Merry Christmas!

(First published in Small World Ezine on 11 November 2002 as "My Last Christmas")

 

 

It's almost Christmas again. How was your last Christmas?

People in the Philippines start celebrating Christmas since
October. Now the whole country is covered with the joyful 
songs, decorations, and happy faces.

About this time last year, I had to renew my Philippine 
resident visa.

As most of you may have already known. I am a Thai who live
in the Philippines.  Although my husband is a Filipino, 
getting and extending my visa is always a pain!

 

Because I live outside Manila, and I and my husband are both
teachers who have fixed schedule to follow, finding the 
time to go to Manila is not easy. And since there is no 
information or application form available to public, we had 
to get to the Immigration Office to get the blank forms and
requirement list. Then we come back to gather the needed 
documents (rule change often), and come back the next week 
to submit the application. And we have to come back again 
and again to see if it's approved. If so, it's another day 
to pay and another day to get certificates and stamps in my
passport. 

This is such a pain. Only if we can send somebody else on
some days they don't need our appearance, it's best. So I
decided to talk to an immigration agency, and ask them to
just get the forma and submit the papers for us. I was going 
to do the rest.

The promised minimal fee of the agency turned turned out to 
be almost $200! Just to hand the application form to the 
officer at the submission counter!  The guy's transportation 
could not be more than $2, including lunch. And the 
submission takes him not more than one minute!

He said he had to pay "under table"!

I don't know what kind of under table it was because I had
done nothing wrong. And I was not in a rush either.

And we were so dumb we forgot to add all the fees up. We 
knew it was too high, but did not know it was THIS high.
When we found out we felt so bad we gave them the money.


I felt we were stupid. I felt Filipinos were greedy and 
selfish. I felt I was in a bad country where all natives 
were looking forward to ripping off all foreigners they'd 
come across. I felt only if my husband had contacts in a 
high place, we wouldn't be like this. I felt the world was 
not fair. And I just wanted to return home to Thailand where 
people can get all the information from the government 
easily.

I was complaining and pouting while my husband drove us 
home. It was a hot day, and the heat had just made me more 
moody. 

As if it weren't enough, our car air-con broke down. And
it's not possible to continue the trip in a moving oven. We 
had to stop at a nearby garage to get the air-conditioner 
fixed.

      

At the garage, I told my husband to ask for a written
quotation first, and to never in any circumstance pay an 
extra. Then when all were agreed, we left the place. 

Fifty minutes later, we returned to get the car. My husband 
went to talk to the mechanic, and came to tell me they found
something else which needed to be replaced. (I was like here
we go again). My husband said he had told them to go ahead, 
and took me to eat at a canteen nearby. There I asked him 
how much was additional the part and replacement, and he 
replied he didn't know.

What would you do? Kill your husband? Amazingly, I just 
pouted more. After fifteen minutes, we went to get the car. 
Our air-con was back to work. And it's much better than 
before. Ready for what could be next... We asked how much 
was the extra...

"Oh, don't worry. It's free." the mechanic said. "Merry 
Christmas, and here's your Christmas gift." (handed us a 
well-wrapped gift and a 10% discount coupon). 

 

More:


Of course, you can imagine how embarrassed I was!

Then I've learned a great deal. 

Get rid of stereotype.

DO NOT JUDGE!

One person, good or bad, nasty or friendly, sexy or humble,
does not represent the whole nation, race, gender, age, or
any demographic group.


DO NOT JUDGE!

Or you are going to miss a lot of nice things in your life.

 

 Asia_Manila, Philippines (at Travelocity)

Had I not met this nice garage guy, I would never found the
spirits of Christmas in the Philippines and its people's
joyful hearts. After that incident, I looked at the 
Philippines and its people in another angle. And, yes, this
is where I live. It's not perfect, but it's a lovable place.

  Crisis in the Philippines

  The Philippines Damaged Culture?!

  Macarthur and the Philippines

  100 Resorts In The Philippines

The Naga Rocket of Thailand

(This article was first published in Small World Ezine on 15 October 2002)

 

The Mekong river is the third longest river in the world.
Originated from the snow of the Himalayas, she flows from 
Tibetan plateau through the south of China, Myanmar, 
Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and into the South China Sea in 
the south of Vietnam. Total length of 4,200 km.  This 
waterway has been the crucial lifeline to the people of 
Indochina. The term Mekong is actually 2 words -- "Mae" 
(mother -- our term for rivers) and Kong (which is the real 
name of this river). It's sometimes written "Mekhong". 
That's the same river.

Because of her length and depth, as well as the strong tide,
there are many mysterious legends about our mother Mekong.


Of all the myths, this Naga's rocket is one of a few that 
remains unexplained.

The Naga is an underwater creature from Asian mythology 
(from South to South East Asia -- similar to Chinese's
Dragon). Superior to humans, it inhabits sub-aquatic 
paradises, living at the bottom of rivers, lakes and seas. 
It is the keeper of the life-energy that is stored in the 
water of springs, wells and ponds. It is also the guardian
of the rich of the seas -- corals, shells and pearls. Naga 
is also protecting the wealth and productivity of tropical 
waters. If it does not rain much, we said Phya Naga 
(pa-ya-na-ga, meaning the great naga, or the king of nagas) 
-- or Nagas (there could be more than one) do(es) not give 
the water to the earth. Naga is the king of all water 
creatures, including snakes.

Phya Naga also had important roles in different events in 
Lord Buddha's teaching mission. That's why you'll always see
sculptures of Nagas in Buddhist temples. Here's a photo of 
a seven-headed Naga protecting Lord Buddha.

Here is the Thai Naga

Since people had found numbers of caves under the Mekong,
there were talks that the caves were the residences of 
Mekong's Nagas. Legend goes on that there are secret paths
or tunnels from under the Mekong to caves on the dry land
in different landscapes in Laos and Thailand.

This phenomenon "Bung Fai Phya Nak" (in Lao and North-
Eastern Thai dialects, or Naga's rockets happens EVERY 
YEAR only on the full moon night of the eleventh lunar 
month. And as if it's not amazing enough -- the day is the 
last day of the three-month Buddhist Lent. (It's also the 
day people all over Indochina celebrate with various 
festivals. Provinces by rivers will celebrate with boat 
events such as boat race, illuminated boats, etc. This time 
of the year the rivers are usually full). 


We call it "rocket" but "Bung Fai Phya Nak" is actually
a number of fireballs erupted from what seems to be nowhere
in the Mekong in the area of Phon Phisai (pronounced Porn-
Pee-sigh -- a district in Nong Khai province of Thailand),
where the river is being the natural border between 
Thailand and Laos. Nobody knows exactly when the fireballs 
were first witnessed. To senior villagers, the phenomenon is 
one of their earliest memories. People seem to accept the 
explanation that this is Phya Naga of the Mekong celebrating
the end of Buddhist lent.

The small and quiet district of Phon Phisai has been 
welcoming thousands of tourists in this time of the year
(actually only in this day) since no one remembered. And
according to the records, the fireballs were always there.
Tourists have never been disappointed.


There are theories about how this happens. Pure miracle,
gas, or human. I think the third is the most convincing
because it must be almost impossible for a natural 
phenomenon to always occur on exactly the same night of the 
year. The interesting part is they could never find who and 
how. It could be Thais or Laotians. (I seem to think it's
the Thais LOL). And since the Mekong is very wide and wild, 
it is not easy to find out. People have been trying, though.


What do you think? Luckily, we do not have the alien theory
yet. Or there will be more to prove. 


Since the photos of the fairies, Nessie, and the crop-
circles are already revealed (by confessions) to be human's 
works. I guess this phenomenon, which is as mysterious,
will be eventually revealed so. 


Now, we just enjoy the festivals along the Mekong river.

This year the end of Buddhist Lent falls on the 21st of 
October. I could be able to have a photo for you to see 
then. Not promising.

Article and web forum "Naga Fire"

Note: Later the movie "15 Kam Duan 11" and some other TV documentaries have revealed the truth that these rockets are man-made. The popularity of the show to dropped dramatically. We can, still, go there and watch the light show during the festival for fun.