Lonely Sunday...

My boss decided to go golfing yesterday (Sunday) so I took the whole day to pamper myself.

I walked to Central World Shopping Center.
I had a 60 minutes facial treatment (THB 1299), and after that I went to the hair salon.
I colored my hair (to 'get rid' of those grey hairs; THB1500) and then had it cut short.(THB350)
The hair designer recommended a special hair treatment cream thats supposed to make my newly colored hair 'glow'. (THB1300)
I also went to catch a movie at the cinema, yesterday.
I spent a good 2 hours watching Wall-E. (THB120)
When I walk out from the theater, its already 6:40pm.
Its Iftar time!!!

I had a craving for fried chicken (hmm, wonder why?) and head straight to KFC for buka puasa yesterday.
Err, don't ask me if Thai's KFC is Halal or not.
I was told by another Muslim that it is. I've seen local Muslim Thais eating there.
I also noticed that some of the people who works there wears name tags with 'Ebrahem', 'Laila', written on it.
Those are Muslim names, right???

I also bought a 5 piece meal to take home for sahur.

I did all the activities mentioned above....ALONE!!!

Hmm, what a way to spend one's Sunday.

Its not supposed to be like this. I've planned to spend last weekend, strolling at Hua Hin; the beach area 3 hours drive from Bangkok. I was supposed to go there together with a friend from Bangkok.
We've made a deal. He drives and I'll provide the rest.
But unfortunately, he called me up on Saturday morning, saying that he was sick!
The heavy rain that ensued after that only helps dampen my weekend mode further.



That was when I decided to just keep to myself last weekend.
I switched off my phones, turned on the TV, and moped on my bed, 'rotting' all Saturday.
And on Sunday, I decided that I've had enough of my unkept bed, and decided to taste the outside air.

Being alone is nice...sometimes.

Tripple bummer morning!

I woke up at 6 am this morning.

Damn!

I forgot to take my sahur!!! I was planing to wake up at 3 am to eat light and drink lots of fluid before the next Iftar, but I guess I was just too exhausted to even bother. 

Urghh....what a bummer.

I opened my laptop and browsed through my emails.

There was an email from my boss. (kachou, in Japanese) 

Hmm...wonder what its about.

I opened it up, and the Subject reads: Death of Mizukami-san.

Double whammer!!

Mizukami-san was my kachou from my Toyama years!

We've traveled to Bangkok together. I recalled having once had a heated argument on our company's stance venturing into the overseas market in a cab in Bangkok.

He was one of the major players who believed that venturing oversea will do good for the company. I am a staunch believer of that ideals too. 

He took care of me until the time when I was transfered to Tokyo.

I just couldn't believe what I read!

The email said that  Mizukami san was diagnosed with brain tumor a year ago.

He then took leave for treatment, and later had a brain surgery.

He did come back to work after the surgery, but since the pain didn't persist, he took sick leave again and started frequenting the hospital for check ups and further treatment.

His death came as a shock to all of us at the company.

I scrolled down further, and I noticed an attachment to the email.

I opened it. 

It was a very formal document.

On it was small boxes asking for your name, employee number, and finally how much you're willing to 'contribute' for the grieving family.

Yes, its the all too familiar, Okouden.

That jolt me back from my melancholy.

Triple bummer!!!

Here in Japan, one's lives revolves around money.

You celebrate New Year, MONEY. You reached 20 years old, MONEY.You get married, MONEY. You die, also MONEY.

The adage Money makes the world goes round actually do mean something (actually, it means a lot!) in this part of the world. No can deny. 

Sigh. My stomach rumbles in protest....  

Corrections, please!

Today something 'strange' happened at the Rep office in Bangkok.

It was one of those laid back days...

Not much work, and I was just whiling my time, browsing the Internet.

It was after all, the 3rd day of Bangkok's Emergency Decree.

And since PM Samak declared this morning that he's not resigning, I and of course the rest of Thailand was anticipating that the current political turmoil will prolong; I've made it my priority to keep up with the latest news.

Suddenly, my Japanese boss; who was keeping himself busy all these time, writing reports on his latest business trip to Taiwan; came up besides me and ask how to pronounce a particular Kanji; Chinese character. 

I was surprised! A Japanese asking me, a foreigner how to pronounce a Kanji!

Wow! They really must have excellent trust in my Japanese language capabilities.

Anyway, I glanced at the Kanji he was showing, and unfortunately(?), I too don't know the pronounciation for it.  Well, good for him I guess since I am 'saving his face'.

Later on, I was reading through pages from a Japanese newspaper. I figured that I should try to further brush up on my Japanese reading while waiting for my boss to finish with his report. (Man, its been hours since he started, and he still haven't finished!) I came across another Japanese Kanji that I am not familiar with. Without any hesitation, I asked another Japanese coworker how to pronounce the word. He too said that he don't know how to pronounce the word. He plainly said later that the word I pointed out wasn't an 'everyday' word...whatever. 

Another few hours later, my boss declared that he's finished writing his report. He needed to submit his report to the CEO and he's like us (me and my other co-woker) to have a look at it before he submit the report.

I took the report and started reading. 

Surprised! Surprised! 

Frankly speaking, there was a lot of corrections and grammatical mistakes that I pointed out just to make the whole sentence, understandable. I can even write something better, looks more professional that my boss's.

As I was helping my boss, correcting his report, a fax from the Japanese Embassy came through. 

According to the fax, there'll be another demonstration of around a hundred Thai University students at Central World Shopping Complex scheduled to take place at 9am tomorrow morning. The demonstrators will then stage a march down to the Police HQ located nearby. We (the Japanese actually) are advised not to be around the area.

Hmm...

I think to myself that it seems like, not only my boss's report that needs some corrections. Thai politics are in need of some major 'corrections' of their own.

What a world!

Emergency Decree!

I arrived in Bangkok this afternoon to find out that the usually busy Suvarnabhumi airport was kind of 'different' than always. 

First, the usually packed arrival hall was virtually deserted. The pesky, loud, annoying taxi touts and people eagerly waiting for their loved ones to emerge, that usually blocked my view each time I got out to the arrival hall was nowhere to be seen! 

Secondly, the heavy presence of police personnel only helps to confirm my doubts that something is definitely wrong.

As the car speeds into town, I can see that theres less traffic on the road. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, considering the all too famous Bangkok gridlock, the smooth car-ride all the way to the hotel was definitely a welcomed change. Still, I am intrigued to find out.

I called up Lydia, a Malaysian friend working/living in Bangkok. She immediately told me that due to some violence that happened at Sanam Luang area between protesters to PM Samak and the police (or is it, the army?) a person was killed and PM Samak ordered an Emergency Decree at 7am this morning to keep things under control. Lydia told me to be careful, because things might get tense if the authorities couldn't keep things under control. She advised me to stay away from Sanam Luang area, where the protester's camp are located, and also to stock up on food as soon as I arrived in the hotel since nobody's not sure if things might get ugly or not. Kind Lydia also offered me a room at their service apartment in case things in the city (where I'm living and also where all the action is) gets worse. Well, lets hope that things'll not get that bad.

I arrived safe and sound at the hotel and proceed directly to the check in counter. The girls at the front desk asked me if I'm confirming my 10 days stay this time. Well, I asked them why, and they explained that some customers(tourists) opt to go back early due to the current political turmoils. Can't help but wonder how big the current political turmoils will bring to this beautiful kingdom that relies heavily on its Tourism Industry.   

As soon as I've settled down in my hotel room, I walked to the shopping complex nearby to start buying some provisions. Today was 2nd day of Ramadhan, and I also need to stock up on something for sahur, too. 

I noticed that, Emergency Decree or not, life on the streets of Bangkok still continues as usual. The hawkers are still busy preparing food, and the stalls are filled to the brim with customers as usual. People still throng to the shopping center for their groceries. If I wasn't at the airport today, theres no way of knowing that the country is in Emergency Decree!

Hmm....I just hope that Malaysia won't end up the same. 

I then made my way to the nearest spa for 2 hours of  blissful body scrub and oil massage.

Total relaxation. Within that 2 hours, I managed to stop thinking of all thats happening to the outside world.

Sleepless in Cairo...

Conned at the Cairo Airport lobby!

- This person (whom I later discovered was a tout) came up to me as soon as I came up from the plane and asked if I've already have any transportation to go to the city. It was still before the immigration, there was a 'Ministry of Tourism' tag hanging from his neck, and I thought that since I'm not out in the arrival hall yet, and that ONLY authorized personnel should be allowed in this area, he must have been a real officer and I told him that I don't have any transportation to the city yet. He then asked me to follow him and I did. He lead me to a booth at the airport lobby manned by a fat lady. The 'officer' and the lady talked something in Arabic, and she suddenly asked me to pay 95 Egyptian Pound (EP)! I told her that I've read that it only costs around 30~40 EP by taxi to the city centre, but she claimed that the hours are already late. Whatever...I'm tired and would like to get to the hotel asap, so without thinking much, I gave her the money, knowing quite well that I'm being ripped off.

The 'officer' than took me to meet a man who introduced himself as Hussain and told me to board his 'taxi' (which looks every bit the usual run down Nissan Daihatsu car) and he sped all the way to the city. 

In 25 minutes, I was at standing in front of my Hotel. I paid Hussain some tip (called 'baksheeh') but he insisted on more. I was getting tired, sticky all over because of the time spent on the plane, and don't exactly want to end my first night in Egypt, haggling over tip with a local, so I just paid him another wad of EP! This time, Hussain smiled and gave me a flying kiss!

Room

-I checked myself in, and after another set of 'baksheeh' I was sent to my room. First impression? Well, the room's quite decent, I guess. The view? Nothing much to write about. The toilet's condition was so so. After settling down, I went straight to the check in counter and asked for a copy of Cairo's map. I plan to walk to Mahattat Ramses tomorrow morning. Have to sleep well tonight, coz I'll have an early start tomorrow.

-Can't sleep too well. Maybe its the excitement. But, I also believe that its really noisy out there on the street! So many cars honking around, and its already wayyy past midnight!!! I've no idea why people/drivers have to honk all the time... Finally, after lots of tossing around on the bed in the middle of the night, I managed to get a wink. 

                                                                                                 ....to be continued 

egypt trip (12th to 20th May, 07)

Okay. I realized that it might be a bit late to update about my Egypt Travel that happened last year, but I figured out that one of the reason why I wanted to have a blog is to share my travel experiences, so here goes...

12th May, 2007

Day 1

Checked-in at Singapore's Changi International Airport. As usual, I felt that the airport was a little bit 'cold'.

Now I am at the waiting area! Still can't believe that I am finally going to Egypt! I've been dreaming of this trip for years. Finally, I've found the courage to actually put it all into motion. I am still in doubt though, unsure if the whole trip will turn out the way I planned it to be since this is to be my first experience travelling alone!

Before boarding the plane, I called up Ed and discussed (more like got him excited) about the prospect of going on another week-long trip by train on the Trans-Siberia Express from Moscow to Mongolia's Ulaan Bator. Am seriously considering this idea. At least, I've something else to look forward to if I made in back from this Egypt trip in one piece!Hehe...

Scribblings while on the plane

- The plane flew over Singapore harbor. Saw the sun setting in the horizon. What a beautiful sight.

- Plane made a turn nearby Batam Island and entered Johor skies. From the looks of it, the plane is currently flying on the Western coast side of Peninsular Malaysia. I can get a clear view of the Straits of Malacca from my window seat. Then, something familiar caught my eyes! It was the winding Muar River, the old and new bridge, and of course the majestic Ledang Mount!!! Its actually the first time I've ever saw Muar town from above.

- Currently, the plane is flying over KLIA!!! Can see clearly the airport and its periphery. Dirgahayu Malaysia...

- Oh, the plane is only half full. There wasn't many people around. I can see rows of empty seats. The seats next to me were also empty. Better make good use of the situation. I'm free to snap pictures and scribble my thoughts some more!Hehe...

- The plane is currently flying along side West Coat Peninsular. Its already too dark outside the window to actually see where I am now. As I was wondering, the Captain announced that the plane will soon be flying over Phuket and will make a turn straight to the Bay of Bengal.

- According to the flight info on the monitor, flight time to Cairo will take around 8 hours and 45 minutes. Local time in Singapore, 19:02. Local time in Cairo is 14:20. Meaning theres a 5 hour time difference between Singapore and Cairo! I didn't know that!!! Guess I was too engrossed with planning for the journey itself, that I overlooked all these small information. Made mental note to read Cairo's Lonely Planet book that I brought with me.

- Plane currently flying over the Bay of Bengal! Turbulent here and there. Cabin crew stops serving hot drinks. The plane bumps every now and then. I strapped myself to the seat as firm as possible. 

Cairo, finally! 

- After hours being cooked up in the plane (we arrived 35 mins late due to the turbulance at the Bay of Bengal), I finally arrived at Cairo International Airport. The airport wasn't anything much to talk about. Old and dirty. (well, to be fair the Egyptians are building a new Terminal. Wonder how this new terminal would be like) 

- There wasn't a single smile as I approached the big, bulky (ahem) moustached guy sitting behind the Immigration Dept. "Malaysia?", he asked. I nodded.  "Why you come to Egypt?", he added. Err, isn't it obvious?? But of course, I didn't say that part out loud. "Travel", I replied  and put forward my best smile, but received no reaction. He didn't even look when I answered. He kept on going through the pages on my passport, flipping and staring hard at the pages. Whatever...I didn't endure 8 hours of plane trip to be turned back at the gate...but eventually, the guy stamped my passport, returned it to me and off I went out into the arrival hall. (?, I was too small)  I double checked my passport, identified the stamp with the date of entrance. It was all in arabic!!! Cool!!! Something different.

                                                                                                          .........to be continued

      

SMS

「ただいま！」と少しばかり張り切った元気な声を出して玄関のドアを開けた。

誰もいないと頭の中で分かっていても、部屋のドアを開ける度につい口にしてしまうのだ。

クセはなかなか直らないものだと自分に言い聞かせ、玄関に立った。

 

「ランプがつかない！」

いつもなら、センサーが人の動きを感知し、玄関のランプが勝手についてしまうが・・・

薄暗い玄関でしばらく立ちつくした。後ろのドアを半開きにしたまま、手を体の前に伸ばし、指先で壁のスウィッチを探った。

「センサーの電池が切れたのかな？感度が悪くなってぇ」

 

一瞬、さっきの「ただいま」を後悔した。

「おかえり・・・」という返事がしたらどうする？と妄想が働いた。

胸の鼓動が一瞬早まった。

 

指先がスウィッチを発見。早速、電気をつけ、明るくなった玄関周りをスキャンした。

「大丈夫。誰もいない」と意味なく胸をなでおろした。

 

玄関で靴を脱ぎ捨てて、弁当箱や空PETボトルが散乱している廊下を通って、洗濯物が部屋の片隅に山積みになっている狭い部屋に辿り着いた。

カバンをベッド先に置き、テレビをつけた。特に見たい番組はないが、なんとなくテレビから流れた音が聞こえると、気持ちが落ち着くのだ。

のどが渇いたので、再びキッチンへ戻った。テレビ横の白い壁につけた電子時計をみて、夜9時だと分かった。いつもより早い帰宅でなんだか得した気分になった。

 

水分補給をしている最中、ズボンのポケットに収めた携帯電話が鳴った。

メールだ！誰からかな？ポケットに手を突っ込み、携帯を取り出した。

携帯の窓で送信者名をチラッと見て、微笑んだ。

「アノ人からだ。」

好きな人からのメールだと分かり、テンションがすぐに上がった。

携帯を開き、「I miss you」の三文字が・・・

「Now in bed with wife and Lin…thinking of you」

                                                     ・・・つづく

出会いと再会

そうだ。

人の旦那さんを、僕が好きになってしまった。

いけないことだと分かっていながらも、僕には、この気持ちを抑えることが無理だ。

彼と僕は、同じ高校の先輩後輩という関係だった。

全寮制の高校だったため、国中から集まった一年生を、一刻も早く寮生活に馴染ませようと、責任感の強い彼は、我々後輩をいろいろと可愛がってくれた。

最初は、頼もしい存在の先輩だったが、知れば知るほど、気になっていった。

できることなら、彼と一緒にいたかった。いつか、僕の心の中に、彼の存在が。

けどそのとき、彼に告白することはなかった。

嫌われるのが怖かった。ずっと、このままの関係が続ければなと思った。

彼が高校を卒業する時は、正直悲しかった。

頭がよく、スポーツ万能だった彼は、高校を卒業してすぐ海外留学のオファーが来た。

その話を聞いた時、正直もう駄目かと思った。彼を諦めた。

彼との夢を、諦めざるをえなかった。

数年前、高校の同窓会で、再び彼と再開した。

高校を卒業して10年。まさかのことで、同窓会の後、近くのファミレスで朝まで話が盛り上がった。

その時に、彼が僕の会社の近くに住んでいることを知った。

そして、現在彼がすでに結婚していて、美人で、頭がよくて、キャリアーを持つできる奥さんがいることと、3歳になる娘を持つことも。

家族のことを話す時、彼は幸せそうだなぁと感じた。

ちょっぴりうらやましかった。

ちょぴり切なかった。

話の弾みで、高校時代のお互いの印象を話題にのぼった。

たいしたことないと思って、話のネタで、高校時代の彼に対する思いを告白しちゃった。

僕の告白を聞いた彼は、「うそーっ」と言い、大きな声で笑った。

「それは、そうよね。今はもう笑い話だよね」と自分を慰めた。

自分が格好悪いと思った。

やっぱり、告白するんじゃなかったと後悔した。

恥ずかしかった。

始発の時間になって、やっとファミレスを出て、駅まで二人で歩いた。

上り始めた太陽の暖かい日差しを頬で感じながら、駅までの距離がもっと遠ければなぁと何度も静かに神様に願った。

もう少しだけ、彼と一緒にいさせて。

もう少しだけ、彼の背中を目に焼きつきたいの。

駅の入り口で、彼が急に足を止めた。「どうしたの？」と僕が。

彼は、僕に振り向き、真剣なまなざしで僕の目をみて、こう言った。

「実は、僕も・・・君のことが、好きだった。」

自分の耳を疑った。

                                                                 ・・・つづく

O-saki ni shitsurei shimasu...

                                                        

Its 8:30pm, and I'm just home from work.

I shook off my suits and slipped into something better.

Finally, I can once again sit down and continue what I've started (and secretly vowed to continue on doing!) last night.

Blogging. 

Most of my japanese colleagues were still at the office when I bid 'sayonara' for the day.

Seems like they'll be staying up late again, as usual, in the office.

They sure seemed to like being cooked up in that office. 

'Osaki ni shiturei shimasu', is the normal greeting when you take leave.

Loosely translated, it means; 'I am going (home earlier than you) now, so please may I be excused?'

To whom did I address this greetings to?

Well, to all of my colleagues, seniors and also the head(s)/manager(s) of my department.

Its as if you're sorry to leave the office so early, that I can't bear myself to think that I would be enjoying some 'private' time while my colleagues are still 'toiling' hard in the office.

So in order to be polite, you ask for permission to be allowed to go back earlier than your superiors.

Some of you might think that its normal, since Japanese people are known to be hardworking, diligent, etc. Thats what we normally hear, read and see on tv, right?

Yes. Before I start working, I once believed in that image too.

But now that I'm part of it, I can now attest that not all of that image is right.

But Japanese people work long hours, don't they?

Yes, they do. Clocking 10 hours/day are my average working hours. 

My japanese colleagues usually clocks an average of 12 to 15 hours/day.

Also, some of them even go to the extent of coming to the office on weekends, because they claimed that they can concentrate better when there are less people moving around, less phone calls to attend to, less meetings to prepare, less paperwork to finish, etc.

Japanese people work long hours, but have anyone talk about the amount of work that the japanese accomplished within those long hours?

You'd be surprised to know that the amount of work that they managed to finish aren't that much. Well, at least thats the image that I had from my colleagues at work.

In plain words, I just don't think that they're productive. (enough)

a new start...

Finally.

I've set up my own blog.

I realize its nothing new since almost all of my net-savvy friends have blogs of their own. 

Nevertheless, a start it still is.

I've always wanted to own one.

But I guess, I've kept on procrastinating since I don't think that I've anything interesting enough to share with others. 

I've always considered my life as bland, uninteresting and well, plain normal.

But then again, maybe its just me...

Thing is, I don't think I can conceal this urge anymore.

 So, here goes...