Green ground, green roof, green space!

I was doing my daily surfing when I saw this



and more. I know this is definitely not happening in Thailand for the next 50 years.

All these green earth thingy reminded me of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth which we saw some time back. After watching the video, we had out of guilt, gotten a recycle bag at the supermarket that we frequent. That was seemingly the least we can do. Anyways, the poor bag is super under-utilised. Since we got it, we had used it for less than 5 times. We had left the bag in the car hoping that it would come in handy as and when we are making a trip to the supermarket. But most of the time, P and I only realised that we had forgotten the recycle bag half-way through our grocery shopping. I suppose we haven't been putting in a conscious effort in responding to this whole green earth issue. Maybe, we all should. =)

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

You've got to check this out!!!



Highlights

2.8-inch touch screen, with four times the pixels of most phones.
Vibrant TouchFLO 3D user interface
HTC Weather
Surf and download at broadband speed with HSDPA internet connectivity.
3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera for quality stills and video.
4GB of internal storage
Integrated GPS for use with maps software

Penelope & Indian curry

We had a busy Sunday attending some family function and had to give our lazy Sunday plan a miss. No late getting-up, no Mcdees and no movie marathon. Even so, we managed to continue with Penelope from where we left the previous night.



I was telling P how good the male lead looked in this film. James McAvoy, apparently, was the same guy in Atonement. He was also the Faun in The Chronicles of Narnia!!!

Penelope



Atonement



The Chronicles of Narnia!!!



Nevermind. Anywayz, nothing in the movie was unexpected. Nina Ricci's look in Penelope bore resemblance to that in Sleepy Hollow but it was kindda different from the sharp look she sported in Speed Racer. I kindda like her look, very unique but versatile. P joked about naming our (poor) kid-to-be "Penelope". We have been picking up funny names from movies and this time, he's obviously associating this name with a snout. I thought "Penelope" is a pretty nice name though.

Digress.

P's very into curry and we had wanted to cook it for the longest of all time. MM's recipe book features authentic Indian dishes that require Indian spices that I guess wont be easily available in supermarkets and so, Google did its job.

Indian Chicken Curry II
SUBMITTED BY: Amanda Fetters PHOTO BY: chibi chef

"This is an adaptation of yellow chicken curry from India. The aromas and flavors are a delight to the senses! It is best served with fresh Naan bread and Jasmine or Basmati rice."

PREP TIME 20 Min
COOK TIME 25 Min
READY IN 45 Min
SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: 4 to 6 servings
US METRIC

About scaling and conversions

INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon paprika
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
salt to taste
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until lightly browned. Stir in garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, paprika, bay leaf, ginger, sugar and salt. Continue stirring for 2 minutes. Add chicken pieces, tomato paste, yogurt, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove bay leaf, and stir in lemon juice and cayenne pepper. Simmer 5 more minutes.

Will try this, tonight? =)

BKK

It's saturdayyyyy. Oh... how lazy I am. I've been doing NOTHING since I got up. And... I woke up at 12.30!!! P's going to kill me. Well... I've been feeling so tired, plus I havent rested well after my BKK trip (Mdm went straight to work!). We had been watching Coffee Prince and we finished the whole drama yesterday! I think it had already been screened in Sg. Anywayz, the storyline is predictable but the leads are sooo cute (as in really cute)!!! Have to watch it!



Bangkok

MM said she wont be planning for a trip to BKK in years and I agree that BKK is kindda boring. Our total haul from shopping is a big 0. I swear stuff in Sg is much cheaper, unless you are looking at low quality apparels. We spent most of our time eating (and drinking). And yup... I met Mr and Mrs Fox (and I realised that we forgot to take a group photo)!!! Dining at the State Tower was the highlight of our trip. For the ambience and quality of food, I thought that the price was quite cheap. We spent (or rather MM spent) 3000+ Baht for the dinner, which included 1 appetizer (chicken wrapped in pandan leaves), 1 main (pi pa duck), a soup, fried rice, dessert (2 servings of ice-cream), 2 pots (yes, pots) of tea and 1 litre of evian!!! I dunno what's up with them that made them served bottled evian which costed 300 baht. But if you plan to be there just for drinks (cocktail etc.) it wont cost much either cos the average is like 350 Baht per glass.

Check these out:





I am giving 2 thumbs up for my accomodation. Except for the fact that there's no elevator and we were staying on the fourth floor, everything's good. Free internet, clean and chic rooms etc. More photos will be up in my next post cos I havent had the time to download them from my camera!

More nua-ing for Mdm now. Tired, tired, tired...

.

I am standing on a land with strangers in every single corner I turn. It's like when you shout for help, no one can hear you. And then I remembered, 周杰伦 sang 没有地球太阳还是会绕. Tadahhh.

Mdm & TCM

Indeed, Mdm was sneezing for the whole of yesterday and I woke up with an eye stye!!! It is still here, in fact, it sorta worsen today (got bigger, redder etc.). Mdm is now boiling some TCM that mummy had packed for me before I left and I hope that after this dosage of Cornu Antelopsis, the swell will subside.



I swear by this whenever I feel that my body is having some kind of a rebel, especially when I need to drain heat (I know... it's kindda auntie-ish). I remember searching for this the first few months I was in Sydney and a dosage costed me AUD 10, which was like twice more expensive than in Sg. Anyway, P doesnt really understand why am I drinking something that looks so horribly wrong, neither can he comprehend why am I popping 白凤丸 monthly. And I realised that my mummy's practices had subconsciously gotten into me! Oh NOOO!!! Am I becoming her? Am I becoming her? Am I becoming her??? *Echoes*

P brought the fax machine in our room to his office and we got a new phone last week. Check it out... it's sooo super duper cute!!!





And it comes in metallic pink too!

I got my insurance pass from the personnel office yesterday and as of 1 June 2008, I will be covered under the Social Security scheme. I was browsing through their website and I was totally amazed by its extent of coverage. I mean... this is Thailand! I wouldnt say the coverage is 1st class, but it is definitely on par with Singapore's standard, if not better. It is amazing how you can nominate any hospital, literally. And as long as their quota is not maxed up, you will get the hospital of your choice. Despite the low cost of living, medical expenses here are not cheap. The last time I went for a 5-minutes out-patient consultation, it costed SGD 30. Public hospitals are notorious for having long queues, long waiting time and bad services offered by medical trainees. Anyways, I suspect less than 10% of the population is under the Social Security scheme and hence the human flood in public hospitals.

And how this Social Security scheme works is kindda like the CPF scheme in Sg. It gets 4% from your monthly salary but you get 100% medical coverage at your nominated hospital for out-patient consultations and hospitalisation for a hell lot of illness and services. And then you get to withdraw this 4% upon leaving your job (after 15 months of service at least, in full amount plus interest). You dont have to wait till you are 55!!! If you are in service for 15 years (as in contributing this 4% for 15 years) when you retire at 55, you will get monthly allowance from the Government and medical coverages. I have to check out the details of this scheme cos it sounds too amazing to be true.

Anyway, I was discussing this with P yesterday but he didnt seem equally amaze. One thing was he's highly skeptical cos he's darn sure claims cant be made when the time arises for one to be done. And... he was kindda like... "Huh? You going to work at Payap till you retire? What about my hotel?". LOL.

Sleep-deprived

Boss is off to BKK since yesterday. I feel so much like my own Boss now. Plus, I am feeling extremely lazy, lethargic, etc and I suspect that I will be falling sick very soon. Since the beginning of this week, we are managing slightly more than 5 hours of sleep everyday. Dont ask me why, P and I are just so capable of wasting our night. I have to keep telling myself to turn in early every night. Every unsuccessful attempt turns me into a walking ghost at work and the vicious cycle begins! *Yawn* I am falling sleep... I am falling sleep... I AM FALLING SLEEP!!!

Yaya part 2

Siewyin managed to contact her this afternoon and she's alive and kicking!!! *Phew*

Mdm's off to watch "What Happened in Vegas" tonight. And yes... tix back home were purchased yesterday. The dates are confirmed. We'll be doing:

12' Jul CNX-KL
20' Jul SG-BKK, BKK-CNX

Cannot wait to be home!!!

Yaya

Just this Yesterday afternoon, I met a group of visitors from China. And being the only person in the Graduate Building who can speak Mandarin, J brought them to me. We had a brief conversation and I was wrecking through my brain to translate my title ("Development Officer"), our office ("Office of Insitutional Advancement") and even simple words like "proposals", "grants" etc. It was so embarassing when I was searching for the right words and went "uh...uh.." while the whole bunch of them just stood staring at me. I was literally sweating after the session. I am pretty sure one of the reason I was offered the job was my ability to converse in Mandarin. China being a huge market and with the increasing number of Chinese students enrolling each year, the Management had hoped for us to tap into the Chinese market for philanthropic funds. I was even hoping to teach in the Chinese Department but I am having lots of self doubts right now.

Anyways, I had wanted to get home and make a list of the Mandarin terms that would come in handy in future. Naturally, I thought of getting help from Yaya. And then, the news of the big quake in Sichuan came. She hasnt been online for the whole of tonight yesterday night. I dunno where exactly in Chengdu she's living in but I am hoping that she's only being affected by the cut of communication lines. Yaya!!!

More and more

My long weekend's over!!! Wait... it's long weekend AGAIN next week cos 19th May is Vesak Day! All these holidays are making me love my job. *Muacks*

P okied our trip back to Sg from 11-20 July. He figured he would be busy in early July cos his foodcourt is due for opening then. Anyways, I want to make full use of my holiday in July and we kindda agreed that it should be okay for him to leave for a week or so. So... we will be flying to KL direct from Chiangmai then take a cab down to visit Granny in Melaka. My folks will be meeting us there and my dad would be driving us back to Sg. Wonderful. ^^

Another week... and i'll be seeing MM and the Fox family (minus the baby). Yuppie!

Hello world

Where did I find the courage to leave home.

Why did I leave home

Magic 1200

This is supposed to work.

You can lose 20 pounds and gain more energy - all in 30 days. You will have to maintain 1200 calories per day and have plenty of food with tasty low calorie recipes.

Mdm Chong is going to track my calories consumption from today tomorrow!!! Let's see if it works. ARRGGGHHH.

Something's super duper wrong with the school's server and the internet is running at a ridiculously slow speed. Mdm had been busy since yesterday and I finally have the time to sit back and relax. It's another 2.5 hours more to go and I am so tempted to do nothing but blog and surf till it's time for me to knock off. But with the internet running at such a snail speed, I doubt I can do any surfing.

Shan confirmed yesterday that she will be in BKK 2 weeks from now and she's departing on the day that I am scheduled to arrive. Since her flight is in the evening and I am arriving in the morning, we're hoping to meet up and have coffee/ lunch/ or something before she leaves. =)

I have kindda worked out the itinerary for my upcoming trip with MM. Aside from the usual temple visits (Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew , Wat Po), boat rides, crazy shopping (JJ, Playground, Siam square) and massage, we've planned to check out yummy boys (I have a hunch that there would be an overflowing supply of yummy girls/ lady boys/ gays) and dine at the Bangkok State Tower



Super cool right?! =))

When sourcing out for restaurants, I've called to enquire about the buffet breakfast at Oriental Bangkok. The Oriental Bangkok hotel is one of Mandarin Oriental's flagship properties and is rated Top 10 worldwide. And since this is our first trip, I was (seriously) thinking of treating MM to a sumptuous high-so meal but the price tag gave this idea an instant death. A breakfast buffet for two could have costed me a return trip to BKK from SG!!! *Faint*

10 more days!!! Muahahaha.

Happy 1st

I'll be having holiday on the following Monday and Friday, meaning I will have two consecutive long weekends. Next week will be a three day work week for me... how cool is that. Yuppie!!! =))

Since Songkran, I was busy preparing for a research grant proposal which is due on the 10th and amending the final draft of the fundraising brochure. C and I were scheduled to go down to BKK with the rest on the 14th but we had to withdraw cos apparently, the President's wife wanted to join the group. The initial arrangement was for us to take a 9 hour road trip to BKK by our school's mini-bus. But with the President's wife joining the group, the 6 seater cant fit us all. Something very strange about this whole arrangement is that the President was scheduled to meet us in BKK but he's taking the plane! Anyways, it's good now that we wont be going down anymore cos the idea of taking a 9-hour bus trip is freaking me out plus I would already be heading down to BKK for my first sisters-only trip. =))

I've checked with my colleague that we would be having 2-days off, consecutively in July. I guess that gives me the opportunity to be home for 9 days with just getting 3 days off. I cant wait to be home to meet everyone!!! And then there's this talk about a cousin-only trip (July), Allstars' first ever trip (Aug), KL gang visit to Chiangmai (undated) and possible meeting up with Shan (undated) plus P and I are planning for a HK trip this year end. OOO... sounds wonderful. =))

Jaminthejar is a year old!