BKK Flood Update 1.2

Inner Bangkok is still bone dry at present, despite some spectacular thunderstorm and heavy rainfall last night.

While the city was pretty quiet yesterday, there was significantly more people on the streets today. As a matter of fact, people were out and about shopping their hearts out today as the malls became rather "inundated" with people.

Central Chidlom was pretty crowded with people everywhere. So crowded it was that I ended up spending more than an hour and a half (involuntary!) in a store just so that I could get some help, make my purchase and then claim for frickin' VAT. Who shops for more than an hour in just a section of a store? Grrr....

Anyway. That was just a case in point how weird things have been in Bangkok city center under the scheme of things at present.

And sending off my parents-in-law to the airport last night, I am very appalled to see a lot of cars parked on the expressways. Yes. you read that right. Quite a number of selfish and inconsiderate idiots decided that it is best to protect their own property by taking up to 3 lanes and hindering traffic on.the.expressways. just because the best thing to do is make sure that "you need to move your valuable belongings to the higher ground!" If that is not plain selfish and inconsiderate, I don't know what is; and really, I felt so compelled to puncture each and every tyres of those vehicles or run a Humvee over them!

Going to the airport yesterday also made us realised that it was good that they actually moved their International Airport from Don Muang to Suvarnabhum. Don Muang is currently looking like this, and is no longer accessible:

While things seem okay here, the situation outside inner Bangkok is really quite bad. What makes it worse is that with some areas being inundated for a few months already now, the fear of diseases is becoming very real. Not to mention, snakes and escaped crocodiles are now lingering beneath those murky water...

As it is, we already know of a few people who have left and possibly lost their homes, and the worst thing is not knowing when they can actually go back.

We can, all jointly hope that the water levels will recede soon for people to start rebuilding their lives.

Funnies!

Okay. This one cracks me up...I pissed myself laughing at every single sentence I read. Brlliant!

And you know what is scary about it?  I can so imagine myself (in my younger days) doing it, too. And without remorse!

BKK Flood Update 1.1

Thursday morning: Still dry with no signs of flood water in sight within our area.

And apparently, so are the shelves in Central Chidlom as of yesterday evening. (Source: Pictures taken off from Thaivisa)

I couldn't wipe the smile off my face when I read the last sentence.

I am currently at work, but so far, only 4 people (including myself) have turned up at the office. I am in a no mood for work mode, as my attention kept diverting to new, news, news.

One of my staff sent me a text message this morning telling me that she could not get to work, and they are preparing to evacuate to the South as her home is currently in crisis.

I think I can forget about getting any work done today.

From stingrays to cabbies

The other day, it just occurred to me that our last trip to Singapore did not include a supper trip to Newton Circus for our annual pilgrimage of devouring some Sambal Stingrays and Chilli Crabs.

We not only forgot about the whole Newton thing, we both did not even THINK about it…and that, my friends, is such a cardinal sin, for there has never been a time when we did not eat at Newton Circus whenever we are back in Singapore.

Image from Google

So then…I’m bummed. How and why I started thinking of Sambal Stingrays out of the blue though, was beyond me. I actually wanted to smack myself for even thinking it, knowing that I’ll never get it here in Bangkok. Funny how the image of Sambal stingray sort of randomly popped in my head. And very unfortunately, I think this thought for Sambal Stingray is going to stay in my head for a while longer…Damn.

Talking about Singapore, I am also reminded how the entire atmosphere felt a little different to me. The entire vibe was quite a contrast as to what I seemed to remember from my previous visits. This time, I truly felt that people around us were not too friendly. There were no smiles, no excuse me-s, no thank you-s, no please, not even a friendly acknowledgement to parents carrying small babies, let alone pregnant ladies while standing in the MRT.

Perhaps I am just generalizing or maybe this is just me, but what I saw was really that the general population of people seemed so absorbed into their own little world…so much so that their actions were bordering on rudeness.

I am also quite surprised that at almost every single place I called up to make an appointment or clarifying something from a bank, I was greeted by a heavily accented Filipino accent. Not that I am being biased or anything, but having to ask the other person on the other line to keep repeating what she said because I did not understand what she was trying to tell me is quite annoying! While she was quite patient repeating it for countless time, I was losing mine as instead of making just a minute phone call, I ended up staying on the line for another 10 minutes to understand that 1 sentence she was trying to tell me! Hardly productive, in my opinion.

Recently, a colleague of mine who just got back from Singapore told me that she was quite surprised to discover that of all the cabs she took in Singapore, only 2 cabs were driven by a born-and-bred Singaporean. (She enjoys talking to taxi drivers, and so they told her their life stories).I found it hard to believe at first, but I see no reason for her to lie to me. And because it was for work, I can imagine that she did cab it out quite a bit in Singapore for her entire 2 weeks there, taking at least 2 cab-rides a day.

She said she even had a Thai-Chinese cabbie who has been living in Singapore for a few years now, and said that life is Singapore is good for him. And because he lives simply in Singapore, he can contribute more to his family back in Thailand. And he tried speaking Thai to her, too. While the non-Singaporean cab drivers were all telling her about their decent lives, the Singaporean cab drivers were all lamenting about their plights.

I was also quite surprised to find that there are 2 money changers in and around my neighbourhood…and if you know where my parents live, it’s like one of the most “ulu” places in Singapore. An area (used to be) populated by mostly, and if not only heartlanders.

We had an interesting discussion, my friends and I when I told them of my observations all around in my few days back home when they came over for Hari Raya. It seems that the sentiments were pretty similar and listening to what they have to say gave me more enlightenment as to what the society has morphed into.

Suddenly, Singapore is no longer the Singapore I used to know...

What will happen in the near future is anybody’s guess. Or maybe, nothing at all.

*Ulu: far flung in Malay

BKK Flood Update 1.0

Bangkok is bracing itself for the worst as floodwater is expected to continue flowing into the city (Source: CnnGo’s article)

Central Bangkok is still business as usual with no impending signs of the economic center being besieged by water soon. But given some of the updates we have had in the recent days, I am honestly clueless as to what really is going to happen.

You see, there has been some conflict ing information where one party said nothing will happen to Bangkok, and the other party saying that Bangkok will not be spared. So, until we see the actual gushing of water filling up the sois right in front of our eyes, all we can do here is sit around, twiddle our thumbs, go about our everyday lives and continue speculating of when it will happen.

We now know for sure that some of the areas in Bangkok are already flooded. With it, comes the reality that food and water supplies are in high demand. Already as we know it now, there has been a shortage of bottled water as most of the major water production plants had stopped production a week ago as factories had all gone under. (I actually had this information first hand from a colleague within hours after one of the key players here announced that they told their employees to go home as their manufacturing plants will be closed indefinitely)

The shelves at the supermarkets particularly those which used to shelf canned food and bottled water have all been wiped out. I saw quite a sad sight when I did a walkthrough of the Villa Market in my office building after lunch – a proof that this was not just another rumour. (But don't worry, other junk food are still available!)

As of this morning, I received an SMS update indicating that Tesco-Lotus will be closing stores nationwide as suppliers were all unable to make the deliver. In short - they have nothing to sell!

A few of my colleagues also mentioned that the few 7-Elevens in the streets of Soi 4 do not have any more stocks of bottled water. Bangkok residents have also been advised by the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority today to start stockpiling tapwater (?) as the tapwater situation will be “worse than expected” …

If all this is true, then the next few weeks will look grim. It is a scary thought that there’ll be no more water available for consumption. Soon.

Silver Bullet shared some pictures from his office with me…and holy shit! The image looked surreal and unbelievably scary!


 Entrance towards his main office building - check out the water level on the other side! 



View from on the side of the parking lot

 As I looked out of the window this hot aftrenoon, it is hard to believe that the skies have been nothing but bright blue with a temperature up to 37 °C in the day, while some parts of Bangkok have been filled with murky water of about 1m high and people have been using boats as their mode of transport.

It was pourign rain when I got home though, and I don’t know what these few days will bring.From what I was told, the next few days will be very critical, as the government has declared Friday and Monday a public holiday.

I’ll have my ears on the grounds for furrther updates as they come along.

Long weekend away

We spent the last long weekend away from Bangkok to join Silver Bullet’s parents for a short get-away in Pattaya. I guess it was a welcome break given the frantic circumstances of not knowing what to expect of the flooding situation in Bangkok.

The ride to and from Pattaya were smooth both ways with no signs of imminent flooding in sight.

Spud behaved pretty well in the one and half hour car ride, and we both heaved huge sighs of relief when she dozed off for an hour both ways.

As with any other vacation, we hardly ever rested with Spud around! She is always busy doing something and toddles around a lot; and I guess, thanks to us screwing up her routine, her day time naps were all over the place. She will not nap in her cot, and some days, she only napped once for 20 minutes.

For 3 straight days too, Spud’s all wide-eyed and bushy tailed before 6.30 am and on the day we had to check out of the hotel, she decided that she’ll reward us with a nice wail at 5.38 am, and refusing to go back to sleep! We are, however, glad that we have the grandparents to mind her every now and then when we both were too shattered to chase her around or having to be somewhere else to do other things.

It was tiring with Spud being super active and all, but it was fun to hang out with her and observe her antics for a few whole days. She had a blast playing in the pool with the full attention of FOUR adults, squealing in delight when she got a go in the swimming pool. We also took her to Wiggle Town – some sort of a playground for little tots which opens every day of the week!

While it was great to be on a short vacation and all, I was glad to finally be back home. I have become a creature of comfort these days, and I still prefer our own bed and not having to sleep with the air-conditioned on at night all the time, which screwed up my nose really bad, our own space, our own bathroom as well as really glad to finally be able to put Spud back in her own room!

I don’t know how other parents do it, but having Spud sleeping in the same room as us drives me up the wall! She whimpered in her sleep, I woke up. She moved and the bed creaked (she did this like every half an hour throughout the night every night), I woke up. She did her dream cry for 10 seconds several times a night, I woke up. She woke up wailing at 5.30 am and wanting to be picked up or she’ll raise hell, we had no choice but to wake up! At least, if she is in her own room, we still can ignore her for a little bit – which we always do!

So yes, in that respect, it was nice to be home after a long weekend. Only, I was a little bum that we had to do more work than we bargained for when we arrived at our apartment...

We got home to our bed being used as cat’s toilet as our nanny had accidentally locked Fudge in our bedroom when she came over on Sunday to feed the cats. Before she left, she apparently did not realise that had missed one cat behind a closed door.

Why she closed all the bedroom doors was beyond me…the poor cat was stuck in our bedroom for over 24 hours with no access to food, water and toilet. And, in trying to pry open the door with her claws. Fudge has inevitably damaged the carpet which the apartment has recently changed!
So yes, I was not too happy with the extra work that was created for us to wash and change our bed-sheets which was stinking with pee and poo…plus the damage which we now possibly have to pay for!

On top of that, Fudge went crazy and could not stop meowing for a few hours after that, as if trying to complain what a terrible time she had in the room! (yes, I know it was traumatic for you Fudge, but seriously, Spud’s already wailing, you need to stop this madness!)

She did my head in for a while.

I guess, in the end, it was nothing more than a typical welcome to our own home sweet home.

Here are some shots from the weekend at the pool:

Memories

I was idly scrolling the pictures on my phone and while most moms tend to have some pictures of their kids in their phone, I found this instead:

Mocha, Himilayan Tea and ice-cream consumed on a "date" with Silver Bullet while we were in Singapore. This happened for several nights after we put Spud to bed and left her in the care of my parents for a few good hours.

I reckon, while the food and coffee were a big part of why we were out in the first place, it was more of the memories we have of being able to spend a rare evening together outside, just the both of us, basking in each other's company, chit chatting and  sharing our thoughts on random stuff as we watch the world go by, and without being dependent on the Nanny. We both were knackered from the day's events, but enjoyed the little solitude we have with each each other.

Funny how certain things just triggers some fragments of memories, don't you think?

Neck floaters for Babies

The first time I saw a baby wearing one of those neck floaters his/her neck was when we were idling our time away at Bangkok Dolphin’s while waiting for Spud’s baby swimming class to start quite a while back.

Now I don’t know a lot about these neck floaters, neither am I aware of what the general consensus or opinions around it. However, after seeing it for the first time and how it is being fitted onto the child’s neck, I have some serious suspicion about it. My first thoughts were: How can it be safe for a baby? What happens if for some reason the child just slide in, and the baby’s mouth and nose get stuck in between the floater?

The neck floater is a hideous little thing in my opinion. It holds the baby by the neck and suspends the little creature vertically in the water. How anyone can call THAT swimming is beyond me, and any kicking the baby does is no different from when a parent holds or cradles the baby in the water. Neck floaters just look so…wrong.

What baffled me when I saw it was the fact that, here we all are attending a swimming class so our babies can safely learn how to swim, yet there was this parent, who perhaps without much thought, brought along such a floater, dump the child on the side of the swimming pool while the parents looked on from outside the pool? (we are allowed to get into the pool earlier or stay a little later as a another class is in session if we want to and at that time, the parent was doing just that while the instructor was teaching another class)

I was actually appalled at the sight of baby in the neck floater, but apart from muttering something to Silver Bullet, I kept my trap shut. I was (and still am!) curious if the instructor saw the scene at all or if he did, if he had said anything to that particular parent that day.

That was the one and only time I saw that heinous at the swimming class. And apparently, those neck thingies are a really big thing in Asia. If you by now are still wondering what I'm talking about, here is a snapshot taken off Google Image:

(There are also some videos up on YouTube, but I don't really want to put that up here as I am not advocating such practice)

I don’t know if it offers any health benefits, or if it is being used as some sort of therapy, but gut tells me that something about it is just not right. It is not something one would want to use to teach a normal healthy baby to swim. I don't want to judge parents who have used it on their child and  if you swear by it, so be it and I am glad it works for you.

However,  to me that whole neck ring floater concept just feels so, so, very ….wrong. I'm inclined to think that looking at how it is being worn, the level of safety is very questionable. That being said, I am also inclined to say that use it only if you don’t love your baby. 

I really think that the people who came up with these things really ought to be shot.

Think Different

The passing of a legendary icon, Steve Jobs sparked a lot of tribute from all over the world via all sorts of means, and I made a conscious effort not to specifically blog about it within the week of his passing simply because millions and billions of people have done so.

Don't get me wrong - I like that guy and he did change the world, and I was once a mac fan, until I could no longer afford to keep up with it. In fact, reading all about his passing did (very strangely) open the floodgates! (Don't ask me why since I don't have any emotional attachment to the guy or to his product to warrant such outburst. As that time, i just felt really, really sad)

Anyhow, I stumbled upon this quote on the subsequent days of his passing:

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who sees things differently. They are not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify them and vilify them because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as crazy, we see genious. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do"

With it, came a video from You Tube:



The quote junkie in me found it to be very profound, for I can resonate to bits and pieces of it; except that I don't ever think I am capable of changing the world because I don' thave the balls or smarts for it!

5 Baby Must-Haves

Since becoming a mom, I realized there are several things which I thought are probably the world’s greatest invention. They have become a must-have and  I am so dependent on them that I am convinced that these are certainly my list of things which I cannot live without.

Here is my list in no particular order for anytime, any where:


#1: Wet Wipes. Wet Wipes. Wet Wipes.

Yes, as silly as it sounds, wet wipes are the greatest invention since sliced bread. Our drawers are filled with packs and packs of wet wipes, and we make sure that we stock them up well - different brands, different sizes...we have it all! We always have a few lying around that is within our reach for when we need them, and I make sure that I have a few travel-sized wet-wipes in her tote bag, too.

Why such obsession you ask? Well, we use wet wipes for nearly everything – from cleaning her bottom, to wiping the table and utensils, to wiping Spud’s face and hands during and after meal times, use it to clean our hands, to clean up all the food which Spud spills on the floor and on the table and on the chair…you name it, wipes after wipes after wipes.

We probably have used wet wipes for nearly everything!

#2: Muslin Squares

A square piece of cloth for everything! From a swaddle when babies are much smaller, to a burp cloth, to covering my modesty while breast-feeding, a make-shift bib, as a protective layer under the head for the car seat or stroller, as a shade from the sun, as a comfort cloth by putting it over Spud’s head and eyes if we want to get Spud to sleep while we are out and about, to cleaning the floor after spilling some milk.

They look very boring and unassuming, but they are just god-send! I particularly like the printed ones.

It is not surprising that we have lost a few along the way...

#3: Calendula Cream

The miracle cream for everything!

Recommended by Blogger Boo who commented on one of my posts (she swears by it!), this is the very cream which cured Spud’s eczema within days once upon a time, when all other things just failed to work.

Since then, it has proven to be a very effective remedy against strange looking marks, bites scratches, as well as the occasional nappy rash.

It is expensive, but I have never looked back since. Certainly money well-spent.

#4: Sudo Crème

Imported all the way from Holland, this always works when Spud has a flare..works wonders all the time. So good that I dedicated an entire post to it

#5: The Wrap or Mei-tai

They are my life-saver!

Not only it is a good means of transporting Spud from one place to another while attached to me, it also allows me to have my hands free for other tasks while Spud stays secure on me. In the early days when Spud was still a little baby, wearing her was the only way to get her to take her naps, or so that I can get on with other things.

Spud still enjoys being worn, and there are some days when she just cannot wait to get into The Wrap when she sees it in plain sight.

Silver Bullet recently made a remark, wondering if his wearing Spud all this while, have actually contributed to a better father-daughter bonding. I certainly think so, and I definitely can see Spud bonding well with her Papa and feeling very at ease with him.

Sure there are other baby things which I can add on to the list, but if I have to choose, these 5 things certainly rank very high on my list. What would my life be without them!

What are your must-haves?

Flood situation update

It has now been almost a week since my last post on the flood which has inundated some parts of Thailand in the recent weeks.

Central Bangkok is still okay for now and from where I am, it does seem like the situation on the outskirts of Bangkok is getting a little bit out of control.

One of my colleagues who has been locked away at home in the past week, finally made a decision to abandon her home with her husband, her 2 year old boy and 5 dogs in tow and turned up at the office today. She told me her story on how they decided to leave their home at 4 am in the morning, and after packing the essentials, they finally made it out to safe grounds after more than an hour of battling through a waist-level flood in their 4WD onto the main road which was only about 2 km away from their home. She said the water all around was just black! And that it was a matter of making it out alive or die trying.

I cannot imagine how scary that must have felt, yet my heart swelled at how brave she has been to go through the ordeal. I could see the sadness and the defeat she must have felt in her eyes, and after telling me her story, she broke into tears...and all I could do was just tell her that what matters is that her whole family is now safe. With a lump in my throat, whether she needed it or not and at the risk of invading her personal space, I could only offer her a comfort hug.

How my heart ached...

As of this afternoon, Silver Bullet's office which is currently located in the outskirts of Bangkok has been officially closed till further notice. He was literally being kicked out of his office at about 2pm today as the warning of water level rising rapidly became more urgent. Still, it took him more than 2 and half hours to get home as cars jammed-pack the roads.

I still do not have a sense as to how bad it will affect our area, given the confusion of information circulated by the government. From what I heard, the flood in Central Bangkok is no longer a matter of "if", but '"when". I cannot imagine the predicament of those who have been stuck at home for weeks on end with nowhere to go, and seeing the water level rising day after day right in front of their eyes. Below are some images from Silver Bullet's colleague home surrounded by insane amount of water...

It is a very heart-breaking sight...

As I am writing this blog post, the expressway next to our apartment building is actually rather quiet. The silence is eerie.

Baby and Cats

When I became pregnant, a lot of people asked us a very rhetorical question: “What are you going to do about the cats?”

And we go, "What do you mean what we are we going to do with the cats? They are going to stay, of course!"

And then they go: "Are you _______ or ________ or _________?” (Fill in the blanks with crazy, stupid or whatever else you can think of). “Maybe not a good idea. Cats are dirty and it is not good/safe for your baby. You should think of the baby.”

OK. We heard you.

This is the part where we knowingly smile our broadest smiles and telling them our plans that if health is not going to be a big issue, we intend to make the cats very much a part of Spud’s life, and Spud will just have to live with it.

After giving our reply, I like to watch the reaction from their face, and when they are not looking, I will roll my eyes to the back of my head.

And to be honest, I cannot believe the number of people who asked us such questions, expecting us to get rid of the cats just like that, because there is a baby in the house.

Now. I know and I have read about all the allergies that a small baby can get from cats (and both Silver Bullet and me are also both allergic to cats too, by the way!), but I don’t think that it is in the best interest of the baby to keep the cats away from her. Besides, I share Silver Bullet's sentiments that, to a certain extent, because a baby co-exists with cats, chances are the baby’s immune system will be better than babies who are not exposed to cats.

Perhaps that theory is flawed logic, but unless Spud is severely allergic to our feline friends, there is absolutely no way we are going to give up our 3 feline friends. The thought of having to give up one, let alone all 3 cats makes me sick to my stomach. There is no reason to alienate the cats just because we have a baby. No reason whatsoever. And I know of a few people who would not come and visit us with their precious child in tow when they found out we have cats.

Luckily for us, so far, (knock on wood!), there has been no signs of the cats affecting Spud’s health.

While the cats had seemed quite wary of her in the first few days when she came home from the hospital, they soon lose interest on her. There were occasions where the cats did try to get cosy with her, but none of those occasions were unsupervised. Even up till now, we keep the cats away from Spud’s bedroom when she goes to bed.

And by now, the cats, especially Andy and Donut, prefer to get out of her way whenever they see her bumbling around the house. They will watch her from afar or high places, and will quickly run away the moment they see Spud coming towards them.

The dodo-head Fudge, on the other hand, loves to be near Spud, but can get quite angsty if Spud pushes it. I hope it will be just a matter of time before they become best friends. From the onset, I can tell that Spud loves the cats, but she is just trying to figure things out at the moment. She likes stroking, patting and kissing Fudge when she gets the chance to…except she is a little rough with the strokes and pats, which annoys Fudge to no end.

I count my blessings that Spud is not allergic to cats, and so far, there has been no mayhem between baby and cats. Sure the cats got a little disorientated at first, and probably upset they did not get as much attention as they used to, but they adapt. And thankfully, they adapt well enough to tolerate having Spud messing with their territory without them giving us too much grief.

Despite some frustrating moments with the cats, they are very much a part of the family as Spud is, and it will break my heart if we ever have to let them go. For Spud, the cats are pretty much a part of her life too.

Looking at the pictures below, I, for one, would not have the heart to take away that bond she will have with the pets. The  unconditional affection a baby can offer the cats and vice versa, is just too valuable a lesson to let it slip by.

And, excuse me if I find the allergy or health argument, unless life threatening, is completely exaggerated and taken out of context. The cats, tend to usually make themselves scarce, and sometimes, we found ourselves wondering if the cats are actually still around!

Wax on, wax off

Since living in Bangkok more than six years ago, I have been on a quest to find a proper waxing establishment. The months I spent scouring the Internet turned to years, and when I did find something, there usually was not a lot of information about it.

The few places which I randomly tried, I did not like, and swore that I will never go to those places again. And so, I can only do my waxing when I go back to Singapore…which essentially only once in a while.

So, when one of the Strip outlets in Singapore told me that they were going to open a branch in Bangkok, I was thrilled. In the meantime, while waiting for the friggin’ branch to open, I had managed to find an acceptable place for an OK waxing service. Still not IT, but decent.

It took me only more than 3 years of waiting time since Strip first told me about their plans, and only recently did I discover that Strip Bangkok has been in business for more than a year now. (Duh!)

But, it doesn’t matter. I was over the moon when I stumbled upon them as we walked idly in Central World on one of the weekends. The place was so quiet that I did not need to make any appointment.

So far, the services are on par to what I get in Singapore, and the therapist is quite professional. They followed all hygiene procedures to a T…and even the rooms are a replica of what you will find in Singapore. Price wise, perhaps a tad lower than what you would pay in Singapore.

All in all, it will certainly be a place I need to go to every once in a while. They also have Browhouse next to it…which further stamps my needs to get my ass there when there the need for some eye-brow treading arises; although I am not sure how well these people are trained to do proper eye-brow treading.

It was quiet there in Siam Discovery Centre, (which is good for me), but I hope their business will pick up and that they will be able to stay in business for a while longer! 
So if you are looking for a proper waxing place in Bangkok, try popping by on the 3rd Floor of Siam Discovery Centre.

I would hate having to look for another place for a decent waxing services, especially if this branch here in Bangkok ever decided to discontinue their business here, given the lack of customers.I have only been there once so far, but I certainly have got no major complains!

Selfishness

People can really be so inconsiderate...

It is exactly things like this that makes my heart boil into a rage as I just cannot understand why oh why! can't people show some consideration to other drivers and their parking space.

Just look at how the moronic owner of this silver sedan parked his/her car. Very pek-chek can!

Is it really so hard to adjust the alignment just a little, exercise some commons sense and show some consideration for others? Is that too much to ask, people?

* Pek check: Hokkien term denoting exasperation or frustration

Babywearing Week 2011

Hip carry with the wrap

The Bangkok Baby Wearing Club joins the world again this year in celebrating the 4th International babywearing Week on 14th and 15th October 2011. Like the years before, they partnered with Samitivej Hospital to promote the joy and safety of baby wearing.

This marks the 2nd year of which I volunteered for this event, and like last year, I shared a few photos for the exhibition. Come to think of it, I am glad to have been able to find out about this club and now be a part of it.

I certainly am a big advocate of babywearing, and I still think that despite a hefty investment on The Wrap, it was really money well-spent. Given the knowledge I have now, I am very conscious on the type of carriers I want to use and using them safely.

I certainly enjoy wearing Spud, and in the same breath, I am so very glad that Silver Bullet took to it as much as I do.

Happy Babywearing Week, everyone!

Our very first visitors

The leader of Bangkok Babywearing Club & Me

Silver Bullet up on the poster this year!

Did they or didn't they?

2 weeks on since the manhole incident, I would have thought that the manhole grate would have somehow been fixed, as since the last time I saw it, someone almost went into the hole.

Well...the good news is that I think it appeared to have been "fixed". The bad news is that from what I saw, they have only used a narrow piece of plank to cover the particular bits of the manhole!

Actually, I am not sure if it is fixed at all. Perhaps, on the hindsight, it has always been thar way, and it just happened that on that particular day, an unfortunate women had to unwittingly land herself there and got herself into a pickle.

Who knows!

Flood fears grip Bangkok

The flooding in some of the provinces in Thailand has been making headline in the past week or so, and very unfortunately, some people I personally know have been affected by this and were not able to get to the office in the last few days.

As it turned out, some parts of Bangkok have been affected by the flood and we all have been warned to brace ourselves up for this weekend as the most worrying time will be between 16th -18th October when the northern water flow combined with the high tide and projected heavy rainfall could cause severe flooding in the city.

Residents are now fearing the worst, with city residents stock-piling food and supplies and moving their cars to a safe ground. The supermarket was unusually busy at lunch time today, and I saw several aisles of instant noodles, canned food and water were practically emptied out.

Taken off from a recent article from Bloomberg, the current flood situation is essentially Thailand’s worst flooding in 50 years. Already Ayutthaya has been completely submerged, with various industries, including rice farms affected. An SMS update from Thai Visa I received yesterday claimed the following:

• Latest flood figures: 281 people killed, 2 remain missing
• 26 provinces submerged
• 2.2 million people are affected.

The map of the affected area below can also be found here (apparently very accurate and updated on a daily basis):

A few days ago, I came home to a boat docked right outside of our apartment, and when I saw it, I was actually wondering if they are preparing for the flood. It turned out that indeed they are, and this boat actually belonged to the owner of the property who has willingly loaned it to the apartment in case things get dire in the next few days. They also have some sandbags in tow, and  heard from my colleague that there is now a severe shortage of sandbags nationwide.

At this point, I am not sure what to expect, and I wonder if this is all only a speculation which further induces paranoia. The saving grace is that it has not been pissing rain last evening like it did in the last few days.

For now, we are safe, and rather well stocked up in terms of food. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring and we are keeping our fingers crossed.

I am just hoping that Silver Bullet and my parents in law will make it back to our home in time before the flood strikes in the next couple of days.

CHIDlom.NOT SIlom, you moron.

I don’t know what it is with this country, but the traffic situation has really gone from bad to worse.

While I know there has been a few things which contributed to the gridlock - rain, flooding, incompetent boys in brown manning traffic as well as traffic lights turning green for only 20 seconds as some of the main culprits – I still think the whole traffic situation is a damn joke!

Just yesterday, I deliberately excused myself from a client’s meeting at 5pm in my attempt to beat traffic. And I got home at 7.15 pm!

More than 2 freaking hours on the road when it should have taken me no more than half an hour to get home from my client’s place. TWO.HOURS of my life which I can never get back! TWO HOURS of precious time better spent playing with my daughter than sitting at the back of the taxi.

Of course it did not help that when I told my taxi driver that my place is near CHIDLOM, he went to SILOM instead. And Silom, my friend, is on the other side of Bangkok from where I live; where traffic is a constant bitch and forever in gridlocked on at least 2 intersections with no nearby access to BTS! By the time I realized he has taken the wrong route, it was too late. I was, surprising mostly calm until I got to about 3-4 km away from my home.

I was seriously getting fed-up and fidgety as nothing moved in the last 40 minutes. While complaining to Silver Bullet of my situation, I was then convinced to get out of the cab and walk the rest of the way home. It is quite a walk, and with my heels as well as me lugging a laptop bag, plus drizzling at the same time, it was something which I have never been quite keen to do.

And all I wanted to do was really to get home and put Spud to bed as it was almost way past her usual bedtime.

But got out of the cab I did to make it home in time, and after crossing 3 lanes to other side of the road, just when I put my first foot on the pavement, lo and behold! traffic just started moving. And just like that, it moved! Traffic moved as if nothing had happened, and suddenly every vehicle was zooming past me.

I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs! I wanted to run amok! I wanted to cry! I want to bitch slap every freaking human I see. I wanted to banged up every single vehicle with my blunt heels. I.was.just.livid.

Feeling extremely defeated, I then decided to hail the next available cab, and within 10 minutes, I was home. I was late, but I was home, and put Spud to bed before I rushed out again for a dinner appointment.

That is all it takes in Bangkok...one wrong turn, and you are done for!

And yesterday was just not my day.

And I fucking absolutely friggin’ hate Bangkok traffic. With a passion.

Figuring it out

For a while now, we have been having a fair bit of trouble when it comes to Spud’s meal times. Feeding her has become quite a struggle; we can never predict how she will react and it usually is a hit and miss.

We have tried almost every trick we know just to get her to open her mouth to take another bite or a spoonful, after she refuses to take any more of what I prepared after the 2nd or 3rd bite. There have been occasions when even before she tries anything, she decided not to open her mouth at all, not until after a lot of coaxing and pulling a few tricks here and there. Some of the tricks which came up in the spur of the moment had included me pretending to feed the cats or her toys, using a different spoon or a different bowl, giving her various types of other food – from jarred to mushy, just using hands or even me putting the spoon or the food in my own mouth so that she’ll take it from my mouth like a little bird (disgusting I know, but that sometimes can be the only way to get her to eat!).

When at one point she decided that she no longer wanted liquid food, she suddenly threw us a curve ball by refusing anything that is non-liquid. So much so, that in the last two weeks or so, we have been pureeing her food to death, as that has been the only way to get her to eat her meals. It suddenly seemed like she got lazy to chew her food…

Meal times with her can be really stressful, and I’d be lying if I say that initially I did not lose my temper when all this fiasco started. Not only was she being difficult by refusing every single bite I tried to feed her, she was also playing with food and created a lot of mess. Suddenly, I had food on my face, I had food on my hair, on my hand, on my clothes, on the floor…basically, I had food every friggin’ where but in her mouth! That was quite frustrating, especially when I have to go to work PLUS I hate, hate, hate having food smeared all over me. But after a few tries like that, I decided that I needed to try to remain as calm as I can, and where possible, let Silver Bullet takes over (until he gets frustrated; and by then I would have calmed down to take over from him again).

For a few weeks, that was our routine, and I have to admit that there came a time where I just dreaded Spud’s mealtimes, thinking if we could please just feed her only milk instead!

But for some reason, I pursued on. And the more I pursued, the more practice I had with my patience to keep my cool. In fact, somehow, I managed to relax and let her make the mess, and even able to look beyond the ewww factor of having her food all over me. I was past angry, and I was really just dealing with it. Very calmly.

Holding my zen as much as I can and pretending to be unperturbed by her antics (or that I have been severely soiled by liquid food at the same time), I continue to feed her again while she continues making the mess. At the same time, I also realized that she had wanted to hold her own spoon and started to clumsily scoop the food herself from the bowl. Funnily enough, as long as I allow her to do that, she allows me to feed her without any fuss.

That was when I instinctively decided to put a little food in another bowl for her to play with, while I keep the majority in the original bowl. That has now become our added repertoire at her meal-times and makes it a much more pleasant experience (for me). Although, that being said, I don't know how long this trick will last before she throws another curve ball again.

The mess she makes is unbelievable, so much so that I feed her with only her diaper on every morning after her shower. There are days when I realised that I have splotches of dried baby food sneaking up on my clothes or my hair or my eyebrow after being in the office for a few hours!

I have come to a realization that the meal battles with her is not worth fighting, and now, resigned to the fact that if she does not eat now, she’ll eat later. And, if she just wants only liquid food, then so be it; and she’ll get only the mother of all pureed food till she has enough of it.

I guess this is one of the phases every parent go through…and no matter how hard it seems, as one of my friends with 2 kids used to say, somehow, mothers will always figure it out.

Weekend wonder

How often do we get to experience a multitude of moods in a day with varying activities that range from getting lost out in the sticks (frustration), to meeting some friends for a play date (wonderful), to watching your little tot go crazy on a trampoline (amazing), to finally getting her to nap in the car on the way home (relief), to have her refusing food the entire time (not again!), to having to endure her tantrums for 2 solid hours before her bedtime (stressful), and nothing you could do was able to calm her from her piercing wails (gosh! enough already!) as well as she rejecting the mother while at it (WTF!)

Okay. So we had quite an eventful Saturday, which left the both of us knackered, and me completely shattered.

I have to say though, despite all of that, visiting our friend all the way to Si Kan, Don Muang turned out to be quite a fun thing to do. It was our first time visiting them at their new place and it was nice to get the little tots together again.  It was certainly great to see some friends whom we have not seen for a long time.

And it was even amazing that we get to go into the trampoline and let the kids loose in there while the mothers sat around in it, and Dads circled around it trying to take some pictures of 6 crazy looking females inside it. come to think of it, I don't think I have ever played on a trampoline before.

While the other 2 tots were quite apprehensive, Spud just bounced herself off the nettings once she discovered the joy of bouncing off the trampoline.  She not only bounced off the nets, she bounced off Moms and the other 2 tots too! I reckon she did that continuously for a good half an hour, bouncing around like a jumping bean. She really was having fun, and here are a few candid shots of her that day:

Bouncing...

Bouncing....

Darting...

Recovering from a tumble

Wants to be let go

Monkey on the loose

Knackered...barely could keep herself awake

Light out...hands in snack container

Seeing Spud on the trampoline was priceless. She didn't have a care in the world and, I have never seen her looking so animatedly happy. Just watching her go made my heart swell. 

She was so tired by the end of the day that she fell asleep without a fuss. We though had a pretty good day out, and thinking that a small nap would do her good,  we were quite happy that the day looked like it was going to end well...that was, until she decided to get superbly cranky when she woke up from her nap. It then went downhill for us.

The curve ball was in play as she remained inconsolable...and for some reason, I did not cope too well after she rejected my efforts to comfort her several times. (but we have made peace since!). Not sure what triggered her ultra crankiness, but Silver Bullet thought that her late afternoon nap could have something to do with it was nearing her bedtime.

I don't have any theory on that, and I am just amazed as to how quick Spud seemed to have responded to the winds of change.

There goes to show that with Spud, we can definitely count on her to be predictably unpredictable. Still.