Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Missed Charger and Chances

           Two lady friends from my hometown in the Philippines , Tet and Lads arrived midnight of Saturday, 17 July 2010 here in Bangkok, Thailand through the Philippine owned flight carrier  Cebu Pacific Air. Like my other friends and relatives who had visited me here, they availed of the 50% promotional fare of the said airlines, approximately 4,500 pesos (Philippine currency) for a two-way Manila-Bangkok trip.
      The last minute arrangement we had was that they would call me when they are at the Suvarnabhumi airport  through the Thailand simcard which my nephew Lance had brought back home from his vacation here in Bangkok last May. From then on, I can give them directions on how to come to my place. Tet had only confirmed their desire to stay in my place temporarily when I think they were proceeding to the airport  for their Manila flight.  Otherwise I could have given instructions on how to go to my address in details. They were actually had booked themselves to a hotel but considering they would only use half of the time with a one whole day price, it was not a good idea for them, so I offered my place for them to spend the rest of the night.
      Oh well! Sometimes things planned and not so well-planned do not happen the way we want it to be. Sometimes it seems like there are outside forces working that hinder the fulfillment of the plan. The easy going trait of Fiilipinos would resort to a joke saying '"ah! looks like they have "balat sa puwet (birthmark on the ass)" which means bad luck. To make the story short, we were not able to contact each other though both of us had tried to,  so without much choice they checked-in to the hotel instead, at Silom City Hotel. 
       Come Sunday morning, while getting ready to attend mass, a thought  to open  my Facebook account came to my mind while wondering why they have not contacted me. There it was a message from Lads. Hurray! communication was established and so mobile phones were in contact.  Thanks to the presence of social networking which made some people addicted but on the other side of the coin serves as an alternative avenue of fast communication. They had the plan to go to the nearest Catholic church to attend the mass. But after our talk we agreed to meet at St. John Parish Church at Lad Phrao where I usually attend the English mass. I just gave them the instruction the way to get to the MRT (a subway train service). Then everything went on fine as we had a sumptuous healthy lunch at Sizzler. 
      It was their first day to explore Bangkok and they headed to Chatuchak Weekend Market as I suggested to do so and I went back home to bring the pasalubong (presents) they brought for me with an agreement  I will go to Chatuchak Market to meet them so we can go back to their hotel together late afternoon. Then I spend the night at their hotel.
      I was relaxed imagining that I would meet them with mixed of happy and excited facial expression as they had their first part of Bangkok exploration. As I was in the bus  on the way to meet them, I ring Lads to tell them I am coming. The mobile phone rung but call was not accepted. I reached the place and tried many times calling her mobile but a taped voice says same thing... the number is not in service. "Oh my goodness!" I thought, "again! same problem as last night?!" . The mobile service I have been using here in Thailand has always been reliable and there could be no problem on the simcard. But I was panicking already, I called the customer service of DTAC, my service provider to check on the number. But everything was alright I have been told. I had walked about 1 kilometer from the Mochit BTS station, Chatuchak MRT station passing through the Chatuchak Market to Khampeng Phet MRT station with the hope that I would by chance see them.  But sorry for me, they were nowhere to be found. Resigned, I walked back to Mochit BTS station traversing the same path. A thought of calling the hotel came to my mind. Thanks God! I had brought with me the address and telephone number of the hotel which I had written in a small paper when I searched for the direction in going there. I always felt I am guided by an angel that  whispers to me good dispositions! I never used the public coin phone and so it was another  first of an experience  for  me again. Hurray! I was able to contact them as they went back to the hotel... the mobile phone's battery got drained
      Yes right, both of them have unserviceable mobile phone because batteries had been drained and both of them forgot to include in their baggage the charger!
      Mobile phones has been a very effective tool for communication. And communication plays a very important role to many things. When going on a travel, one of the most important part of the baggage that should not be forgotten is the mobile phone charger. Efficient line of communication minimizes the time and energy consumed, and ensures the fulfillment of the plan.

 


 



No comments:

Post a Comment