A THREE-BAHT TOUR

If I told my friends that I went to this three-baht-city tour, I'd probably get questionable remarks depending on facial expressions or tones.

"A three-baht tour?"  Wowed a surprised person.

"A three-baht tour?" One asked in disbelief.

"A three-baht tour?" Doubted somebody. 

"A three-baht tour?" Inquired a curious mind.

"A three-baht tour?" Someone burst in laughter.

"A three-baht tour?" Another person disagreed.

So, which of these reactions you'd exactly say? 

Well, I'll leave it to you to think of that! But sorry to disappoint a doubting Thomas, just had it last week in Bangkok. It required keenness to get that fortunately. I was surprised, myself, on the one hand.

Those who are familiar with the currency (referring to baht) will not find it easily believable. What is 3 baht anyway? The cheapest bottle of water this city can offer is 7 baht. And so any disbelief is totally accepting - no contest.

In my own world, we call it grace - even the poorest can still afford to enjoy. But as I said, it takes diligence and walks to find it. But too much dependence on taxi tells another story. I don't find it a problem at all as long as one has a lot of money to pay - not me though.

"Where are you going?" asked a guy from Poland whom I met earlier.

"I'm heading to the park." I told him.

It was one lazy afternoon when boredom struck me to death. So I had to go to this place just few kilometers away from Khao San Road. I'd been there several times - my favorite place to read books and spend siesta whenever I'm in Bangkok (at backpackers to be exact). There I went and so this new friend ended up coming with me. 

To make the story short, we continued walking around and took photos as we exchanged conversations. One spot a way has caught our attentions - a secret stairs which allured us to climb a step, and then another step, and then more steps we weren't even sure where it's heading to. But that curiosity turned in a wonderful afternoon - a walk through the bridge to get to the other side of the river, and a boat ride coming back a foreigner is surprised to know - a three-baht tour.

A three-baht tour yet filled wonders and awes - unveiling the beauty of nature and of man-made. 

You might not appreciate this, and it's no big deal, but how lucky locals must be for this service. A person doesn't have to walk through that bridge every time because there's another cheap option coming back or vice versa. 

Thanks to this public service.

A three-baht tour? 

Yes, it was, and one of a kind tour!

Laid Back

Not my thinking for sure, but only a lifestyle which takes careful consideration to live up. Thanks to this bus so I can access two separate worlds - a sophisticated one and a different side. 

"Do you have any plans moving to a bigger city?" a friend from Frisbee asked on the sideline during pick-up game.

"If it was 15 years ago, then I would." I replied.

Lately, I just couldn't stand the pressure of life in the city. It's too complex that only tough ones can tolerate. Many times, I'm tempted to blame my age for this inability to cope up a standard so huge. But when I see elders living in urban areas, then age has nothing to do with it as a matter of fact - it's a lifestyle - a paradise to somebody but not to someone.

"As soon as I get away from this place, I am not coming back." I murmured.

This was like more than two decades ago, which I considered an awful day. I was trying to help my step mother harvest rice in the field. The silence was suffocating me. I knew it, I didn't belong there - not for an active kid with big hopes and dreams in the future. That was I thought.   

That's when I made a silent oath to myself. I buried it in my heart even as an innocent child. Then I worked hard to fulfill that promise living in enormous cities with hopes of not looking back.

All these years I am so attached in crowded places - tried to go with the flow to beat a demand or a standard - not fully  listening to the call of natures. Only these last two years I've come to appreciate what nature has in stored: so obsessed with the exoticism of the wilds; so hunger for solemnity and the quietness of the night; so crazy about the life in the village - so ironic from the real me.

"It's my preference to adopt a laid-back life now." I added.

In fact, it took me a while to comprehend this new beginning. Although I grew up in a laid back town, but it wasn't always an accurate picture I had foreseen about me. I had to be somewhere else and nowhere else but mega cities.

No regrets for such a decision because I am so enjoying here in the village. At least I'm one of those blessed with natures and not worrying the threats of health caused by modernity or sophistication or pollution or all sort of hazards.            

Yes, I could have been somewhere earning a lot of money, and that's undeniably important, but let me slow down for a while to embrace laid-back routines. I've sensed that had missed a lot of great things away from home indulging the world's enticements - now I need to catch up with natures. Let's see how long I can take the ride.

When laid back was such a negative connotation, not anymore. Now got a new perspective of one thing I totally misunderstood in the past. So thankful for realizing the urgency before it's too late.

Let me share then my thoughts for this compound words - laid back: I can still drink coffee twice a day; I can still sleep the required hours; I can still eat healthy food and have meals on time; I can still freely see and feel and touch and smell and hear the awesomeness of natures around; and a lot more.

Never underestimate a laid-back people or a place or time itself. 

 

Human Mind

No one understands best a certain culture except an insider. Outside this realm totally holds a dissimilar perspective. Then outsiders don’t have any rights laying something down – whether a measuring rod to set a standard or a weighing device (balance) to conclude judgment and morals.

Not ashamed to admit, but for many times, I tend to behave like a nasty interloper and acts like a man of the world. I had beautiful intentions though, yet they don’t justify a crass outlook on someone’s values. So I had to remind my blinkered mind every now and again such a tendency. 

Wish I’m always aware when narrow-mindedness strikes my head. Nobody likes losing an argument anyway, yet it’s always a temptation to bite the challenge. At the end of the day, one has to leave a decision – to win friends or to gain glory. Alas, only one side lasts a lifetime. 

 

May real peace and deeper respect reside my heart as this fragile life of mine immerses daily with people not my own – I pray.

 

Isn’t it peace or respect more important than squabble?  

     

It takes grace and compassion to crush opinionated bigots. Using a plural form means to point the finger at me as well. Guilty! 

That’s how human mind works in many circumstances – very pious not wanting to look for other windows of possibilities – it needed openness to experience breakthrough indeed. 

So human propensity I think – it loves to dominate in various ways, but there is always a way to break this character and mentality – it spells R-E-S-P-E-C-T. 

“Now, I understand why!” my thoughts agreeing as we were driving through another unfamiliar village. 

Days before that I was in full resistance to accept an explanation. For me, it was just the same excuse I hear over and over again or a typical alibi teenagers give or a lie that normal kids usually tell – “Sorry teacher, I was busy” – so sick of it and so I ignored. 

One of the kids at the center had to pick me up including few other kids to visit his house. Hours came, and then days, but he didn’t show up or call. He appeared a week after.

Our agreed appointment wasn’t that important and so no big deal, but wish I understood his thinking. It was deeper than that in fact, which requires receptiveness to get the whole picture. But my attitude towards the situation spoiled the chance – an untold story behind what I considered an excuse or an alibi or a lie – one’s shyness couldn’t express in words.

Thanks to another impromptu visit yesterday. I had to bring one student home personally due to flue and fever. It happens that this sick boy is staying in the same village we intended to visit last week. 

Suddenly, the experience has patched things up. Seeing the distance and how rough roads are, it changed my perspective – one arrogant mind so dumb enough to analyze a simple situation. If not for this beautiful chance, it will take more resistances to win my trust back. 

Then it gave me a hard knock. I realized would probably do the same way – an excuse or an alibi or a lie one helpless teenager had over transparency – driven by shyness or shame to admit his disability to receive guests.   

It took another chance to know, and entailed docility to learn things, but that’s so human mind.

Forever Learning

Humans are born to learn for as long as they live – inside or outside the four walls – where sky isn’t even the limit. And whether we live to learn or the irony, we just couldn’t get away with the reality. Regardless which generation, many have conformed to this claim… “We learn every single day.”

We do, and so do I.

Wish I could separate learn from work, but it’s just another make-believe truth. No matter how one tries to ignore this particular way of life, it’s so inseparable – that person always ends up burning eyebrows. Then we just have to deal with it.

It is also fun at the same time. That’s when pure joy comes in learning – all we have to do is set aside unnecessary pressures in acquiring knowledge and just enjoy every interest we have come to know.

“This is why I pursued post grad school, to carry lands!” I cracked my staff a joke.

They know I was just kidding. More than that, I know it’s something else to learn – doing manual labors – different from daily routines. If kids can do it, then it’s the same here. Whatever you call it – immersion or a new thing – it is no different but a mark of truth – to learn for ages.      

But then learning can be very stressful at times. It didn’t matter whether one chose that decision or caught in a situation of forced learning. For one reason, nuggets of wisdom don’t come in easy way or simply by eating peanuts, it requires hard work and discipline as many would believe.

When I discovered my gift of tongues, I thought it’s always easy to learn other languages. I hope it was, but my assumption has proved me wrong a lot up to this time point. But I’ve to learn and learn and learn all the more to reach my goal amidst obstacles.

So sorry if I’m not over yet with this issue or my venture in learning Khmer, but it truly gives me a lot of stresses. One factor is my forgetfulness not being able to remember the alphabet until now. And so it affects my reading. When it does, it discourages me to go on, stressed out.     

What consoles me is that age doesn’t really matter because life is a constant learning.

Yes, that’s learning – it could be fun or stressful or challenging at times, but it’s always inseparable in us. And so we learn from day to day in many ways or purposes.  

Learning also depends on the perspective of each learner – how one deals it creatively or how one takes it lightly or how one does it meaningfully or how one thinks about it necessarily or simply the opposite of each all – obviously these are marks of truth – forever learning.

Bloomed

With eyes closed, a regular passenger can still predict every stopover along the way. But it takes a keen observer to predict the unnoticeable thing around. And a sleeping passenger is another fact.

Maybe a quick nap, but I don’t usually sleep while traveling via land trip especially a long day. If I did, then it was no travel at all – it was just another typical sleeping habit. I’m one of those who find peace just looking at the scenery from a distance, and so don’t want to miss that. 

    

If I slept on board every time, then my understanding of a water lily could have been deadly dull. By just several glances, it explained crisp and clear the stages of this beautiful flower – from a tiny white bud to a pretty purple then turns a sweet smelling, pink lily – bloomed. 

Do you know this? 

If sleeping in the bus is another way to kill time, then it’s not worth doing – only sleep freaks would take the chance – it’s not my thing. I rather watch farmers in their canoes picking up lotuses at sunrise or sunset to earn a living. 

And so I keep my eyes wide awake for that’s when I learn to value each gift from above – a city person don’t see much every day. It is in this choice – a glance over sleep, I’ve perceived that lilies and lotuses grow at the same place and at the same season – they bloomed in unison. 

       

I can stand looking at barren lands along the way even if they give no joy in return – no mark of a lotus or a lily flower but dusts, rocks, and dryness all over. I know, it's only in a certain place, and a little more time comes a field covered in pink of bloomed flowers. But one mustn’t fall into a gentle slumber.

It’s true, a regular passenger can still predict every stopover along the way even with eyes closed, but he/she can never imagine how difficult or exciting life a farmer must have been picking up lotuses or lilies to live. 

   

More than all this prediction of a stopover – one confident person can brag – it’s only a shallow familiarization even blind ones can do too – again not when a lily and lotus bloomed. 

  

Goals Down

Too old now to notice each little thing, but there is always a way to get things done in time – to write them down – it helped a lot. Thanks to the idea of journaling or planning because it keeps one’s chaotic mind ordered. It is just a matter of living such lifestyle.

Couldn’t even remember exactly the time I started embracing this habit, and since I did, not a single goal has neglected. Year after year, it always gives me joy looking back to every accomplishment and failure – a room for moving up; and an excitement looking forward to what a new chapter has prepared – an opportunity to try something else.

I usually write my goals down the beginning of the year – whether they’re short or long ones. Alongside with constant ticking just to keep myself posted of my aspirations not forgetting anything in the process.

At the end of the year, I do my review with ticks and crosses to see how far I’ve gone. Each goal is significant and tells a different story. Therefore, ticking and crossing mean something. It’s not about accomplishment alone – it’s the perseverance that counts – for each goal requires diligence and grace.

Thirty-one out of forty-nine (31/49) goals were down from last year’s. Some of those were unaccomplished desires from previous years, and yet not one is neglected until it’s fulfilled.

  

Few days ago, I’ve added new goals in my 2013 lists including those unfulfilled stuff from last year time table – a trip to Dubai or Korea for instance – I wrote them again to remind me in the name of goals.

Goals down, goals come, and it’s normal for mortals to write them down. Just keep dreaming and pursue things with eyes awake. After all, one without a single objective in life is like a man caught daydreaming – that’s another story then – better still write your goals down and make them happen.  

Goals down – one or few isn’t that bad – that’s how one starts in fact and better than having no goal at all. For years now, I design and redesign goal setting as part of the curriculum in order to educate complacent and easy-go-lucky young people. There I lay down the importance of considering their future and/or of writing down their goals. Thank God, they’re so receptive and teachable.

Goals down?

Yes, I had a lot. And those aren’t fulfilled yet I consider an agenda to work hard, and an urgency to ask for more grace and mercy from above.