Sawadeeka

'Sawadeeka,
Chan dong gan pai Siam BTS.
Khaw pun maak.'

That's about all the Thai I picked up over the past 3 days. Bangkok's a great place for a short shopping trip. We 3 girls -Joyce, Si and I- braved the treacherous taxi drivers and energy sapping bargaining, not to mention the budget meals of S$0.25 pastry, tuna and fruit.

So here's a brief tour with the 92 pictures I had in my camera. :)

I super cherished my window seat view this time round. The plane transported us to this secret upper realm of snowy land. Most clouds were little playing children who were moving too slow to be seen by the naked eye. They sat on this invisible floor, of which its meteorological explanation is the minimal temperature of the air strata to keep clouds as they are. A few looked like towering trees and frozen snowy tornadoes.

We settled in at Welcome Sawasdee Inn, tucked away from the noisy, smelly, sleazy Khao San Road. It was located at Soi Rongmai, where royal Thai silk weavers made their prized products for the King in ancient times. At the open-air lobby there was a huge altar for Krishna, the Hindu god with an elephant head and human body.

Just opposite the inn is a dragon graffiti. Joyce and I shamelessly revealed our serpent-sy nature due to the affinity we have with dragons. We're wearing variations of the backpacker's outfit: ethnic/bought from the-streets top + fisherman pants/gachos(?) + flip flops + shades (optional).

And here's the Khao San I told you about. It's a good place to haggle for low prices for shirts with cliche prints. It's a place I don't wanna stay for over 2 days at though. All that people-watching made me wonder about Khao San's true character. Many young Thai women were accompanying Caucasians. There was one who was even pregnant. I saw a young beer-bellied Caucasian boy with a cigarette in his hand. I saw 3 year old Thai kids who was playing at the sloppy stall instead of sleeping at midnight. I saw a woman burnt, discoloured and disfigured, begging for money, and a person curled into a ball and his chest like a paper lantern covering his ribs, shaking his paper cup to ask for money.

On a lighter note, Khao San is an interesting place (filled with Westerners many many). I wonder what would happen if the woman ever lost her grip on her balloons.

Oh oh! How can I forget! One of the small things that always keep me in good spirits with a happy stomach. 450ml Betagen drinks that cost only S$1 was a daily staple for me. It tastes absolutely like Yakult. Plus, Mummy says it's good for the guts! The water bottle in the foreground only costs S$0.25. Cheap cheap! Cheap cheap!

(Coming up next:
English lesson with Miss Tan - cranky Thai signboards)

A Violin Lesson

My previous lessons were preparing for the examination.

So this was how I was prepared.

ONE
Be courteous and smile.
Otherwise you will not pass.

TWO
Be aware of the type of examiner you have.
Old ones wear slippers with socks.
They are more generous.
Young ones wear more fashionably.
They are more stingy and want to prove themselves.

If you get the old ones, you can be relieved.
If you get the young ones,
"Good luck to you", my teacher said.

THREE
Sound tentative with Hmms and ahhhs and I thinks
so you can avoid being suspected as
a student who know deeper stuff.
Because once they know it, they'll test you
beyond the grade syllabus and fail you.


But I always thought examinations were
about testing and challenging one's calibre.
I think music is about doing my best.
It is about honouring God.
Exams are not about technicalities and seeking the loopholes to 'play cheat'.
And not about demeaning God's gift to Man.

I'm a little bitter.
But I'll take it in my stride.

July 3

Yesterday, I woke up at 10.30
and started practising my pieces because
my examination was at 2.43.

2.43. What a silly timing! Are
they really that anal that they go by the minute?
Then I did brainless stuff and
practised again at 12.20.

I reached the exam room and
Mr Tay was frowning at me
Why didn't you wear school uniform?
He told a parent it was the only dress code
allowed for ABRSM.

I thought, This is strange I already graduated!
He said, why are you late?
How could you be lost?

I stepped in and greeted
Mr Daynes he was a sweet old man who
kept smiling
Thank God.

When I stepped out, Mr Tay frowned
when I said I felt good but I could
have given more.
His pessimistic response
How can they test you 8 scales for grade 2?
They only test you 4.
I think you will do badly.
How come he's so sure?

I said goodbye and
I hope to settle for a more normal teacher.

I went downstairs for lunch and
had 2 roti pratas.
The secondary school girls were flirting
with the Indian stallholder.
I ate and I






bent my fork.

Car Accident

The violin and its disintegrated parts lay strewn across the road, its case crushed by the wheels that didn't brake in time.

Her legs were contorted, twisted in a grotesque position knees down. She laid quietly, like a puppet that was thrown out of the window. Blood was draining youth away from her face, her mouth agape and her eyes wide, as if her soul was being wrenched away with great force. Her hands were hardened claws, claws that told of shock. It was all too sudden. She wasn't ready to leave.

The headlights were shattered. There was already a small crowd gathering around the corpse. A man in lime green spouted vulgarities at the driver in iration. The people did not know what to do, except to wait for the ambulance to come, and perhaps save her from death. At least she might just be paralysed or she might just need prosthetics.

And the commotion went on, the man in lime green still hollering at the driver. But no one noticed her anymore, the gnarled body of the girl who wasn't ready to die.