Orange-banana flavoured drink

Found a new beverage by Mirinda in the market. I got curious by its orange banana flavour, and decided to buy a small bottle to try. While it tasted ok, I can’t quite decide if I like it. It is, otherwise nothing special, and I find it to be too fizzy for me.

Just as well. Perhaps there’s no risk of them being taken off the shelf as I don’t particularly have a great fondness for it. Just so you know, the super lemon flavor is no longer available on shelf for a while now.

Shopping ain't fun!

Shopping for a sport is so wrong. Shopping is not fun, period.

After my pilates class last weekend, I decided to run some overdue errands. One of which requiring me to go buy myself a pair of a much needed pair of shoes, undergarments and then some.

Shopping for me is just a necessary evil as I don’t really enjoy shopping like any other normal women. Window shopping just to pass time or looking for unnecessary things to buy is just not my idea of fun or relaxation. I’d rather be doing something else rather than linger at shopping malls for hours looking for stuff I don’t need. Household items, bedsheets and books, are however, an exception in my books.

I like my shopping to be efficient; just zip in, get what I need and then zip out…and maybe , linger for just a tad longer to find things I might need (limited no more than less 20 minutes) before zipping out for good. That didn’t happen with shopping for my shoes though. I wasted more than 2 hours at Paragon thinking I could get what I want there; as logic has it, they would have a bigger selection of the stuff I might need.

My determination of finding some decent shoes after shuttling up and down between the basement and 3rd floor of massive Paragon Shopping Centre turned out to be futile, and, I literally gave up the idea of purchasing some undergarments after trying the 4th one that just didn’t fit good. I decided to KIV looking for undergarments for another time.

I was, however, determined to go get my shoes and be done with shopping for a while. So I gave up on Paragon after a quick lunch and hit Zen at Central World. What do you know! I was done in 15 minutes and managed to buy myself 2 pairs! Now, that’s what I call efficient use of time.

I felt pretty damn bummed having wasted more than 2 hours of my precious weekend in bloody Paragon! That could have meant an extra 2 hours of massage time! I wanted to smack myself silly for completely overlooking the thought of checking out Zen first!

At least, I got the shoes out of the way, Here’s my spotted-tried-and-bought- in-15-minutes-super-comfy new shoes ready for action:

Note that I didn't say anything about them being nice-looking , sexy shoes. The operative word here is SUPER. COMFY. And, I'm sure my feet will thank me for it. :)

A "different" kinda weekend

With Silver Bullet gone for a couple of weekends as he sets out for his business trip, I get to be a temporary singleton again with plenty of time on my hands for me, me and just me. Last weekend started off a little bit different from my other “single” weekends as I started on my very first pilates class and then managed to get myself busy with other had-to-be-done activity.

Granted, I have been meaning to enroll myself into one of those classes. However, it seems an impossible feat to join in on weekdays as the class commences at 5pm. Unless you are a housewife or work part-time because you can afford to, there’s no way someone like me working in my type of industry will be able to get off work before 5pm. Saturday is my only time and I do hope to make it on every single Saturday, or as many Saturdays as I can, in the name of my well-being. I can’t decide if I like pilates or not from my first class. What struck me most was how the seemingly light stretching sessions made me perspire buckets, left me panting, and at one point in time, even felt faint! I guess there’s more to pilates than meets the eye. One thing though, I do feel more energised after the session. I guess it could only be a good sign.

What really made this weekend a different one for me was the fact that I did not muck around in the kitchen as I always do. More so because I thought I’d give my aching feet a rest. And so, I went for a much needed foot massage on both Saturday and Sunday. Both were done at different places, and while my feet got kneaded like prata, I can’t help but think of the best foot massage I had in KL. Compared to that, the foot massages here have been quite a disappointment.

On Sunday, I decided to couple my foot massage with a mani-pedi as well. By the time I got home, I pretty much decided that I will put my feet up and not do anything else. Two days of foot massages! While they are still not the best of massages, my feet still felt pretty good!

And I have a much needed pretty little feet and nails once again.

"Inheritance"

A lot of people out there must have really like me to want to leave me a large sum of their inheritence or just want to share their millions by offering me some business transactions. Suddenly, I have a lot of people who just want to give me their money or have a deceased client or relatives and just needs my help with some really eye-popping cash. Apparently, with no strings attached too - just send them a few information and I'll be getting some serious cash in my bank account. Only I have to reply to them ASAP. Usually though, the destination is always a Nigerian bank.

I noticed that I have been getting unsolicited emails such as those mentioned above in my junk inbox everyday...and at least 3-4 emails a day with such content. Just to amuse myself, I would usually open them up and read before trashing the mail. Not that I believe in these things, but honestly, there are at times I just want to reply just to see how it goes, you know. Especially those ones that comes from Microsoft. How come Bill Gates have never said anything about that? On the other hand, I know damn well, it is nothing more than a scam.  And funnily enough, for such a serious matter, you tracked me down via email? Seriously, how gullible or retarded do these people think I am?

The recent ones I received were quite different. Here's one that offers a business transaction:

And this one is really pushing it by saying that he knows this "sounds like a scam":

....as if THAT statement would gain my instant trust. And this came from a so-called "attorney" too. Isn't that just illegal?

I wonder how many people out there actually replied to such emails. If these scammers keep doing it, I can imagine their success rate must be pretty damn good. I hope no one I know falls victim to this.

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably ain't true. If in doubt, just check with scam-o-matic. In this day and age, nothing is really too good to be true; especially when it comes to "free money".

My curse

The big conspiracy continues. Time and time again, I'm discovering and re-discovering over and over that the moment I discovered a product I like and have every intention to continue buying it, they decided to take it off the shelves.

Just a few months ago, I came to learn that they have decided to stop manufacturing my decade-long most effective pimple cream. I searched for it for several months and alas! it was confirmed that they no longer are available anywhere! There goes my trusted, long time friend and I can never trust another pimple cream brand again.

Another recent news is the discovery of my favourite chai tea brand being taken off the shelves. As it is already, getting a good chai tea here hasn’t been all that easy, so that really left me pretty annoyed!

When I found out that they no longer had the brand of regular chai tea I have been buying, I reluctantly gave the green chai tea a go. I’ve never really liked green tea, but I thought I’d make an exception to this, considering I’m going more for the chai rather than the green. It turned out that the green chai tea was actually quite nice. It doesn’t even taste like green-tea at all and , it doesn't have any of  that strong after-taste you get with normal green tea. (The typical green-tea after-taste really turns me off!) . It only took me 2 repeat purchases, and you guessed it! It is now no longer available on shelf. How convenient. How atypical for something like that to happen to me.

Somehow, I haven’t been able to shake this “curse” off me and Silver Bullet is also realising that it’s rubbing off on him too. (His favourite deodorant has been taken off the shelf, amongst other things). It seems bizarre and almost exaggerated, I know...but really! If you'd known me long enough, stuff I buy being taken off the shelf so quickly after I develop some attachment to it somehow always happens. The thing is, I have no way of explaining it.

Strangely cool

Not that I'm complaining, but the weather has been strangely cool today. In the the day, I could hear the wind howling away against the windows while I was still in the office.Outside the office,  it's almost likened to what's supposed to be a December's weather! As of now, the temperature is at about 24°C. A really welcome change from the crazy hot weather we have been having in the last few weeks.

It is such a nice weather that I'm not even turning the fan on. The parquet flooring is just nicely cool and the breeze continues to make its way into the living room from the balcony.

What a lovely, lovely evening!

No Earth Hour

It is quite disappointing to have found out first thing this morning that Bangkok has withdrawn itself from participating in this year's Earth Hour. The reason cited was mainly because of the impending political unrest expected this weekend. Article can be found here.

It HAS to be Thailand to be doing such things, right?!  I can't believe that even an hour is too much to ask for, in lieu of showing some respect for the ailing environment. What a shame, really.

Withdrawal or not, I still intend to to go ahead with it myself. Afterall, we do try to conserve as much energy at home when we can already; using tea lights in the evening for several hours and a few times a week.

It is also an an excuse to use  this pretty little thing we bought a while ago while at it!

And you know what? It is all in the name of the environment! Why wait for only Earth Hour?

Tourists' Fashion

Quite a funny article on the wackiest, tackiest tourist fashions easily found in and around Bangkok. Better watch what you wear next time you roam around town as a tourist!

Priceless

This must have been ancient by now already, but always a classic!

Just sizzling...

It's been hot, hot, hot! So hot that I'm getting  instant migraine the moment I step out of the building. So hot that I'm dreading the thought of even going out of any shady building to go to anywhere else.

It's not suprising that the outside temperature has gone to the high 30s and even low 40s.Weather like this can be so paralysing.  My brains certainly don't function too well in this crazy, superhot, glaring weather. It makes me want to stay put and not move an inch all day.

Prata for brekkie

Prata glorious prata available along the road side as I enroute to work. Freshly made, no doubt, and I have requested for 2, both with eggs.

The only thing missing was curry glorious curry!

But beggars can't be choosers, right! So I had to settle for Thai-style prata, which means these pratas will be laden with condensed milk and sugar all around  and that will your "regular style" prata like this:

Not really bad tasting, though. And usually one can ask to add some slices of banana and chocolate as well; which jolly well turn the prata into a dessert, in my opinion.

I still think they would taste much better with curry. Make that, especially fish curry! Minus sugar and condensed milk, of course.

My world of "re-"

The days don’t seem to be going fast enough for me to get to the weekend (it’s only Thursday I realised), but somehow, hours spent at work just seemed to fly by. I don’t really know what it is, and I’m not even sure if I’m making any sense at all. But, just hear me out.

The thing is, I am really not that busy at work. However, in the last 2 weeks, I found myself working beyond the mandatory 8-hour day without me realising it. By the time I noticed what time it was, I have already done almost 10 hours; and with minimal breaks in between too! It is strange, given that I usually cannot wait to run out of the office, considering that I started counting down from the time I walked in!

It might still be early to judge, but for now, I can feel the difference. Perhaps, the recent change has done me good. There’s just something positive in the air. While I do feel tired after the unconsciously long day at work, I also feel inspired and energized. It’s like someone turned on the light switch  after months of blindly grappling with air in a dark room.

Re-energised and Re-inspired. It has been a long time since I have had such sentiments about what I do for a living. I guess it could only be a good thing.

Three's not a crowd

All flat out!

When jet-lag sets in, rest assured that the cats will always be there to give you their support and watch over you and your work.

I just had to still-frame this moment...such a comical, yet endearing sight as suddenly, everything just went silent. Not a peep.

Warm welcome

The cats showing how much they miss Silver Bullet when he has been away...

What a warm welcome from these creatures we call cats. As I look at these images, the song "All My Loving" by the Beatles comes to mind...

"Close your eyes and I'll kiss you

Tomorrow I'll miss you

Remember I'll always be true

And then while I'm away

I'll write home every day

And I'll send all my loving to you

All my loving I will send to you

All my loving, darling I'll be true

All my loving, all my loving ooh

All my loving I will send to you "

Crazy dreams,crazy things

My dreams have been pretty vivid of late and recently, I can remember most of them very clearly for days to come. The scenarios surrounding my dreams were so intensely vivid that every feelings and actions felt so real. Real and intense enough that the moment I woke up, I was literally compelled to act on it.

It must have been my first ever to act on a dream. It started with me deciding to make Mee Rebus last Friday for the weekend to come. I figured it would be a dish Silver Bullet would like when he gets back from India (again.) I also had a fleeting thought that perhaps I should also make some bergedils to go with it. But that was that. A thought. Simply because I felt it would be too much work to prepare and make Mee Rebus, as well as Bergedils on a Friday evening. Usually, I would not have minded making it, but I didn’t feel up to it this time. Those who are familiar with Asian, especially Malay cuisine would know that a lot of time is spent in the kitchen just preparing. It was just leceh. I can’t really be bothered and I didn’t want to be on my feet too long. Hence, the bergedils became nothing more than just a mere thought. It was just a “nice to have” and not a necessity. The decision of not making it was made. I whole-heartedly and single-handedly killed the idea.

Then I had THE dream. In my dreams, I was prepping-up for some major cooking. There were a lot of people, some chaos and food had to be served within a time –frame. It was vivid, it was intense and I was working it. On top of making other things, I was also making bergedils. For some reason, I could not complete my bergedils. I started on the taters, but I just could not get it done. I was frustrated and I was not too happy with my performance. It felt like I had made a promise and then I couldn’t deliver. For that, I could not live with myself.

Then I woke up. I know it was a dream, but the feelings were too intense for me to shake it off. I hauled my ass out of bed into the shower, knowing the onus is not on me to deliver. It wasn’t like I had a craving or anything. It was just a dream that did not have an ending. But I couldn’t shake the feeling off. I felt very buay-song.

And so, I went straight to the kitchen right after that to make some bergedils.  Only then, I calmed down and the buay-song feeling dissipated. I literaly had to roll-eyeballs at myself.
 
* Leceh - troublesome in Malay
*Buay-song -not too happy in Hokkien

American Gods

What a read this was! What.A.Read!

It has taken me long enough to finish this book. I dare say more than 5 months and that is a tad unusual of a time-frame for me when it comes to reading. But then again, that was entirely my own fault because I kept pausing for a period of more than one week at a time. Usually though, I’d manage to continue and remember the story from where I left off, even if it’s after more than 2 weeks. But this book deluded me. When I started again, I realised I got all confused and had to start all over again. Not only confused, I even forget who is what and what is whom…there were just too many characters to follow. I find that if I slacked, I tend to lose the gist of it all. Subsequently, whenever I picked it up again (usually several weeks later), I had to re-read and go back at least 30-50 pages which I had read from the previous session. For the life of me, this is just one book so far where I can’t figure out why I could not do a continuous reading within a few seatings. For some reason, while reading this contemporary mythical fantasy fiction, I got distracted by my own imagination that’s within the realm of this mythical fantasy story itself. It’s like a dream within a dream. It was just bizarre. Not only I had to consciously keep up with the characters that kept popping in and out, I also had to deal with the stuff that’s going on in my head at the same time. It felt surreal. It did get to a point where I thought the story became a little nutso, but then again, it’s a fantasy fiction and there’s something about this book and the way it was written which intrigued me.

I usually refrain from reading fantasy books, but this book is different. It’s nothing like I have read and I thoroughly enjoyed this. I would definitely read it again; although, the next time I start on this, I’ll be sure to read with utmost concentration and refrain from too long a pause in between readings.

Now I can finally return this book back to its rightful owner .

Different type of shits

Comments extracted from a Thai forum as I was scouring the web for news updates:

"Men's excrement will b thrown at Abhisit, women's excrement against Suthep. And the "third sex" excrement against Prem. 32 minutes ago via web"

"In case u haven't read about it, a red leader, Arisman, claimed 3 different types of excrement will b used against Prem, abhisit and Suthep. 33 minutes ago via web"

The burning question for me is, why the heck are they playing with shit? And all the different types of shit too!  Can't help but laugh this demonstation off as nothing more than a national blardy joke. It seems so kindergarden, really.

Don't pray pray ahhh...3 different types of shit will be used, you know! And then, hor...you have to guess which shit belongs to which gender. If you guess wrong hor,then there's more shits coming your way. Dog, cat, cow shit we also will use. We scare-die you with shit one! No joke!

Ahhh...you gotta laugh.

One million reds

The road seems eerily quiet at about 10 pm. I only realised the surrounding stillness as I sat down on the couch with a cup of tea. And then I recalled there weren’t as many people on the sidewalk as any other normal weekdays and that traffic was fairly light when I left the office slightly before 8. But then again, it could only be my imagination with the anticipation of the 1 million people in red who vowed to congregate around Bangkok so they can put the entire city to a standstill in the next few days.

As it is, my office issued an official email this afternoon declaring that the office will be closed, in anticipation of traffic being in major gridlock and the impending safety concerns. That doesn’t mean it’s an off day from work though. The “business continuity plan” will still be deployed and so we all need and can work from home via a remote server. Something which I’m really happy to be doing, to be honest; especially on a Friday.

If these reds can pull it off, seeing 1 million people in red hanging out on the streets can be quite a sight! I have my doubts to the authenticity in the intentions of all these reds though. Just this afternoon, some of the maids were telling our staffs that they will not be working for the day as they decided that they would rather join in the mob since they get paid 500 baht a day by just being there. Mind you, besides earning double the amount of their daily wage by joining in the rally, they also get to stand around doing nothing and getting fed for free throughout the day! While I do question their conscience, I also can completely understand their decision. Joining the rally is clearly a better deal versus having to clean up after sloppy office staffs at half the daily salary! That's not even a contention. Screw all morality.

I don’t expect anything major to happen in the next few days, though. The sentiments in the office from fellow Bangkokians reflects a “roll-eyeballs-not-again -this-is-just-annoyingly- inconvenient” blasé attitude. But, I'm curious as to how things will pan out in the next few days. The anticipation can always be quite exciting.

Ah-chooooo!

Fudge seems to be a little under the weather I think. Not that she looks pathetic; it’s just that she has been sneezing quite a bit for a few days already. Her eyes also look a little watery and she lets out this tinee little coughs every once in a while. Only, I'm not convinced she’s really that sick. She still is chasing Donut around the house and she’s got a kahuna of an appetite. So, she’s really fine. Perhaps, she just caught a little cold. She still is the chronic attention seeker.  If she is sick, then she is not sick enough.

I really have to chuckle each time she sneezes. She just looks really funny and sounds too cute , and when you happen to look at her as she lets out a sneeze, she takes the time to look at you and then attempts a half meow. Hilarious!

Tally me banana...

The bananas finally began to look a little yellowy and I waste no time in whipping up the batter to deep fry those bananas to make my own goreng pisang. It seemed like a crazy thing to do to be whipping up pisang to goreng at 8 pm on a weekday, just as soon as I come home from work. But I did not want my pisangs to over-ripe, and besides, I got a craving that needed to be satisfied. Never mind if I haven’t really ate my dinner yet and that I started battering at a crazy time after work. BUT, the fact remained that I need to be fed with goreng pisang and therefore I must. Doesn't matter how long it will take me to get there.

One thing with bananas though, I never know which is the right type of bananas to goreng. Not knowing the exact ones to use usually resulted in a hit and miss. But this time, I didn’t care if it was going to turn out bad, as at least I can tell myself that I tried. Good for me it turned out pretty ok and I was done within half an hour. The batter was crispy and the bananas were just nice to be used for frying. Accompanied with a hot cup of home-made "half-past six" teh tarek (pull tea), I felt like I just had a small bite of home; transporting myself back to my parent's sofa and enjoying a Sunday afternoon tea with them.

See, I’m not that hard to please, right! I’m happy, tummy’s happy and I have some leftovers for breakfast the next day. What a perfect way to end the day.

Rain

I must have been dead to the world last night, and had much difficulty peeling myself out of bed this morning. As I walked out of the apartment, I realised that the entire ground was all wet, the sky a little dreary, accompanied by a light breeze. It must have been raining quite a bit and I didn't even wake up from it. It did look like some hard rain there!

For some reason though, the wet grround, the dreary sky and the light breeze lifted my mood. It made me smile the moment the gentle breeze brushed against my face as I looked out to the world ahead of me. It was a nice walk to the office.

Going bananas

I have been monitoring these bananas for a few days now...and they still haven't change colour since I bought them last Saturday to make some goreng pisang. I do honestly think it's about time they start turning yellow already! 

Apparently, these pisangs are just not ripe enough and I can't even peel the skin off  for crying out loud! The skin is just stuck to whatever that is inside it. :(

Usually, if I do buy the green ones, they would turn yellow within a day. I guess this time, I bought bananas that are way too young for making a couple of savoury goreng pisangs. tsk tsk tsk.

I shall wait in great anticipation that they will be turning yellow in a couple of days so I can satisfy my goreng pisang craving.

Buay tahan!

Fudge is just...well, being Fudge! No matter how chor lor* she might look whenever she kior kars* with absolutely no care in the world, she still manages to exude this over-the-top cuteness that would make me roll my eyeballs!

I'm perplexly helplessly suckered and she's just so cute that I cannot stand it!

On some rare occasion, she may appear to be just a little bit shy...

Enuff said! This cat got me; hook, line and sinker...

* CHOR LOR : Hokkien for rough or crude or crass. Very unadylike

* KIAO KAR: Hokkien for idling the the time away, spreading legs wide

If condoms had sponsors...

Highlighted as lame on lamebook. Although it is a little cheesy, I still think it's quite funny.

Source: Lamebook

Essentially, this is what I call a super boh-liao humour at a super boh-liao time of the day. Believe it or not, there are currently more than 185,000 boh liao people who became a fan of this on FB! Fancy that.

Bonsai

If there's one plant I'd go crazy for, it's gotta be the Bonsais. I like it for its sturdy looking structure, yet elegantly delicate while being so uniquely under-stated in its own way. My love for Bonsais must have started in my teens, but I can't quite remember what sparked my intense liking for it. I do remember those few times I stared at nicely grafted bonsais, I was lost in myself; marvelling at their delicate beauty. I loved them so much that I tried taking care of one myself more than 10 years ago.  Not surprisingly, that bonsai died a pitiful death in my hands, along with some other plants I attempted to nuture, and not forgetting killing my mom's cacti along the way (I only tried touching the sharp thingies o see how sharp they really were!!!) ...

Hence, staring and marvelling at the wonders of plants are just what I do nowadays. I draw the line in actually taking care of them for I make a lousy plant-caretaker. I don't have green thumbs and under my care, it's almost definite that they might die prematurely. The plants we have at home is solely Silver Bullet's responsibility and I only help water them once in a while; more for fear of me killing them all. I stopped thinking of Bonsais altogether, until the recent weekend away in Pattaya.

The hotel which we stayed in had  used Bonsais for most of their table decorations and given my liking for them, it is not that difficult to re-stir my interest.They even sold them at the lobby and each time I passed them by, I would gawk at them and mentioned that I'll buy one when we check out.  Checked out we did, but I changed my mind on purchasing it; mainly because I just couldn't be bothered to act on it in the end. It was too much of a hassle to go to the sales person, ask to take a look at a few, choose one which I like, pick, make a decision, linger around, pay, wait for them to pack, and make others wait while we are still lugging around luggages. You know, the works.  Also at the back of my mind, I don't think I want to be responsible for another death of a beautiful Bonsai...

I should have known though that the mentions of wanting to buy a 450 baht Bonsai plant in the presence of my mother-in-law while telling Silver Bullet to remind me each time we passed by there and then not acting on it in the end, would result in an utterly unexpected and a surprise gift a few days later! And that's exactly what they did.They bought me a Bonsai plant after we were gone. Honestly, they  they REALLY shouldn't have. Me and my big mouth..eventhough,  I love it! I love it! I love it! (Thanks Mum & Dad!).

Pretty, ain't it? Only, I don't think I'm capable of nurturing it without killing it and for good measures, will leave it in Silver Bullet's hand. I will, however, continue to be mesmerised by its beauty and marvel at its presence as it takes up a permanent resident in our balcony.

Tumeric Plant

It has only been less than 3 months since I last took a picture of it, and this home-grown tumeric plant is thriving well! They are getting so crowded in one pot that Silver Bullet had to transfer out some into another pot recently to prevent overcrowding. So now, we have TWO pots of  healthy-looking tumeric plants.

One thing for sure, the leaves do look different from the ones my Mom gave me to use for the rendang. The leaves she supplied me were at least 5x bigger and longer than what we are growing now. It makes me wonder if they should be getting bigger and how much more can they grow? Or if this is of a different variety altogether?

Only time will tell...

Saturday Lunch

Jimbaran Bali, located on the the 5th Floor within Food Avenue of MBK is likely to be the only one Indonesian food available in the whole of Bangkok today. As of now, I dare to bet my last baht on it being the only one since we discovered the closure of the only Indonesian restaurant sometime last year.

It may just be a small section of the food court, but the Nasi Goreng Special does make the trip to MBK all worth it, given the scarcity of Indonesian food around here. It may not be the best Indonesian food, but at least they are decent in taste and service. Good enough for us to want to get out of the house and step into busy, busy MBK on a Saturday just for lunch. They do seem to always have a  stream of steady customers and that could only be a good sign for the business.

I also like the Soto Ayam as well as the Indonesian-style satay there, too. Besides, they are not too stingy with the portions and offer quite a generous serving of the dish! The Nasi Goreng does make our trip there a worthwhile one.

 

I hope this one stall will be around for a long(er) time to come.

While I was sleeping...

Silver Bullet took these candid shots of Ah-Nut on two separate occasions and showed it to me only later when I was awake. I was, of course, fast asleep and oblivious to the world.

There's no question about it that Ah-Nut's my cat.You will hardly ever see him cosying up to Silver Bullet. The first pic is oh-so-endearing,. I must have rubbed his belly in my sleep; but I question his motives on the second pic....hmmmmm....

And yes, I usually cover my face with a pillow when I'm sleeping. God forbid anyone tries to take that pillow away from me!

Shorter days ahead?

News has it that the recent quake in Chile has shifted the earth's axis, thus changing the entire Earth's rotation, thereby shortening the length of days on our already vulnerable planet. The article can be found here.

It's about time we live life and worry less about things at work that needs to be done by yesterday, me thinks.That being said, it does make sense to start shortening our working hours and work days as well,eh! ;D

Bizarre Hotel Concept

Upon reading the article, I could't help but agree on the headline which read "The World's Most Inappropriate Love Hotel".

There is really some super sick sickos out there. Just completely bizarre! Only in Thailand.

Nail remover anyone?

Silver Bullet had actually seen some of these lying around in his office and had taken a photo of it to share with me.

I don't know why anyone would want to have their nails removed, unless they are made of acrylic, but apparently this kind of technology now comes in a bottle.

P.S: I do think it's meant to say "Nail POLISH Remover", but I can never be too sure considering this is Thailand. And weird things do happen time and again.

Instant Satay

The world of instant food is thriving well!

On Vicvanvinkle's recommendation, I hauled back a couple of vacuumed packed satays, apparently a housebrand by NTUC Fairprice, back to Bangkok from my last trip back home in Singapore.

I'll be honest - I'm always iffy when it comes to hawker food made instant for mass consumption simply because, my experiences with those, have been extreme disappointment. Instant pratas and curry puffs, for example, are nothing but a lump of bleaaahhh playdoh. So when Vicvanvinkle suggested I give these Pak Satay a try, I was more than just skeptical. But somehow, she managed to assure me that these are good stuff, and to her, they tasted authentic. As skeptical as I was, I decided to give it a go. I only tried them recently after having brought them home since February.

My verdict:

I tried both the beef and chicken and I have to agree with Vicvanvinkle that they do taste authentic. Both are very tasty and so, so simple to make (thaw and stir fry). In fact, I like the peanut sauce quite a lot too. I am pleasantly surprised by the quality and taste of this brand. So yummy!

This brand is definitely a keeper in my books. Thanks Vic! Definitely something I need to remember to buy in bulk next time I go back to Singapore. My gripe is...what are the chances of NTUC taking the product off the shelf next time I want it?

Sunset in Pattaya

I don't know where time went in the last few days and I can't really remember what we did while in Pattaya; except that we seem to have something better to do by being out of the resort most of the time. It was supposed to be a relaxing weekend (which we did have), but somehow, the term "relaxing" doesn't seem complete since we did not even make it to nuah by the pool to lounge around, have a lazy swim or read. In fact, out of the 4 days we were there, we only managed to catch the sunset on the last evening at the resort!

I forgot how beautiful a sunset by the sea can be. I'll be a little gutted had I missed such a gorgeous sight.

Cuteness overload

While I'm always happy to get out of Bangkok whenever we have the chance to, I am also equally happy to go back to our little apartment after that few days away from home. It is always nice to get back to our own bed, our own bathroom and most of all, going home to the cats. I am always wondering how they are doing and always eager to see them at the end of each trip. At the same time, I can't help wondering if they haven't kill each other yet while we are away.

They can be such a handful, those darn little furries whenever we are around, but I miss them all the same when we leave them at home.

And tell me this isn't cuteness overload!

Wind of change

I’ve been on a high. I’m as happy as pigs in mud.Or in shit. Or whatever the expression is to denote exhilaration.

Being able to get out of town and join our Dutch parents in Pattaya for the long weekend was nice and part of the reason for my high spirits. The other main reason is really because I am officially out (at my request), from the group of NastyNasty Client after an 8 month tumultuous ordeal. It has been a long wait since I last spoke to my CEO to take me off the stipulated account. And as of last Friday, I am F.R.E.E at last! I am finally out of the toxic grasps of the evil witches. I'd say no amount of money would make me want to ever work with them again in the near future. While I have my fair share of nasty clients in the past decade, none of those can be compared to my encounter with the Nasty, Nasty Evil Witches whom I have been tolerating in the last 8 months. It was really the worst time of my career and Nasty, Nasty Evil Clients have all single-handedly killed me. In no circumstances would I ever subject myself or recommend anyone to be subjected to a corporate culture that breeds rudeness and show no respect to their fellow business associates. I would gladly admit defeat and pull myself away from them, rather than allow them to suck me dry and fill me with all the negative energies they have managed to incubate and breed.

I am glad THAT chapter is finally over. I hope the next change with a new client and a new team, things will look up for the better. It could easily be a different hole, same shit situation, but I'm convinced that I have indeed met with the the epi-centre and epitome of evil at its best.

For now, at least I’m seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. It has really been a while since I felt such a sense of relief.

Skyline

Glimpse of the evening sky as we head out of Bangkok for a long weekend last Friday.

Amazing isn't it? I wish the picture could have been sharper had we not been  in a moving car, and the fact that it was so impromptu and I only managed to fish out  my mobile camera.