Thoughts on Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.

 I’m supposed to blog about my second day here in Thailand. But something big came up.

Benazir Bhutto, the staunch Musharraf nemesis who’s challenging the Pakistani dictator in the on-going parliamentary election campaign, has just been assassinated.

As with all assassinations, the first thing I thought about upon reading this big news are the possible brain(s) behind Bhutto’s murder. 

Suzy here told me she thinks it could be Pervez Musharraf. Makes some sense. Bhutto had been a pain in the ass for Musharraf and he certainly would have loved to see Bhutto removed from the political equation.

But then again I do not think Musharraf, a military strategist and clever politician, would be stupid enough not to realize that killing Bhutto would backfire fatally. Western media have often compared Pakistan’s political situation to the Philippines under the wanning years of Ferdinand Marcos. I am very sure then that Musharraf knows and understand very well how Ninoy Aquino’s assassination triggered Marcos’ fall.

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So wat dee krub, Thailand!

It’s 5:13 in the morning in Thailand. I’m terribly tired. I encountered a couple of obnoxious shits wearing Immigration uniforms at that obsolete airport called NAIA. I left my copy of the latest issue of Time magazine and that new interesting book I bought yesterday for PhP 500 at the airport’s boarding area. Our flight was delayed for like almost an hour or so. There were no decent meals in the airplane. Here in Bangkok, an annoyingly long queue (even by Manila standards, mind you) greeted us at the passport control section and we had to wait for almost an hour before we can get to our hotel. What a day.

But really, it could be worse.

Like the plane could have crashed. Or somebody could have asked me to carry his luggage for a while, and the Thai police would approach me afterwards and discover cocaine in that stranger’s luggage, which would have me jailed in a stinking Thai prison.

I’m still lucky afterall.

Especially considering the fact that I get to access the Internet for free. Haha. Pictures downloading galore!

Random pics: LDS Christmas party

This is not an attempt to do a Barny (because I just can’t, no matter how hard I try) , just wanted to post some pics of last night’s Christmas party. Enjoy.

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Weird encounter at Le Cafe

Le Cafe is a fine-dining restaurant inside the Lyceum campus run by students of the University’s College of International Hospitality Management.

My friend and co-debater Ryan and I went to eat there yesterday. It was surprising to find out how cheap it was. For just sixty pesos, you can experience lunch a la Manila Pen. Without the Magdalo, that is. And enjoy the experience Ryan and I did. We had a transparent soup with floating dumplings, boiled egg and chicken, a hearty fish fillet with tomato sauce served with some veggies and "Western" rice, a dessert that looked like a model clay but tasted really good, and lime soda with fresh cherry for drinks. They have terms for these food, but I don’t speak French. What’s written on the menu didn’t make sense to me.

So what’s the weird encounter?

The waitress asked if I’d like to have extra rice.

I know it doesn’t sound weird to most, but the thing is she didn’t ask anybody else. Not even Ryan, who was sitting right in front of me. What was she trying to imply then? That I’m the only one there who looked like someone in dire need of extra rice? That I’m a patay-gutom?

Why? Am I really that fat now?!

What an insult!

Shame!

But you know what, I did have the extra rice anyway.

What the six-party talks proved

Pundits point to the on-going six-way negotiations between the two Koreas, Japan, the US, China and Russia on the North Korean nuclear crisis as proof that diplomacy works.

Of course diplomacy works. That has been proven even before these six-party talks came about. What really was proven there is a totally different matter: a lesson that I’m sure diplomats from Tehran to Damascus are taking notice of.

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Last song syndrome

Here’s the song I’m currently listening to. Old-time favorite Tokyo by Quruli (Kururi)

Note: First part of the video is an introduction and an interview. Funny how drummer Christopher McGuire nods vigorously whenever other band members speak. I wonder if he understands Japanese that well. I wonder, maybe the reason why McGuire left the band is because he wasn’t sure if he got paid well because the paychecks were all in Japanese. Kidding.

UPDATE: I have changed the video above. It’s now the live version without the introduction and interview.