I used to roll the dice...

Considering the latest news from Thailand, for some reason this song (popular two summers ago and OVERplayed on the radio... but nonetheless, a good song, I think!) popped into my head!

The first time I heard this song was actually in an English class that I took over the summer at the community college near my home (in Southern California). I've never been much of an English person, and didn't want to be butchered by the mandatory English course at Berkeley, so was much relieved to find that I could take care of this English credit, elsewhere!

Although the class was a little bit blaaah at times, the courseload for the class was very... VERY minimal, and the teacher was just this old, awe-inspiring blind man who had this funny sense of humour, not to mention, a liking for analyzing songs (errrr.... poems!) in class. Just like this song!

Anyways, the song is basically about being at the top of the word (being loved by everyone), but then suddenly facing criticisms or animosity from previous admirers -

Comparing this to revolutionary leaders (for example, the French Revolution), who were forward-thinking and supported by the peoples, but in the end, became the enemy of the people.

This just reminded me of how Thaksin is now facing much ridicule...

http://www.mcot.net/cfcustom/cache_page/61013.html

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/37917/thaksin-has-fewer-places-to-move

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/179510/thaksin-won-t-revoke-thai-nationality

http://www.mcot.net/cfcustom/cache_page/61274.html

Consequences

The good news is that the situation in Bangkok seems to be improving, due to the government pushing into the rebel camps, arresting Red-Shirt protesters and telling the rest to just go home. Which is really assuring especially for the city of Bangkok, which has definitely suffered some devastating consequences as a result of the protests that just kept on increasing in violence.

Not only has Thailand just suffered an incredible blow to their public image, internationally, but the capital itself has been physically, economically... (and other effects!)... damaged.


As you can see with this Reuters article, some banks were burned, shopping mall parts collapsed, tourists were basically prisoners in their hotel rooms, and several of the storefronts in Bangkok, in general, have been damaged from the clashes between government and Red Shirt personnel.

I was just reading this Bangkok Post article about the curfew, which is from 8pm-6am and will last for another week, saying how the curfew itself has been a little debilitating to the city, as many retailers need to restock at night - so, with the curfew, replenishing their means of profit is nearly impossible.

Several international investors are reconsidering putting more investments into Thailand..

To boost tourism in Thailand, AirAsia is apparently going to give away 10,000 free seats to non-Thai travelers, to go to Thailand between June and August!!


It's just said to hear that this sort of violence that severely disabled the city was caused by its own people. Yeah, they were protesting against the government, but I feel like it was their own fault for letting things get out of hand and affecting those (such as store owners, hotels, tourists...) who were innocent and had absolutely no control over matters. I mean, it's not like breaking those store windows and completely demolishing a section of a shopping mall is really going to make things better?
Sure, causing destruction grabs the attention of others, but how does one know that it'll necessarily get the right attention from the group that you actually want to intimidate, and not your fellow citizens?

I just find this interesting, especially because the Thai Department of Special Investigation has put up an official global alert for the arrest warrant against Thaksin Shinawatra with terrorist charges. Even Interpol has been approached for assisting in the arrest of Thaksin from the DSI.

Apparently, Thaksin might be hiding in this villa in Montenegro... or just, jet-setting around the world~

What I just want to know is, I wonder how Thaksin is feeling about the protests?

For example,

• Did he honestly think that if the protests were successful, that he'd be able to take over and be placed again at the head of the Thai government?
• Was his motive for supporting the Red Shirt protests financially+idealogically actually for the sake of his country, or for his own revenge against the current administration?
• With the heavy violence and destruction that occurred especially in Bangkok, was he thinking about the consequences on his country and its people..... and perhaps also how he would've taken control of the aftermath of the protests, if the Red Shirts had been successful and he'd be placed back in the President's office?

Japanese food in Thailand!

So, I just came upon this commercial when exploring one of my favorite blog-sites, BoingBoing!

I just love it, because....

1. It's just... ridiculous, and I can't wait to see it with my own eyes

2. It's from MisterDonut, which is a donut-chain in Japan.... but I guess it's in Thailand, too!

3. Just.. LOOK at the donuts! I wonder if it tastes fishy.... haha!

Coming out on top

I couldn't really come up with a better title (I'm not really feeling creative right now, haha!), so... I'm sorry to disappoint you guys here, but, I'm going to talk a little politics.

I'm just going to take a little side-step here, and just bring to light an interesting article that I read today about the Brazilian President, 'Lula,' since I went to Brasil last summer and am thus, interested in seeing how Brasil will grow in the coming years.

As Goldman Sachs termed in 2001, BRIC is an acronym referring to the countries of Brasil-Russia-India-China, and basically saying how these are the fastest developing economies in the world, that will eventually become the economic powerhouses by 2050.

Basically, Lula gathered with the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejadand Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan "in helping broker an agreement announced this week under which Iran will ship much of its nuclear fuel to Turkey in exchange for fuel rods."

I'm not going to be commenting too much on what position Brasil played, and whether or not I agree with how Lula handled the situation, but I just found it surprising/refreshing that finally, Brasil was playing a hand in international politics.

I mean, although Brasil has a smaller population than the U.S. (Brasil, 192 mill.; U.S. 312 mill.), Brasil's size is very comparable to that of the U.S. (Brazil, 3.288 mill. sq mi; U.S., 3.719 mill. sq mi) and has a tremendous amount of resources - thus, accounting for the already occuring (and predicted) increase in economic development in Brasil.

So, yeah, I congratulate Brasil on its economic growth and attempts at becoming more globally politically active... especially since I remember how everyone I met in Brasil, upon meeting me for the first time, asked me "So, what do you think of Brasil?" But, more... as if a question of: "Now that you're here, how do you compare us to the U.S.?"

I felt it kind of silly that the Brasilians I would talk to were constantly looking up to the U.S. (you heard it in the music, too, how all the radio stations were majority U.S. songs dubbed in Portuguese; not to mention, my host-mom knew more about the Chris Brown-Rihanna scandal than I did, which isn't saying that much, but.. still!).

But, how can you really compare two completely different countries, especially when they come from such different histories, social dynamics, etc....?

Even within the 'normal' every day occurrences in Brasil that I encountered, there were so many things that Brasilians seemed to take for granted but us U.S. students just... couldn't/didnt-want-to accept. The gigantic gap between the wealthy and the poor (this is such an understatement/abridgment), (below) mediocre government control of labor laws/health care/financial support, mistreatments of certain races/women/both...

Don't get me wrong. There was SO much beauty in Brasil as well, and I can't wait to go back to revisit its rich culture, language, food, and spirit.

I know that the U.S. has problems, too. But, it just seems to me that there was a lot of work for Brasil, in terms of basic humanitarian issues, to take care of... that perhaps it needs to overcome these, before trying to step out into the bigger, global scheme of things.

"The gods have a plan for you. A destiny."

Okay! I just had to use this quote from the recently released movie, 'Prince of Persia,' since my friend K.L. and I went to go see a screening of it the week before it came out! I was pretty skeptical about watching it, since the trailers are certainly of over-the-top-cheesiness, but... we were able to see the movie for free and have the opportunity to see Jake Gyllenhaal in person! I was expecting to be laughing throughout the whole movie, but... it actually was better than I expected, got K.L. and I both cringing at the grotesque snakes flying out of sand (IS that even possible for snakes to do that?!?), and.. hey! It landed me with a decent photo of Mr. Gyllenhaal, and a cheesy, epic quote from the movie...

"The gods have a plan for you. A destiny."

Which leads me to the theme of this post... which is just, general luck/surprises or.. general decision makings in your life that you think and might change your life.

Two days ago, I was looking at the horoscopes in the LA times, and was met with this particular hypothesis of my destiny for that day:

"Taurus (April 20-May 20): Now is a very uncertain time. Let it go and trust that you will land exactly where you should. It's inevitable."

In general, I usually don't pay attention to horoscopes, since they're usually wrong or just... so general that they can be applied to literally, anyone. However, there are always a few cases when I read the black and white, find it to really strike a coincidence with my present life... typically resulting in my "oh-my-god-this-is-my-fate!!" emotional outburst and temporary loyalty to whoever genius (or.. GOD) it is that writes the horoscope column.

Anyway. This day of my fated horoscope, I found the fortune to be particularly accurate, as I was stressing sooooooo soooooo much over the protest conditions in Bangkok, the news that my research-program was going to be delayed for (at least) 2 weeks, and just the concern of changing my flight to Bangkok for financial issues.

Upon calling United Airlines to ask about changing my flight, I encountered:

1. Friendly Lady: who said that I could change my flight to Bangk

ok without a service fee. However, I was not ready at the time to make decisions, yet, so I didn't make any changes.

2. Stuck-to-the-rules Man : who said that because my date of flight (beginning of June) into Bangkok wasn't included within the time-waiver (U.A. offered to cancel a service-fee if people were originally planning on travelling to Bangkok with the month of May), and that I'd have to wait a few more days to see if the beginning of June would be covered within the waiver. I was shocked to find that I now had to pay a service fee of $250, so I didn't make any changes.

3. Stingy Man: The professor heading the research progra

m called U.A., explaining the situation to them and managing to allow me to change my flight without a service-fee. When I explained to the U.A. representative this and saying that it listed on my 'file' that I was able to waive the fee.... he basically said that he didn't see anything, and that I still had to pay the service fee. I was about to cry at this point.

4. Life-saviour Lady: Who... I called, explained the same situation to her as I did to 'Stingy Man,' was asked to wait for a moment... and although she had to take a moment to ask her surpervisor to look more deeply into my files, she was able to see that, indeed, I was not lying and I was able to get a fee-waiver.... so I changed my flight, FINALLY! To which, I literally was just thanking this lovely representative over and OVER since I was SO grateful that my tempest was over!!

Take into account the fact that I called U.A. representatives 2~4 within 20 minutes.

Needless to say, I am now very well aquainted with the automated system (and, how cool is it that you get to do voice command when answering questions?? ooo, yeah..); know that it is now a good idea that if you don't get what you want, to just hang up and try calling again ; am now slightly biased and think that female representatives are not only more friendly, but just.. far more helpful.

So, in any case! Back to my horoscope... oh yes. Despite the fact that I was going crazy over the fact that my summer was being affected by events that were out of my control, things ended up working out. On my original date of departure from the U.S., I will be going to Shanghai (instead of Bangkok) to visit my sister, spending time with her and visiting the World Expo.

A Map of the World Expo in Shanghai

Hopefully, the research program will still go on, in which case, I will book a flight from Shanghai to BKK in time for the start of the program.

If it is still deemed too unsafe in Bangkok, the research program will be cancelled... and I would probably either spend more time in Shanghai, go to Japan, and just figure out my way back home to the U.S., later.

It's not use fretting with unforeseen events... just deal with them as they come.

Thinking Positively...

So, as expected, I need to make some adjustments to my itinerary...

Due to the increased violence of the Thai protests, pushing the U.S. State Department to issue a travel advisory not recommending travel to Bangkok, and non-essential travel to Thailand, the program director of my research internship has decided to push back the start of the research program 2 weeks.

This is, of course, optimistically thinking that the talks between the government and the Red Shirts will go well within the next few days, that Bangkok will be calm again within the next few (3.5) weeks, and that the other areas of Thailand will not be declared to be in 'states of emergency,' anymore.

At first, my parents were suggesting that I just stay in the U.S. until the new (tentative) start of the program (June 21st) to travel to Bangkok, but.... I can't just wait around for another 2 weeks before actually doing something with my time. I just, can't.

I was bitten by the travel bug. I have to answer its call.

I sent the email from my program director announcing the 2-week-delayed-start to not only my parents, but my boyfriend, as well - and I love how, when I gave him a phone-call, one of the first things he said in response to the email was just, "Japan."

Which, was exactly what I was thinking!

Especially since I've been moping around about how I wouldn't be able to go visit Japan (basically, my second home) this year because of the Thai program taking up the entire summer.

SO! Assuming that the program will start at its new , 2 week-later-date, I'm planning on taking advantage of those 2 weeks to do some adventuring.

I haven't decided what exactly to do yet, but it'll involve either Japan or Shanghai... or perhaps both??

We shall see...

Facing tougher circumstances... part II

Above: From Truth Today, May 7-10, 2010 - The caption reads: No description [The Thai letter on the man behind Abhisit is “por-pla." This initial is mean

t to imply that several top people such as Prem, Pruyuth, Pok [Anupong] , etc. desire death and chaos.]

I'm not quite sure how I feel about this...

* I've emailed my program director, asking her how we'll handle the situation and whatnot, but... she basically hinted that they might delay the start of the program for a couple weeks, or... just cancel it, altogether?

* In some way, I don't know if this is either out of naivety or just, my own personal character... but...

Although I'm worried about the situation, with the possibilites of hearing gunshots outside my window or having to be holed up in a room for safety... I still want to go to Thailand.

----

Ever since I was little and had dreams of becoming a doctor (pediatrician, to be exact), I concurrently had the hopes of volunteering for an international-medical program such as 'Doctors Without Borders', which gives medical attention to countries that are unfortunately, not very equipped with neither the technology nor trained inviduals necessary for even basic medical care.

I definitely don't want to sound like a Mother Teresa or anything (since, she undoubtedly was an amazingly powerful and selfless being who is an inspiration for many), but my passion really revolves around the fact that I love being in motion - whether it be physical, emotional, conceptual...

* Sidenote.... : Haha, this reminds me of something my friend told me (you know who you are?? :D ) who told me how she successfully stood her ground when arguing with a friend about the definition of "inertia," and how it's not necessarily the dynamic state of an object trying to return to its "zero" state (or, state of rest), but actually its state of resisting the affects of external forces.

So, technically... even if an object is in motion, as long as it's not encountering any outer forces and is still going at a constant velocity... it has inertia! *

Anyhow. Back to what I was saying... I always feel like, whenever I'm not doing anything, I sense this disatisfaction with myself, and feel the urge to find something to do, whatever it is.

Even during summer vacations (which, I am now presently on, yipee!), I can't just sit around watching TV or laying on my couch... or else I feel sluggish and just.. without purpose.

Perhaps this stems from the fact that, even during vacations, my mom never fails to burst through my bedroom door at 9 o'clock every morning, just to wake me up and get me started on my day~... even though I really don't have anything to do besides reading or hanging out with my friends (whose moms are kind enough to let them sleep in until noon, meaning I can't really hang out with them, anyway, until the afternoon/evening!).

Or even back at my university.....

If I have time (wait, even when I don't really have time - for example, the night before a final!), I feel the urge to just bake, since it's something that I can do with my hands.

One time when my boyfriend was late, I couldn't stand myself just waiting around my apartment, anymore, so I decided to just get some air and take a walk around the neighborhood.

My roommates frequently leave their dishes in the sink for more than one day, so much so that it made washing my own dishes really difficult, so I used to just wash their dishes with mine, anyway (though, I have stopped doing this, since I figure they are big girls, too :D )

The people that I can call my best-friends are people who talk not only about matters/issues/concepts with me, but feel free with me to really speak about their opinions about things, no matter how 'serious' the subject is. Simple answers without much insight really, really bug me (which reminds me, sorry to my boyfriend for getting mad at him for giving me short answers to questions!! As you can see, I nitpick at topics and like to fully analyze them, so I find it abnormal when people occasionally give me really, really concise answers).

--> Some of my past favorite topics include: personal rankings of Asian languages and concluding that Vietnamese is the worst-sounding, the un-answered question of how on EARTH researchers were able to figure out that the average person swallows 7 spiders during their sleep in their lifetime (Snapple fact!), personal opinions on people trying to represent their culture in various ways but instead possibly just stereotyping themselves to fit the image of being "unique" to others, and last but not least, the endless criticisms of pre-med students and how we're so glad we're not insanely selfish or competetive like some (don't get me wrong, I DO have some nice pre-med friends.... some!).

-----

I feel like the whole section above was SUCH a tangent. Let's rewind to the point that I was trying to get to.... ahh, here it is:

"I love being in motion - whether it be physical, emotional, conceptual."

But even this is a little flower-y and too nice, in my opinion. I think that instead, I should have just put,

"I should belong to Workaholics Anonymous, have the inability to sleep in, and like to overanalyze things."

I unfortunately find that keeping busy/working takes over my life, frequently. I used to (and still) tell my friends that I don't usually like being in relationships, since I'd suffer from the guilt of enjoying work so much, that I wouldn't be able to dedicate that much time to the poor guy, in the first place. Who wants to date a girl who actually enjoys staying in lab until the evenings and doing homework on Friday nights? (although, I must say, that although I do enjoy being productive and doing work even on Friday nights, it comes with the benefit of being able to do more fun stuff for rest of the weekend... right??)

In any case. I feel like this devotion to work can be a bit extreme. Take for example the fact that, despite my initial emotional qualms of being separated from my friends for what is potentially the last summer I'd spend with them, I still decided to take the offer of interning in a research institute in Thailand.

Bottom line: if I'm given an opportunity that will help me allow me to grow, professionally, I will take it and devote myself to it.

This blog post is turning out to be really long, so all I want to do is to just finish it.

But, here it is: I know I'm stubborn and naive, but I've already devoted myself to going to Thailand, and I want to see it out the best I can and experience whatever it is that I'm getting myself into.

Ready to face tougher circumstances

Although I had been going back and forth about whether or not I really wanted to go to Thailand (see my first few posts..) mainly because of personal emotions coming into play, I have overall, I believe, been so excited about going to Thailand, ever since I found out in February that I had been accepted into the program.

Beginning in March, however, I began to have separate worries - due to the political protests that began between the Red Shirts and the government (See my posts in April for some background info).

For the past few years, though, the government and its people have been in conflict, so although the protests were starting up again, one of my program directors even said that, "[the institutes we'll be working for] are located closer to the "downtown" area but are universities and are normally not involved in political situations."

That was, until, the protests started having actual shootings, people (including media personnel) being killed in crossfires...

One of the first killings grabbed international attention because a Japanese-camera-man (Reuters) was killed in crossfire, and most recently, a Thai Red-Shirt General by the name of "Seh Daeng" was shot in the head (and is in critical condition) during an interview, right after saying, "The military cannot get in here."

How ironic, indeed.

------

It's just confusing to me, since:

1. I was reading an LA times article about the rising violence, which, towards the end, gave me the impression that: yes, the protests are turning bloody, but it's only concentrated in one part of Bangkok, so the rest of it is fine.

2. The U.S. Thai Embassy closed, and was evacuating people out of Bangkok.. And the State Department has issued a warning, for U.S. citizens to not travel to Bangkok.

That is why I have been trying to scour through ALL Thai-protest related things, recently (thank goodness I'm out of school, now, to actually spend time away from my chemistry-readings and problem sets, guilt-free!), and have found things like this guy in Bangkok's (Newley Purnell) Twitters for actual, on location, updates.

Here's just a little perspective on where the violence is actually occuring in Bangkok..

http://newley.com/2010/04/27/map-of-red-shirt-protest-areas-in-bangkok/

On May 15, The Bangkok Post:

http://newley.com/

And, actually, here's more of a real-time version on GoogleMaps that I think should be more accurate...

------------

So.. where will I be (IF, at this rate, I ever even go ..) in Bangkok? The Institute that I'm staying at is located more on the outskirts of Bangkok and is thus, safe...

But, where I'm working, Chulalongkorn University - is... pretty much smack dead center/around the protests... how convenient..

[you can see in the second map, is pretty much on the block to the left of 'Chulalongkorn Hospital']

Minor Complications - Winning Battles

With the date of departure for Bangkok approaching, I was already starting to get nervous with certain complications. Mainly, these involved things such as:

1. Wondering when on earth I'd get my Thai VISA application letter (only to find out that it had been sitting in the main area of my apartment's building for close to an entire week, without anyone bothering to actually give it to me...grrr!)

2. SPEEDing to just take any picutre of myself to slap onto the VISA application form, which worked out to be quite... an unattractive picture of myself (right after I took a shower, with my hair still wet and weird) on a 10-second timer in my living room at about 2 o'clock in the morning.. Then proceeding to load these STRAIGHT onto my computer to load, crop, make sure they were the right size, then print out not only one, but two copies of the cursed portrait shot...

3. Rushing my way through the VISA application form with my heart pounding - this, now, around 2:30 in the morning. Then, remember my teachers'/mom's wise words of : "Remember to look over your work to correct mistakes!" I freaked out when I realized I had checked a box next to "married," scrambled to get my white-out to correct the preposterous mistake of saying that I was married... only to read it again, later, to find that the box was not only next to "married," but underneath my father's name.... forcing me to pull out my white-out YET again and check the "married" box, to legitimately (effectively... cancel the temporary marital separation of my parents, haha, and instead) patch up my parents' union.

4. Realizing at 3 o'clock in the morning that it was RIDICULOUS of me to even stress myself out at such late hours of the night over this application in the FIRST place, since... I couldn't even send out the application on its way to the Thai Consulate until, at the earliest, 9 o'clock in the morning, anyway...

Why.... must I stress myself out like this?! I don't even do it that often (or, do I?), but when I do, it's always to such an extreme!

Anyhow. The list continues (oh good god, I know.)

5. Waking up at 8:30 in the morning to make sure I was showered and prepared to get to the post office FIRST thing at 9.

6. Arriving at the post office, only to find that only ONE "teller" was working the post office, so I had to grab a number (paper tag?) to be helped...

7. Waiting for close to an hour for my turn to actually arrive!

This ONE old guy was just.. MAN! I dont' know WHAT he was doing, but he had this BOX of (10 or so?) huge envelopes that were covered in post stamps, and he was just buying first-class-postage for all of them to be shipped...

But, the interesting thing was, I guess in order to account for insurance, he had to state what was in the envelopes, which... [okay, this already sounds creepy of me, but, hey! He was talking pretty loudly... or is it a SIGN that I should just be a secret spy?? Ooo~!] ended up being various amounts of CASH!

So... is there some sort of DEAL going on, or.. does this man just have several grandchildren that he gives pretty decent allowances to, and in varying amounts depending on which one he likes the most?!?!

<--- Sorry, my mind likes to make up stories about possible lives of people I see, day-to day. :)

It keeps life interesting, no? Please excuse my tangents....

8. FINALLY buying the postage for the envelope I needed to send to the LA Thai consulate, and for an envelope for the Thai consulate to send back to my home-home .... but not having any tape with me at the moment to actually SEAL the blasted envelopes!

9. RACING to a nearby Walgreens to buy tape, then running back to the closest mailbox to finaaally send my passport+visa app.

10. Calling my parents everyday to see if they had gotten my passport+completed VISA, yet, from the Thai Consulate, but then.... getting a call from my dad saying that my check had not been accepted, that the money for the VISA had to be paid in a money order !

I knew that the VISA couldn't be paid by cash or by personal check, but... how was I supposed to know what a money order was?! The first time I heard about one was through my father at THAT moment... and the whole thing sounded just silly to me, but, whatever~

In the end, my father took care of the financial issue (having family living in the LA area is SUCH a convenience~), and my VISA just arrived... two days ago! (A total of a week and a half at the Consulate)

VISA complete... but, as I will put in my next post, my fears that have been building up for the past few months (concerning the Bangkok protests) have just been escalating...