Recipe for saturday

Chocolate Caramel Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

* 2 regular size mars bar (about 80gm)
* 1/2 stick of butter
* 100gm dark chocolate (i used either 50% or 75% cocoa)
* 1 cup of cornflake

Directions

1. Break up the mars bar into chunks and place the chunks into a saucepan
2. Use low fire all the time and add butter (to prevent the chunks from sticking and burning)
3. Add in dark chocolate and stir frequently
4. When everything has melted, pour in the cornflake and stir until the cornflakes are well coated.
5. Fill the mini muffin paper with a spoon of mixture and place everything in the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour.

Trying this tomorrow! =)

The joy of translation

" ...Standing along Peru’s southern desert coast, you would never imagine that this barren landscape lies next to one of the world’s most diverse ocean settings. Along these desert shores, Humboldt penguins swim and blue-footed boobies dive bomb from high above..."

I have totally no clue what the hell is this blue-footed boobies thingy. I happily typed "blue-footed boobies" into www.yahoo.com.tw and hit the translate button. Literally translated, blue-footed boobies is aka 藍色有腳的笨蛋 (a blue, with legs foolish person).

Hilarious.

Anyway, saw this crazy vid on the web. Check it out:

Busy busy busy!!!

Busy busy busy!!!

Got some translation tasks that are (in my POV) paying me quite well though P thought that there are not many in Chiangmai who are able to do English-Chinese translation and therefore I should charge more. This is harder than I thought and it kinda left me sleepless for the past 2 nights but like I told P, I am working for more shopping money (new lappie for my dad, P's super big LCD TV, travel money for our year end trip etc.). So... I am motivated!!!

Just as I am looking forward to enjoying a bite of Krispy Kreme in HK, the news about HK’s Krispy Kreme going bust came out this morning. ARGH.

Of baby naming

The wedding card looks super cool

15 cool word illusions

We have been kinda picking up names from the movies/tv series we have been watching lately (I know I know... it sounds crazy since our Plan B is an unplanned plan but naming our baby would definitely be a challenge since he/she would need one that sounds alright in thai/english/mandarin/cantonese, I have decided to jumble up the sequence a little). Since GG, I am like so for the names Nate and Chuck but I can't help but associate the name Chuck with some high society flirtatious boy and according to P, Nate sounds weird in Thai. I actually wanted a baby name that's meaningful (Sydney definitely qualifies but I suspect many will roll their eyes). And yesterday, I brilliantly suggested "Tammy" and both of us agreed that it's really nice to have our baby named after Tammy senior, who is a very dear and special friend to us both. Since it would only be polite of us to get a nod from Tammy, we would be doing that when we meet up this December. The only problem is, the baby has to be a girl.

P went on to ask if the kid should be a "Chong" or "Supasri". My hubby is totally cool with anything and he seriously has no objections to the kid bearing my last name. He actually suggested for us to have two kids each bearing one of ours, but it seems weird to me that (in the event that I have more than one) my kids do not have the same last name. I thought it would be nice though for the kid to have my last name as his/her middle name like "Tammy C. Supasri" cos I would really like my kid to be somehow linked to my dad.

I don't know if we have started messing up stuff already.

Placing a bet on gold

Gold tumbles to below $700 as fund liquidation continues

Gold hits 13-mth low on fund liqudity concern

The demand for gold has been soaring in Thailand since the gold price plunged yesterday. Apparently, many gold shops in BKK were actually closed for business. The forecasts for gold price movements vary but we have decided to bet on a positive outlook and be part of the game. We are buying for the first time! *SWEAT* The last time my FIL traded, he made 70k Baht in a week (S$3k+). I don't think we would be able to see gains in a week, but rather than letting our savings sit fallow in the bank earning bits from interest, we are buying in gold now and keeping our fingers cross on gold price.

From Aftershock and Gold Rocket

"...The most common question being asked is, “If gold is in such strong demand and short supply, why is the price so weak?”

And that’s a little bit complicated, but like most everything in these most volatile times, nothing makes sense. At least, not in the short term. Instead of re-iterating the explanation of the downward pressure created by the gold carry trade and the futures market, I refer readers to the excellent work of John Embry and Andrew Hepburn, who published a work called “Not Free, Not Fair, and which is available here: http://www.sprott.com/pdf/not_free_not_fair.pdf .

The bottom line is this: the massive repatriation of US Dollars as a result of de-leveraging globally and the unwinding of so many credit contingent deals is making the US Dollar look strong, while the gold manipulation cartel is exerting its utmost effort to keep the spot price of gold low through concentrated short positions on COMEX. The price of gold will emerge from this negative influence on the next leg down and the economy goes into a broader paralysis instead of being limited as it is now to real estate and financials. Most credible analysts are recommending a minimum 30% exposure to gold for institutional portfolios.

Though its hard to imagine in the current price environment, both gold and silver are on the verge of a tremendous breakout to the upside, and if you can’t get your hands on the physical bullion over the next 24 months, the producing companies will be next followed closely by well cashed up junior explorers with million ounce+ deposits in National Instrument 43-101 compliant categories.

Ignore the negative press on gold, and recognize the current price weakness for what it is: the last time you’ll see gold this cheap in a long time, and therefore a huge opportunity..."

and Gold's recent slump bewilders investors

"...some analysts, however, said that in the long term, the U.S. rescue plans to inject liquidity into banks will stir inflation and a devaluation of the dollar -- something that would be bullish for gold prices.
"An extraordinary amount of liquidity has been pumped into the system this year," said Peter Grant, senior analyst at USAGOLD. "I anticipate further debasement of all currencies, including the dollar, which will ultimately drive gold prices higher."..."

Mdm is on Skype!

Mdm finally signed up for Skype's pay monthly service (i.e. Unlimited calls to a country or region. Any time of the day, any day of the week.)

The quality is not fantastic but on average, it's better than the calling card I have relied on over the past year. Our land line at home has really bad reception and there's an irritating and annoying line noise (crackling) whenever we try making calls. Plus, I estimated the savings to be around 50% (based on the frequency I have been calling home). I called home like 4 times yesterday and spent a whopping total of 1+ hour on the phone. I think I would make full use of this service by... calling home as often as I wish!

By the way, I have gotten my Q number for my flat application. My Q is.... 40+ (forgot the exact no.)!

In the name of knowledge management

Class no. 2 conducted by Judy:







All thanks to KM, we are bringing home nice little boxes of choco-coated peanut butter balls.




A box of choco balls and this

Tadahhhhhhhhh



Perfect as gifts for P's 29th birthday tomorrow. This wife is uber smart.

From UAE

At Suvarnabhumi Airport.





Landed at around 12 am. The Dubai International Airport was... unimpressive. Ours at Changi are much better.







The very nice Dubai Museum







Gold Souk, with tonnes of jewelry stores.









To the sand dunes (which is like the highlight of the trip).







































Sand boarding, which we didnt try.









Camel riding at last. As usual... I was super freaked out by the heights.







Dinner place in the desert





Trying the local shisha (which is not better than the ones we get in Singapore and I suspect they scrimped on tobacco)









My henna (which is already fading)



When they say up to 25% of the world’s cranes are in Dubai, they are not joking. It's super crazy.



Local market



Blue Souk at Sharjah





Lunch at Sheraton





At Sharjah



Ski Dubai at Emirates Mall













In my oversized jacket







The soon to be 1-km high Burj Dubai



At Abu Dhadi



Palace





I don't really remember why we started taking photos with breakwater but the Thai group is kinda crazy with photo taking. The snapping was non-stop.



Sky line of Abu Dhabi... which is totally blurred by the sand in the air



Still under construction mega-sized mosque in Abu Dhabi







The very impressive IBN mall at Dubai (decorated in 7 different styles)





Some Thai uncle getting all high after some whiskey and started mic hogging on our dinner cruise. Some blacks sitting at other tables started dancing at the tune of his Thai song.



Check out day at Dubai



Supposedly the oldest mosque in Dubai





The 7-star Burj Arab!!!







Palm Jumeirah and its flagship resort, Atlantis. Atlantis is uber awesome.











Create your own ice-cream at Cold Stone. The ice-cream is yummyyy. Someone has to bring Cold Stone into Singapore



The millions dollar property on Palm Jumeirah



Souk Madinat Hotel











All bus-stops in Dubai are... air-conditioned



The Nth time we saw a Porshe.



Festival Walk



P used up his "how cool is that" in Dubai. Money can do just about everything in this part of the world. The development works are crazy. They have the world's best, tallest, biggest etc. and plans are already firmed to erect a tower that is going to exceed Burj Dubai's (which is already 1-km) height. Flashy cars were everywhere and ... they were not driven by bald old men! We were staring out from the bus and P went "it's a hammer, it's a hammer!" and at Atlantis, we actually saw this hammer stretch limo. After Dubai, I felt really insignificant.

Dubai is flooded with foreigners (Filipinos, Indians, Chinese) and seriously if I am to choose, I would probably prefer to live and work in Dubai than Singapore. Cost of living is slightly lower in Dubai but standard of living is as high. Plus, cars and properties are cheap (and petrol needless to say), there is no taxation and with 80% of the population being foreigners, you probably wouldn't feel just as bad being ostracized.

Pics of us in Bangkok

P introduced to the ferry service in BKK



Grand Palace... finally!!!















Some art installation across from Siam Discovery





Wallpaper design contest





At Lub*D again... this time with a huge suitcase which P had difficulties carrying it up and down. P is finally satisfied by my case study pick (as compared to the Shanghai Inn)