Of all the type of shopping in the whole wide world, bra shopping is just a nightmare for me. I dread having to shop for one or a few. It’s just the sheer agony of having to pick the one I like, and then having to queue and try them on one by one. (and lord knows how much time these women like to hog the fitting rooms for hours on end, just like they hog the toilet cubicles each time they have to pee). The thing with bras is that every single type and design fits you (in this case, me) differently. Every design is cut differently and therefore, the sizes might vary. What is size say B in one design or brand could be an A or C in others. Don’t ask me why, it’s just the way it is, and how I have found out while trying to look for a decent one here.
So while I’m sure that I’m such and such a size, somehow, when I shop for bras in Thailand, the sizes would throw me off balance, and very much dependent on the style and brands. Hence, there is no way of knowing if they fit well unless you try every single one of them. That’s why, for the life of me, I cannot stand shopping for brassieres. It takes hours just to find one decent fit which is:
a) one that I (or the husband) like
b) fits very well
c) and not ridiculously priced.
For me, I would try and delay to shop for one for as long as possible. I usually make sure that I invest in a few good ones that last me over several years. I don’t know how other people do it, but it really is something I have yet to find an enjoyment and patience for. Every time I know it’s a replacement time, a dark cloud seems to loom over my head…and I would reluctantly acknowledge the fact that I need one and drag my ass to the department store, hoping I don’t have to come back for several more years.
Today might be one of those days again, a constant nagging at the back of my head since last week's aftermath. For now, I'm thinking I just might loon for a little bit more before it becomes dire.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Straight from source
My love for chai tea, and not being able to find them as easily in this country has caused me some serious grief. Of course, I can always make some home-made ones, and, I have made them myself on several occasions. However, I do find it tedious, especially if I have to make it quite often, just because I love it so much. Isn’t it more convenient to just get the ready- made ones from the supermarket, anyways?
My incessant gripes about not seeing my brand of chai tea on the shelves anymore each time we do our grocery shopping must have been quite an earful to Silver Bullet. He must have sensed my disappointment and on his last trip to India, he surprised me with a bagful of these:
He presented them to me, full of glee and looking so proud of himself that he found THE authentic chai tea straight from its original source! Ahhh…bless my husband and making me fall in love all over again. (On the hindsight though, I guess it’s just his way to shut me up for a while. After all, I DID let out an earful about stuff going off the shelves as soon as there’s an indication that it’s something I really like)
There and then, he then remarked that he thought it’d be a good idea that he’ll buy more on his next trip up, which happened to be just a week ago. At least, it gives us a chance to stock up a few more of those if I really do like the taste of it.
Love the taste to hell, I did; especially the Green Chai Tea. But, just as luck would have it for me, I received a call from him while he was trying to buy more of the tea. It turned out that they no longer have any Green Chai Tea on the shelves, and he just HAD to call to tell me just exactly that. Figures, right. We had a good laugh about it. As Silver Bullet puts it, my curse has indeed gone cross-borders now.
My incessant gripes about not seeing my brand of chai tea on the shelves anymore each time we do our grocery shopping must have been quite an earful to Silver Bullet. He must have sensed my disappointment and on his last trip to India, he surprised me with a bagful of these:
He presented them to me, full of glee and looking so proud of himself that he found THE authentic chai tea straight from its original source! Ahhh…bless my husband and making me fall in love all over again. (On the hindsight though, I guess it’s just his way to shut me up for a while. After all, I DID let out an earful about stuff going off the shelves as soon as there’s an indication that it’s something I really like)
There and then, he then remarked that he thought it’d be a good idea that he’ll buy more on his next trip up, which happened to be just a week ago. At least, it gives us a chance to stock up a few more of those if I really do like the taste of it.
Love the taste to hell, I did; especially the Green Chai Tea. But, just as luck would have it for me, I received a call from him while he was trying to buy more of the tea. It turned out that they no longer have any Green Chai Tea on the shelves, and he just HAD to call to tell me just exactly that. Figures, right. We had a good laugh about it. As Silver Bullet puts it, my curse has indeed gone cross-borders now.
Have a Little Faith
My thought is that the book ain’t as powerful as "Tuesdays with Morrie". This book is perhaps about rekindling faith. However, the way it was written is not so much about the type of (whatever) faith, beliefs and religious stance , rather the journey of life itself. There is so much humility in there and it’s more about embracing our differences and respecting them. To me, it is about having apathy, and being accountable to yourself and what you believe in.
It definitely ain’t gonna change a non-believer (of religions) to a believer. I don’t think it was meant to be interpreted that way. Rather, it is more to reflect on your own beliefs and how far a belief has changed as one progresses with life. Whatever “faith” may be, it reflects on hope, losing it, having the strength to find it again and then finding it to fuel that spark in one’s life.
The book condenses a journey, most of which I can’t quite relate to. Maybe, not just yet. However, if anything, there are some parts of this book which had me in a little bit of tears. It is still an enjoyable read and also a rather heart-tugging one.
Image of the book courtesy of Google Images
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Chaos or Carnival?
Almost the entire Sukhumvit seemed to be in a gridlocked today. As I made my way to my pilates class this morning, I was greeted by a whole lot of reds just at the end of our Soi. There were plenty of noise with honks, cheering from the Reds as well as aggressive-sounding rally speeches blaring out loud, drowning out other noises. This was the scene at about 11 am this morning, almost right out of my door-step:
One can only speculate what's going to happen next. For now, while it did seemed rather chaotic, everything looks peaceful still. Actually, it's almost like a carnival out there. I can only wonder why anyone in the right mind would want to stand around blocking roads in the sizzling hot sun. All they were doing apart from contributing more to traffic and noise pollution, were making a lot of noise, sleep, eat, chit-chat and walking around as if they were having a time of their lives while waiting around for some instructions.
After my pilates class and a round of foot massage and mani-pedi about almost 4 hours later, the crowd was still there.It was still a peaceful demonstration, but noises louder than before. I thought it was kinda bizarre to see the Reds directing traffic and all. There were blockades everywhere and I saw on the Thai news channel that they were all congregating at Central World. Incidentally, I also received a news update stating that Siam Paragon, Siam Centre and Siam Discover Shopping Mall were closed at 1pm today. The vehicles on the main road outside my Soi have yet to dissipate at 4pm as I walked my way home:
One can only speculate what's going to happen next. For now, while it did seemed rather chaotic, everything looks peaceful still. Actually, it's almost like a carnival out there. I can only wonder why anyone in the right mind would want to stand around blocking roads in the sizzling hot sun. All they were doing apart from contributing more to traffic and noise pollution, were making a lot of noise, sleep, eat, chit-chat and walking around as if they were having a time of their lives while waiting around for some instructions.
I'm really doubtful if they know or aware what they are actually fighting for. The whole thing to me almost looked kinda silly and really pointless!
WanPerang's Wedding
This post is way overdue. By about 2 months to be exact; and that’s just because I have been waiting for Silver Bullet to process the photos taken from his DSLR as he willingly appointed himself as the unofficial photographer for my brother’s wedding which happened in February this year. It has also been almost exactly a year to the date since the engagement. For Silver Bullet, the wedding just presented an opportunity for him to mess around with his photography equipment.
A family photograph with the newly-weds. After which, the couple would spend hours sitting on the dias as family and friends congratulate them and have a chance to pose for a few photographs.
I really thought this is a nice picture of the newly-weds, shot by his truly.
My brother is, no doubt more culturally inclined that I ever was. His wedding therefore was more traditional in following most of the Malay traditional wedding – an institution which holds a very sacred position in Malay society. While I have been exposed to Malay weddings, I have to admit that I have never been so closely involved with a traditional one. This would have to be my first ever involvement and I swear I’m amazed by all of the grandeur of rituals and cultural traditions in an elaborate celebration
Typically, the wedding couple will be treated like King and Queen for the day. In this case, my brother and his wife had the privilege of being The King and Queen for 2 consecutive days! That’s because, the wedding reception was held over 2 days – one hosted by the groom after the Akad Nikah, and then by the bride’s family on the day after.
For us really, while most of the tasks were to help out wherever and whenever needed, we also get to stuff our faces with incredible selection of food over the course of 2 days, and then some! In the Malay community, food is always the heart of everything and it usually makes or breaks the wedding reception. This wedding really had some of the most delicious food I’ve ever tasted. To not even think of tar-paoing back to Bangkok is just a crime.
Time just flew! The food, ingested and digested; wishes and congratulations offered, and the now not-so-new newly-weds have already gone and returned from their honeymoon. In a blink of an eye, they have already spent 2 months of their lives living as husband and wife with a whole life ahead of them. What are left of the wedding are really memories for them to cherish for the rest of their lives as it signifies another milestone in this moment in time.
Here’s just some snapshots from their wedding, courtesy of Silver Bullet:
Groom's side bearing trays of gifts and mas kahwin
My brother is, no doubt more culturally inclined that I ever was. His wedding therefore was more traditional in following most of the Malay traditional wedding – an institution which holds a very sacred position in Malay society. While I have been exposed to Malay weddings, I have to admit that I have never been so closely involved with a traditional one. This would have to be my first ever involvement and I swear I’m amazed by all of the grandeur of rituals and cultural traditions in an elaborate celebration
Typically, the wedding couple will be treated like King and Queen for the day. In this case, my brother and his wife had the privilege of being The King and Queen for 2 consecutive days! That’s because, the wedding reception was held over 2 days – one hosted by the groom after the Akad Nikah, and then by the bride’s family on the day after.
For us really, while most of the tasks were to help out wherever and whenever needed, we also get to stuff our faces with incredible selection of food over the course of 2 days, and then some! In the Malay community, food is always the heart of everything and it usually makes or breaks the wedding reception. This wedding really had some of the most delicious food I’ve ever tasted. To not even think of tar-paoing back to Bangkok is just a crime.
Time just flew! The food, ingested and digested; wishes and congratulations offered, and the now not-so-new newly-weds have already gone and returned from their honeymoon. In a blink of an eye, they have already spent 2 months of their lives living as husband and wife with a whole life ahead of them. What are left of the wedding are really memories for them to cherish for the rest of their lives as it signifies another milestone in this moment in time.
Here’s just some snapshots from their wedding, courtesy of Silver Bullet:
Groom's side bearing trays of gifts and mas kahwin
Groom accompanied by family members for the big event; Bride's side inspecting the gifts that were promised a year ago:
The akad nikah ceremony, the signing of the marriage contract; kissing of hands as an acknowledgment that the marriage contract is now official.
A family photograph with the newly-weds. After which, the couple would spend hours sitting on the dias as family and friends congratulate them and have a chance to pose for a few photographs.
Post-akad nikah, the couple was accompanied by friends, relatives, musicians and bunga manggar (palm blossom) carriers to the wedding reception hosted by the Groom and family. The couple continued to sit on the dias just like King and Queen.
The next day, the groom was again accompanied by friends, relatives, musicians and bunga manggar (palm blossom) carriers to the bride's house. To add gaiety to the joyful affair, the groom and his party were required to overcome humorous obstacles before being allowed to go in. The traditional martial arts (pencak silat) was performed, followed by a round of traditional dance.
The cutting of the cake at the bride's place to indicate that the ceremony is about to end.
Anyhow, here's our congratulations once again to the now-not-so new newly weds! May happiness be with you for eternity. :)
The cutting of the cake at the bride's place to indicate that the ceremony is about to end.
It was quite a tiring 2-day, really! I cannot imagine how exhaustive it was for the couple, who spent most of their time sitting at the dias for hours on end. Not to mention having to continuously smile at anyone and everyone throughout the day! You've got to admire such resilience though. Nevertheless, I'm sure they enjoyed the day thoroughly after being treated like King and Queen, not in just one day, but for 2 consecutive days! A once in a lifetime experience, indeed!
Anyhow, here's our congratulations once again to the now-not-so new newly weds! May happiness be with you for eternity. :)
Friday, April 2, 2010
"Red" Bangkok cabbie
I was taken aback a little when I jumped into a cab to get home a few days ago. As I got in, it seemed like the taxi driver was blasting some speeches from the rally on his radio. It sounded quite aggressive and it was loud! He tried to be friendly while I sat uncomfortably at the back, and asked if I am Japanese. To that I said "no” in Thai, and told him where I hailed from. I don’t know where the relation was, but immediately he said “I si daeng” while pointing to his red scarf to me underneath his collar and sang out loud that he loves The Square Face. I just said “ok” stoically,
I was thinking whatever it is dude, just don’t drag me in. and I immediately turned my attention to my phone. It is, essentially, the best trick to get out of an awkward situation. He didn’t press it, but I’m sure if I entertained a little, he would blabbed his mouth off about being a red and supporting the ex-Prime Minister…a position I don’t wish to get myself into while this country is in the middle of a political turmoil.As if life is not complicated enough.
Strangely, that small incident was enough to spark off a flickering light-bulb in my head to consciously remind myself not to wear red or yellow when I leave the house till this country sorts itself out!
I was thinking whatever it is dude, just don’t drag me in. and I immediately turned my attention to my phone. It is, essentially, the best trick to get out of an awkward situation. He didn’t press it, but I’m sure if I entertained a little, he would blabbed his mouth off about being a red and supporting the ex-Prime Minister…a position I don’t wish to get myself into while this country is in the middle of a political turmoil.As if life is not complicated enough.
Strangely, that small incident was enough to spark off a flickering light-bulb in my head to consciously remind myself not to wear red or yellow when I leave the house till this country sorts itself out!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Fishball Noodle Soup
Yummy fish-ball noodle soup, straight from my kitchen! I forgot to include the other condiments such as beans sprouts, chopped spring onions and cilantro as well as some deep fried shallots. Doesn't that just look appetizing to you?
Ok. I lied.
I got too busy and too lazy to cook for myself, and so the only "cooking" I did was to boil those fishballs which I bought from the supermarket. Took me all, but 3 minutes! I can't even be bothered to make the egg myself. The omelette was essentially a left-over from the food I have ordered the day before.
The noodles and condiments actually came out from...ta-da! An instant packet. I think it is laden with MSG, though, as I just cannot get rid of my thirst thereafter. But it still tasted pretty good, and most importantly, not too heavy a meal for my hungry stomach which was in need of a light(er) meal.
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Ok. I lied.
I got too busy and too lazy to cook for myself, and so the only "cooking" I did was to boil those fishballs which I bought from the supermarket. Took me all, but 3 minutes! I can't even be bothered to make the egg myself. The omelette was essentially a left-over from the food I have ordered the day before.
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