Iceberg: Home Flight 1 (July 20

It's been quite sometime since I last updated and created a blog. Well I always say that writing is a mood thing. If you are not in the mood, you cannot write anything even if you have a lot of things to say. I always envy those poeple who can write without the right mood and the right environment. For me, I think I can write only when I am sad. This is one of my outlet... sad to say.

So this is my first home flight and I am flying back to BKK. Everybody was greeting me "Happy Vacation" but will I really be on vacation? I already fixed my schedule when I go to BKK and I know most of them will be work related. I will be staying with Mervin when I get back since I am staying only for a few days. I need to go back to BKK since I have to renew my work permit. This should be renewed yearly, if not then I don't think I wanted to go back. Although my home flight is more for business I have prepared some activities that I also want to do when I am there. BKK can be considered my second home already since I have stayed there the longest time aside from the Philippines. I still find BKK better than Dubai in terms of "living" but I guess there will be more money and opportunity in Dubai.

July 20
So we, me and one of my collague Kit, left from DIC office at around 5 PM and went to our apartment and got our stuff. Our flight was around 10 PM Dubai time and we reached the airport around 7 PM. We checked in our baggae and went around Duty free to shop. There were a lot of electronic stuff, chocolates, nuts, alcohol and cigarettes in the duty which are pretty common stuff to sell but I can't imagine that they are also selling motorbikes and cars inside. So after shopping for some chocolates adn present we went for dinner. We went to the food court and there you can find Mc Donald, several Indian and Arabic restaurant, a chinese and thai restautrant but they also have Jollibee. So I was comparing and finding the most economical place to eat since food will also be served o the airplane. Funny thing is I landed at Jollibee and ordering a 15 Dirham spaghetti. 15 Dirham is approximately 210 pesos and it is only one order of shall I say fake Jollibee spaghetti. Anyway, charge to experience. Next time I would just stick to a 240 pesos Big Mac meal. :)

So we waited for the plane and walked around the airport. The airport is quite big and there is even a portion which is called "Quiet Area". The area is filled with reclining chairs which allows people to sleep. So we boarded the plane and the flight is really full. I think half of the plane was filled up with kids and it was very chaotic. You can see the stewardess making faces when the kids are very fussy and noisy. So another no sleep flight for me.

July 21
We landed at BIA around 930 AM. I went for the immigration and proceed to the belt where to get my bag. Same as other arrival I would pass the "Nothing to Declare" lane but somehow today the gurad just called me and asked me to put the bag to the X-ray machine. After that he opened asked me to open my bag and let him see what is inside. Actually, I did not bring much stuff since I know that I will be staying for a few days only so I brough just enough not to do laundry anymore. But my bag was 35 kilos since I brought a lot of souvenirs for my friends. Aside from the chocolates, I bought 20 pieces of "Seven Sand" and 20 pieces of "Dubai Sand bottles". So finally they let me off after Kit talked to them. So I reached the apartment around 10:45 and our team assistant celled me and asked to go to the place where I should renew my work permit. So I quickly took a shower and prepared myself and then went immediately to One Stop. After One Stop, I decided to go back to the apartment adn sleep since I was not able to sleep on the flight and today was a non-working day in Dubai. Even in BKK, I still follow the working schedule of Dubai. After a few hours, I still cannot sleep so I just went in to the office and worked a bit and chat with my team mates. Then dinner time, hmmmmm, we went to the Japanese restaurant at the basement of our office buidling and off course I order my favorite Katsu Curry Rice.

July 22
In Dubai I only go to gym once a week since the work schedule is very tight so since today is a Saturday and I am in Bangkok so it's gym time. I woke up around 10 and went to gym. It was really nice to workout after a long break. So after gym I met up with Mervin at Emporium Fuji, another Japanese restaurant that I missed. I order Futomaki set which includes 4 pieces of maki and yakisoba. After lunch, I went to MBK and bought some souvenir items for the power users in Dubai. I bough elephant key chains, some dried fruits and tamarind. I also bought DVD to bring back to Dubai. After MBK, I went back to the office to finalize some work. I was supposed to work for a short time and try to watch a movie or go to Sumalai for a massage but I somehow have to stay longer to solve some issues. So I finished around 11 and I saw Reysiel so we went to Soi 38 to have supper. I was looking for the chicken bbq with satay suce but they ran out of it.

July 23
Sunday is church day in BKK and again I ws not able to go to church in Dubai, since I do not where I can find one. Anyway we went to mass and then ate at the local eatery at the side of the church, this is one of the place I missed as well. So you see 3 days in BKK and I ate a lot already. After church and lounch, I have to go back to office and work. Dubai working schedule is Sunday to Thursday. For dinner, I went with Mike, Shirley and Paveena to Alpine steakhouse besides the gas station. After my shift I went with Jon to Major Ekkamai to watch Superman. Supposedly Superman is a very relaxing movies but somehow towards the end the drama part hit me and it was really sad that the movie ended that way, I mean for Louis and Superman. :(

July 24
Nothing much happened this day just went to work and ate at the Carwash Restaurant. Hehehe, my BKK trip was a food trip. I have listed almost all of the food that I ate when I went back. After the shift we went to CM2 :D. Marghrita pizza and off course Shating. :)

July 25
Supposedly I was going to fly on the 27 but somehow my re-entry permit was not processed so I have to rebook my flight to July 29. So I have to hurry back to the apartment and ask the laundry lady to do my laundry. I only brough 3 sets of office clothes since I knew that i will be flying to Dubai on the 27th. I laso have to do my casual clothes since I used them all up. I also went to Tuba for lunch with Kenneth since we were planning to eat there for a long time.

July 26
Work and went to Sumalai for a massage with Mervin. I am not sure if I missed something this day but it seems that this is the shortest day I had. But anyway, massage at Sumalai normally will take 2 hours so I guess there is nothing much to do after the massage. Ohhh, I remembered now, we wnet to Soi 38 and ate Khao Niao Mamuang (Mango and Stick Rice). I also ordered some satay chicekn bbq and grilled bread. Yes, they grill the bread instead of toasting it.

July 27
Went to gym in the morning before going to work. Lunch I went with the CO Team to Sabai Jai Kai Yang in Ekkamai Soi 1. So going with them means eating a lot again. They guys can really eat. I think we ordered like 15 dishes, some of the small, but still. The nice food in this place is the Kai Yang, which is BBQ chicken in Thai. We also order Pla Yang (BBQ fish), som tam, deep fried dried pork, khao niao (sticky rice), beef strips and a cuople of thai spicy salads. Ohhh, on eof the new dish that i tried is Yam Goong Foo, this is some sort of a deep fried minced shrip with mango sauce. It's my first time to try it and it is realy nice.

July 28
So Friday is my rest day so I woke up late. I was lazyinga round since I don't have this opportunity in Dubai. I would always get up at 7 in Dubai and prepare my breakfast and lunch. The food in Dubai is a bit expensive so I have to cook and prepare my lunch everyday. I learned and invented a lot of dishes and most of them turned out to be nice. I still went to the office to finalize some stuff and then met up with Eileen at Central Chitlom. Then we went to Paragon and again went to Fuji for dinner. We were joined by Rev and aftre dinner we went to Landmark to relax and listen to good music.

July 29
Went to Bungsamran, one fo the popular fishing spot in Bangkok. Finally another activity that I have missed since I went to Dubai. I always go fishing with my fishing master Jon. Bad thinsg is we only caught 2 fish and they were small but nevertheless it was still fun to hang with friends and eat good food. We rented a bungalow, btw, so it was really sabai sabai (relaxing). After fishing, we went back to the apartment and I took a quick shower and have to go to Fortune Hotle for karaoke. It was Mervin's farewell party since he is also going to Latin America for a project. So we stayed there until the place closed and went back home.

July 30
Went to church and went to MBK. We ate at Sizzler and I bought some extra souvenirs for the UAE Power Users. Went back to the office to work again. I did not get my visa again so I have to stay longer in Bangkok and in the past few days I was already gaining weight since the food in BKK is good and I don't have to prepare it myself.

August 1
Went to gym and work. Today was Bo's birthday so Jon planned karaoke at Major Bowl Thonglor. I was supposed to go early but there were some issues that needs to be solved urgently, so I reached there around 11:30 and everybody was almost preparing to go home. So me and Jon decided to stay for another hour and then we sang old chinese songs. It is a very nice past time actually, you cna let everything you have out in a small room.

August 2
Went to gym and worked the whole day. Nothing much happened today since I am already preparing to leave BKK. But before I went home I went to Emporium and watched Miami Vice. I guess this will be the last movie that I will be watching until I come back on November.

August 3
Finally I am flying today back to Dubai. Somehow I was able to do all the things that I planned to since i stayed 1 week longer than my original plan but it was really stressful for me since I have to think of flying or not flying to Dubai on a daily basis and I have to pack and unpack my stuff regularly. Anyway, so back to the project site and I think I also kinda missed the Indian and Arabic food.

I have done:
Movie (Superman and Miami Vice)
Sumalai
Landmark Hotel (Huntsman Pub)
MBK
Church
Emporium
CM2
Fortune Hotel for Karaoke
Major Thonglor for Karaoke
Bungsamran for Fishing with Jon

Food I have eaten:
Kai Yang and Pla Yang at Sabai Jai Kai Yang
Khao Man Gai besides Soonvijay overpass
Katsu Curry Rice in Japanese restaurant at the basement
Futomaki Set and Yakiniku Set at Fuji
Mango Sticky Rice, Congee and BBQ Chicken Satay at Soi 38
Khao Pad Gai Carwash restaurant
Moo Kha Thiam Kai Jiao and Nam Senmi at Carpark restaurant
Salad Buffet at Sizzler
Salapao Moo Sap from 7-11
Beef Stroganoff at Tuba
I know I ate more than this but these would be the higlights and ohhh, a lot of fruits..... :)

Pictures from this trip: