OF BELTS AND ROADS

the Chinese have been with us ever since, much earlier than the Spanish and historical records, trading with Rajah Ahmad of what is now Manila and his descendants since 1258 or prey to the piracy of Lim-A-Hong who briefly encamped in Pangasinan in 1575 after a raid in Manila, with the Fujians eventually settling in Parian along the banks of the Pasig River and then relocated to an enclave now known as Binondo, created by Governor General Luis Perez Dasmarinas in 1594 for Chinese converts to the church to keep watch on dissent thus establishing the world's oldest Chinatown      

fast forward to present day where Chinese export has outgrown silk to include Huawei and other cheap products, breaking out from the Silk Road into sea lanes and air routes with belts of Chinese money that, as described to us in Phra Khanong, is an outcome of their over capacity and the need to sustain the bubble of an economic growth driven by failing state owned enterprises rather than pursuing world dominance, their South China Sea-grab explained as an attempt to break out of a pseudo-military blockade imposed by the US and its allies       

we speak many dialects but most of us in the Philippines are actually part Chinese, in names (Conjuangco, Aquino, Tanjuatco who by the way are related), the food we eat (pansit, siopao, lechon which comprises comida china), and our looks (Manong Randy and Dinah can be easily mistaken as Chinese); in Bangkok too where Chinese genes abounds in looks, fused in food (the noodles, sauteing and frying) and the lousy breakfast buffet at Ibis Styles Sukhumvit Phra Khanong whose rubbery texture evoke fake food and therefore the bias perception of it being Made in present-day China     

four of us is what's left from our workshop, bounded by a growing distrust of China's intentions in the Philippines (West Philippine Sea and POGOs), Sri Lanka (Colombo Port City Project), Pakistan (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) and a shared lunch of omelette (Persian) and tom yum (Thai) ordered through a colleague's inherent expertise on local cuisine, he who has more Chinese in his DNA than all four of us combined  

Yaowarat is the heart of Bangkok's Chinatown, one of the largest in the world where the Teochew merchants (originaly from Guangdong) were relocated in 1782 perhaps as a punishment of their closeness with the ousted King Taksin, but where they prospered and transformed Yaowarat into today's gastronomic hub mobbed by tourists like Kuya Egay who got the street food walk he requested and a dinner right on the sidewalk stall of Lek and Rut's, his culinary journey ending at the 30th floor of Brewski's rooftop bar and mine extending to the next day, at Suvarnabhumi Airport's duty free shops where I had my usual pre-departure fill of free Chinese-origin rice cookies   

Tsingtao Beer is okey but I can't get myself to like Siok Tong tonic wine 

thank you to the Scots for Johnny Walker blended whiskey and long live China for inventing the lechon!

HAI[na]KU 40

-40-

Days of sweat and rain

Nights of stories and glee

A blissful Sunday 

HAI[na]KU 39

-39-

First job came Friday

Weekend labors and soiree

Wet trails, happy legs

SUKHUMVIT SOI 20

I have three nights in Bangkok.

The bar menu plan is Singha on Monday which I had at the Suda Restaurant along Alley 14, Chang on Tuesday that was provided by a street stall along Soi 20, and Leo on Wednesday that was displaced by a trio of craft beer (Thai Whale Pale Ale, Eleventh Fort India Lager, Summer Solstice Crem) happy hour promo from Bad Burger along Sukhumvit Road. 

Thanon Sukhumvit actually extends 488 kilometers from Bangkok to the Cambodian border and what most non-Thais know as Sukhumvit is that busy strip of concrete traversed by the Sukhumvit Skytrain from Mo Chit along Phahonyothin Road to Soi 107 in Beaning.

There are 107 Sois branching out of Sukhumvit in Bangkok which represents a United Nations of sorts with most western expats concentrated between Soi 1 and Soi 63 interpersed with a Japanese enclave between Soi 21 and Soi Thong Lo, Indians and Koreans in Soi 12, and of course a slice of Bangkok's sleaze at the Nana Enternatinment Plaza in Soi 4 and Soi Cowboy between Soi 21 and Soi 23 (Wikipedia).

Sukhumvit is a food street but its inner streets is where hard core street food thrive, like in Soi 20 where ambulant carts offer sweet Thai coffee or deep fried pork, pots of whatever simmering in makeshift stalls and sidewalk kitchens, small family shops competing for space with motor taxis --- a welcome patch of authentic Thai food in a 1.1 kilometer strip of eclectic cuisine from Red Planet-Asoke where I stayed to a workshop at the Novotel Bangkok-Sukhumvit where I met fellow Novo Ecijanos and the ever present Filipino mafia.             

I spent 8 hours at the Suvarnabhumi Airport. 

Two hours of these coming to terms on why I missed a flight for the first time in my Oxfam life and scrambling to get a seat on the next one, three hours exploring what the airport restaurants can offer with their outrageous prices (tax not included in most), and three hours soothing my unfortunate plight with a slice of pepperoni pizza and a bottle of Thai craft beer.  

Ten hours and 2,196 kilometers from Sukhumvit Soi 20 later, I finally arrived home, got some sleep and woke up steeled and ready for our usual first Friday night caucus, Saturday post-meeting fellowship and two birthdays, and a Sunday lunch of pizza, beef roll, burger, hotdog, ice cream, cheesecake, and unlimited soda that we cheated out of the SNR taps.