Meerrryy meerry Xmas!

Merry Xmas to all!

Tadahhh.

Tried jogging twice since it's arrival. It was good sweating out and all but the whole jogging thing is still a torture to me. Have to push myself real hard... and to date, I've not been able to reach my target distance yet. Sad or wat. Cut my hair on Sunday. Finally I've decided to leave my hair in the hands of the Thais!!! And surprisingly, I like my new hair! Wakhahaha. No post-rebonding flat hair and after 2 days of washing, it remains as before. =) Given this very satisfying result, I wonder if I'll be going back to Jeremy again.

Xmas here is as good as dead. We didnt do anything on Xmas but went out for dinner and drinks with P and his friends on Xmas eve. It wasnt really a party or anything. The regular Xmas songs were off and as usual, Thai pop songs ruled. We had a very very full dinner followed by a very very full supper. I was so super full that I puked when I got home. Have a plan to travel up north with his friends next month for a short trip. That aside, I'm looking forward to CNY. Going home is so wonderful but the thought of spending lotsa money for this trip sends shiver down my back. Airtix is expensive cos it's festive season and... angpao!!! ROOOOAAARR. I wonder if I'll be getting angpao from all the seniors

Some pics taken at the farm when we were there yesterday to fetch my MIL

Panorama

Run... RUN!

P and I had tried heading to the stadium cos I had wanted to continue my regimen as before. Since I'll be home in another 1.5 months time, I certainly do not want my aunts to comment on me regaining weight. Anywayz, I almost died after my first run. I could barely complete my first 2.4km, to think that I was doing 3.5km at least thrice a week before moving here. Guess fitting in the gown was certainly a huge motivation then. I think I had ballooned quite a bit since, no joke!!!

SIL is into exercising as well. Quite remarkable for her age and the volume of work she has (plus looking after the kids). Anyways, just 2 days ago she bought a treadmill!!! Cool or what man. The machine is arriving today! Wakhahaha. I'm so looking forward to it. I can get up, jog, shower, jog, eat, jog. Jog jog jog jog jog!!! Woohoo~ Will even dream of jogging today. Hopefully she will try out the machine TODAY so that I can use it after her. Midnight jogging... how does it sound? ^-^

My curls are straightening and I am contemplating if
1. I should opt for a hair cut here,
2. Wait till I get home and go to Jeremy.

Argghhh. Kinda getting tired of my long frizzy mane. I am thinking of reverting to rebonded hair and feel like doing it ASAP. Or a chic haircut. But what if the stupid hairdresser here gives a job that leave me with super straight and flat rebonded head? Or... damage my hair further by using pirated hair products?

Classmates

I've never been on time for class since we started Thai 3. I'm kindda getting lazy and driving out of the house is a big hassle. And ever since P's lao kok kok car broke down, it needs 3 minutes of warming up before we can drive it out without it failing us. So ever since day one, I've seated myself next the rear door in class so that I do not sashay into class and disrupt everyone while arriving 15 minutes late. And for Thai 3, I have planted myself next to Tachibana, this very Jap looking Jap man in his mid-60s.

More than half of the class is filled with Koreans, with the rest being 3 Japanese, this guy from Luxembourg and then there's me. The Koreans can hardly speak English and there's really no easy way to communicate with them. The class is conducted in Eng-Th and most of them seem to have difficulty understanding both languages. And most of them are housewives here accompanying their kids to study in the international school cos apparently, the teachers are native English speakers and they want their kids to immerse in an English speaking environment. Almost half the school is filled with Koreans. Ironic or wat.

Tachibana is a quiet Jap man and every time he opens his mouth to speak, Thai comes out. He never converse in Eng, only mumbles in Jap when he tries to get his thoughts straightened out. Just yesterday, he was telling me that he would be going to miss class for 2 weeks cos he's going on a fishing trip with his friends in Vietnam. The whole converstion was conducted in Thai. T_T. I almost wanted to laugh cos we looked funny. Every time he tried to put something across, I would verify it by repeating in Eng hoping that I'd not misunderstood him. Nonetheless, it's quite impressive. I wonder if my dad will have the will power to do that when he's at Tachibana's age. Not sure if this is like a spirit typical in Japanese or wat, it's rather awesome.

I'm (still) quite impatient in the learning of Thai and really want to be able to converse properly in it!! =.=''. It's getting me crazy cos of the tonations. I have been taught that there're 4 tones in Chinese and now there are 5 tones in Thai. It gets so confusing some times. Just the other day, I was talking to nanny about seeing a rat in the toilet.

"Horng naam mee nguu"

She was like super stunned and asked how long was that. I went... "Oh, about the size of a kitten". She looked at me, super confused. Anywayz, she heard snake (nguu). Not rat (nuu). I want to cry.

Random

Was watching SEA Games highlights for the past 2 nights and was so missing Jos. *Sob*.

Anywayz, was showing off to P our achievements. Our current standing on the medal tally is 3rd! Cool or what... just 4 million people on my little island. Me is proud of my nation (*wave the Singapore flag to the tune of "Stand up for Singapore"*).

Oh... and the ban on Youtube had been lifted! I was catching my favourite variety shows and was burying my head into them for the past week. And guess what, I am now buffering the 红星大奖 2007 found on Youtube! I feel so much closer to home. =) Prison Break (S1-3) is now stored in our hard disk and we will be screening season 2 tonight! I love Bittorrent. I am kindda realising that I am a TV addict.

Went to catch Golden Compass yesterday evening. Compared to Stardust, Golden Compass is like so boring and... boring =.=''. When I saw the cast list I had thought that Dakota Blue Richards is Dakota Flemings only to realise not only that this Dakota is not that Dakota, she cant really act. Arghhh.

X'mas in less than 2 weeks. Missing Orchard Road and the lighted streets. Was trying to recall what I did for the past few X'mases and realised that since returning from Sydney, I had spent 2 out of the last 3 X'mases in Chiangmai. Perhaps, this explains much why I am missing the X'mas fun back at home. Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to all at home =)).

1.. 2.. 3!

Just got back from our celebratory dinner and shopping. It's our 3rd anniversary! =) We had dinner at this al fresco restaurant that served rather yummy western food. For the amount of food and its quality, I guess it was very value for money.

Got a very interesting pressie from P. It's extremely dark in his place at night cos there aint window openings and I often bumped into objects lying ard (sometimes even the bedframe). I am uber accident-prone here. And guess what... P bought me a night lamp! Pictures of it to be posted soon.






Very un-romantic but thoughtful gift. I lurvvvveee. =))

3 years... wohoho~. When my mum first met P at the dorm, she thought he was a painter (house painter, not arty farty painter). And now, her daughter is married to that painter. How cool is that. I remembered when we graduated, I spoke to some gfs of mine about where the long distance r/s would be heading to and there was this instant shock when I spoke of myself getting married to P and moving to Thailand. Our r/s was half a year old then and my gfs thought that I wasnt with him long enough to decide on something like that. Guess many would have thought that it was an impulsive decision. And I guess it was that impulse that got me here. As a married woman living a married life, I'm happy with what I'm getting now. I've a husband who makes the bed, washes the dishes and do our laundry. And I know he tries his best to make us happy and enjoy our lives here. But at times when I miss my family, I hate life for the unfairness cos things cannot be easier for me like it is for most people. I have to live a life that I have to choose between people I love in my life.

Just the other day, I was speaking to my mum over the phone about some mundane happenings. She told me of her recent purchases, and how she had gone to Chinatown alone to get herself a new pair of glasses, for both her long- and short-sightedness. And it saddened me alot to hear from her that she had to do all these alone. Maybe it doesnt really sound like a big deal but it gets upsetting to be reminded that I cannot be there for them when they need me and that I have divorced my life from theirs. Sometimes, I feel guilty for making a selfish choice which they had nonetheless given their blessings wholeheartedly. I owe my life to them who had given me all I had ever wanted.

Martian Men

P's sleeping, lying hard on his pillow. His phone just rang and he gave out a huge sigh and rejected the call in disgruntlement. =S. A sleeping man is an angry man.
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Bought my tix home for CNY. Would be home for a week but without my hubby cos he would be too tied up with work to travel. Was kindda feeling upset that he cant be home for our first CNY. Guess my parents would very much like him to be there and with his absence, I would have to face the bombardment by my aunts. Spoke to MM about this over msn and she said "No prob, we understand". And then I was like... "Ok, let's arrange to go cheong". Muahaha.

Xmas in less that a month but guess I would be Thailand bounded this Xmas. I'm figuring if I should convince P to go somewhere. I'm itching to travel.

Post festival

Not feeling quite right today, guess the overdose of bbq food is upsetting my stomach. Since yesterday morning, I have been visiting the toilet frequently. I hate LS! KNS. P went out to get some congee and medicine for me in the noon and I just had them. Hopefully, the pain and LS feeling will go away soon. =(

It was Loy Krathrong over the weeekend and celebration started on friday. We had some friends over for dinner and we went to grab some food to prepare for the bbq at night. On our way to the market, we saw this lantern making competition where participants are to made mega-sized lanterns.

First contestant that we saw never got to flew his mega lantern cos it was burnt!







The flying bee that crashed into the river:








Some photos of us having bbq dinner with our friends at the back of the house. We took part in the noise contribution and bought quite some fireworks. Some people were already floating their Krathrongs and we saw this decorated boat sailing in the river.







On saturday night was family dinner and my FIL invited his workers back for dinner. We floated our Krathrongs and continued playing with fireworks. It was non-stop playing and eating. It was amazing how I didnt really felt out of place with the existence of language barrier. Maybe I was too fascinated with the on-going events and consumption of the yummy food had kept me occupied.

Last night was supposedly the last night of celebration. We had our last round of fireworks with the kids and tried to light some spectacular stuff but the path was filled with too many people. The fireworks failed to shoot into the sky and kindda exploded. And because the kids were around, we sorta decided to call it off since it might be dangerous. P and I went to take a walk behind the house. It was so crowded. People were just everywhere. =.='' Frankly, there wasnt much to watch except for the fireworks. There was some kind of carnival going on. Saw this 2-storey high ferris wheel that looked rather funny for its dwarf size. It never failed to provide entertainment for the kids though. We finally got our chance to light our cool fireworks when we got back at night and the kids were already sleeping.









The sky was filled with these floating lanterns that people were releasing throughout the night.




Vid of P and I and our last spectacular fireworks:

The way festivals are celebrated here is rather amazing. Cant really find the right words to describe my feeling but I felt like I was brought back to time. Maybe Singapore was like that in the 1960s. The festive ambience was created by the people, not so much by the environment. On the contrary, the festive ambience in modern Singapore is much heightened by the environment and the decorated streets.

BOOM BOOM BOOM

Didnt manage to snap pictures during the wedding coz me and P were in charge of video-ing and when he was doing the job, I was kindda too engrossed kaypoh-ing with what the wedding ceremony was all about. Just one pathetic photo from my phone, taken during the post-ceremony lunch buffet outside the bride's house:



And this is for dinner later =)



Some chinese herbs pack we bought from Rimping supermarket. I like that place alot coz you can find lots and lots of imported products. That's also where I got my Lee Chum Kee the other day. As for dinner tonight, I am hoping to brew some decent soup. =) The last time I tried Hainanese chicken rice, it turned out so yucky that I decided to fry the chicken and it became chicken with garlic in sesame oil. It tasted reasonably well, much better than the bland Hainanese chicken with the sesame oil sauce tasting like... oil.

It's Loy Krathong this coming weekend. The sound of fireworks is getting on my nerves and people are like playing it non-stop from as early as 8pm till 2am. It's kindda crazy. To the whoever who banned fireworks in Sg... nice job. Okay... maybe people should have the liberty to play fireworks but... cant there be a time restriction imposed? Everytime when the fireworks go BOOM BOOM BOOM, the dogs will start to howl. It's like a crazy orchestra. =S

Xmas is around the corner but Chiangmai is not filled with the festive ambience. I'm not a Christian but my family do join in the fun of celebration. Dad's a turkey man and as far as I can remember, we have it yearly. Almost. I miss home and I want to be home for Xmas. Maybe Xmas is an excuse for me to be home.

Updates

A close friend of P is getting married tomorrow today and we had prepared him a wedding gift few days ago:




2nd piece by Mdm =)

We prepared the equivalent of our ang pao this last evening. It's their tradition to place the money back in the invitation card's envelope. It's super hassle free. Even our names were already written and we merely have to pass the envelope back to the couple.



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Had a rather busy day helping out in the morning and attending the dinner in the evening. We completely forgot about the gift... and the ang pao!!! Went to the banquet empty handed... =.='' Updates soon. *Yawnz*

Attending thai level 3 starting tomorrow... may I be blessed with interesting classmates and teacher. Hope the Korean gang who can hardly speak english is disbanded. I need people who can speak english!

Past, present, future.

These nights, pple start playing fireworks nightly cos Loy Krathong's in end of the month. Mdm, the excited Singaporean who's fireworks-deprived, joined in the fun and got my second try at it in Chiangmai 2 nights ago ^^.

Some really dark photos from yesterday:





And... the best of all is... everything (the light sticks, the pop-pops, mini firecrackers etc) only costed us 42 baht!!! Super duper cheap la. 42 baht... maybe can get us only a box of pop-pop? =.='' Mdm shops in hypermarkets alot and I am amazed at how much price's jacked up in Singapore, esp for things like shampoo, conditioner, body wash etc. I have this idea of taking orders from folks in Sg, then selling them like say at 20% off retail price. Cool? Mdm is presenting a win-win situation for all lei.

Saw this Dutch movie (Antonio's Line) at the European film festival yesterday. The theatre was like 80% full but we seemed to be the only asians around. P turned to me and said "I felt like I'm back in Sydney". I had a sudden surge of emotions, nostalgia and all. Whether it's Sydney, Sg... the past seems to be living vividly in me. I do not know if there's any psychological term for this syndrome but very often, I find myself clinging on to bits and pieces of the past.

Woke up very late today and as usual, had our squash session. We were contemplating on getting our own rackets since the maths showed that it would make more sense to do so. And hopefully, we would be playing it more often with our own rackets. Had our lunchinner at this rather new place called Maze cafe. Food's very very yummy and price's rather cheap for the ambience and all. Check this out:

http://www.mazecafe.com/index2.php

A lot of such hippie places are starting to emerge in this city. Maybe, it's a good sign.

Mdm Chong day-to-day

The result of our home rebonding kit:



Fixing P's car for the Nth time... his lao kork kork car keeps failing him. We were on our way to his friend's when his car broke down.



At his friend's. See that sleeping posture? Wakhahaha... cute or what man.


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A typical school day begins at 9am =)

0900 - 0930: Shower shower
0930 - 0945: Powder up and prepare
0945 - 1000: Transport myself to YMCA*
1000 - 1200: Sawatdee lessons
1200 - 1215: Transport myself back home
1215 - 1400: Laze, wait for P to get ready then go for lunch
1400 - 1730: Work work work**
1730 - 1830: Help nanny and sis to prepare dinner***
1830 - 1930: Makan
1930 - 2300: Leisure leisure****

And for a typical non-school day, just substitute that 2 hours with work.

*
Dont think I've mentioned it, but aku have been driving to school by myself for the past 2 months already ^^. P showed me the way a couple of times and then I was off by myself. I'm still familiarizing myself with the complex routes here given that there are lots and lots of on-going road works. For now, I know my way to Tesco Lotus, Carrefour and my favourite local supermarket, Rimping (though I've not really driven to these places by myself, except for the one time that I drove niece to Tesco to run some errands).

**
As for work, hmm... have mentioned to some that we are converting his place to a boutique hotel. Right now, the estimated number of rooms is 22 plus a nice tiny wing for ourselves. The plans are done and we will be passing them to the structural engineer while I'll con't to do some 3D works. Not really sure when we can proceed with this project though cos there is a proposal to widen the road right in front of his place and also to widen the Mae Ping river behind his house... so, we cant be really sure what we will be left with =(. And... unlike Sg, such proposals are usually very sketchy and according to P, may take years to be realised or eventually be disposed.

***
P's family dont usually cook so his sis would usually buy some takeaways from the market but nanny would concoct 1-2 dishes for the kids while I'll help out by preparing the ingredients. The Thais have incredibly small garlics and peeling them is extremely taxing. Nanny uses garlic alot and since peeling them had become my expertise, my hands are kindda stained with the smell of garlics. It's bad... very bad... I keep smelling garlic!! And it doesnt help that I hate that stinky smell. Something new:


I was introduced to this few days back... my god, soooo yummy!!! It's mango dipped in fish sauce and sugar. P said it's even better with some chilli.

3-4 times a week, P and I will settle dinner by ourselves, i.e to eat out/buy back/cook. Till now, I have attempted to cook the yummy lotus root soup, rather sucky bak kut teh soup, fry some bak choy (bland but edible), omelette, fried eggs, sichuan tofu and black bean paste with chicken (both with good reviews thanks to Lee Chum Kee).

****
Leisure activities meaning strolling in hypermarkets/ supermarkets, watching DVDs, having drinks with his friends or playing games on our beloved Wii. If we are going to hypermarkets/ supermarkets, we'll usually do it before dinner to get some add-on dishes for dinner plus to rent DVDs for after dinner program.

And yup... that's about it. Guess it looks like what a pair of regular Singaporean couple would do. Tuesdays are movie days cos watching movies on tuesdays is darn cheap. 80 baht per person for regular seats, i.e. less than S$4. Sundays are for sleeping in late and squash. I hardly do any shopping here cos... hmm, dunno. I usually like shopping alone, gives me less pressure when browsing. LOL. Shopping in department stores here isnt that cheap either and I rather do it back in Sg.

Side-tracking, I'm completing my Thai level 2 this week! =)) My Thai is as good as my Bahasa now... wakhahaha. Kidding... it's way better than my Bahasa. =P
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I saw a rat in the toilet when I was getting in for a shower! !@#$%^&*