A wet Bangkok adventure & a Thai wedding

MANILA, Philippines - Bangkok has always been a premier destination for Pinoys who love to sight-see and shop. For me, visiting Bangkok gives me the opportunity to pig out on Thai cuisine, fruits and endless foot massages. Three weeks before the trip, I had nightmares because Philippine Airlines went on strike and there was uncertainty when the flight schedules would be back to normal. I couldn’t disappoint the 12 in my entourage who like me have been looking forward to the trip. I got relieved when PAL’s hands-on president Jimmy Bautista assured me the flight that we were on, PR 730, was on schedule.

Although check in at PAL Terminal 2 was a bit slow on the day of the flight, the sight of young, good looking and friendly sourced-out personnel was a sight to behold. Our flight departed on schedule and arrived a bit ahead of the estimated time of arrival at Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. I was amazed at the number of foreigners visiting Thailand. I wish we had even one half to boost our tourism industry. Thailand like the Philippines has been suffering from excess rains and floods. We braved the wet streets of Bangkok and checked into our residence for the next few days, Pathumwan Princess Hotel. It is one of my favorites because of its location in Siam Square — the shopping central of Bangkok where so many malls and shops are located including adjacent MBK mall where we sated our craving for Thai mango with sticky rice and Pad Thai.

I’ve attended so many weddings in my life — as godfather, best man, sponsor, brother, guest but this is the first time as father of the groom. My son Silvester was to wed lovely Thai executive Aimmee. The wedding was traditional Thai/Buddhist, therefore, another first in my books. I was amazed the wedding lasted a good seven hours. The ceremony started a little past 8 a.m. with the groom’s entourage that included me, family members and close friends who flew in from Manila and Singapore parading the dowry together with gifts, flowers fruits and lucky charms chanting and shouting like Tarzan. Upon entering the wedding venue — the historical Author’s lounge of the Oriental Mandarin Bangkok — we had to navigate through 12 gates guarded by family members and friends of the bride that demanded unusual things like making the groom dance, multiple Ang Pao’s (the red money envelopes given by Chinese for good luck), food, etc. before letting us through each gate. By reaching the 12th gate, the huge stack of Ang Pao’s were depleted. Should it have been depleted earlier, the couple would have bad luck. As my son settled with the entourage on the wedding dais, the bride was summoned then fetched from the second level of the venue. My future daughter-in-law was stunning in her traditional all Thai attire from head to toe; I mean knee. Her feet were fitted with modern stilettos from Christian Louboutin. The dowry composed of millions of Thai Baht in cash, gold and diamonds were graciously accepted by the bride’s family headed by a prominent Thai senator. Breakfast was served next followed by a Buddhist ritual and blessing ceremony that involved all guests and family members present. That took at least a good two hours. Lunch was next and we all pigged out on the wonderful food and delicacies prepared by Oriental Bangkok. By 1:30 p.m., the final ceremony was the tea ceremony where the new couple served tea to family and guests. The ceremony was perfectly timed including the moment my son slipped the ring to his bride’s finger at 9:09 a.m. which according to the wedding planner was optimal for the success of the marriage (five days later, the couple were married again at Santuario San Antonio in Forbes Park, Makati City with my three-time compadres Joey de Leon, Mike Enriquez and Greg Garcia as compadres. It was followed by a reception at the Dusit Hotel). 

Thailand has been inundated with nonstop rain the past few days and like our problem in the Philippines, flooding has taken its toll on lives with hundreds dead and multi-million damage to crops and property. Despite that, we were unperturbed to cruise the canals leading to the floating market. The first time I took the floating market tour with my mother back in the early ’90s, the canals and rivers were clean, unclogged and bereft of commercial establishments on the river banks. Nowadays, so much plastic bags, empty cigarette packs, styro foam containers and the like float on all waterways. The whole floating market tour lasted a good two hours. It was exciting because the wooden boats we boarded were powered by four cylinder car engines that made us zoom over the wide expanses. The merchants by the river banks sold Thai food, fruits, wood carvings, clothing and, believe it or not, fake Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci and Hermes bags. The tour was highlighted by lunch in the boat, cooked and prepared from a merchant boat and a visit to a riverside Buddhist temple. We ended the day with an early dinner at Thailand’s biggest fruit and veggie market named Otoko.

With my son (center) and compadres (from left) Mike Enriquez, Greg Garcia and Joey de Leon

In the two years I haven’t visited Thailand, her progress has gone leaps and bounds. So many new buildings, attractions and malls. In front of Novotel in Siam Square is a new mall with our very own Goldilocks bakeshop on the ground floor. Across the road at Paragon Mall is a humongous gourmet grocery that sells almost any type of food. Even the traditional Hard Rock Café has undergone a major face lift. I’m so glad the long line of foot massage parlors that line a single street on Siam Square are thriving because it’s my addiction. My favorite foot massage place has a strange name; Miss Puke massage center and so does my favorite restaurant called Pokpok.

Two days later and five pounds heavier, we said goodbye to the City of Angels also known internationally as Bangkok and in Thai as Krungthep Maha Nakorn, Amarn Rattanakosindra, Mahindrayudhya, Mahadilokpop Noparatana Rajdhani Mahasathan, Amorn Piman Avatarn Satit, Sakkatultiya Vishnukarn Prasit.