psychiatry textbook, and I would omit the rest except to point out the heavy feeling in the chest area with a slight labor in breathing plus the unconscious act of staring into nothing for some time, with the mind almost in blank mode or running through sad replays of the past days.

I would admit that I am a man with an inner resolve of steel and velvet, meaning that I have the ability to stand up to any psychological or physical challenge at one moment and yet shed a tear when confronted with emotion. This time it is the absence of both, which only complicates the problem. I simply don’t know from what angle to attack the unseen enemy.

I have ruled out andropause because I know that my testosterone is still at its high, which is why my hair follicles couldn’t hang on. It also is not a financial slump because I am still eating three meals a day and I know that the Lord will supply my family’s needs even through eternity. It’s not about worrying what may happen in the future because I trust that my God has it all planned for me.

Maybe it is impotence. I’m not talking about erection dysfunction if that is what’s in your jaundiced minds. That thing was never a problem in the far or recent past. It could be something about the Christmas season and the fact that I am not in the position to make a really meaningful and exciting Christmas for my family like I used to. Maybe it’s the place, where I am surrounded by pagans who can’t even sing jingle bells or peeve me with repeated caroling at night. Maybe it’s the fact that I was recently robbed and deprived of the means to spend for a lavish Noche Buena and to buy gifts for loved ones.

Depression, what an eerie feeling, and I pray that God will teach me to get rid of it. As the days move closer to the 25^th please join me in prayer for my swift recovery.

Yes, Christmas should be in the heart, and I could add that it is also in a heavy heart.

Merry Christmas to all! [sigh]

Big Lizard and Wild Doves

Our house in Bangkok is surprisingly free from cockroaches, which is not common for city homes. Occasionally we see droppings in the bathroom which consists of undigested roach wings and body parts but we dont see from what animal it came from. An occasional sighting of a "Tuko" and its unique sound is encountered around the house but only today did I come in close contact with it inside the bathroom. Thais call it a tu-ke and so do the manobos in Davao del Sur. The Wikipedia calls it a Tokay gecko and I wont be surprised if the Japanese call it a tokrrray.

Bangkok - The dark side

Have you ever tried writing with a heavy heart? Quite a weird motivating factor, and I don’t think I would want to continue if only it were not to release some of the pent-up feelings, which is like some sort of internal pressure cooker ready to blow its top off. Another reason why I’m hell bent on writing this piece is so that I could also portray another side of Bangkok that sounds so much like the Philippines, and it’s like I’m sliding down memory lane in the “City of Angels.”

The afternoon of December 19 starts with my getting ready for my regular weekly tennis game. Today would be different because I have a visitor from the Philippines who is here for a 15-day vacation. He used to be my regular tennis partner in MVC when I was still a 7^th day Adventist and I was looking forward to a night of slicing balls and dropping shots. The venue is at the opposite side of Bangkok from where we live, and we have to leave at least 2 hours before the scheduled play time since we would be traveling during rush hour.

Kokong and I leave at 6 pm for Bangkok Sports Center on board # 18 bus and the bus ride takes 30 minutes through the traffic snagged Ratchawithi. At the Victory monument we switch to the Sky Train for a ride to Phra Khanong and from there we hop on another bus to Pridi Bhanomyong where the tennis courts are located. We enjoy 2 hours of lively tennis with Noods and some Filipino businessmen and then we’re ready to go home. Elson Salvan suggests that we take the # 511 bus, and Kokong and I think it a good idea.

In retrospect, that decision shouldn’t have been made and it would have been better if we simply retraced our ride on the way home. The 511 bus takes so long to cross through the city and by the time we get to Pinklao it is 11:40 and a huge crowd is waiting in a dimly lighted street to board the last bus # 203.

The bus comes to a stop and the pushing and jostling commences as everyone wants to get home the by cheapest means. Kokong and I are one of the last to get in the bus and as I grab the door handles to climb on board I notice a guy behind me wearing dark blue pants and shirt. He also is in a hurry since the bus is starting to move. But just a second before the doors shut he jumps out the door and I start wondering why. On impulse I reach out my hand to check my wallet in the back pocket of my pants and it’s gone. I press the stop button by the door, the driver stops the bus, opens the doors and I jump off the bus in hot pursuit of the thief. On impulse kokong also jumps off after me, but by this time the thief is beyond reach.

Imagine two guys with backpacks and tennis racquets sullenly walking the night Bangkok streets, peering at dark spots, around garbage cans and side streets looking for a wallet that might have been hurriedly emptied and tossed aside by an escaping thief. After about an hour with no sign of a wallet we board a taxi cab and Kokong pays the fare.

In my room in that midnight hour I take stock of my loss and I am poorer by 300 US dollars, 2,000 Baht, 10,000 Laos Kip and 200 Philippine pesos. I also miss my MD license, my Philippine and US drivers licenses, SSS, PhilHealth and BIR cards, some pictures and telephone numbers. I also dread the confrontation with the wife knowing fairly well what could happen. Its 6 days to Christmas and the worst time to lose money.

I lull myself to sleep that night with the song, “Blessed Be Your Name,” and in the early morning I awaken to meditate on the dark and sinister side of Bangkok.

Pinoy Christmas party

Pinoys at Yanhee Int'l Hosp staged their Christmas party at the farm resort of Dr. Supot - owner of the Hospital. This was our first Christmas in Thailand. 

It's part of his 400 hectare farm located at Nakhon Pathom, an hour and a half drive from Bangkok. The venue was free including a/c rooms, bicycles, kitchen and bathing facilities, etc.. It took place on Dec 5, birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, thats the reason for the yellow shirts.