Tom yuck

Whenever I come home from abroad, I get the usual "How was your trip?" questions from people who are either genuinely interested in how my trip went, or just being polite before launching into other topics more important to them. To those who fall under the latter category, I give the usual cursory "It was ok" and obligingly segue into what they really want to talk about. To those who belong to the former category, here is the detailed, honest answer to "How was your latest trip to Thailand?"

Simply and delicately put, I had a really shitty week in Bangkok. Quite literally. Remember the stomach flu I was battling before our departure? It reared its ugly head again while we were in Bangkok, and I had the runs for 3 out of the 5 days of our stay. The first night I was fine, so I indulged in a huge Thai seafood dinner (our Ep Espada hosts took us to a popular riverside restaurant). The mostly spicy dishes included a thick, hot-as-hell traditional Thai soup that must have singed the lining of my digestive tracts. Then the following day, our hosts took us to lunch, which consisted of an assortment of Thai fried noodles and rice and other greasy entrees. My stomach was in turmoil by the afternoon, but I thought I could still handle a heavy Italian dinner of prosciutto and melon, calamari, Caesar salad, pumpkin soup, 4-cheese pizza, scallop pasta, and two kinds of dessert. By that evening, my diarrhea was raging once more, and it didn't fully stop until we got back to Manila Saturday evening. It was one of the most agonizing times I've spent in a foreign country, because let me tell you, if you think having LBM at home is bad, having it in unfamiliar toilets in an unfamiliar city is far, far worse. At one point I was so weak, I couldn't walk without holding on to Hanks's arm. Abi said I was so pale they were afraid I was going to faint (and they-- all of them smaller than me-- would have to lift and carry me to the nearest medical facility). After all that gastro-intestinal torment, I think it will be quite some time before I can look at a bowl of tom yum soup or Thai curry without thinking of running to the nearest rest room. Ugh.

Toilet troubles aside, the trip was actually pretty fun, mostly because of all the female bonding that happened among me, Hanks, our cousin Abi and Ann and Dial, two of our office staff. Since we spent so much time with each other during the Ep Espada training sessions and store visits, we had a lot to talk about during lull moments in the car or in the hotel, and even more to laugh over. We dished about work, school, family, fashion, celebrities, and of course, boys, boys, boys. ;p Bedtime was gab-time for me, Hanks and Abi, with our discussions and story-swapping stretching until the wee hours of the morning (which, my mom pointed out, must have aggravated my already weakened health condition, but what the heck, I survived :p). One of the most memorable events of the trip was when Abi and I tag-teamed and haggled for 2 really really cute 2-piece swimsuits at the Suan Lum Night Market. We wheedled, cajoled, begged, and BSed the stall vendor until we got her down to a reasonable price (joint purchasing power, woohoo!). I had to throw in a pair of shorts into the bargain, but I'm not complaining, as they are really really cute shorts too. :) Hanks also bought a nice haul of fancy accessories I can borrow, and my mom got me a lovely brown-and-beige Elle bag at factory price. I like getting nifty new stuff, but it's even niftier when the stuff is cheap. Hehe.

Me, Hanks and Abi

So despite all my digestive woes, I have to say my trip to Thailand was, in a nutshell, more than ok. The curative powers of gossiping and shopping are truly amazing. I'd take them over Diatabs anytime.