Meeting first thing in the morning is probably no one's preferred itinerary of any day, but it wasn't a choice, of course. I remember I'm here for work, and it's nice to feel helpful, if not needed. So, apart from dropping by Terminal 21 for a Chinese lunch with a few CM, I was mostly hotel-based for minute-taking and finalization. It didn't help that I had duty, which confined me to this room full of chit-chatting. Not sure how we're expected to work in these conditions, but with my headphones and constant training of the selective caring, I managed anyway.
Meeting weeks are usually full of events, and let's just say, our hosts never cease to surprise us with their entertainment schedule alongside the meetings. Though not all of us were invited to the Grand Palace for a special presentation to the King of Thailand yesterday, we were invited for the dinner at the Crown Property Bureau tonight.
Of course, even that couldn't go smoothly- we were on a manhunt for one of my coworkers while the rest of the group couldn't be held up any longer without being totally late and left the four of us behind. Supposedly, another mini van was to pick up the leftovers, but it got impossibly lost in the streets of Bangkok, and as we wouldn't wait anymore, we had decided to take the public transit to a less trafficked area and finish there with taxi. That's fine, at least we had two locals. Except, I can't say I enjoyed the challenge of traveling with public transit in my dress. Nonetheless, I survived.
As if taxi would be hard to find in Bangkok. Right. Once again, we were simply ignored on the roadside for a good 20 minutes, not to mention having to battle with surrounding people for the one taxi that actually stopped. In any case, we finally hopped on a taxi that was willing to take us to the bureau! What a relief~ because, supposedly, it was a sit-down name-tag dinner, so the group will definitely wait for us to arrive, and it's never a good thing to make the big guys wait. But, what do you know? We got there 45 minutes before the charter bus despite leaving the hotel almost half an hour after they departed! That's Bangkok traffic for you.
Someone shared with me that some people actually jumped off the bus to a nearby convenient store and successfully got back on the bus in time- no surprise, it only moved a span of a few cars. Maybe it was a good thing we took the public transit/taxi because two-hour traffic jam is just boring as heck. At least our taxi zoom to the bureau felt like some car-chase scene in some movie! It was funny because I could tell the taxi driver also felt stressed enough to speed for us. Though, you should NEVER emotionally affect- or affect in any way- a driver of a vehicle. As for drivers, no matter how you drive, you must drive safe - which means, if you know you don't have the skills to, don't do it!
(Joining in on the Loy Krathong Festival! Sending away all the "negatives" into the river...)
(Suppose it's also a festival equivalent of Valentine's Day, when people meet their other half! If your flower bumps together with another, it means that person will be your love...hm)
(The chambers for the Queens of one of the Kings...or that's how I come to understand what the Thai lady said :P)
The dinner was very well executed with traditional Thai dishes and a line of English and Thai songs. At some point, Gangnam Style was on the stage too, but the only other Korean in the room ran like the wind to avoid being put on the spot to represent. Of course, the more serious speeches took place, and then a short video was put on screen. It sure surprised me with many interesting facts- supposedly the King of Thailand was a gold medalist in Men's Singles at a SEA Game! How cool is that? His Majesty is also the patron of various sports, and welcomes all sports to request his patronage. He even built a boat all by himself by hand. That's quite impressive for a Royal. He'll be celebrating his 85th birthday, I believe, on the 5-Dec. It's too bad that I won't be in Thailand then, but if you're ever here for a celebration like that, you can wear the color of yellow to show Royal support.
(Yes, I'm here! Feed me now~)
(Surprisingly spicy fish cake and prawn cake, but super good with honey sauce!)
(a Thai meal would be incomplete without Tom Yum!)
(Pomelo salad, crisped noodles with spices, and beef sauce...with uncooked veggies. I'm not exactly sure how this is supposed to be eaten, so I threw them all together and munched it all~)
(By far, my favourite of all the dishes, and possibly my favourite Thai dessert: Coconut sorbet!)
Simply enjoyed, the night was spent watching le TV in a hot bath, while waiting for the revisions of my minutes. As my eyelids are falling quicker than the email is coming in, I'm calling it a night! The world can wait for me until tomorrow...