While driving I was reflecting upon life’s little surprises. I do not want to call them disillusionments, because that has a negative connotation. I am trying my best to stay away from negative energy, thoughts, words, actions.

Let’s call them surprises. All my life I have been generous with my feelings and have treated my friends like royalty, inviting them over a thousand times, organizing little dinner parties and Halloween silly parties,  I could go on and on. Always thinking of them and the ways I could please them.

But, today, it seems all my friends were otherwise engaged. So as I was driving and thinking about all this  when I decided I was not going to be the victim. A few minutes  after I arrived at school I was given a very big and lovely flower arrangement!

What an unexpected and happy surprise. It was given to me by all the administrative personnel who care about me and miss me. This really made my day. It paid off not behaving like a victim or feeling like one. I was very glad to see that Mr. Kay popped in to say Hello.

I brought the flower arrangement home and decided, that, since no one had asked me out for lunch, I would invite my very best friend, the person who loves me the most of all the people on Earth: ME.

So I set the table with my best china, put three red roses in a vase, set the table with a small round beige embroidered tablecloth, cooked myself a piece of juicy salmon (yes, I am eating salmon because it is anti-inflammatory!), heated green beans with red-chili,  soy sauce, sesame seeds and lemon over cooked quinoa and served my best friend a wonderful looking and tasting meal.

I poured her a glass of white wine as we  sat down to have a Valentine’s lunch.

After our meal we had some delicious vegan pastries and another glass of wine to wash them down.

I must say that my best friend is my best companion, for not only does  she   love, appreciate and enjoy  whatever  I do to please her, she does the same thing for me!

Después de nadar por 35 minutos, regresé a casa para arreglarme e ir a mi antiguo trabajo. No, ya no trabajo ahí, sin embargo deseaba saludar a mis compañeras y darle uno que otro abrazo a mis niños.

Mientras manejaba pensaba acerca de las sorpresas que la vida nos depara; no quiero llamarles desilusiones, pues  esto tiene un timbre negativo y estoy tratando por sobre todas las cosas de alejarme de toda energía negativa, pensamientos, acciones y palabras.

Pero es curioso…yo me considero una persona generosa con mis sentimientos. A mis amigos los he tratado, toda mi vida,  como a la realeza ,  buscando siempre mil maneras de complacerlos; inventé un sin fin de fiestas para ellos, de cenas, comidas, desayunos. Si embargo, hoy todos mis amigos tenían otros compromisos que no me involucraron  a mi.

Decidí no ser la víctima y  minutos después de llegar a mi antiguo trabajo recibí un espléndido ramo de flores hermosas, que mis compañeras de trabajo, (el personal administrativo) quienes me aprecian, quieren y extrañan, me enviaron. Esto hizo mi día! Me sentí tan feliz con ese gesto de amistad y cariño que cuando manejaba de regreso a casa decidí invitar a comer a mi mejor amiga, la que me ama más que otra persona en el mundo entero: YO.

Llegué a casa y puse un mantelito bordado, mi mejor vajilla, un florero con tres rosas rojas y una copa de cristal cortado.

Cociné un riquísimo salmón (si! estoy comiendo salmón por sus propiedades anti-inflamatorias), ejotes con salsa soya, de chile colorado, ajonjolí  y jugo de limón sobre quinoa previamente preparada.

Me senté a la mesa con mi mejor amiga y juntas degustamos con una copa de vino blanco. Para finalizar serví pastelería vegana (hecha sin lácteos).

Invitar a mi mejor amiga fue lo mejor. Ella siempre aprecia, goza y ama todo lo que yo hago y además, el sentimiento es recíproco!

She is going to turn 17 this March and one of the goals I set for myself, when I decided to sponsor her, was that one day we would meet. And this we did. It was very emotional, I must say. I could not hold back some runaway tears as my heart pounded and thumped.

I wrote to Children International informing  them of my plans, so on our third day in Manila Maribel and I set out for the shopping center where we were supposed to meet. Yet another very big mall!

She was waiting for me in an eatery called Jollibee; as soon as I saw her I recognized her and ran to give her a heartfelt hug. She stood up and hugged me too, and I could feel her excitement as well. I guess neither of us could believe we were actually together. After six years of writing, sending photos and developing a relationship through the  mail, we were finally allowed to be with each other and it was sheer joy.

Two very pleasant and aimable ladies from Children International accompanied her. When I asked about her mother, Elisa told me that she has been working in Saudi Arabia as a nurse for the last 8 years and has seen her only twice during that time! She could not find work in Manila, so she left her Elisa Mae and her older sister  with her own mother and sister. In Saudia Arabia she met a Philippino man and got married, had another child, and came back to leave the child with Elisa Mae’s grandmother and left again.

Elisa Mae greeted me with a lovely scrapbook and a card, made by herself. In the scrapbook she put photos of herself with her best friends and family and decorated it with pretty hearts and shapes and colors.

This was a totally unexpected surprise and it just made my heart happier still. I could not help but to hug her again and again. We both looked into each others teary eyes and smiled our widest smiles.

I took her on a shopping spree and told her that she could buy anything she wanted. I think this actually shocked her and was a bit paralyzed for a second or two. Jeans,  blouses, shoes, tennis, backpack, underwear, party dress, perfume…everything she wanted she had; even her older sister got a set of pretty underwear and a bottle of perfume and her little sister was treated by Maribel to little bracelts and stickers and notebooks by Hello Kitty.

After we finished our hurricane-like shopping spree we all went to lunch at Pizza Hut. Even the driver joined us, a very pleasant young man of 39 who has been working at CI for the last 5 years.

After lunch we took off for CI office in Quesón City, where Elisa Mae lives. As we arrived in the center we were greeted with much joy by veryone. There was excitement all around and they talked about us.

As one enters there are a few tables where children can write to their sponsors with the help of volunteers. Then there are two small offices; one where the volunteer dentist assists and takes care of  all children with teeth problems, another one for a volunteer pediatrician. They provide medical assistance, school material, basic hygeine supplies, clothing and emotional support.

In this office alone they help out 2,000 children out of the 19,000 CI helps out in Philippines.

After visiting the CI center we went to Elisa Mae’s home to meet her family. After walking through a very winding and narrow street we got to a small two story building that many years ago had been painted blue-green. As I stepped into a tiny porch a puppy barked at me, it was Elisa Mae’s pet.

We entered into a modest but clean room filled with the warmth of a grandmother’s love. There Elisa Mae, together with her older  and younger sister live with their maternal grandmother who works for the city government, and her aunt who is studying to be a nurse. Although Elisa Mae’s mother lives far away, she calls her family every single day and Elisa is a happy and studious young girl who enjoys dancing.

She is part of a dancing group at college, where they entered a dance competition and won first place. So her “godmother” from Mexico bought her a pair of very colorful dancing shoes that made her incredibly happy.

Meeting Elisa Mae, her family and the people at the CI center was the summit of my trip. I feel very special  because I have been given the opportunity of helping out a young girl who may one day become a professional as well as a  happy and fulfilled human being. It is my intention to continue offering whatever I can in order to  contribute  to her personal realization.

Elisa Mae and one of her closest friends from college

I offered Elisa Mae a trip to America when she graduates from college.

Manila was an enigma.  ”Metro Manila is the most populous metropolitan area in the Philippines and the 11th in the world with an estimated population of 16,300,000.”*

I really didn’t know what exactly to expect, but I certainly expected something different.

More organization, less poverty, more cleanliness, less mayhem, more progress and less traffic.

The streets of Manila are swamped with automobiles, many of whom are jeepneys.

“A Jeepney,  is a cross between an American jeep and the Spanish horse-drawn carriage, it is the most popular and cheapest means of transportation in the Philippines. It has become an icon of popular culture since it was invented out of surplus US military jeeps used in the Second World War.”*

Maribel standing in front of one of Manila’s thousands of Jeepneys

Each one is hand painted with a different motif, but all are a blast of color and ethnic culture.

There are many skyscrapers, some look old, some look new and modern, standing side by side to a very old, run-down housing or office building.

In  the places I visited in Vietnam I only saw one beggar. In Manila I saw too many,  homeless people and children sleeping on the streets.Then there is a fantasmagoric complex that is called MALL OF ASIA.

LED lighted globe of the world, at the entrance to the Mall of Asia

“It is the 2nd largest mall in the Philippines, 3rd largest shopping mall in Asia and the 4th[1] (Ref. Forbes’ World’s 10 Largest Shopping Malls) largest shopping mall in the world.

It has a land area of 42 hectares and has a gross floor area of an approximate 390,193 m² (4.2 million square feet)[2] and 407,101 m² of total area.

. The mall attracts a daily average foot traffic of about 200,000 people.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM_Mall_of_Asia

We were completely in awe of this giant, and what was most amazing was the fact that it was filled with people. Very few toursts, mostly Asians.

Mall of Asia, 4th. largest in the world

When outside it’s a warm 90degrees F, cool off ice skating in the Mall of Asia!

We visited this tremendous mall, after leaving our luggage at our very unusual hotel, the H2O. Many rooms have a fish tank instead of a wall and the marine visitors swim nonchalantly while we stare at them as if we had never, ever, seen fish before.

Our room at H2O

The second day I decided to be adventurous, and took a tour to “Hidden Valley,”  a 2 hrs. drive from  Manila.

The ride was delightful. We passed by the industrial area and the countryside,  which resembles many southern parts of Mexico. The vegetation is lush everywhere and it was so refreshing and felt  utterly ecological to be driving in the middle of the jungle, almost.

Suddenly  Antonio  turned and drove by a very narrow path that lead to the hidden valley. Hidden it was.

We were perfectly armed with our bathing suit and a towel, as the brochure suggested. I cannot miss any chance of swimming, anywhere, you know.

The entrance was perfectly manicured, all kinds of trees, flowers, plants and  bushes grew there.

The entrance to paradise

We followed our guide, Antonio, who was the leader of the pack. Antonio does not need a microphone, his voice I am sure, is heard all the way to Tijuana (if we pay attention we can hear it). And he is dramatic about pronouncing his “r’s.”  METRO MANILA, he’d say.

We started to climb down some stairs made of stone, surrounded by the green foliage of the trees.

Down, down, down we went, finding a bull frog along the way,  until we reached a cabin that had lockers, restrooms, showers, so we could leave our things.

We continued down a curving narrow path until we saw them: three swimming pools filled with the water of a nearby volcano.

The water is clean, clear, warm and always moving. So the pools are always clean. They are man-made, but only natural material was used. The edge of the pools is rock from the area, and the floor is small grey gravel that felt amazingly great under our feet.

A waterfall was my instant massage therapist. I stood under the water and it felt so hard upon my back, that it actually gave me a massage.

I could not believe what I was experiencing. I was actually in an earthly paradise. I felt very deserving all of a sudden.

Why was I allowed the opportunity of such an exquisite experience?

We bathed, we swam, we lounged, we talked, we laughed, we were silent. Then we walked a long way to find a hidden watefall.

Bamboo trail leading to the hidden waterfall

I started humming Indiana Jones’ music…and Antonio immediately recognized it and  cried smiling and happy: “INDIANA JONES!”

Yes, this was the place where a thousand movies must have been filmed, or should.

I don’t know about Maribel, but I certainly didn’t wish to leave this place.

The only thing that prevented me from becoming a native right there and then, was the thought of all the insects that must share the jungle with the fortunate  souls who stay overnight at the bungalows.

Tomorrow the Spanish version.

* Wikipedia encyclopedia

There were books being sold to eager readers who I can bet, are in the Vietnamese “Hall of Fame,” (reading, that is). Children, young adults, mature persons, everyone was buying a book, or several. This speaks loudly about a country, doesn’t it?

Dowtown Saigon’s surge of lights was amazing. All the merchants had decorated their shops with lights, the streets were completely covered by them, they hanged from every possible tree possible. There were flowers galore that made the streets look especially lovely.

There were people selling all kinds of goodies in every corner of every street. We even saw a woman selling some type of “quesadilla,” for it had cheese, vegetables,chicken, and sauce. Everything held together by a very large flour tortilla, a bit thicker than ours and pan-fried, right there, on the street.

VIETNAMESE Quesadilla "cheesee"

Regresamos a Saigón solo para encontrar a la ciudad aún más atractiva, en plena celebración del Año Nuevo Chino del Dragón. Las esculturas que habían estado tapados los días anteriores por estar siendo esculpidas, fueron descubiertas en todo su esplendor.

Niños, adolescentes, adultos y personas mayores hojeaban libros y muchos de ellos los adquirían. Puestos y más puestos de libros, todos llenos de lectores ávidos de algo nuevo que leer. Un país con hambre de lectura, que nos dice?

La explosión de luces que nos dieron la bienvenida el primer dia en Vietnam, se había multiplicado. Luces de colores invadiendo la vista, que no dejaba de admirarse por todo lo que estaba a su alrededor. Una erupción de colores a través de miles de flores que adornaba los camellones de la ciudad y las mujeres Vietnamitas, de todas las edades, vistiendo el atuendo típico del país. Igual que las flores, sus atuendos eran una cascacada de color.

En las esquinas vendían una cantidad de “antojitos,” como si estuviéramos en el Zócalo del DF. En una esquina Maribel le tomó foto a una señora que preparaba lo que podría pasar por una quesadilla de tortilla de harina, fritas en un comal, queso y diferentes ingredientes misteriosos, salsa, sobre una tortilla de harina un poco más gruesa que las nuestras.

Nos contagiamos de la algarabía y disfrutamos con todos nuestros sentidos. Tomamos una bebida en la terraza del Hotel Rex, desde donde vimos la fiesta  con otra perspectiva y todavía fue mejor la vista aérea!

Although Cambodia is helping restore the temples, the governments of Japan and  India are the ones most involved in the restoration. This is a titanic labor that will take many years. There are hundreds of pieces of rock  that will have to be organized like a puzzle.

We visited a Handcrafts shop and factory that employs low-income Cambodians; they are instructed in the art of sculpting rock and wood; in making clothes, bags and home décor and generally helping them have a  good and honorable job. The sculptures that we saw are truly magnificent.

The hotel where we stayed was like a gourmand’s haven, the food impeccably prepared and sooo delicious. This was truly an oasis for me, for being a vegetarian was somewhat  limiting my options.

After Siem Reap we flew to the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi.

The temperature fell a good 25 degrees, so we found ourselves in sweaters and shawls and covered shoes.

Hanoi is located in the northern part of Vietnam and it is the country’s second largest city.

After the Communist Party took control over Hanoi in 1954 with support from the Soviet Union, many new universities were build. It  is the largest centre of education in Vietnam. It is estimated that 62% of the scientists in the whole country are living and working in Hanoi.

Under French rule, the French colonial architecture style became dominant, many examples remain today: the  tree-lined boulevards and its many villas and mansions, that give a  city a cosmopolitan air.

I noticed that there were many European tourists, mainly French, some from Holland, and just a few Americans. We were the only Mexicans in our hotel at the moment.

Our guide and driver picked us up at the hotel and took us first of all to visit Ho Chi Minh’s tomb. I must confess that I knew very little about the man who freed the Vietnamese from the French dominion.

I was struck by his mausoleum, the beauty and scope of it and how perfectly tended and maintained it is.

However, to my complete surprise we stepped inside the monument only to see Ho Chi Minh’s body perfectly preserved, just as if he were peacefully sleeping.

This had an impact on me and I was very moved by the fact that I was standing in front of him, that I had the opportunity of this very unusual experience.

We visited his humble home, amidst a lovely garden and lake; saw three of the bulle  proof  automobiles he used,  made  specially for him by the Soviet Union.

Vietnamese people hold Ho Chi Minh in great reverence. He is the “father of the country.” One can sense the profound respect they hold for his extraordinary man, who dedicated his life to the well-being of his countrymen.

“In 1912, working as the cook’s helper on a ship, Nguyễn ( as he was named when  he was born) traveled to the United States. He lived in New York (Harlem) and Boston, where he worked as a baker,  for a wealthy family and for General Motors as a line manager. He also lived in London, and is reported to have worked as a chef and as a pastry chef under the legendary French master, Escoffier.”*

Lo que logramos ver de Cambodia nos dio una breve introducción a la pobreza que su población vive y experimenta. Aunque su economía va en aumento, comparada con los países vecinos, es muy baja.

La agricultura es lo que mantiene a los poblados que se encuentran en el campo; sufre de un bajo nivel de educación y la infraestructura es casi totalemente nula, especialmente entre la gente del campo.

Aunque seguramente el gobierno de Cambodia participa en la restauración de los templos, son los gobiernos de Japón e India los que están más involucrados en esta labor de titanes. Faltan muchos años para que todos los pedazos del rompecabezas encuentren su lugar.

Visitamos una fábrica y tienda de artesanías, la cual nos impresionó favorablemente. En ella personas de bajos recursos encuentran la forma de ganarse el pan diario haciendo trabajos dignos y honorables. Se les enseña a esculpir en mármol y madera; a confecionar artículos de seda y  a lograr unas verdaderas obras de arte.

El hotel donde nos hospedamos en Siem Reap fue como un paraíso para el buen gourmand. Los platillos  estaban impecablemente preparados y deliciosos. Mis opciones, por ser vegetariana, estaban seriamente limitadas, hasta que llegué al Hotel de la Paix.

Después de Siem Reap volamos a Hanoi, la segunda ciudad más grande de Vietnam, donde la temepratura bajó unos 25 grados F y tuvimos que sacar de nuestras maletas suéteres y chales, asi como zapatos cerrados y calcetines.

En 1954, cuando el partido comunista tomó control del país, con la ayuda de la Unieon Soviética, muchas universidades fueron construídas. La Universidad Tecnológica sigue siendo la más grande del país.

Hanoi  es el centro educativo más grande del país, El 62% de sus científicos viven y trabajan en Hanoi.

Bajo el dominio Francés, la arquitectura colonial francesa dejó variados y bellos ejemplos en las grandes y hermosas avenidas flanqueadas por árboles frondosos. Sus mansiones y villas francesas  le dan un aire cosmopolita a la ciudad.

Me di cuenta de que la mayor parte del turismo provenía de Francia; otro de Holanda, algunos Americanos y nosotras éramos las únicas Mexicanas en el hotel.

Nuestro guía y chofer nos recogieron puntualmente para llevarnos a visitar el mausoleo de Ho Chi Minh. Debo de confesar que  mis conocimientos acerca de este gran hombre eran muy limitados.

Me impactó la magnitud del mausoleo y el pefecto mantinimiento y respeto con que lo atienden.

Sin embargo, fue totalmente sorpresivo entrar a la tumba para encontrarme directamente con el cadáver de Ho Chi Minh perfectamente embalsamado, como si estuviera durmiendo plácidamente.

Realmente me conmovió el estar parada frente a este hombre quien logró obtener la independencia de Francia, para su país. Fue una experiencia inesperada y  única.

Visitamos su humilde casita, situada en medio de un gran jardín y un hermoso lago, uno de los tantos lagos que se encuentran en todo Hanoi. Vimos tres automobiles que la Unión Soviética manufacturó especialmente para él.

Para los Vietnamitas, Ho Chi Minh representa al “padre de la patria,” y le demuestran   gran respeto y reverencia.

“En 1912 trabajó como ahyudante de cocinero en un barco, mientras viajaba a los EUA. Vivió en Nueva York y Boston, donde trabajó de pastelero, para una familia acomodada y para General Motors como gerente de linea. También vivió en Londres, donde se cree trabajó junto al famoso maestro pastelero Escoffier.”

* Wikipedia encyclopedia

Finding myself in front of them I thought the scene surreal, as if I had reached a far away planet with some kind of new living being half tree half temple. It seems as if they are sustaining/supporting/caressing each other, living in perfect symbiosis.

Temple being swallowed by the tree? Or tree growing out of the temple?

The feeling was totally eerie, I did not know if what I was observing was out of a sci fi book or something Edgar allan Poe had imagined. I only knew that what I was looking at was unique and astonishing, to say the least.

And the most astonishing thing of all is the fact that the trees are alive!

Tetrameles nudiflora es el nombre científico para los åarboles que crecen en y sobre los templos de Ta Prohm, Cambodia.

El espectáculo es totalmente surrealista y no alcanzaba a discernir si el árbol se tragaba al templo o si el templo daba a luz al árbol. Ambos viven en simbiosis perfecta, ambos de soportan, se acarician, se cuidan.

El sentimiento era completamente misterioso, no sabía si lo que estaba viendo era algo salido de algún libro de ciencia ficción o de una novela de Edgar Allan Poe. Lo único que sabía es que lo que veía era extraordinario y único. Increíble pero cierto, los árboles están vivos!

Mr. Sam said he wasn’t married yet, because he just couldn’t afford to. He would have to give about 15 thousands dollars to the family of his bride as dowry, and it was impossible for him. He said he even had a t-shirt with the legend: “NO MONEY-NO HONEY.”

I hope he can save enough to marry one of these days. Meanwhile he lives with his parents, brothers and sisters.

The Hotel de la Paix is a very old hotel in Siem Reap. The staff, always smiling and warm, just like the temperature, greeted us with a little towel roll that had been wet in cold lemon-grass water. This is a brilliant way to greet the guests, and they always called us by name: “Good Afternoon, Madame Lilián.”

Madame Lilián at Hotel de la Paix, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Main entrance to Angkor Wat

Siem Reap is the gateway to the Angkor temples , located in the northwestern part of Cambodia. Siem Reap  is made up of many little villages, that are now swamped with tourists eager to visit the temples, of Angkor Wat is the biggest and best known.

“The outer wall, 1024 by 802 m and 4.5 m high, is surrounded by a 30 m apron of open ground and a moat 190 m wide.”*

Angkor Wat from an aerial view

“The initial design and construction of the temple took place in the first half of the 12th century, during the reign of Suryavarman II (ruled 1113 – c. 1150). Dedicated to Vishnu“*

Truly magnificent in its scope, style and grandeur, the temples transport us to another era. I fear for them, for the lack of organization and vision is allowing the tourists to go up and down however they please, and this will continue to destroy them. Once swallowed by vegetation and abandoned in the XVI century, they were brought to light by the frenchman Henri Mouhot.

“One of the first Western visitors to the temple was António da Madalena, a Portuguese monk who visited in 1586 and said that it “is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world. It has towers and decoration and all the refinements which the human genius can conceive of.”^[5]However, the temple was popularised in the West only in the mid-19th century on the publication of Henri Mouhot‘s travel notes. The French explorer wrote of it:

“One of these temples—a rival to that of Solomon, and erected by some ancient Michelangelo—might take an honourable place beside our most beautiful buildings. It is grander than anything left to us by Greece or Rome, and presents a sad contrast to the state of barbarism in which the nation is now plunged.”*

Novios que se toman su foto nupcial frente al templo

“El promotor de este gigantescomonte-templo fue Suryavarman II, quien reinó desde el año 1113 hasta el 1150 d. C.”*

Abandonado en el siglo XVI y tragado por la vegetación exuberante del lugar,  fue “descubierto” por  el naturalista francés Henri Mouhot, quien se topó con el templo accidentalmente mientras cazaba mariposas.”*

“En sus observaciones, el francés exaltaba la belleza y magnificencia del templo:Uno de esos templos — rival del de Salomón, y erigido por algún antiguo Miguel Ángel—, podría ocupar un honorable lugar entre nuestros edificios más bellos. Es mayor que cualquiera de nuestros legados de Grecia y Roma, y presenta un triste contraste con el estado de barbarie en que ahora se halla sumida la nación.”

Pasillo interior del gran templo de Angkor Wat

* Wikipedia encyclopedia

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