Friday, May 30, 2008

漫游曼谷慢慢儿走

曼谷 -- 一向来都对这个城市怀有偏见。小时候,家乡的堂哥们说起泰国来,就是满口都是“叫鸡叫鸭”的;当时的概念就是一到泰国,身价大跌。所谓的叫鸡叫鸭呢,就是“红灯区”“性生意”般--当时年纪还小的我,更是意义朦胧模糊,是不可去的禁区。

五年前曾经回家途中转机时路过此地,被他破陋的机场,复杂又肮脏的市中心给吓坏了。当时有个日本留学时认识的好友带路,除了走遍当地的佛庙和旅游胜地之外,还到了地地道道的红灯区去大开眼界。那地方更是花市灯如昼,街边站满了拉客的小姐和先生,还能说口流利的日语。好色的老外和日本人比比皆是,看来真是个性旅行的圣地。当时曼谷更是经济大风暴之后不久,当地经济萧条,人民生活水平比大马逊色蛮多的。所以当时的我对曼谷的印象并没那么好。

近几年来,很多国里国外的好友到曼谷去游玩回来后,大赞当地好玩。曼谷也变成很多人的购物天堂。我也不时给这帮朋友洗了脑。干吗每个人都说那么好玩,我心里在想,难道当时我没去到特好玩的地方去吗?在开始工作的同时,我也不时听到曼谷的国际医院的新闻和报道。对当地搞国际医院的决心很有兴趣。渐渐地,漫游曼谷也成为一个愿望了。

本来这次回国,也没有特别计划到外国游玩。刚好天时地利人和之故,让我又能重游曼谷。

五年不见的曼谷,可谓日新月异:新机场,新高楼,新购物广场,新市内捷运。但是当年的佛庙仍然风光依旧,在高楼林立之中,竟然是那么的显眼。捷运更是四通八达,这攀天捷运道之下,还有个广阔的路上行人道,也不必过马路,可以从一个建筑物跑到另一个建筑物去,还真方便的。大马也有捷运,可是并不是太方便,更没有四通八达的行人道。我想这方面大马可要向他们学习的了。

当然这突飞猛进的变化中,人民的生活是否有了改善,这可是见仁见智的了。当年的小贩们依然作着原本的生意,街边还摆着小小的摊子,红灯区更是花与灯依旧,路边叫卖的,除了日语,英文之外,还会中文和韩文。可见他们也跟着时代的步伐,也随之改变。

我也不忘了本行,还特地打的到曼谷的国际医院去。曼谷有两个蛮出名的国际医院:一个是 Bumrungrad Hospoital (之前Frienster的Blog中曾经提过);另一个是 Bangkok Hospital也就是本来的Bangkok General Hospital。医院里的设计果然名不虚传--是五星级酒店般的漂亮,有各种五星级的服务。大门里门外有服务特别好的服务员,帮忙那些需要帮忙的来客。医院里头还有为日本,中国,东南亚,英美欧,和中东国家人民提供的服务台,十分周到。医院的一个角落,还帮忙病人提供签证服务的服务台。哇塞!我想这两个医院可称国际型医院(World Class Hospitals)有过之而无不及。

也因此,我想曼谷的开放和进步其实还有我们大马学习的地方。同时,我也会鼓励大家,要是有余裕的时间和金钱,也不妨到曼谷来走走。也许你也可以得到些启发和新的见识。











Tuesday, May 6, 2008

“相亲”相爱?— お見合い??!!

Turning 30 and being single is not a crime. It is a disaster.

This trip back home comes with lots of expectations from my old folks: marriage, having a family and breeding. Like many Chinese parents, my parents are 'obligated' to secure a great family and make sure I give birth to dozens of piglets, after having a good career.

It was a friday morning when I was trying to get some good sleep after a whole night out clubbing, my mom was chasing me out of bed because we were supposed to attend a lunch invitation from her old friend. From the very beginning I smell something fishy about the whole idea. First, she normally would rather I get more sleep. Secondly, she acted weirdly when I said I would skip the lunch thingy. So, decided not to disappoint her, I gave in and followed her to the lunch date at one of the business building owned by her friend.

Attending the lunch with us was my little brother, who happens to work for this big company. We were invited to the penthouse on the top floor of the building. Came along with her friend was her children, a son who is also working in that company, and a daughter who happens to work nearby. A very friendly lots. Though my mom insisted that she plays no part of setting up the meeting, I can tell she knew it all along. OK, setting me up with girls, man, are you still in the 50s??!! I thought to myself.

But I was glad to be there. As I spent most of my life with my own circles of friends, it is great to know some from my parents. I did not know my mom used to have such close friends and hearing stories from them actually gave me a chance to know my mom better. The kids are really sweet people. Though coming from a rich family, they were not the snobby nor pretentious type. Had a great time eating Tiewchew porriage. I went to meet a friend to catch up, and then meet up with mom and dad for a dinner with my dad's friends. Then I was off to clubs, as it was a Friday night...

I used to laugh at people going for set-up dates, or Omi-ai in Japanese. Never thought I would one day try such myself. It was a great experience, but I would rather D.I.Y. Well, it doesn't hurt to try new stuffs. Just hope my mom isn't encouraged to do more of these. LOL.