ODE TO THE THAI OMELET

The word (omelette) is French in origin but the dish is believed to be Persian (present day Iran).

Kai Jeaw is Thailand's version of the omelet and like the Pinoy adobo, its pretty much a DIY dish for any meal of the day, and is said to be the ultimate Thai comfort food and unofficial national dish!

It is described as "crunchy yet fluffy, golden brown pancake-like yet rich and savory, and often combined with additional ingredients".

I'm addicted to Thai omelet that I always pair with Ko Mu Yang (grilled pork neck) and cold Chang beer, my week's staple in Bangkok 5 dinners  in a row. 

That's from when the pope went to the other side as we transformed Chatrium's Spring Room into a portrait of where we are and where we should be, an alchemy hub of compliance and program quality, and an assembly line of elements for Year 4 as a potential border dispute in Bakal 2 popped up...  

...to spice a hell-hot omelet-less Chinese dinner, sweeten an elevated omelet-less Thai lunch after the rain that never came, and summon the Holy Trinity of Thai beers to preside over the interment of a superstar under the patronage of the Blessed Boat People of Nakhon Pathom and three doses of sleep catchers.

Omelet though was not in the menu of the malls of Siam but I did find 5 pairs of socks for only THB 100 in lieu of my inclusion in the waiting list of PR 731 rendering me ineligible for an online check-in.

The moto-sai driver from Naradhiwas smelled like cooking omelet, pungent unlike the enticing aroma of the White Ladies of the train cars to Suvarnabhhumi, almost ethereal like the radiation emanating from a seatmate in the bus to Ilagan; a palette of grilled fish, roadside papaya salad, and pork done two ways to wrap up our Bangkok midterm assessment that almost did not happen...        

SHOOTING CHURCHES, EATING NOODLES (2025 Semana Santa Edition)

The fishes wear colorful earings in Paoay while in Sta. Maria, the Virgin Mary keeps appearing in a guava tree on a hilltop.

That is why two massive earthquake baroque churches were built in both places so St. Augustine can preach to the sinner fishes of San Juan de Sahagun (1694-1710), and for the Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion to be able to keep guard of the guava tree in what was once known as Purok (1765-1810).     

And yes, we have the bragging rights of having visited the two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Ilocos Norte and Sur, and the other two in Miag-ao and Intratmuros too!

On the first three days of a Holy Week, the demolition men descended upon Bakal 2 to pull out rusty nails from an old wooden roof truss where the minutes of the meetings with Islamabad and Jakarta along with the survey responses to Melbourne were crucified as captions to a couple of quickie rides and a birthday invitation in Bakal 2.

On Maundy Thursday, we crossed the Dalton and Diadi moutain passes to shoot St. Vincent Ferrer's church in Dupax del Sur and the church of St. Matthias in Tumauini, and eat Cabagan's famous pansit and an accidental pansit batil patong in Tuguegarao that would have been perfect pairings with Aritao's sauteed red ant eggs. 

In between betrayal and crucificion, bikers converge in Dupax del Sur while most of the resturants in Tuguegararo closed to attend an Ilocano mass at St. Peter's Cathderal.  

On Good Friday, we detoured to the Basilica of Our Lady of Piat for a forbidden breakfast of pork igado with more bikers before launching a raid to St. Raymond of Penafort's church in Malaueg (aka Rizal).

We crossed the mountains of Apayao from Conner as death blanketed Golgotha, parked at the Patapat Viaduct in Pagudpud, and dueled with the windmills of Bangui before a pit stop in Paoay for a linner of insarabasab, pinakbet, and sinigang na bagnet to finally usher us to a welcome bowl of reheated miki Iloco in Vigan.

On Black Saturday, we fell in line for a breakfast of sinanglao before exploring Vigan and Calle Crosologo by foot and calesa on the way to St. Catherine of Alexandria's church in Luna.

That's how we avoided the mourning traffic at Sta. Maria and had a late lunch of inihaw na tuna, sinigang na seafood, adobong pusit, sinuglaw, and dinengdeng by the seaside in San Fernando. 

On Easter Sunday, I took a center seat for an early morning ride to PR 736 and an omelet dinner in Bangkok as memories of the extremely helpful diversion roads in Isabela and Ilocos Norte, the literal street dogs of Cagayan, the lonely winding highway of Apayao, a sexy tattoed lady walking her dog in Ilocos Sur, Bulan's pout for not being able to drive in La Union, and the choir singing during the renovation of Vigan's St. Paul Cathedral slowly faded into a resurrection of empanada, royal bibingka, bagnet, and longganisa...

BIG IN JAPAN

As in a huge bowl of three sashimis (salmon, tuna, amberjack) in a bed of crushed ice and  a vast platter of 6 sashimis (shake, maguro, tamago, mackerel, squid, sea urchin) garnished with finely shredded vegetables.

Add to that a collosal serving of Tonkatsu Ramen and two jars of sake.

It was two big dinners but in QC (Sushi Shokunin along Sgt. Esguerra Avenue and Nomiya Izakaya at Scout Tobias Street) not in Japan nor in Gapan!  

That is to celebrate the impending triumph of the Bangkok assessment over the aftershocks of the Myamar earthquake as announced in a welcome pack and the guidance note for annual development plans that were punctuated by two coordination meetings with Melbourne, a quick briefing for the Phnom Penh sessions, a huddle scheduled for Jakarta, and the resolution of Islamabad's visa woes in parallel to the launch of a second review for the Kuala Lumpur convening and a visa application for Brussels II. 

As expected, the B Hotel's buffet table easily carried three learning review days as predicated in a weekly meeting.

Bangkok was booked, the last ties with Oxford was severed and surrendered in Manila, 95B Scout Castor Street was finally secured.

But an excruciating 6-hour return trip (courtesy of Baliwag Transit) cancelled the euphoria of Wednesday's 3-hour deluxe ride to Cubao (through Victory Liner) from Bakal 2 where dusts from a university community fiesta clung on a cold canned lion and a pair of daing na bangus.

Then weekend.

My tuna sashimi went well with a cask of Singleton 12 years old single malt Scotch and three tanks of Tanqueray London dry gin during Akbayan Day.

Their grilled tuna fillet complemented my kinilaw na tuna that were surprisingly elevated by several drams of Johnny Walker Blonde blended whiskey from the twin tables of Mistah Night.  

Sursedey chnam thmey!

MORNINGS IN PHNOM PENH

The two standees (not I-Stand) were assembled in Phnom Penh (the standee capital of the Oxfam universe) where we posed standing between them (not behind them or on stage).

There are two minor typographical errors but the green wordmark and red kangaroo were screaming, hopefully loud enough for the benefactors in The Land Down Under.

Before the standees stood up, all due invoices were settled although Elite was reverted back to Classic on the day Bulan's parchment finally came home from Miag-ao before the political circus arrived in Bakal 2 to activate Workplace, update Outlook, dive deep into DocuSign, and secure support for a possible Brussels 2.        

Aroun suostei!

A morning walk through an agenda and its guidance note around Grandmother Penh's commercial hub earned an elevated Khmer lunch from a kitchen called Eleven One and an accidental dinner of grilled thuringer, bratwursrt, and bockwurst at a bar named after Berlin.

Dila mshvidobisa!

A commune of breakfast stalls in Chaktomuk agreed to collaborate on promoting energy transition finance before Shindi called them inside for a Georgian lunch of khinkali, khachapuri, mtsvadi, and chkmeruli that were heavy enough to push the regional convenings in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta but not so much for a top-up of grilled pork intestines in the shadows of Chairman Mao, and Khmer balut/penoy within smelling distance of the Dames of Tonle Sap.

Selamat pagi!

Signages along Samdech Mongkol lem Sreet declared Bangkok to be safe and secure for a post-earthquake midterm assessment, that the Year 3 burn rate and Year 4 indicative budget pie were on track, that lunch therefore will be an Indonesian spread of beef rendang, gado-gado, chicken satay, spicy tempeh, and shrimp curry from a resturant in Sumatra where the transcripts were transmitted before boarding Bopha Titanic for a duel with its house Volcano, sangria, and red wine. 

In Bakal 2, mornings were spent in the bike trails, burning calories to make room for the return to pale pilsen and a row of of cocktails from the Godfather of PAGGS Premium Lounge.

There was Irish whiskey on Saturday afternoon too but it was the beer from a 45th wedding anniversary celebration that warmed the soul because the Craft has been exposed to be a sham actually...