Monday, April 29, 2024
THE UNEMPLOYED 4: A Delegate to ANCOM 2024
Monday, April 22, 2024
THE UNEMPLOYED 3: A Consultant in Kuala Lumpur
Hanuman is not a beer
she is a proud uncovered breast herding monkeys from Batu Caves into guardians of the Putra Mosque who cover Chinese tourists with the Prime Minister's maroon robes
Monday, April 15, 2024
THE UNEMPLOYED 2: A Houseband in Bakal 2
frozen kappukan, a mummified bluefin tuna, two ancient gurami fused by ice
they melted like beer in the ricefields, like dead heroes after breaking the fast
a duel of software updates for draft application requirements
nucleared pinangat, pinapaitan boiled twice, kinilaw embalmed in soy sauce
recycled like a contract for Kuala Lumpur, like an updated CV and Cover Letter
juggling funds for an aircon replacement and credit card payment
withered amaranth crushed,green brandy canned twice, a job advert goes live
morals and dogma from the checkerboard floor, tales of coitus on a Sunday night
seven portraits of a Phantom Biker in a canvass of creamy tofu and pasta
Monday, April 08, 2024
THE UNEMPLOYED 1: A Volunteer in Bangkok
so I settled power and credit card bills with the last one
The crowd work but I did not shop
for a fee of 1,200 baht, for the price of $128
Monday, April 01, 2024
THE CITY OF DIAMONDS (and Desserts)
Diamonds are forever but glasses are made from the sands of Cha-am Beach where the squid was fried, the fish steamed, and the crab was flaked and caked as the sun rises from the Gulf of Thailand to fill a chilled mug that formed from a ladle of melted quartz with its liquid golden rays.
We are diamonds, we sparkle in our own right, we came to Phetchaburi, we plotted the future from the past, and we have desserts for snacks.
The Fish Port
I disposed two more Amaranth shirts in a gated high-end resort enclave that would have cost a pouch of 24-carat diamonds to build before the pungent smell of the sea and rotting fish pulled me through narrow alleys into the oracle of Suvannamaccha.
"Line up your bike in a rocky beach front and a San Phra Phum" said the golden fish, "then visit a kalae house and pose with a boat at the fish landing so you will remember the Thai omelette, gai pad krapow and the beer tower you had for dinner" added the mermaid.
The Mangrove
On our last day, the oracle revealed the Front Hall to the hidden mangrove forest park where a floating wooden bridge ferry bikers and hikers to the canal lighthouse where blue fishing boats that are all named "Jenny" are moored.
In exchange, we have to ride our bikes through the loose sands of the beach into the temple, to the fish landing, past the crematorium, behind a blue garbage truck, and through quaint neigborhoods to a final dessert of mango and sticky rice.
Monday, March 25, 2024
THE LAST MEETINGS
The pigs have spoken: get roasted or die!
They did both anyway by being skewered on steel pipes then grilled along the sidewalks of La Loma, their tender meat and crispy skin hewn for breakfast at Ping Ping's Restaurant while miles of chitlins were deep fried as deadly snacks of Ryan's Chicharon Bituka and Bulaklak for the last weekly team meetings.
I shared what could be my last reports.
"A draft declaration on promoting a care economy was submitted to the ASEAN Secretariat in the form of a concept note for the 7th ASEAN IB Forum with final recommendations for the CSO regional forum on JET just before an ambulant feast of tinumis, kalderetang kambing, adobong bibe and tasteless catered food was unleashed by the jueteng lady on St. Joseph's day."
"A virtual panel on building spaces for social dialogue on the rights of informal workers in ASEAN discussed an invitation to moderate the ASEAN advocacy training in Bangkok in my personal capacity before undergoing oral prophylaxis for the secret college crush I met at Jollibee where the lead singer of "Luha" watched me sip Australian wine."
Banawe's Tzu Chi Temple and Wow Toy Museum don't exist on weekends but Ma Mon Luk's original mami and siopao as well as the Maki House's maki-mi are on sale, enough to expose Mario's Caesar salad as an overhyped pile of dressed romaine lettuce and croutuns that is thankfully not included in the outdoor menu of The Village Bar in Phetchaburi.
It will be our first post-pandemic Advocacy and Campaigns Team meeting and my last but it seems that I've got to keep my company email and computer for the monent because I am the Lord of the Trails who disposed Amaranth shirts at hotels and airports...
Monday, March 18, 2024
THE FIRST INTERVIEW
"What's up?" I was asked.
"A monumental ASEAN declaration will liberate the slaves of unpaid care and domestic work, a breakthrough MOU will propel a just energy transition, and economic justice will be evaluated and shall prevail" I courageously responded.
"So what's going on?" was the follow up question.
"I was examined and interviewed virtually but an unexpected call from Islamabad told me that a waiver from New Delhi will ensure support for Vientiane in lieu of the Climate Justice Manager in Manila" I explained pessimistically.
I was next quizzed why the Thursday Group have to convene on Wednesday and Saturday, how a platter of tokwa't baboy turned out to be more tofu that was reheated as pork adobo for bingo night, and my intention on taking the bus via Aliaga instead of attending NS4's mini-reunion in Cabanatuan.
That's because there were no meetings on Thursday is what I told them, which is market day for an empty icebox that finally got my dirty motorbike washed while updating three nearly dormant bank acounts and securing an appointment for a dental prophylaxis.
Furthermore, I don't like crowds so we moved to a table where the MILF of Bakal 2 left her scent and had our own Barangay Night with a can of luncheon meat that tasted like red onions because four biking days is almost good as a week of exploring a brand new trail...
Monday, March 11, 2024
JALAN SABANG
- claim a repaired watch and trade a bag of oversized red onions for a TV remote control in Ortigas;
- soothe a loose bowel with a Nagi Izakaya ramen brunch and high ball, a dose of Mabuhay Lounge wine and a measure of PAGGS Premium Lounge beer;
- dispose two oversized underwears and four unwanted shirts;
- splurge on Lamongan's sate kambing and Restoran Garuda's padang spread.
Such are the perks of my impending departure --- to be feted by an all-women plane crew to a first ride in an electric taxi and not lose a phone, to be able to meet with Melbourne from the backseat of a Bluebird, ACE a lunch of ayam bakar and convene the PMT at a hidden sanctuary for Italian junk food.
But there's a short list so I wonder if the durian at Jalan Sabang will taste the same in Bangkok after the Ides of March, or if the feeler for a possible role as the 4th Beatle will pay for the beer tower at Penny Lane.
Maybe that's why I forgot that there's a TV remote in the hotel safety deposit box that I was suppose to bring home to Bakal 2 and perhaps the reason why the beer got warm at Garuda Lounge and the wine from PR 536 tasted like vinegar, not enough to fuel my daily grind of at least 20 kilometers for the last two days of the week...