Girl in Bionic Suit

On being "poor" in the new economy

2010-04-18T04:34:00.007+08:00

Someone told me that the compounded inflation rate is 12% for the past three years.

At the same time I discover that the interest rate on the balances in my deposit account is now 0.1% p.a. - that's a total of $0.08/month (not even 10c!) pittance interest for every $1,000 I have with the bank.

I'm bleeding money.

On being "fat"

2010-04-18T03:47:00.010+08:00

I need to lose weight.

For a start by BMI calculations I am not overweight. But by the freak Asian standards my size is simply unacceptable. Asian women are expected to be physically petite and/or slim with fair flawless skin. Sad to say, I fail brilliantly in those stereotyped expectations.

I am not a fan of pain but I endured over 30 sessions of acupuncture for slimming. To be fair it was a little effective if and when I went for it regularly. For the small positive result I was buying confidence in large amounts of pain money and time. It took a while but my brain finally processed that it was not worth it.

So I picked sports. Bodycombat + yoga -- both of which I absolutely love. And then as I always do, I got overzealous and injured myself. Eager to restart after a short resting period, my injuries got worse and I had to abandon both activities. I was devastated.

So I run. I dislike running but it is the only sport at the moment that I can pack into an irregular working schedule without a lot of hassle. I have ran/jogged/walked three times to date - felt like fainting/vomiting/dying multiple times along the way - and survived. With no injuries. It's a good sign.

Untitled

2010-04-18T03:11:00.008+08:00

I miss writing. Not for work but aimless writing; the process of pouring crowded thoughts into words. Emptying my mind, and having a sense of calm after doing so.

Yet my trains of thoughts run along too fast to capture them in coherent sentences. Cluttered mind. Like a child.

A month ago an intern joined my office; he sits right in front of me. Separated only by his computer and mine. Others find him nerdy; I think he is extremely cute. He is only 21 (even though he looks more mature than his age). Since then I feel old like an owl.

And then in a moment of impulse I cut off my bangs myself. It was a futile virgin attempt, extremely inexperienced, which explained why the end product now hangs zig-zagged just below my brows. I'm convincing myself that it will make a cool statement.

On the train from Paris to Amsterdam

2009-05-03T18:04:00.003+08:00

I've always loved road trips. Sitting by the window plugged into my music watching the world wheeze by through the looking glass. It calms me, perhaps like what yoga or mediation does for those who practise it.

I like being alone, or with Dee and my dog. I like not having to make small talk with people. I like smart people who make me laugh without even trying.

I spend my money traveling to beautiful cities with its magnificent architecture and gorgeous skies. Then in my quietest moments the only one I remember is Tally the one place I hardly even explored during my stay. So it's true, that one can go round world but never really leave where the heart remains.

Sent from my iPhone

Remembering

2008-05-23T23:05:00.009+08:00

This Mother's Day, they decided to do it differently and extended invitations to the grandkids (including me!) and great-grandkids to come along for the ride.

We were the earliest to arrive that day! It was a beautiful day, so after greeting and wishing Grandma a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, we raced one another to the pool. I was only too happy to break in my new michael kors swimwear which just arrived in the mail.

We splashed, played with random kids sharing the pool, and sunbathed in the shallow end of the waters while waiting for the rest of them to arrive. After 3 hours of swimming and soaking, our skin was so pruned.

Finally everyone arrived. There were almost 50 of us! and each family brought delicious homemade dishes for the celebration potluck! Grandma was really pleased and couldn't stop smiling, and scolding everyone- which I thought was probably her way to show that she loved us... typical Asian grandmas!

We had a grand time. We made merry, overate the oh-so-yummy food and took lots of photos. A young cousin who was very into photography, even brought his expensive gears and took semi-professional portraits of each family with GRANDMAMA, the main lead and celebrity of the evening.

*

The Sun morning 2 weeks later, I was awoken by my younger sister who was talking really loudly on the phone. What's going on, I asked.

"You better call mom now", was all that she said.

I did; she sounded panicky, "Grandma, she can't breathe.. she.. may not make it.. I am on my way to the hospital now.. "

Everything happened so quickly, we did not have time to react. Few of us made it to say our last goodbyes; Grandma passed away before the ambulance reached the final destination.

*

As was the custom, her 24-hour wake was held for 5 days. Most of us were there every single day.

The photo used for the wake was the one which was taken on Mother's Day, that special day when she dressed up in a beautiful maroon cheongsam top and smiled so widely, her sparkly eyes were mere lines. The one which was taken only 2 weeks earlier.

During the cremation, tears flowed till there were no more. Grandma's ashes were placed near her husband's who died 26 years ago and, as my mom often told me, loved her more than anything in the world.

R.I.P. Grandma.

The Calling - Could It Be Any Harder

You left me with goodbye and open arms
A cut so deep I don't deserve
You were always invincible in my eyes
The only thing against us now is time

Chorus:
Could it be any harder to say goodbye and without you,
Could it be any harder to watch you go, to face what's true
If I only had one more day

I lie down and blind myself with laughter
A quick fix of hope is what I'm needing
How I wish that I could turn back the hours
But I know I just don't have the power

Chorus

I'd jump at the chance,
We'd drink and we'd dance
And I'd listen close to your every word,
As if it's your last, I know it's your last,
Cause today, oh, you're gone

Chorus

Like sand on my feet,
The smell of sweet perfume
You stick to me forever
And I wish you didn't go
I wish you didn't go, I wish you didn't go away
To touch you again,
With life in your hands,
It couldn't be any harder.. harder.. harder

Part 5: Discovering Ayutthaya, the Ancient Capital

2008-05-16T16:05:00.001+08:00

Posts in this series:

Part 1: Arrival in the City of Angels
Part 2: Sick in Bangkok
Part 3: Main Activities - Shopping & Eating
Part 4: Scaling the Heights - Golden Mount & The Dome
Part 5: Discovering Ayutthaya, the Ancient Capital

Day 6

The day before, we booked a guided tour to Ayutthaya, the ancient Siamese capital for over 400 years before it was conquered and destroyed by retreating Burmese forces in 1767.

Early at 6am, we waited outside our guesthouse for the prearranged transport to River City Shopping Complex where the coach bus awaited. But it did not come and we nearly had a heart attack because we were still at the same spot at the time when the coach was supposed to set off from River City (that was half an hour away).

Most fortunately we managed to arrive in time to catch it (unbelievable) with help from the kind folks of Suk 11, and a cab driver who drove us to River City in record time. He did so by zig zagging amongst vehicles at crazy speeds and driving on road shoulders at the highway. Yes I know; we are still very thankful that we are alive today.

Our 1st stop was Bangk Pa-in Summer Palace, built during the Ayutthaya era and used by royal families past and present as a summer retreat. It was supposedly "a charming collection of palaces and pavilions" but most of the architecture were really not that charming or magnificent. The waters in the lakes were a muddy, rusty brown which, according to my tour guide, was caused by the oppressing heat (?). Only the well-maintained lawns seemed fitting of a royal palace.

Aisawan Thipaya-art ("Divine Seat of Personal Freedom") sitting in the middle of the lake. It was designated as the archetype of the Thai pavilion ("sala Thai"), a national symbol of Thailand.

See the long, covered bridge behind the pavilion? Wives of the kings would peer through that louvered wall to see the outside world without being seen themselves, so said my tour guide.

"BREAD FOR FISH" for 15 baht per small loaf to feed the monstrous sized fishes and turtles in the lake.

A family of very nicely manicured elephants. Their neighbours, the rabbits, lived nearby.

Interesting: The Death of Queen Sunanda

At almost 11am, we finally reached Wat Maha That at Ayutthaya, some 89 kilometres to the north of Bangkok. Over 600 years old, Wat Maha That was the heart and soul of the Ayutthaya people. It was almost completely destroyed by the Burmese during Thai-Burmese war.

Chedis (Thai-style stupas) with the tops rebuilt. It once housed a 16-meter Buddha covered with 340 kg of gold, but the Burmese set fire to the statue to melt the gold and destroyed the temple in the process.

3 headless Buddha images and a ruined stupa

Remaining pillars of Wihan Phra Si Sanphet

Viharn Phra Mongkol Bopitah which housed a large bronze cast Buddha image.

Restored bronze cast Buddha image (painted?) in gold.

The famous sandstone Buddha head embedded in the roots of a bodhi tree. I found it eerie.

Remains of its previous splendor

A row of headless statues with only 1 of them restored.

Stupas

Later, we took a luxury cruise back to Bangkok, and had a scrumptious buffet lunch onboard as we sailed down Chao Phraya River. There were so many wats (Thai temples) during the 4-hour cruise that I lost count.

Nearing Bangkok, we saw the beautiful Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn).

That night, our young host forgot our pre-ordered homemade dinner and needless to say, I was pretty bummed. Starving by then, we had the none-too-tasty Subway for our last dinner of the trip.

*

Day 7

We made up for our poor dinner with a hearty brunch at UCC Café. We also shopped around for the last time, before we returned to Suk 11 to bid farewell and set off for the airport. Just before boarding the plane, I had a sampling of the mango sticky rice. It was, as I thought, heavenly, and the perfect sweet ending to our week long summer trip.

Part 4: Scaling the Heights - Golden Mount & The Dome

2008-05-15T15:05:00.000+08:00

Posts in this series:

Part 1: Arrival in the City of Angels
Part 2: Sick in Bangkok
Part 3: Main Activities - Shopping & Eating
Part 4: Scaling the Heights - Golden Mount & The Dome
Part 5: Discovering Ayutthaya, the Ancient Capital

Day 5

Our cab driver dropped us near Rama III Park where we were approached (for the 2nd time this trip) by con men attempting to lure tourists into various gem, jewelry and tailor scams. We played dumb and scooted off.

Looking across Rama III Park at the Loha Prasat.

The Loha Prasat

Statue of King Rama III. Kings in Thailand are referred to as "Rama" followed by Roman ordinal in English translation. The current ruler is King Rama IX.

We walked through a street lined with carpentry and wood shops, and a fire station to reach the base of Golden Mount. Curiously, there was a myriad of graves and plaques at the base and on the slopes along the spiral stairway. The graves soon gave way to a line of tired bells which had seen better days.

We huffed and puffed, and finally made it to the top where we were treated to cool mountain breezes and a 360 degree view of Bangkok. Frankly though, the view wasn't spectacular; it was in fact, a cheerless sight of slums surrounding the temple.

One of the nicer views. See Loha Prasat in a speck on the right? That was how far we hiked, man.

The large golden chedi which was too huge to fit into the frame of a regular point and shoot camera.

Later the day, we scaled a different building, this time all 63 floors of it at The Dome at State Tower.

That evening, it didn't rain like it did for the past few nights, but it was drizzling, so we were restricted indoors to the Distil bar counter. We passed time by checking out the bartender with a hot bod, and glancing wistfully at the balcony with big comfy sofas. Then the drizzle stopped, and I literally ran out onto the balcony with my drink.

View from Distil, The Dome at State Tower

As we were leaving Distil, Monet discovered Sirocco on the other side of the same floor where apparently, a full course meal cost a couple of hundred dollars. Personally I wasn't into fine dining in semi darkness (it wasn't as bright as it seemed in the pics on the website) but I liked its colorful Sky Bar which jutted into the skyline of the city and offered one of the the best views from The Dome. There was also a live jazz band working their magic as you dine and wine.

We also checked out Breeze, the seafood restaurant on 52nd floor, where diners without reservations at Sirocco were directed (this was the case when I was there, probably not a permanent arrangement).

This latest addition to the dining scene at The Dome came with a balcony front that resembled the canopy of a Star Wars TIE Fighter! At Breeze, the skyline views were comparable to Sirocco but not the ambiance. Because, there above the outdoor diners, were the hotel rooms. How would you like to be watched by hotel guests from their room windows while you dine?

That night we had hiccups with making noodles for supper and I had to go to bed on a growling stomach. I wished I had known to dial 1711 for McDonald's delivery.

Part 3: Main Activities - Shopping & Eating

2008-05-14T14:05:00.000+08:00

Posts in this series:

Part 1: Arrival in the City of Angels
Part 2: Sick in Bangkok
Part 3: Main Activities - Shopping & Eating
Part 4: Scaling the Heights - Golden Mount & The Dome
Part 5: Discovering Ayutthaya, the Ancient Capital

Day 3

One word: shopping. We trawled through Amarin Plaza, Gaysorn and finally CentralWorld. Like VivoCity, CentralWorld was so huge, we didn't even manage to finish shopping half of it before closing time.

It was a Saturday night, so we decided to go to Brown Sugar, one of the most popular jazz bar and restaurants. It is "one of Bangkok’s first and still one of its better bars for live music and a night out". I was glad it lived up to its name, because I enjoyed myself tremendously that night.

Part of the talented band [taken from upstairs of the bar]. The shining blob of white was the male singer in a tight-fitting shirt, and his beautiful partner was on the right. Both of them loved me because I clapped the loudest from above their heads. I also liked to think that it was because I was one of the few cute Asian females in the bar.

Something of note: when hailing a cab from the streets, most of the drivers seemed puzzled and shook their heads when we told them the location of the bar. We finally took a cab from a big hotel nearby. Turned out, the place was so near to where we were, the cab meter did not even jump at all from the base charge, even when we were stuck in the infamous traffic jams for at least 10-15 mins.

*

Day 4

We had authentic Lebanese cuisine for lunch at a modest restaurant outside Suk 11. It was a pretty tasty meal.

My beef kebab with very fragrant rice. The beef a little too tough for my liking. I had some chicken kebab off Monet's platter and it was scrumptious.

Delectable sauces to go with anything: (from top) garlic, chili, vanilla.

Erwan Shrine. Where many genuine and sincere prayers were apparently answered.

Bangkok's infamous traffic.

CentralWorld with its glass facade at night.

Part 2: Sick in Bangkok

2008-05-13T13:05:00.000+08:00

Posts in this series:

Day 2

During my first night in Bangkok, my cold developed into a wretched fever and inflamed throat. I couldn't breathe or swallow without feeling a piercing pain cutting through my throat. I hardly slept a wink and the following day, I made my virgin trip to a doctor in a foreign land: the medical clinic right next to my guesthouse. How was that for top-notch convenience?

My life-saving antibiotics and other medicine.

After seeing the doc's, we had lunch at UCC Café City 21 (Siam Centre, Level 1). It was our 3rd UCC Café after the ones in Hong Kong. The food did not disappoint. Although if I be frank, it wasn't the best which we'd tasted so far.

Monet ordered the waffle dessert for me, but I didn't partake much since I was ill. Monet said it was excellent.

We ventured out to explore the strip of boutiques and small retail shops opposite Siam Centre, where many quirky tees, apparel and accessories were on sale at relatively cheap prices. I would have purchased some of them, if not for the fact that most of them came only in one anorexic size, otherwise known as "free size".

Dinner was settled at Nooddi Noodles Bar (60/1 Silom Road), one of the mid range eateries recommended by Wikitravel. Nooddi seemed distinctly similar to Nooch The Noodle Bar (Singapore) in not only its name and the food it served, but the design and decor of the place as well. Like Nooch, it probably had its fans, but I thought the city had better food to offer.

After dinner, we immersed ourselves in Loft (Siam Discovery Center, Level 3), a large gift shop serving up clever, creative products ranging from holga cameras to cute bags to designer fish tanks. Many of the products were designed by local designers or imported from Japan. The prices could be rather steep, but like they said, creativity has its price.

On our way back, I saw this on one of the many uncompleted and abandoned buildings in the city:

Colorful graffiti wallpaper. It was home to a family of street dogs whose black/white markings on their fur made them look like an alternative breed of dog-cows.

We had supper at Tapas Cafe, a little Spanish bar and restaurant just 3 doors down from Suk 11.

Tapas Cafe, one of the best finds of the city.

The ambiance was cozy, there were cool paintings on the wall, and spunky Spanish and Latin music playing in the background, very friendly and attentive service, and great food and drinks at reasonable prices. For a moment I felt like I was in Europe rather than Southeast Asia.

Part 1: Arrival in the City of Angels

2008-05-12T12:05:00.000+08:00

Posts in this series:

Part 1: Arrival in the City of Angels
Part 2: Sick in Bangkok
Part 3: Main Activities - Shopping & Eating
Part 4: Scaling the Heights - Golden Mount & The Dome
Part 5: Discovering Ayutthaya, the Ancient Capital

Day 1

Monet and I booked ourselves on a plane out of town recently. That morning, after checking in impossibly early (to me, at least, since I always go to the counter at the last possible min lol), we checked out Terminal 3, the latest big glass building in the city of mega buildings, from the inside.

Look at that ceiling.

Waiting for the airport skytrain to take us city bums couple hundred of meters back to T1.

A full meal for a short 2-hour flight, which turned out pretty decent. The leg room seemed more generous than SQ's too.

A nice touch: they gave us female passengers fresh orchids pins when we touched down in Thailand.

Suvarnabhumi Airport

Coincidentally both Monet and I caught a chill before we boarded the plane. So as the plane descended, we suffered the most blistering pain in our blocked ears. When we reached Suk 11, our rustic, charming family-owned guesthouse, we took a long nap, hoping that it would help clear the cold, and only woke up just before dinner. That evening, we dined at Crepes & Co., "the best creperie in Bangkok" which WH highly recommended.

It might not look like it, but it was one of the finest dessert crepes I've had.

After dinner, we strolled to Cabbages and Condoms just down the street. It was an interesting restaurant with great online food reviews. We were too full to try out any of the dishes so we just made funny faces at the many tattered mannequins cladded in weird costumes made of condoms.

We made a quick trip to Pathumwan but the malls were closing for the day. So we explored the Sukhumvit night market stalls near our guesthouse before turning in for the night as my cold worsened.

Leaving my print

2008-04-15T11:43:00.001+08:00

I'm #218.

SIGHTSEEING BRAS BASAH ON A CLOUDLESS SUNDAY

2008-04-14T21:59:00.005+08:00

The past few months

2008-04-12T20:31:00.004+08:00

To say that this year, so far, had been like a curse ... was an understatement. I lost almost everything that I'd dedicated my efforts to achieve... right before my birthday. There was never a good time for bad things to happen, but still. The J*, M* and R*... gone up in black smoke, like a suffocating veil which threatened to blind everyone to all things else.

For a moment, I was crushed. No one could be sure if it was a big, fat conspiracy, but it certainly felt like it was. Still, with time, the pain numbed, even when the effects were still acutely felt. The world did not stop moving on and neither should I. If I had the resources to right the wrongs done to us, I would. I had never wished that I'd the influence/power as much as I did during this period.