Ready for Nio, February 2007

There are a lot of things we have to prepare for the coming of our son, Antonio. Aside from the mental and physical preparation, there's quite a few gizmos and gadgets that had to get purchased for Nio.



Take for example his bed, which is really a collapsible Playard from Graco. But, with a firm mattress it works as a really nice bed complete with teddy bears on a mobile with a wind-up music box that plays "twinkle, twinkle, little star". Actually the tinkling melody works very well on my wife, Kanittha, and it knocks her out in about five minutes flat. Let's hope it will work just as well on Nio.



His bed also comes with a fold-out, waterproof diaper changing area and a pouch on the side for diapers. You can also take off the upper level and drop the mattress to the base to create a playpen enclosure. The entire rig can get knocked down in a few minutes and packed up into a bag half the size of a small golf bag. This is supposed to be good for up to three years old.



We've also gotten him a stroller. We got a tremendous discount on the Alano™ Travel System from Graco. This full-size travel system comes with a heavy-duty stroller and a carrying basket that locks securely into the stroller or into its own car seat base. It's really easy to push around, but it's not as simple to collape and stuff into the back of a car.



In case the stroller gets a bit too involved, we have already prepared an alternative means of carrying Nio around. Here's a simple baby carrier we can use for him.



We've also got the bottle sterilizer for him, which has a capacity of up to eight bottles and also functions as a food warmer.



Nio will need all of his stuff safely put out of the way and stored properly, so we got him a real nice chest of drawers. It's probably the nicest and most expensive piece of furniture we own (right after our king-size bed). The drawers are already stuffed with clothes, diapers and all sorts of baby supplies, but there's still room for a little more.



We've also got bath time well covered with this really cool baby tub that comes with a very sturdy stand and a small compartmentalized basin for the various toiletries. Most likely my wife will prefer to put this tub on the floor, but I think I prefer the stand.



The stuffed toy department is covered as well... a monkey, a pig, a duck, a dog, a rhinocerous, a penguin and the Mamy Poko mascot. We also have a big white rabbit (not shown in this photo). Nio's got lots of toys waiting for him. And yes, that's our Siamese cat, Samuel, wearing a deep mustard yellow tee-shirt. Don't ask why. He's only supposed to be wearing that shirt on Monday's in honor of HRM the King.

Aside from all the baby stuff we've purchased, we've had all the mosquito screens in our little apartment replaced, all the air conditioning filters are cleaned, and we've gotten rid of the old refrigerator that came with the apartment and bought a brand new one that will keep Nio's food fresh and safe. There are still a few more bits and pieces we need to get, but I think we're ready.

Our First Christmas, December 2006

My wife and I have spent quite a few Christmas holidays together, but this year was the very first year we spent it together as a couple. Being in a predominantly Buddhist country, the spirit of the season is not at all the same as it is in Manila. Aside from the commercial trappings of tinsel and trim, topped off with piped in carols, Bangkok doesn't have the spiritual context for someone to even begin to comprehend the miracle of Christmas.



A few days before Christmas, we got a call from up-country, from Sakhon Nakorn, bearing terrible news. Both her parents were in a vehicular accident and both of them had been injured quite badly. Kanittha was distraught and distracted. Even when we did all we could and both parents were on their way to the hospital, she was still very restless and tense, which is not a very good way to be during a pregnancy. To help get her mind of things, we put together our very first digital Christmas greeting card. It helped keep her calm and gave her enough time to collect herself. News came that both parents were out of danger and that they were both on their way to recovery.

We count our blessings all the time.

My wife is a full-time housewife, with myself being the only breadwinner in our family. And as such, with all the gift-giving going around, she literally had no money of her own to buy me anything. She gave me a framed montage of a few of our photographs that she put together herself, which I think is absolutely perfect. And then she agreed to go to Christmas Eve mass at the Church of the Holy Redeemer here in Bangkok.

That may not mean much to most of you, but it reminds me a little bit of O. Henry's short story "The Gift of the Magi".

But, since Christmas is all about giving. I thought I would give my wife the most memorable Christmas she could ever expect. Nothing over the top, but I did make it a point to shower her with lots of gifts.





















I think my wife looks gorgeous with that little Santa Claus hat on her. She looks very happy in these pictures and I will always want her to be this way. Seeing her like this makes me realize that the miracle of Christmas is not in the gifts, but in all the love and happiness that we create and share with one another.

A very Merry Christmas to you all!

Ultrasound, September 2006

Four months into her pregnancy with our son, Antonio, we were able to get our first look at him when we went for our first ultrasound session.



This was taken at the older maternity building of Vichaiyut Hospital. This hospital is located very near our apartment right along Rama VI Road. It's less than ten minutes away, which is really convenient specially with Nio on the way.







It's amazing what technology allows us to see. In this context, I believe that it enables us to attain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the miracle of life. I am overwhelmed with joy and humbled by all this.

At The Millennium Hilton, September 2006

Thanks to our really good friend, Gerald Gonzalez, we were fortunate enough to get a free voucher for a night at the new Millennium Hilton Hotel here in Bangkok. Not only did we get to stay for one-night free, but we were able to book a second night at a specially discounted corporate rate.



My wife is about four-months pregnant here and she is starting to show. Fortunately for us both, she's still managed to retain her figure very nicely. This is the seating area of our room at the Hilton.

We checked into the hotel in the early evening, so we really didn't get much of a chance to explore the hotel, but I was able to take a pretty good look at the room and the different amenities.







Frankly speaking, I was not at all impressed with the spatial layout of the room, the quality of the finishes, or even the room's appointments. For all the hype and the price tag that's attached to this hotel, there was nothing exceptional about it. Perhaps all the hype led to some very unreasonable expectations on my part.



Despite the initial disappointment, we did get a very nice view of the river from our room even though we were only on the eighth floor. The next morning we were able to do a bit more exploring around the hotel.





Here we are enjoying the breakfast buffet of the "Flow Restaurant", located at the ground floor of the hotel, right beside the Chao Phraya River. Very good food. We made sure to sample almost everything there. It's almost as if I have a "Noah's Ark" policy when it comes to buffets — "take two of everything".







Their main entrance lobby has a very impressive sense of scale and the design is very stylish and chic. Despite the trendy look and some very unusual pieces of art, I can't help but feel that the place is a little alienating. Take for instance the giant floating hairball with Christmas lights hovering over the lobby. I can understand wanting to establish a unique style, but this feels like forced eclecticism.









Here is my wife, Kanittha, contemplating an oversized and unusual art object.



This corridor leads to another one of their restaurants. I think this one is called "Yuan". We were only able to dine at their steak house, called "Prime", and enjoyed the view from the bar named "Three-Sixty" which has a commanding 360° view from high atop the hotel.



I don't know what it is about my wife and a camera, but she really knows how to ham it up for a picture. We've gone up to their pool deck level, which has one area filled in with white sand brought in from a beach. They expended a tremendous amount of creativity to name this area — "The Beach". Note the sarcasm.



It wouldn't be a bad thing to come back and stay in this hotel again. We both had a very good time here.

Sakhon Nakhon Wedding (Part 1), January 2006

Our wedding in Sakhon Nakhon was not a very big nor a very fancy affair. It was small, quiet and very personal. After having been together for quite a while, and having announced our engagement to everyone, we went up country to her village in Sakhon Nakhon and had a very traditional Issarn style wedding.

06-Jan-2006



Our journey from Bangkok started out very early and included a very long walk from one end of the airport to the other. My brother, Nico, was with us and there was a small problem with his airline ticket that needed sorting out. So we went from the international airport to resolve his ticketing issues, to the domestic airport for our flight up country via this very long corridor.



We arrived at Udon Thani airport in the morning and drove out to the village of her family. The early morning drive was pleasant and uneventful.



Here's an image of the front yard and the house with a few more improvements since last time. Things are certainly looking up... considering the less than humble beginnings that this house started from.



Probably the last image of us together before the big day. Here's an image of myself and Kanittha standing in front of their house up country.



Gorgeous sunset here. The natural scenery in the province is simply stunning. Nothing paints a landscape better than Mother Nature can, and when she decides to impress it is nothing short of absolutely breathtaking. Standing there that day I was reminded of a Longfellow poem that is my mother's favorite, "The Day Is Done".



My brother and I sitting at the front porch of the house late in the evening. Nico and I have always been close. We would spend hours just talking, about anything and everything that comes to mind. I don't remember exactly what it is we spoke about, but I'm sure we covered the whole bit about long term commitments and other topics of that nature.

07-Jan-2006



My wife-to-be, Kanittha, sitting with the rest of the family at the front of the house having breakfast.



Preparations for the wedding.



Assembling a tent on the front yard.



Beautiful scenery.



Late night preparations for the wedding day.