Woodlands, Pattaya, May 2005

Time to travel again!



Here we are at the Woodlands in Pattaya, Chonburi. A fantastic place with great food and an awesome pool. Service was very good and the rooms were decent, but prices were a little bit steep.



Here's Kanittha in the pool in her itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny red polka dot bikini. We were there for about four days, but if I recall correctly she brought about five or six suits.



Big breakfast on our second day. Absolutely wonderful food. On Saturday evenings they have an awesome dinner buffet, which we of course enjoyed immensely.



Here's Kanittha at the bar of the Woodlands, just before we left to go to the Tiffany Show.



In the two years that I lived in Pattaya, I never had the chance to go and visit this transvestite cabaret extravaganza.



Here she is posing with the star of the Tiffany show — Nong Poi and Kanittha. Now before anyone says anything they might regret, it should be stated that Nong Poi is in fact a guy. Or is in the process of re-inventing himself.



Here we are — Nong Poi, Kanittha and myself. You can read more about the Tiffany Show at the link above.



After the show, we decided to enjoy a late seafood dinner.



And the next day we enjoyed noodles...



And the breakfast after that, some soup. You can see a pattern of eating here. My wife is petite and a bit underweight, so I have been encouraging her to eat.



Here's Kanittha mugging for the camera, putting on her sneaky face. Probably looking for something to eat again.

In Luang Prabang, January 2005

Here we are again, this time we are visiting Luang Prabang, Laos PDR. Here's my wife, Kanittha, very early in the morning on the airport in Luang Prabang! Of course at this point we aren't married yet, but I've gotten used to referring to her as my wife.



Birthday breakfast right beside the fog covered Mekong River at our hotel, the Grand Luang Prabang Hotel. It's a gorgeous hotel, probably one of the very best in that city. We decided that it would be nice to spend my birthday in another place. Ever since we'd taken the Landmark Forum together in April of 2004, we'd made a commitment to each other — to create a powerful relationship of love and adventure.

This wasn't the first time I'd been to Luang Prabang. Back in 1995, I was with a small group of architects to create an urban conservation guideline for this city. We were working under the auspices of UNESCO, helping to get Luang Prabang declared as a World Heritage site.



Here's Kanittha striking a pose on the way down to the boats along the Mekong River. The hotel was still under construction when I was first in Luang Prabang. It was designed and constructed by a company I used to work for, Habita Architects.



And this is a photo she took on the boat down the Mekong River towards Wat Xieng Thong.







Above is shot of the front facade of one of the minor structures beside Wat Xieng Thong. This particular building housed the cremation chariot of the last king of Laos.





Here's Kanittha saying a quick prayer at a shrine inside that structure.



When we got back from the visit to the temples, we walked around the main street. A lot had improved in the decade since I'd last been here. But, architecturally speaking, fortunately not much had changed. While the signs of prosperity were slowly peeking up every where, the essential urban fabric of the city had remained intact.



In the evenings, the main thoroughfare is closed to vehicular traffic and it becomes one enchanting night market. Very safe, very colorful and so many wonderful bargains to be made and haggled over.



The next day. Ready and excited to go, Kanittha strikes another pose at our hotel. Did I mention that my wife enjoys to have her picture taken... and did I confess that I equally enjoy taking pictures of my wife?



Here we are feasting on a delicious meal in a small restaurant right beside the Mekong River.



Back on the main road sitting at a sidewalk café. Kanittha posing with some beautiful silk pieces hanging to dry just behind her. Laotian silk, in my humble opinion, is perhaps the most attractive in terms of design and colors. Don't get me wrong, Thai silk is beautiful, but I personally prefer the intricate delicacy of the designs of Laotian silk.



From our hotel, which is located in the outskirts, we take a shuttle busy to the city post office, but from there we get around Luang Prabang on bicycle.





We stopped to see the main temple right beside the grand palace, then we climbed up to enjoy the view from high atop the temple hill, on Wat Phousi.





This is a shot of the highest point on Wat Phousi.



Once more back in town, taking some refreshments and yet another outdoor streetside café. Kanittha looks a bit harassed here because she's not used to handling foreign currency. She got totally stressed out when I asked her to hang on to 250,000.00 LAK (Laotian Kip), which is roughly about 26.09 USD.



Now back at the hotel, Kanittha fresh from a bath — washed off all the wandering around town. All cleaned up and ready for bed.



Here we are on a plane again, leaving Luang Prabang, Laos PDR for Chiang Mai, Thailand.



Above is a view from the plane looking out on the province of Chiang Mai.



We spent an evening in Chiang Mai then flew back to Bangkok after that. Above is a photo of Kanittha taking a break in a coffee shop in the heart of Chiang Mai. This trip was officially the first foreign vacation we had together. Although we'd been to the Philippines together, that didn't really count as travel, that was more a family visit. Hopefully, we will have many many more travels together.

Meeting Mom in Bangkok, January 2005

The very first time I met the family of Kanittha was at a dinner for them at Silom Village.



Here we are posing for a photo with a couple of traditional dancers who put on a performance over dinner. Myself and Kanittha are standing, then seated from left to right are her sisters, Kut and Kit, then Kanittha's mother, Thiap. I guess I made a fairly good impression as we ended up getting married.

Back in Manila, October 2004

In October 2004, we decided to go back and visit Manila. Just in time to celebrate my father's birthday. This photo was taken before we (including my brother, Nico) left for Don Muang airport to catch our flight.



Here's Kanittha and Nico, jamming with a local folk band greeting the arrivals at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila.



Kanittha, Mom and me. It's amazing how quickly she's become such an important part of our family. I'm talking about Kanittha, of course. Mom's been around since the very beginning as far back as I can recall.



Whenever we are in Manila, we find ourselves eating out a lot. Nico, Kanittha and Via, eating out at Tony Roma's... I think.



Here we are with our friend, Aljor. One of the major contributors in bringing the Landmark Education into our lives. This was taken while we were out with a whole group of friends, just playing a wholesome round of billiards at Astrobowl in Magallanes. One of these days I'm going to write a long tirade about 9-ball and physical therapy. Just not today though.



This photo was taken on the birthday lunch my father hosted. It was also a reunion for his side of the family, and an occasion to introduce Kanittha to the rest of the clan. Here she is with Uncle Jim and his second wife, Auntie Vicky. I'm very happy that they all had a chance to meet each other. Uncle Jim passed away a few months after that. I remember that he asked me how to say "beautiful" in Thai. Then he turned to Kanittha, smiled and very clearly said to her, "souwai, souwai".



Here in the family living room, seated with my younger sister, Tessa, and her son, Jose. I'll tell you more about our nephew, Jose, later on.



Here's the group photo at the reunion, taken at home. I'd go through the whole list of people in this photograph, but chances are that the only people visiting this blog are the same bunch in the picture, so that makes the whole effort a bit redundant.



I don't know exactly what is going on between these two women. You know how they say that "men always end up marrying women like their mothers"? Well, when I met Kanittha I was positive that couldn't have been farther from the truth. But, then again I'm starting to notice that they both enjoy having their pictures taken.



I know you've seen all these people before, but I always thought that this was such a great photograph, so here it is. Via, Nico and Kanittha taken just outside Greenbelt III in Makati City.



Here we are clowning around in the garden space in front of Greenbelt III. My wife always says that she hates this photograph, but laughs herself silly every time she looks at it. I must hastily add that this isn't one of my best photographs. Not that there are any actually.



Later that same day, having dinner at Ebun Restaurant with some of my cousins. From left to right, my sister, Via, and my cousins Ginggay, Pia and Leah.



A few days after that, Kanittha and I met up with my friends from high school. Even after all this time, we have still managed to keep in touch with each other. In semi random order, roughly from left to right — Bobby and Ana, Marton and Pinky, Albert and Pia, Kanittha and Franco, Tony, Ben-G and Maita, Mau and Alvin. This photo was taken somewhere in The Powerplant in Rockwell Center, in Makati City.



We had a wonderful visit. The more independent we are becoming as a family of our own, the more drawn together we all are. It was one of the most unforgettable times we shared together.

Nico in Bangkok, September 2004

September brought us another visitor here in Bangkok, my one and only brother, Nico! I don't have enough words here to describe the wonder that is my younger brother. Here he is with Kanittha, just outside the apartment building where we live. We were on our way out to go visit the night market in Huay Khwang. Kanittha wanted us to go shopping for...



Bugs!

Yes, deep fried insects. My wife is a great fan of bugs as a source of protein. I'm not sure about the nutritional value, but the novelty factor is quite high.



The wife and I at Huay Khwang market.



Here's Nico with one of my oldest friends here in Bangkok, Sam. Sam's the little guy with the pointy ears and the hairy face. We'll talk about the little guy some other time. Nico stayed with us for a few days, but he was mostly busy attending the Advanced Course of Landmark Education. That took up most of the time he was here, but it was still incredible to have him around.