Crouching tiger, hidden temple

MANILA, Philippines -  I was born a brave soul. I would get lost in cities I’ve never been to and just let serendipity (or a taxi cab) help me find my way home. I went to the Maldives a week after the tsunami and had planned on going to Mexico right after H1N1 broke out. Okay, maybe the latter choice wasn’t such a great idea, but the first one was one of the best moments of solitude I’ve ever had in my life. And all it took was that one decision that I told myself, “Never be scared to travel to new and interesting places or you’ll never know what life has for you.”

Being swamped with work is always a blessing I welcome into my life, but every now and then I pray a trip would come along  a trip that would awaken and enrich my spiritual self, whet the taste buds for the exotic and the spicy, and tantalize my vision with the bizarre. In short, I wanted to treat my senses to the wild and the wonderful. This trip was it.

The perfect start? An invite to dinner by Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva himself to be a part of the Thailand Today Mega Fam Tour. To follow that up, Thai Airways GM Nivat Chantarachoti made sure we would enjoy “smooth as silk” treatment via the renowned airline’s Royal Orchid Service. I always make a mental note to catch up on my reading come flight time, but I always fall asleep after takeoff because I’m so relaxed and pampered.

A rejuvenated mind is the first step to enlightenment. Clearing of clutter and unwanted things is the first, that’s something we can learn from the Zen Buddhist mindset of our neighbors, who have cleared the air and announced that life is back to normal in Bangkok and all of Thailand for that matter. It took Thai Minister of Tourism and Sports Chumpol Silpa-archa to tell us this over dinner at Centara Grand Hotel, but I knew it and experienced it firsthand when I walked the streets, went to the clubs, and hopped till I dropped for an extended personal shopping trip to Bangkok!

Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself here. Relax.  Contrary to the song, one night in Bangkok just ain’t enough to make “the hard man humble.” So the next day, I met up with the Filipino delegation composed of my partners in crime  Tessa Prieto-Valdes, Stephanie Zubiri and Pepper Teehankee as well as some of our country’s top travel agents. Our earth mother for this journey? No less than Porthip Makornpan, who is the director for Tourism Authority of Thailand for the Philippines (TAT). She was with TAT’s Dave de Jesus, who served as our big brother and Jayelle Holdings’ Roselle Rebano as our big sister. The rest, our newfound siblings — it’s one, big happy Filipino family!

CULTURAL CAPITAL OF THAILAND

First flight stop was up north in the mountains of Chiang Mai, Thailand’s cultural capital where the streets are filled with shops and great bargains. Tip number one: Stay at Le Meridien Hotel, which is at the center of everything. Step out of your modern posh luxe comforts and you’re ready to get everything, within arms reach! That’s exactly what Tessa and I did—bought pasalubong for everyone, pronto! By dinner time, we were done with our shopping list. Or half of it at least.

But again, shopping really wasn’t the point of our Chiang Mai expedition. It has become a yearly tradition for Tessa and myself to climb 300 steps up to the Wat Pra Thart Doi Suthep temple and have a monk tie a blessed white string around our wrists for protection. So far it has worked for the both of us. It even felt more solemn now that there were fewer people, so no queue going to the monk for his blessing and great for sightseeing and picture-taking, too!

From the temples, we went to the most revered of Thailand’s animals, the elephant tour at Mae Sa elephant camp. I have a natural affinity with animals as I grew up with 10 dogs, two cats, three rabbits, two hamsters, some fish and a giant python — all at the same time! So I know my way around them. If I wasn’t doing what I’m doing now, I’d be a zookeeper!

At this elephant camp, you’ll see elephants play ball against each other, challenge tourists to darts, even paint portraits of themselves. Take that, Dumbo! Nature has a way of dealing with nurture, so the elephants are well-trained, and happy to perform. From performance-oriented elephants, we then hopped over to the Tiger Kingdom, also in Chiang Mai.  Here, I really felt the power of the Year of the Tiger. Hear me roar — Roar!

NOT ALL OF US LOOK ALIKE

From frolicking cubs to giant, crouching tigers, we posed and played with them like they were our household pets. I had trouble leaving as I felt right at home with the tigers. Steph did, too — until she remembered she was allergic to cats.

On our way to Chiang Rai, we passed by an umbrella painting village, where I hand-picked hand-painted parasols to give as gifts — perfect for the rainy season, even just for decorative reasons. There were also hand-painted fans (we call them abanicos) that were at their wholesale best. It was a bargain hunter’s heaven!

“On our way to another temple,” our sing-songy tour guide told us. What? Another one? We were tired after all that wildlife and wild shopping. Steph and Pepper chose to binge on snacks while I looked at the best thing I’d ever seen and experienced in Thailand. A temple that was not cov-