Of Birthday Cakes and Latex Wraps

My grandmother and I share the same birth month but she passed away years ago. I'm a certified and proud "lola's girl" that's why everytime I am reminded that my birthday's almost near, I get veryyyyyy emotional. (Side Info: Our birthdays are only 4 days apart.)

A part of me is grateful for having been given a wonderful year, but there's also a part of me that's grieving.. no, more like longing... longing for my lola's attention, the way she took care of me, the way she loved me. Oh how I miss her. :-(

I don't like having celebrations or parties when it's my birthday. I remember a couple of years back, I just booked a hotelroom somewhere and spent the whole day in bed thinking about my life, my dreams, my mishaps (haha), and the lessons I've learned over the years.

Last year, I spent my birthday at Golden Acres.  I spent my day with the elderly, I reached out to them, laughed with them. I will never bring back my lola but in that brief moment, I felt like she was with me.  I saw her loving smile in the eyes of the grandmothers that were there. I saw her in them.

However, I wanted my birthday this year to be different. I wanted to be a bit jovial. I wanted this year to be a year of positivity. A year of triumphs. A year of laughter. And what better way to do it than celebrate it in the Land of Smiles - Thailand.  So I celebrated my birthday in Bangkok. It was my second time to go there and somehow it felt like home.

The Highlights

Cheap Charlie's

I went to Cheap Charlie's. This place is always packed to the brim! The beers are ridiculuously cheap and the place has character. It was featured in Lonely Planet as being one of Bangkok's Institution. It's a nice place to people watch because it is situated in a sidestreet off of Sukhumvit (if I'm not mistaken). There are a lot of cool expats that hang around here. And because Cheap Charlie's doesn't tolerate prostititution, you will not see Thai hookers in this joint.

Cabbages and Condoms Resto

I wanted to have dinner elsewhere but since I can't be trusted with a map, I ended up in a different street that's far from where I initially wanted to go. Hahaha! So much for being 'Dora the Explorer'. Since it was getting late and I was getting hungry, I just settled for the first resto in plain sight. I had dinner at Cabbages and Condoms. Yes, it was the name that really caught my interest.

This sign will greet you once you leave the resto. Hehe, cool diba? =)

And last but not the least, I discovered this cool place that serves the best meals. The diner has a 70s feel to it. I can almost picture James Dean sitting in one of those chairs. Hehe. And the cool part about this place is that it has pool tables and a darts in one corner for people who wants to eat and at the same time hang out with their buds. There's also a red vintage car right smack in the middle of the place.

Umiikot-ikot yung car sa gitna tapos may music coming from the jukebox! Vintage much? Hehe

Naaliw ako ng sobra sa place na to so I ate brunch here for two consecutive days. Hehe. Kakatuwa yung ambience eh. The people were nice and the food was great.

This is how the place looks like from the outside. I grabbed this pic from their website.

And from what I recall, they were showing UFC re-runs nung time na kumakain ako so solb na solb talaga ko! Hehe!

3 Months Away

I will again be turning a year older this January. It's just a couple of months away. How and where I will spend it, I have no idea. But I am sure that this coming birthday of mine will be different from all the other birthdays I've had. I will still feel a bit sentimental, and I will try my best to keep it jovial but I am definitely sure that this one will be super special. *wink*


How about you, how do you celebrate your birthdays? Do you throw parties? Do you go out of town? What? Tell me! (Who knows, I might send you a gift or two. LOL)



The Unpure One,


-=K=-