Back in Bangkok after visiting Sri Lanka

Well its certainly been a long absense from my part once more, but finally let me start writing to myself as I know I will want to read these sometime later as time flies by.

I came back from a visit home last week, it was really really nice to be at home once more after 9 months this time! I didnt do much besides spending time at home with family, one eve to meet up with friends and another to visit few relatives. Nothing Big ! but it was worth it. When am I going again ? no clue ! probably not for a long time, next month I'm gonna go to Brazil and that should drain me out of all possible funding sources ( 555+) . Good thing is my father's gonna be visiting me once more in Bangkok in October.

I really wanted to put up the pic above on the blog, I guess one reason why I finally came back to make a post. This is a statue that I just bought may be of 1 foot in height. Its of a stone with a sandy texture ( sandstone?) I dont know what it is. I actually saw a similar statue on the street side few months ago and when I was about to go to Sri Lanka wanted to go and check to buy. Unfortunately they were out of it on that day but I did go there to get this within a week of coming back.

Why did I buy it? It makes me smile :)

Reflection: My first global virtual team experience

Today I suddenly started reflecting about another team I was involved in the years with AIESEC.

Those days there was a global virtual team known as the 'Suxxess Network Drive Team' which was made up of people from all over the world with the responsibility of collecting Best Case Practices ( now called Good Case Practices) and to share these within the network.

During 2003 when I was LCVP elect I applied for this team and got selected...and was working with the people virtually for one year or so.

Some friends from the team....

Kristin ( Norway) - was the AI Responsible for the team and coordinated the team
Bior ( Ghana)
Annesh ( India)
Doris ( Germany)
Kenoma ( Nigeria)
Joannah ( Colombia)

Just thinking about it today, I noticed that I have been connected to many of them in one way or the other since then. ( and has been in touch with them at least once since then )

Kristin - Was Chair for IPM 2006 which i was attending as MCP

Bior - His friendship was one reason that I applied for AIESEC in Ghana ( though I didnt get a response from them on the selection) and he was in Sri Lanka for IPM 2004 as MCP

Kenoma - I was making sure he was selected for CC for IPM 2004 ( though he couldnt make it at the end) and met him at IPM 2006 and IC 2006

Doris - First person I knew who went to Afghanistan ( She was on a CEED there) and one inspiration for me to want to go to Afghanistan ( I am currently talking with them about doing a CEED there)

Also later working with me on Suxxess Network Drive team was Ego ( Nigeria), who then came on an International MC to Sri Lanka to work with me during my MCVP term.

My first virtual team experience, had left a big impression on me, more than I realized in fact.

AIESEC is an Experience and its meant to be lived to the fullest !!!

Thank you's in our lives

Woah ! Its been a long time since i wrote, I will try to back post and catch up on few things that have happened since November. But in the mean time I will start from today... of how I feel...

Last night on my way back home after having 'hot chocolate' (I'm addicted to it ) with a friend, I walked half the way and took a bus for some part. I was getting out from the bus at its last stop and was one of 4 people getting out there, as I got down I heard the girl who got down after me say aloud ' Khop-khun ka' or Thank you to the bus driver.

This simple gesture warmed my heart and had me with a smile :) Its such a simple thing of thanking the person for driving you... I want to foster that mindset, instead of getting bogged down by whats not good, start to truly appreciate the people around you for even the smallest thing they do. Life is gonna be much better as I keep improving on this !!!

Last couple of months has been tough on me, I have desperately missed the sense of control and achievement that I have been used to in the past...things have been chaotic and out of my control...to the extent of being depressed. But at the same time I understood that the choice was mine.. to keep brooding over things or to move on and be positive.

I think I have couple of tough months ahead... but I feel better prepared now. Feel that I cannot and do not need to be responsible for everything around me... and the sense of self confidance I lost is coming back to me

:) This is how I feel right now !

Birthland Vs. Motherland

I remember those days when I was in school and the teacher would ask the class to write an essay about your Janmabumiya ( Birthland) though I think I picked Sri Lanka for this it always had me feeling strange.

As I see it ...

Janmabumiya - Birthland or the place you were born in
Mathrubumiya - Motherland or the place you belong or your home country

So the way I always rationalized for my self that for me...

Janmabumiya ( Birthland) = Thailand
Mathrubumiya ( Motherland) = Sri Lanka


At the end of the day I guess no one else really would care about the difference...but I have come to understand that I do. I guess its part of the identity I'm forming for myself and in a way how I differentiate my self from those around me.

I guess I'm just thinking aloud here... and its part of the self consciousness that I'm experiencing through the time in my home away from home.

Croc meat for dinner !!!

If Pig -> Pork, Cow -> Beef etc. then what is Crocodile ->? :) I was thinking this after I came back to the apartment having had Crocodile meat for my dinner.

Sifaan was back in Bangkok ( this time as Coach for a school software programming team ) and we planed to catch the Dinner Cruise on the Chao Phraya river... unfortunately we were late in getting there and missed out on the cruise boat...after trying to negotiate with a guy at the pier who didn't speak English very well we ended up being taken to a restaurant on the riverside.
Making the best out of the situation we decided to have dinner there...

The menu did have some not so normal things on it... Ostrich, Frog, Sanke and Crocadile !!! Wanting to try something different we went for the Crocodile... :) The meat was tough and rubbery :) besides that it was just fine. Though it want really the most delicious it was worth the price for a new experience!!!

Here is an extract from Wikipedia about Croc meat...

"Crocodile is consumed in some countries such as Australia, Ethiopia, Thailand, South Africa and also Cuba (in pickled form). It can also be found in specialty restaurants in some parts of the United States. The meat is white and its nutritional composition compares favourably with that of more traditional meats. It does tend to have a slightly higher cholesterol level than other meats. Crocodile meat has a delicate flavour and its taste can be complemented by the use of marinades. Choice cuts of meat include backstrap and tail fillet."

Dinner with the new Sri Lankan Ambassador to Thailand

We finally have the new ambassador to Thailand here and for those of you who don't know he is the renound Professor in Sinhala Language Prof. J.B. Dissanayake.

Though many were questioning the appointment as his services would not be available for the University students during his tenure I believe its his life and thus his decision to make. I believe that with his background he would be ideal to serve in this post as we have to do much to re-establish the cultural and religious tied between Sri Lanka and Thailand. With most Thai people not even knowing about Sri Lanka and even those who know having a negative and incorrect impression of Sri Lanka means

that there is certainly a lot to do.

I was invited by the Sri Lankan Association here to join in for the dinner the Ambassador has extended to the Sri Lankan association members in Thailand. It was a pleasant experience and what captivated me most ( that is besides the awesome Sri Lankan food layed out for us) was how simple the Prof. and his wife are, they have an authentic Sri Lankan charm in being very down to earth. The Prof. is very much an academic and not a really a traditional diplomat and I believe that is a positive that hopefully can help improve relations between the two countries that are most connected to my life.

I was slightly concerned over meeting the famous Prof. in Sinhala language as my Sinhala is not the most pure since the last few years, mixing English words as speak normally. ( Yes I can speak proper when I really want to). But the Prof. chose to keep most of the conversations in English taking in to mind that there were couple of Tamil/Muslim participants. ( I was really impressed of the fact he took this in to account)

I do wish the Ambassador a enjoyable and successful stay in Thailand.

Trip to the Erawan Falls

I fell in love with the amazing Erwans falls on my visit to the Erawan National Park in Kanchanaburi. Our small group consisted of Pae ( Thai), Charlotte ( Dutch), Charlotte's Friend ( Dutch), Particia ( French), Bruno ( Brazil), Joannah ( Poland) and myself.

We first took a taxi to the Southern Bus terminal and then caught the bus to Kanchanaburi. ( approx 3 hours). Then we hired ourselves a Song Teaw( Pick up truck with 2 lines of seats in the back used kind of like buses ) for our day in Kanchanaburi. ( for travel to park and back)

The Erwan park is the most visited national park in Thailand and its obvious why, once you have visited yourself. The waterfall is the main attraction and though I am no stranger to waterfalls as we have many in Sri Lanka this one was special.

The Erawan falls is a 7-step waterfall meaning that there are 7 small
waterfalls together making up the Erawan falls. What was really special for me about these was that each of these pretty much came with its own pool :) yeah each of the steps had a pool that was awesome to swim in and not that deep. ( unlike most waterfalls in Sri Lanka where they are too deep and claims lives ). The shallow pools and crystal clear waters makes your day !!!

At one of the first steps there was fish that was used to being hand fed... and zillions of them would just come up to your hand even jumping over each other to get to your hands or rather to the snacks they expected the hand to hold.

We did take a dip in the water at the top of the waterfall in what I remember was the 7th step :) Each of the steps were unique and had a different feel toit. Some were taller than others, while others were more spread out over rocksand cascading.

After the falls our next visit was to check out a near by cave...after a 30min Song Teaw and another good 20 min or so climb ( I was huffing and puffing all the way) we got to the most amazing cave. The guide showed us around using a lantern ...this cave was huge and we were explained that once a whole village used to live inside it.

I really loved the earthy and ancient feeling inside that save ( although there were man made walk ways inside) ... it made me feel as if I was thousands of years back in time. Nature always seem to amaze us with its beauty and diversity.

If not for the 400/- baht that you need to pay to enter the park as a tourist, I would love to visit that place many times during my stay !!! There is certainly much more to see in Kanchanaburi and I'm sure I'll be visiting the at least one more time in the next few months.

Thai dance aerobics at Lumpini Park

If you walk in to any public park in Thailand at around 5:00pm you will likely find at least one group doing dance aerobics. Is this one of the secrets why Thai people look so young and slim? :) Your guess is good as mine!

I really enjoyed this sight at the Lumpini Park as we were walking around ...there were about 3 different groups going on at locations close to each other. I did notice that each group had a
different phase so that meat based on what you are looking for people have choice to join one of the groups.

Most of the people are young or mid age but you do find a high number of older people as well...there was one elderderly gentlemen who couldn't really keep up with anything but was still at the edge of one of the groups going on at his own pace.

The trainers and the equipment seems to be publicly funded ( may be from city authority)... the music is quite upbeat and you will here the counting Thai as they switch moves. Most people seemed to be regulars and had no problem in keeping up with the routine.

It seems unlikely that I will work up the nerve to join any of those groups...but who knows may be one day I will feel crazy enough that I will !!! It does really seem fun when you have that big crowd with you.