New acquisition

How's your weekend?

Obviously mine was good. That's I am having the Monday Blues yet again!!! ARGH.

We (or I) laid eyes on a very simple, comfy sofa set (finally) which was actually on a 15% discount. Guess what, we actually bought it! To think that our house is still pillarless, this is almost absurb. Anyway, to find something that matches both P's and my requirement, i.e. comfortable leather sofa that looks simple, it is close to impossible. Most of the good looking sofas here are either ridiculous uncomfy or of a sky rocket price (like SGD 3,000 for a 3 seater)

So, we got Rachel, our new sofa. Ours is the leather version, and is in charcoal black. We got the 3-seater and not a set b'cos we figured that we will like to mix and match furniture (meaning costs cutting). We got this at approximately SGD 1,500 which is a good grab compared to the overpriced ones in other furniture shops.




So, Rachel will most probably sit in our current place till our new house is ready.

I have gotten news from mummy that the Chongs are planning a CNY trip to Chiangmai. I was like... OMG! Seriously, the headcount may very well reach 20. Or 30. Or 40. I hope my cousins will ALL be here to share my woes b'cos I seriously do not want to be the single soul to be dealing with the oldies. It will kill me.

Random bits, Thursday Greys, yummy Thai food and CHIANGMAI!

I have been yawning for the umpteen times today. P and I were actually up till 1.30 am yesterday. He was all focused watching Man vs Wild (which was so not my cup of tea. I cannot and will never be able to understand his joy in watching Bear Grylls stranded in the wild, feeding on the insides of a camel and drinking pee to keep himself hydrated. I mean, hello??? Survivor skills are essential but these scenarios are wayyy too over) and I was busy plocking (plocking? yes, plocking. check this out if you are on FB: http://apps.facebook.com/theplock/. WARNING: very addictive!)

Anyway, Friday is arriving in less than 9 hours. In fact, my Friday will be here at 4.30 pm. I wonder if anyone has ever named Thursday (like say Thursday Greys or something). IMO, Thursdays are usually the longest and most unbearable day of the week. I actually hate getting up on Thursday mornings.

We went to make our monthly payment yesterday and were happy to see the piling machine on our plot, with some pre-cast concrete scattered in one corner. I suspect something's going to happen very soon. I actually have this crazy idea of burying something in the ground before the piling works begin. It will definitely bring back pleasant memories (say 10-20 years later, we decide to pull down the house to build a new one and uncover this piece from the past). Sounds like Knowing? Maybe I did get my inspiration from Nicholas Cage.

C's on leave till next Monday, so that leaves me in solitude. Martha was here in the morning and she asked if I felt lonely. In fact, I actually treasure this. I know this sounds kinda weird, but sometimes I crave for personal space (both at work and home).

Since moving here and living like a true blue Thai, I realized how under rated Thai food is. I know I know, tonnes of people out there actually lovvveee Thai food, but do you know that there is more to Thai food than Tom Yum Goong and Tod Man Pla (Thai Fish Cakes)? I was having the most delicious Tub Tim Krob (in Singapore we call it "Red Ruby", other parts of the world, probably just "Water Chestnuts in Coconut Milk") when I have a sudden urge to start a food (Thai food, especially Northern Thai food) blog. I am not sure how many people out there are actually familiar with Northern Thai food but I find it super duper yummy.

Chiangmai is definitely not a top tourist destination for most Singaporeans (in fact, I suspect 50% of Singaporeans have not heard of Chiangmai) but hey, Thailand is definitely not all about the cheap stuff you get in JJ market, Bangkok or the white sandy beaches in Krabi! It's always hard for me to describe what we have here in Chiangmai (and I never fail to presume that Singaporeans will never appreciate the slow pace, backward lifestyle here in the first place). Perhaps I should do a bit of marketing for my (unoffical) adopted country

James May's Lego House Demolished!

Quoted from http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/news/james-mays-lego-house-demolished-telegraph-096403:

Apartment Therapy New York | James May's Lego House Demolished! Telegraph

James May's Lego House Demolished!
Telegraph

A sad day for LEGO maniacs everywhere! Just a few weeks after its completion, the temporary life-size LEGO home built for an episode of James May's Toy Stories has been dismantled!

Not sure if I have ever posted anything on the Lego House. Though Mdm is not a Lego maniac, this project amazes me nonetheless.

Testing out Adobe Contribute

Testing out Adobe Contribute... Seems not to work. Why are things invented just so that they don't work???

Summing up my past week - looking for Singapore Map 2007!

Last week was a hectic one. Mdm was kept busy at work. My office had been preparing for a workshop (held last Friday) for the past few weeks. BIL's trip also left P and I shuttling between our house and his. At times, some thoughts simply flash across my mind and I promise to get myself in front of the computer. I never did. It's the lazy bug attack!

Anyway, lots seem to have happened in the past week. For one, I did my first hairdye in 5 years! Just yesterday, we went down to our new place and saw that the pillars are STILL not piled, meaning, our land is as vacant as ever.

We were at a Mexican restaurant yesterday and managed to catch glimpses of the Singapore Grand Prix on one of the cable channels. P and I were in awe. I mean, look at the cityscape! Mdm is sure proud of my country. Whether or not night race is safe, it sure is an excellent strategy to market tourism.

I am thinking of buying a Singapore map 2007, frame it up, then hang it on one of the walls in our new place. That's the year that I left. Anyone with one, care to sell it to me??? =P

Back to the basics

Living in this part of the world means getting myself exposed to beliefs of a largely Buddhism centered society. I have heard so much "dos and don'ts", "should and shouldn't" that supposedly were practices influenced by religious beliefs and I sometimes wonder how much of these are in fact true to Buddhist teachings. In fact, I feel that Buddhism may very well be the one religion that has been most skewed under the influence of cultural practices.

Few days ago, Mdm picked up "Buddhism: Introducing the Buddhist Experience" and "Christianity and Buddhism" from the school library. These probably are enough to keep me very occupied over the weekend. I am not sure if I am ever going to be a staunch practitioner of any religion but for the time being, I guess I would just like to grab some good reads and explore the fundamentals of various faiths.

Hello FRIDAY!

I know this is crazy, but I am so going to get one of these!!!




All from MORE.

Just saw this moments ago and thought that this is probably one of my favorite AT's Smallest Coolest Apartments entry







I can't believe that Friday is here again. It has been an incredibly easy week (the celebratory spirit in me kinda outlasted). We have no plans or what-so-ever. No one in the world is ever going to hate Saturdays, so I am looking forward to it nonetheless.

On a totally irrelevant note, I have developed frequent cravings for Korean food recently and we managed to hunt down a nice Korean restaurant that serves amazingly yummy Ddeokbokki and Bibimbap. The best thing about Chiangmai is the ever growing number of nice, cozy restaurants serving a wide range of cuisines. You can practically get anything local (as in Northern Thai style) to Japanese, Korean, Mexican. As my colleague joked over lunch today, the number of restaurants here may very well be larger than its population.

It's the time of the year again. P's having a dealer trip coming up and we are heading off to Guilin, China next month.



This came kinda like a pre-birthday surprise to me. I wasn't expecting to travel (much so since I am giving my cousin's wedding a miss). I have taken so much time off from work this year that I have actually lost count of the number of work leave I have left. Anyway, this is a business trip and I hope I wouldn't feel the guilt when I speak to my boss about it. Come to think of it, our last trip to Guilin was like a decade ago (back when I was a high school-er and Yang was barely out of kindergarten). It is crazy how time flies. Though the memorable 4-hour boat ride did bore the crap out of me, I am kinda looking forward to it this time round. After a decade, it will be interesting to note how things have/ haven't changed.

Anyway, enuff said. HAPPY FRIDAY!



from Krisatomic via AT