MANILA, Philippines -- It may have been atypical family destination but for the Holy Week, the four of us elder siblings (that’s everyone minus our naughty 9-year-old brother) ventured off to Bangkok for a sort of sibling bonding. Our parents were more than happy to grant our vacation since they were too busy with work to leave Manila. None of us had ever been to Thailand and so wanderlust directed us there.

Since I’m the eldest and Chris second, we played “mom-and-dad” to Charles and Christine throughout the trip and divided the responsibilities between us. In between haggling alongside 200,000 other people at the famous Chatuchak Weekend Market and making our way through the din of Pratunam Market, the four of us assisted one another in getting bigger bargains, carrying purchases and guarding our valuables. Our interest in Thai history and culture led us to visit famous temples like the pretty mosaic-covered Wat Arun and the Wat Pho, which boasts of the largest reclining Buddha.

A day trip to the tourist-laden Damnoen Saduak Floating Market in Ratchaburi Province and the Samphran Zoo’s elephant and crocodile shows, however, posed a quandary to us. Initially, the four of us had given our thumbs-up for both because despite their existence today primarily as tourist attractions, we thought they were very “Thai” so we wanted to experience them as well. But when we found out the itinerary required us to be out of the hotel by 6 a.m. and back only by 5 p.m., we all begged off. Chris still wanted to go to both; I only wanted to see the Floating Market; Charles only wanted to go to Samphran Zoo; Christine wanted to scrap everything altogether for the city’s most famous theme park, Dream World. In the end, the four of us compromised—we did both the floating market and the zoo—and there were no complaints at the end of the day.

Cheap finds

We adored MBK and Siam Paragon because they were both clean—and had aircon! MBK was a gold mine since there were so many cheap finds that could be haggled down even further. Siam Paragon was like paradise because we love everything posh and modern. The world-class mall is equipped with extensive food courts (which covered half of the mall’s entire ground floor), an 8,000-sq m grocery, and a lot of luxury brands that are unavailable in Manila.

And of course, there was the food! We fell in love with Thai food and we had it for every meal, all five days we were there—from the street vendors (okay, only Charles was brave enough to do this) to cheap food courts at MBK and Fashion Street Center to nicer ones like the Food Hall at Siam Paragon to the very chic Buritara, which is favored by local yuppies. It was introduced to us by my Thai friend Krit who drove us all the way to the riverside. Everyday was a religious feast of Phat Thai (Stir-fried Rice Noodles), Tom Yam (Hot and Sour Soup), Som Tam (Papaya Salad), Gaeng Kiew Wahn Gai (Green Chicken Curry), Taud Man Goong (Fried Shrimp Cakes) and, of course, Chaa Yen (Thai Iced Tea).

Lessons learned

The trip to Bangkok allowed us to be more independent and mindful of ourselves, belongings and actions—and to make critical decisions. Even though Chris and I have traveled and lived on our own overseas several times before, this trip was different because we had our younger siblings with us; they were our responsibilities and we had to make sure we took great care of them.

We turned the pocket money our parents had given us into a common fund to be shared by all; whoever wanted to buy something could do so. At the end of the trip, no one even mentioned or hinted that one had bought or spent more than the other. We were raised to spend for only what we really wanted or needed—and that’s exactly what we did. Besides, we were all perfectly aware that it was our parents’ money and we weren’t about to take advantage of that despite their generosity. Christine was also a great sport; despite the fact that she was only looking forward to Dream World the entire trip, she understood that it would be difficult to go since it was far away and neither Chris nor I was brave enough to get on the rides with her. She let it pass without throwing any tantrums.

While we may have had some misunderstandings along the way, what was important was that we worked things out. We learned how to swallow our pride—both to apologize and to forgive. We didn’t want to ruin an amazing trip by holding grudges against each other.

We were thrilled to have been able to see a new country on our own. But at the same time, we reveled in our time together and learned a lot of things that only this trip could have taught us.

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