Fruits Galore

Rambutans, lychees and mangosteens are currently in season here. They can be found almost everywhere in the streets of Bangkok now, making it more colourful than it already is. Seeing all these colours on a mobile cart, parked along the pavement on busy streets, is really a sight to behold. What's more, they are really fresh and prices can be quite cheap at around 20-40 baht a kilo. That is really not a bad deal, if you ask me. The quality of these fruits found on the streets ain't that bad at all too. Sometimes, the stall vendor would gladly give you a 10-20 baht discount if you buy more than a kilo. I simply love the fact that such fruits are so easily accessible here, and abundantly found for not too much money whenever they are in season. Besides, they can be (and usually are!) so succulent that plenty, plenty of juice would spurt out the moment you sink your teeth in them. They are so juicy that you can't quite stop fussing about the juice dribbling away on your hands. Just heavenly.

Can't wait for the longan season to come! These fruits can be so addictive!

Gridlocked

It's weekend, it's pay-week and it's raining. Bad time to be out and about in Bangkok, especially if you have to drive or be driven to get anywhere in town. Everywhere is a standstill.

This is the main road just right by the soi close to our home. Got hopelessly stuck for 45mins in the car where NOTHING was moving. So close, yet so far away.

5 into 1

Silver Bullet's perspective of the Sanctuary of Truth from his photography workshop. It is a high dynamic range image using 5 photos of the same object at different exposures and thereafter combined into one. This was done using Photomatix and Light room. I thought it wasn't too bad an attempt. Looks pretty awesome...

...then Silver Bullet sent me this:

This was done by the Workshop Guru using the exact same shots taken by Silver Bullet. He has only used 3 images to combine them into 1 - first in Photomatix, then back into Light Room, and then into Creative Suite.

I like them both. Each exudes a different personality and perspective to a part of the Sanctuary of Truth.

Shantaram

This has got to be one of the best books I've ever read. It is beautifully written. Poetic even. I've read it twice and I will certainly read it again. It is one of those books that's best bought rather than borrowed. So divine are the quotes in this book that I found myself pausing for a bit, taking in the words in my head, heave out an appreciative sigh and re-read the same sentence a few times more.

One quote is so profound that it somehow struck me really deep , for reasons I can't quite pinpoint, is this:
"A dream is a place where a wish and a fear meet. When the wish and fear are exactly the same, we call the dream a nightmare"

There are plenty of other beautifully written sentences all over the book and a few that captivated me:

“At first, when we truly love someone, our greatest fear is that the loved one will stop loving us. What we should fear and dread instead is that we won’t stop loving them, even after they are dead and gone. "

"Personality and person identity are in some ways like co-ordinates on the street map drawn by intersecting relationships. We know who we are and we define what we are by references to the people we love and our reasons for loving them”

“Truth is a bully we all pretend to like “

“Some feelings sink so deep into the heart that only loneliness can help you find them again.”

"There’s no meanness too spiteful or too cruel, when we hate someone for all the wrong reasons"

It has been more than 2 years since I've had this book. I still can't stop raving about it. It has a very good storyline (apparently extracted from a real life experience) to complement the excellent style of writing.

The Inhaler Ep

One of the recent episodes of House had me in stitches when Dr. House asked the patient how she uses her inhaler. Very original indeed! His expression after she showed him how she uses it was priceless! I crack up everytime I think of it. The clip can be found here.

Naked Mouse

Believe it or not, this used to be a handsome-looking toy mouse, full of thick and fluffy black fur. It became the cats' favourite toys, but Fudge somehow managed to eat up all the fur, leaving this poor bugger all naked, losing an ear. All that's left is just an unrecognizable cardboard piece remotely shaped like a mouse, fit for the bin.

Mumbai dah...

It may have been a while back, but this one is still a hoot!

New Phone

Everyone has been raving about THE IPhone for the longest time and almost everyone I know owns one...or even two or intends to own one (or two). I couldn't give a rats' ass about the IPhone just because everyone has it. I'm a Sony Ericsson kinda chick and always will be. As my almost 4 years old K700i is breathing the last of its breath, I'm in the pits. I have no idea what sort of cellphone I would want next as I'm profusely refusing to succumb to the majority of the world and join in the bandwagon of 'em evil IPhones.


Mobile phones are getting too complicated nowadays, with additional functions which I would hardly ever used. I'm happy to just own a simple, but sleek looking phone. And here's just what I ended up with - a slim T700. I simply love it!

Bergedil

Making bergedils has become one of my specialties. So far, I've gotten pretty good reviews of my bergedils. Judging from the way that these things just disappear from the plates right after being served, I guess, I do make a mean bergedils.

They are otherwise known as potato cutlets, but being a carnivore, I would add minced beef in there.The influence is probably Malay-ish or even Indonesian...I'm not too sure, really. What matters is that they can be addictive as hell and always good as appetizers or as an add-on to any dishes.

Here's how I usually make them:

Ingredients:

• 200g minced beef (or substitute with chicken if you like)
• 3-4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 4 shallots -finely minced
• 1 garlic, finely minced
• Fresh parsley, finely chopped
• a pinch of coriander powder
• a pinch of nutmeg (optional)
• 2 cloves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 egg beaten

Method:

1. Heat up about 1 tbsp of oil and toss in the shallots,garlic, cloves till fragrant
2. Add in the minced meat, fry till browned, add some parsley and set aside to cool
3. Boil/fry taters till soft. Mash them up and set aside to cool
4. Mix in the cooked minced beef into the mashed taters
5. Season well with salt and pepper and other spices and mix them well
6. Shape them into balls and flatten them slightly
7. When done, coat them with the beaten eggs and deep fry in a very hot pan
8. Fry them till golden brown and drain the oil before serving.

Sanctuary of Truth

The construction of this wooden temple located in Pattaya begun in 1981 and is still currently under construction. The amazing thing about this is that every single piece of wood used for the building of this temple is laboriously handcrafted. ]The style is that of ancient Khmer with influence from Buddhism, Hinduism and mythologies of Cambodia, China, India and Thailand.

It is quite a pretty sight. I would have never known of its existence had I not tagged along with Silver Bullet on one of his recent photography workshop. I busied myself by taking some photographs with my Olympus point-and-shoot camera till the batteries ran out juice. I just love the colour contrast of the flowering trees against the backdrop of the temple and the cloudy sky.

Disturbing

A business associate related this story to me over lunch where his good friend had received a call from the teacher of his 5 year old kid, asking the parent in question if there is violence at home. The question seemed to come out of nowhere, and as a parent, he was wondering why the teacher would ask such question as violence does not exist in his household.

The story goes that apparently, little boys being little boys, got into a scuttle in school. Some things happened and when the teacher asked the boy why he did what he did, he said that it was because, his father told him this: "When you are hurt by someone, you have to hurt the person 2x back."

My eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets. I can't believe what I'm hearing! From a 5 year old, too! It's good to know that my client who also has a 5 year old son, does not condone such things and found every wrong in that. My god! What is wrong with these people. How could a parent instill such values in their children? What would these kids grow up to be?! As if the world isn't fucked up enough as it is. The thing is, it only takes a few parents of this generation to screw up the mindsets of future younglings with one disturbing value such as that. What would become of the society if every kid thinks that way now, because the parents ADVISE so?! That, in my mind, is no way to live in a society. There would only be hurt and revenge...where does it end?

After hearing the story, it is of no surprise to me that the teacher asked such questions. I'm beginning to think if such individuals are even qualified to become parents! If such "virtues" are passed on from generations to generations, I now have a better insight as to why the Thais react so violently when antagonized. This is extremely disturbing.

Not worth it

This is really crazy. I personally feel that it's such a small matter and so much grievances over a stupid bar mat. What's really ironic is that the 1000 baht probably could have been settled when it happened there and then, thereby avoiding all the unnecessary hassles of first being jailed. This is Thailand, sometimes it's worth to swallow your pride a little earlier. Is the fiasco really worth it? It's probably a good idea to keep your hands to yourself and not take what's not yours.

Time is running out

I am addicted to Muse. Their music is super addictive and superbly amazing. Their lyrics are intensely powerful and this is just one of my favourites amongst the others. I'm waiting for the day they make it to Bangkok someday.

...You will squeeze the life out of me...

...Bury it, I won't let you bury it...

...I won't let you smother it...

...I won't let you murder it...

...Our time is running out...

...Our time is running out...

...You can't push it underground...

...You can't stop it screaming out...

Low on plastic bags

In our bid to do our part for the ailing environment, we have been bringing our own bags diligently for grocery shopping. Almost always without fail. I'll give myself a pat on the back for that. Only thing is, we are now running out of 'em plastic bags! The plastic bags given by the supermarkets are usually used for the trash bin. Right now, there are only a few left in storage, and soon, there'll be no more plastic bags left at home for the rubbish. The proper black trash-bags sold in stores are more often than not, non-biodegradable. Not that the plastic bags from the supermarkets are, but I noticed that some supermarkets have already started to provide the biodegradable ones. Those supermarket plastic bags are really just convenient for trash.

I don't know which is the lesser evil - to stop bringing your own grocery bags for a while, just enough to stock them up again for trash or buy those non-biodegradable ones and continue to bring our own bags.

Conundrum...conundrum...

Ass to the world

This is just too funny! Silver Bullet came home with his pants ripped off right on the ass. Apparently, he has no clue as to how and when it happened, but he did walked around the office baring his ass to the world for almost the whole day. Looks like someone had his ass aired nice and proper!

The funny thing was, he already had ripped off another pair of the same brand just the day before by getting stuck on one of the drawer cabinets while walking at some speed in the office. It seems like Lee tough jeans ain't that tough at all, eh. Can't help laughing my guts out and snapped a couple of pictures.

New fridge!

The old fridge appeared irreparable, acting up again and grumbling away with some strange noises, melting all the frozen ice-cubes in it. This happened even after it being repaired just a few days ago. God know how ancient that fridge was.

A phone-call later, a new fridge was delivered without us having to fork out a single cent. How cool is that! The up-side of living in a fully-furnished rented apartment. From faulty electrical appliances supplied by them, to plumbing, to damaged screen doors, to servicing the air-conditioning, to drilling holes in the walls. You name it and the apartment services does it at no additional costs incurred. The service from the apartment here is indeed impeccable. Everything is taken care of. Times like this, I'm glad we don't own our own home. Imagine the expenses you have to incurr when things go kaput.

The old and a newer, sleek(ier) looking fridge on the right.

Chicken Rice

What is really so special about chicken rice? It is just...well...rice with chicken afterall!

I'd like to give a smack on the head to anyone who thinks chicken rice is just that. I'm disagreeing on this. Violently disagree.

Let me straighten that out. Chicken rice is NOT just rice with chicken, ok! It is more than that. The rice is special and so is the chicken. The accompanying condiments also play a part in making the dish taste that much better. It definitely is NOT JUST any other odinary rice with chicken.

One of the best chicken rice I've had was actually when I was in poly. There was only one Malay chicken rice stall and it was heavenly. I remembered asking the makcik what was her secret ingredient in her rice, only to be told in whispers that it was butter. I have fond memories of that canteen and its food. Post poly days, it is also one of those dishes I would order when I don't know what else to eat. It is life simple pleasures and I can't help but made it myself. I skipped the soup that usually comes with it, though. Simply because I ran out of chicken stock and didn't have enough chicken pieces to boil it along with the soup. It turned out great, nevertheless!

Package Arrival

My Litter Kwitter has arrived! It comes with colour coded training discs that fit right in the rim of the toilet bowl. There's the Red Stage disc, the Amber Stage disc and the Green Stage disc. Each stage is designed to modify the cats' behaviour slowly. Wonder how long this training will take before they can actually use the toilet bowl...I'm still skeptical, but will give it a go soon. If it's any consolation, at least two of them seems to be interested by the way they are kaypo-ing around the package.

Daylight Robbery!

Wrap It from Food by Phone is a complete rip-off! 800 baht (~32 SGD) for a chicken and lamb wraps, 2 sets of potato munchers and a chicken ceasar salad that came without any dressing. That's crazy money for a simple home-delivery meal. Is food really getting THAT expensive? Wraps are really not some kind of gourmet food here or anywhere else I know. From Wrap It, they are nowhere near special. Indeed, I'm appalled at the kind of prices we have to pay for something so measly. Wonder if they have recently jacked up their prices. I don't remember it being so expensive.

We don't have a habit of checking on the indiviudal prices when ordering. That's partly because, we don't really like to be so calculative when it comes to food. But in truth, we didn't think it was gonna be that pricey. This is probably the last time we will indulge ourselves in wrap meals from Wrap It. The prices are simply ridiculous. Usually, we'll order from ChefsXP. They have almost similar retaurant choices like Food by Phone, with no mark up on prices. Just so happens that Wrap It is not one of the restaurants in Chef Express list.

Note to self: Always check on the individual prices before ordering.

Drizzle Wizzle

The ground has been rather wet in the morning these few days. Looks like it has been raining quite a fair bit at night here. The drizzle continues on for almost throughout the day too! The rain definitely brought about a cooler air despite the slight humidity. At least, it is not as blistering hot when you have to walk the streets. I thought it might be a little too early for the rainy season here, but hey! the drizzle is definitely better than the scorching sun. It is also one of those rare occasions where I'm armed with a brolly to work. Usually, traffic will be really bad when it rains here and the entire Bangkok will be in gridlock if there is as much as ONE drop of rain, Not so much this time round, though. Or maybe I spoke too soon.

Shred-It

Looks like one of the cats has found a new hobby. This was the handy work of Miss Fudgie who'd do anything to keep herself amused. She's unstoppable.

When things go kaput

It has been 2 weeks since the coffee-maker went kaput. Strange that, considering the coffee-maker is less than a year old. The damn thing just decided to stop dispensing coffee and has to be sent for repairs. We are still waiting for some news on its progress.

And today, the fridge decided to give out. It started making some strange noises yesterday and the apartment was informed accordingly. Figured it would have been fixed by the time we got home, but this was not the case. The things in the freezer have started to thaw and we have plenty of meat to boot if the fridge doesn't work! We already have to start binning some of the food which were completely thawed out. Last thing we want is for the maggots to start breeding in the thawed meat. That would create such a mess, not to mention, requiring a huge effort on our part to clean it out. As a precaution, we had to knock on the neighbour's door and they readily agreed to keep some of the meat we managed to salvage. I guess it's a good reason to keep that neighbourly friendship.

No coffee-maker and no fridge. Things at home couldn't have been more interesting. No fridge means no stocking up of groceries and no groceries means no cooking. That's more of a bummer for me.

Info overload

Having some information can be a good thing, but when there is just too much information thrown at you, it could be a curse. How does one begin to digest the amount of information all at one go within a short timeline and expected to work a miracle? Where does it end? Most importantly, where do you start? The harder question would be, with the vast amount of information given, what exactly do they want? It's tough when they don't know what they want and they don't know what they don't know and wants to know what they don't know and expects some other people to figure out their problem.

Psychiatrist would have a field day.

Baa Baa White Sheeps

For what it's worth, this is a really fantastic ad. Plenty of LEDs on a flock of sheeps. I really liked it!

Follow the following.

A follower, I now have. This came out of nowhere and it was the first thing I saw on my dashboard today. Apparently, blogger has added a new following function recently. Judging from blogger's help page, a follower is a fan. No, I'm not talking about that electrical device for creating a current of air or breeze, but someone who seems to actually like the contents of my blog. I tried to look up her profile, but I couldn't really get to it. The content on her blog site seems harmless, but the pictures...well, let's just say it doesn't really quite matched up to the contents she has written about. Not that I mind of "outsiders" reading my blog...this is after all, the cyberspace, and pretty much a public blog. However, I did feel as if I'm being stalked, considering I don't even know this person. It would be nice if she had dropped me a comment or a note to let me know her reason for following, though. I'm just curious.

I really can't be bothered to add the follow me widget on my blog. I'd like to keep my blog clean, understated and ginna-publicity free. It's weird when people you don't know start "following" you. Doesn't that constitute as stalking? I'm appreciative of those who bothers to read my blog and actually enjoyed by blabbers. At least, these are the people I know personally. But from someone I don't even know who wants to "follow" me around....hmmm... should I be wary or should I take that as a compliment?

When it rains, it pours

Bangkok's been scorched by the sweltering heat of late, with temperatures as high as 40 degrees celcius in the past week.

The thunderous rain brought about a nice change from the unbearable heat. Below are the view from the balcony as the sky progressively turned darker before heaven opened up. This was followed by a massive downpour, accompanied by loud thunderstorms and lightning bolts, lasting for at least a good 2 hour.

I simply love it when it rains. The harder the rain, the better...so long as I'm tucked in at home.

Probably the World's Ugliest Prata...

...as pointed out by Silver Bullet as a matter of fact kinda way. Honestly, I have to agree with him and I couldn't stop laughing myself silly. I don't know what came over me, but I decided to try my hands on making prata. From scratch no less. Ambitious attempt I have to say, but I doughed it out anyway.

Silver Bullet gave up after several attempts in trying to help me flip it round like the prata man. He did the frying instead. My attempts were all unsuccessful of course, but I wasn't so bent in getting its round shape. I simply just wanted it to be thin and fluffy. That, in itself, was simply hard work. In the hands of a crazy, impatient novice like me, it is mission impossible. Flipping pratas, my friend, is a skill to an art form. I couldn't even keep the dough thin and fluffed up and it's not a skill I'm about to master. I was laughing at myself so hard at the end result, and really, I couldn't be bothered to put in more effort with the flipping. I think, it's best to leave it to the pros.

The only good thing is, my pratas are edible! With the home-made curry, it didn't taste half as bad (or as stone hard!) as I thought it would be. Still, I'm not letting myself go through that again. What the hell was I thinking? Think, I'll just buy it from the prata man next time. :)

Wildlife Series: Tanzania

Best of the best picks from Silver Bullet's DSLR as seen through the eyes of this aspiring wildlife photographer.

Using the DSLR really make such a huge difference to the quality and depth of the pictures - something that's quite impossible to achieve with a compact digital camera, especially for subjects at great distances. The wildlife series is broken into Part I, Part II and Part III to ease download time. I'm still in awe of all the wonderous animals and landscapes we have seen in Tanzania. These pictures are just an incredible sight for sore eyes. Enjoy.

Crazy about figs!

They look so boring, but taste oh-so-good! Can be very addictive as you can't stop after one pop of the fruit into your mouth. Figs provide a good source of calcium and fiber too, offering a healthier snacking alternative. Not only that, they contain many antioxidants, prevent hemorrhoids, piles and help gout. No, I'm not making this up. Read about it here and here

So gout patients, take heed. A couple of figs a day, will take the pain away. For weight-watchers, figs really are great to snack on without worrying about the fat content.

The Legend of 1900

The movie title doesn't really scream "must watch" and leaves nothing to be desired. On any normal day, I wouldn't have even given the title a second glance. Can't quite remember why we bought this movie, but, but...I like Tim Roth and the characters that he usually plays, is that of a kooky one.

The title of the movie aside, it turned out to be quite a film! It is an epic movie where Tim Roth plays the character of a musical genius who is born, lives out his life, and ultimately dies on board a grand trans-Atlantic liner. His name? Lemon Nineteen Hundred! How's that for a name! Apparently it portrays the true historical account of actual event. True or not, I don't really know. An enjoyable 165 movie minutes, no doubt. This is one film worth watching.

Thai Cabbie can cakap Melayu!

What are the odds of getting into a cab in Bangkok where the cabbie can actually converse in Bahasa Melayu almost fluently? I'd say the odds are probably second to none! Yet, I managed to come across one that does speak Malay on my way home today.

Of course, I wouldn't have known at first. I casually told him in Thai where I was going, as I always do on any other day. His mobile rang just 30 seconds later, and there he was, on the phone, blabbing in Malay for a good 10 minutes, just like how an ah-pek would speak to a pakcik*. For once, I can understand every single word; a rare happening for me in Bangkok. Obviously, he wouldn't have known I speak the language, so he had no qualms blabbering about his money situation with unabashed bravado. As soon as he finished his phone conversation, he started chatting with me in Thai. While I replied in my pidgin Thai, I also took the opportunity to compliment him (in Malay no doubt) that I thought he spoke the language quite well! Thank goodness he didn't take any offense and even bothered to elaborate to me what his phone conversation was about...all in Malay! He seems quite proud of his self-taught language skills, speaking to me in Malay throughout my journey home.

He gave me his business card when he dropped me off and fleetingly mentioned that even his name sounded Malay. I asked if he is a Muslim, since "Samat" did sound like one. He quipped cheerfully, "Bukan...saya Buddhist. Saya makan babi. Banyak sedap." (No, I'm Buddhist, I eat pork. Very nice"). I had to chuckle at that. Just the way it sounded in my ear, it did sound quite comical.

A Buddhist Thai speaking Malay. Who would have thought! For a moment, I got both my Thai and Malay all confused. Friendly chap though. I'll keep his business card, just in case ...who knows I might be in need of his language skills in the future for a cab ride to nakhon-nowhere or samut-somewhere.

* Ah-Pek & Pakcik: A Chinese and Malay version of the term "uncle" respectively, usually referred to a perceived older male as a sign of respect. In SG, we call every elderly male (or perceived to be older than us) "Uncle", and that includes the taxi drivers, elderly or not!

Kydd: 1991 - 2004

Speaking of toilet training for cats, I'm being reminded of a beautiful cat I once had for 13 years called Kydd. She was most attached to me and was really special to the family. She was blessed with such a genteel personality and a soft, sweet, almost a non-existent voice. Her one most special skills was actually using the human toilet! The funny thing was, she wasn't even toilet trained. She had picked up the habit by mainly following me (or whoever) into the bathroom, merely being the observer. The next thing we knew, she started using the toilet herself. That means putting all her paws right outside the squatting toilet we used to have, with her rear accurately perched up and aimed into the bowl. Imagine the family's surprise when we saw her doing that! All we had to do after that was flush. Kydd was quite the gifted cat!

I only have fond memories of Kydd. She was there when I was burning midnight oil for all of my major examinations. She was right next to me when I was ill and she was there meowing away at whoever (mostly my Dad) was giving me a scolding for breaking my curfew. She also ate my homework; shredding my assigments into pieces - an excuse where no lecturers would have believed. She was obese at one point in time and had to go on a diet. She used to bring me half-alive birds such as sparrows and mynahs which she hunted down from the garden. She'd placed them underneath my bed, waking me up from my slumber, while the poor birds were still squeaking their lives away. She was also the first cat ever to have insulted me by giving a huge, loud sigh when I tried to pick her up and cuddle her! What a cat.

Kydd had succuumbed to a complete kydney failure at the age of 13 on 21st Jan 2004 at 1.30pm. She really was an old cat, and I believe that she pretty much led a very good life as our beloved house pet. Her memory lives on in our hearts.