Thailand

It was a Monday morning and I was still reeling from the late night flight back to Singapore from Manila. I was groggy and experiencing post-holiday blues. My mind says, my three-day Manila visit wasn't enough. Then I hear the deep voice of my boss, "Brian, you have to pack your bags". His welcome-back-to-work greeting jolted me. I was trying to make sense of everything, "Did I forget to do something before leaving for Manila last week??"

"You are going to Thailand on Thursday". Confusion suddenly turned to excitement -- I will finally have my first fieldwork assignment. And I actually never expected to be entrusted to do fieldwork until after my first year in the job.

In a workplace where everyone is constantly in transit from one city to the next, I patiently wait for the day when I can also travel for work. This is why April 28, 2011 is a personal/professional milestone. It was like ticking a box on my yuppie bucket list. Suddenly, that somber post-holiday morning felt like a Christmas morning.

The trip to Thailand was a trip of firsts. Apart from it being my first work trip, it actually was my first trip to Thailand. While I am a self-proclaimed lover of travel, it's funny how I have never been to Thailand even if it's near to the Philippines. For me, Thailand is just like Manila. Why bother?

My short, 3-day trip to Thailand validated my opinion. The pollution, traffic, heat and dirty roads are all reminiscent of Manila and if not for the temples (and pink taxis), you can actually forget you are in Bangkok. Even the people deceptively look like Filipinos. But then, I reminded myself that traveling is about going beyond surface-level impressions - just like when meeting a new stranger. Bangkok was a stranger, and I wanted to get to know more of him.

I tried to immerse myself in their culture as much as I can (in what little time I had after work). I ate street food, slipped into their BTS train system, offered two hundred coins at a Buddhist temple, ate in a dirty wet market (which I wouldn't normally do), aimlessly walked at the dimly-lit streets at night, started conversations with locals.

Oh, Bangkok.